God would not have given qualifications for elders, as found in the New Testament, if they were not important. The first word, “blameless,” in the list given by Paul (1 Timothy 3:1-7) may be an introduction to the other requirements. In other words, the rest of the qualification may be an explanation of what is meant by “blameless,” “without reproach.” The man who is “above reproach” is the man who has those qualifications that are next listed. The first quality of the “blameless” man is that he is to be “the husband of one wife” (1 Timothy 3:2; also required of deacons 1 Timothy 3:12). This probably includes two areas of thought: (1) He is not to be like the pagans, a man with many wives and (2) he is to be true to his one wife, not given to being interested in other women. Only One Wife Timothy was in the Gentile world when he received Paul’s letter. Just because a person became a Christian did not mean that he immediately gave up all pagan practices. Some men may not have completely cleaned up their lives, so had more than one wife. Even today, there are some in various congregations who are remarried without scriptural reason. Before they can serve, they would have to correct this situation. Surely, no one would argue that a man could be an elder if he had two living wives. Dedicated to His One Wife The phrase, “husband of one wife,” is translated in …

Christians, because of their stance for purity and holiness according to God’s standard and not the world’s standard, are often accused of being intolerant, regressive and bigots. This is not something new or peculiar to the twenty-first century. The first century Christians who ceased walking “in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries” were thought to be strange and were evil spoken of (1 Peter 4:3-4). Jesus warned, “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you” (John 15:18-19). The church is the Lord’s people who are “called out” to himself, who are therefore to think, talk and act like the Lord Jesus and stand firmly for his standard of purity and holiness. In our time, we are hearing a strong plea for tolerance by the American people to break down barriers that divide this pluralistic society and give rise to hatred and violence. In many ways this is a valid plea, especially when this hatred (sometimes augmented by violence) disregards God’s design, such as his creation of races, intending for them to “dwell on all the face of the earth” (cf. Acts 17:26). But that is not always the idea behind the plea for tolerance, “the allowing to be or to be done without hindrance” (Webster’s New American Dictionary). In …

The greatest attribute of Christian life, according to Paul (1 Corinthians 13:13), is love. Love, unlike the transitory spiritual gifts of the first century, would never fail (1 Corinthians 13:8). In fact, love even rises above faith and hope. Faith and hope will be realized, but love continues forever. Love resides as the crown jewel to be pursued by faithful, diligent Christians (1 Corinthians 14:1), who desire to please God; but man, blinded by all sinfulness and darkness, must be taught true, God-like love. Christians, seeking to learn and exemplify true love in their lives, should look to the great Teacher and personification of love, God. God’s nature is such a demonstration of love that John declared, “God is love” (1 John 4:16). He has demonstrated his love for man in a multitude of ways. We see it demonstrated in the love that he showed to the nation of Israel and the love that he has shown for all men’s spiritual needs. Moses exhorted the Israelites to love God and keep his commandments; God, in turn, would love them (Deuteronomy 7:8-9). Despite this admonition from Moses, the Israelites failed miserably in their service to God. A casual reading alone of the Old Testament clearly reveals their unfaithfulness. God showed his love for the Israelites from the time of their wilderness wanderings to the time of the wicked kings of the divided nation. He provided them with food, water, deliverance, miracles, his Law, etc. Like a loving, human father, he disciplined …

I. Similarities The king of the kingdom is the head of the church (Colossians 1:13, 18). Only one kingdom (Revelation 1:6) was established, and only one church was built (Matthew 16:18). One set of keys opens the door both to the kingdom and to the church (Matthew 16:19; Acts 2:1-47, KJV; 5:11). One seed, “the word of God,” produces both the kingdom and the church (Luke 8:11; Acts 2:41, 47, KJV; 5:11). Baptism, a birth “of water and Spirit” (John 3:5; 1 Corinthians 12:13), puts one into the kingdom (Colossians 1:13; 2:12) and into the church (1 Corinthians 12:13, 20). The Lord’s Supper is in both the kingdom and in the church (Luke 22:29-30; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 10:16). Both the kingdom and the church are indestructible (Matthew 16:18; Ephesians 3:21; Hebrews 12:28). II. Differences That which is “born again” (John 3:7), entering the kingdom through the teaching of the Spirit (Colossians 1:13), is an invisible human spirit (John 3:3, 6). That which is “born again” of “water,” entering the church, is a visible human body (1 Corinthians 12:13, 20). The kingdom “comes not with observation” (Luke 17:20), but the church is observable people (Acts 18:8). The kingdom is “within” (entos, Luke 17:21) human bodies, but not the church. When a person is “poor in spirit” (Matthew 5:3), recognizing his utter helplessness to save himself (John 3:17; 1 Timothy 1:15-16), then he is rich, possessing “the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3), but he does not own the church. Sadly, there are …

