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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" (Matt. 28:19,20).
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June 9, 2013
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Contents:
1) Did Jesus Violate the Sabbath? (Irvin Himmel)
2) Sanctify the Lord (Larry Ray Hafley)
3) The Simplicity of the Gospel (Bob Hines)
4) News & Notes
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-1-
Did Jesus Violate the Sabbath?
by Irvin Himmel
One Sabbath when Jesus and his disciples were walking through fields
of grain, the disciples were hungry and began plucking ears of corn
to eat. The Pharisees, eager to find fault with Jesus, made the
charge that the disciples were breaking the law.
On another occasion, Jesus healed a man at the pool of Bethesda,
telling him to take up his bed and walk. Because it was the
Sabbath, the Jews accused Jesus of breaking the Sabbath by healing
on that day, and they charged the healed man with violating the
Sabbath by carrying his bed on that day (John 5).
Leroy Garrett, writing in his Restoration Review, Dec., 1971, and
defending situation ethics, says, "Legally speaking, Jesus violated
Sabbath laws, but it was always for persons that he did so."
From this premise he reasons to the conclusion that in certain
situations we may "bypass a biblical principle" in order to honor
"the law of love."
Were Jesus and his disciples guilty of violating God's law
pertaining to the Sabbath, even technically speaking? If so, Jesus
was a transgressor, legally speaking, therefore technically a
sinner! John says that "sin is the transgression of the law" (John
3:4), but Peter reminds us that Jesus "did no sin" (1 Pet. 2:22);
hence, Jesus was not a transgressor, legally or otherwise!
Jesus replied to the Pharisees who accused his disciples of breaking
the law by plucking grain and rubbing it in their hands on the
Sabbath (Matt. 12:1, 2; Lk. 6:1, 2), by calling attention to the
case of David. When David was being pursued by Saul, he went to the
house of God and ate the sacred showbread. The law forbade any but
priests to eat this bread (Lev. 24:9). David clearly violated
divine law. Jesus said David ate that "which was not lawful for him
to eat" (Matt. 12:4). But the disciples had not violated divine
law. Jesus said they were "guiltless." The Pharisees condoned
David's action although it was "not lawful," yet they "condemned the
guiltless" by falsely accusing the disciples. Jesus exposed their
inconsistency and hypocrisy.
Also, Jesus called attention to the priests who, by the very nature
of their duties, worked on the Sabbath day. According to the Jewish
interpretations of the Sabbath law, the priests profaned the day,
yet even the Pharisees counted them blameless. This case further
illustrated their inconsistencies in accusing Christ's disciples
falsely.
What God's law pertaining to the Sabbath actually said was one
thing; what Jewish tradition said was another. Jesus did not
admit that either he or his disciples had violated the divine law of
the Sabbath in any sense -- legally, technically, or otherwise. The
only violation was of man-made interpretations of the Sabbath law.
Jesus laid bare the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and freed his
disciples from false methods of observing the Sabbath. He
differentiated between true obligations and endless burdensome rules
that were of human origin that had perverted the Sabbath law.
Our Lord taught nothing that would authorize us to "bypass a
biblical principle" in any situation. True divine principles do not
have to be bypassed to honor love, mercy, and the authority of
Christ. Jesus broke with the traditions of the elders, but he did
not violate God's law, even technically.
-- Via Truth Magazine XVII: 7, p. 12, December 14, 1972
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-2-
Sanctify the Lord
by Larry Ray Hafley
"Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and
let him be your dread" (Isa. 8:13). "And I say unto you my friends,
be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no
more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear:
Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell;
yea, I say unto you, fear him" (Lk. 12:4,5).
When a man becomes engaged to be married, he sanctifies a lady; he
sets her apart. She is the object of his love, the devotion of his
heart, the substance of his future. Others are given no
consideration, for she is sanctified for his love and loyalty.
So, we are to sanctify Christ as Lord in our hearts (1 Pet. 3:15).
He is to be set apart, sanctified, as the sole subject of our
spiritual service. He is to be our dread, our fear, in that we hear
him alone. Our allegiance is to him and his word, "and I will not
fear what man shall do unto me" (Heb. 13:6).
