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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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March 29, 2015
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Contents:
1) "Departure"
-- A Spiritual Voyage (Tom Edwards)
2) How is the Soul Literally Taken to Paradise? (Tom
Edwards)
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-1-
"Departure" -- A Spiritual Voyage
by Tom Edwards
During his second Roman imprisonment, and shortly before his
execution, the apostle Paul wrote his last epistle in the New
Testament to Timothy, sometime between A.D. 66 to 68.
In 2 Timothy 4:6, Paul informed his friend and brother in
Christ, “For I am already being poured out as a drink
offering, and the time of my departure has come.”
We often use that idea of “departure” today in referring to
someone who has “departed” from this earth-life.
In one of last week’s articles, on “The Outer and Inner Man,”
a boat in ruin was used to figuratively represent the case of
some people who would become physically disabled or limited to
what they once were able to do.
But there is also another way in which a ship in good shape
can be used metaphorically in pertaining to one’s death.
For the Greek word (analusis) that is rendered as “departure”
in 2 Timothy 4:6 has as its third meaning, “departure…a
metaphor drawn from loosing from moorings preparatory to
setting sail” (Thayer’s Greek Definitions).
That makes for a beautiful picture for those who will be
making their voyage to Paradise, where Jesus had also gone
with the penitent thief on the cross (Luke 23:43).
Though it is sad to see our loved ones departing on that
voyage, yet we know that they are truly going to a better
shore when they are God’s children.
And what should also bring comfort to our hearts is in knowing
that if we also submit our lives to the Lord Jesus Christ and
live for Him, that we, too, will one day be able to make that
blissful passage to join them in that much “…better country,
that is, a heavenly one” (Heb. 11:16), where God “…will wipe
away every tear from their eyes, and there will no longer be
any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or
pain…” (Rev. 21:4). There will also not be any sickness,
any poverty, any bellies aching to be fed, any prejudice, any
injustice, any of the terribly ugly and inhumane acts
that people have often committed during this earth-life.
No hate, no murders, no theft, no crimes of any kind, no lies,
no vulgarity, no immorality, and nothing else to mar the
beauty and perfection of that amazing life beyond.
Simply put, heaven is a place where sin does not exist; but
where the glory, goodness, and blessings of God eternally
abound! How wonderful heaven must be!
In view of what the Lord has in store for His faithful
followers, the apostle Paul declares, “For to me, to live is
Christ and to die is gain. But if I am to live on in
the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not
know which to choose. But I am hard-pressed from both
directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ,
for that is very much better; yet to remain on in the
flesh is more necessary for your sake. Convinced of this, I
know that I will remain and continue with you all for your
progress and joy in the faith” (Philippians 1:21-25, emphasis
mine).
Though we cannot say with certainty whom the actual author is,
the following has been attributed to not only Henry Jackson
van Dyke of Germantown, Pennsylvania, who lived from 1852 to
1933; but also to Luther F. Beecher, who died in 1903 at the
age of 91. The writing has been called…
Parable of Immortality
I am standing upon the seashore.
A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning
breeze and starts for the blue ocean. She is an object of
beauty and strength, and I stand and watch until at last she
hangs like a speck of white cloud just where the sea and sky
come down to mingle with each other.
Then someone at my side says, “There she goes!”
Gone where? Gone from my sight . . . that is all.
She is just as large in mast and hull and spar as she was when
she left my side and just as able to bear her load of living
freight to the place of destination. Her diminished size is in
me, not in her.
And just at the moment when someone at my side says, “There
she goes!” there are other eyes watching her coming . . . and
other voices ready to take up the glad shout . . . “Here she
comes!”
*****
May we all be ready for that time when our departure will
come. For if we are, what a great eternity we will
enjoy!
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How is the Soul Literally Taken to Paradise?
by Tom Edwards
In our previous article, we noted that one of the
meanings for the Greek word rendered as "departure" in 2 Timothy
4:6, which Paul uses to speak of his imminent death, is a metaphor
derived from a ship that is preparing to set sail for a voyage,
such as by hoisting its anchors or undoing its lines.
So though we might figuratively speak of the Christian's departed
soul as having taken a voyage to Paradise, how is the soul
literally transported when that time comes?
Actually, that is seen to be an even more comforting
thought! For the Bible shows that it is the angels of God
that will carry that soul to that wonderful place of bliss.
Though some would call it a parable, it really appears to be more
of an account that the Lord gives of the rich man and Lazarus in
Luke 16:19-31. For in viewing all the other passages that
are parables of the Lord, never do we see anyone mentioned by name
as we do in Luke 16 with Lazarus.
