And take…the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Ephesians 6:17
THE
SPIRIT’S
SWORD
Volume 19, Number
01
09/04/2016
Published
by
Mt. Baker
church of Christ
Location:
1860 Mt. Baker HWY
Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 30821
Bellingham, WA 98228
(360) 752-2692
Sunday:
Bible Classes..........9:30 AM
Worship..10:30AM; 6:00PM
Wednesday:
Bible Classes.........7:00 PM
All sing last Wednesday
Web sites:
Mt. Baker church
Bible Answers
Editor......Joe R. Price
Elders
Morris Bass
Rick Holt
Deacons
Aaron Bass
Rich Brooks
Mike Finn
Dan Head
In this issue:
Gospel Meeting September 25 - 30, 2016
The Mt.
Baker
Invites you to
our
GOSPEL MEETING
With Evangelist
Steve Wallace
September 25 - 30, 2016
Monday-Friday at
7:00 PM
Hear these gospel lessons:
Bring your
Bible and join us in learning God’s word and will for our lives!
(From
I-5 take Exit # 255 and go East 4.2 miles)
Church of Christ
1860
Mt. Baker Highway • Bellingham WA
(Grayslake,
Illinois)
Sunday,
September 25th at 9:30 and 10:30 AM; 6:00 PM
Sunday Class:
Anger in the Home
AM Sermon:
Political Correctness and the Bible
PM Sermon:
Lasciviousness
Monday:
Cooperation
Tuesday:
Sons of the Restorers
Wednesday:
Adjusting to Our Changing Situation
Thursday:
“He baptized him”
Friday:
Eternity
For more information please call (360) 752-2692
What Are You Worth?
Tanner Bass
A very simple statement that can be underappreciated and overlooked is this, “God is the creator of all things.” We may say this often, or hear it often to some degree, but do we really stop and think about its significance? God has created us all and provided us life (Gen. 2:7). He has created the heavens and the earth (Gen. 1:1), light (Gen. 1:3), day and night (Gen. 1:5), wet land and dry (Gen. 1:9), along with everything in this life. With all that God has done for us, the question is introduced, “If He has made all things, how valuable am I then, just another human?” This question can be answered by the Word of God.
Put simply, what is each person worth in the eyes of God? Firstly, each one is worth enough to God that He would send His only Son down from the glories of heaven to live as man and die for each individual. God deemed that each person’s soul is worth the death of His Son, as well as the hope we have that came through His death. No dollar amount can be put on the worth of an individual’s soul (Matt. 16:26), but what we see from Christ’s sacrifice on the cross is that the worth of each person in God’s perspective is significantly high. Enough so, in fact, that Christ died for us.
What else are we, as humans, worth? Another way this question can be answered is by looking at the rest of God’s own creation. Matthew 6:26 tells us that we are of much more value than the rest of God’s creation here on earth, because He has provided for us an immortal soul, as well as a plan of redemption to be saved from our past sins. Of all of God’s creation here on earth, we are at the top. While every animal and human both have blood to sustain us, and a heart too, only humans contain an immortal soul, and eternal life will only be for mankind. In the final analysis, our immortal soul is all we have (Eccl. 5:15-16; 12:7). How valuable is that?
A great example of a man who could have considered himself less valuable because of his actions in persecuting the church is Paul. Paul, despite persecuting Christ’s own church, finally came to the conclusion that God saw worth in him, even though he did things hostile to God and His purpose (1 Tim. 1:12-13). Self-depreciation can potentially be a problem, especially after considering one’s own sinful ways. Rather than having low self-esteem and no appreciation of your individual worth, let us be like Paul, who glorified and honored God in acknowledgment and appreciation of his worth. Let us also see from this point that God sees value, worth, and potential in us all, no matter who we are or where we have come from! What a blessing that is to know!
We have a God who cares for us (1 Pet. 5:7). We have a God who will never leave us (Heb. 13:5). We have a God who loves us enough and sees enough worth in us that He would send down His only Son to die for us (Gal. 2:20). Let us value and see worth in ourselves as God does and has shown throughout the ages. We must not take this point too far the other way, however, and be self-righteous or think to highly of ourselves. Rather, we must simply see value in ourselves and thank the Lord for such worth.
~~~~~~~~~
Hear Tanner's sermon, "Brushing & Flossing?" from Sunday night, September 04, 2016.
"God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked!"
Dennis Scroggins
Ezekiel 33:11: “Say to them: ‘As I live,' says the Lord GOD, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’”
Word came to the congregation that a man who had been a Christian, a young man – someone’s son, someone’s husband, someone’s father, someone’s relative, someone’s friend, and someone’s enemy – was found dead today.
