I think most of us who preach can relate to the frustration of preparing sermons, preaching them with as much power as one can to an audience that seems to be listening, and in which there are lost people who need to act on that message, and then when the time comes for them to move, they remain where they are seated. Still lost. Still separated from God. Without hope. This is not only frustrating, but frightening, since we believe what Jesus said with all our heart. Yet, part of this frustration is due to the fact that we preachers sometimes forget what our role is. Properly understood, it is that of a seed-sower. In Luke Chapter 8, Jesus gives the Parable of the Sower. He says in verse 11, “…the seed is the word of God.” He talks about the seed being planted and some of it landing in unfriendly places, but then He says some of it “…fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop…” (v. 8). It is the solemn duty of God’s preacher to lovingly get the truth of God’s Word off the printed page and into the heart of the listener. It is then that the responsibility is transferred from the preacher to the hearer. Beyond faithful preaching and all the encouragement we can lend, there is not much else we can do. As a preacher, I am not in charge of the harvest. Someone else is. Jesus says in Matthew 9:38 …

“One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own?” (Luke 16:10-12). Did you know that Edison was born almost completely deaf? He could hear only the loudest of sounds. Yet, you may also recall that it was Edison who invented the phonograph. Odd, don’t you think? Odder still, however, is the fact that the work on this invention began two months after Edison’s plant, containing his inventions, burnt to the ground. Many have quoted those famous words, spoken to his brother as they watched their life’s work go up in smoke. “There go all our mistakes. Now we can start over afresh.” Edison didn’t have a hand up, charmed life or golden boy status. Yet, he was a great success that changed the world. Often, however, our lives are very different. We seem greatly blessed, but do little with it. Especially is this true in spiritual matters. Many, who have the greatest gift of all, the gift of salvation, never get around to doing anything with it. Content to just let the world fly by us, we often miss out on some of the greatest opportunities to do the work of the Lord …

In Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 29 and 3:6, 13, 22, we have this admonition, “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” We see Christ walking in the midst of the churches. He is the Great Inspector. He sees everything that is taking place in all the congregations. He does the same today (Hebrews 4:12-13). He bids all to take heed to His Word. What is meant by ‘hearing’ in these verses? Cruden’s Concordance points out that the word “hear” is often used for the listening to the Word of God with a firm purpose to obey His commands. Those having ears to hear are willing to listen to God’s Word. They are to give heed to what is said. “He that hath an ear” is to call attention. It is a personal challenge to each of us to recognize the authority of Christ (Luke 6:46; Matthew 7:21). Who is to hear? Each individual is addressed and charged with the responsibility of hearing. This command cannot be obeyed by mere passive listening, but demanded is an active obedient response to what is heard with the consequence that the judgment of God will fall upon the disobedient (John 12:48; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9). How many people pretend to listen to the Word proclaimed and then choose not to obey it? “All ye, assemble yourselves and hear” (Isaiah 48:14). “O earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord” (Jeremiah 22:29). Who is to be heard? We are to hear Jesus the Christ. He “hath the sharp …

Through the year 2007, my wife and I read through six versions of the New Testament. We read them all simultaneously reading about 3 to 5 chapters each week. On Monday we read from the Greek Diaglott (English transliteration portion), Tuesday, the American Standard, Wednesday the New American Standard, Thursday the King James, Friday the New King James, Saturday the New International Version. We read only the New Testament, no commentaries because we wanted to focus on what God said, and not on what any human had to say about the passage. Every morning, we got up one hour early, usually about 5:00 a.m., before we got our day started and read. We sat in our living room, across the room from each other, both of us under a nice reading light. We sipped a cup of coffee as we read, but we did not say anything. We just read silently. After about an hour or sometime less, one would finish and just sit quietly or possibly in a silent prayer waiting for the other to complete the reading for the day. I kept a pad and pen by me and jotted questions or comments or special notes from a reference in the text. Each day I kept the notes, and when we finished for the day, we usually talked about something that got our attention in the particular reading. So six days each week we read the same passage six times, meaning that in the year we had read the New Testament through fairly thoroughly. We found many, …

Bildad, one of Job’s friends, asked a penetrating question: “How then can a man be righteous before God?” Of course, we know that by his own works or merit no man can be righteous before God. If man is to be righteous, he must be made so by God. This the Father does through the Son. Through the Son we are justified. By the Son’s blood we have redemption. Some tell us that man has absolutely no responsibility in his salvation. If this be true, man would not even be required to have faith. However, we know that without faith it is impossible to please Him (Hebrews 11:6). Jesus plainly taught that one must do the will of the Father, else he would not inherit the kingdom of God. He also taught that one must hear and do His words if he would build upon the rock. Man’s doctrines, opinions and perversions do not make one righteous, nor does God make one righteous who abides in those doctrines and opinions. However, obeying from the heart the Word of God does make one righteous. Which are you doing?

