____________________________________________________ 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 28, 1997 ____________________________________________________ You Better Watch Out, You Better Not... by Dee Bowman The Devil is no fool. How often we underestimate his cunning and crafty nature. The Scriptures warn of his ``wiles'' (Eph. 6:11) and tell us of his devices (II Cor. 2:11). ``Wiles'' have to do with the Devil's abilities--abilities to concoct methods, plans, strategies for deceiving us. He's good at it. Real good. ``Devices'' are the tools he uses to make his plans work, to cause us to move toward evil. He's good at that, too. Real good. Peter tells us in I Peter 5:8, ``Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.'' This passage should lend a sense of urgency to our situation. It should tell us that we're at war and there's not time for civilian activities, only for constant vigilance and complete concentration as to the whereabouts and stratagem of the enemy. Be sober. That means be serious about his possible invasion. He is. Be vigilant. That means watch out. He lurks in the shadows, moves in the dark, skirts the periphery all the time, looking all the while for a chance to strike. Look out. Your adversary. He is the enemy. We best not associate with him. When we fraternize with the enemy we are apt to become like him. Best be careful about that. It's hard to recognize him when you look so much like him yourself. Be careful. Walketh about. He is not passive. He doesn't work a forty-hour week, nor does he take any time off. He's always on the job, working to do us harm. Where is he? Right now. As a roaring lion. A lion stalks his prey for days until such a time as he finds it in a vulnerable position. Then he lets out a gargantuan roar, thus freezing the prey in its tracks. It's easy from there on. There's a place where you can no longer turn back, folks. Be careful how close you allow him to get. Are there some things we can do to combat the devil? You better know it. God has provided an apt description of the enemy. He knows his plans, has intercepted his codes, and deduced his projects. He'll help us if we'll just pay close attention to what He says. We are not ignorant of his devices (II Cor. 2:11). God knows. We don't--not yet anyhow. We must learn. We need to read the Bible, study the word, search the scriptures. They will inform us of his wiles, how he works. We can know, but only if we want to. Do you want to? It sure helps to know. God will provide a way of escape (I Cor. 10:13). But God's faithfulness to provide does not equal our having the information automatically. We must look for the way of escape. It's in His word. Remember Jesus. ``It is written'' was his answer to the Devil's temptations. It's ours as well. Resist him and he will flee (Jas. 4:7; I Pet. 5:9). Resistance is hard. It takes resolve. It takes steeling your nerve. It takes hurting sometimes. But resistance is the key to conquering the Devil. He can't win if you resist. Give no place to him (Eph. 4:27). You can't keep the Devil from wandering through your mind now and then but you don't have to give him a place to stay. Kick him out. Make him go someplace else. Tell him he's not welcome. If you give him a room, before long he'll own the house. Don't let him win the war, even if he wins a battle now an then (II Pet. 2:26). Because he's likely to win some doesn't mean you have to just give up. Repent and start again. Repent and get up. Repent and pray God for help. Repent and regroup. ``And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will'' (II Pet. 2:26). That ought to restore your broken spirit. You can still get out of there. You can still run. Just do it. I hate the Devil. I mean I hate him! Don't you? And I don't know for the life of me how you could possibly have any trouble with him when he's over at my house nearly all the time. -- Via Online Southside Reminder, December 11, 1995 ___________________________________________ "He who despises his neighbor sins, but happy is he who is gracious to the poor" (Proverbs 14:21). ___________________________________________ Mirroring the NT Church by Tracy Schell When you read in the scriptures and see how the early Christians met and worshipped God, do you see in that description a reflection of the church you attend? Can you say that your church is like the churches established by the apostles? Do they preach and practice the same things? Think about it for a minute, and then make a comparison of your church and the church in the NT, and see how similar or dissimilar they are. The first thing we want to look at is what it calls itself. Is it Baptist, Methodist, Catholic, Lutheran, Seventh-Day Adventist, Pentecostal, etc.? Whatever it is, can it be found in God's word? Was Peter a Catholic? Was Paul an Adventist? Was James a Lutheran? The clear answer is that they were not called by human names. The scripture tells us what the followers of Christ were called: ``And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch'' (Acts 11:26). They were simply called Christians, my friends! So, where did these other names come from? They came from men. Paul saw the seeds of this in his time. ``For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them [which are of the house] of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?'' (1 Corinthians 1:11-13) Paul vehemently opposed such thinking and learned of its dangers. We should listen carefully to what Paul said on this subject, and exalt Christ and his name. He is the one who died for our sins. There is no salvation in any man or in any man's name. ``Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved'' (Acts 4:12). Here is another verse that gives us a good look at practices of the new testament church: ``And upon the first [day] of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight'' (Acts 20:7). Here we see that on the first day of the week the disciples listened to preaching and broke bread, remembering the Lord's death. Note that a day recurring weekly is specified, not a semi annual or quarterly one. How often does your church break bread? Let's see what other instruction we can find in God's word: ``Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord'' (Colossians 