“…there is only one church that is structured the same, and is run the same as was the primitive (or beginning) church.  That would be The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS), or Mormon church…. I have study long, read the scriptures, and prayed, and I know that this is the only true church restored by God after the Apostasy. It contains all the authority to the ordinances, restored through Joseph Smith.” ~ Joshua Caplin I respectfully submit to Joshua and every reader that indeed there is only one true church, about which anyone can read in the New Testament, but that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) or the Mormon Church is not that church. The facts simply do not support Joshua’s sincere but erroneous assertion. Both biblical and historical evidences conclusively prove the LDS claim to be unfounded and false. Additionally, the most damaging information countering LDS claims to be the one true church comes from the massive archives of miscellaneous and contradictory official LDS documents. The first hint that the Mormon Church is not the one true church about which one can read in the Bible is that its name is unscriptural (not in the Bible). Instead of finding Mormon Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints or LDS in the Bible, the New Testament records several other appellations or descriptive terms by which the divine institution was known: “church of God” (1 Corinthians 1:2), “churches of Christ” (Romans 16:16), “house of God” (1 Timothy …

[Power, Vol. 9, No. 1, January 2000, p. 3.] Our greatest hope is based on what many would claim to be a paradox in our society today. Our hope is not based on what we can amass here in the way of wealth, prominence and popularity. No, our greatest hope is based on that which will occur after our demise. This great hope is the bodily resurrection from the dead. There has always been, and will continue to be, a great deal of confusion on this subject. The religious world alone promotes different and often contradictory views on what occurs after death. Some teach that death is the end of our existence. Some teach that the righteous will receive heaven as a reward, but deny entirely the belief of eternal punishment of the wicked. Even more confusion exists regarding the form we will take in the resurrection. The Bible provides answers to all the questions man may have (2 Peter 1:3; 2 Timothy 3:16-17). Past Denialsof the Resurrection Biblical history records that there have always been those who have denied the resurrection. The Sadducees, a prominent religious sect of the Jews, opposed much of what was taught in the first century. That they were opposed to apostolic teaching on the resurrection is seen in Paul’s defense before the Sanhedrin. There, Paul indicated that the reason he was on trial was because of his teaching about the resurrection of the dead (Acts 23:6-8). Others rejecting the resurrection in New Testament times …

[Bible Light, Vol. 19, No. 4, July-August 2000, pp. 1, 7.] As the moral fiber of American civilization deteriorates and biblical values are jettisoned, activities that were once generally perceived to be harmful to society are now becoming acceptable and even achieving legal sanction. Gambling has become a viable form of amusement to millions of Americans with a view toward “getting rich quick.” Even in the church, uninformed, unstudied Christians see the purchase of lottery tickets as an innocent behavior. It is time to consider again the biblical principles which relate to gambling. Assorted dictionaries define “gambling”: “to play games of chance for money”; “to risk money on uncertain gain”; “to stake or risk money, etc., in the hope of great gain.” Consider the following four reasons why gambling is inconsistent with Christian living. Gambling Is Not Authorized by God Christians, by definition, are people who regulate their behavior by the Scriptures. The Scriptures identify three authorized means of transferring valuables from one person to another: (1) working for pay (e.g., Matthew 10:10; Luke 10:7; Ephesians 4:28; 1 Timothy 5:18); (2) selling goods or property (Matthew 13:46; Acts 2:45; 4:34; 5:4; James 4:13), and (3) free will offerings or donations without expecting a return (Luke 6:30, 34-35; 10:33-35; Acts 20:35; 2 Corinthians 8:9). Gambling will not fit into any of these categories. The first observation for a Christian to make is that gambling is a scripturally unauthorized activity. Gambling Conflictswith Christian Principles Gambling (whether lotteries, horse/dog racing, casinos or bingo) entails two or …

