Musick-al Notes

Musick-al note # 152               

            What good are warnings if they are continually ignored? Jesus warned of coming disaster under certain conditions, does man have the right to say He is wrong?  To ignore His words and teach otherwise is to call Him a liar!  Dare we to do so and think that we can be guiltless before God?  We need to be careful in our thinking and actions.

         No matter what church one may belong to, or what its leaders may say, if the teachings do not conform to what Christ said, as related by Him or His Apostles, that teaching and its leaders are in error to continue that doctrine (Galatians 1:6-9). The apostle John said, “Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God.  He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor bid him God speed; for he who bids him God speed shares in his evil deeds.” (2 John 9-11).  To follow and support false teachings will surely place us in eternal peril.  Should anyone do so and teach men to follow those rules and regulations, they are deceivers and will twist the scriptures to their own destruction.  It is no wonder that Peter said that there would be false teachers who will teach destructive heresies and beguile souls with false words whose end will be destruction (2 Peter 2:1-3). Jesus said that one must both hear his words and do them to enter heaven (Matthew 7:21-27). These words in Matthew 7:21-23 are a clear warning of impending loss of any who refuse to obey him. Calling Jesus ‘Lord’, doing what one wants to do such as teaching, casting out demons and doing mighty works is not sufficient if one does not obey Jesus teaching.  Why did Jesus say to them, “I never knew you”.  Apparently they never entered the narrow gate that leads to eternal life (verses 13-14).  There are many who teach that baptism (obeying the Gospel of Christ) is not necessary but that ‘gate’ is still in the Word of God (Matthew 7:13-14, Galatians 3:26-27, Romans 6:1-4). Christians must believe, obey and teach this truth or we fail both ourselves and our fellow-man.

                   Gordon Musick        

Musick-al note # 152           

         Paul said in Ephesians 1:3 blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessing in Christ in heavenly places.”  This means that if one is to have remission of sins (Acts 22:16), the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38), to be accepted by the Father (2 Corinthians 5:18-20), one must be ‘IN CHRIST’.  If one wants the right to call God his Father (Galatians 3:26) and expect to receive His blessings, they must be ‘IN CHRIST’. If one wants the right to expect God answer their prayers (John 15:16) and to be protected from more severe temptations than he can bear (1 Corinthians 10:13), they must be ‘IN CHRIST’. If one desires to be protected from the wrath of God in the last day (2 Thessalonians 1:6-10) and gain eternal life (1 Peter 3:21), they must be ‘IN CHRIST’ (Galatians 3:27).  This involves being in His body, the church for he is the head of his church (Ephesians 1:22-23, Col 1:18).  

         It is most important to know how to get into Christ, for salvation is in Christ (2 Tim. 2:10).  The Apostle Paul taught a great deal to say about entering into Christ (Romans 6:3-10 and Galatians 3:26-27 about getting into Christ, thus they are very important verses for us to know and follow. All persons should memorize them  for in order to get into Christ, a person must (1) believe that God sent Him into the world (John 8:24), (2) repent of all sins (Luke 13:3,5), (3) confess His name before men (Matt 10:32-33), (4) be buried with Him in the water of baptism for the remission of sin (Acts 2:38, Romans 6:4, Romans 6:17- 18, Acts 22:16), and (5) walk in newness of life as He directs (Romans 6:4, Titus 2:11-14). This message is also known as ‘The Gospel’ (Romans 1:16, Romans 6:3-5, Romans 6:17-18) which we must obey to receive the blessings of God and expect to go to heaven.   

          Gordon Musick

Musick-al note # 151           

       In the heart of every man lies a desire to live eternally and great wealth has been spent to assure that man keeps living in this world. Observation and experience teaches us that we cannot live in this world eternally. It is destined that man shall die and then comes judgment (Hebrews 9:27). All have sinned (Romans 3:23) and destined to die (Ezekiel 18:4).  How then can that desire of every heart be fulfilled?  Jesus declared that he will give his followers eternal life (John 10:26-29) in an eternal dwelling called heaven that God has established by His power for the souls of men (John 14:1-3).  The Father sent His son, Jesus into the world to save mankind (John 3:16) from eternal death.  Jesus gave himself as a ransom for all men by dying on the cross for every man (Romans 5:6-8). His death paid the penalty of sin for everyone and he offers eternal life to all who obey him (Hebrews 5:9).

