April 1, 2001 Volume 2 Number 13
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The NT Church Description: Membership The fifth area by which we can describe the NT church is membership. When Jews and Gentiles were added to the church it occurred in very specific way. First of all it is God who adds people to the church. The latter part of Acts 2:47 says, “And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.” The saved are those who have been added to the Lord’s church----those who are members of it. Knowing this simple fact, it should motivate us to follow the NT pattern of church membership. Jesus in one of many discussions with the Jews made the point that no one can come to Him unless God draws Him Jn 6:44. He goes on to say in verse 45, “It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.' Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me.” Let us not forget that Jesus is the "…the way, the truth, and the life” Jn 14:6 so to not realize the importance of His words is to ignore the only path man has to the eternal abode of heaven. God has placed a great deal of importance on His word. In Psalms 19:7-11 the Psalmist refers to God’s Word in a number of different ways. He calls it the law, the testimony, the statutes, the commandments, the fear, and the judgments. He says of the law that it is perfect and able to convert the soul, of His testimony that it is sure and able to make wise the simple, His statutes are right, His commandments are pure, His fear is clean, enduring forever, and His judgments are true and righteous altogether. He also says that it is to be desired more than gold and even fine gold, that it is sweeter than honey and the honeycomb and in keeping it there is great reward. In the New Testament Paul writes, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek” Rom 1:16. In fact, the Word of God is the source of faith. In Rom 10:17, Paul writes, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Paul is saying what the Psalmist said in other words. The Law is able to convert the soul (Ps 19:7). It is God’s word that produces faith, which leads to conversion and of course, membership where salvation is found. The process of hearing to understand then to follow through with that, which is learned, is common in many areas of our lives. As children we were taught to stay away from hot objects, to not play with matches, don’t cross the street without looking, etc. From those lessons we learned how to behave. Many of the lessons were to protect us from being hurt. As we grew older we were taught how to mow the law, clean dishes, clean our rooms, and take care of those pets we wanted so badly. In school we were taught about different subjects so that we can make application of it and at the very least pass the tests. For someone who would like to become a child of God they must listen to Him and what He has decreed in order to find the truth that will set you free Jn 17:17, Jn 8:32. Throughout the history of mankind God has always communicated His will to man. Never has there been a time in which we did not know the Will of our Heavenly Father. At one time God spoke to the fathers of each family directly. This is known as the Patriarchal Dispensation. He later spoke to mankind through Moses and the Law, known as the Mosaical Dispensation. He now speaks to us through Christ, which is known as the Christian Dispensation. The question we might ask is this: How does Christ communicate to us? The answer is simple, through His Word. Earlier we mentioned Paul’s words in Rom 1:16 where he said, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.” Paul also writes in 1Thessalonians, “For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe” 2:13. God has chosen this medium to communicate His Will and to produce faith in man. Certainly we can look at creation as a means of increasing our faith in God, but the true source of faith is found and nurtured by His word. Within its pages we will discover a brief account of the creation of the universe, a history of the human race with the existence of the languages, and their origins, geographical locations of nations, and peoples, moral issues to guide our lives with the intent of ultimately saving our lives. It all starts with hearing the Word of God so that you might have faith. Truth and Religion Indifference toward the truth is shocking, even tragic! We hear people saying, "It does not matter what you believe." We hear, "The important thing is that you be honest and sincere." I would not minimize the importance of being sincere but these traits of character would not guarantee that what I believe and practice in religion is acceptable to God. Consider the early life of the apostle Paul (Saul of Tarsus). He said, "I thought with myself, that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth” Acts 26:9. He went on to say that he did what he thought was right; he was honest and sincere but was wrong in what he did. Religion, like anything else, must have a basis or foundation upon which to stand. In the religion of Christ this basis or foundation is the truth. Truth cannot be stretched and still be truth. Truth is not elastic. The modern conception of the Truth is that it can be and must be stretched to include all the ideas and faiths of men, some of which are contradictory. One great failure I see among many religious people today is the failure of recognizing the value and importance of Truth. Men today elevate human wisdom to the place of the Truth. The importance of the Truth can be seen in the following:
