Am găsit acest studiu în procesul căutărilor mele după resurse publicate de alții despre Faptele Apostolilor. Mi-a plăcut și cred că vă va place și vouă:

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                        THE GOSPEL OBSERVER

   "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations...teaching
   them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you
     always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:19,20).
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                         December 1, 1991
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              Sailing Beyond the "Pillars of Hercules"
                          by Tom Edwards

          Sometimes in sermons concerning the story of Jonah, 
     mention is made of how he voyaged toward the ``Pillars of 
     Hercules.'' This expression has been commonly used in time's 
     past to refer to the most remote western area of the known 
     world. It was here that Tarshish was located, toward which 
     Jonah had sailed. The ``Pillars of Hercules'' were made up of
     the Rock of Gibraltar, a promontory at the southern
     extremity of Spain, and the Jebel Musa, an African mountain 
     in northwest Morocco (opposite Gibraltar).

          These two ``Pillars of Hercules'' were seen on old 
     Spanish coins with the surrounding motto, ``Ne Plus Ultra,'' 
     which means ``No More Beyond.'' Fortunately, some people 
     had the courage, hope, and determination to look beyond 
     what man had labeled as a finality. Christopher Columbus' 
     great passion for discovery took him beyond the Pillars of 
     Hercules and across the deep, uncharted ocean. Though to 
     some, Columbus took the chance of sailing off the edge, still 
     he persevered through each day and across each wave until 
     the golden shores of that faraway land were reached.

          Columbus' voyage, as well as the voyages of other 
     early mariners, helped to change the thinking of

 many of 
     his contemporaries. Though Spain continued to use the 
     symbols of the Pillars of Hercules on its coins, the motto 
     was changed to ``Plus Ultra,'' which means ``More Beyond.'' 
     The light of a new world was made to beam into those whose 
     hearts had formerly been darkened to its actuality, and
     man's concept of the planet on which he lived could now be 
     viewed from a different perspective--a more rounded one 
     you might say.

          Down through time, God has revealed Himself to man 
     through various means in order to show that there is ``more 
     beyond''; and through His word, man can learn to expand 
     his outlook and see with the help of God what his purpose 
     on this planet is to be and where a godly life can 
     eventually lead.

          Unfortunately, far too many people today live without 
     this knowledge from God that could cheerfully illumine their 
     inmost being and help them to see with the eyes of faith a 
     superior realm that is well-worth the striving. Consequently, 
     their blindness to these spiritual truths causes them to be 
     without a hope that can look beyond the grave. To them, 
     death is a finality--a total annihilation of everything that 
     makes up an individual--which we can liken to one sailing 
     across a sea of life and falling off the edge, you might say, 
     into a death of nothingness where there is ``No More
     Beyond.'' But as the findings of Columbus restructured the 
     thinking of man in the late 15th century, even so God's 
     word helps to re-shape our perspectives toward the realism 
     of an endless voyage that begins in time and continues in 
     eternity--there is no ``falling off the edge'' into 
     nothingness.

          Though there are most likely many who belong to 
     ``Optimistic Clubs'' today, it has been said that the reason 
     for there not being any ``Pessimistic Clubs'' is because 
     those of this nature did not think it would work.  The 
     problem for this often being that these do not know how to 
     look beyond the Pillars of Hercules. This type of 
     hopelessness has also been expressed by the one who said, 
     ``Don't be too optimistic; the light at the end of the tunnel 
     might be another train.'' And isn't it good that those who 
     lived just prior to the Victorian era did not all hold to the 
     same outlook as William Wilburforce who said in 1801, ``I 
     dare not marry--the future is so uncertain.''

          People today need vision--and especially the one
     which God can give.  As Solomon admonished almost 3,000 
     years ago, ``Where there is no vision, the people perish....'' 
     (Prov. 29:18); and having the right vision can cheerfully 
     brighten one's life even when the external circumstances are 
     dark and dreary.

          According to Heb. 12:2, Jesus could endure the cross 
     because He knew it would ultimately lead to a joy that was 
     set before Him. The context shows that after His suffering, 
     Christ was exalted at the right hand of the throne of God. 
     In addition, the Lord's sacrifice helped make a way that 
     every sinner who would believe and obey could be 
     redeemed.  Having vision such as this, the Lord was willing 
     to be crucified in order to accomplish these goals.