In Gareth Reese’s commentary on Acts, he notes the interesting parallels in the outlines of sermons in the Book of Acts. Here are his words: The same major points were regularly made by the apostles when preaching to Jewish audiences. I. An affirmation that the time of the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies had come II. A rehearsal of the ministry, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus III. An appeal to the relevant Old Testament Messianic prophecies whose fulfillment in these events are evidence Jesus is himself the Messiah IV. A call to repentance. (p. 58) These sermons can be checked for such a theme. In Acts 2, Peter preaches in Jerusalem on Pentecost. He makes use of prophecies from Joel and Psalms, reminds the people of the deeds of Jesus and boldly proclaims his Messiah-ship due to his undeniable resurrection. In Acts 3, Peter preaches in the temple area after healing a lame man. The message is the same: Even though prophet after prophet predicted the life of Jesus, those listeners had still been guilty of taking his life from him–that is, until he rose to take it back. In Acts 13, Paul preaches in the synagogue in Antioch in Pisidia. In all these cases, Jewish history is at the core of the sermon, because it was designed to lead up to One through whom all nations of the earth would be blessed (Genesis 12:1-3). In all these sermons, Jesus is exalted as the Son of God, proven …

In 1 John 3:18 we find, “Let us love, not in word, nor in tongue, but in deed and in truth.” That suggests a truth that is very significant, but seldom emphasized. That is, that symbols are very important, for they point to realities that may be important. But it is dangerous and destructive to substitute the symbols for the realities. We may do this more often than we realize. The results are sometimes merely humorous, but sometimes catastrophic. For example, a boy had a confederate flag in the back of his truck. To him, it may have been no more than a symbol of a historic event–a war between the states. To some other boys, it was a statement of hatred, intolerance and slavery. So, they shot him. The boy whom they killed might have been kind, gentle, loving and a firm believer in the equality of mankind. That did not prevent his death, for we often react to symbols as if they were realities. This is the purpose of propaganda and much of the political rhetoric that sways multitudes and wins elections. If a candidate says, “I believe in family values, lower taxes and better living conditions for all,” he may hope that no one inquires about whether he cheats on his wife, appoints homosexuals to the highest offices and raises taxes. As long as he can sway people by symbols, reality is not important to him. We usually understand that words are symbols. They are important, for …

When people begin to debate the existence of the absolutely pure, holy, true and living God, emotions often overtake reason and prejudice begins to speak in the name of reason. Men on both sides of the issue regarding the existence of God may be prone to do this, and it usually signals frustration, or that one has felt the weakness of his own arguments. Some of these biased assertions have stood for years as supposed arguments against the existence of God. We desire to examine a few of these today. It has often been asserted that if God is a necessary Being, then the world is too. This affirmation assumes that a necessary being must do all that it does necessarily. However, our definition is that he must be all that he is. All that is in the nature of God is necessary, but anything that he does extends beyond his nature and is done by his freewill. We illustrate in this way: The living human being must live; however, whether he propagates and brings forth after his own kind is a matter of exercising his freewill. By the same token, it was not necessary for God to create. His love may have given him the desire to do so, but it did not demand that he do so. So, his acts of creation were acts of his own freewill. God must be as he is, but he can do what he pleases so long as it does not contradict his nature. He “pleased” …

It was a pleasant Saturday morning in Dewhurst, North Carolina, and the little town had come alive with activity. Buster and Raymond sat at their usual places on the old bench just outside of the barbershop. They were doing their weekly “people watching,” an age long tradition performed by the fortunate two persons who arrived at the old bench first. They sat and discussed the weather, the school board, doctoring cows and growing tomatoes all the while keenly observing the folks that walked up and down the street. “There’s Rudy Thomas,” Buster said. “Wonder how he’s getting along since his wife passed on?” Raymond asked as they watched Rudy go into the drug store. “Oh boy! Here comes the new preacher,” Raymond said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. Buster chuckled, “That feller is a sure ’nuff dude, look at them Patten leather shoes!” But before the two old men could get fired up with insults and wise cracks about the preacher, something caught Raymond’s attention. “Buster, would you look at that,” he said pointing with both hands to opposite ends of the street. Buster looked and saw Sally Johnson coming up from the south end of town. He then looked to the opposite end of the street and there was Lucy Vanhorn, Sally’s sister-in-law. Raymond said, “This outta be good, them two old gals have hated each other since creation.” The two observers watched as the women headed toward each other on a direct collision course. When …

