In Matthew 25:1-13, we read about ten virgins waiting on a bridegroom. Five of the virgins were wise and came prepared with plenty of oil for their lamps, but five of the virgins were foolish and did not come prepared. When the bridegroom came, the five foolish virgins had gone to purchase more oil. The bridegroom and those that were ready entered the wedding, and the door was shut. When the five foolish virgins came, they were not let in, and the bridegroom said unto them, “I do not know you.” Christ is going to return one day, and that leaves us with a choice to make. We can either choose to be prepared for the Second Coming of our Lord, or we can choose to sit idly by and waste the time that we have right now. “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming” (Matthew 25:13). Preparing for Christ involves submitting to the Lord, His Word and His Will. Have we had our sins washed away in baptism? Are we living and worshipping the way that God has told us to live and to worship? Are we actively working for the Lord? We need to ask ourselves these questions and more every day as we prepare for Christ’s return. One day Christ will return, and I hope we all will be ready for that great day of the Lord.

If Christ is not raised, I and every other preacher may as well quit preaching. We have nothing of value to say. All we have believed is a lie. Jesus is dead and powerless. We have no hope of life. Our loved ones who died in Christ are perished. However, He is risen, and He lives. Those who came to the tomb to anoint His body were asked, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here but, is risen.” Two popular images of Jesus are a baby in a manger and a body on the cross. Both, taken by themselves, are images of weakness. He is no longer a babe; suffering made Him our perfect Savior (Hebrews 2:8-9). He lives and makes intercession for us (Hebrews 7:25). When we think of Jesus’ death, even in taking the Lord’s Supper, we should not leave Him in the grave. He is risen; He lives. He conquered Satan, Hell and death. Through Him who loved us, we are more than conquerors.

We often hear about being “balanced.” We are told, and rightfully so, that we need to eat a balanced diet. We don’t need to eat only one kind of food; we need to have a diet filled with all the major food groups to maintain good health. We also hear about “balanced” preaching, an important concept, too. As I thought about this concept recently, several things came to mind about balance. First, in our physical diet when someone speaks of eating a balanced diet, he means we need to eat from every food group things that are good for us to eat. He does not mean to balance one’s diet between good foods and poison. In our preaching and teaching, we must have balance. It is important, however, to understand the true balance is to “teach the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20). It is not to equally preach truth and error. Around 30 years ago, I sat with some elders who were meeting with the head of a religious institution. They were asking about doctrinal issues and his institution. He responded by saying, “I have a stack of letters on one side of my desk that feel one way on that, and another stack on the other side of my desk that feel the other way on that.” That is really all he said. I wish I had pushed it more and asked him if that meant that he looked at whichever stack was higher and made his doctrinal …

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider freeways but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less; we buy more, but enjoy less. We have built bigger houses to shelter smaller families. We spend vast sums of money to have more conveniences, but we have less time for family and friends. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge but less judgment and huge debt to pay for our education. We have more experts, more problems and still fewer solutions to our problems. We have more medical technology but less wellness and healthcare. We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much and pray too seldom. We have multiplied our possessions but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom and hate too often. We’ve learned how to make a living but do not have a better life. We’ve added years to life but less living to our years. We’ve been to the moon and back but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We’ve done larger things but not better things. We’ve tried to clean up the air but allow movies and TV to pollute our souls. We’ve conquered the atom but have not curbed our prejudice and bigotry. We …

About two years ago, my wife and I had an interesting and pleasant overnight visit with a niece. It happened that while we were there, she was babysitting her little granddaughter for the night. This little grandniece had a container of play dough of one brand or another. She brought it to me and asked me to “make something.” After trying to make a frog, a turtle and a bear, but not doing such a good job of it, I finally tried my skill at making a worm. Making worms is not difficult, especially if you are not concerned about which end is which. I even taught her how to do it. She would make a worm then “smush” (her word) it and make another one. Like I have said, it was a pleasant evening. This incident brought to mind some Scriptures about a potter and clay. The prophet Isaiah wrote, “Surely you have things turned around! Shall the potter be esteemed as the clay; For shall the thing made say of him who made it, ‘He did not make me’? Or shall the thing formed say of him who formed it, ‘He has no understanding’?”  (Isaiah 29:16). He also penned, “But now, O LORD, You are our Father; We are the clay, and You our potter; And all we are the work of Your hand” (Isaiah 4:8). Jeremiah also wrote of the potter and the clay. He inscribed, “And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in …

The church has no intrinsic authority. No creed is law; no ordination is valid. It has no separatist clergy class fitting, no religious title and no church tradition. The church does not authorize. In fact, it cannot properly authorize anything. Only the Lord Jesus Christ authorizes through His New Testament (James 4:12). The church is what is authorized. Failure to understand this is the basic error of both Catholic and Protestant religion. The purity of the religion of the New Testament, with apostolic doctrine and tradition contained therein, reveals the true church of Christ, now and forever. When the New Testament as law is no longer considered sufficient by us, then true Christianity quickly gets lost to us. Then, Christ is hidden from us and our worship becomes invalid (Matthew 28:18-20; 15:7-9; Acts 2:42; Colossians 2:20-23; 1 Corinthians 9:21; Galatians 6:2; 2 Corinthians 13:5; 2 Thessalonians 2:15).