One of the worst train disasters in history occurred in the El Toro Tunnel in Leon, Spain, on January 3, 1944. Over five hundred people died. The train was a long passenger train with an engine on both ends. As the train entered the El Toro Tunnel, the engine on the front end stalled. When the front engine stopped, the engineer on the back engine started up his engine to back the train out of the tunnel. As he proceeded, however, the front engineer managed to get the front engine started again and attempted to continue the journey in the opposing direction. Neither engineer had any way of communicating with the other. Both engineers thought they simply needed more power. They continued to pull in opposite directions for several minutes. Hundreds of passengers on the train in the tunnel died of carbon monoxide poisoning because the train was stuck in the tunnel since it was being pulled in two different directions! This tragic incident illustrates what can happen in our lives when we are pulled in different directions, following the lead of different “engineers”… Many of US struggle as to which way to go with our lives. We often give in to different “engineers” like our friends, our society, our families and ourselves, even though each may be pulling in opposite directions! Long ago, the inspired prophet Jeremiah said, “O LORD, I know the way of man is not in himself; It is not in man who walks to direct his own …

“We’re losing our members!” is the cry of many religious groups these days. Certainly the Lord’s church is not immune to this problem, either. In Paul’s day, Demas deserted him due to being in love with the present world (2 Timothy 4:10). John speaks of those who went out from them (1 John 2:19), not really being of them. It is always a cause of concern when those who were part of the body of Christ are no longer faithful, no longer part of the work and worship, who seemingly are forfeiting the spiritual and eternal. I recently heard George Barna discuss this issue on a talk radio program. While his research was conducted primarily among teens, I believe it applies to all age groups, including adults, who choose to leave the church. While it isn’t the only factor, it is a major one that should be of concern to us. In his study, he discovered many teens attend church services, not from a conviction about God and Christ, or a commitment to the Lord’s work, but as a place for social networking, to interact with others and to be involved with interpersonal relationships. The church was viewed as one of many places to connect with others. Especially when the school years ended, and their circle of friends went their various ways, church attendance declined and for many ceased, as church no longer provided the social connections it once did. In other words, it wasn’t primarily a love for God …

Many are familiar with the words of the apostle Peter in saying, “…[G]iving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love (2 Peter 1:5-7). His words are a challenge to remember that much of Christianity is about increasing in our faith in Him. There are numerous reasons why we should be doing these things, but we often ignore the immediate context of the passage where Peter tells us his reason why. Peter prefaces this list by saying, “…[F]or this very reason…add to your faith” (2 Peter 1:5). In other words, he is drawing a conclusion—we should “add to our faith,” because of what he said in the previous verses. So, what reasons does Peter give to be growing? After his introduction, he says of “Jesus our Lord” that “His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1:3-4). In short, we might say that Peter’s intent is to draw our eyes to the magnificence of the work of Jesus Christ, and then show us the appropriate response—”add to your faith.” The writer to the Hebrews did …

There are three events in my lifetime of schooling in which my father was involved, and three important lessons that I learned. The first one occurred when I came home from school, so convinced that my teacher was absolutely wrong about a math problem. I was already one who had no problem arguing with a teacher if I thought she was wrong. I was in the second grade, maybe 7 years old at the time. I remember that we lived on Rhein-Main Air Force Base in Germany. I walked to school from the three story building that we lived in. I remember that there was the little shopping area, and that there was a breezeway that went right beside the base theatre and other stores. I loved to stop and look at the movie posters that hung on the walls outside the theatre. On this day my dad was home; I cannot remember why he was home on this particular day, but he was. I came in complaining about the math concept. I had learned to add and subtract before I was in second grade, but now we were starting multiplication. My teacher said that 6 X 0 was zero. I couldn’t fathom it. It just did not compute for me. My dad listened to my complaint without comment. Then he reached up and got a cup. He said, “Now, bring me the coffee pot.” The coffee pot was empty. He said, “Now, count the number of times I pour.” …