The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language defines the word “denominate” to mean, “To give a name to: designate.” And according to the same source, one definition of the word “denomination” is “A class of units having specified values, as in a system of currency or weights.” I want to notice first of all the problem of endeavoring to be just the church of our Lord without becoming a denomination. Bible students are acutely aware that Jesus Christ promised in Matthew 16:18 to build (establish, found, begin) his church (ecclesia, the called out assembly). This he did as recorded in Acts 2. From Acts 2:47 the church of Jesus Christ is always spoken of as being in existence. It was Jesus who died on Calvary in order to purchase the church with his precious blood (Acts 20:28; Ephesus 5:25). Jesus is its builder (Matthew 16:18), its foundation (1 Corinthians 3:11), its head and its Savior (Ephesians 5:23). The church was often referred to in the Book of Acts as simply the “church” (Acts 5:11; 8:1). Some of the other scriptural terms are “church of God” (KJV, Acts 20:28), “church of the firstborn” (Hebrews 12:23), “church of the living God” (1 Timothy 3:15) and of course “the churches of Christ” (Romans 16:16). Because there is a diversity of terms used in the New Testament regarding the church, it is safe to conclude that one term should not be used to the exclusion of others. To ensure that we do not “denominate,” that …

Therefore Stand. 21 (2005): 13-14. The apostle Paul instructed Titus to ordain elders in every city in Crete (Titus 1:5). The selection of the right men for this great work was important. Hence, Paul gives a list of qualifications that these men were to possess at the time of their appointment to this spiritual office in the Lord’s church. A question arises in Titus 1:6 concerning the present tense verb “be.” What is the precise nature of the present tense in this verse? How did the Holy Spirit intend it to be understood and applied? These are important questions. Paul writes, “If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly” (Titus 1:6). The verb translated “be” in the KJV is from the Greek word estin. Estin is third person, singular, present indicative of eimi. It is found within a first class conditional statement (ei with the indicative) which emphasizes actual occurrence–definite time rather than indefinite (McKay, A New Syntax of the Verb in New Testament Greek 167). Verse six begins, “ei tis estin” which can be translated, “if anyone is” (Jay Green, The Interlinear New Testament 657). Paul means that if someone (indefinite pronoun tis) can be found who meets the qualifications, then, that person should be appointed as an elder or bishop. The person being considered must possess the qualifications at the time of being appointed. This is indicated by the use of the first class conditional statement and by the meaning of the present tense in the indicative mood. Many make a mistake with the …

1 Peter 4:17-18? When brethren express doubt relative to their ultimate salvation, the above passage often comes to mind. The idea with some is that if anyone is saved it will barely be so. Such is a total misunderstanding of these verses. “Judgment” is used here of severe trial. The “house of God” is the church (1 Timothy 3:15). The meaning is that the time was coming when severe trial would fall upon the church at that time. Further, if the church (the object of God’s love) was soon to fall into trial, how much greater would be the misery of those who do not rely on the Lord? “Scarcely” denotes that which happens only with great difficulty or hardship. The “judgment” is not the final judgment, but an immediate judgment that would come upon the church at that time. Therefore, is the fact of salvation in heaven a doubtful thing for the faithful Christian? A thousand times no! Peter said, “For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:11). Two different “salvations” are contemplated by Peter in the above passages. The words of this epistle were penned shortly before the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. The effects of this would be far and wide (Matthew 24:21-22). The salvation of 1 Peter 4 is deliverance from complete destruction in a worldwide persecution at the destruction of Jerusalem.

[Editor’s Note: The following article was written in September of 2004.] Folks in Florida probably think that the Weather Channel has something against them. It appears as though the Sunshine State is facing yet another violent hurricane. First, it was Charles, then it was Frances, now it is Ivan–and he’s a category five storm with winds in excess of 156 mph. This recent trio of atmospheric events serves as a metaphor for life. While you and I try to pick up from the effects of earlier tempests, yet another one looms on the horizon (cf. Job 1-2). Impending emotional pressures look to drench us like a driving rain. Additional stresses promise to surround our hearts like rushing floodwaters. Our spiritual resources are already depleted, and the thought of facing yet another climatic assault seems impossible. So how do we prepare for Ivan when we’re still reeling from his siblings (Psalm 55:8)? It sounds simplistic, but it’s profound. Remember that no storm is stronger than the Savior. Our personal hurricanes are never beyond his divine control. The Psalmist wrote, “For He commands and raises the stormy wind, which lifts up the waves of the sea…He calms the storm, so that its waves are still” (Psalms 107:25, 29; cf. 83:15; 135:7; 147:18; Job 26:12; Matthew 5:45; Mark 4:35-41). Dear friend, are you facing another hurricane in your life? Don’t try to “ride it out” yourself. The wind and the waves obey the Lord’s will. Let him take charge (1 Peter 5:7; Psalm 78:26). …