The word “foe” is defined as “an adjective signifying hated, hateful, or hostile, is used also as a noun denoting an enemy, translated ‘foes’ in Matthew 10:36…” (Vine’s). Satan is our greatest foe because of the insidious devices he uses in order to entrap us. “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour…” (1 Peter 5:8). Some of us can remember the great impact on our lives and on our relationship with our immediate family as we chose to follow our Lord in a scriptural way. Close, normal family ties became stressful, and in some cases, they became hateful—thus true to what our Lord predicated. Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. (Matthew 10:34-38) We wonder how many have denied and failed to be obedient to our Lord because of a greater love for family than for our Savior. For some of us, our …

Almost everyone knows the name Jonah. Most know that he tried to run from God and was swallowed by a large fish. After three days, God had the fish throw Jonah up. Jonah, then, went to the great city of Nineveh and preached to them. All of those in Nineveh, including the King, were converted by Jonah’s message. The account of Jonah is primarily to show that the Lord cares about all men. He wants all men to be saved. Even as bad as the Assyrians were, God wanted them to be saved. There are others in the Book of Jonah who were saved as well. Not much is ever said about them. Jonah hired a ship to take him to Tarshish. He thought going that far from Israel would get him away from the Lord. The Lord sent a mighty storm. The sailors all called to their gods. Of course, there was no answer. They cast lots to see who had caused the storm. The Lord gave the answer. The sailors wanted to know who he was. It seems from that question that Jonah may have been wearing a disguise. They could not recognize he was a Hebrew. When he told them that he was a Hebrew and served the Lord, the sailors were afraid. Jonah told them to throw him overboard if they wanted to be saved. They did not want to do that, but no matter how hard they tried, they could not bring the boat to …

We hear a great deal today about being liberated from various things such as moral standards, authorities and various relationships. People are desirous of freedom, for better or for worse. Wars have been fought to free people from tyranny, slavery and oppression. Movements are begun to seek release from anything and everything that might restrain people too much. Even among religious circles, there are organizations and individuals that seek to rid themselves of any absolute and objective authority such as the Bible. We are also aware of movements among worldly minded people to reject any and all rules of moral and ethical standards. Thus, you have such philosophies as ‘Situation Ethics,’ ‘Existentialism’ and ‘The New Morality’ to illustrate the point. However, we speak presently of true liberation and the true ‘Liberator,’ Jesus Christ, who came to liberate (to set free, release) men and women from that terrible ‘master’ (Satan) and bondage (sin). The world has never known freedom, happiness and peace of mind as can be had and enjoyed in the Lord Jesus Christ. Mankind has sought freedom in earthly pleasures, doctrines of men and worldly wisdom; however, this type of seeking has been in vain. The Master Teacher and Freedom Fighter exclaimed to a group of Jews on one occasion that, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31-32). Thus, the agency of release from the fetters of sin, sorrow, doubt, …

The biggest deception Satan plays against humanity is the illusion of time: we all think we will live to really old ages, thus having plenty of time to fix things later. The deception or illusion comes in with the very notion of “later.” None of us really know how long we have. This past Wednesday was the 18th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks where more than 3,000 people lost their lives, and many more later due to complications or injuries. The day before and the morning of the attacks those people were going about their routines, thinking they had all the time in the world to do what they needed to get done. However, sadly that was not the case. Here is the reality that we all need to face and help others to face as well: there is a 100% chance that we will all stand before God, and no one knows when that will be. Don’t fall prey to Satan’s lie; don’t put off till tomorrow what should be done today. Get in and stay in a right relationship with God.