Probably, there has never been a time when proper insights to fundamental and elementary matters that pertain to the salvation of souls were more need than now, both by Christians and those not Christians. Christians need to grow in their grasp of these fundamental matters so they can help those who are not Christians to understand them. We talk about “mission work” considerably, and generally, we mean work to spread the Gospel in foreign lands or in places in our own land where the New Testament order of things is little known or not know at all. However, one of the truly great challenges of mission work is the challenge for every Christian to become so well acquainted with the way of the Lord that he can tell those about it who are all around him who are not the children of God. How are we born of water and the Spirit? Jesus said that in order to enter the kingdom of heaven, we must be born of water and the Spirit (John 3:5). The New Birth Being born of water and the Spirit is called by many “the new birth.” One does not get the new birth, but one is born again or experiences the new birth by exercising his will in response to the will of God. Does Water Mean Water? Some deny that water in John 3:5 means water. When asked what it does mean, these say it means the Spirit. But, this would mean Jesus was saying, “Except a man …

Frozen Mammoth discovered in Siberia! So stated newspaper headlines last October. The body of a wooly mammoth — the entire carcass intact [it was thought at first] — had been discovered in northern Siberia. The creature subsequently was retrieved from the ice and flown to Khatanga where scientists will do research on the remains. Geneticists will attempt to extract cells from the body and clone a new mammoth, using a female elephant as a surrogate mother. The woolly mammoth was a huge beast that roamed the earth several thousand years ago. It is well known from numerous cave paintings. The creature stood some thirteen to fourteen feet high — about the size of a full-grown African bull elephant. One of the great mysteries of geologic history is why mammoths became extinct. Various theories have been proposed. Some scientists suggest that these massive animals were the first species to be exterminated by man (Boyd, 479). There really is no support for this view. No evidence has been discovered of ancient mammoth traps, nor have there been any traces of arrow or axe blows on the bones from the many discoveries of these creatures. The Mammoth Mystery The most common view is that the mammoths did not survive a sudden and severe climatic change. Let us consider some of the known facts regarding the demise of these great beasts. (1) The evidence for widespread mammoth deaths involves vast regions of the polar-area of the northern hemisphere. One news article states: “All over …

Upon stripping him of the precious coat of many colors which his loving father made, and selling him to the traveling group of Ishmaelites, Joseph’s jealous brothers were faced with the difficult dilemma of, “What are we going to tell our Father?” So, “they took Joseph’s coat, and killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the coat in the blood” (Genesis 37:31). The following verse indicates that they simply were intending to show the bloody coat to their father — whereupon he could arrive at his own conclusion concerning Joseph’s demise. His response is as follows: “And he knew it, and said, It is my son’s coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces. And Jacob…mourned for his son many days…I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him” (Genesis 37:33-35, emp. added). Jacob’s reaction to the news of Joseph’s “death” can be summarized as follows: (1) He heard the testimony of his sons. (2) He saw evidence bearing witness to their testimony — “And they sent the coat of many colors, and they brought it to their father” (37:32), (remember, Jacob made the coat himself, 37:3b). (3) He sincerely believed the testimony he heard and the evidence he saw — “And he knew it, and said, It is my son’s coat” (37:33). (4) He reacted to the testimony he sincerely believed and to the evidence he saw — he “rent his clothes…and mourned for his son many …

The Holy Spirit saw the potential danger of discouragement, so he instructed Paul to write, “And let us not be weary in well-doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not” (Galatians 6:9). But one prominent avenue through which people become discouraged is through confusing success with faithfulness. Often, Christians become discouraged simply because they do not feel successful in their Christian walk. All too often, our self-appointed goals go unmet, thus we become discouraged. A wife may have set as a goal the conversion of her husband. Parents may have set as a goal the spiritual development of their children. A Christian may have set as a goal the conversion of his neighbor. And on and on we could go with our self-appointed goals for success. While there is nothing wrong with self-appointed goals, and I would encourage all people to have some, it needs to be realized that they will often go unmet. When this occurs, too often, we tend to view ourselves as unsuccessful and we become discouraged. However, allow me to encourage you to rethink this matter. Is being unsuccessful a reason to lose courage? Does being unsuccessful equate to being unfaithful to God? Some of the greatest men of God wee unsuccessful but still pleasing to God. Noah was given a mission to preach to the wicked world in which he lived (2 Peter 2:5). The goal of that mission was to save lost souls. Now then, was Noah successful in achieving …

