Category: Subject Index
Study Material Categorized by Subject
The Patternists: Observing the Lord’s Supper
The importance of the Lord’s Supper is beyond dispute. In the first century, the disciples partook of the emblems each first day of the week for the purpose of remembering the sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross. It is an example that we emulate in our worship as well. It is a solemn and special feast, and we each should rejoice in the opportunity we have in our assembly to observe it.
We might ask, knowing the significance of the supper, why anyone would sully the experience by improper attitudes or actions? And yet, the Corinthians were guilty of that very thing. They took the Lord’s Supper, but they did it in such a way as to bring Paul’s condemnation of their observance. His admonition is found in 1 Corinthians 11, from verse 17 to 33. “Now in giving these instructions I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse” (vs. 17). We should consider their negative example, to learn from and avoid their failures.
Continue reading “The Patternists: Observing the Lord’s Supper”
True Wisdom
Paul quotes Job’s friend Eliphaz in 1 Corinthians 3:19 while admonishing the Corinthians to avoid the “wisdom” of the world. The full quote from Job 5 is:
“He catches the wise in their own craftiness, And the counsel of the cunning comes quickly upon them. They meet with darkness in the daytime, and grope at noontime as in the night” (Job 5:13-14).
This truth is affirmed time and again in scripture. What men consider to be “wise” is often at odds with the Lord and His will.
Consider that wisdom is often associated with illumination. A truly wise man has insight, an ability to “see” that is not available to the foolish. And yet, Eliphaz talks of the “wise” as groping at noontime as in the night. The only explanation for this is that the wisdom noted in the passage is not true wisdom.
“Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him” (Proverbs 26:12).
Remember that true wisdom descends from above (cf. James 3:13-17). Any time the wisdom of men conflicts with the mind of God, it is counterfeit. It has no real ability to illuminate and guide a man in the way he should go. As Paul notes, the thoughts of the wise, “they are futile” (1 Corinthians 3:20).
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths” (Proverbs 2:5-6).
Click below to…
Sermon: God’s Word is Excellent!
The text of Psalm 119 is devoted to expressing to man the blessings which come from God’s excellent word. It guards and directs us, brings us comfort and wisdom, and ultimately brings salvation to mankind.
Sermon: Fields White For Harvest (4:27-38)
Lesson 8 in Series (John 4:27-38)
Jesus expresses to His disciples that both His and their work in the world is to save souls.
Is It Lawful?
In Mark 10, the Pharisees came to Jesus for the purpose of testing Him. Their motivations were impure, but they asked a question of him that is especially important to us today. “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” (10:2). Matthew records the question in this way, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?” (19:3).
The Patternists: “For Three Transgressions … and for Four”
The book of Amos begins with a proclamation of God’s judgment against the nations. Jehovah included in these words of condemnation Damascus (Syria), Gaza (Philistia), Tyre, Edom, Ammon, and Moab — in addition to Judah and Israel.
He introduces each pronouncement of judgment with the words, “For three transgressions of [enter nation here], and for four, I will not turn away its punishment” (cf. 1:3, 6, 9, 11, 13; 2:1, 4, 6). The phrase is a typical way of expressing a measure of completeness. Three sins were bad enough, but the fourth was cause for God’s judgment, He had reached the end of His longsuffering.
Continue reading “The Patternists: “For Three Transgressions … and for Four””
The Lord’s Counsel
“Listen to counsel and receive instruction, that you may be wise in your latter days. There are many plans in a man’s heart, nevertheless the Lord’s counsel—that will stand” (Proverbs 19:20-21).
Wisdom comes from instruction. The reason for this? Wisdom is the perceptive application of truth. In order to act wisely, one must first know the truth. God’s truths, ultimate truths, are revealed in His word. If a man listens to those who know those truths, and comes to know them himself, he has established a foundation for wisdom. “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17).
Men often reject wisdom for their own desires and goals. Truly, “There are many plans in a man’s heart.” Men design wicked, selfish and foolish plans that result in ruin. “No grave trouble will overtake the righteous, but the wicked shall be filled with evil” (Proverbs 12:21).
Their evil ends in ruin for two reasons. First, it is foolish. That is, what they do is most often self-destructive. By rebelling against God’s plans, they reject counsel that is designed to benefit man. God’s knows best, and yet men consistently reject His good counsel.
