Page 4B - THE CHARLOTTE POST - Thiirsday, April 13, 1989
Uie Sunday ScHooC
Lesson
By Bessie Wllbon
INTRODUCTION:
Paul's former career offered self-satisfaction status. In
fluence, and security; but that wasn't enough! He had ad
vanced tn the Jews' religion more than many of his peers but
- God had something better for him tn Christ. Paul came to rec
ognize that his family connections, his clean moral record,
and his religious zeal could not earn God's favor. All these
things. In fact, became liabilities, since they blinded him to
the need for dependence on God's grace and forgiveness in
Christ. So he abandoned them and accepted God's Son as his
sole hope and basis for God's approval. He gave himself com
pletely to serving Christ.
As a result of that service he was now a prisoner In Rome,
writing to his fellow Christians at Philippi, the Philippian
church showed very few faults. But It seems that some were
ui^ging the brethren to turn to dependence on Old testament
Law for their standing with God. The opening verses of Phl-
lipplans 3 gives Paul's warnings against this l^d of teaching.
THE LESSON:
"But all those things that I might count as profit I now reck
on as loss for Christ's sake. Not only those things: I reckon
everything as complete loss for the sake of what is so much
more valuable, the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. For
his sake I have thrown everything away, I consider It all as
mere garbage so that 1 may gain Christ and be completely
united with him. I no longer have a righteousness of my own,
the kind that Is gained by obeying the Law. I now have the
righteousness that Is given thou^ faith In Christ the righ
teousness that comes from God and Is based on faith. All I
want is to know Christ and to experience the power of his res
urrection to share in his sufferings and become like him in
his death. In the hope that I myself will be raised from death
to life.
I do not claim that I have already won me to himself. Of
course, my brothers, I really do not think that I have already
won It; the one thing I do however, is to forget what Is behind
me and do nry best to reach what Is ahead. So I run straight
toward the goal tn order to win the prize, which Is God's call
through Christ Jesus to the life above. All of us who are spi
ritualty mature should have this same attitude. But If some of
you have a different attitude, God will make this clear to you.
However that may be, let us go forward according to the same
rules we have followed until now. Keep on imitating me, my
brothers. Pay attention to those who follow the right example
that we have set for you. 1 have told you this many times be
fore, and now I repeat It with tears: there are many whose
lives make them enemies of Christ's death on the cross. They
are going to end up In hell because their god Is their bodily de
sires. They are proud of what they should be ashamed of, and
they think only on things that belong to this world. We, how
ever, are citizens of heaven, and we eagerly wait for our Sav
ior, the Lord Jesus Christ, to come from heaven. He wdl
change our weak mortal bodies and make them like his own
glorious body, using that power by which He Is able to bring
all things under his rule.(PhlUpplans 3: 7-21)
The Imowledge of Christ begins with learning who He Is,
what He thinks and says and does, and what He desires for us.
It goes on to that personal and Intimate acquaintance that
comes from iMng with Him and for Him, and leads us to re
joice in the prospect of being with Him forever. That knowl
edge is the pearl of great price, justifying the sale of all else
. one may possess tn cmler to have It.
I The Christian attitude and Christian life were foreign to the
; Gentiles. They could best understand the way of Christ by see-
; Ing It demonstrated, both In the lives of Individuals and In
) community settings such as the church. Paul's offer of hlm-
I self as a role model in his following of Christ was not boast-
; ful; It was brave. He had to provide the necessary demonstra-
; tlon. It Is frightening enough to know that 2my one of us is an
' example to others: but deliberately to Invite that public exam-
• Inatlon Is heroic.
» Even Paul was not willing to stand alone In that spotlight.
'. He urged the Phllipplans to "take note of those who Uve ac-
J cording to the pattern we gave you." Pay attention to the good!
i Take full advantage of the right kind of peer Influence. It is
‘ still there.
I To the Corinthians Paul wrote of the discipline necessary
' for an athlete to complete successfulty(lCor. 9: 24-27); to Tlm-
j othy He urged the need to follow the rules of the game (2 Timo-
•thy 2:5). Hebrews 12; 1,2 speaks of the persistence and
> strength required of a parliclpant In a long race. In today's
> text we have seen the Intense concentration and exertion that
! Is necessary for a successful rurmer.
f Paul's readers knew that his real message was not about
 sparts; It was about Jesus and the Christians commitment to
' Him. "Train yourselves to be godly," he exhorted Timothy.