In his wonderful booklet, When Life Tumbles In, the late Batsell Barrett Baxter skillfully brought together the best of his knowledge of life and biblical precepts, and amalgamated them with the inspirational themes of contemporary artists, to produce a worthy compilation of information. The presumptive title of the booklet seems to insist that everyone is familiar with the problems of life. The Patriarch Job, of the long ago, said it this way, “Man that is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble” (Job 14:1). The idea then, is not “if life should bring me trouble” but rather, how shall I react when life brings me trouble? We can cringe in anxiety and frustration, and pitch a big “pity party,” but that will only exacerbate the existing problem. Brother Baxter’s book points us to resolutions of the problems of life and the resultant happiness that follows. In the chapter entitled, “The Problem of Loneliness,” he has this to say: I have found the following paragraphs from the book “Light from many lamps,” a source of strength. Henry Francis Lyte walked into his study…an old man…near the end of the journey. He was tired and ill. The doctor told him that he had only a few months to live. He thumbed the well-worn Bible on his desk, and it fell open at one of his favorite passages: “Abide with us; for it is towards evening and the day is now far spent” (Luke 24:29). In the quiet of his …

Paul echoes the language of Malachi. “Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us?” (Malachi 2:10). “But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him…” (1 Corinthians 8:6). “Thanks be to God, who came to show us the way to the Father and to show us the Father Himself. Our appreciation of the Fatherhood of God is deeper than it could have been before Christ came. Now Gentiles as well as Jews have come through Christ to know this one God as their Father” (F.F. Bruce). “The fatherhood of God, all embracing, all pervading, speaks of family unity and rebukes all discord” (T. Croskery). God is Father of all by creation, but in Ephesians He is God and Father of all—Jews and Gentiles—in the church. Both are reconciled “unto God in one body by the cross” (Ephesians 2:16). Our understanding of the “one God and Father” presented in Ephesians will increase our love and motivate us to endeavor “to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3). First, Paul was an “apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God” (Ephesians 1:1). Second, grace and peace come from “God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 1:2). Third, the God we serve is “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 1:3, 17; 3:14; 6:23). Fourth, He has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Christ (Ephesians …

While I was recently in Israel, I quickly realized how many cultural changes there are between our countries. In Israel, when one goes to the marketplace, he is expected to bargain for his purchase. You never pay for an item without first bargaining. I was terrible at that, and the merchants had to love to see me coming. Yet, most people like to think of themselves as good bargainers. Many take great pride in running across a good deal, saving a few dollars and coming out on top in a transaction. Whether it’s yard sales, the purchase of an automobile or the purchase of a house, we like to be able to say, “I made a good deal.” That almost universal desire to “make a good deal” has caused me to think. I began to wonder if people are as shrewd as they think they are. Consider the following proposition. What would it take for you to exchange your good health? If someone had the ability to give you anything in the world in exchange for your good health, what would it take? Would you exchange your health for a new car? A home? 100 million dollars? How about fame and universal recognition? The list of offers could go on all day, and yet, I dare say that no one would accept this offer. Why? Because it would be a foolish trade? What good would it do us if we should gain the whole world and lose our health? I …

I would suppose that our present generation does not know “Fibber McGee and Molly.” James “Jim” Jordan (16 November 1896–1 April 1988) and Marian Driscoll (15 April 1898–7 April 1961) played the parts of Fibber and Molly. In real life they were married in 1918. They were very poplar on ole time radio and movies. The reason I thought of these ole performers was because of Fibber McGee’s name. To be a fibber is to fib or lie. Have you ever known a person that always embellished this and that? To embellish is to over state and exaggerate a story even though it may be based on the truth. Such type of folks because of their constant fibbing begins to believe their embroidered stories. Now that is sad! As I write this, I have one person in mind. He was basically a good person, but he sure could fib and embellish whatever he was talking about. It does not take too long to recognize a fibber. I have known too many fibbers over the years. How can one put full trust in one that fibs? The Word of God Condemns Lying “A false witness shall not be unpunished; and he that speaketh lies shall not escape” (Proverbs 19:5). “Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds” (Colossians 3:9). The very sad part about fibbing is that it is so widespread. It is bad enough when everyday average folks are fibbers. What …