Our faith and worship is neither to please men nor to be seen of
them, "for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of
Christ" (Gal. 1:10). No man, no husband, no elder, no preacher is my
ultimate dread and fear. No paper, no editor, no bookstore, no
college, no professor is my conscience or the author of my faith.
"Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou
serve."
However, my independence and freedom is not personal anarchy. It is
not license to deny or ignore responsibilities that are a part of
relationships established by the Lord in his word. Yes, I
serve God alone, but I have duties and obligations as a husband,
father, son, daughter, wife, mother, employer, employee. Yes, I
answer to God; he is sanctified, but I have ordered, structured
relationships and, hence, responsibilities to men in those
arrangements (I Thess. 5:11-14; 1 Cor. 14:23-40; 1 Pet. 3:1-11;
5:2-5).
Some talk and clamor for Christ as Lord is a mere cover for
self-enthronement. Some who cry for the authority of Christ are the
first to deny that very authority in the God ordained relationships
to life. Suppose a wife said, "Sorry, dear, I can no longer submit
to you. Christ is my Lord, and I cannot divide allegiance between
him and you. It is Christ alone that I must hear and fear. Get your
own supper." Suppose a preacher said, "Wives, are you tired of being
your husband's door mat? You are free in Christ. The Lord alone is
your head, not your husband. Do not be enslaved to a man who is
called, 'husband.' You are a bond servant of Jesus, anyway; so, walk
from that so called 'divine institution' called marriage and join
our Truth and Freedom Marriages Ministry, Inc."
With all its feigned appeal to Christ as Lord, the above words are
in reality a denial of the leadership and lordship of Jesus. My
devotion and service to my family is evidence of submission to
Christ. When a man serves as head of his wife, he is not seeking to
usurp Christ's office as Head (Eph. 5:22-29). A wife's subjection to
her husband does not mean she had two lords, two masters, to serve.
She is submitting to Christ as Lord when she submits to her husband
(Eph. 5:22-30; 1 Pet. 3:1-7).
Elders who pastor flocks among them and flocks who submit unto them
are expressing loyalty to the Lord (1 Pet. 5:2-5; Heb. 13:7,17; 1
Tim. 5:17). They are exhibits of sanctifying Christ as Lord. They
are not examples of demeaning that Lordship.
Yes, there may be abusive husbands who are cruel, demanding tyrants,
but that does not destroy the relationship as God ordained it. There
may be abusive, dictatorial elders who violate the charge of 1 Peter
5:2,3 but that does not destroy the office or work as God ordered
it.
When a man submits to his employer, he is "doing service, as to the
Lord" (Eph. 6:5-8). When a woman submits to her husband, she may
manifest "a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of
great price" (1 Pet. 3:1- 6). "If any man teaches otherwise, and
does not consent to sound words, even the words of our Lord Jesus
Christ, he is proud, knowing nothing and causes jealousy, quarrels,
slanders and evil surmisings" (1 Tim. 6:3,4).
Likewise, when brethren humbly esteem and lovingly honor those whom
the Holy Spirit has made overseers, they are "doing service as to
the Lord" (1 Thess. 5: 12-14; 1 Tim. 5:17; Acts 20:28; Heb. 13:7,
17; 1 Pet. 5:1-5). And if any man teaches to the contrary, he breeds
jealousy, quarrels and factions and is not obedient to sound
doctrine, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Tim. 6:1-5;
Rom. 16:17, 18).
The man who rails against God's arrangements, God's structures,
designs and orders, as set forth in the New Testament, is not a
promoter of the power and authority of Jesus the Christ. When he
denies the work and oversight of elders, he denies sound doctrine.
If he were to deny the headship of man and the submission of wives,
he would deny the words of our Lord Jesus Christ. If not, why not?
-- Via Guardian of Truth XXXIV: 16, pp. 490-491, August 16, 1990
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Jesus warns, "He who rejects Me, and does not receive My sayings,
has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at
the last day" (John 12:48).