. "For physical training is rf the same value, but godliness has
; valve for all things holding promise for both the present life
I and the life to come." The grand prize hi godliness Is not lim
ited to any one competitor, nor to any one kind of person. At
the conclusion of life's race, Paul excluded. "1 have fought a
good light. I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:
; henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness,
which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day:
^ and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his ap-
' peartng. The wlrmers' chcle Is limited only by the partici
pants' willingness to press on to the goal In Christ.
Father, we thank and praise you, our Father, for all who
help us tn our approach to you. Amen.
Spring Has
Sprung
By J. M. Little
As the saying goes: "SPRING
HAS SPRUNG." The trees, flow
ers, grasses, etc., that were killed
In the winter by the cold, wintry
blasts are being resurrected
now. And how l^autiful Is the
handiwork of the Lord, In His
resurrection of Hls earthly crea
tion. The coming and passing of
the seasons also testify of the
faithfulness of God. God prom
ised Noah that there would be
the coming and passing of the
seasons (Gen. 8:22). Spring tes
tifies of the resurrection of
Christ, and also the resurrection
of a dead sinner. Yes, every sin
ner by nature is dead in tres
passes and slns(Eph. 2:1). Man
is a tiinlfy; body, soul, and spirit.
In the Fall, man died, spiritual
ly. Adam stood for us all, so
when he died spiritualty there In
the Garden of Eden, we all died
(Rom. 5:12). Man did not evolve
as Inildel scientists and teach
ers teach, man devolved. Every
sinner Is dead and polluted tn
hls own blood, but God In Hls
great love sends the Holy Spirit
to breathe on that dead sinner
and He says; "LIVE." And that
sinner is made alive in Christ
(Ezekiel 16:6; Eph. 2 "1).
Now the question I am asking
you: have you been made alive In
Christ? Just as the warm winds
of spring have blown across the
fields and made the plants
spring up, new buds are seen,
then the blossoms, and new
blades of grass spring forth. So
it Is In grace. The blessed Holy
Spirit breathes on dead sinners,
awakening them to their lost
condition. And then you see
that you are lost
You were lost all the days of
your religious profession; but
didn't know It. I remember one
time when I was under convic
tion I made this staterrrent to a
godly soul: It seems the gulf be
comes wider. And she replied, "it
has been there all the time but
you didn't know it." My friends, I
realize that It Is not a pleasant
thing to be awakened to your
lost condition, seeing that you
are out of Christ.
What if you had gone out Into
eternity thinking that you were
saved and you were not? It
would have been the loss of jrour
poor soul In Hell. As In nature,
some flowers and grasses
spring up Irrrmedlately, so it Is In
grace. Some sinners ate awak
ened and have a greater knowl
edge of their awful, ruined con
dition than others. Some are
very slothful, as was Lot in leav
ing Sodom (Gen. 19). Some are
hungering more after Christ,
while others who say they are
lost are dllly-dalfyng by the
wayside with the thought; "If 1
belong to the Lord He is going to
get me, so I'll go on and enjoy
myself now." 'i^at a tragedy! I
know such a soul who took that
attitude several years ago, she is
still lost today. Some of you
here told me you all are still not
saved! What is the trouble, my
friends? You said you knew you
were lost, but you have gone
away backwards. To what!
What was there for you to turn
back to? You were warned not
to rifle with your convictions,
and I know some of you had im
pressions, but now you are har
dened. I told a man here more
than once if he didn't turn to the
Lord, there would come a time
and day when he would not let
me talk to him about Christ.
The last time I talked to that
man he had joined a false cult.
How sad! A sinner's resurrec
tion to new life In Christ begins
with Christ (Eph. 2:4-5).
Please continue to listen to our
late Pastor, L. R. Shelton, with
THE VOICE OF TRUTH BROAD
CAST each Sunday morning at
7:30 over WAGI-FM, 105.3 Me
and at 8:00 over WAGL-AM, 1560
Kc.
The Prophet's Column is a
paid advertisement. ####
VI
s'i'-
Despite the fact that it rained last Saturday,
member of the Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc., of
Johnson C. Smith University, participated in the
cltywlde Glad-Bag-A-Thon. They are shown
Photo/CALVIN FERGUSON
above cleaning up areas of Beatties Ford Road.
Pictured d-r): Andy Muriel, Bill Wyatt,Maurice
Flowers, Marvin Bartee, Wdlllam Ford and Ed
ward House.
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