 In his letter to the church at Rome, Paul wrote, “Salute one another with a holy kiss” (Romans 10:16). This was to be a salute, a greeting that expressed a longing for the well‑being of the other Christians in this world and in eternity, similar to the deeper meaning of the word “shalom,” in Hebrew. This word, “shalom,” according to Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, means “completeness, soundness, welfare and peace.” Within the word, as in the giving of a holy kiss, the giver is expressing all these things to the other person in both the physical and the spiritual realms. This kiss, however, is much more than the everyday kiss of greeting. This kiss is separate in its application, for it is to be a “holy kiss,” not the run‑of‑the‑mill peck on the cheek or the passionate kiss between lovers. This kiss is a kiss of respect and true regard for the other person. In western society, the thought of one man kissing another is usually greeted, unless it is a son to a father or vice versa, as an unthinkable and unwanted occurrence. Men and women who are friends may kiss each other on the cheek, but that is the limit of what is considered “proper behavior” in our society. Yet, that is not so in other parts of the world, and certainly not so in the ancient Middle East where the custom was normal. Any omission of the custom was considered a deep and telling insult. Such was the case when our …

Criticism is something with which we all must learn to live. Irrational critics who are determined to leave “no turn unstoned” (yes, you read that right) can always find fault and criticize. Jesus Himself was a victim of critics. He was criticized because of His family background (Matthew 13:54-57). He was criticized regarding His home community (Luke 1:46). He was criticized for His association with sinners (Matthew 9:11). He was criticized for doing good on the Sabbath day (Mark 2:23-28). Jesus warned His disciples that criticism would be inescapable (Luke 17:1; John 16:1-3; Matthew 5:10-12). Generally, a “loud attempt to excuse helps those who accuse.” If truth has been slandered, constructive rebuttal to “clear the air” may be necessary and wise. Note a few biblical examples of this, and please look up the passage and read all the context. Brethren, we can always emerge from unjust criticism victoriously. Here is how. Criticism will come and go as we live for the Lord. Jesus endured criticism and shame, and He died for us. What are we willing to do for Him? Is there ever a time when criticism requires a firm rebuttal? Yes indeed.

You might ask, “Why is your God better than other gods?” The God of the Bible makes history make sense! The God of the Bible also makes the future make sense! The Bible says: Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. You return man to dust and say, “Return, O children of man!” For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night. You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream, like grass that is renewed in the morning: in the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers. For we are brought to an end by your anger; by your wrath we are dismayed. You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence. For all our days pass away under your wrath; we bring our years to an end like a sigh. The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away. Who considers the power of your anger, and your wrath according to the fear of you? So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. (Psalm …

God’s basic law for marriage is seen when one removes the exception from Jesus’ words to the Pharisees. “And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife…and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery“ (Matthew 19:9 with “except for sexual immorality” replaced by an ellipsis). God intended for marriage to last for life because it fulfills an important need of man and woman, companionship. God’s law applies to “whoever,” not being limited to Christians. “There is not any indication of what is termed ‘covenant legislation’ which only applies to Christians; all others being free to divorce and remarry as much as they wish prior to conversion and remain with the last marriage partner before one becomes a child of God” (“The Problem of Marriage, Divorce and Remarriage,” Writings and Notes of William E. Woodson 4). Divorce is nowhere to be found in God’s original plan. It is a difficult subject to discuss because it involves the pinnacle of human relationships. The failure of that relationship is painful to the innermost core of a man’s heart. Woodson observed, “It deals with matters which, with very few exceptions, are and can be known for sure only by a very small number of people” (1). Divorce is very personal. “Nothing could be more delicate than the intimacies of marriage; nothing could be more difficult to discuss than those aspects of these intimacies which have been perverted and destroyed” (Woodson 1). It can become quite volatile as the extended families …

The darkest days in the history of Israel were the days of the Judges. The period of Judges lasted for 450 years, and the people persisted in sin throughout those four and a half centuries (Acts 13:19-21). The Book of Judges has a cycle within it that is repeated continuously: Israel sinned; they were oppressed by their enemies; they cried out to God for deliverance; and then God sent a deliverer (judge) to the rescue. The key theme in the Book of Judges is, “In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes” (Judges 17:6; 21:25). No wonder the time was so dark for the people of God; there was no leadership, and everyone did what he or she thought was right. There are many today who want to live by this philosophy, but this is a deadly motto to adopt. When people are left to themselves and reject the counsel of God, things often get worse, not better. Man is not wise enough to direct his own steps (Jeremiah 10:23). There is a way that seems right, but that way leads to destruction (Proverbs 14:12; 16:25). Even trying to build a home without the Lord’s help is an exercise in futility (Psalm 127:1). Never mind what is right in the eyes of man, but instead, we should be concerned with what is right in the Lord’s eyes. God has communicated to humanity what is right in His …

…A certain man made a great supper and invited many, and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, “Come for all things are now ready.” But they all with one accord began to make excuses. The first said to him, “I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused.” Another said, “I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I must go test them. I ask you to have me excused.” Still another said, “I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.” (Luke 14:16-20) Excuses! At some time, every one of us has been guilty of making an excuse. It’s human nature. According to the dictionary, an excuse is “a real or pretended reason or explanation given to make one free from blame or punishment; to seek exemption or release for; to overlook or let off with only disapproval, etc.” The list goes on, but we all get the meaning of the word. We want to be freed from whatever commitment we may have made that we don’t want or intend to keep. We wish for that to be done without having to dread any repercussion. Sometimes we offer excuses when they are not in our own best interest. Alice and I have often mentioned this when thinking of our sister Reba Moore when she was told in the doctor’s office that she had to go immediately to the hospital …

