____________________________________________________ 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 30, 1999 ____________________________________________________ The Essential Ingredient by Robert F. Turner No man is without fault, yet we are not amiss in calling some men Christians. What sins may we safely ignore in deciding who is and who is not a Christian? No congregation is perfect, yet there are surely some congregations that are acceptable unto God. How may we determine a faithful church? I can hear the lawyer, tempting our Lord with the question: ``Which is the great commandment in the law? (Matt. 22:36). And Jesus answered, ``Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.'' No teaching or commandment of God may be safely ignored. There is no resting place this side of complete and perfect obedience. We are not to ``judge'' the law, but to be judged by the law; and ``whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, (deliberately, presumptuously set aside as of no consequence; rft) he is guilty of all'' (Jam. 2:9-12). Jesus was not choosing one law from among the many when He answered the lawyer. He was stating the basis upon which our reaction to all laws is judged. Upon this basis we consider all of God's requirements equally important and seek ``with all our heart, soul, and mind'' to serve God faithfully. How utterly blinded are those who conclude ``just so one loves God; the commandments are unimportant.'' The consequences of some sins are greater (in this life) than those of others. There are commandments which are basic in nature -- involving attitudes which affect further conduct -- which are therefore ``weightier matters'' (Matt. 23:23), but the ``offend in one -- guilty of all'' principle holds true. ``These ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.'' Final judgment is, of course, in God's hands; but Jesus teaches us to judge men (and churches) by their fruits (Matt. 7:15-20). We may even, to a very real degree, determine one's love for God by this test. Jesus said, ``If a man love me, he will keep my words'' (John 14:23; cf. 1 John 5:3). Love and respect for God begins with the reception of the seed of truth, a little leaven. The ``germ'' of spiritual life must grow to the point that the individual will do what the Lord has commanded him to do for the remission of past sins, and entrance into the ``new life'' (Acts 2:37-41; Rom. 6:3-4) before we are at liberty to call that man a ``Christian.'' We may admire the sincerity of one who is in this ``prenatal'' state, and acknowledge that ``to this point'' he has responded to the extent of his understanding; but this does not make of him a ``Christian''. Such an one is open, receptive to God's truth, anxious to know more. He ``hungers and thirsts'' for righteousness. A spirit of self-satisfaction, or pride that genders anger when his status is questioned, would be fruit that indicates a bad tree. After the ``new birth'' -- as a member of the Lord's church -- the same tests may be applied. No Christian is perfect, but every Christian is striving to be perfect. Paul said, ``Not as though I had already attained...but I follow after...I press toward the mark'' (Phil. 3:12-f.). Any attitude other than this would be evidence of serious and possibly fatal error. And these principles must also be applied to congregations. How may we determine a faithful church? It must be a church that, above all else, operates upon the basis of love and respect for Christ, head of the church. Make no mistake. This is not a ``warm molasses'' kind of love -- oozing sweetness but ignoring the word of God in faith and practice. It is a love that obeys. Which divine characteristics are important, and which non-essential? All are essential, and the congregation that is not making a conscientious effort to comply with all of the Lord's requirements is doomed. But some may lack understanding of the Lord's requirements. What then?? As in the case of the Christian, certain characteristics are necessary for identity. A given ``group'' has no right to be considered a ``church of Christ'' who has not conformed to NT standards. But people who really want to serve the Lord will have little difficulty in determining His will and walking in His ways. The big problem is congregations that have ``left their first love.'' Being filled with pride; self-willed; they measure themselves by themselves (or the majority of churches of Christ in Texas). The essential ingredient is missing (Rev. 2:4-f) and every fault becomes a declaration of apostasy. -- Via Plain Talk, July 1996 ___________________________________________ Had Any Good Suffering Lately? by Jim R. Everett Well, if you haven't, then you may not be living right, because Paul said, ``Yea, and all who live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution'' (2 Timothy 3:12). To remedy your lack of suffering, don't go out and grab the first person you see and say, ``You are going to hell,'' and then feel better because he got extremely angry and told you off. We are never justified in causing someone to persecute us so that we might suffer, nor should we glory in making the gospel repulsive. I realize that there are some people who have a ``religio-masochist'' attitude. They have been programmed to believe that they need to suffer persecution and that upon suffering, that is an indication, to them, of heaven's approval. They will knock on your door and insist upon taking up your time with the Watchtower's doctrines, even when it is not convenient. If they keep an appointment to come back and study with you, THEY are the teachers and YOU are supposed to be the student. When you strongly oppose their teaching, they will leave but they leave believing that they are better, because you persecuted them in a way so as to prove that they are really God's organization. Must we be roped to a stake and lashed with a ``cat-of-nine-tails'' to suffer? Jesus said, that those are blessed who are reviled and about whom evil is spoken. He equated that with persecution but one is blessed only if such tongue lashings are false (Matthew 5:11-12). The kind of suffering of which God approves is the kind that comes as a result of our being Christians (1 