by Emmett Smith

In Luke 17:12_vff, Luke the physician recorded the account of ten lepers who were healed by Jesus. They attracted His attention from afar, as required by Old Testament law, and were instructed to go show themselves to the priests. Then Jesus healed them as they went. Although all ten were healed, only one turned back to thank Jesus for having healed him of this dread disease! And to top it off, this individual was a Samaritan, regarded as a stranger or foreigner, inferior to the full blooded Jews of the day. But our Lord’s questions and remarks to this Samaritan indicate that He didn’t share that opinion.

In fact, this entire account was an indictment of the self righteous and ungrateful attitudes that prevailed among many of the Jews at that time. In verse 15 the Samaritan is said to have turned back and glorified God with a loud voice. And in verse 18 Jesus remarked that none of the other nine had returned to give glory to God. From the record of this event we may infer that gratitude in and of itself glorifies God. And ingratitude certainly displeases Him.

And while we are not lepers (at least the probability is almost nil) we certainly have much to be thankful for. As Paul told the Athenians on Mar’s Hill "in him we live, and move, and have our being" (Acts 17:28). Everything that we are and have, every thing, is provided by Him. And as if that isn’t enough, in Christ we have pardon from the ultimate consequences of our sins, a far greater healing than from leprosy! And yet we so often take these blessings for granted.

May we count our blessings each and every day. Of course, none of us can really count that high!

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:6,7).

by Emmett Smith

In his letter to the Ephesians (Ephesians 3:8-12) the Apostle Paul wrote that the “unsearchable riches of Christ” were the culmination of “the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God” and that the plan was “according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ”. In his letter to the Corinthians Paul said, “But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” (1 Corinthians 2:7,8).

The Jewish rulers of Jesus’ day didn’t understand. Unfortunately most of every age have not understood. Jesus said that “many are called, but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:14). Surely He meant that in every age many won’t understand the plan.

It is mind-boggling when you think about it. Before He created the universe, God had already foreknown all of what would transpire, and had planned for our redemption! And yet, only a relative few will really understand God’s eternal plan.

Are you studying to understand the mystery?

To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Thessalonians 2:14)

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)

by Emmett Smith

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling (Psalms 46:1-3 ESV).

These words were not written by David. In fact, they were written some 200 to 300 years after David’s death, during Hezekiah’s reign. And there is remarkable agreement among various groups of scholars that they were written in celebration of God’s destruction of Sennacherib’s army.

Sennacherib, king of the Assyrians, had already conquered the area around Jerusalem. Now he had turned his attention to Jerusalem itself. He sent Rabshakeh to brag to Jerusalem that the gods of the surrounding nations had not saved them, and that their God would not save them either. But after king Hezekiah prayed to the Lord about these boasts, God spared Jerusalem. He had decreed that Babylon, not Assyria, would conquer Jerusalem.

So during the night God struck down 185,000 of Sennacherib’s army, so that when people arose “early in the morning” they were all dead! God sent Sennacherib home in disgrace, and eventually two of his sons assassinated him, just as God had predicted through Isaiah.

God’s dominion over the nations is stated in Jeremiah as follows:

If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it. And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it (Jeremiah 18:7-10 ESV).

And Paul reiterated this theme in Athens:

And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place (Acts 17:26 ESV).

God has always controlled when and where any nation would exist. He has used believing and unbelieving nations as He saw fit. And He rules among the nations this very day!

On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelation 19:16 ESV).

by Emmett Smith

In his second letter to the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul wrote, "For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death." (2 Cor. 7:10 ESV). The older translations used the word sorrow rather than grief, but grief is probably closer to the original meaning. Regardless, the passage teaches a very important lesson about how we deal with remorse.

The Corinthian brethren had been chastised by Paul in his first epistle, and the above passage was Paul’s comment on their reaction to his criticism. He was praising them for having repented and corrected the situation, and he attributed their positive response to "godly grief". In contrast to the godly sort however, Paul wrote that "worldly grief" produces death. What a contrast! Having a godly world view does make a tremendous difference in one’s life.

This difference can be illustrated in several ways. The example of Judas is often cited in discussions of this passage. He was remorseful, but apparently not with godly remorse. So he committed suicide. Of course, physical death is not the ultimate consequence Paul had in mind here. He was comparing opposite results, salvation versus spiritual death. And if the evil one can cause someone to despair of life itself then he can forestall that person’s repentance and salvation.

The latest U.S. statistics on suicide are sobering. Among them please note the following:

• Persons under age 25 made up 15% of all suicide victims in the year 2000.
• Between 1952 and 1995, the suicide rate for adolescents and young adults nearly tripled.
• Suicide is the third leading cause of death for young people aged 15-19 years. These suicide deaths outnumber deaths from cancer, heart disease, AIDS, birth defects, stroke, and chronic lung disease combined!

It could easily be argued that the tripling of the suicide rate among young people since the early 1950s correlates to the increasingly secular nature of the government schools and our society in general. And this secularization is being pushed with a vengeance these days. How many more victims will be lost to the despair brought on by worldly grief? Don’t let yourself be one of them.

And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you (Psalms 9:10  ESV).

by Emmett Smith

The past week's headlines have featured numerous stories about Judge Roy Moore, the Alabama Supreme Court's Chief Justice. While the main thrust of the major media has been the so-called "separation of church and state", the actual point of conflict is the 10th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, and the failure of Federal Judges and the Supreme Court itself to adhere to Constitutional guidelines. The trend throughout my lifetime and before has been, that if what the Constitution says limits what these folks want to accomplish, well, just "interpret" the document differently.

Thus the plain words of the text are said to have taken on completely new meaning. Such rulings as Roe v. Wade and the recent ruling against Texas' anti-sodomy law have been the result. However, the Constitution is not the only document being re-interpreted to suit peoples' fancy. The Bible is subject to similar tactics, and they're by no means new. The evil one has always hated the truth and has exerted great effort to adulterate it. It's really easy to do, because only a slight, nearly unnoticeable change is all that's necessary to change the truth into a lie.

Paul wrote in Romans chapter one that certain ones had, "changed the truth of God into a lie", and that this had resulted in what can only be described as homosexual behaviors (Rom. 1:24-27). Of course many other evils are also inevitable when God's truth is perverted, but isn't it interesting that the exact same thing is happening now? A large ad in today's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette touted a "Universalist Church of Christ", and went into some detail in explaining how the Biblical doctrine of hell was incorrect, and that Jesus' sacrifice was for everyone, regardless of their behavior.

It should be obvious that if we reject the Bible's authority in one area, we are really being hypocritical in insisting that any of its teachings are valid. But it seems that many don't bother to give it that much thought. And of course that's just the way the evil one wants it to be.

"Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ" (2 Cor. 10:5).