Many other passages could be given to show the importance of the Truth, but maybe these will be sufficient to stimulate our thinking. In religion, we must not wander from the Truth. A vital question that each person must ask himself: Can I believe and practice what I practice in religion and still be found walking in the Truth? What Is Truth? Many today ask as Pilate of old, "What is truth?” To some, truth is what Mother and Daddy believed and practiced. Of course, those who would imply this would not do so in every field of their activity, only in religion. To others, truth is that which the theologians have handed down through the councils of men. To some, the truth is that which is contained in the Creed of their respective denomination. But let it be pointed out that the councils and creeds of men set aside and contradict each other. What then is truth? Jesus speaking to the Father said, "thy word is truth” Jn 17:17. The simple conclusion to which we arrive is this, unless a doctrine of practice is taught in God's Word, the bible, it is not the truth. Now then with this standard, measure your faith and practice. Things foreign to the Word of God, which was spoken through Jesus Christ, is error. "Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, hath both the Father and the Son” 2 Jn 9. I beseech you to take your stand upon the Bible, the word of God. Not the Bible and the councils of men, not the Bible and the creeds of men, but upon the Bible and it only as your guide in religion. "If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God” 1 Pet 4:11. Gifts A young man was getting ready to graduate from college. For many months he had admired a beautiful sports car in a dealer's showroom, and knowing his father could well afford it, he told him that was all he wanted. As Graduation Day approached, the young man awaited signs that his father had purchased the car. Finally, on the morning of his graduation, his father called him into his private study. His father told him how proud he was to have such a fine son, and told him how much he loved him. He handed his son a beautiful wrapped gift box. Curious, but somewhat disappointed, the young man opened the box and found a lovely, leather-bound Bible, with the young man's name embossed in gold. Angrily, he raised his voice to his father and said, "With all your money you give me a Bible?" and stormed out of the house, leaving the Bible. Many years passed and the young man was very successful in business. He had a beautiful home and wonderful family, but realized his father was very old and thought perhaps he should go to him. He had not seen him since that graduation day. Before he could make arrangements, he received a telegram telling him his father had passed away, and willed all of his possessions to his son. He needed to come home immediately and take care of things. When he arrived at his father's house, sudden sadness and regret filled his heart. He began to search through his father's important papers and saw the still new Bible, just as he had left it years ago. With tears, he opened the Bible and began to turn the pages. His father had carefully underlined a verse, Matt 7:11, "And if ye, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Heavenly father which is in heaven, give to those who ask Him?" As he read those words, a car key dropped from the back of the Bible. It had a tag with the dealer's name, the same dealer who had the sports car he had desired. On the tag was the date of his graduation, and the words...PAID IN FULL. How many times do we miss God's blessings because they are not packaged as we expected?
Sometimes people, when they are told of the need for baptism, reply that it is silly for one to think that baptism has anything to do with one's salvation. Is this all they base their belief on--whether they see it as being silly or not? It appears that way. Lately, I have been reading through the Old Testament and running into some examples of other observances God demanded which can equally appear foolish or silly to the non-believer. Let us consider Ex 29:20 “And you shall slaughter the ram, and take some of its blood and put it on the lobes of Aaron's right ear and on the lobes of his sons' right ears and on the thumbs of their right hands and on the big toes of their right feet, and sprinkle the rest of the blood around on the altar.'' Not once do I read of Moses or Aaron or anyone else in the Bible speaking of this command as being purely silly and unnecessary. Had Aaron and his sons not complied with this demand, I don't think their service in the tabernacle--or their lives on this planet--would have continued much longer. It is not logic or common sense that tells a person to dip himself seven times into the muddy waters of the Jordan River in order to be cured of leprosy, but this is exactly what God told Naaman the leper to do; and when he did it, he was healed (2 Kings 5). Nor does lifting a bronze serpent upon a standard medically or scientifically explain how that numerous people could be cured of deadly snake bites by just looking to it, but this is what God told Moses to do for the dying Israelites who were now penitently seeking mercy and healing Num 21:4-9 The Bible says, ''...and it came about, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived'' v.9. All of these examples would probably appear as utter foolishness to those who would have been unbelievers at the time. But to those who accepted God's word because of their love and faith and acted in obedience, positive results were obtained. Surely baptism is no more foolish than the commands in any of these other examples we considered. Don't base your belief on merely what you think is silly and what is not; allow God's word to be the basis of your faith. First published in The Gospel Observer (June 14, 1992) The Spirit Expressly Says
... The God of the Bible is all-knowing. He knows the hearts of men, and their intentions. For there is nothing that God cannot know. Why? Because He is God and He alone has the ability to be all-knowing. Consider Psalms 139:
The Psalmist declares that, God is all-knowing. In addition, the Psalmist also declares how God knew him while he was still in His mother's womb! -- How interesting! Food For Thought To know the will of God is the greatest knowledge, to find the will of God is the greatest discovery, and to do the will of God is the greatest achievement. We
hope you find this bulletin useful in your Bible study. 2
Sam 22:31
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