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-3-
The Simplicity of the Gospel
Back before the Civil War "Raccoon" John Smith, a pioneer American
preacher, was speaking of the plainness of the Gospel of Christ
compared to the many and varied systems of men's religion. He was
handed a note from the audience which said, "if the gospel is so
plain as you say it is, why do you have to labor so hard to get
people to understand it?"
Smith replied, "I have often prepared ground in the wilderness for a
turnip patch, and though I had the kindliest of soil, and the best
seed, and the sowing was easy, I never got top or root till I took
my axe and hoe and briar knife and went in and whacked and grubbed
and cleared the ground. The Lord knows that I do not esteem it hard
to preach the gospel to those who are prepared to receive it, but it
is labor indeed to root out prejudice, and cut out systems, and
clear away sectarian trash that cumbers the minds and hearts of the
people...."
-- by Bob Hines (via The Beacon, 12/18/12)
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News & Notes
Let those of us who are Christians be remembering the following
people in prayer:
Virginia Fontenot receives chemo on Mondays, every
other week. After 8 days, she finally started feeling a little
better from the last session. It is always difficult for
her. But on a good note, the chemo has been working! For
her original cancer markers of 276 are now down to
44.
Linda Blevins found out recently that her kidneys were
working only 75% back in January, but now they are working at only
50%. She has been diagnosed with bilateral renal artery
stenosis and has hydronephrosis, along with a kidney stone.
She will be having some more tests.
On June 21, Penny Foley (Jackson Moon's great aunt) will be
having surgery to remove a tumor in her leg.
Ellen Gordy recently had a heart attack that required several
days in the hospital and two stents.
Jean Calloway is now back home recuperating from a cardiac
arrest on May 8 and continues receiving therapy and treatments.
Jennifer Crews is back in the hospital. She has been
dealing with mental disorders for many years.
Janice Webb (Anthony's mother) is now receiving treatment,
following her recent surgery in removing a malignant tumor of the
thyroid.
Cindy Crews had her second surgery for breast cancer.
Ashley Robertson Walters' recent bout with a kidney stone has
not been troubling her lately, but there is an uncertainty as to
whether it is still with her.
Pam MacDonald is still healing from major back surgery that
required adding 16 pieces of metal to her spinal
column.
Bill Barfield (Virginia Fontenot's brother) is now off a
ventilator, though they will keep the CPAP on him for continuous
airway pressure. He has been in a few different hospitals
continuously since March 2012.
Robert Howton will soon be having surgery, due to bladder
stones that he has had for about a year.
Joshua Young has been under the weather for several days
(though he was able to be with us last Sunday, but not totally over
it). It is very rare for him to be ill.
* Let us also be remembering the following
in prayer: Tom
Smitherman (Lee's father) who has been diagnosed with an
aggressive prostate cancer; Cheryl Crews who has
some chronic ailments; and Shirley Young who suffers from
fibromyalgia.
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The Steps That Lead to Eternal Salvation
1) Hear the gospel, for that is how faith comes (Rom.
10:17; John 20:30,31).
2) Believe in the deity of Christ (John 8:24; John
3:18).
3) Repent of sins (Luke 13:5; Acts 17:30).
4) Confess faith in Christ (Rom. 10:9,10; Acts
8:36-38).
5) Be baptized in water for the remission of sins
(Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; 22:16; Rom. 6:3,4; Gal. 3:26,27; 1 Pet.
3:21).
6) Continue in the faith; for, if not, salvation can
be lost (Heb. 10:36-39; Rev. 2:10; 2 Pet. 2:20-22).
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Park Forest
CHURCH OF CHRIST
9923 Sunny Cline Dr., Baton Rouge, LA 70817
Sunday services: 9:00 AM (Bible class); 10 AM & 6 PM (worship)
Tuesday: 7 PM (Bible class)
evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards (225) 667-4520
Tom@ThomasTEdwards.com
http://ThomasTEdwards.com/go
(Gospel Observer website)
http://ThomasTEdwards.com/audioser.html
(audio sermons)