There are many today who attribute many things to the Holy Spirit. Most of those things are related by those who are highly emotional. They have a “zeal, but not according to knowledge” (Romans 10:2). Almost without exception those things are considered as miracles – such things as the Holy Spirit finding a parking spot for someone who is late for an appointment, popping a baby that is underwater into the arms of its father or unplugging a coffeepot at a youth gathering because it was making too much noise. Each of the above has been related to me personally. Perhaps these are more radical claims than most would make; however, there are those who make claims of the Spirit speaking directly to and through them, speaking in tongues, raising the dead, all by the miraculous power of the Spirit. Does the Holy Spirit work today in the conversion of the sinner, and in the life of the saint? For the answer, shouldn’t we do as we go to the one infallible standard, the Word of God? How can we go to those who make claims about the Spirit working in their lives when they teach something absolutely contrary to what others who make the same claim are teaching? The answer to the original question is an emphatic “Yes!” The question is not, “Does the Holy Spirit work in the conversion of the sinner, and life of the saint?” but “How does He work?” Please study the chart below and notice that …

“But I trust in you O Lord; I say, ‘You are my God.’ My times are in your Hand, rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors” (Psalm 31:14-15 ESV). Life is full of the good times, the bad times; the happy times, the sad times; the times filled with joy, the times filled with pain; the times shared, the times of loneliness. Every one of us goes through the times or seasons that come together to make up life. Maybe it takes the bad times, the difficult times, the painful times to make us realize that as Christians our times are in God’s hand. The old song goes, “He’s got the whole world in His hands.” This is, of course, true. However, for His people it is especially true that He has our times in His hand. With this in mind may we: Turn over our hard times into His hands. There are times in our lives that we just cannot handle by ourselves. We face those things in our lives for which we have no answer, and before which we are helpless. These are the times in which we must realize that our hands are not large enough to handle these things. We must depend on the hand of the One Who is over all. Recognize that the good times come from His hands. All good and perfect gifts come down from God above, according to James. We need to raise the voice of …

“As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned” (Titus 3:10-11). The above passage of Scripture is often viewed in context of false teachers, probably those insisting on including elements of Judaism into the Gospel, as Paul mentions such in verse 9. To divide a congregation over such issues is reprehensible at best, as the person doing so is working from selfish, sinful motives. The term for division comes from the Greek word hairetikos, translated by the KJV as “heretic.” Whether it’s false doctrine, or the expression of selfish desires, dividing a congregation to get one’s way is “heretical,” divisive, bringing God’s judgment as it destroys the unity He desires for His body. However, does one have to advocate false doctrine to be divisive? What Paul is saying to Titus has a much wider implication. People can insist on getting their way, which may simply be a matter of opinion, not doctrine. Yet, how many congregations have suffered because of people wanting their own way? How many churches have split over matters that have nothing to do with doctrine, but members insisting on getting their way, over anyone or anything else? I know of one congregation that almost divided over whether to have live or artificial flowers in front of the baptistery! How sad to escalate tensions just for the sake of “getting my way.” Unfortunately, some preachers …

On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross, The emblem of suffering and shame; And I love that Old cross where the dearest and best For a world of lost sinners was slain The hymn from which the above lines are taken brings the reader to the image of the cross on Golgotha and the personal, precious gift of life offered that day. In our minds there must be an ever fixed image of the Lord at the cross—not as a morbid fascination with suffering or a macabre specter of human loss, but as an event whose significance has shaped the destiny of humanity. The Book tells us that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was there, and one can imagine the tremendous emotions washing through her as she helplessly watched her Son die. Were we to be transported back as silent observers of that scene, what would we witness that would etch itself into our memories and deepen both our appreciation for and sadness at such a moment? We would see: One Lord. Everything that day centered upon the one Lord and His treatment at the hands of His enemies. Their efforts to remove Him as an influence by His execution failed, for posterity knows that only one Master exists, and He offered Himself on that day (Acts 4:12). Two Thieves.There were two crucified alongside Jesus, and they, by self-admission, deserved this penalty. At first, they cast insults and aspersions to Christ (Mark 15:32), but apparently as time passed, one of …

