[Biblemat] B> Gospel Observer 1/14/07
tedwards at onemain.com
tedwards at onemain.com
Fri Jan 19 09:10:46 CST 2007
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THE GOSPEL OBSERVER
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"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).
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January 14, 2007
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Contents:
1) "He Careth For You" (David McClister)
2) Worse than Sodom (Stacey E. Durham)
3) News & Notes
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-1-
"He Careth For You"
by David McClister
One of the most beautiful statements in all the Bible is found
in 1 Peter 5:7 -- "casting all your anxiety upon him, because he
careth for you" (ASV). The apostle here combines commandment and
fact in a most assuring way for every Christian. How great it is to
know that we are not faced with the unpleasant task of having to
worry our lives through or become dragged down by the day-to-day
problems which are seemingly capable at times of piling up much
faster than we can deal with them. By the grace and love of God, we
are spared from the nervousness which plagues those outside of
Christ. All we need to do when the worries come is hand them over
to God and let Him take care of them.
What a blessing this is! Yet all too often we neglect it and
find ourselves needlessly grappling with our fears and worries. We
often spend far too much time worrying about the bills, getting out
of debt, the security of our jobs, our health, our safety, and a
host of other things which really distract us from our main job of
being the people of God first and making spiritual things our
primary concern. Before we know it we are so bogged down in anxiety
that we have lost sight of our spiritual concerns and have become
like the rest of the world -- spending all our time minding the
things of this life, rather than paying attention first to the
things of heaven.
For this reason, it is good to step back once in a while and
evaluate just how we are living our lives. We all need, from time
to time, to pull ourselves up from the details of the bills, job,
etc. and make sure that heaven still is our chief desire. That is
not to say that we must abandon all responsibility, but that we
must ever be sure that we are not losing sight of our most
important responsibility, which is obeying God. But even more than
this, we need to take all of those cares and worries and deposit
them squarely into the hands of God. He is far more capable of
dealing with them than we are, for He is, after all, the Creator of
all things. Surely a God as powerful as the one we worship can
handle the problems we mortals face. Yet the facts are more
encouraging still.
Did you ever wonder why it is that God wants us to let Him
handle our worries? It is not because God particularly enjoys
having problems heaped upon Him, even though He can deal with them
easily. No, God wants to take on our problems so that we can keep
our sights set on heaven without any distractions. We need to
realize that God wants us to be saved. The Scriptures plainly
teach, "The Lord is...not wishing that any should perish, but that
all should come to repentance" (2 Pet. 3:9), and "...God our
Savior...would have all men to be saved, and come to the knowledge
of the truth" (1 Tim. 2:4). God is on our side! He wants to see us
be faithful to Him, and so He will deal with our problems so that
we can concentrate upon being faithful and making it to heaven.
This is a piece of what it means that "he careth for you."
Thus we are commanded to cast our cares upon God. The apostle
Paul issued the same exhortation in Philippians 4:6: "In nothing be
anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication with
thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God." This is not
merely an option open to the Christian, nor is it a casual
suggestion. It is a commandment of the Lord delivered by His
apostles. The plain and simple fact is that God does not want us
wasting our time worrying over things that have not yet happened to
us. He wants us to spend our time wisely (Eph. 5:15f),
concentrating on the good we may do in His service now. Let God
take care of the problems of the future. As Jesus said, "Be not
therefore anxious for the morrow: for the morrow will be anxious
for itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof" (Matt.
6:34). It is a matter of letting God be God, letting faith be
faith, and letting today be spent in His service.
God has designed the Christian life to be one of supreme
serenity and peace, and there is no good reason why any Christian's
life should be otherwise. Sure, troubles will come. They come to
all men. But the great thing about our life in Christ is that we do
not have to face them helplessly or alone. God has volunteered to
handle our fears, cares, and anxieties for us. Now, with such fears
out of the way, how much time do you suppose that leaves us for
pleasing God? All of it! And what shall be the result for us? "And
the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall guard your
hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 4:7).
-- Via Guardian of Truth XXIX: 7, pp. 193, 217, April 4, 1985
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-2-
Worse than Sodom
by Stacey E. Durham
Sodom and Gomorrah were places of such immeasurable evil and
sin that God utterly destroyed both cities (Gen. 19). In those
cities were all types of wickedness, including the predominant sin
of homosexuality. Their sinfulness was so complete that not even
ten righteous souls could be found there, for which God would have
spared the cities.
With that event of God's wrath, Sodom and Gomorrah became
synonymous with sin and judgment. The writers of the Scriptures
often made references to these cities in their efforts to
illustrate the wickedness and destinies of those who sinned against
God (Deut. 29:23; 32:32; Isa. 1:9-10; 3:9; Jer. 23:14; Lam. 4:6;
Ezek. 16:46-63; 2 Pet. 2:6). Comparisons were made between Sodom
and sinful nations, cities, and individuals that stood in
opposition to God.
