June 10, 2001 Volume 2 Number 23
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Back To “The Way”
Through Bible Authority XIV The NT Church Description: Conclusion We have spent several weeks and several bulletins discussing Bible Authority. The lessons were designed to demonstrate man’s need to adhere to God’s Word for all aspects of our lives here and the in the hereafter. The first lesson laid the foundation for our study by demonstrating that the Bible is God’s inspired Word. Next, we looked at God’s plan to save mankind through the church. We also learned how man began to deviate from God’s plan and introduce man made doctrines. The introductions of those false doctrines led to the origin of the modern day denominational world. This was not God’s plan. How then can we find God’s church today? How can we know? We must look towards God’s word for the answer. In our study we considered several categories that would describe the NT church. These categories are: name, organization, work of the church, worship and membership. These lessons lead us the obvious question. What church fits the New Testament description? Some major churches: Rather than spending our lifetime searching consider some of the major denominations and their practices. One of our lessons was on the name given to the NT church and the organization of that church. The Methodist Church is a major denomination. Its name is not found in the Bible nor it’s organization. They have many offices not mentioned in the NT (Discipline of the Methodist Church –1952). The Baptist church is also a very large denomination. Its name is also not found. It also employs a method of church membership that is not mentioned in the NT, i.e., potential members are voted in by other members (The New Directory for Baptist Churches). The Jehovah’s Witness from their book “The Truth That Leads To Eternal Life” (1968) teaches that baptism is not a washing away of sin, which contradicts NT teaching (Acts 22:16). What about the church of Christ?
Commitment Now that you have seen the evidence, over the course of several weeks, do you want to be a member of the New Testament Church? Before you make that decision you must count the cost. You must realize that it will require a commitment on your part. In Matt 22:37 Jesus says, "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind”. God demands that we give him our all. When we cheat Him of His rightful devotion we cheat ourselves of salvation. Jesus puts it into perspective in Matt 10:35-39 where he says, “For I have come to 'set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law'; and 'a man's enemies will be those of his own household.' He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it “ Our love for God is demonstrated by our obedience to His Word (John 14:15). This commitment is to be for our entire lives. Paul wrote in 2 Tim 4:6-8, “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.” I hope you are ready for that commitment because the rewards are indescribable.
Satan called a world-wide convention. In his opening address to his evil angels, he said, 'We can't keep the Christians from going to church. We can't keep them from reading their Bibles & knowing the truth. We can't even keep them from conservative values. But we can do something else. We can keep them from forming an intimate, abiding experience in Christ. If they gain that connection with Jesus, our power over them is broken. So let them go to church, let them have their conservative lifestyles, but steal their time, so they can't gain that experience in Jesus Christ. This is what I want you to do, angels. Distract them from gaining hold of their Savior & maintaining that vital connection throughout their day!' "How shall we do this?" shouted his angels. "Keep them busy in the non-essentials of life & invent UN-numbered schemes to occupy their minds,' he answered. "Tempt them to spend, spend, spend, then, borrow, borrow, borrow. Convince the wives to go to work & the husbands to work 6 or 7 days a week, 10-12 hrs. a day, so they can afford their lifestyles. Keep them from spending time with their children. As their family fragments, soon, their homes will offer no escape from the pressures of work.' 'Over stimulate their minds so that they cannot hear that still small voice. Entice them to play the radio or cassette player whenever they drive, to keep the TV, the VCR, & their CD's going constantly in their homes. And see to it that every store & restaurant in the world plays music constantly. This will jam their minds & break that union with Christ.' 'Fill their coffee tables with magazines & newspapers. Pound their minds with the news 24 hrs. a day. Invade their driving moments with billboards. Flood their mailboxes with junk mail, sweepstakes, mail order catalogues, & every kind of newsletter & promotional offering, free products, services, & false hopes.' 'Even in their recreation, let them be excessive. Have them return from their recreation exhausted, disquieted & unprepared for the coming week. Don't let them go out in nature. Send them to amusement parks, sporting events, concerts & movies instead. 'And when they meet for spiritual fellowship, involve them in gossip & small talk so that they leave with troubled consciences & unsettled emotion.' 