____________________________________________________ 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" (Matthew 28:19,20). ____________________________________________________ October 25, 1992 ____________________________________________________ Maintaining Self-Control by John Isaac Edwards The apostle Paul said, in 1 Cor. 9:27, ``But I keep under my body, and bring it unto subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.'' In order to bring our bodies into subjection to the Lord, we must maintain self-control. Self-control is part of three vital areas of our lives: our thoughts, our words, and our actions. (1) YOUR THOUGHTS. Paul tells us, in Rom. 12:3, not to think too highly of ourselves, but to think soberly. Solomon said in Proverbs 23:7, ``For as he thinketh in his heart, so [is] he....'' From this passage I ask the follow questions: What are we filling our minds with? Do we spend all of our time watching television? What types of literature are we reading? What do we listen to on the radio? What are our friends telling us? In Phil. 4:8, Paul tells us to think on things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and things of good report. If you're not thinking on these things you may be thinking on things which will damn your soul. (2) YOUR WORDS. The Psalmist said, ``Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer'' (Psalm 19:14). The words of our mouth must also be acceptable in the Lord's sight. Jesus said, ``That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the days of judgment....'' We must do as James said in James 1:19, ''...be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to wrath.'' Wrath, or anger, brings on actions which are not acceptable with the Lord of Hosts. (3) YOUR ACTIONS. Peter said, ``Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul'' (1 Pet. 2:11). Philippians 2:14 tells us to, ``Do all things without murmurings and disputings.'' We must be one who abstains from fleshly lusts and be found doing all things without murmurings and disputings. Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 12:14, ''...God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether [it be] good, or whether [it be] evil.'' In Romans 14:12, Paul said, ``So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.'' Whether or not we have controlled our thoughts, our words, or our actions will be brought up on the day of judgment. ___________________________________________ If The Jews Had Accepted Jesus by David A. Padfield Modern premillennial theory insists God had not anticipated the rejection of Jesus by the Jews. They teach that one day Christ will return to this earth and the Jews will then accept Him as their Messiah. I believe the Father in heaven knew all along how the Jews would react to Jesus. God had planned the time perfectly. ``But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law'' (Gal. 4:4). Have you ever considered what would have happened if the Jews had accepted Jesus as their Savior and King? Let's look at the consequences: (1) There would have been no crucifixion, and hence no shedding of blood. ``For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins'' (Heb. 10:4). (2) Since there would have been no shedding of blood, there could be no remission of sins. ``And according to the law almost all things are purged with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission'' (Heb. 9:22). (3) The church would have never been established, since it was purchased with the precious blood of Christ. When Paul addressed the elders from Ephesus, he admonished them to ``shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood'' (Acts 20:28). (4) There would be no gospel, since the foundation of it is the death, burial and resurrection of Christ (1 Cor. 15:3-4). ___________________________________________ Responsibilities of Parents by Johnie Paul Edwards The parent child relationship is reciprocal--works both ways or does not work at all. We must take seriously what the word teaches on the responsibilities of parents. A failure to take this seriously causes our family to be in real trouble. Let's notice some of our responsibilities as parents. (1) WE MUST BRING THEM UP IN THE NURTURE AND ADMONITION OF THE LORD. Paul said, ``And ye fathers, provoke not your children...but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord'' (Eph. 6:4). The word ``nurture'' refers to the training and education of a child. Physical, mental, social and spiritual training must all be taken into consideration by parents. ``Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it'' (Proverbs 22:6). (2) WE MUST NOT PROVOKE TO WRATH. ``And ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath...'' (Eph. 6:4). In a parallel text he said, ``Fathers provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged'' (Colossians 3:21). We may provoke wrath by failing to treat our children justly or by using excessive punishment. It is possible to irritate a child in a way that will discourage him. (3) WE MUST SET THE RIGHT EXAMPLE. Children will imitate our very actions. Therefore, we must guard against being the wrong kind of example. What kind of example do we set in the home? It ought to be a place where love, respect and understanding prevails. What kind of example do we set in the church? Do we attend the services and support the work of the church? Parents must be more aware of the example they are setting for children. (4) WE MUST TEACH THEM. Children need to be taught the Bible. We bring our children up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord by teaching them the Bible (Ephesians 6:4). When we teach the Bible we will be teaching the need of faithfully serving God: by obeying the gospel (Romans 1:16), and living faithfully until death (Revelation 2:10). ___________________________________________ It is not what we EAT but what we DIGEST that makes us strong; not what we GAIN but what we SAVE that makes us rich; not what we READ but what we REMEMBER that makes us learned; and not what we PROFESS but what we PRACTICE that makes us CHRISTIANS. (selected) ___________________________________________ "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness'" (Matthew 7:23). ___________________________________________ Contact us today for a free Bible Correspondence Course. ___________________________________________ Death--What Is It? We think of death as ENDING; for the Christian it is a glorious BEGINNING. We think of it as GOING AWAY, but it is really a wondrous ARRIVING! (selected). ________________________________________ Tri-State CHURCH OF CHRIST 1314 Montgomery Avenue, Ashland, Kentucky 41101 Sunday: 10:00 A.M. Bible class 10:50 A.M. Worship 6:30 P.M. Worship Wednesday: 7:30 P.M. Bible study evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards (606) 325-9742 e-mail: tedwards@zoomnet.net Gospel Observer web site: http://www.zoomnet.net/~tedwards/go ________________________________________