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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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October 19, 2014
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Contents:
1) The Death of Paul (Doy Moyer)
2) All That Is In The World (Jerry Curry)
3) News & Notes
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-1-
The Death of Paul
by Doy Moyer
"If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take
up his cross daily, and follow Me" (Luke 9:23). This is a difficult
saying. Anyone who desires to follow Jesus and go to Heaven will
have to entirely give up "self," even his whole life, to be a
sacrifice well-accepted by God (Rom 12:1). This is something that
Paul well understood and something we need to understand.
The Scriptures don't speak of Paul's physical death, but they do
speak of his death to the world. This is at least in part what Jesus
had in mind by saying, "take up his cross daily and follow Me." The
cross was an instrument of suffering and death; the one who takes up
his cross will die. Paul took up the cross daily and was able to
say, "I die daily" (1 Cor 15:31). He took seriously the Lord's
words.
Death is "separation." When Paul spoke of dying, he meant that he
was being separated from the passions and desires of the world. "Now
those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its
passions and desires" (Gal 5:24). Paul said we are to crucify the
flesh; in other words, take up the cross daily. We are to "crucify"
our passions every day to live whole- heartedly for the Lord. "But
may it never be that I should boast, except in the cross of our Lord
Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me and I
to the world" (Gal 6:14).
When one "dies" to the world, he "separates" himself from sin. We
must resolve not to continue in the evil things of the world. Upon
our obedience to the gospel, we put the old man to death and were
raised to walk a new life:
"What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may
abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer
in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into
Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried
with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised
from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should
walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the
likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of
His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with
Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no
longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from
sin" (Rom 6:1-7).
We die to sin when we are baptized into Christ, but in order to keep
sin from coming back into our lives, we must continue to "crucify"
the passions and desires daily, resolving to live only for Christ.
We need to make sure we stay separated from sin.
I marvel at Paul's commitment. When faced with the prospect of being
physically put to death for the cause of Christ, he was resolved to
be faithful. His companions tried to keep him from going to
Jerusalem, knowing that he would be bound there. He responded, "What
do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not
only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the
Lord Jesus" (Acts 21:13). He was a man who had truly taken up his
cross and followed Jesus. He was willing to lose his life; and in
doing so, he found it.
If we want to live, we must die. That is the great paradox of
discipleship. To be alive to God in Christ Jesus (Rom 6:11), we must
be dead to sin and passions of the flesh. One who is armed with this
mind will not choke at persecution and even physical death for the
name of Christ. He has an enduring reward in Heaven. "It is a
trustworthy statement: For if we died with Him, we shall also be
alive with Him; If we endure, we shall also reign with Him; if we
deny Him, he also will deny us" (2 Tim 2:11-12). Let us be resolved
to say,
"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but
Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I
live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for
me" (Gal 2:20).
-- Via the bulletin of the Eastside church of Christ (Baytown, TX),
October 19, 2014
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-2-
All That Is In The World
by Jerry Curry
"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If
any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For
all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the
eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the
world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that
doeth the will of God abideth forever" (1 John 2:15-17). The
influence of Satan in the world is emphasized later in this same
epistle by John. "We know that we are of God, and the whole world
lies under the sway of the wicked one" (1 John 5:19). The phrase
"all that is in the world" refers to those thoughts and actions that
are influenced by Satan. Let's notice two examples of Satan's
attempt to influence as he tempts via the lust of the flesh, lust of
the eyes and the pride of life.
Temptation of Jesus
"And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of
God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered
and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by
every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:3-4).
Satan, appealing to the lust of the flesh, tempts Jesus to satisfy
His hunger by turning the stones to bread.
"Then devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a
pinnacle of the temple, And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of
God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels
charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up,
lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto
him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God"
(Matthew 4:5-7). Satan, appealing to the pride of life, tempts Jesus
to prove that he is the Son of God by calling on God to save Him as
he casts Himself off of the temple.
"Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and
sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt
fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence,
Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and
Him only shalt thou serve" (Matthew 4:8-10). Satan, appealing to the
lust of the eyes, tempts Jesus by offering Him the wealth of the
world.
Temptation of Eve
"Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which
the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God
said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman
said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the
garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the
garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye
touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye
shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat
thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods,
knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good
for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be
desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did
eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat"
(Genesis 3:1-6). Eve saw that the tree was good for food (lust of
the flesh); the fruit of the tree was pleasant to the eyes (lust of
the eyes); and that eating the fruit would make one wise (pride of
life).
May we be on guard as we live each day, knowing that Satan will be
about tempting us with all that is in the world, the lust of the
flesh, lust of the eyes and the pride of life.
-- Via The Bulletin of the church of Christ at New Georgia
(Rogersville, AL), January 12, 2014
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-3-
News & Notes
I and others would appreciate the prayers of the saints for these
following people:
Steve Wolfgang posted the following on October 14 about his
wife Bette: "the neurosurgeon at Rush is advising to move
ahead with preparations for the most non-invasive procedure to deal
with the aneurysm. This includes not only standard tests for medical
clearances but a 2nd MRA for clarity as well. The aneurysm is so
small that intervention would not be indicated if it seemed stable,
but it appears to be growing. Surgery could occur next week, or
possibly the week after, depending upon medical clearances. Prayers
for my sweet Bette MUCH appreciated!"
Let us also continue to include on our prayer list the following for
their health: Virginia Fontenot, Marie Turner, Myrna
Jordan, Jim Lively, Danielle Howard, Carol Drain, Ronnie Davis,
Rex and Frankie Hadley, Jewel Wilson, Mary Vandevander, Deborah
Medlock, Shirley Davis, Sue Wooten, Dexter Roberts, and
Colleen Henson.
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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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Tebeau Street
CHURCH OF CHRIST
1402 Tebeau Street, Waycross, GA 31501
Sunday services: 9:00 AM (Bible class); 10 AM & 5 PM (worship)
Wednesday: 7 PM (Bible class)
evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards (912) 614-8593
Tom@ThomasTEdwards.com
http://ThomasTEdwards.com/go
(Gospel Observer website)
http://ThomasTEdwards.com/audioser.html
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