The word judgment is a word with a variety of coupled meanings. For our brief study, I would like to focus on just one aspect of this word. As an example to set up our study, your wife wants to put a fresh coat of paint on the living room walls. She asks, “What color do you think would be nice?” You respond, “Use your own judgment, you have good taste.” In the work area, you assign a person or a group to do a job. You turn the job over to the worker(s). The supervisor does not look at every twist and turn; he has turned the task over to their judgment. The only guidance was, “Get the job done and do it right.” As we pursue this line of study, it would be good to allow Webster to define judgment as pertains to our illustrations. Webster defines judgment in part as “the ability to come to opinions of things; power of comparing and deciding; understanding; good sense.” Have you noticed per our illustrations and Webster’s definition that there must be a known and tested standard? There must be good sense and the power of comparing and deciding what is right and good. We must come to the conclusion that there are some things that are good and some effects that are bad. Do we understand that which is good as we are comparing and deciding? Pressing the issue, there are fixed rights and known wrongs. Question: Where has …

I had thought that I might enjoy having one, but I never dreamed that someone would give me a GPS, yet they did. Much to my surprise, some of my children gave me a GPS for a Christmas present. A son took charge of getting the thing ready for me to use in my car. He put the address of a local business into the GPS, and this lady’s voice instructed me when and where to turn in order to get to my destination as I looked at a map where I was to travel. In case you might not be familiar with this gadget, here is a brief definition: “The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based navigation system made up of a network of 24 satellites placed into orbit by the U.S. Department of Defense. GPS was originally intended for military applications, but in the 1980s, the government made the system available for civilian use. GPS works in any weather conditions, anywhere in the world, 24 hours a day.” Theoretically I should never get lost while traveling when I use my GPS. In the beginning of man’s existence on earth, he was in a safe place and in a perfect relationship with Jehovah God. In a sense, man was not saved because he had never been in a lost condition. However, he became estranged from his God and in a lost condition because of his disobedience to the commands given to him from God (Genesis 2:15-17; Isaiah 59:1, 2; Romans …

Cinnamon was our little dachshund who for about 16 years had thought she was a part of the family. As I dug a grave for her beside an oak tree behind our house, I started crying. Frankly, that shocked me, for I take a little pride in my presumed ability to handle emotional situations in a rational way. Can you imagine a reasonably intelligent, mature, grown man crying about the loss of a dog? I have conducted many funeral services over the last 40 years, and have cried less at many of them than I did there with my dog! Why? I am sure that I do not know all the reasons why people cry, but these thoughts occurred to me which may be helpful to you. First, I thought of one of God’s precious little creatures suffering as she did for a while before she died, and I felt grief for her. But I wondered, “How much grief do I really feel for the millions of God’s precious creatures who are going to be suffering for eternity if someone does not bring them to the Great Physician for His cure?” How many tears have I shed for the lost of the world? Second, I felt a personal loss of one that had loved me and needed me. So, it was a selfish kind of grief, for there would be no longer a joyous welcome of a little friend who just got pleasure from being with me—whether walking or resting. …

“Your law dominates my thoughts” (Psalm 40:8). Jesus said: “I have come to do your will, O God” (Psalm 40:8; Hebrews 10:7). Are we as committed to doing God’s will as our Lord Jesus was no matter what happens? He was committed to doing God’s will even when it meant leaving aside His throne and glory (and His Father’s bosom) and dying helpless and alone on the cross? Do we abide (remain) in His will? It simply takes a decision on our part, a commitment to make God’s will our only purpose for living on this earth. Once we make that decision, we’ll be very happy. Nothing is greater than being in the will of God. It is actually wonderful and glorious. The most blessed thing that God ever led me to see and understand from His Word was that I could know His perfect will for my life. I did not have to go in and out of His will; I could know it and abide in it all the time. Romans 12:1-2 says: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” This means that we have to voluntarily, willingly and consciously surrender ourselves wholly to God. 1.      Present/offer your bodies …