From all reports he was doing drugs, dying of diabetes, and not willing to take care of himself, nor support his own family. 1 Timothy 5:8, “But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”
The tragic nature of his spiritual demise has become a prevalent life style found in the church today. Many families are suffering from this heart breaking reality that has been dropped on their family. Men that refuse to take the spiritual lead in their own household, who refuse to be the husband God would have them be to their wife, are accountable for troubling their own flesh. Men who refuse to love their children, nor bring them up in nurture and the admonition of the Lord, show themselves unfit for the kingdom. Eph. 6:4
You might say this young man refused to grow up and take his responsibility as a husband, a father, or even as a Christian. He mocked and ignored the responsibilities he was taught to shoulder in the name of the Lord. His alcohol and drug problem really started when he choose his friends over his God, over his wife and over his children.
You can find the complete outline of this sermon
plus PowerPoint and MP3 Audio files
at
BIBLE ANSWERS
Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 10:6-13
1.
Promised by God, 1 Cor. 10:13.
2. Israel’s history is our reminder, 1 Cor. 10:1-11.
3. Will we take God’s ways of escape?
I. GOD SUSTAINED ISRAEL PHYSICALLY AND SPIRITUALLY, 1 Cor. 10:1-5.
A. With
Godly Leadership, 10:1-2.
B.
With Food and Drink of Supernatural Origin, 10:3-4; Psa. 78:20, 23, 25.
C.
With Spiritual Sustenance of the Divine Presence, 10:4; Psa. 62:5-8; Neh.
9:13-17.
D. God
not Pleased, 1 Cor. 10:5; Heb. 3:15-19.
II. ISRAEL’S SINS AND OUR WAYS OF ESCAPE.
A. Sin of
Lust, 1 Cor. 10:6; Num. 11:4-10.
-Way
of escape: Thankful contentment for God’s gifts, Exo. 20:17 (14); Rom.
13:11-14.
B. Sin
of Idolatry, 1 Cor. 10:7; Exo. 32:1-7.
-Way
of escape: Flee it and remember God, 1 Cor. 10:14; Matt. 22:37; 2 Pet.
1:9.
C. Sin
of Fornication, 1 Cor. 10:8; Num. 25:1-3, 6-12 (31:16; Rev. 2:14); Psa.
106:28-31.
-Way
of escape: Kill the flesh and flee, Num. 25:8; 1 Thess. 4:3-7; 1 Cor.
6:18; Matt. 5:27-30.
D. Sin
of Testing Christ, 1 Cor. 10:9; Num. 21:4-6 (cf. Psa. 78:18).
-Way
of escape: Trust God’s ways and obey Him, Num. 21:8-9; Heb. 13:5-6.
E. Sin
of Murmuring, 1 Cor. 10:10; Num. 11:1; 14:1; 16:41.
-Way
of escape: Faith in God’s purposes, provisions, and His salvation, Psa.
78:21-25; Heb. 13:5-6.
NOTEWORTHY NEWS
(Current events in the light of Scripture)
Normalizing Relations
Joe R. Price
The first U.S. commercial flight to Cuba in more than fifty years occurred Wednesday. “The restart of commercial travel between the two countries is one of the most important steps in President Barack Obama’s two-year-old policy of normalizing relations with the island” (“Historic commercial flight from US lands in Cuba,” foxnews.com). "Seeing the American airlines landing routinely around the island will drive a sense of openness, integration and normality. That has a huge psychological impact," said Richard Feinberg, author of the new book "Open for Business: Building the New Cuban Economy" (Ibid).
This well illustrates the nature of compromise with immorality and doctrinal error. Motivated by good intentions, Christians begin to normalize their relations with those who practice the works of the flesh (Gal. 5:19-21). Ignoring that “bad company corrupts good morals,” they develop a sense of “openness, integration and normality” with the “sons of disobedience” (1 Cor. 15:33; Eph. 5:6). They say unity in moral and doctrinal diversity equates with trying to influence and convert those who are “weak” in the faith. Yet, they fail to see the effect of evil influence upon themselves from those who have already set their course away from Christ, His truth and moral purity.
Christians can live “without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation,” but normalizing relations is not the way to do it. A shining light is not part of the darkness (Phil. 2:15). We are warned and commanded not to mix up with brethren who turn away from the Lord (1 Cor. 5:9-13). Churches and brethren who refuse to use corrective discipline have “normalized relations” with sinners to their own shame and spiritual destruction.
We are called
to be separate from the morally defiled and doctrinally corrupt world, not
have fellowship with “what is unclean” (2 Cor. 6:14-18). Instead of
normalizing relations with immorality and false doctrine, let us “cleanse
ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in
the fear of God” (2 Cor. 7:1).
Created by Chuck Sibbing, last updated. 09/05/2016
The Spirit's Sword is a free,
weekly publication of the Mt. Baker church of Christ, Bellingham, WA
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