The prevalence of games of chance in our modern society is a tragedy. Through this vice, homes are destroyed; finances wasted; and lives marred. Yet, in spite of these ills there is an eager acceptance of any kind of gambling. But, an even greater tragedy is that the Lord’s people seem to be insensitive to this. Why? Could it be that ignorance has led to silent consent? Here are some scriptural principles that apply to gambling that the Bible classes should discuss. We should begin in the primary grades teaching why the child of God cannot participate in games of chance. Note now these simple, scriptural reasons why gambling is wrong. Gambling is prompted by covetousness (Colossians 3:5; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; Romans 7:7; Luke 12:15; Hebrews 13:5; 1 Timothy 6:10). Gambling is poor stewardship of our resources (1 Corinthians 4:2; Matthew 25:14-30). Gambling ruins the work ethic (Ephesians 4:28; Luke 9:11-27; Proverbs 28:19; 13:11). Gambling is theft in disguise (Romans 12:17). Gambling cannot follow Romans 13:10 for it hopes to take advantage of others. Gambling produces evil fruit (Matthew 7:16-17). Gambling misplaces trust in God’s provisions (Proverbs 30:8-9). Gambling teaches that the end justifies the means (i.e., school raffles for “worthy” projects) (Romans 3:8). Gambling cannot follow the Golden Rule (Matthew 7:12). Gambling seeks to get “something for nothing” contrary to God’s will (Genesis 3:19; Ephesians 4:28; Proverbs 28:20). Gambling encourages sloth and laziness (Matthew 25:26; 1 Thessalonians 4:11; 2 Thessalonians 3:10). Gambling is a habit-forming practice that destroys self-control …

We believe that it will be profitable for us to look at the case of doubting Thomas in order to see the problems that are connected with this subject. The first of these problems is that the Bible does not refer to Thomas as doubting, but this description has been given to him by uninspired men. When the disciples told Thomas that they had seen the Lord, he knew that they were making the claim to have seen the Lord after he had been put into the new tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. Thomas declared, “unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my fingers into the print of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” So, Thomas declared that he would not believe in the resurrection of Christ until he had physical evidence, that is, until he had empirical evidence (evidences through one of his five senses) he simply would not believe that Jesus Christ had resurrected from the dead. It is upon the basis of the statement made by Thomas that he came to be called “doubting Thomas.” There is no evidence that Thomas had decided that he would never believe that Jesus would resurrect from the dead, but that he did not believe at that time, nor would he do so until he had the evidence that the Lord was alive. “Doubting” is defined as “to be undecided and uncertain about a matter.” In this sense, Thomas doubted the resurrection of our Savior. He …

Religious people amaze me with some of the things they do and say, but the brethren astound me with some of the things they say and do. It is not important that I am either amazed or astounded, but what is important is the way some people believe they have the right to act and react with regard to God. That we are living in unholy, irreverent and disrespectful days is not something that anyone who is reasonably observant would deny, but in the last several months I have observed a kind of irreverence and disrespect that I have never before seen in the fifty years that I have been a Christian. In the past ten or twelve months, I have had recounted to me stories of people, all of whom were of the liberal hue, walking out of the services of the church because they did not like something the preacher said. The first time I heard of it happening, I said, “Oh, well that was in Tennessee, it was an isolated incident, and I will probably never hear of it again.” How wrong I was! At least five times since that time I have heard of it happening again, and the last time not too far from home. Can you imagine the colossal audacity, and the unmitigated arrogance that it takes for someone who calls himself a Christian to get up and walk out of a worship that is supposedly directed to God because he/she does not like …

