Author: Stan Cox

Invitation delivered by: Stan Cox

The invitation was based upon Proverbs 12:2-3. Men are not established by sin. Rather, the foundation is to be found with God.

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The sermon begins in Daniel 3, and demonstrates that Our God is able to:

• Give and sustain life
• Save our souls
• Deliver us
• Reward us
• Punish the disobedient

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Powerpoint Slides

Speaker: Jonathan Hinds

The lesson uses the text of Malachi to admonish us as the priests of God (cf. 1 Peter 2:9). It is possible to despise the name of God, to weary him by our apathetic response of faith. We must take care to worship him with reverence and zeal.

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Powerpoint Slides (will be uploaded soon)

Speaker: Dennis Craig

Certain responsibilites and privileges follow one who becomes a Christian. The sermon discusses these things that follow becoming a child of God:

• Rejoice for Salvation
• Be Holy
• Study God’s Word
• Pray to God
• Assemble with the Saints
• Pepare for the Future

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The lesson uses the text of 1 Corinthians 3:1-9 to establish the folly of elevating men as followers of Christ. Christ alone is to be exalted. To exalt men may lead to division or a departure from truth.

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Sometimes when Jesus gives authority through His word, what He commands is specific in nature. In these instances, no discretion is available to His disciples. It is their place simply to heed and obey His command.

As we demonstrated in our article on the general nature of authority, the principle can be plainly demonstrated in God’s command to sing. In Ephesians 5:19 Paul wrote, “speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.” When it comes to musical worship in the Lord’s church, God specified singing.

While the command to sing is generic in that it allows various styles and types of singing (unison, chanting, four part harmony), it is specific in that it identifies the type of worship – singing as contrasted to playing mechanical instruments of music.

The pattern of musical worship in Christian adoration to God is limited to that specific act. New Testament scriptures command us to sing. New Testament examples of worship reveal that Christians sang. The assertion that the commands to, and examples of Christians singing could lawfully include the use of mechanical instruments of worship is both illogical and without scriptural basis. It is an addition and iniquitous (cf. Matthew 7:21-23).

When adding to God’s specific pattern, innovators are forced to the simplistic cry, “It doesn’t say we can’t!” They have gone beyond the pattern, and rest their hope in God’s acceptance of that willful act. This hope is vain.

Apostasy is the end of those who do not fully understand this simple principle.

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As you know I spent the last week preaching a gospel meeting in Lubbock at the Indiana Avenue church of Christ. The brethren there have long stood for truth, and were very accepting of the lessons I preached while there.

In addition to their kind reception of the preaching, they were hospitable to Debbie and I. This is the same group that adopted Josh when he was going to school at Texas Tech, and who are opening their arms and hearts to Kahley Paulsel as she begins her time there. I have a great fondness for all of them.

It is a wonderful thing to have such a kinship and affection with the faithful, wherever you go. All of us have received warm welcomes when traveling, even when meeting other Christians for the first time. In 3 John, the apostle commended Gaius for his hospitality, “Beloved, you do faithfully whatever you do for the brethren and for strangers, who have borne witness of your love before the church” (3 John 5-6a). We are so grateful that there are many of Gaius’ ilk among the people of God in our generation.

I also appreciate the brethren here at West Side, as many of you exhibit the same willingness to be hospitable. It is important for each of us to examine our hearts, and our practice to ensure that we are pleasing God. “And above all things have fervent love for one another, for ‘love will cover a multitude of sins.’ Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God” (1 Peter 4:8-10).

Here John identifies the life and light of Jesus as something that shines in the darkness, but that “the darkness did not comprehend it.” Jesus’ time on earth was destined to end in a violent death for this very reason. He was the “light of the world”, but man hates the light, and refuses to come to it, “lest his deeds should be exposed” (John 3:20).

The word “comprehend” means to “seize or possess.” Some think it means that the world was unable to contain the light. Others that the world would not embrace the light. Both concepts are certainly true. Jesus was rejected by both the Jews and the Gentiles while on earth. He is likewise rejected by the worldly today. However, regardless of the efforts of the enemy, the light is not extinguished.