     . The Bible is the revelation of God to give man knowledge of that place and knowledge of how to obtain that goal and satisfy the desire of their hearts. Those who obey Him will be blessed and enter into the habitation with God (Hebrews 12:28). However, not all men will obey and sadly, the unbelieving and disobedient will be cast away (Revelation 21:8). God has provided that those who are disobedient and follow the way of Satan will share his eternal habitation (Matthew 25:46). The place God has prepared for Satan and his angels is called Hell – a place of fire and brimstone which burns forever and forever (Revelation 14:10-11, 19:20).  Disobedient ones will go to that place where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 8:12, 13:42, 22:13). The blessed will be in heaven to share all joy and happiness forever and forever (Matthew 25:34, 46). Study the Word of God and obey His Son, Jesus that you might enjoy the blessings of God (Acts 4:12).

      The ‘TABLE OF CONTENTS’ is available by personal request.

              Gordon Musick

Musick-al note # 151           

       In the heart of every man lies a desire to live eternally and great wealth has been spent to assure that man keeps living in this world. Observation and experience teaches us that we cannot live in this world eternally. It is destined that man shall die and then comes judgment (Hebrews 9:27). All have sinned (Romans 3:23) and destined to die (Ezekiel 18:4).  How then can that desire of every heart be fulfilled?  Jesus declared that he will give his followers eternal life (John 10:26-29) in an eternal dwelling called heaven that God has established by His power for the souls of men (John 14:1-3).  The Father sent His son, Jesus into the world to save mankind (John 3:16) from eternal death.  Jesus gave himself as a ransom for all men by dying on the cross for every man (Romans 5:6-8). His death paid the penalty of sin for everyone and he offers eternal life to all who obey him (Hebrews 5:9).

     . The Bible is the revelation of God to give man knowledge of that place and knowledge of how to obtain that goal and satisfy the desire of their hearts. Those who obey Him will be blessed and enter into the habitation with God (Hebrews 12:28). However, not all men will obey and sadly, the unbelieving and disobedient will be cast away (Revelation 21:8). God has provided that those who are disobedient and follow the way of Satan will share his eternal habitation (Matthew 25:46). The place God has prepared for Satan and his angels is called Hell – a place of fire and brimstone which burns forever and forever (Revelation 14:10-11, 19:20).  Disobedient ones will go to that place where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 8:12, 13:42, 22:13). The blessed will be in heaven to share all joy and happiness forever and forever (Matthew 25:34, 46). Study the Word of God and obey His Son, Jesus that you might enjoy the blessings of God (Acts 4:12).

      The ‘TABLE OF CONTENTS’ is available by personal request.

              Gordon Musick

  Musick-al note # 150           

       When one reads carefully James 2:14-26, they will see that faith without works of obedience is dead!  Most of Hebrews 11 clearly shows the same thing. Each of these men who were saved or blessed by faith were blessed WHEN, AND ONLY WHEN, they did exactly what God said. Faith then is the accepting the Word of God and obeying (doing) what God asks. God blesses and saves man by faith when that faith leads him to obey His commands. This is not salvation by works of merit, but simply means that one cannot accept God’s gracious offer of salvation except by the means God has appointed.  Any thoughtful reading of Mark 16:15-16, Mt. 28:18-20, Acts 2:38, Acts 22:16, Rom. 6:17-18, 1 Peter 3:21 and any other case having to do with salvation will show that these persons were saved AFTER their faith led them to OBEY God’s commands.

      Now consider what Paul was saying in Romans 4:4-8, 13-17, 20-25 and in Eph.2:8-9.  God saves by His grace (free gift). There is no work that man can do to merit or earn salvation, No man is good enough to deserve salvation, no man who is rich enough to buy salvation for it is a gift from God (Rom 6:23).  Paul further declares that one must have faith to receive that grace. Read carefully Romans 4:16 and Ephesians 2:8. That faith must be active to obey God’s commands to obtain His free gift because God has given stipulations as to how man is to receive His gifts. He has the right as giver to set any and all regulations for man to receive his gifts. One of the regulations is “faith” which is seen in repenting of sin, confessing the name of Christ before men, being baptized in water and living in newness of life. None of these things “merit” or “earn” salvation for the man who does them yet no man can have the grace of God without doing what God has said. So James and Paul were really saying the same thing. James said one must have works to show that his faith was living and Paul said one must have faith that results in obedience to receive the gift of God’s salvation into the heavenly realms.

               Gordon Musick.

