____________________________________________________ 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). ____________________________________________________ January 25, 1998 ____________________________________________________ Meditations in a Cemetery by Joe Fitch The funeral is over. Family and friends have gone. The echo of songs and sermon has faded. Silence settles like fog over this cemetery as I walk amid the graves. Serious reflections flood my thoughts uninvited. Look at those two headstones side by side. One is inscribed to Susie, a three year old victim of a childhood disease; the other marks the grave of ``Granny'' who died a few months later at the age of eighty. What solemn reminders of the unannounced visits of the grim reaper. None are exempt. All tread the way to the grave. The dust claims the mouldering body; all are penniless. The influential could not persuade death to pass him by; the rich could not buy another minute. ``And as it is appointed unto men once to die....'' That even includes me! It seems so unreal that I must die! The haunting refrain returns -- ``As the life of a flower, as a breath or a sigh, so the years glide away, and alas, we must die.'' Look at the inscriptions. All express hope for a resurrection. Doubter's words are not inscribed on tombstones. Scriptures best express man's hope. But no doubt some would prefer never to wake. Many are not prepared; many have been deceived. Resurrection means judgment. Ah, look at this grave -- the plot and plight of the procrastinator. ``I am going to come as soon as I get all straightened out.'' And my joking barb in reply, ``Don't wait until the undertaker straightens you out.'' Somehow I found no humor in the thought when they called to say he was dead. However, I remember a funeral that was even harder. Let me see.... There is the grave by that big Oak. He was a faithful Christian for years before he quit -- said he wasn't having much fun. He knew his duty and expected to return to the Lord before he died. I guess he died sooner than he expected. What a gamble to lose! I learned at his funeral of the sorrow of people without hope. The family knew the Bible, and they knew his willful sin. He robbed my sermon of all comfort and his family of all hope. It was so sad! It was such a contrast to the funerals of the righteous. All lament their death; none doubt their future. It is not difficult to find words of comfort and hope. Even more, righteousness must be consolation to a man on his death bed knowing that life is ebbing away. He could say, like Paul, ''...I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness....'' Over here lies my friend. He was not a Christian -- it may have been my fault. I wanted to say something to him about his soul but never did. I was afraid I might offend him or say the wrong thing. Oh, how I wish I had tried! May God forgive me! A cold shudder passes over me when we sing, ``You Never Mentioned Him To Me." The sun is setting. I must leave, but I will come again to think. It is strange to learn such important lessons about life in a cemetery. -- Via Plain Talk, Vol. 6, No. 1, March, 1969 ___________________________________________ COMING TO SELF by Dan S. Shipley Some have called it the greatest short story of all times. Others have referred to it as the pearl of parables. Whether or not we agree, it is not difficult to understand why the parable of the prodigal son (Lk. 15) has come to be one of the best known texts of the Bible. Its message and characters are easy to identify with. Its lessons are practical and timeless--like those we learn from the young prodigal, for instance. From him we learn that a man must come to himself before he can come to God (v. 17). This is the turning point in the story and in his life. From his pigpen perspective he can see the vanity of self indulgence and riotous living--that man's life truly does not consist in the abundance of his possessions (Lk. 12:15) or the transient pleasures they afford. Like the apostle Paul, his concept of gain and loss has been radically changed (Phil. 3:7,8). Now, he despises what he once yearned for and yearns for what he once despised. That's the way it is when men come to themselves. Some would say the prodigal had lost all. Money gone, friends gone, good-times gone, humiliated and hungry out here with the pigs and so far from home! Yet, amazingly, because he comes to himself, he comes to the threshold of a greater inheritance--one that is incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away (I Pet. 1:4). What treasure to find in a pigpen! But, in addition, the prodigal shows us that coming to self involves coming to an awareness of personal sin: ``I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight...'' (vv. 18,21). To acknowledge sinning ``against heaven'' implies Godly sorrow, the kind that ``worketh repentance unto salvation'' (2 Cor. 7:10). All sin is against God and no sin is rectified without such realization and admission. It takes a truly humble spirit to say, ``I've been wrong'' or, ``I have sinned!'' Yet none come to God or return to God without it. Jesus speaks of such when He says, ``Blessed are the poor in spirit...'' (Matt. 5:3). They seek no alibis, no excuses, no scapegoats. Like David they confess, ``Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done that which is evil in thy sight'' (Ps. 51:4). Such contriteness of spirit is fundamental to righteousness. As someone has well said, ``Lowliness is the beginning of holiness.'' Finally, as the prodigal comes to himself and sees his sin, he is also made aware of his need. Those like the self-righteous Pharisee see themselves as whole and in no need of a physician. Others, like the prodigal and publican, see themselves as lost sinners, desperately needing mercy