____________________________________________________ THE GOSPEL OBSERVER "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations...teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:19,20). ____________________________________________________ February 4, 1996 ____________________________________________________ Preaching Another "Jesus" by Keith Greer Today, reading preachers' articles and listening to their sermons, I begin to wonder to myself: ``Who are these people talking about?'' Could there be another Jesus? Please let me explain. One preacher recently wrote an article ridiculing the idea that Jesus was Deity on earth. Say what? He concludes that Jesus was just a man like you and me. Really? If so, what do these passages mean? ``Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit'' (Matthew 1:18). Jesus' birth was according to prophecy. Isaiah 7:14. Can anyone else make this statement concerning their birth? ``Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel, which is translated, `God with us''' (Matthew 1:23). Could this be said of any other human being? ``But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins; then He said to the paralytic, `Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house''' (Matthew 9:6). Jesus had the power to forgive sins on the earth. Has any man ever had this ability? Remember the thief on the cross? Luke 23:41-43. ``As Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him. But Peter lifted him up, saying, `Stand up; I myself am also a man''' (Acts 10:25,26). ''...and saying, `Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men with the same nature as you, and preach to you that you should turn from these useless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them''' (Acts 14:15). ``And I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, `See that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy''' (Revelation 19:10). What do these three passages have in common? Men were offering worship. Twice, man was offering worship to other men, and once worship was offered to an angel. All refused! Why? God is only to be worshiped. ``And behold a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, `Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean''' (Matthew 8:2). Why did Jesus accept worship if He was only a man? Men came to worship Him at His birth! Matthew 2:11. A man born of a virgin, having the power and right to forgive sins, able to receive and accept the worship of men, was just an ``ordinary man.'' Who can believe it! ``In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made'' (John 1:1-3). He was with God in the beginning. Through Him the worlds were made! Just a man? ''...who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high'' (Hebrews 1:3). Does this seem to be just an ordinary man to you? Can ordinary men make such claims and back them up? If one did, he certainly would be more than ``ordinary''! -- Via The Vegas Drive Messenger, December 11, 1994 ___________________________________________ God Does Things Slow by Lloyd Barker Man is often very, very much in a hurry to do things now. A person feels cheated if a thing is not done in his or her lifetime. We have problems living for future generations past our grandchildren. Look at Old Testament promises, prophecies and performances. God told Abraham in Genesis twelve that He would bless him with the promised land; make his nation great and his name great; make him a blessing; bless those who bless him; curse those who cursed him and in him ``shall all families of the earth be blessed.'' Several of these never came in the lifetime of him or his children. Isaac was not born unto Abraham was old. God made prophecies and promises through Isaiah that were not fulfilled for hundreds of years. Isaiah chapter two, Daniel chapter two and Joel chapter two are all fulfilled in Acts chapter two. We need to learn to give God time to slowly fulfill His prophecies and promises. Most of us past fifty have lived long enough to see God fulfill His promise to ``bless those who bless you and to curse those who curse you.'' Though made to Abraham hundreds of years ago, I believe it truly applies to God's faithful children now. Live right and God will do right. In fulfilling His promises to Abraham, many blessings will come to the faithful. The second coming of Christ has been promised for a long time. Let us be patient. As God has fulfilled so many promises, we can be strongly assured He will fulfill this great one also. The end of time will come in God's good time. Just remember God's statement through Peter in II Peter 3:9 - ``The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance'' (KJV). The ignorant call it slackness but the patient understand His plans to save all who will. -- Via The Harvester, December 17, 1995 ___________________________________________ WORKING AS ONE An engine doesn't perform by merely its pistons nor by just its spark plugs, but each of its many components functions concertedly; and we view the conglomeration as simply ONE engine. Even so, is the church of the Lord; it is made up of many members, some widely differing in their abilities, but each having an important role in the upbuilding of the body of Christ and in the expansion of God's kingdom on earth. -- Tom ___________________________________________ The Parable of The Vacationist Now it came to pass as summer drew nigh that Mr. Church Member lifted up his eyes unto the hills and said, ``Lo the hot days come and even now are at hand; come let us go unto the shore where cool breezes refresh and where glorious scenes await. ``Thou speaks wisely,'' said Mrs. Church Member. ``Yet there are three, yea, even four things we must do before we depart.'' ``Three things I can think of, but not four,'' responded Mr. Church Member. ``We must arrange for our flowers to be watered and cared for, our paper to be discontinued, and we must see that our mail is forwarded; but the fourth eludes my mind.'' ``The fourth is like unto the first three, yet even more important than all. Thou shalt dig down into thy purse and contribute thine offering, that the good of the church may be preserved and that it may be well with thee; for verily I say unto thee that thou hast more money now than thou wilt have when thou dost return.'' And it came to pass that Mr. Church Member gave his contribution for the vacation period, ere he left, to the treasurer who upon receiving it rejoiced saying, ``Of a truth there are still those who care for the Lord's work.'' -- Selected (Via The Exhorter) ___________________________________________ Hypocrites In The Church The man who says he is kept away from church by hypocrites is not influenced by them anywhere else. Business is full of them; but if he by chance sees where he can make some money, he does not hesitate because there are hypocrites making money. Society is crowded with them, and yet he never thinks of becoming a hermit. Married life is full of them, but that does not make him remain a bachelor. Hell will be full of them, and yet he is not doing anything to keep from going there. He makes you think he is trying to avoid hypocrites; and yet, he takes not one single step toward the only place where no hypocrites can go--heaven. Honestly now, is he not being a little hypocritical? -- Selected, Via The Old Path II, January 28, 1996 ___________________________________________ WHAT IS? by Chuck Bartlett What is interesting about the word of God is that it does not set out to prove certain things; it simply affirms what is. What is? 1. God is (Gen. 1:1) 2. Sin is (Rom. 3:23) 3. Death is (Heb. 9:27) 4. Heaven is (Matt. 6:9) 5. Hell is (Mk. 9:43,44) 6. Grace is (Rom. 3:22-24) Believing in what is, is much easier than trying to believe what is, isn't. -- via The Jordan Journal, December 27, 1995 ___________________________________________ "There days there does not seem to be any arrest for the wicked" (selected). ___________________________________________ Call Today About Our BIBLE FILM SLIDES (Jule Miller, 5-Lesson Series) ________________________________________ Tri-State CHURCH OF CHRIST 713 13th Street, Ashland, Kentucky 41101 Sunday: 10:00 A.M. Bible class 10:50 A.M. Worship 6:30 P.M. Worship Wednesday: 7:30 P.M. Bible study evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards (606) 325-9742 e-mail: tedwards@zoomnet.net Gospel Observer web site: http://www.zoomnet.net/~tedwards/go ________________________________________