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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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April 17, 2016
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Contents:
1) "...My horn is exalted in the LORD..." (1 Samuel 2:1) (Tom
Edwards)
2) A Lively Hope (Brian A. Yeager)
3) News & Notes
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-1-
"My horn is exalted in the LORD..."
(1 Samuel 2:1)
Tom Edwards
Hannah, the mother of Samuel, began her prayer to God by saying, "My
heart exults in the LORD; My horn is exalted in the LORD, My mouth
speaks boldly against my enemies, Because I rejoice in Your
salvation" (1 Samuel 2:1).
What does it mean that Hannah's "horn is exalted in the LORD"?
The "horn" is sometimes used figuratively in the Bible to refer to
strength, as it is here. It is derived from the literal horns
of animals by which they do battle and, thus, symbolizes their
power.
So after the psalmist declares that all God's "...enemies will
perish; All who do iniquity will be scattered" (Psalm 92:9), he then
goes on to acknowledge, "But you have exalted my horn like that of
the wild ox..." (v. 10).
And, as for these enemies of the Lord, "...all the horns of the
wicked He will cut off, But the horns of the righteous will be
lifted up" (Psalm 75:10, NASB).
Compare Jeremiah 48:20,25: "Moab has been put to shame, for it has
been shattered. Wail and cry out; Declare by the Arnon That
Moab has been destroyed. The horn of Moab has been cut off and his
arm broken..." (NASB). Yes, Moab was powerless to save itself
from destruction.
Different Bible versions can be of help in better understanding some
passages. For instance, "horn" in 1 Samuel 2:1 is rendered as
"strength" in the ESV and RSV. And the CEV begins this verse,
by saying, "Hannah prayed: You make me STRONG and happy, LORD..."
(emphasis mine).
The Hebrew word for it is "qeren," which among its various
definitions is also, "of strength figuratively"
(Brown-Driver-Briggs' Hebrew Definitions) and "figuratively power"
(James Strong's Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries).
Like David, we must also realize that the power of our salvation
does not lie within ourselves, rather it is in the Lord
Himself! For as the psalmist acknowledges in Psalm 18:1,2: "I
love You, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock and my fortress
and my deliverer, My God, in whom I take refuge; My shield and the
HORN of my salvation, my stronghold" (NASB, emphasize mine).
Yes, salvation can come only from the Lord; but we can also be
strengthened in Him as we yield our lives to Him through our faith
and obedience to His word; and, as a result, be like the "they" and
the "our" of whom the psalmist writes in Psalm 89:16,17: "In Your
name they rejoice all the day, And by Your righteousness they are
exalted. For You are the glory of their strength, And by Your favor
our horn is exalted" (NASB, Psalm 89:16,17).
So may we also make that true of ourselves, in order that, we, too,
can sing as Moses and the children of Israel did, that "The LORD is
my strength and song, And He has become my salvation; This is my
God, and I will praise Him..." (Exodus 15:1,2).
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A Lively Hope
Brian A. Yeager
In September Calvin preached a sermon on hope. He established that
in this world there is no hope. In fact, as he pointed out, the
world is full of tribulation (John 16:33). He discussed the
difference between the way carnally minded individuals approach hope
from how we approach the subject matter of hope. I enjoyed listening
to that sermon, as I did all of the classes and sermons I heard here
while recovering from surgery.
While listening to that sermon I was overjoyed in considering our
hope. I was hanging onto every word in every Scripture that was used
during that lesson. One Scripture that I did not catch in the sermon
is what we are going to base this lesson upon. Calvin rightly made
the points that whatever hope you have in this world is temporary
(II Peter 3:10-12). George, in the class before that sermon, rightly
taught about how limited and fragile our time in this life is. The
Scriptures clearly show us those things (II Samuel 14:14, Psalms
90:10, Psalms 102:11, Psalms 103:15-16, Psalms 144:4, James 4:13-16,
and I Peter 1:24).