and forgiveness. Only as sinners see such a need do they resolve to do something about it. ``I will arise and go to my Father...'' (v. 18). And thusly do erring sons come home to the Father and salvation. Even now many sons, having left the Father, are blindly pursuing selfish pleasures in the land of do-as-you-please. Not that they have necessarily left their home town--or even the church pew--but their heart is far from the Lord (Matt. 15:8). Yet He waits for such sons to come to themselves and come home. -- Via Plain Talk, vol. 18, no. 1, March, 1981 ___________________________________________ WHO CARES? SO WHAT? by Robert F. Turner Is there a ``right'' and a ``wrong''?? Is there ``truth'' beyond which is ``error;'' things authorized, beyond which are things unauthorized? Is there a standard by which such is established? We discourage a hasty answer; and suggest some careful soul-searching, before you commit yourself to something you do not really believe, for the consequences are tremendous. There is the choice between man as his own final authority, and God his Maker and Superior. At this point it is important to recognize that if God is the final authority, a revelation of ``truth and right'' can not be subject to man's feeling or approval. It must be approached objectively, and we may safely assume that God would make His will understandable to His creatures. (Who made man's ``mind''?) Then, there is the choice between man as a robot--his will, words, and actions predetermined, so that God is just playing games with Himself--or, man as a free moral agent. Walk with care! Walk with care! For with free will there is responsibility, and there must be final judgment. Ability, responsibility, and accountability; these are inseparable concepts, each supporting and necessitating the others. Even if God is removed from the scene, man must respond and give account of that response to his fellow-man, and to himself. Failing this, his existence is utterly without meaning. Put God into the scene--you can't keep Him out--and responsibility becomes awesome. Not impossible--responsibility is linked with ability; not terrifying--for the ``fear of God" is reverence for a loving Father; but awesome none the less. Its burden is cushioned by the ``good news'' of His love, mercy and sacrifice on our behalf; and by ``the recompense of the reward.'' So that when one stops to think about it--and, brother, I do hope you will stop to think about it--we can ill afford the popular ``Who Cares?'' or ``So What?'' attitude. Nor can we allow an emotional ``love to blind us" to the realities of divine authority. It is false peace that ignores one's need to know and conscientiously follow the word of God. -- Via Plain Talk, vol. 14, no. 7, September, 1977 ___________________________________________ NEWS & NOTES After having packed much of my stuff to move by the end of January, I learned just a couple hours before we started moving that we now have until the end of February; so I'll be living in both places for the time-being. (The new place, 1314 Montgomery Avenue, is just right around the corner.) We will continue temporarily to have our services at 713 13th Street until further notice -- perhaps throughout all of February. ___________________________________________ Life's Little Uncertainties by John Maddocks ``Thy fate is the common fate of all; into each life some rain must fall.'' Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Picture the scene. It's 2:00 a.m. Friday morning. I am sound asleep. Suddenly I hear a very frantic person calling out my name. I am out of bed in a second, racing towards the sound of the voice, which just so happens is coming from the direction of our kitchen. Suddenly something strange happens. I encounter something very odd indeed. Water! We don't usually keep our kitchen under half an inch of water. We usually don't have a fountain in our laundry room either. But, this morning we do. One of the high pressure water hoses which run to our washing machine has ruptured. ``Into each life some rain must fall,'' how true this is. Sometimes it even falls inside the house! Well, from this incident a lesson can be learned. Things are going to happen in this life which we simply can't predict. Sooner or later the water line ruptures; the leg gets broken; our health fails, etc... Consider carefully what Peter, by inspiration wrote in 2 Peter 3:10: ``But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.'' The Day of the Lord, the time when Jesus will return and judge mankind is coming. We have not been told when that day will be, just that it is coming. But, unlike events in this life which we can neither predict or prepare ourselves for, we can be ready for the Lord's return. ``Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness'' (2 Pet. 3:11). We can prepared for the eventual return of the Lord by living righteously. In 1 Peter 1:15,16 we read: ``But as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct. Because it is written, be holy for I am holy.'' Do you want to be prepared? Then you must live a holy life. To be holy is to be pure, or morally blameless. How are we going to accomplish this? In Matthew 7:21, Jesus said, ``Not everyone who says to Me, `Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven.'' We will be pure as we do the will of God. What is that will? It is revealed in the pages of the scriptures. His will for us today is found in the New Testament. As we read and study this revelation from God, we will learn what He expects of us and can then pattern our lives after His will. Are you ready for the return of Jesus? It is one of Life's Great Certainties! ________________________________________ 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 ________________________________________