Musick-al Note # 149            

          The church which was established by our Lord Jesus is the greatest institution in the world.  It was built by the greatest architect of all time, founded upon the chief corner-stone, has the Son of God as its head, bought by the precious blood of the Lamb and the Bible to direct and guide its function and work in the world (1 Corinthians 3:11). The church’s weak link is in its members who can fail and return to the world. When people fail, then of course the church fails for “Christ has no hands but our hands to do His work”. Whether therefore the church is a force or a farce depends upon what we do in carrying out the will of the Lord Jesus.

          The church will be a force in the world if our influence for good is exerted and felt in the world to bring about obedience to the will of God.  Our light must shine that others may see the glory of Christ in us. We must be as salt in preserving (saving) the lost world from ruin.  We must be as leaven to permeate the community in which we live with the message of hope and joy.  The church can be a force only when Christians dare to live godly in Christ Jesus, when they will endure persecution that they might save the lost.  To be a force, the church must reach out to help the sick, the needy, the homeless and the lost.  When we fail in these things the church will become a farce.

          It would not matter how many religious services we conduct each week, how big or how magnificent the building we erect, how many people we put on the payroll nor even how much money was received in contributions if we fail to do teach and follow God’s word and be a positive influence in the community. So failing, the church will be a farce instead of the force God intended it to be. When the members of the church have more zeal and enthusiasm to obtain riches (houses, lands, cars, clothes, etc.) than they have for teaching the lost or helping the poor and needy, the church becomes a farce in the world. When we show more concern for selfish ambition than we show for spreading the borders of the kingdom of God, the church becomes a farce.  When we spend more for pleasure than we spend to support the Lord’s work, the church becomes a farce. The question remaining, “Is the church a force or a farce?” The answer lies within you.

              Gordon Musick

 Musick-al note #  148           

        What is a parable and why did Jesus use them in speaking to the Pharisees, Scribes and other Jews? A Parable is an earthly story told to illustrate a spiritual truth.  The meaning of the word is “to lay alongside for comparison”. Jesus used many stories from the daily lives of the people to illustrate truths which the Father desired that man should know.  However many of the parables Jesus had to explain their true meaning for even His disciples did not understand all of them until He revealed their meaning. Jesus said that the disciples should know the meaning of the parables but others would not understand even though they heard the same words. Jesus’ words indicate that the disciples should know the meaning when he said, “To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables, so that seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand; lest they should be converted and their sins be forgiven them.” (Mark 4:10-13).

       Apparently the failure of the Pharisees to see and understand was caused by a blindness that kept them from really knowing God’s truths. Paul said such blindness is caused by Satan “But if our gospel is hidden, it is hidden to those who are lost: whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God should shine on them.” (2 Corinthians 4:3-4) Jesus spoke so that man could understand the will of God. Satan has blinded some so that they cannot see and thus be lost.

        We should be studying the Word of God with a discerning mind so that we may know the God’s Word and know when any man’s teaching departs from His truth. But to only know the difference is not enough. We must not blindly follow man’s teaching but we must follow the revealed Word to know we follow His Son, Jesus (John 20:30-31). I have heard that if a lie is told many times, people would believe it to be true. This seems to be true in religious matters because the lies of false teachers are repeated constantly (Revelation 12:15).Be careful what and how you hear (John 8:43-47, Luke 8:10-18), for if you listen to truth, you will believe truth but if you listen to lies, you will believe them. Study the Word and follow God by obedience to His Word..

               Gordon Musick

Musick-al note # 147         

            Jesus taught in his parable that the kingdom of heaven is like a marriage feast given for the king’s son. A good study of it reveals many lessons to be gained, many invited guests ignored the invitation, and others turned to other pursuits giving no care or concern to the great occasion even ridiculing the messengers or killing them. The king rejected them and sought others to fill the wedding hall. Seemingly, in the midst of the rejoicing throng, the king saw an individual without a wedding garment which, according to custom, all had been given to wear. Why then, did he not have it on? The statement ‘he was speechless’ indicates that he knew but that he chose not to accept it or wear it. Then why had he gone in? It must be that he lived among the saints with a right-seeming life, did good works, payed his debts, acted like believers by helping the poor and even meeting with the saints yet never obeying the Gospel of Christ. Too late he learned that good works do not merit salvation.

