The Ohio Independent Baptist, August 1999

BtJ es Vans For Sale ,; ~ l p,1sse ,g~r \ eh,clc~ a\ ., ,1~1l>le Buv qunlttv tor less al r,t,t,1',:f Transportation IJl,;.Jj;.J Equip. Sales Corp. 5 .1 0 1 $e111 \Rn Hl1 O l>qon OH ,1:11;, 8 -11 9 8Jb 2835 To -free nat1on\v1de 1-800-227-3572 8 19 church discounts" as tor Bud Graham /'1, 1 /< ,,1011c1l <' <>11 ,11 /1111~ c111cl ,ale, /01 , 011r /i11011< ·ial <111(/ 111.,11ra11cc' ll<'<'ll, - - \ 1110 • ( 'hurt I, • Ho,11< • /)1,a/)l/irr • l .if ( • R II .\ I II(. \ \ • . ~ 11 /l ll I fl(' \ PHELPS FINANCIAL SERVICES, INC. 1),,n R Phe lp, liP. (' J· P. RI-P. l l 'TC' J– i1"l> H P.1rk \l ,:adt)\'' £)11 ,c \\~·,1e1, tile. l)h1~, ~ ~O~ I PHONE: 614-899-6000 GuideOne FAX: 614-899-6022 • Gr(ewing In Grace --This arllcle ts the rhtrd in a series on d1sczplesh1p "'--'Ttllen by me,nbers of the Counczl of 12. D v.. 1ght Penteco t aid , "It doe not take much of a man to be a di ciple, but lt doe take all of him." l.Jpon trusting Jesu Chri t a Savi or a nev. dv namic entered the arena of n1y ex1 te~ce. M, life i no longer about ~1e. but about God being glorified through me- ALL of me. How often I lo ·e ight of that princip le. How easil y m\ ov..n elfish ambi ti on and comforts • become the priority. .A. hepherd boy one day heard a pagan named Goliath bla pheme and def\ ht God. David determined in hi s • hean that omething important was at take. ometh1ng greater than hi s own _elf pre er\. auon or per onal want . The olof\ of God \.Va on the line. e , \\'hether I face the death of a loved one . hear bad new from the doctor, rece1 \ e m1 treatment from others or e\en get tuck in the slow lane at the tore. a Hi disciple , my life i no loneer about ME. Remembering ~ . that help me to ..grow 1n grace." 4 --Pastor David Chapman Fostoria Baptist Church Good News--For , continued saved far n1orc than we need lo be educated, cn1ploycd , or appreciated by others. as bas ic as tho~c needs arc. John 3: 16 . tands a, a b aeon in the night ti lun11 nati ng our path to al vation; it is an arro\v pointing us ho1ne to God. For God so loved the world... Tl1is is the greate t love ever e pres ed. Our world contain. some 6 billi on people today- not to speak of those who ex i ted from Adam to the present time. That ' a lot of love!! Nor are the e people alike. People con1e in all hape and ize , all temperament and ethnic grouping . Our idi o yncra ie are legion, yet God love u all. To top it off, all of the e variegated peoples are de perate ly inful and hostile to God. God love them in spite of the fact that they arc not lovable at all to Him. The grand truth that the Bible proclaim i that God actuall y loves all of Adam ' kids, warts and all! ...that He gave His only begotten son This is the greatest gift ever given. We may have given some pretty neat gifts in our lifetime, but no gift we have ever given can compare to this One. Je u Christ is God' s gift to mankind ! He and He alone is the unique, one-of-a– kind Son of God. No other human being even comes close by comparison . Jesus Christ is unique in His birth (born of a virgin ). He is unique in His word ("No man ever poke like this man,,). He i un ique in Hi works ("No man can do the works that you do except God be with Him"). He is unique in His death (voluntaril y releas ing His life on the cross), and in His resurrection (others have been re uscitated onl y to di e again l but He was resurrected never to die agai n). In other words God cared enough to send His very best! ... that whosoever believeth in Him This is the greatest offer ever extended Sometimes maj or league baseba11 teams make special offers to their fans– bat day, cap day , mug day . Their offer runs something I ike this, "The first 15,000 fans that show up at the gates will receive a free cap.,, Let 's try that "offer" on John 3: 16. "For God so loved that world that He gave His only begotten Son that the first 15,000 who believe..." No, John stretches language to stress the uni ver al offer God extends to peopl e. Who oevcr means "every– one who." Flowing out of God 's great heart comes th is ·marvelous word that inc ludes all in the human race. "Bclieveth"- this Lenn means to cas t one cl f without re crvc on someone else. Each man, woman , and chil d 1s called upon to cast the weight of his ete rn al destiny upon the Lord Jesus Chri t; they arc invited to do a trust fall into Hi anns. What we have in "who oever believeth,, is maximum people and minimum condition. Nor is it ea y to believe. To cast oneself into the arms of an unseen Per on is not easy . That is why the Lord commends those who "not hav ing seen , yet have believed,, (John 20:29). ...should not perish This is the greatest danger ever faced. People who refuse to receive God 's great love in Christ are "at risk,, people. They flirt with hell itself. God does not want one human being to land in hell and has made full provision for their alvati on. Yet the danger is very real. Hell is a place of eternal torment marked by pain and darkness. Jesus spoke more about hel l than about heaven , underscoring that it is a very real place. Though hell was made originally for the devil and his angels (Matt. 25:4 1) people will land there if they reject Christ as Savior. ...but have everlasting life.'' This is the greatest prospect ever imagined. Everlasting life is both quality of life and quantity of life. It begins the in tant we believe in Christ and carrie us ultimately into the presence of Christ. Revelation 2 1 and 22 describe a level of living that defies our imagina– ti ons; yet this li fe is promi ed to all who believe on Christ. We do not have enough superlatives in our language to do our eternal destiny j ustice. ''For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. '' I urge you to cast yourself without reserve upon Christ right now and to begin eternal life. I also urge you to tell someone else what you did !