. ____________________________________________________ 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). ____________________________________________________ October 25, 2009 ____________________________________________________ Contents: 1) When Sin Becomes Trivial (Bobby L. Graham) 2) Is Baptism Essential? (Bill Moseley) 3) The Simple Truth (Steve Klein) 4) News & Notes ____________________________________________________ -1- When Sin Becomes Trivial by Bobby L. Graham People sometimes indulge themselves in wickedness to the point that it no longer seems wicked. The danger of sin is that it can easily deceive us and eventually lull us to sleep so that our former awareness of God's will and sin's violation of that will becomes foreign soil to us. Daily exhortation is the Lord's means appointed to prevent the process of hardening exerted by sin's deceitfulness (Heb. 3:13). "...lest any of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin." The Lord said that the heart becomes hardened, calloused, by sin because of its deceitful quality. There is something about sin -- any sin -- all sin -- that is deceptive. While we seem to be faring well and enjoying ourselves, basking in the adulation and esteem of others, sin is hardening our hearts. It is through this process that sin becomes trivial, a light thing to us. In 1 Kings 16, near the end of the chapter, we have an example of sin becoming trivial in the day of King Ahab. Ahab served as king in the Northern Kingdom of Israel, in that long line of wicked kings after Jeroboam. Not one of his predecessors had deviated from the ways of evil launched into by Jeroboam. For years these kings had practiced evil instead of righteousness in leading the people of the nation. Is it any wonder that Ahab did wickedness "more than all who were before him" (v. 30)? Sin had become the usual way of life for all of the leaders of the nation. Verse thirty-one says that he took as wife Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians, and that he went to serve and worship Baal in a temple that he had built in Samaria. The Lord's explanation as to how such departure from God could take place is found in the same verse: "as though it had become a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat." Sin had become trivial to him. Remember that a calloused attitude develops slowly, so that the person is hardened in his feelings, insensitive in his response to those influences designed by God to prick and goad him to do right. The warnings of God mean increasingly little to him as the hardening process proceeds. When sin becomes trivial to one, it usually spreads contagiously so that it is then trivialized by many; in fact, the trivializing of sin becomes almost institutionalized. I hope this thought scares us to avoid sin. It is not the harmless plaything that we sometimes think it to be. It can paralyze us spiritually and damn us eternally! When our attitude toward the vulgar and irreverent speech so common in our world declines so that we begin viewing it as not so bad after all, we need to wake up. When we start thinking that one's clothing has little to do with his godliness, so that we start experimenting with styles and garments bordering on indecency, we need to wake up. When we start thinking that our children's popularity and acceptance are more important than the positive influence for good that they should exert, then we need to wake up. When we allow the ungodliness and abounding iniquity in the world to dampen our zeal to save the lost and to set examples for good, we need to wake up. When we permit the loose thinking in the world and in the church to drift into our attitude and practice, no longer striving to hold fast to the pattern of sound words set forth in the Scriptures, then we need to wake up. Sin is becoming trivial to us, and the sad thing is that we don't even realize it. "And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent; the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts" (Rom. 13:11-14). Reprinted from Market Street Church of Christ Bulletin, Athens, Alabama -- Via Guardian of Truth XLI: 5 p. 23, March 6, 1997 ____________________________________________________ -2- Is Baptism Essential? by Bill Moseley Those who are members of the Lord's church are so familiar with the above question that to ask it is to answer it. Yet we must understand that there are people who are unfamiliar with Bible teaching on the matter. Good people are being taught that one need not be baptized in order to be saved; that all one must do is to "receive Christ as my personal Savior," and that will be sufficient. But let us consider the question from a Biblical perspective. On the first Pentecost after Christ was raised from the dead (Acts 2), Peter preached the first recorded gospel sermon. After hearing that the Christ that they had crucified had been raised to a position of supreme authority by God, they then asked, "what must we do?" (Acts 2:37). Peter said, "repent and be baptized...for the remission of sins" (v. 38). Remission of sins was predicated upon whether or not those who heard that sermon were baptized. No baptism -- no remission of sins. In Acts 22 we find the apostle Paul recounting the circumstances of his conversion. Among other things in this interesting account, Ananias said to