Elders:
John Meyer & Joe Bunch |
July
18, 2004 Editor: Dan Peters
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Peter
Talking About Husbands & Wives
Recently
I have been doing some preaching out of 1Peter 3, where
I noticed some assumptions. Notice that Peter takes
up the first six verses (3:1-6), addressing the wives
and one verse (v.7) addressing the husbands. But don't
assume from this that the women need more instruction
than the men do. On the contrary, Peter is compelled
to address the wife whose husband is "disobedient"
to the word. The instruction that is given is to help
her that she may win her husband to the Lord, "without
a word by the behavior of their wives". So Peter
assumes that in the five Roman provinces of "Pontus,
Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia" (1Pet.
1:1) there is a great need for the wives to win their
husbands over to obeying the word of God.
But
when Peter addresses the men, he assumes just the opposite;
note the passage, "You husbands in the same way,
live with your wives in an understanding way, as with
someone weaker, since she is a woman; and show her honor
as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your
prayers will not be hindered" (1Peter 3:7). Here
Peter assumes that in these Roman provinces that the
Christian husband normally has a wife that is a "fellow
heir" and that she is a praying woman.
Since
the end of last year we have had 85 people sign up for
the Bible Correspondence Course, 55 are women, 14 are
men (the other 16 names could go either way). Women
are generally more inclined to spiritual things.
Last
of all, look again at this phrase, "...they may
be won without a word by the behavior..." (3: 1).
Perhaps if our evangelism was more focused upon our
"behavior" we would be winning more people
to the Lord. I think we would all rather see a sermon
than hear one. But if we choose to live like the world,
speak like the world and think like the world, this
is devangelism. For the ol' devil has gotten
ahold of us. Let us live a sermon today before the eyes
of men, women and the world and bring glory to God.
DP
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by
Dominic Venuso
"Therefore
be imitators of God, as beloved children" (Ephesians
5:1). Let's look at that first part, "be imitators."
This is a pretty simple statement, for we all know
what an imitator is. An imitator is one who is like
another. So many people try to be like so many other
people, actors, musicians, athletes, politicians,
friends, and so on, which brings us to the next part.
"Be
imitators of God." We live in a world where there
are not a whole lot of really good role-models, but
there is still one - one who has always been and always
will be, one who is perfect. One who is merciful,
loving, wise, just, caring, the list goes on and on.
Of all the people we should want to imitate, certainly
He - God - is the one. Doesn't it make us sick to
the stomach when we see a little girl dress like Brittany
Spears or hear a little boy talk like Eminem? But
to see someone imitating God, that should give us
joy. It also gives God joy when we imitate Him and
that's what's important.
So,
how are we to imitate God? The verse says, "As
beloved children". A very young child quickly
picks up so much from his parents, from little actions
to the ability to speak. When a child becomes a little
older he wants to grow up and be just like his parents.
Even a "beloved" older child loves, respects,
and learns from his parents. This is how we ought
to be. We need to learn from God how we should be
and then be it. We need to imitate God in everything:
conduct, conversation, and attitude. Those who imitate
God will have a place in His kingdom; those who do
not, have no place in His kingdom. "But immorality
or any impurity or greed must not even be named among
you, as is proper among saints; and there must be
no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which
are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For
this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure
person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an
inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God."
(vs. 3-5).
The
idea of imitating God is pretty easy to understand,
but actually obeying can be hard. We've all failed
from time to time, in one aspect or another, and acted
more like Satan than like God, but we can change and
God will help us. To be like God we're going to have
to know what He's like, and the only way we can know
that is by studying His word. So, let's all learn
about our heavenly Father and then imitate Him to
the best of our ability. Loving like He loves, forgiving
like He forgives, being holy as He is holy, seeing
sin as He sees it, teaching truth as He taught it,
and doing any other thing in the way He would have
us do it. DV
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 Q.
"What
Does Partaking "in an unworthy manner" Mean?
(1Corinthians 11)
A.
This
question has to do with the Lord's Supper, and if
you are not familiar with this Bible passage I would
suggest you read over this chapter and then finish
reading this article.
The
phrase "in an unworthy manner" (v.27) does
not mean if you feel worthy or unworthy at the time
you partake of the bread and fruit of the vine. Rather
it means the manner by which you partake. Say your
best friend dies suddenly in the prime of life, and
you go to the visitation. Then there is a group of
guys come in with a couple of six-packs of beer. Then
one of them goes out to the car and brings in some
sandwiches, because they have the munchies. While
they look around for a place to eat, they casually
lay the food upon the casket as a table while they
are laughing and joking.
I
think most of us would be displeased to say the least,
at the manner by which they visited the family of
the deceased. We might say that they visited the family
in an "unworthy manner". The Christians
at Corinth did likewise, except they are the
family of the deceased! (See Mat. 12:50) The way they
were acting you could tell they were not remembering
someone they love. Paul said, "for in your eating
each one takes his own supper first; and one is hungry
and another is drunk. What! Do you not have houses
in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church
of God..." (1Cor. 11:21-22).
But
let's say after reading this letter of first Corinthians,
these same Christians no longer bring food and alcohol
to services. Let's say on the following Sunday they
put on a somber face and sit up straight in the pew,
does this mean they are fulfilling the purpose in
the Lord's Supper? Obviously not. [Some people can
sleep pretty good sitting up; others may simply be
bored to death.] Unless we spend some time remembering,
it's not worship.
We
are not commanded to be sorrowful or sad during this
time, but we are commanded to remember. Remembering
Jesus can bring joy to a heart, even as we think about
his resurrection which took place on a Sunday morning.
Remembering Jesus can bring sadness as we remember
how much He suffered in his body and while his blood
was shed. All of us are sinners, none of us are worthy.
DP
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Please
pray for all who were mentioned in the announcements
- those who are struggling with physical ailments
and those who struggle with spiritual problems.
Visit and find out what we can do to help. Rejoice
with those who rejoice and weep with those who
weep.
Those
with physical ailments include:
Bill & Christine A.
Everta S.
Mabel H.
Gene K.
Dorothy S.
Sue S.
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Please
tell others about our website: www.jolietchurch.org
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We
are offering you a free Bible correspondence
course. Perhaps you would like to spend more
time in studying the Bible, but haven't managed
to begin, or if you have started and would
like some help, this Bible course is for you.
Please
send in your request to:
Open
Bible Studies
23 Margaret St.
Joliet, IL 60436
E-mail: jolietchurch@juno.com
Elders: John Meyer & Joe Bunch
Deacons: Dave Bunch & Dan Peters
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