“But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). Guy N. Woods once illustrated this verse in the following way: He told his audience that many of them would not be old enough to remember this but that he did. There was a time when automobile windshield wipers were operated manually. That is, you operated a lever controlling the single wiper blade as you drove. Not that I ever doubted brother Woods’ words, but I had never seen such a thing until recently. While visiting a museum I saw a 1928 Ford truck and noticed that it had a single wiper blade controlled by a handle inside the cab. As brother Woods, to finish the analogy, pointed out, nowadays we flip a switch and the work of wiping the windshield is done automatically. Such is the benefit of the cleansing blood of Christ to the Christian. It keeps on cleansing as we keep on walking in the light. The word cleanses is a verb in the present tense and denotes continuous action. The sense is if we continue to walk in the light of God’s truth, then the blood of Christ keeps on cleansing. Of course, it is meant that the blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin solely upon the conditions on which its power can be made available to man — living in the truth …

“I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:1-3). We generally look at the sectarian world as being the grand violators of Paul’s desire for unity and Jesus’ prayer for the same in John 17. Denominationalism certainly is the epitome of division and discord. We need not, however, look beyond ourselves in the Lord’s church for some of the most flagrant infractions of this divine injunction.  It is a real eye opener when you see brethren who are not divided by any particular matter of faith, but are so separated in heart and spirit as to “bite and devour one another” (Galatians 5:15). They seem to be living examples of the very spirit of malice and bitterness that surely they preach against from time to time. If so, what hypocrisy! It makes me wonder sometimes how hard we, as brethren, really strive for unity and peace. Paul said, “If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men” (Romans12:18). Surely it is much more possible than some brethren seem willing to make it! In order to see clearly our duty in this matter, I would like to analyze verse three of Paul’s plea for unity in Ephesians 4. 1. “Endeavoring” — to be zealous; to be diligent. It speaks of a …

One young girl was asked to recite the fruit of the Spirit. She answered, “Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and remote control…” (cf. Galatians 5:22, 23). It might be easier if there was an omnipotent hand pressing the buttons to direct our lives, but it does not work that way — we must have self-control. The Bible says to add “temperance” to faith (1 Peter 1:6). Temperance is “self-control.” WE MUST CONTROL OUR TONGUES. Speech is a powerful tool — either for good or for evil. With it we can praise God, or we can curse Him. With it we can teach others the Good News, or we can teach false doctrine. With it we can encourage a brother, or we can discourage him. The tongue can say, “I hate you” to an enemy. James addressed these possible discrepancies: “…the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be” (3:8-10). We must not use our tongues to constantly complain. It’s easy to find something to criticize; it takes a mature person to find something to compliment. Two kids sat down for lunch, and one opened his lunchbox and began to gripe. “Baloney again? This is the fourth day in a row! I’m sick and tired of baloney.” His …

JESUS TOOK AFTER HISFATHER — AND HIS MOTHER We may say of a baby, “He looks like his mother.” As he gets a little older and develops a personality, we may say, “He took after his father.” Jesus was God’s Son (divine) (John 3:16), yet He was Mary’s Son (human) (Matthew 1:18-25). So, which was it — human or divine? Did Jesus take after His father or His mother? Both! A baby is completely his father’s son and completely his mother’s son. We can see traits of both in any child. And we see some of both His Father and mother in Jesus. Jesus often showed His “human side” of compassion, physical weakness, and spiritual struggle (Luke 4:1-11). Jesus also showed His “divine side” of miraculous power, remarkable wisdom, and insight into the secrets of men’s hearts (cf. John 2:25). Consider a few examples: It was the mother’s Son who was so tired that He slept in the back of the boat during a storm (Matthew 8:24), but it was the Father’s Son who awoke to say, “Peace be still,” and the wind hushed at the sound of His voice (8:26). It was the mother’s Son who wept for Lazarus’ grieving sisters (John 11:35), but it was the Father’s Son who offered the Samaritan woman the water of life (4:14) and knew all her personal history (4:17). It was the mother’s Son who wept for Lazarus’ grieving sisters (John 11:35), but it was the Father’s Son who said, “Roll away …