Ready! Set! Go!
"They shall mount up with wings like eagles" 
(Isaiah 40:31)

 

Volume 6—Number 5 May  2004

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

READY: Christian Evidences

SET: Maintain Good Works

GO: Search For Truth: Lesson 6 
 

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A Monthly Publication of the Church of Christ  at Duluth, Georgia 
to equip the saints in reaching 
the lost through example and evangelism. 

Editor 

Skip Andrews 
3239 Highway 120 
Duluth, GA  30096 
770  476-2159 
email: Skip Andrews
 

Produced under the oversight of the 
elders at Duluth, GA
 
 

Rod Rutherford
Dennis Hatchett
Skip Andrews
 

This paper is sent free to all who request it.

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Bring a Friend to This Meeting!

May 16-23 are the dates for our 8-day gospel meeting here at Duluth.  The speakers for it are James Segars and Darrell Beard.  Both of these men live and work in Tupelo, Mississippi.  We are delighted to have them come and speak six times each over the 8 days.
James is to begin the meeting (Sunday-Wednesday) and Darrell is to finish it (Thursday-Sunday).  All of the lessons are on basic Bible subjects that will be of great value to our guests who are not members of the church.
Some of the topics will cover the home, young people, morals, being the best Christian possible, and how to be saved.  We believe that Christians from area congregations will profit from this meeting by coming and by bringing visitors.
Do you remember the days when meetings were longer, when people brought their friends and family, when area churches attended various meetings?  We hope that this longer meeting will give people such opportunities.
We are also planning to pass out a minimum of 2500 announcements in various communities in order to prepare for the meeting.
The day of evangelism through gospel meetings needs to be revived, my brethren!  The gospel is still the power of God unto salvation!  And we must offer it to our lost neighbors more and more---not less and less.
The times of our meeting are:  Sundays at 9:30, 10:30, and 6:00; Weeknights at 7:30.
Please set aside one or more of these times and come to worship with us!

As our world becomes more and more filled with claims regarding various “gods” and their methods of communication, we need to be more and more aggressive in maintaining the truth about the Bible.  If it is the book that it claims to be, then all of the other claims from all of the other sources are false!
The Bible teaches that the chain of authority that ends with the Bible is preceded by the will of the Father (John 7:16,17), the word of the Son (Hebrews 1:1,2), the work of the Holy Spirit (John 14:26; 15:26), and the writing of inspired prophets and apostles (2 Peter 1:20,21; 2 Timothy 3:16,17).
There are three terms that will help us to understand the place that the Bible ought to have in our lives: inspiration, revelation and confirmation.  Let us note each of them in this lesson.

REVELATION

Revelation refers to the method by which God made His will known to people.  1 Corinthians 2 is one of the places that can help us to see that God’s will was revealed to specific people by giving them the very words He wanted them to have.  These words made known His mind to them, and they were able (by inspiration) to make them known to others.  It is impossible for man to know what God knows apart from revelation, so “God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.  For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.  Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God” 
(1 Corinthians 2:10-12; NKJV).

INSPIRATION

Inspiration refers to that method by which God made it possible for those who had received the revelation to pass the message on to others.  In 1 Corinthians 2: 13-16, Paul explained it this way, “These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.  But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one.  For ‘who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him?’ But we have the mind of Christ” (NKJV).  When these inspired men wrote the message, it became the inspired written word of God: the Bible.  Every word is exactly as God wanted it, and the Bible serves as the message that is able to make people complete unto every good work (2 Timothy 3:16,17).

CONFIRMATION

Confirmation refers to the methods used by God to prove that this message was (and still is) from Him.  The process of confirmation took place in the first century.  It included the miraculous work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of early Christians.  Mark 16:19,20 states it in this way, “So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.  And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen”  (NKJV).
In light of these things, the writer of Hebrews points out our accountability to this revealed, inspired, and confirmed word.  “How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him,   God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will?” (Hebrews 2:3,4; NKJV).
Let us learn how to show our friends that the Bible is the only message of God on earth.  No other God exists, so no message from another god exists!  Let us encourage all people to give the Bible a chance to make a difference for good in their lives.

