____________________________________________________ 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). ____________________________________________________ December 8, 1996 ____________________________________________________ NO FEAR! (Mantras #10) by Warren E. Berkley There is a popular slogan currently in use by our young people today and I did a little research; I found out, this motto or slogan originated in the culture of southern California, among those involved in skate boarding and roller blading. You see this slogan on clothing, hats, on the back of pick-up trucks: NO FEAR! I am disturbed by the implication of these words. There seems to be an attitude that encourages a dangerous life, with all the alleged adventure of risk-taking and walking just on the edge near danger. And indeed, there are some young people who seem to have NO FEAR! No fear of their parents, or other authorities....no fear when it comes to the use of drugs and alcohol and tobacco....no fear regarding the dangers of sexual promiscuity. And, no fear of the consequences of wrong behavior. NO FEAR! Now I will say: this is a Biblical expression; the popular slogan, ``no fear'' is in the Bible. In Psalm 36:1, David had an ''..oracle within [his] heart concerning the transgression of the wicked: There is no fear of God before [their] eyes.'' Paul quoted this in Romans 3:18, and you know what Paul is doing in Romans three? The third chapter of Romans is part of Paul's argument that all men need the gospel! Paul describes the behaviors, the attitudes and the life style WHICH ARGUES THAT MEN NEED THE GOSPEL. Paul is saying, ``Sin is man's problem''; and it is in that context that he cites David's statement: ``there is no fear of God before their eyes.'' So--in the modern culture of youth, ``no fear'' may be cool--but in the Word of God, HAVING NO FEAR ISN'T COOL! Regardless of your age, your culture or what's cool, there are some things that are dangerous, and there are some things we need to be serious about. One thing we all need to be serious about is the wrath of God! When God says, ``If you sin, and refuse to repent, I will deal with you,'' that's a fearful thing indeed! (Heb. 10:31) The Greek word, converted into English, is PHOBEROS--and it has to do with the terror of anticipated punishment! My father believed in what is now called ``corporal punishment.'' He was not abusive; he used it on appropriate occasions; and he always accompanied the punishment with lengthy explanations and expectations. But he believed in ``corporal punishment.'' Do you know what the worst part of it was? The anticipation; waiting for it. Five minutes seemed like five hours, when you were headed for the ``lick log.'' And that's the idea in this word ``fearful'' as used in this context of Hebrews 10--the terror of anticipated punishment! Look here, in Heb. 10:26,27 and you'll see it: ``For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.'' No Fear? When I think about not doing what God commands, or, doing what God has forbidden and not repenting; THEN FACING HIM IN JUDGMENT SOMEDAY, UNPREPARED... That's a fearful thing. When I stop and consider my responsibility as a gospel preacher...a father...a husband...a member of this local church. When I think about the opportunities I ought to respond to...the people I can help...the attitudes I ought to have...and all of the other involvements of discipleship... And then picture the judgment scene--UNPREPARED... STANDING BEFORE GOD... That's a fearful thing--and that expectation and those thoughts should cause me to be ever careful about everything God has said--about how I should live. This is a fearful thing--contemplating the eventual consequences of willful sin. ___________________________________________ Losing Our Young People The Boulevard church of Christ in Baton Rouge, LA, recently engaged in a study of the problem question, ``Why are we losing our young people?'' They made a very thorough study using that congregation and a cross-section of congregations throughout the brotherhood. The study produced some rather interesting and, to some, startling statistics. Over the years, they found that they had been losing about 38% of their young people. The loss figure one year was a high of 74%. They found that where both parents were faithful and active in attendance, work and support, 93% of their children remained faithful and become active in the work of the church. When only one parent was faithful and active, 74% of the children continued faithful in the Christian life. Where parents were reasonably faithful in attendance in Bible study and worship, but inactive in work, 54% of the children continued their relationship with Christ and his church. Where parents only attended occasionally, the children remained faithful in only 6% of the cases. Why are we losing so many of our young people? To answer this question, parents should examine their own lives first. It is all too easy to blame the world in which we live, or the preacher, or the elders, or the church as a whole. But parental delinquency is the real and underlying cause of juvenile delinquency in the nation and in the church. Parents, if your children are lost to Christ, it may well be because of your indifference and neglect in the matter of regular Bible study, attendance at Bible classes, worship, prayer meeting, and your failure to give to support the preaching of the gospel; in short, your failure to obey Matthew 6:33 to ``put the kingdom first.'' -- The Old Path II, November 17, 1996 (author unknown) ___________________________________________ ``If the Unbelieving Depart'' by J. T. Smith Many good and conscientious brethren believe that the desertion