Peter said, “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:37).

Any who reject Jesus do so at their own peril. It is inevitable that all will eventually acknowledge Him. “As I live, says the Lord, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God. So then each of us shall give account of himself to God” (Rom. 14:11-12).

In a Fox News (internet) story from August 30, writer Todd Starnes reported:

“The National Park Service began enforcing a policy recently that required churches to obtain special use permits in order to baptize in public waters. As part of the same permit process, the NPS also mandated that churches give the Park Service 48 hours advance notice of pending baptisms.” (story link here)

Missouri Baptists complained vociferously about the restrictions, as it impacted their practice (for generations) of baptizing in area rivers.

Continue reading “In the News: Baptism Permits?” →

Sometimes when Jesus gives authority through His word, what He commands allows for the exercise of some limited discretion by His disciples. The command is general in nature, allowing choices. A good example of this is the command to sing, as revealed in Ephesians 5:19, “speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.”

While the command to sing is specific in that it identifies the type of worship – singing as contrasted to playing; it is general in that choice is given regarding the type of singing. Nowhere in scripture has God identified a specific type of singing (unison, chanting, four part harmony). So, Christians are given choice in the matter.

Of course, the choice is not unlimited. A style of singing lacking in reverence, causing confusion, or interfering with proper edification would be excluded based on other guidelines given by inspiration regarding acceptable worship.

Continuing the example, other choices we make in singing include the use of song books, projection screens, pitch pipes, an appointed leader, etc. When such choices are made, they aid in the command to sing, and in no way violate the command or parameters set by the Holy Spirit. Such choices merely expedite our fulfilling God’s requirements for us. Please note that such choices must themselves be inherently lawful. They must not violate other principles established in God’s word.

Objections may be raised to an acceptable religious practice because this principle of general authority is not fully understood.

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This past week I came across a YouTube video, where an apologist for the theory of evolution was seeking to explain the origin of the universe. Said apologist is taken with a book written by Lawrence Krauss, A Universe from Nothing , which posits that the universe came from, as the apologist states, “literally nothing.” Please read the following quotes carefully from that video:

Continue reading “In the News: Something from Nothing” →

Invitation delivered by: Stan Cox

When we look for the invisible rather than the visible, it gives us the ability to handle the despair and pressures of this life. “Our light affliction” is “but for a moment.”

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The third principle we affirm is authority is established through Divine implication. The principle is wrongly under attack as an arbitrary invention of man rather than a God ordained principle.

By “Divine implication,” we mean truths to be found in God’s word that are not explicitly stated. Instead, they are implicit in the text of scripture. We use our God given ability to reason to INFER the truth that is IMPLIED.

A simple example of this principle is Jesus’ debate with the Sadducees in Matthew 22. They denied the resurrection. Jesus answered, “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God” (29). He then established the truth about the resurrection by appealing to Exodus 3:6. He argued the phrase, “I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob” implied a resurrection. Though Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were physically dead at the time God spoke these words, the words “I AM” are used rather than “I was.”

The inference Jesus made? “God is not the God of the dead, but of the living” (32). The text does not explicitly mention the resurrection. Rather, it is implied.

One caveat, the implication must really be there. Our inference must be necessary as we examine the text. It is not acceptable to say that it MAY be so. We are not to read possibilities into the text. That is eisegesis. Instead, we take out only what is actually there. That is exegesis, our goal.

We must not deny the validity of a principle used by the Lord Himself as we seek to establish authority.

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The lesson compares and contrasts the modern day practice of glossolalia (ecstatic utterances of unintelligible sounds) with the New Testament practice of speaking in tongues.

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Powerpoint Slides

Invitation delivered by: Stan Cox

It is easy to see the point at which the penitent achieved reconciliation with God in the New Testament. In examples such as the Ethiopian Eunuch (Acts 8), Saul of Tarsus (Acts 9) and the Philippian Jailor (Acts 16), those who heard the gospel and were convicted of their sin were concerned, showing immediate desire to respond to God’s commands. Having done so, and finally being baptized for the remission of their sins, they “went on their way rejoicing.”

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