                                                         — Skip Andrews
 

In Colossians 4:7-18, Paul gives another list.  This is at the end of a book which has as its theme, “The risen life.”  All of the earlier points in Colossians are teachings about the importance of beginning such a life by obeying the gospel, and then, “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.  Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.  For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:1-3; NKJV).  The people who are mentioned in the last chapter are people who were living “the risen life,” being “living sacrifices,” and “maintaining good works.”
There are other examples as to how Paul often used the examples of living people to teach and encourage others.  And among the lessons to be learned from these passages is that these Christians wanted to be together because they knew how valuable good associations are!
It is not wrong to spend time with people who do not have the same ideals, values, and goals as we do.  In fact, we must do this if we are going to obey the greatest commission.  But we also must remember the value of spending time together as Christians, so that we can gain strength and encouragement from one another.
Let us close our study by noting the last of Paul’s written lessons on this point.  As he faced death in prison, he wrote to Timothy one final time.  In the last chapter, he wrote about more individuals whose lives were helpful to him.  See if you can learn from the power of good associations as you read his last words.
“Greet Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus.  Erastus stayed in Corinth, but Trophimus I have left in Miletus sick.  Do your utmost to come before winter. Eubulus greets you, as well as Pudens, Linus, Claudia, and all the brethren.  Farewell.  The Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Grace be with you. Amen” (2 Timothy 4:19-22; NKJV).
 
 

(Note: During 2004, we will promote and say a few words about the Bible study lessons that are a part of the “Fishers of Men” program.  For more information, contact Timothy Wilkes at 800 338-1530).

Lesson 6 of the “Search for Truth” series has sections on the religious background of the student, a review of previous lessons, and a study of the questions, “How Can I Be Forgiven of My Sin?” and “How Do I Obey the Gospel?”  It then helps the student to compare his religious background with the things that have just been learned.
There is also a chart in this study, “Write some of your sins upon the cross.”  This is where personal applications are made so that the sinner can come to grips with the guilt of his own sin.  We see this step of understanding in Bible stories, too (such as the day of Pentecost; Acts 2:37).
The two questions mentioned above are the main textual points of the study as the student moves on toward understanding the plan of salvation and his own accountability.
“How can I be forgiven of my sin?” is studied under seven sections and fourteen Bible references. The sinner learns about his personal sin, the sacrifice of Christ, and specific Bible requirements that must be met if he is to be forgiven.
“How do I obey the gospel?” is studied under four sections and seven Bible references.  Here he learns about the necessity of obedience, the way to have the blood of Christ applied to his sins, and the need to be on the path that leads to life.
One of the critical points in the series is dealt with in 
Lesson 6.  It is the matter of comparing one’s past religious experiences with the actual pattern that is found in the New Testament.  This is well presented here by having the student write them at the beginning of the lesson, and then compare them with the Bible at the end of the lesson.  The great benefit of this approach cannot be overstated, as far as I am concerned.  This is because all people need to be objective about their own condition, but objectivity is a very hard thing to have!  So, by putting it in writing, and then comparing it with an objective standard (the Bible), the student can make the application for himself.
After finishing this part of the lesson, the student is introduced to the question for the next study:

Since the last time I wrote a note about our new paper, “Families Matter,” several good things have developed to help us spread the word to even more people regarding the teaching of the Bible about the home.
The first four issues have now been delivered personally to 875 homes in Duluth.  The fifth issue is ready to take to these houses now.  The same houses are being targeted every month for one year to see what kind of help we can provide for our neighbors regarding the fact that “families matter.”
Several other members at Duluth have begun distributing this material to more subdivisions, adding more than 400 additional houses.  Each new group begins with “Issue 1” since they are not dated.  And at least one more person is preparing to do another neighborhood.
A congregation in another state is making plans to use the paper, with their own local information on the front.  
They will also begin with “Issue 1.”
The children who help me with one of the subdivisions are one of the highlights of the month, and I delight in going with them to these 51 houses each time.  We can get the good news to these 51 houses in about 20 minutes!