March 1, 2007

“Preach Christ, Not the Church”

Crosses

In the religious world, we have what seems to be a countless number of churches. All have their particular name, creed, organization, and practices. But when we turn to the pages of the New Testament, we read of the one true church. Jesus promised to build one church (Matthew 16:18). Jesus purchased one church (Acts 20:28). Jesus is the head of one church (Ephesians 1:22-23). The one true church is the universal body of the saved.

Whenever we read of churches (plural) in the New Testament, it refers to local churches. “All the churches of Christ greet you” (Romans 16:16). Paul wrote “to the churches of Galatia” (Galatians 1:2). The book of Revelation was addressed to the “seven churches” in Asia (Revelation 1:11). Notice these are all local churches, not confederations of local churches, or denominations (i.e. the Baptist church, Methodist church, Episcopal church, etc.).

Yet this teaching that there is but one true church is not popular. Most professed Christians believe that one church is as good as another. People are told to join the church of their choice. After all, they all believe in Christ, so they are all basically the same. This is the mentality of many. They do not want to condemn or be critical of any other church. They do not think we should do so either. So they tell us to preach Christ, not the church.
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February 1, 2007

Reverend

[This article was written by Tim Haile.]

King David said of God, “He has sent redemption to His people; He has commanded His covenant forever: holy and reverend is His name” (Psalm 111:9). David exalted God’s name as being “holy and reverend.” David gave this description on the basis of God’s ability to send redemption and establish His eternal covenant. Obviously, these two things are utterly impossible for man to do, so man is not in this classification. “Holy” means “set apart,” and “reverend” means “to fear, to be afraid, to stand in awe of.” So, in this context David describes God’s name as “holy” because it is set far apart from any ordinary name, and God’s name is “reverend” because God is to be feared and honored for His greatness, glory and power.
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January 1, 2007

Constants in a Changing World

River

This world is full of constant change. Many things come and go, whether they are people, cultures, governments, trends, or fashions. Yet the writer of Ecclesiastes noted, “There is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9). The changes we see are just perpetual cycles that exist in this world. But in the midst of the changes we face in this life, there are certain fundamental truths that will always remain constant.
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December 1, 2006

Confidence in the Word of God

As the world moves further away from the principles of the word of God, and many in religion are seeking guidance and direction from other sources, we need to be reminded of the power of the word of God. The Hebrew writer said, “The word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). In writing to the saints in Rome, Paul spoke of his confidence in the gospel: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:16).

In spite of these reminders of the power in God’s word, many view simple Bible study and plain Bible teaching as being foolish. Paul spoke of this attitude in his letter to the church in Corinth: “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18).
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November 1, 2006

Quenching the Spirit

Near the close of Paul’s first epistle to Thessalonica, he gave several brief exhortations. One of these was the instruction, “Do not quench the Spirit” (1 Thessalonians 5:19). What does it mean to “quench the Spirit”? The Greek word that is translated quench means to extinguish, or put out. This makes us think of extinguishing a fire. The word of God is compared to a fire elsewhere as Jeremiah described it as “a burning fire shut up in my bones” (Jeremiah 20:9).

We should also remember that the gospel is “the power of God for salvation” (Romans 1:16). To “quench the Spirit” is to remove the power from the gospel. After all, the revealed word is the product of the Spirit (2 Timothy 3:16; 1 Corinthians 2:10-13; John 15:26-27). The gospel is designed to convert the lost and edify the saved. Quenching the Spirit prevents these things and, ultimately, will cause us to forfeit our salvation. So we should look at how we are to preach so as not to quench the Spirit. How do we “quench the Spirit”?
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October 5, 2006

“Now Concerning the Collection” – Part 1: Introduction

Collection Plate

While Paul was journeying back to Jerusalem, he stopped in Miletus and “sent to Ephesus and called to him the elders of the church” (Acts 20:17) and reminded them of the work he had done among them in preaching the gospel. He was able to confidently say that he was “innocent of the blood of all men” because he “did not shrink from declaring to [them] the whole purpose (counsel, KJV) of God” (Acts 20:26-27). This was his responsibility as a gospel preacher – to preach the word of God without holding anything back. By doing this, he was “innocent of the blood of all men.” Conversely, he would stand guilty before God if he failed to teach anything that was necessary and “profitable” (Acts 20:20).
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October 1, 2006

A Preacher and His Support

God’s intention is for those who devote their time to the preaching of the gospel to receive financial support for their work. Paul taught this in his first letter to Corinth: “So also the Lord directed those who proclaim the gospel to get their living from the gospel” (1 Corinthians 9:14).
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