            As in all parables, Jesus was teaching spiritual truths so this parable teaches about the coming marriage of Jesus to His bride, the church, whom He loves and will present her in splendor and perfection to Himself (Ephesians 5:25-32). We should prepare ourselves for that occasion by wearing the wedding garment prepared and given to us for that occasion. Those garments are revealed in God’s Word so we can be ready.  Take note of these verses regarding those things we are to put on. Galatians 3:27 ‘put on Christ’, Colossians 3:10 ‘put on the new self after his image’, Ephesians 4:24 ‘put on the new self, created in the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness’, Ephesians 6:10-18 ‘put on the whole armor of God’. These all point to entering the narrow gate and living faithfully until death. One begins their spiritual dressing by obeying the Gospel to put on Christ. Then one must continue to live in Christ by following His will to be self-controlled, upright and godly (Titus 2:12,) be just, love Christ steadfastly and walk humbly before God (Micah 6:8) presenting our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God (Romans 12:1) and at death put on immortality (1Corinthians 15:53), fully dressed for the great banquet of God.

          Gordon Musick

 Musick-al Note #   146                  

          Do you expect to do no work in the church, make no commitments, attend only when you desire, live as you want to live, have little to do with the brethren, encourage no one, take no responsibility in the vineyard of the Lord and still get to heaven?  Our Lord never gave a single teaching that would imply that such could be done, yet many Christians are living just like this and say they have hope of heaven.  Jesus called for “workers” to go work in His vineyard (Matthew 9:38).  He said, “Deny yourself, take up your cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23), “Love one another as I have loved you” (John 13:34), Peter said to “Love one another fervently” (1 Peter 1:24), Jesus taught the parable of the talents to the end that every man must take the responsibility of the talents given him to use them or be destroyed when He returns (Matthew 25:14-30). Jesus taught that we had influence as the light of the world (Matthew 5:14-16).  We ought therefore to let our light shine so that others will be drawn to the Christ and the Father.  If we so act toward the Lord’s church that it is of little concern to us, that we go to places and do those things which Christians ought not to go and do, then we will be condemned because our influence for good was hidden beneath personal desires and the fulfilling of the lusts of the flesh.

          Jesus is God’s only begotten Son, existing from eternity to eternity, sent from the glories of heaven to purchase our redemption (Hebrews 5:8-9), having paid the highest purchase price possible (1 Peter 1:18) His own life to insure our salvation, and making it possible that we might enter into the eternal realm with God to inhabit those mansions of unbelievable beauty and glory, to enjoy everlasting life without loss or fear.  Seeing that Jesus love us so much and desires us so much, ought we not to put forth our best effort to respond to Him? If Jesus means little to us, if the price He paid to redeem us from sin is naught, if heaven is a small inheritance and we exchange it for the pleasures of the world, then there is no hope for us.  Can we really expect all goodness from Him while we live selfish, ungodly and worldly lives?  It isn’t impossible for us to give ourselves to be His servants to do His will, to encourage others, to assemble with the saints, to live for Jesus daily and influence others to follow Him, but it does take dedication, determination, love and work to do it.

             Gordon Musick

Musick-al Note # 145                                       

        We are prone to excuse ourselves when we fail to attend meetings of the church, to teach a class, to visit the sick, to help another member, to send an encouraging card, or just to see a need and do it.  What kind of work in the church can you do? When asked to join in something, is our only answer “I’m too tired or too busy, I can’t, or let someone else do it” or any other excuse.  While one may be tired or busy or may not feel like doing this particular work or attend all the time, we ought to realize that such reasoning will not suffice with God.

       To put it another way, we need to remember that God has done all He can to show you His love and save your soul from sin for an eternity with Him.  All mankind, including you, could have been discarded by the God-head and everyone cast away,  God gave his only Son to save everyone who will believe that He sent Jesus to the world (John 3:16). However, the love of God and Jesus constrained them to save us at an extreme cost (1 Peter 1:18-19), It meant sending the Son from heaven and living among sinful man as man himself. Christ gave so much of himself to bring about our salvation.  It meant laying to burden of sin on Him.  It meant Jesus had to endure the suffering of the cross (Matthew 26:39).  It meant agony, torture and death, yes this included His dying on the cross for everyone (Hebrews 2:9). Out of their love and endurance of these things, salvation is granted you and me through Jesus when we obey Him (Hebrews 5:9).

        How do our excuses compare to His work to save us when we say, “I’m too tired” or “I’m too busy” or “I don’t feel like it” or “I just have to get away for a while”?.  They sound pretty shallow and childish don’t they?  If we examine them carefully, we will see that they have only a skin of truth stuffed with a lie. Outwardly they are true but really we only want to do what we want to do.  Shall we continue to give excuses when we consider the great gifts of God and His Son, Jesus?

                      Gordon Musick