Peter 4:16). If such suffering comes, we are to take it patiently with no thought of retaliation (1 Peter 2:20), just as Jesus did (vv 21-23). There are some who are persecuted for righteousness sake but who grumble and complain and secretly relish the time for vengeance. For them, heaven has no approval. The greater difficulty required of God is that when we suffer, we not only take it patiently but that we also rejoice -- ``If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye'' (1 Peter 4:14), because in this way we become sharers in the suffering of Christ. Or as Christ put it, ''...rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven'' (Matthew 5:12). Just be what you ought to be and suffering will come. It will vary in degree of intensity, whether of verbal abuse or action, based upon the society in which we live, but, if you stand for right, you will be persecuted. ___________________________________________ Decades of Spiritual Decay Result in Spiritual Rottenness by Al Diestelkamp In a moment of reminiscence I pulled out the very first issue of Truth Magazine (October, 1956). My father, Leslie Diestelkamp, along with Gordon Pennock and Bryan Vinson, Jr., were the men who started that paper when I was 15 years old. I remember well the many planning session that took place at our house. I also remember that I accompanied my dad to the print shop in Elburn, Illinois, where we helped collate and staple the early issues of the magazine. That may have been what whetted my appetite for printing and publishing. As I began reading the articles, I was struck with how relevant they still are more than four decades later. Really, that should be no surprise, for if the articles were true then, they will be true today. Things haven't changed that much! Only the statistics have changed--and they for the worse. One of the articles, written by my father, was entitled ``Spiritual Decay,'' which noted ``an ever-increasingly passive attitude on the part of many people toward the actual teaching of the Bible.'' Over forty years ago Christians were decrying apathy toward the word of God and issuing warnings about the resulting ignorance of the Bible, moral decline and increase in materialism and carnality. If the decline was evident back then, think how far we have fallen! In this ``information age'' we know more about less important things and less about what is truly vital for our existence here and on into eternity. Instead of putting God and spirituality in first place, it falls in the rankings far down the list. Just like today, one of the major hindrances to spiritual growth back then was materialism. He wrote: ``The great urge to `keep up with the Joneses' ... [It] keeps men's minds so occupied with money that they have little time or energy for study, prayer, worship or work for the Lord.'' Does this sound familiar? Even way back then he felt the need to warn that ``Many parents promote the cultural, social and financial welfare of their children in such a way that they smother out any spiritual desires in the child.'' He also noticed that ``Many parents are completely happy if the child makes good grades, is socially popular and has a knack for business. Later they will wonder why the child (then a man or woman) is not a Christian.'' The article ends with an admonition: ``If parents will put spiritual things first (Matt. 6:33), their children will not be so religiously retarded nor so void of spiritual concepts and ideals.'' I might add that because such admonitions were not heeded by the vast majority of Christians, the spiritual decay has developed into spiritual rottenness and, if not reversed, will result in spiritual death. -- Via Think on These Things, July, August, September `98 ___________________________________________ Ready to Give Answer? by Tracy Schell There was once a man who had been a member of the Lord's church for many years. Because he was the quiet, shy type, he was scarcely ever heard in any religious discussions. One day he was cornered by a youngster who was full of Bible questions. The old man soon realized that he did not know the answers to most of them. Years of avoiding Biblical discussion had made him very rusty. Peter tells us we should always be ready to give answer to those who ask of us: ``But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear'' (1 Peter 3:15). There is only one way we can sure that we are ready to give answer to those who ask of us -- STUDY. ``Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth'' (2 Timothy 2:15). You are not going to gain the knowledge you need simply by passively attending classes or listening to the sermons on Sunday. You are going to have to read and study the word of God for yourself! You are going to have to meditate on it, give it diligent thought, and apply it. This, of course, will require some time on your part. The Bereans were careful listeners to Scripture. But they were more. They were noted for their diligent efforts to search the scriptures readily to make sure that the understanding they were getting was right. ``These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so'' (Acts 17:11). From the day that one obeys the gospel they should give thought and effort to learn the word of God. They should study. Studying is not something that can be done for a brief period of time that will suffice for a lifetime. It is rather a lifelong process! We are to grow (2 Peter 3:18). One can tell a lot about the study habits of a person by looking at their Bible. The worn, creased Bible with pages on the verge of falling out shows that it has been frequently used! The shiny, unmarked Bible which still looks like new is a sure indicator of a man who has let his Bible sit upon the shelf unread. We should all desire to adopt the attitude of the Psalmist: ``Make me to understand the way of thy precepts: so shall I talk of thy wondrous works'' (Psalms 119:27). Blessed is the man whose ``delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night'' (Psalm 1:2). -- Via The Bulletin of the North Courtenay church of Christ, March 7, 1999 ________________________________________ 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 ________________________________________