Category: Subject Index

Some people don’t care what God thinks. Others are curious, looking for a loophole, and some accept what God says, no matter the cost of discipleship.

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Wise counsel comes ultimately from God’s word. So, those we ask for counsel: our parents, our friends, our elders, can be depended upon if they couch their advice in righteousness!

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Ezekiel prophesied during the days of Babylonian captivity, and one reason for the fall of the Jews was a lack of leadership for the people. The prophets, priests and princes were all singled out for their ungodliness. Of them, the Lord said:

“So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one” (Ezekiel 22:30).

The dearth of righteous leadership is destructive to any people. This was true of Israel, is true in our country today, and can be true in the church.

In the Lord’s church today, we need men to “stand in the gap” on behalf of God’s people. We need preachers who will declare the whole counsel of God, and serve as righteous examples to the flock (cf. 1 Timothy 4:12-16). We need elders whose maturity and godly example will protect the flock against the “savage wolves” that are about (cf. Acts 20:29). We need deacons of good reputation and wisdom (cf. Acts 6:3) to assist the flock.

We need these men and others “for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ” (cf Ephesians 4:12). God today is looking for men and women to “stand in the gap.” When He looks in your direction, will you bravely and boldly stand for Him?

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The apostle Paul acknowledged the hostility that existed between Jew and Gentile in the first century. He also acknowledged that such enmity was a result of the Law of Moses. This Law placed a barrier between the Jew (the chosen people of God), and the rest of humanity.

That Law was special, even necessary to prepare the world for the Messiah of God. In Galatians 3:24, Paul wrote, “Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” The Law of Moses was wonderful, but never intended by God to be the means of mankind’s redemption. The promise that God made to Abraham that He would make of his descendants a great nation, was accompanied by the promise that “…in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:3).

This promise was realized when that Law of Moses ceased its authority over men (cf. Romans 7:1-6). When Jesus paid the price for the sins of all mankind, Paul wrote that He, “abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity” (Ephesians 2:15-16).

We do not mourn the loss of Moses’ law. Instead, we rejoice that it served its purpose, to “bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” Now, we state with joy, “But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor” (Galatians 3:25). “For through Him we both [Jew and Gentile] have access by one Spirit to the Father” (Ephesians 2:18).

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In Matthew 21:28-32, Jesus condemns the Jewish leaders for their disobedience by using this parable to illustrate their sin. Other observations, on pride, prejudice, the Lordship of Jesus, and true repentance are included in the discussion.

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Despair is a condition common to man. Even those who are strongest spiritually come across circumstances and times where they can cope only with the help of the Lord. The Psalmist felt this way, and said:

“To You I will cry, O Lord my Rock: do not be silent to me, lest, if You are silent to me, I become like those who go down to the pit” (Psalm 28:1).

Can you imagine crying out to a God who has no concern for your welfare? To make your petition known, only to expect and receive no help? Fortunately, we know and understand that God loves His children. Those who are His can:

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).

The Psalmist knew of the tender mercies of His God. In the midst of his despair he cried out, expected and received an answer from His God:

“Blessed be the Lord, because He has heard the voice of my supplications! The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; therefore my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song I will praise Him” (Psalm 28:6-7).

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Merriam Webster defines self-identification: “the act of identifying yourself as a particular kind of person.” It is a term that has only recently gained prominence. Typically, it is used with regard to race, gender or sexual attraction. A dictionary example given is that of a man who has one parent who is black and another who is white, who self-identifies as black.

Most examples of self-identification are logical. I have children, thus self-identify as a father. I also self-identify as a husband, as a grandfather, as an American, and proudly, as a Texan. These examples are fact based. However, some other recent examples of self-identification defy logic and fact.

Continue reading “How My Self-Identity Influences My Actions” →

The concept of discipleship, with its sacrifices as well as its rewards, is summed up in words Jesus spoke numerous times in Matthew’s gospel, “Follow Me.”

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God is our Creator, and deserves our respect and obedience. His revealed will impacts us in every aspect of our lives.

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Invitation delivered by: Stan Cox

In 1 Peter 2:11, Peter states that fleshly lusts war against the soul. Sin is destructive to our souls, and our standing with God.

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Paul’s first epistle to Timothy consists of important instructions he wanted Timothy to proclaim to the Christians in Ephesus, as well as pointed instructions to the young evangelist himself.

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A saint is one who God has separated from the world. He is to be holy in his conduct. The opposite of such holiness is a profane life. It is not possible for a child of God to persist in sin!

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“A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matthew 12:35-37).

This passage has many applications for us, but I would like to talk about the type of language the Christian should use, and more specifically the fact that it is sinful to use profanity.

Whether the language is scatological, euphemistic, or blasphemy against God, it is evidence of an evil heart. Profanity is so common in our day that men consider it a trifle. God does not.

If you claim to be striving to be righteous, and yet use profanity, your language betrays you. Faithful Christians don’t cuss!

“But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth” (Colossians 3:8).

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“Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, ‘He catches the wise in their own craftiness’; and again, ‘The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.’” (1 Corinthians 3:18-20).

Any man who presumes to speak where God has not is foolish. To boldly claim that God is pleased with actions that are not authorized in scripture is to be self-deceived.

“For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God” (1 Corinthians 2:11-12).

The only way to know God’s will is to study what He has revealed to us. The only safe way is the way that is revealed in the Bible.

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Invitation delivered by: Stan Cox

The character qualifications for elders that Paul revealed to Titus in Titus 1 are qualities we should seek to have in ourselves as Christians.

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