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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 14, 1990
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Contents:
1) Where Are Your Treasures? (Tom Edwards)
2) It's Right In Front Of You (Bob Buchanon)
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-1-
Where Are Your Treasures?
by Tom Edwards
Jesus told a parable in Luke 12:16-21 that emphasizes the need to not
forget about God. It's a story about a very productive farmer, whose
crops increased so greatly that he had to tear down his barns in order
to build larger ones. He now felt he could look ahead with his great
prosperity enduring through the many years to come. However, his vision
of finally being able to take his ease, eat, drink, and be merry was
abruptly shattered when he was told that that very night his soul would
be required of him and then he would have to leave it all behind. How
tragic it is when we place more emphasis on the physical and temporary
rather than the spiritual and eternal.
W. W. Weeks once illustrated this point with the following narrative:
"Among the many thrilling stories told in connection with the search of
gold in the Klondyke is one which impressed me more than all the
others. A prospecting party, penetrating far into the country, came
upon a miner's hut. All without was as quiet as the grave. Entering the
cabin, they found the skeletons of two men, and a large quantity of
gold. On a rough table was a letter telling of their successful search
for the precious ore. In their eagerness to get it, they forgot the
early coming of winter in that northern land. Each day, the gold was
found in more abundance. One morning, they awoke to find a great
snowstorm upon them. For days the tempest raged, cutting off all hope
of escape. Their little store of food was soon exhausted, and they lay
down and died amidst abounding gold! Their folly was not in finding and
gathering the gold, but in neglecting to provide against the inevitable
winter. Neither are men to be classed as fools today who are diligent
in business and successful in the accumulation of property. The folly
is in permitting these to so occupy the attention that provision for
the greater winter of death, so soon to fall, is entirely neglected."
Let us not become so engrossed with the mundane and temporary pursuits
of this life that we have no time to seek for that ultimate treasure
which can be found through only Jesus Christ. As the Bible teaches, the
Christian must learn to "seek those things which are above, where
Christ is..." (Col. 3:1) and to set his mind on these things. The Lord
taught a similar truth in Matthew 6:19-21 by saying: "Do not lay up for
yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where
thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in
heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not
break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will
be also."
Every moment we live is a moment in which God has made possible; and it
should be our desire to use our every moment for the glory of the Lord,
realizing that our every thought, our every word, and our every action
needs to be based upon and motivated by the authority of His word. For
there is coming a time when all of our moments will be swallowed up by
one great eternity, and that eternity -- whether it be in heaven or
hell -- is based on how we our spending our moments now. Will you be
one to enjoy the blissfulness of heaven when that day comes? Remember,
Jesus asks in Matthew 16:26, "For what is a man profited if he gains
the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in
exchange for his soul?" May it be the desire of each of us to have our
treasures in heaven where they will never perish or be taken from us.
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-2-
It's Right In Front Of You
by Bob Buchanon
Please read this sentence carefully:
FINISHED FILES ARE THE RESULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTIFIC STUDY COMBINED
WITH THE EXPERIMENT OF YEARS.
Now that you have read it, go back and count the F's in that
sentence. You may be thinking, "Bob's trying to be funny again.
What's he up to this time?" But please follow along with the rules of
the game. If you have not gone back to count the F's in the above
sentence, please stop and do so right now.
Hoping that you've read that sentence and counted the F's, how many did
you find? Go back and count them once more. There are six F's in the
sentence. Most readers can find three of them. If you spotted four,
you're above average...If you caught all six, you're doing good and on
the road to knowledge because you always see things as they really are
and see the things that are right in front of you. If you don't believe
there are six, go back and count the ones in the "of's."
My object for having a little puzzle like this is to show that
something could have been right in front of you all along, but it was
just overlooked. Games like these are fun, but what about the
overlooked verses in the Bible that have been there all
along?
Preachers will read Mark 16:16 and show that we have to believe to be
saved. They'll read Acts 2:38 and see where Peter said to repent.
But what do these verses say about baptism? In Mark 16:16, Jesus said,
"He that believeth AND IS BAPTIZED shall be saved...." The verse in
Acts says, "Repent, AND BE BAPTIZED every one of you in the name of
Jesus Christ for the remission of sins...." Did you overlook baptism or
can you see that baptism is one of the requirements for
salvation? Look also at what is said in 1 Peter 3:21: "The like
figure WHEREUNTO EVEN BAPTISM doth also now save us...."
I am not trying to discredit any of the other essential things in the
plan of salvation by placing a special emphasis on baptism. I am simply
trying to show that baptism is necessary, but it is overlooked.
Don't be guilty of overlooking verses that have been there all along.
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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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First published for the Tri-state church of Christ in Ashland,
Kentucky, at 713 13th Street.
evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards
tedwards1109@gmail.com
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