him, "arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins..." (v. 16). How were the sins of Saul washed away? The one sent by God said this was to be done in baptism. Never was Saul merely told to "just believe." Philip was directed by God to go into Samaria and preach Christ (Acts 8:5). Once they heard that preaching, "they were baptized, both men and women" (v. 12). Philip was then taken by the Spirit to meet a man in the desert; a man from Ethiopia who was returning from Jerusalem to his home (v. 28ff). Philip preached Christ to him, which was the same message he had preached to the Samaritans. In v. 36 the Ethiopian man said, "see, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?" (v. 36). Once he expressed his faith in Christ, Philip then baptized him. Other instances of baptism are recorded in the book of Acts. Cornelius and his house were baptized (Acts 10:47). Lydia, along with those in her company, heard the gospel and was baptized (Acts 16:15). The keeper of the prison in Philippi, upon hearing the testimony of Paul and Silas, was baptized along with his family ( 16:33). Peter said, "... the like figure (a figure of the water which saved Noah) whereunto even baptism doth also now save us..." (1 Pet. 3:21). Peter goes on to say that baptism is not for the cleansing of the body, but of the conscience; the inner man. He clearly tells us that baptism "saves us." Yet there are those who deny this. Finally, Paul spoke of being "buried" with Christ in baptism, and those who had done so had been baptized into the death of Christ (Rom. 6:3-4). He said that "the doctrine" preached was the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus from the dead (1 Cor. 15:1-3). Now he says to the Romans that they had obeyed a "form of doctrine" (6:17). They had not physically died as Christ had, but did something like that, and that was when they were buried with Christ in baptism. He then goes on to say that it was "then;" i.e., at the point of that obedience that they were made free from sin (6:18). Many are deceived into thinking that baptism is not essential to salvation; that it is something one does after they are saved to show that they are saved. The Bible teaches no such thing, but always places baptism prior to salvation. Baptism is not a "work of man" as some allege. Rather, it is a "work of faith" -- a matter of obeying what God has said. The shame is that otherwise good and honest people are lost because someone has told them that baptism is not essential. Have you been baptized for the remission of your sins? If not, at any phone number on the back of this paper you can find someone to help you do so. -- Via Putting the Brethren in Remembrance, December 1998 ____________________________________________________ -3- The Simple Truth by Steve Klein Most truth is pretty simple. What confuses us are the efforts of men to either over-simplify or over-complicate the truth. As Einstein famously said, we should strive to "Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler!" Jesus' statement regarding salvation in Mark 16:16 is about as simple as it gets. He said, "He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned." That is about as complicated as 2 + 2 = 4. Yet, when it comes to the matter of who is saved and who is lost, men continue to come up with a different answer than the one Jesus gave. Paul's concern for the Corinthians was that "somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ" (2 Corinthians 11:3). The problem was that the Corinthians were accepting preachers who preached "another Jesus...a different spirit...or a different gospel" (2 Corinthians 11:4). Anytime we believe what men say instead of the simple and plain statements of God's word, we're going to wind up with the wrong answer. If you think that you were saved by belief alone, and then baptized later, may I ask as Paul asked the Galatians, "Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth?" (Galatians 3:1) -- Via The Bulletin of the Church of Christ at New Georgia, September 13, 2009 ____________________________________________________ -4- News & Notes I solicit prayer from those of you who are Christians for my mother, Marian Edwards. She has been diagnosed with an aggressive cancer that has formed multiple masses in her lungs. It is also in her abdomen and lymph nodes; so probably other areas, too. Due to her age, the severity of the cancer, and a few other health problems, there will be no surgery, chemotherapy, nor radiation treatments. So she will be moved to another location to begin receiving hospice care November 2. Please remember her in your prayers. ____________________________________________________ CHURCH OF CHRIST 201 Rushing Road (at the Hampton Inn) Denham Springs, LA 70726 Sunday: 9:15 AM, 10:00 AM, 4:00 PM evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards (225) 667-4520 tedwards@onemain.com http://home.onemain.com/~tedwards/go DIRECTIONS: Take the Denham Springs exit (exit 10) off of I-12. At the end of the exit ramp, turn north. Go about a stone's throw to Rushing Road. (You'll see a Starbucks, Circle K, and two other gas stations; with each on each corner.) Turn left on Rushing Road, and go less then 0.3 of a mile. Hampton Inn will be on the right. We assemble in its meeting room, which is very close to the reception counter. ____________________________________________________