'Let them be involved in soul winning. But crowd their lives with so many good causes they have no time to seek power from Christ. Soon they will be working in their own strength, sacrificing their health & family unity for the good of the cause.' It was quite a convention in the end. And the evil angels went eagerly to their assignments causing Christians everywhere to get busy, busy, busy & rush here & there. Has the devil been successful at his scheme? You be the judge. Here is a definition of "BUSY": B - being U - under S - Satan's Y - yoke. His goal-to take our minds and hearts off Christ then steer us toward the cares of the world. The Lord wants us to enjoy life, but He must be first. If we are too busy for God, then we are just too B-U-S-Y. Fishermen Two men went fishing. One man was an experienced fisherman, and the other was not. Every time the experienced fisherman caught a big fish, he put it in his ice chest to keep it fresh. Whenever the inexperienced fisherman caught a big fish, he threw it back. The experienced fisherman watched this go on all day and finally got tired of seeing this man waste good fish. "Why do you keep throwing back all the big fish you catch?" he asked. The inexperienced fisherman replied "I only have a small frying pan." Sometimes like the fisherman, we throw back the big plans, big dreams, big jobs, big opportunities that God gives us. Our faith is too small. We laugh at that fisherman who did not figure out that all he needed was a BIGGER FRYING PAN yet how ready are we to increase the SIZE OF OUR FAITH. Whether it's a problem or a possibility, God will never give you anything bigger than you can handle. That means we can confidently walk into anything God brings our way. You can do all things through Christ. (Philippians 4:13) Nothing is too big for God. Stop telling God you
have BIG problems. Stranger In My House A few months before I was born, my dad met a stranger who was new to our small town. From the beginning, Dad was fascinated with this enchanting newcomer, and soon invited him to live with our family. The stranger was quickly accepted and was around to welcome me into the world a few months later. As I grew up, I never questioned his place in our family. Mom taught me to love the Word of God, and Dad taught me to obey it. But the stranger was our storyteller. He could weave the most fascinating tales. Adventures, mysteries, and comedies were daily conversations. He could hold our whole family spellbound for hours each evening. He was like a friend to the whole family. He took Dad, my brother, and me to our first major league baseball game. He was always encouraging us to see the movies and he even made arrangements to introduce us to several movie stars. The stranger was an incessant talker. Dad didn't seem to mind, but sometimes Mom would quietly get up - while the rest of us were enthralled with one of his stories of faraway places - go to her room, read her Bible, and pray. I wonder now if she ever prayed that the stranger would leave. You see, my Dad ruled our household with certain moral convictions. But this stranger never felt an obligation to honor them. Profanity, for example, was not allowed in our house - not from us, from our friends, or from adults. Our longtime visitor, however, used occasional four letter words that burned my ears and made Dad squirm. To my knowledge the stranger was never confronted. My Dad was a teetotaler who didn't permit alcohol in his home - not even for cooking. But the stranger felt like we needed exposure and enlightened us to other ways of life. He offered us beer and other alcoholic beverages often. He made cigarettes look tasty, cigars manly, and pipes distinguished. He talked freely about sex. His comments were sometimes blatant, sometimes suggestive, and generally embarrassing. I know now that my early concepts of the man/woman Relationships were influenced by the stranger. As I look back, I believe it was the grace of God that the stranger did not influence us more. Time after time, he opposed the values of parents, yet he was seldom rebuked and never asked to leave. More than thirty years have passed since the stranger moved in with us, but if I were to walk into my parent's home today, I would still see him sitting there waiting for someone to listen to his stories and watch him draw his pictures. His name? We always just called him . . . TV. Finishing The Race At the Olympics, glory doesn't only go to those who win. Dorando Pietri was in a state of collapse as he entered the stadium for the final yards of the 1908 marathon. The Italian fell five times before an official helped him cross the finish line. Pietri was disqualified, but his indomitable spirit made him an international celebrity. A similar display of courage enabled Derek Redmond of Great Britain to finish the 400 meters in '92. Hobbled by a torn hamstring near the half-way point, Redmond hopped the rest of the way with the help of his father, Jim, who rushed from the stands to aid his son. And who would forget the sight of Tanzania's John Stephen Akhwari, his right leg bloody and bandaged, staggering into the stadium more than an hour behind the winner of the '68 marathon? "My country did not send me to Mexico City to start the race," he said. "They sent me to finish the race." The Spirit Expressly
Says ... The Purpose of Miracles The New Testament miracles had one basic purpose. That basic purpose was Proof of Claim. The claim is that the men who worked them and the message they spoke were from God. At the time there was no authoritative New Testament to validate the message of Jesus. Those who spoke the Gospel confirmed the truthfulness of their message by miracles.
Miracles In the New Testament were to confirm the man or the message as being from God Food For Thought As members of a local church, we're tied together in the bundle of life to help strengthen one another. We
hope you find this bulletin useful in your Bible study. 2
Sam 22:31
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