Author: Stan Cox

This sermon consists primarily of the reading of scripture, chiefly in reference to the scheme of redemption. The passages that were chosen were chosen based upon their ability to inspire and uplift men.

Sermon Audio: Click Here .

The denominational “Pastor system” is unscriptural and indefensible. This sermon discusses the office of Pastor, and distinguishes between what the scriptures teach and the practice of men.

Audio

Powerpoint Slides

Alexander Campbell believed that as Christians in his generation sought to restore the ancient order of the Christian faith, it would lead to a golden age of God’s blessings in the world at large. The title of his paper, The Millennial Harbinger represented this sentiment.

In the Prospectus issue of the Harbinger, Campbell wrote:

THIS work shall be devoted to the destruction of Sectarianism, Infidelity, and Antichristian doctrine and practice. It shall have for its object the developement, and introduction of that political and religious order of society called THE MILLENNIUM, which will be the consummation of that ultimate amelioration of society proposed in the Christian Scriptures.

Some postulate that it was Campbell’s disillusionment at the lack of progress toward his goal that led him to adopt the innovation of the Missionary Society.

Campbell was misguided in his views. The restoration of the ancient order has no great impact upon society in general, any more than the establishment of the Lord’s kingdom 2,000 years ago led to virtue in the Roman world. What is accomplished, as the sincere gospel is preached to the world at large, is the salvation of good and honest souls. Social change is fine, but the Lord’s focus was never on the here and now, it has always been on eternity. And, that should be the primary focus and directed efforts of His disciples as well.

Invitation delivered by: Justin Carrell

In this short talk, Justin discusses the benefit of fasting as a tool to growing our faith.

Audio: Click Here .

This letter the Lord wrote to the church at Ephesus was the first of seven written to churches in Asia. At the time of this writing, Ephesus was a large city — the most important seaport in Asia Minor.

Each of these letters follow the same pattern, and are found in chapters 2 and 3.

The Lord first commended the church at Ephesus for its work. The church was apparently diligent, steadfast, fruitful, and contended earnestly for the faith (Jude 3). They “hated the deeds of the Nicolaitans” as did the Lord.

However, something was missing. He admonished them for having “left your first love.” Though there was still the form of faithfulness in Ephesus, some zeal or vigor was missing. That lack of passion for Jesus was the reason for this censure.

The Lord called them to repentance, and here as elsewhere indicated that their salvation hung in the balance. This clearly indicates the fallacy of those who hold the doctrine of “once saved always saved.”

Here, those who “overcome” and receive the tree of life are the faithful and zealous. This is a wonderful lesson for us today!

A couple of Wednesday nights ago, in our lesson discussing the discipline of meditation, I admitted to the fact that poetry holds little appeal to me. My tastes run to the prosaic, (some may say uncouth).

However, I did note that a well formed paragraph can inspire me, and I thought I would share a few with you. For example, the wonderful expression of our victory in Christ, from the pen of the apostle Paul:

“Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created things, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:37-39).

Continue reading “Inspiring Prose” →

Authority is inherent in Jesus Christ because he is our Creater, Redeemer, and the Heir of all things. As such, we must submit to His will.

Sermon Powerpoint: Click Here .

Sermon Audio: Click Here .

The sermon examines the service Elisha rendered to Elijah, as recorded in 2 Kings 2. He exhibited qualities of a good servant. These attributes of Elisha can be used to establish what constitutes good discipleship in our service to Jesus.

Sermon Powerpoint: Click Here .

Sermon Audio: Click Here .

Invitation delivered by: Jeremiah Cox

Jeremiah appeals to Matthew 7:21-ff and James 1:21-25 to establish the necessity of doing the will of God. This is contrasted with religious people who claim to serve God, but only practice the aspects of God’s will that suit them.

Audio: Click Here .

The Facebook website is ubiquitous. It was recently reported that 750,000,000 people worldwide are active participants on the website. The number is mind boggling.

Late Tuesday evening a change was made to the format and functionality of the site. While there are some obvious improvements, change is always a bit disconcerting, and many have bitterly complained about the alterations. A few have maintained a good humor about it, though, and I came across this particular quote about the revisions:

I am appalled that the free service that I am in no way obligated to use keeps making changes that mildly inconvenience me.

Continue reading “In the News: Criticism, Facebook and the Children of Israel” →

Irony is defined as follows:

(1) Incongruity between the actual result of a sequence of events and the normal or expected result. (2) An event or result marked by such an incongruity. (Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary, 1977 edition)

One tragic example of real-life irony about which I recently read concerns a motorcyclist in New York last July. The helmetless man was riding his motorcycle as a part of a large group of cyclists staging an organized protest over the state’s mandatory helmet law. The 55 year old man crashed, hitting his head on the road, and suffering a fatal skull fracture. A state trooper was quoted, “The doctor felt that the death could have been prevented if he simply had been wearing a helmet.” (Reuters)

Continue reading “Tragically Ironic” →

To illustrate the condemnation reserved for false teachers, Jude used three examples in this text. First, those of the Exodus who exhibited unbelief despite the miraculous intervention of God. He “destroyed those who did not believe.” Second, the rebellious angels. Though little is revealed about this rebellion of higher beings, we know that God placed them under “everlasting chains.” Third, the immoral cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, that suffered by His hand, “the vengeance of eternal fire.”

These serve as an object lesson to the current false teachers that Jude warns his readers about. These evil men are sensuous and rebellious. Because of their evil ways, they are worthy of condemnation.

In verse 9 of the text, a reference is made to a conflict between Michael, the archangel, and the devil, about the body of Moses. We have no knowledge of the nature of the dispute, and it is worthless to speculate. However, the occasion is used to point out the audacity of the false teachers Jude condemns. Their brashness leads them to do things even Michael himself would not.

A problem common to our time is an inappropriately casual attitude toward worship. I recently came across a quote from a preacher, dating to 1985. I do not know of him apart from the tract, titled A Burning Fire. His name is James W. Boyd:

It makes my blood nearly boil to hear the smart-aleck liberals castigate what they call “traditionalism” in such flippant terms. One describe dour worship to God as two songs, prayer, another song, “juice and crackers.” That man proved that all fools aren’t dead. The very idea of speaking of the divinely ordained memorial to the sacrifice of the Son of God as “Juice and crackers.” You can see the level of his respect for God and His will!

The man’s purpose in writing was to encourage preachers to be careful in the language they use in and out of the pulpit. He further wrote:

Reverence and respect for that which is divine and of divine order is mandatory lest we sin by being sacrilegious and blasphemous.

It is probable that the problems with such casual and unthinking attitudes have grown greater in the 35 years since this was written. It certainly is something for us to think about!

The text of 1 Corinthians 9 is used to support the concept of financial support of preaching, and to establish the value of the preacher’s work.

Sermon Audio: Click Here .

The Title of this sermon refers to Ezra’s reading of the law to the remnant of Israel (Nehemiah 8:8), and giving a sense (explaining the law) so that his listeners could understand. This sermon is an exegesis of Peter’s sermon on Pentecost, (Acts 2).

Sermon Audio: Click Here .