Second, rejection of God’s counsel leads to judgment. God said to Israel, “Woe to them, for they have fled from Me! Destruction to them, because they have transgressed against Me!” (Hosea 7:13).
Be wise. Listen to and heed God’s counsel. “The Lord’s counsel – that will stand.”
Click below to…
Sermon: Growth of the Body
The lesson shows the need for faithfulness and zeal, by noting the admonitions and commendations to the seven churches of Asia. The key is the individual in accomplishing this need (cf. Ephesians 4:11-14)
Pappy’s Bad Word
One interesting part of being a Pappy is that you may forget some of the “bad” words parents teach their children not to say. A couple of times I have used the word “stupid” in front of my granddaughters, and they have been scandalized! “Pappy, that’s a bad word!” So Pappy has to say he’s sorry, and promise not to say it again.
The word “stupid” is certainly an ugly word, and we generally are right to avoid it’s use. It is also an appropriate word to use from time to time. One such time is in describing a man who hates to be corrected.
“Whoever loves instruction loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid” (Proverbs 12:1).
The Hebrew word that is translated stupid in the NKJV is ba’ar. It is translated “brutish” in older translations as a nod to its etymology. You have heard the insult “dumb cow” or “dumb as a cow”? Cattle are not known to be particularly smart animals. The Hebrew word is taken from a root which means to consume or eat cattle. If you are brutish, you are like a cow. In a word, stupid!
God’s people appreciate both His word, and those who are willing to reprove and rebuke in accord with that word. A person who is unwilling to take such correction is actually acting in a self-destructive manner. He is being stupid! It is not always comfortable or enjoyable to be corrected by someone more knowledgeable, but it is smart to listen.
Click below to…
Sermon: Faith, Love, Hope
The text of 1 Thessalonians 1:2-4 talks about the work of faith, labor of love and patience of hope that defines the Christian experience. The subject was a favorite one of the great Apostle.
Sermon: Give Me A Drink (4:1-26)
Lesson 7 in series (John 4:1-26)
Jesus talks with a Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well, identifying Himself at the “living water”, and the “way, truth and life.”
The Practices of the Wicked
In Deuteronomy 18, Moses warned the children of Israel about taking up the practices of the pagan nations they would displace as they entered the land of promise.
“When you come into the land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord, and because of these abominations the Lord your God drives them out from before you. You shall be blameless before the Lord your God. For these nations which you will dispossess listened to soothsayers and diviners; but as for you, the Lord your God has not appointed such for you” (Deuteronomy 18:9-14).
The practices enumerated by Moses were characteristic of the pagan societies of the day. There was much superstition and cruelty at that time, and these nations had displeased God.
The Patternists: Great Harlotry
The Hebrew word translated harlotry in the Old Testament (NKJV) is zanah. It is translated whoredom in the KJV of the text. Actually, the entire phrase “has committed great harlotry” is the translation of that single word, as it is found in Hosea 1:2.
The word indicates wantonness. In effect, harlotry is to fornication as gluttony is to eating. Strong, in expressing this, adds to the definition “to commit adultery, usually of the female” words such as continually, great, and go a-whoring.
I Press On
“Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me” (Philippians 1:12). Paul’s words here are often passed over in favor of quoting the two that follow. “Brethren I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (1:13-14).
But, verse 12 adds much to the thought Paul is expressing in the text. Primarily, it states the fact that Paul had not yet attained whatever “that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me” is. What is it? The glorious prize! The crown of righteousness!
You have two religious attitudes that prevail in our day. The first is the view that because I have been saved, the attaining of the goal is a fait accompli. I may should press on, but I don’t have to press on. I am saved. I am going to heaven. My eternal destiny is set.
The second is that expressed by Paul in our text. He was saved, but he knew that the crown of righteousness had not yet been awarded. As such, he lived with purpose. He sought daily to maintain his relationship with the Lord, pressing forward to attain the goal. He did not want to become a castaway! (cf. 1 Corinthians 9:27). Paul’s attitude is the correct one. Don’t presume, get to work!
Click below to…
Sermon: Correction and Pedagogy
God corrects and teaches His people. In the same way, parents are to correct and teach their children, and churches their members.