If we were to ask 100 Christians, preachers or elders what is the central purpose or primary task of the church or the individual Christian, we would probably get many different answers. If we asked it of all the speakers in a Personal Evangelism Workshop, most would probably answer, “The primary function of a Christian is to win a soul.” For about 25 years, I attended every Personal Evangelism Worship in the nation about which I read. In almost all of them, most speakers would make statements like, “The purpose for which Christ came was to save souls. For what purpose did you come?” I have made and applauded similar statements most of my life. Now, I want to suggest a better approach to it, for I think that slight error in emphasis was the basis of much of the Crossroads and Boston errors.* It is improper to talk about the purpose when there are at least thirty reasons given in the Bible for Christ coming and dying. There is probably only one more important thing in the universe than saving a soul, but it is always improper to substitute the good for the better or the better for the best. As I watched the first few minutes of a Super Bowl football game, I remembered an event that I saw in a game last year that made me think of the importance of this principle. A man had caught a pass and was prancing along toward the goal line with no one …

The apostle John, in his treatise concerning godly fellowship, clearly identified the intended consequence of penning what he penned in the Book of 1 John, “…that ye also may have fellowship with us” (1:3). He noted that not everyone who affirms that he or she is in fellowship with God speaks the truth (1:6). In his efforts to promote godly fellowship, he affirmed that such fellowship is attained and maintained conditionally (1:7) and that specific spiritual blessings will be received and enjoyed while in godly fellowship (1:7). I trust that these declarations motivate every child of God to exercise fellowship with other children of God and to also make noteworthy efforts to maintain this fellowship through the trials of the Christian life. The biblical fellowship entertained in these remarks is both a doctrinal matter and a practical matter. Yes, the Bible teaches us concerning godly fellowship (1 John 1:3-7; Ephesians 5:11), thus influencing children of God to ponder what we can do from day to day to practically enhance this fellowship in our daily lives, whether such is applied to those in our congregation or to other faithful children of God more distant. Accordingly, we ask, “What may we do to draw closer in fellowship with others in the body of Christ?” The brief answer that follows is not exhaustive but does include some practical suggestions that may assist any congregation as we seek to maintain the strength of godly fellowship. In answering this inquiry, I suggest that we may: …

It is a truism how things change through the course of time, whether we speak of consumables, such as the products we buy, durable goods, etc., to those values that make up how society functions. For example, in the past, the greatest concerns in school classrooms were matters like “students chewing gum, having their homework prepared” and similar responses. In our age it has changed to “guns and violence, drugs, lack of discipline, confusion about identity and one’s place in society” and other matters. Science theories and beliefs have also changed. What was expected, for example, in the matters of climate and the environment in times past, has not happened as anticipated. Recently, a list of five environmental claims in the not so distant past were compared to current conditions. They were, (1) a population explosion would cause global famine by 2000 (predicted in 1970), (2) air pollution would be so bad that everyone who lived in a city would have to wear gas masks to survive (predicted in 1970), (3) entire nations would be destroyed by 1999 (predicted in 1989), (4) the polar ice caps would have entirely melted away by 2016 (predicted in 2009) and (5) the earth would dramatically warm and then cool, sending the planet into another ice age starting in 1978 (predicted in 1958). Culture is always changing, and in our time at a radical and accelerated rate. What is acceptable today may not be tomorrow. Similarly, what may be pushing the limits of society …

I’ve been concerned for many years about why members become unfaithful. One verse that keeps coming to mind is Luke 9:62, which reads, “But Jesus said to him, ‘No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.‘” The setting for this verse has to do with individuals offering excuses when the Lord wanted them to follow Him. When I was a youngster, my grandfather, John Smith, was teaching me to use one of those old-fashioned push plows for his garden. He put the stakes in the ground and put a string from one end to the other of his plot. His instructions included keeping my eyes straight ahead. Looking in another direction meant crooked rows. Isn’t that the way it is with life? If we take our eyes off God’s Word or Jesus, our lives become crooked. My grandfather saw some crooked rows because I didn’t keep my eyes straight ahead. That meant that I had to start over. With this in mind, I would like to go in another direction from the viewpoint of members who are faithful and their feelings regarding those who leave. People become unfaithful for various reasons, and none of them are valid. We may never understand why they really leave. When people leave the fellowship, how do they think that makes members who remain feel? What are the faithful to think when other members no longer want to be a part of the fellowship? …