The Bulletin
of the
Church of Christ at
New Georgia
Tim Johnson, editor
November 14, 2004
In
This Issue:
Winning
Souls
by
Greg Gwin
God's
Rescue Squad
by
Steve Klein
We
Have a Name
by
Robert Turner
Winning Souls
Experts who study the world's population have concluded that there were about 200 million people living during the lifetime of Jesus. Now that's a lot of people, but relatively speaking it is a fairly small number. For instance, the United States alone presently has nearly 300 million residents.
If you want to talk about some really big numbers, think of this: by 1850 the world's population had grown to 1 billion. That's 5 times more than lived in Jesus' day. But wait! Just one century later, in 1950, there were 2.5 billion people on earth. And there's more: sometime during 1987, just 37 years later, the 5 billionth person was born on planet earth. Now that's a truly BIG number. Today, estimates place the world's population at 6.5 billion and growing.
One more fact may help to put this all in proper perspective. Over half of the people who have ever lived on earth are still living today! That's right! Think of it this way - if you added up all the people who have lived and died throughout history, the number would be smaller that the number of those who are living right now!
Our purpose in discussing these numbers is not to frighten you about food shortages, over crowding, pollution, etc, etc. There may be reason for alarm in these areas, but we have something much more serious in mind. Think of the incredible responsibility before us in teaching lost souls the saving gospel of Jesus Christ. Is it an impossible task? No!
Imagine this: assume that you are the only Christian in the world and it takes you a full year to make one convert. Then each convert proceeds to do the same thing - converting another person each following year. In just slightly over 33 years the entire world would be won for Christ! And that's if each Christian just converts one other person each year - certainly not an impossible task! "He that winneth souls is wise" (Prov. 11:30).
By Greg Gwin
Some time ago, I ran across the following statement in another church bulletin and it stuck in my mind: "Every saint this side of heaven ought to be concerned with every sinner this side of hell."
What is the disciples' duty to the lost? What responsibility do you and I have to reach neighbors and friends who are outside of Christ? When Jesus commissioned the apostles, He told them point blank to "preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15) and to "make disciples of all the nations" (Matthew 28:19). Paul clearly recognized his obligation. He wrote, "I am a debtor to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and to unwise. So, as much as is in me I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also" (Romans 1:14-15).
You and I have this same obligation. In Jude 22-23, all of us who have been "called" and "sanctified" by God are commanded to work to save others. The text says, "On some have compassion, making a distinction; 23but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh." Every Christian should see himself as an active member of a God-ordained rescue squad.
Rescue workers don't care about the social or financial status of those who are trapped in a burning house. It doesn't matter if the house is a broken down shack, a mansion or a high rise, they will still do their best to rescue the inhabitants. Of course, the approach used might be different in different situations. Even so, all sinners need the same soul-saving gospel, but they come from different backgrounds, races, financial status, levels of education, etc.. The soul-winner must adapt himself to reach many different kinds of sinners. Paul wrote, "I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some" (I Corinthians 9:22).
Besides differences in social status, education, or ethnic background, those outside of Christ can also differ in the distance they have traveled down the road to hell. Some have gone only a short way and can be brought into the straight and narrow with a gentle and compassionate hand, others are already feeling the flames and must be pulled "out of the fire" (cf. Jude 22-23). The Christian, then, is very much like a rescue worker who saves people from an inferno. Some are only suffering from minor smoke inhalation and can be led out by the hand, while others are completely overcome and must be carried out. In either case, the Christian can be assured of this: "He who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins" (James 5:20).
.by Steve Klein
Concerning the church at Sardis the Lord said, "I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead" (Rev. 3:1). Now think, where did they get that "name"?
"Name" is here used in the sense of reputation -- the popular opinion. But the smallness and insignificance of the cause of Christ in the world at that time negates any suggestion that this was a "name" in the world's hall of Fame. The world couldn't care less. Yet, someone had to give them that name, and give it such general acceptance as to warrant significance. The Lord certainly did not sanction this appraisal; so we are forced to conclude that their peers, or social circle, gave them their "name."
Other churches, others of their professed "kind," must have talked of their "good works," "wonderful spirit," "liberal contributions" or whatever that generation considered great. It is apparent that brethren of that age were no more qualified judges of what God approves than their current counterparts. Doesn't it shake you? They had a good reputation -- they got it from their own brethren -- and it did not amount to a hill of beans (when beans were cheap). No wonder Paul said those who "measure themselves by themselves, and compare themselves among themselves, are not wise."
For the Lord said of Sardis, that Big Name church, "thou art dead." What remained was "ready to die." The "few names in Sardis" who had not defiled their garments must have stood out from the rest like a sore thumb -- a few cranks or "fanatics" who would not line up with the majority. Perhaps those "on the march" wished them gone, so as to remove that source of criticism and embarrassment; not realizing that they were the last bit of salt in the whole stinking mess.
The majority "had a name" -- and it seems the "name" was more valued than the truth. Well, we all have a name -- of some sort -- with both God and man. Our concern for what men think often blinds us to what God thinks of us -- and that's what I'd call real near-sightedness. Man, a good reputation is not enough. We've got to consider who gives us our "name."
by Robert Turner
-- Via Plain Talk, January 1978