3:16). Note that we are only instructed to sing and the use of musical instruments is not mentioned. Did you know the word harp appears in the OT 28 times, but only once in the NT? And the NT reference is not a command to play it either. The psaltery appears 13 times in the old; 0 in the new. The flute is mentioned 4 times in the old; 0 in the new. The cornet is found 10 times in the old; 0 in the new. Do you see a distinct pattern here? Does your church mirror the lack of musical instruments found in the NT church? Take a close look at your church and see how it looks in the mirror. Does it reflect the new testament or is it something totally alien to what you read about in the Bible? Which type of church do you want to be in, one that mirrors the inspired word of God or one that teaches the doctrines of men? In conclusion, I won't try and tell you which church you should attend. I only ask that you hold any church, including the North Courtenay Church of Christ, to the ultimate standard, that of the Bible! If you can't find such a church in your area, hold services in your own home. You already have the perfect blueprint in God's word. -- Via The Bulletin of the North Courtenay church of Christ, December 21, 1997 ___________________________________________ NEWS & NOTES I mentioned last week of the possibility of the church and I having to relocate, due to a land company buying the property that we rent. A few days ago our landlord stopped by to tell me that we need to be moved out by January 31. I have already been trying to locate a place for the church, as well as a place for myself; but, so far, we have no idea where the church or I will be moving. We will, however, be sure to let you know as soon as we find out. It's hard to believe that another year is just about over. We pray that 1998 will be a good year for you -- and one filled with many blessings. I've learned recently that Bill Robinson and his wife (from Dunbar, West Virginia) have both been in ill health. Let us be praying for them. Tonight will be our ``sing night,'' in which we sing more songs than we normally do during a worship hour and have a shorter sermon. So if there are certain songs you would like to have led tonight, please inform one of the song leaders prior to the service. I am glad to say that Chris Withrow, who is visiting with us today, along with his family, has agreed to present the sermon for tonight. Let us give him our full attention. Write today for one of our FREE Bible courses. Bible film slides can also be made available for those of you who live in our area. Feel free to contact us. Greetings to each of you who are visiting with us this day. We hope you will come again. ___________________________________________ Why I Was Lost I followed my ways instead of the Lord's way. I compared myself with the most unfaithful Christian. I never learned the Bible as I was capable. I let my malice for the preacher, the elders and others keep me away from the Lord. I was too stingy to give as I was prospered. I spent too much time finding fault with others. I was too proud to confess my sins and seek God's forgiveness. I thought I could be saved without obeying the Lord. -- Selected ___________________________________________ TO CAPTURE HEARTS... by Robert Turner Having spent many years trying to bring men to Christ, and pondering repeated failures, I have drawn a few conclusions from experience. We may have trusted the story of the ``cross'' too little, and our teaching ability too much. We have relied heavily upon the assumption that if we could teach men what to do, they would do it. There is something to do all right, but there will be little doing (and none that is valid) until the subject is made aware of a need, believes in a remedy, and desires the result of doing. Information may be adequate, but motivation may be lacking. Motive is ``that within the individual, rather than without, which incites him to action.'' Peter's sermon on Pentecost made the hearers aware of circumstances which produced self-judgment: ``we have killed the long-awaited Messiah. What shall we do?'' Under these conditions the answer can be brief and to the point. There was no need for charts, diagrams, and argumentative sermons on baptism. This is no indictment of defense and proclamation of doctrinal details. Where such differences exist, and are the deferment to full obedience, they must be thrashed out. But in many cases if we would expend greater efforts to convince men of their true status before a righteously indignant God, we would not have to press so fruitlessly the details of His will. A man who realizes he is drowning does not argue about the color of the life buoy thrown to him. We strive for men's hearts: casting down man's evil reasonings, his pride, and bringing into captivity his thoughts (2 Cor. 10:4-5) to the obedience of Christ. If we are more interested in winning an argument than in saving a soul, we will certainly fail in the latter, and probably in the former. We are trying to win a man, not whip him. To change the attitude of others, so that they will be open and receptive to the gospel of Christ, we may first have to revise our attitude. We must somehow become one with the Lord Jesus, who loved and sacrificed Himself for mankind; not because we were lovely, but ``while we were sinners.'' -- Via Plain Talk, vol. 13, no. 3, May, 1976 ___________________________________________ Yes, He Won The Argument All Right! A member of the church and a member of a denominational church met on the street one Monday afternoon. In the course of their conversation, they got into a rather heated Bible discussion. The main point of their discussion was about taking the Lord's Supper every Sunday. The member of the church made his argument so strong that the sectarian had to admit that he could not answer it, and went on his way. The next Sunday morning, they met again -- this time on the banks of the old fishing hole. The sectarian greeted the church member thusly: ``Well, I won the argument after all.'' Yes, he won all right! -- Selected, via The Old Path II, August 31, 1997 ________________________________________ 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 ________________________________________