The Omagh Church of Christ

What does it mean to be dedicated? To dedicate, means to give yourself to some purpose, or some person without reservation. It means to be set aside for a purpose or a cause. It is to be consecrated. We read of people being dedicated in the Old Testament to a certain purpose. "Than Hezekiah answered and said, now you have consecrated yourselves to the Lord; come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings to the house of the Lord" (2 Chor 29:31). These people were set aside for specific duties before the Lord.

The idea of dedication is closely related to sanctification, being set apart through the cleansing by Jesus' blood. Paul carried the idea further when he talked about the people of God being a "peculiar people" (Titus 2:14). God's people are peculiar in that they have set themselves apart for the work of God.

Again, this is a general principal or concept of the church. The word that is translated "church" from the greek means "called out" the church is made up of people called out of the world to serve Jesus Christ. These people are special people, they are the saved, they are those who heard the word of God and responded to it. They are dedicated to Christ and for the purpose for which He lived and died.

To be dedicated refers to an attitude of heart that expresses itself in deeds. This dedication may well have some outward form of notation, such as hard work when one is dedicated to a task, they work hard at it, but dedication begins in the heart. It conveys itself aloud through the deeds of love, obedience, service, and loyalty.

Dedication in the New Testament meant that some would have to give their lives for the cause of Christ. Some had their goods taken from them others were persecuted for their dedication to preaching the word of God. Some dedicated people like Barnabas sold their lands and possessions to help those bretheren in the first century that needed financial support. Barnabas was just such an individual. Dedication means sacrifice.

A more noble cause never existed than New Testament christianity, saving the lost, bringing praise and glory to God. As we reflect on the dedication of those first century christians let us strive to be as equally dedicated, supportive, active, aggressive, determined, and faithful.

Dedication takes hard work, energy, and zeal. It requires effort. Few people are dedicated these days to the right things. We are dedicated to oour jobs, recreation, kids, sports. There is nothing wrong with being dedicated to progressing in these things as long as our dedication to the Lord does not suffer. Let's make our minds up to be a little more dedicated to the Lord and Him alone.

"Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever" (Heb 13:8). It is vital that we understand our subject. We are discussing a person, a very unique person. The second person of the Godhead, but in a very distinctive role and relationship. We are not only concerned with a person but with an office, the Christ, the Anointed One, the Messiah.

When we discuss Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever, we are talking about an unusual thing. Everything in life changes. People change, just look at the white in my hair. Laws change. It is no longer illegal to drive in downtown Toronto over 5 miles an hour, there are no more horses to scare. The town I grew up in has changed. It was lucky to have a stop light when I was a kid, now it has a McDonalds.

There is a great deal of comfort in the fact that Jesus Christ will never change. Contrast that to people. Our moods change quickly and we might change our thinking from day to day about issues. In Jesus Christ we have no "variation or shadow of turning" our Lord is the "rock of our salvation." Unlike the god's of ancient Greece who were moody and vasilating. Jesus Christ is unchanging.

The unchanging Christ has the same attitude toward the lost, seeking and saving (Luke 19:10). He hates every false way, and considers those who do his will to be his family (Matt 12:48). Those things will never change. He praises the good and condemns the evil. There is no variableness in this with him.

We see his unchanging character while on the earth. While on the earth some labbled him as an evil doer, blasphemer, glutton, and drunk. These rumors did not affect his real character. While on the earth he showed us the Father (John 14:1-6). He was humble, loving, angry at evil, compassionate toward the unfortunate, diligent in work, sympathertic to the bereaved, forgiving to the penitent, obedient to the Father's will, and uncompromising in nature regarding truth. Such he was, such he is, such he will be.

The unchangeableness of Christ is a fundamental plank in the foundation of our hope for eternal life with God. Our hope can not be dashed away because Christ neither alters nor wavers in his will. Our hope is the Anchor of the Soul (Heb 6:19). Of what value is an anchor that is always moving about, changing positions, moved by the current? Our anchor of hope can be no more stable than the one in whom we place our confidence.

Our protection is assured for it was Paul who quoted the Old Testament Psalmist who said, "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee , so that we may bodly say the Lord is my helper, I will not fear, what can man do to me."

Rush Limbaugh the conservative talk show host has an expression, "Words mean things." Words mean something don't they! They can be big, figurative, literal, or made up. They convey thoughts. When my dad told me to go do something and I decided to go to my friends house instead, my hurting posterior reminded me that words mean something. When a teacher gives instructions that the written assignment is to have, 1 inch margins, double spaced, footnotes at the end, no more than five pages, you can either understand what was said or fail the assignment.