Increasingly, I am hearing preachers, both young and old, educated and otherwise, read, quote and/or paraphrase 2 Corinthians 5:20, “Now then we are ambassadors for Christ” and urge upon their listeners that since we are ambassadors for Christ, we should do certain things. Alexander Pope said, “A little learning is a dangerous thing; drink deep or taste not the Pierian spring.” One may say, “The word “church” is from the Greek “ekklesia,” which means “the called out ones.” “This football team has been called out. Therefore the football team is the church.” One may say, “The word ‘elder’ is from the Greek ‘presbuteros,’ meaning ‘an older person.’ So, any older person is to shepherd the flock according to 2 Peter 5:2.” One may say, “Paul speaks of ‘the word of reconciliation’ being spoken by ambassadors. Therefore anyone who has anything to do with reconciling man to God is an ambassador.” The logic (?) of the three conclusions above is comparable. It is wrong in each case. There is a little truth woven throughout the previous paragraph, but any person who approaches serious Bible study in that sort of superficial, haphazard way is in terrible danger. The most dangerous errors are usually those that are mixed with truth. A rat will eat a peanut that has only 2% poison more readily than pure poison. The basic question with which we wish to deal now is: When Paul uses the word “presbeuo” in 2 Corinthians 5:20 and Ephesians 6:20 (translated “ambassador”), to …

During the attack on Pearl Harbor, nurses ran out of marker and so they used their own lipstick to write on the foreheads of wounded patients. “M” meant a sailor had received morphine. “C” meant he was in critical condition. “F” meant he was fatally wounded. Imagine nearly all of the people you meet in your daily walk have a letter “F” on their foreheads. They are fatally wounded by sin (Romans 3:10, 23; 6:23) and its effects. Will you simply stand by and watch them perish, or will you offer them the only life-giving, soul-saving, cure (1 Corinthians 15:1-4)? “Let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins” (James 5:20; cf. Jude 23).

Most books get old and pass out of existence. That is true of thousands of volumes that have been produced since the days of the invention of the printing press. We have websites on which we can search for old, out of print and rare books. We consider any book still in existence since the late 1700s a real find, and people often pay enormous prices for such volumes, whether they ever intend to read them or not. For those of us who read English, books we find dating to the mid or late 1700s are very difficult for us to read due to the changes in the style of writing, and even the shapes of the letters that make up our alphabet. It is the nature of books to go out of existence unless they are carefully cared for in such places as the Library of Congress or the British Library. How, then, does one explain that a book that was completed more than two thousand years ago, and was for thousands of years carefully copied letter by letter by hand still exists? How do we explain that almost annually fragments and portions of manuscripts of this great book are discovered until now we have more than five thousand of them? It would seem this book is indestructible! Indeed it is, though, down through the centuries enemies of this book all over the world have made effort after effort to eradicate it. From the time of Nero Caesar, men …

As Jesus was with His disciples in Caesarea Philippi, He declared before them: “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). Of particular interest, for our consideration, is the expression, “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” The plan is certain, and He is resolute. No opposing power in all the universe can preempt nor stand in His way of accomplishing the eternal plan of God in building His church (Ephesians 3:10-11). There was no time in the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth when He was unaware of what the direction and experience of His life would be. All along, He knew that rejection by His people and death by crucifixion upon a Roman cross was a necessary part of His future to redeem and deliver God’s people from their enemies (Satan, the effects of sin and death, etc). The forerunner of Jesus, John (who was filled with the Spirit of God, Luke 1:15) cried out, “Behold, the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Jesus could only address our sin problem by His vicarious suffering and death that was prophesied hundreds of years prior by Isaiah in the book that bears his name (Chapter 53). Because Jesus was made of the seed of Abraham (Hebrews 2:16), and He was tempted as we all are and even …

It is not uncommon in our country for people to judge their position in life by their possessions. Whether it is the kind of car they drive, the size houses they have, or the size of the televisions in their living rooms, many people use these things as signs of their prosperity and blessings. However, what does the Bible say? Jesus said in Matthew 6:19-21: “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Jesus says our treasures, those things that we value most, are to be in Heaven. We are not to base our value or success on the level of possessions we have accumulated on this earth, but instead on how we have prepared ourselves to serve the Lord. With what are we more concerned, physical possessions or eternal blessings?