Jesus also made such comparisons, but He identified wickedness
that exceeded even that of Sodom. In particular, Matthew records
that Jesus sent out His twelve apostles with very specific
instructions. He told them to go and preach the message, "The
kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matt. 10:7). He empowered them to
perform miracles of healing, raising of the dead, cleansing of
lepers, and casting out of demons (Matt. 10:8). And for any city
that rejected the Lord's apostles, Jesus said, "It shall be more
tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of
judgment, than for that city" (Matt. 10:15). Likewise, Jesus said
of the city of Capernaum, which had rejected Him and His message,
"You shall descend to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred in
Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day.
Nevertheless, I say to you, that it shall be more tolerable for the
land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for you" (Matt.
11:23-24).
We must appreciate the gravity of the Lord's words in these
passages. For the cities that Jesus identified, their offense was
considered worse than that of Sodom. If Sodom's sins were so grave
that the wrath of God destroyed the city from the earth, then what
punishment must await those who have committed the offenses of
Capernaum?
Exactly what did Capernaum do that deserved such a stern
rebuke? The answer is that the people rejected the Son of God and
His message. This is the offense that the Lord declared to be less
tolerable than the reprehensible sins of Sodom. Those cities that
rejected His apostles likewise rejected the Lord, for "it is not
you who speak, but it is the Spirit of your Father who speaks in
you" (Matt. 10:20). Also, when Jesus sent out the seventy, two by
two, He said, "The one who listens to you listens to Me, and the
one who rejects you rejects Me; and he who rejects Me rejects the
One who sent Me" (Luke 10:16).
Consider this: Could there be anything worse than rejecting the
Son of God? He is the Almighty (Rev. 1:8), the Preeminent One
(Col. 1:15-18), the fullness of God (Col. 1:19; 2:9), and the One
through whom all things were made (John 1:1-3)! He is the
revelation of grace and truth (John 1:17), the declaration of God
to mankind (John 1:18), and the greatest extension of God's love to
the world (John 3:16)! He is the One who allowed the shedding of
His own innocent blood so that we, being guilty of sin, could live
in His glory for eternity! I could go on and on with descriptions
of His glory, but the point is this: Who are we to reject HIM?!? I
realize that all sin carries the weight of eternal condemnation,
but to have rejected the generous offer of God's love through
Christ will haunt lost souls for eternity.
So then, considering the glory, grace, and love of the Lord,
can we not still rightly say that to reject the lord Jesus is worse
than the sins of Sodom? Indeed, it is, and the punishment of those
who reject Him is a fearful thought. Therefore, let us hear His
word and accept it, receiving as the benefit the salvation of our
souls with the Lord for eternity.
-- Via Creekview Bulletin
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-3-
News & Notes
Here are some updates on people that we who are Christians can
continue praying for:
Chuck Bartlett, in writing about his wife who recently had her
thyroid removed: "Many have been asking how Debbie has been doing
and what were the results (cancer or no cancer). Well, we went to
the doctor today and he said, 100% no cancer. We are very thankful
for that. Debbie still gets tired easily, but that is improving.
Thank you all for your prayers and concern (and cards, emails,
calls). We have so much to be thankful for. God bless."
After spending several weeks in Missouri, and not able to
return home because of her health, Annie Mae Jackson is now back
home. However, she will have to be on oxygen 24 hours a day for
the rest of her life, due to her heart functioning at only 30%.
Let us pray that she'll be able to adjust to this necessity without
any trouble.
Marion Edwards (my mother) has made some improvement, while
rehabilitating in a nursing home, and was recently told that she
might possibly be able to return home in a couple weeks.
The following update is from Jackie Evans about her husband:
"Just wanted to let you know that RJ has been admitted to the
hospital again. He started his chemotherapy treatments about a
month ago and the first two treatments went well -- only a day or
two of feeling bad. However, after his third treatment he began to
have nausea and vomiting and just feeling worse every day. We
talked to the doctor several times and he prescribed various
anti-nausea medications, etc., but nothing seemed to help. Finally
he had to go to the emergency room Tuesday night and was admitted
to the hospital on Wednesday. He is still very sick and the IV
meds they are giving him don't seem to be helping very much.
Please remember him in your prayers. I am planning to talk with
his oncologist tomorrow and hopefully, he will come up with
something new to treat him with. He has lost a lot of weight and
is very weak and discouraged.
"Again, please keep praying for his recovery."
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MYRTLE STREET CHURCH OF CHRIST
1022 Myrtle Street
Denham Springs, LA 70726
(225) 664-8208
Sunday: 9:15 AM, 10:00 AM, 4:00 PM
Wednesday: 7:00 PM
evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards (225) 667-4520
e-mail: tedwards at onemain.com
web site: http://home.onemain.com/~tedwards/go
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