The Bible declares that when Lazarus died, he "was carried away by
the angels to Abraham's bosom..." (v. 22). Being in
Abraham's bosom symbolizes being where Abraham is in Paradise, a
place of great bliss where righteous souls are temporarily taken
to at death to await the final judgment. Being spiritually
affiliated with Abraham connotes blessings. For "...those
who are of faith...are sons of Abraham" (Gal. 3:7) and "are
blessed with Abraham, the believer" (v. 9). And, surely,
with the exception of the Sadducees, Jews would have no trouble in
believing that Abraham was in Paradise -- and not only in
Paradise, but also, according to Siegfried Goebel, that to the
Israelite, Abraham would seem to be "the personal centre and
meeting-point of Paradise." Goebel also writes, "'To be in
Abraham's bosom' is a designation, common elsewhere in Jewish
theology, for the fellowship of dead believers with Abraham in
Paradise. ...Hence this hope is to be gathered to Abraham, and to
be permitted, in fellowship with him, to enjoy paradisaic bliss" (The
Parables of Jesus: A Methodical Exposition, p. 239).
It can also be pointed out that the idea of being "in Abraham's
bosom" is based on a practice that was common at that time in
which people would recline on their sides to eat and rest their
head on the bosom of another. For instance, "There was
reclining on Jesus' bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved.
So Simon Peter gestured to him, and said to him, 'Tell us who it
is of whom He is speaking.' He, leaning back thus on Jesus' bosom,
said to Him, 'Lord, who is it?'" (Jn. 13:23-25).
According to Adam Clarke, "The Jews of those days, at their
suppers, reclined, supported by their left arm, on couches placed
round the table, as the Greeks and Romans did. On each couch there
were two or three persons; and the head of one of them came near
to the bosom of him who reclined above him on the same couch"
(from Clarke's Commentary on the Bible for John 13:23).
But what we want to focus on are the angels who had carried
Lazarus to Paradise. What a beautiful thought that is! The
saint need not worry about how to get there, after departing this
life.
Angels are said to be "ministering spirits, sent out to render
service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation" (Heb.
1:14). How helpful they are.
But notice, too, another service they will have to render for
those who are not redeemed by the blood of Christ:
In the Lord's explanation of the parable of the wheat and the
tares, the harvest is representing the end of the age; and the
reapers will be the angels whom Jesus will send forth; "and they
will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who
commit lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire;
in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Matt.
13:41,42). How extremely terrible and tragic to be one of those
who will be gathered out and cast into that place of punishment!
Paul also speaks of this time "...when the Lord Jesus shall be
revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire,
dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those
who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. And these will
pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of
the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes to be
glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at
among all who have believed..." (2 Thess. 1:7-10).
What the angels will do with the lost is certainly quite a
contrast with what they will do for the redeemed.
Let us, therefore, submit our lives (by our faith and obedience)
to Jesus Christ; so that when the angels come for us, we will also
be carried to that beautiful place of bliss where Abraham is and
all the departed saints! For that is truly what God wants
for everyone -- but we must be willing to meet His terms and
do so, if we want heaven to be our eternal home (cf. 2 Pet. 3:9; 1
Tim. 2:4; Rom. 10:17; Jn. 8:24; Acts 17:30; Mark 16:16; Rev.
2:10).
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-3-
News & Notes
Let those of us who are Christians be praying for the
following:
Danielle Howard will be having a procedure this coming
Tuesday to have a stent put in her arm so that her graft (the tube
between her artery and vein) will be working again. She has
been receiving dialysis for more than 5 years and is on a list for
a kidney transplant.
Kaleb Jacob recently had major surgery on his foot, due to
a serious motorcycle accident about a month ago.
Dexter Roberts continues to undergo chemo treatments for a
tumor on his aorta that cannot be surgically
removed.
Steve Vista is now receiving hospice care.
And also: Myrna Jordan, Melotine Davis (recovering from a
knee replacement), Mary Vandevander, Jim Lively, Deborah
Medlock (hasn't been feeling well lately), Shirley
Davis, Penny Medlock (glaucoma), Jewell Wilson, Buddy
Gornto (now receiving dialysis), Dolly Downs Moody (has
a blockage in her portal vein and some discomfort), Rex and
Frankie Hadley, Jesse Bailey (cancer), Sue Wooten
(at nursing home), and Collen 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://tebeaustreetchurchofChrist.org
http://ThomasTEdwards.com/go
(Gospel Observer website)
http://ThomasTEdwards.com/audioser.html
(audio sermons)