____________________________________________________ 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). ____________________________________________________ May 17, 1998 ____________________________________________________ Great Themes From Acts Salvation by Tom Roberts The ministry of Jesus was inextricably connected to salvation. In fact, the very name given to him by the angel of God, ``Jesus'' (Luke 1:31), is of Hebrew origin (Joshua): ``Jehovah is Savior.'' As Joseph was told, ``It is he that shall save his people from their sins'' (Matt. 1:21). Not a Jewish rabbi, sociologist, revolutionary or confused dreamer, Jesus was the Christ, anointed of God, sent from heaven to ``seek and save that which was lost'' (Luke 19:10). The Book of Acts, describing the spread of salvation in the name of Jesus of Nazareth throughout the Jewish and Roman worlds, made no effort to disguise this theme of the apostles. The volume was not a social commentary, a comprehensive history of the day, nor an atlas of ancient civilizations. The thrust was plain and clear, without apology, but with sure defense against those who might have labeled its message bigoted and self-righteous. Quite clearly, the world was lost and salvation could be found only in the name of Jesus. ``And in none other is there salvation: for neither is there any other name under heaven, that is given among men, wherein we must be saved'' (4:12). This bold and distinctive message allowed no doubt, made no exceptions and permitted no quarter. Jesus was Savior and, without him, every man was eternally and irretrievably lost. Modern religions are embarrassed by such undisguised evangelism founded upon such exclusive claims. Most would be magnanimous and place Jesus among the company of ``great''' religious leaders like Mohammed, Buddha, or some other. But none of them are willing to grant to Jesus his rightful place as the only Savior. Without a moment's hesitation, Luke declared the message of the apostles as one in complete harmony with the claims and ministry of Jesus. Its vision of Jesus was crystal clear, its clarion call rings from first century Rome to twentieth century America: Jesus, and only Jesus, saves! Certified by the Resurrection How could Luke and the apostles speak with such certainty? What gave them the assurance and boldness with which to declare salvation in the name of Jesus? Luke clearly showed that faith in Jesus was predicated on his resurrection from the dead. Having witnessed the resurrection (1:9), the apostles were not inclined to be quiet about the matter. Jesus had told them to witness (1:8), beginning at Jerusalem (Luke 24:48) and, having received the Holy Spirit, they began to do so. The very first sermon under the Testament of Christ threw down the gauntlet: God sent Jesus, certified him by signs and wonders, you killed him, God raised him up (2:22-24). This was their explanation which remains ours today. Jesus died, was buried three days and nights, and rose from the dead. There is no salvation in any other for Mohammed and all others died, were buried and are still in the tomb. The conclusion of such evidence pointed to one truth: ``Let all the house of Israel therefore know assuredly that God hath made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom ye crucified'' (v. 36). Jesus, and only Jesus, has been certified by God. Turn the World Upside Down The first sermon resulted in 3000 souls obeying the gospel ``unto remission of sins'' (2:38). Later, the number of men rose to 5000 (4:4), with many priests becoming obedient (6:7). The message continued to be: ``Repent ye therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that so there may come seasons of refreshing from the presence of the Lord'' (3:19). Opposition, threatenings, beatings and imprisonment did not deter these men. Luke detailed that the disciples rejoiced that they were worthy to suffer for the name (5: 41), and they ``ceased not to teach and to preach Jesus as the Christ'' (5:42). Samaritans received the gospel (Acts 8:9-25), as did the eunuch from Ethiopia (8:26-40). Saul, the persecutor, became a believer (Acts 9, 22, 26) and, through him, people throughout Asia Minor (13:1--14:28) and Europe (15:36--27:15). Everywhere the message was the same: ``Be it known unto you therefore, brethren, that through this man is proclaimed unto you remission of sins; and by him every one that believeth is justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses'' (13:38, 39). The Gentiles came under the same gospel (Acts 10, 11, 15) and efforts to turn the gospel of Christ into a ``law-gospel'' were soundly defeated. Salvation under the Law of Moses was based upon perfect law-keeping, which, wrote James and the apostles, ``put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we are able to bear'' (15:10). Salvation in Christ was by ``justification of faith,'' a subject profoundly explored by Paul in his letters to the Romans, Galatians, etc. Judaizing teachers opposed the gospel and accused Paul of ``turning the world upside down'' (17:6). The message of salvation, so beneficent and propitious, is controversial only to those who reject its wisdom, and power. To those ``who are being saved, it is the power of God'' (1 Cor. 1:18), neither a stumbling block nor foolishness. But one can scarcely be indifferent to it. As someone said of Paul: ``When he entered a town with the gospel, he started a church or a riot, and sometimes both.'' On trial for his life before Agrippa, Paul tried to convert his judge, having this response: ``With but little persuasion thou wouldest fain make me a Christian'' (26:28). One might not agree with the message, one might even fight against it, but one could not misunderstand: without Christ, you are lost. Felix was terrified by the message of judgment for sin (24:25), but sent Paul away. Before Jews and Greeks, Romans and Ethiopians, slaves and masters, common people as well as kings and governors, the message of salvation was proclaimed. The whole world heard it (Col. 1:23). As Luke's chronicle of the Acts came to a close, we see Paul in jail at Rome, pressing his case to all who would come to him: ``Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness, none forbidding him'' (28:32). ``Preach the Word'' It is an honor and a privilege to know that we are fellow-laborers with these godly men and women in the proclamation of the same saving message. The power of the gospel (Rom. 1:16) has not diminished with years or distance; it still contains the same saving message. There is not one whit difference in the message of the first century Christians and that preached by faithful brethren today. The seed (Luke 8:11) is the same, the harvest is the same. Only the sowers are different, perhaps. We need to be less apologetic about preaching it. Perhaps we need to have more conviction of the rightness and distinctiveness of the message. Perhaps we should not be embarrassed by charges of bigotry and self-righteousness when we speak out. Perhaps we should be more aggressive and bold in attacking strongholds of error. But we have this assurance: wherever good and honest hearts are touched by the message of Jesus, sins will be forgiven and salvation will be granted. God is still ``visiting the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name'' (Acts 15:14). Let us pray to God that we be counted worthy to stand with the giants of past years and tell the world of saving grace. ``Jesus saves! Jesus saves!'' ___________________________________________ He Did Not Perish Alone by David Padfield The book of Joshua records the conquest of the land of Canaan. It shows us the triumph of faith at Jericho, and the far reaching consequences of sin as Israel was defeated at Ai. With full faith in the power of God, Joshua had sent 3,000 soldiers to attack Ai (Joshua 7:1-5). It came as a great shock when this little town not only stayed the attack, but killed 36 Israelites. Joshua, despondent over this defeat, tore his clothing and fell to the ground in prayer. God explained to Joshua there was sin in the camp of Israel. While this sin remained unpunished God would not be with them. In Joshua 7:21 we find Achan had sinned by stealing goods at Jericho. After Achan's confession ``Joshua and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, the silver, the garment, the wedge of gold, his sons, his daughters, his oxen, his sheep, his tent and all that he had and they brought them to the valley of Achor ... so all Israel stoned him with stones; and they burned him with fire after they had stoned them with stones'' (Joshua 7:24, 25). One commentator observed that ``Public executions are public examples.'' Years later, after the conquest of Canaan, we find a sermon in which the sin of Achan is recalled. ``Did not Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the accursed thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? And that man did not perish alone in his iniquity'' (Joshua 22:20). We need to remember that Achan ``did not perish alone.'' Thirty-six of Achan's comrades, plus his sons and daughters, died because of his sin. I do not know much about Achan, but I am certain that if you could talk to him today he would tell you he had no idea how many lives his sin would affect. The tragedy is that he did not think about what his sin would do to other people. None of us lives in a vacuum. Our actions have a lot of bearing on the eternal destiny of others. Paul tells us that ``none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself'' (Romans 14:7). Have you ever thought about how your sins affect your spouse, children and those you work with? When parents forsake the assembling of the saints their children must suffer the consequences, i.e., growing up without a knowledge of the Lord. I have met too many parents who waited till their children were almost grown before they tried to teach them the Bible. Most of the time it's a case of ``too little, too late.'' In a divorce, it is the children who have to pay the highest price. They have to pay for the immorality of their mother or father. For six years I was a volunteer tutor in the public schools. I do not believe it is a coincidence that all the children I tutored came from broken homes. They needed help at school because no one would help them at home. Sometimes parents have to pay the price for the sin of their children. ``A foolish son is the ruin of his father'' (Prov. 19:13). The grief inflicted is not because the children hate their parents; I'm afraid it's because they just don't care. I pray that we can all learn a lesson from Achan without having to learn it the hard way. -- Via Reflections On Truth ___________________________________________ NEWS & NOTES Virtually, all the bulletins for `92 and `93 have now been uploaded to The Gospel Observer web site. I now have the bulletins for `94 and `95 to convert from their DTP format to ASCII, so that they, too, can be used on the InterNet. Currently, there are 325 of our weekly bulletins there. (The address for it is shown below.) I have some good news! Rick Fleeman has agreed to preach for us every last Sunday morning of the month. We are truly glad for his desire to do this, and we appreciate his volunteering. I for one am really looking forward to hearing his lessons. (We used to have one of the men speak for us on every last Sunday morning of the month, and have different men give short talks after the Wednesday night Bible class; but it has been a while since we have had anyone other than me to do this. So it will be good to have Rick with us on a regular basis -- even though it is just once a month.) Here's some more good news! John Pitman, who preaches in Louisa, Kentucky, is going to start bringing a van-load of a half-a-dozen people to be with us during our Wednesday night Bible class--and to also be with us regularly. Their midweek service is on a Thursday, so it won't interfere. I imagine some of these folks will be coming more than 40 miles to be with us. Greetings to each of you this day -- and especially to our visitors. We are glad for your presence. Free Bible courses are available upon request. ________________________________________ Tri-State CHURCH OF CHRIST 1314 Montgomery Avenue, 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 ________________________________________