A parent may use a harness to restrict the forward progress of a young, energetic child who might otherwise fall into some danger. A trainer may use a bridle to slow a horse wanting to run. We recognize sometimes there is energy that needs to be restrained. Jesus was a “man on a mission.” He was a man on the go. He traveled into the districts of Palestine, into the villages, homes and temple. He went where the people were. During His day in the flesh, He could not be held back by friend or foe. In spite of his imprisonment for Jesus, Paul affirmed how “…the word of God is not bound” (2 Timothy 2:9). Why are brethren restraining Jesus? Why do some of us try to silence him? How does Jesus see our actions? Does he see us as “holding back” the advancement of His kingdom? Woe unto those who do! If you’re not present on the line, you’re holding the Lord back. Two considerations: (1) you’ve got to be present and accounted for, and (2) you’ve got to be pulling at the line. God doesn’t need spectators. He needs workers. “Brethren, please put on some suitable clothing and get in here and pull.” If you’re not keeping yourself spiritually fit, you’re holding the Lord back. In Paul’s first epistle to the Corinthians, he classified some of the brethren as being “weak and sickly” (1 Corinthians 11:30). Without due emphasis on our spiritual condition, we may become weak in faith and …

You’re lazily flipping through the channels on your new flat screen TV. Despite the vast array of viewing options, there’s nothing worth watching, at least for the moment. Your thumb stops on a random station. It’s a half-hour long commercial for “Feed the Children.” The broadcast depicts a hungry African child. His arms and legs exhibit no muscle at all. He’s a veritable skeleton with dark brown skin stretched over the bones. Green bottle flies encircle his eyes and ears. His belly is unnaturally distended and swollen. He’s weak, pale, sickly and frail. He’s had one “meal” in the past seven days. A small cup of rice. A phone number flashes at the bottom of the television. You’re being asked to donate. Just the change out of your pocket. For the price of a cheap cup of coffee you could support this poor, starving child. You could put food in his growling belly. Your heart and emotions are aroused by this undernourished youth. “How in the world does he make it?” you ask yourself. “He can’t live on one meal a week.” Determined to help, you pick up the phone and punch in the 800 number. Stay with me for just a moment. We all recognize that to be healthy, we must maintain a steady, balanced diet. We can’t skip meals for days on end. We certainly can’t live off of a single meal once a week. Yet, isn’t that exactly what we’re doing when our only source of spiritual …

The Bible makes several extraordinary claims for itself. For example, in 2 Timothy 3:14-17, it claims to be the complete guide for man with the ability to thoroughly equip him for every good work. If the Bible has the ability to thoroughly equip a person for every good work, what good is it unable to equip him to do? The answer can only be, none! Not only so, but the Bible claims to be eternal, or everlasting in its nature. Peter said “the Word of God…lives and abides forever.”Furthermore, he quoted from the Old Testament prophet Isaiah (40:6-8) to prove it. So, whether one speaks of the Old Testament or the New, he is still speaking of the Word of God, which lives and abides forever. In addition to these things, from Hebrews 4:12, we learn that the Word of God is both living and powerful. Finally, Jesus said that He knew God=s command is everlasting life (John 12:50). These are some very big claims, and they are claims that have never been disproved. However, the Book of Mormon does not see the Bible in this light. In 2 Nephi 29:3, we read the words of Joseph Smith, or someone, “And because my words shall hiss forthBmany of the Gentiles shall say: A Bible! A Bible! We have got a Bible, and there cannot be any more Bible.” Then in verse 10,of the same book and chapter, these words are found, “Wherefore, because that ye have a Bible ye need not suppose that it contains all my words; neither need …