of a believer by an unbelieving mate gives the believing mate the right to remarry without committing sin. It is sometimes called the ``Pauline privilege.'' Let's look at the passage that supposedly authorizes such action: ``But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or sister is not under bondage in such cases; but God hath called us to peace'' (1 Cor. 7:15). Context and Remarriage First of all you will notice that there is nothing said in the text or the context about remarriage. The thought that is being expressed in the context involves the departure of a mate generally, and the text itself seems to answer the question (though the question is not stated), ``Well, then, what about a believer who is married to an unbeliever? Should they continue living together? If so, what if the unbeliever decides to leave the believer?'' Is Paul Quoting Jesus on Matthew 19:9? It has been suggested that in 1 Corinthians 7:10,11, Paul is simply quoting the Lord (from Matt. 19:9), and since Paul said he, not the Lord, is giving instructions regarding the believer and the unbeliever, then what Jesus taught in Matthew 19 only involved believers and not unbelievers. In other words, Jesus' teachings in Matthew 19 is not applicable to aliens. Again I say, there is nothing in the text or context of 1 Corinthians 7:10-15 that would suggest such a thing. The fact of the matter is, Paul is not discussing remarriage at all. If one is to know anything about God's law on the subject of remarriage, he will have to go to another passage. What Does 1 Corinthians 7:15 Teach? First of all, there are two different Greek words that are translated ``bondage'' and ``bound'' used in the New Testament. (The word ``bound'' is from the Greek word deo.) The word ``bondage'' is taken from the Greek word dedoulotai, and is 3rd person singular, perfect, passive, indicative of douloo, which is from the Greek word doulos. Doulos, or a form of the word, is found 133 times in the New Testament (Smith's Greek-English Concordance, p. 93). The word means, according to Bagster's Analytical Greek Lexicon, p. 107, ``To reduce to servitude, enslave, to oppress by retaining servitude. (Acts 7:6; 2 Pet. 2:19; met. to render servitude, 1 Cor. 9:19; pass. to be under restraint, 1 Cor. 7:15)...'' ``To make a slave of, reduce to bondage; in 1 Corinthians 7:15, to be under bondage, held by constraint of law or necessity, in some matter'' (Thayer, p. 158). ``Originally the lowest term in the scale of servitude, came also to mean one who gives himself up to the will of another'' (W. E. Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, Vol. 1, p. 139). In no reference does douloo ever refer to the Marriage Bond (unless it can be proved that it is so used in 1 Cor. 7:15, which cannot be done). The literal rendering of the Greek words ou dedoulotai is ``Has not been enslaved'' (Nestle's Greek-English Interlinear, p. 673). This expression does not carry with it the idea of something that is to take place in the future (``if the unbelieving depart''), for as we have already noted it is in the perfect, passive, tense. ``The Greek perfect tense denotes the present state resultant upon a past action. There is no English tense corresponding to the Greek perfect'' (Machen's Greek Grammar, p. 187, Art. 451,452). For an example, Mr. Machen used the following illustration: ``It is written--which means, it stands written.'' That is, it has been written in the past and remains written at this present time. Thus the force of the statement in 1 Corinthians 7:15 is that she is not under bondage now because she has never been under whatever bondage Paul has under consideration. The kind of bondage that a person cannot become involved in, as it relates to another person, is found in 1 Corinthians 7:23, ``Ye are bought with a price; be ye not the servants of men.'' We are not to forfeit our obligation to Christ for any service to any man, thus becoming enslaved to him. In doing that, one would, of necessity, have to forsake Christ which is what the person would have to do in order to remain with his mate, as per 1 Corinthians 7:15. The unbelieving mate is leaving because of Christianity, and his spouse's allegiance is to Christ. Thus she is not her husband's servant (slave) to the neglect of Christ because she never has been. So we can see beyond any shadow of doubt from this aspect also, that Paul is not speaking of the marriage bond, because she has been (and still is) bound to her husband in the sight of God as far as the marriage bond is concerned. Thus, she is neither ``held by constraint of law or necessity'' (Thayer, p. 158); her allegiance is to Christ. Besides this, if one may remarry simply because his spouse, who is an unbeliever, deserts him, then the consequence of this doctrine would be, that it would be better to marry an unbeliever instead of a believer (which is nonsense), because there is no passage that says one is not ``under bondage'' if a believer deserts him. Get it now, if he married an unbeliever, and the unbeliever deserted, he could remarry. If he married a believer, and the believer deserted, he could not remarry. That is ridiculously absurd! The Bible does not teach it! -- Via Bible Truth, 8/15/85 ___________________________________________ LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON: In a parent-teacher conference, the teacher brought up the problem with John's taking home school pencils. "I can't understand it," said John's father. "I'm a bookkeeper, and I bring home all the pencils he needs." -- Selected ________________________________________ 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@wwd.net ________________________________________