          Because of this vision, Christ could look beyond the 
     cross and beyond all His sufferings. Similarly, Job--the man 
     of many misfortunes--was able to say after having lost 
     virtually all he had, including his own health, that ``Even 
     after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I shall see 
     God; whom I myself shall behold, and whom my eyes shall
     see and not another.... (Job 19:26,27). This is vision. This is 
     being able to look beyond the Pillars of Hercules.

          The apostle Paul was also able to say, ``in the future 
     there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which 
     the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that 
     day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His 
     appearing'' (2 Tim. 4:8). Undoubtedly, this helps to answer 
     how one man as the apostle Paul was able to endure so 
     much for the cause of his Lord. Paul had often been 
     unjustly imprisoned; cruelly beaten ``times without number''; 
     frequently in dangers of death; severely scourged five times 
     with a total of 194 agonizing lashes; painfully clubbed; 
     sorely pelted with stones, shipwrecked three times, a night 
     and a day spent in the deep; and sometimes lacking in the 
     necessities of food, clothing, and shelter (2 Cor. 11:23-28).  
     Yes, it was vision that helped Paul to see beyond these 
     trying times and to view these trials as a type of refinery 
     that could purify and strengthen his faith.

          The world would have us to believe that there is
     nothing after this life, but that is not what God's Son tells 
     us--There is a heaven and a hell. It is only the Christian, 
     therefore, who can see death as a gain. If anyone else does, 
     it is only because this one would like to escape from what 
     might seem as insurmountable difficulties, utter despair, or 
     overwhelming sorrow. Paul, however, did not view his life as 
     something of deep despair, disappointment, or tragedy. He 
     could enjoy being alive, regardless of his 
     circumstances--''to live is Christ,'' he said. Paul's life was 
     characterized with much thanksgiving and rejoicing in the 
     Spirit, plus he could still say ``To die is gain'' (Phil. 1:21), 
     for he knew that to be ``absent from the body'' was to be 
     ``at home with the Lord'' (2 Cor. 5:8).

          Unfortunately, not everyone has this same hope as the 
     apostle Paul, for some people are just not looking high 
     enough. As a poet tersely expressed, ``Two men looked out 
     from prison bars. One saw mud, and one saw stars.'' God 
     has given His word to help man look beyond a shattered 
     realm of doom and gloom to a glorious eternal realm of 
     blessing and joyfulness.

          Though the world is filled with many Pillars of
     Hercules, let us cast off our anchors of doubt and sail on
     our ship of faith over the endless sea of Truth with its
     waves of many possibilities. For off in the distance is the
     horizon of God's eternal glory that glows with the sunset of
     His love and warms our longing hearts as we marvel at its
     beauty.
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         QUESTION & ANSWER: If there is no Bible verse to
                condemn a thing, doesn't that mean 
                 it must be acceptable to God?

                        by Bob Buchanon

          This is one of the basic ideas of denominationalism. 
     With this unscriptural idea men sweep aside anything God 
     may say in His Word and introduce anything they want to 
     do or teach. With this heretical attitude every invention of 
     man has been introduced into Protestantism, Catholicism, and 
     Judaism, as well as all the other ``isms.'' It is causing about 
     as many souls to go to hell as most other human doctrines 
     put together.  When questions are raised about infant 
     baptism, sprinkling, instrumental music or burning incense 
     in worship, priesthood, partaking of communion activities as 
     a function of the church or many other such matters, the 
     answer is usually given, ``God's Word doesn't say not to!'' 
     But it should be pressed, ``But does God authorize it?'' 
     When God's Word does not authorize a thing, it is not of
     God but is human, it is of men and condemned (Matt. 15:9,14;
     II John 9). Where is the passage that condemns substituting
     hamburgers and Coca-Cola for the Lord's Supper? Surely we
     know better than to attempt to argue, ``The Bible doesn't
     condemn it, so it must be okay.''
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                            Tri-State
                        CHURCH OF CHRIST                         
         1314 Montgomery Avenue, Ashland, Kentucky 41101                 
        evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards (606) 325-9742            
                   e-mail: tedwards@zoomnet.net  
 Gospel Observer web site: http://www.zoomnet.net/~tedwards/go
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