If words can not be understood alike in a given context by a speaker and listener than communication can never take place. Words are simply vehicles of thought and they convey what we are thinking to those who are listening or reading. The bible claims to be the revealed mind of God (1 Cor 2:10). If we can understand human language than we can understand the words spoken by God. " . . . that by revelation He made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in a few words, by which when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ" (Eph 3:3-4). If words mean something, when we read what the Apostles and Prophets wrote we can understand God's will for us.

The bible clearly states that it expects to be understood. Paul instructed the brethren in Colosse to " . . . not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is" (Col 4:16). On every page of the text the cry is either explicite or implicite, man can read and understand what the will of the Lord is.

Someone might be thinking, why than, don't we understand the bible alike? The answer usually boils down to one principle, some people really don't want to understand the bible (John 7:17). If a person wants to be a doctor, lawyer, or accountant, he or she will use their energy to learn the language of that profession, no matter how hard the task may seem. To be sure there are difficult texts in the bible (1 Peter 3:15-16). But even they are not totally our of our grasp. As Mark Twain once remarked, "It isn't what I don't understand in the bible that bothers me, but what I do." People don't like the consequences of what God has to say so they change it to suit their taste.

When God said through his man the Apostle Paul " . . . there is one body . . ." (Eph 4:4), which is the church (Eph 1:22-23), he meant for us to understand the word "one." One is not two or three or one hundred, one is one. If the church I belong to can not trace it's origins to the first century, not in an unbroken historical succession, but in doctrine and practice and patterns from the pages of the New Testament, than I better worry that I'm not a member of the one true church.

If we reject truth, jugdment will fall. Judgment presupposes a standard to which we will be held accountable (2 Cor 5:10, Rom 2:1). A standard that can be read and understood alike, or else the concept of a universal judgment is ludicrous. If we want to be Christ's disciples, than we must obey His commands (1 John 8:31). Judgment says we can all understand alike the words of Christ and His Apostles and Prophets. Do you think people will get the message when they hear Him say "depart from me you workers of iniquity?"They won't need a dictionary. Honest hearts will seek to know His will (Acts 17:11). And having understood and applied it to their lives, hear "Blessed is he who keeps the words . . . of this book" (Rev 22:7), do you think those words will mean something to those to whom they are uttered?

Who are the churches of Christ ?
and what do they believe in ?

To excuse ourselves is probably the most base human instinct. Even when I do wrong what I do is never as bad as when someone else does it! And when we get caught, the best thing to do is blame someone else. So great is the need for self justification that some even blame God. Cain asked, "Am I my brothers keeper" when God asked about the murder of his brother. King Saul said, "It was on account of the people" when questioned why he disobeyed God. Rather than take the blame for what he had done Judas went out and hanged himself. We just can't seem to ride ourselves of this tendancy. We know about it intellectually. We are even quick to diagnose it in others, but me? Naah!

Perhaps the greatest level of maturity which a christian can reach is to be able to admit sin, especially some types of sins. How about the intellectual ones like pride, selfishness. No excuses, no procrastination, no hesitation, just admit it! It's hard isn't it! The easiest thing to do is to just ignore it, leave it alone, maybe it will go away, surely don't think about it, it will mix me up, make me feel bad, besides know body knows so don't worry about it.

David overcame when Nathan had told him he was the quilty one. David could have odered Nathan to leave or to worse have him killed but he didn't. David said, "I have sinned against my God." He stepped up to the plate and said, "I'm guilty." He just flat out admitted it, you have got to admire that. That fact is there there are a lot of sins that people don't ever admit to, even though they are committed with a degree of frequency. I know that's true because the bible mentions them so much. That's why they are so dangerous, nobody identifies them and they hang around without much opposition.

Sins like covetousness. Wanting more than what is right or legitimate and maybe even the things of someone else. What about pride? I'll show them I'm right, no matter what! What about self righteousness? Have you ever known anyone to admit that? I haven't but I've seen a lot of christians show its symptoms. Sometimes, I've seen it in myself and I don't like it either. Why is it that we don't see ourselves as we really are? Self righteousness rots holiness into something  so sickening that even evil men dispise it.

Count on it, self righteousness is all around. Nobody wants to admit it could be amoung us, but it's there. Some christians think they know everything. They have examined every shred of truth, there can be know doubt about it. They have it all figured out. And their attitude is beyond reproach. They would never misrepresent anyone either, or make a mistake in an accusation, never operate out of a poor motive. How dare they question me!

Do you see the foul smell of these kinds of sins? They destroy churches, lay low the weak, and discourage the most stout man. The question is, do you know anyone who would admit what I have just described? Who, me? Naah! I may have wasted my time writing this because know one who will ever read this is guilty of any of these things. Nonetheless these things are dangerous, more dangerous than the most obvious sins because they are hard to see and even harder to admit. To admit them means that we must show our inner self a little, eat crow, bite the bullet. And that is uncomfortable and painful. So what is the answer you ask? HUMILITY!