Therefore, when you think about hope, you realize how dead hope is
if it is a worldly hope. Solomon pointed this out throughout the
book of Ecclesiastes repeatedly (Ecclesiastes 1:2, Ecclesiastes
1:14, Ecclesiastes 2:1, Ecclesiastes 2:11, Ecclesiastes 2:15,
Ecclesiastes 2:17, Ecclesiastes 2:19, Ecclesiastes 2:21,
Ecclesiastes 2:23, Ecclesiastes 2:26, Ecclesiastes 3:19,
Ecclesiastes 4:4, Ecclesiastes 4:7-8, Ecclesiastes 4:16,
Ecclesiastes 5:7, Ecclesiastes 5:10, Ecclesiastes 6:2, Ecclesiastes
6:4, Ecclesiastes 6:9, Ecclesiastes 6:11, Ecclesiastes 7:6,
Ecclesiastes 7:15, Ecclesiastes 8:10, Ecclesiastes 8:14,
Ecclesiastes 9:9, Ecclesiastes 11:8, and Ecclesiastes 11:10). If all
you have in life is physical things then you most certainly are
hopeless (Luke 12:13-21 and I Corinthians 15:19). So, we should
focus on a living hope.
Our Real Hope Of Life
Notice: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a
lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an
inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away,
reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through
faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Wherein
ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in
heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your
faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though
it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and
glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: Whom having not seen, ye
love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice
with joy unspeakable and full of glory: Receiving the end of your
faith, even the salvation of your souls" (I Peter 1:3-9).
Don't just read past the Scriptures quoted above. Reread them. Think
about them. Hope is a significant benefit of being a faithful
disciple of the Lord. Hope is most certainly a huge part of God's
plan of salvation. Consider this: "For we are saved by hope: but
hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet
hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with
patience wait for it" (Romans 8:24-25).
Our real hope separates us significantly from people of the world.
Consider this Scriptural point: "But I would not have you to be
ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow
not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus
died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God
bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord,
that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall
not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall
descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel,
and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with
them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we
ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these
words" (I Thessalonians 4:13-18).
As Paul noted to the Thessalonians, in the quote above, people who
do not have Christ have no hope in death. We do! The righteous have
hope in death (Psalms 37:37 and Proverbs 14:32). Our hope is not
temporary. We don't labor for things that will perish. Doesn't that
make you thankful that you have found and obeyed the Gospel of
Christ? Doesn't that make you thankful that you can have salvation?
Let's all remember, the hope we all have in Christ now hasn't always
been presented to humanity.
The Hope We Now Have Hasn't Always Been
Notice this: "Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past
Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which
is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; That at that
time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of
Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope,
and without God in the world: But now in Christ Jesus ye who
sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ"
(Ephesians 2:11-13).
Our hope for life, as you just read, wasn't always presented to
mankind. The Old Testament had promises (i.e. Joshua 1:6), but not
as we have in Christ. Those promises of old were temporary or at
best presented in a mysterious way (Ephesians 3:1-11). Now consider
this great hope we have, that hasn't always been, and ask yourself
what that should motivate you to do.
Our Hope As A Motivator
"And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as
he is pure" (I John 3:3). If we want to see God, it'll be through
being pure (Matthew 5:8). Therefore, let the hope of eternal life
motivate you to live the right life now so that you gain eternity
(John 5:28-29).
Conclusion
We have a living hope. That is, something to live for and look
forward to (Colossians 1:5). There is only one hope (Ephesians 4:4).
Be thankful that we whom are faithful in Christ have that hope. Let
that hope move you forward to the fulfillment of the promise of
life.
-- Via Words of Truth, December 13, 2015, Volume 16, Issue 13
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News & Notes
Bennie Medlock was hospitalized Saturday, due to high blood
pressure. In running tests on him, it was also revealed that
he has had several mini strokes, since the major stroke he had 3
years ago, though none recently.
Frankie Hadley is doing better. She returned home from
the hospital April 11, but let those of us who are Christians
continue to remember her in our prayers.
Let us also be remembering Mandy (who recently had surgery
on her brain for a malignant tumor), Carol Drain and Easton Cox
(who are receiving chemo treatments), Jean Beach (who was
recently hospitalized for several health problems), James
Medlock (who sometimes goes into a deep sleep that he cannot
be awakened from), and Minnie Lanier (who had corneal
surgery for her blindness).
There will be a singing at the Golden Isles church of Christ
this Saturday, April 23, from 3 to 5 PM.
They meet at 441 Touchstone Parkway, Brunswick, GA.
WordPress version of this week's bulletin:
https://thegospelobserver.wordpress.com/2016/04/19/the-gospel-observer-april-17-2016/
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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)
Tuesday: 7 PM (Ladies' Bible class)
Wednesday: 7 PM (Bible class)
evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards (912) 614-8593
Tom@ThomasTEdwards.com
http://thegospelobserver.wordpress.com
(Gospel Observer website in WordPress)
http://thomastedwards.com/go
(Older version of Gospel Observer website without pictures)
http://ThomasTEdwards.com/audioser.html
(audio sermons)