By: Charles E. Burch So often we take for granted all the luxuries with which God has blessed us. In the great nation in which we live, we have come to expect these things. In fact, we look upon many of the luxuries, not as luxuries, but as necessities. The great danger is that we can become caught up in these things to the degree that we put our trust in them, instead of in God. The Bible teaches that the Lord and His kingdom must come first. Jesus taught: “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33). It is not wrong to have some luxuries, but we must not rob God in order to afford them. Materialism has become the god of so many today. The God of Heaven has blessed them with so much that they feel no need for Him, for they have all they desire here in this life. This is why the fields are white unto harvest in many places, and few have a desire to go teach. Many times when men have the desire to go, they have such difficulty in raising support that it kills their desire. Many of the countries where the people have very little of this world’s goods are the ones who are receptive to the Gospel, for they have nothing in which to place their faith except God. Jesus warned about materialism in the sermon

When a Christian reads the first few chapters of the book of Acts, he has to get excited. Let us notice how the church grew. In Acts 2:41, about 3,000 obeyed the Gospel. In Acts 4:4, about 5,000 men (not including women and children) also obeyed the Gospel. Acts 4:32 records a multitude believed, and Acts 5:14 says, “multitudes both men and women” believed (NKJV). Acts 6:1 states that the number of disciples multiplied. How great and exciting it must have been to the apostles! How did the church grow so fast? We know it could not have been done by the apostles alone, but every member doing what they could contributed to that early church growth. “Therefore those who were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word” (Acts 8:4). Some place the time of this at approximately at A.D. 37. It was a time when the opponents of Christianity visited Christian homes and cast Christian men and women into vile prisons. They were then brought before the elders of the synagogue, who tried to force them to deny Christ. Upon their refusal some of them were put to death. This persecution scattered the Christians, but it did not stop them from telling others about Christ. They traveled far and wide through various regions teaching and preaching the Gospel of Christ. They were truly fulfilling the Great Commission. Christ had said, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be

Did you ever hear anyone say, “Well, God talked to me in a dream” or another say, “I had a vision” or someone declare, “Well, God talked to me while I was driving my car down the highway” or maybe, someone vows that God spoke to him and forgave his sins while he laid his hand on the radio? When you hear someone making such claims, you may be sure they are mistaken. Did you know that God tells us plainly, in His Word, how He speaks to us today? Would you really like to know how God speaks to us? If we do not know how He speaks to us today, we will not know when or what He speaks. “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds” (Hebrews 1:1–2 NKJV). In this inspired text, the writer declared that God has spoken. The question is, how does He speak to us today? Yes, there was a time when God spoke to man directly from Heaven, and man heard the voice of God. God talked with Adam in the Garden of Eden. Later, God revealed His Word to the prophets, who, in turn, spoke to the people. God told Moses that the time would come when He would no longer speak through the

We live in an age where it seems that we never have enough time to do all we desire or need to do. With such a demand on our time, it is a great temptation sometimes to put the Lord and His church behind other things. We need to ever keep God’s Word as our guide and to be willing to obey it. What does the Bible say about the placement of Christ and His church in our busy schedules? Jesus said, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33 NKJV). Note the first part of the above verse, “But seek first…” We all know what this means, but do we always obey it? When we have a requirement placed upon us, as Jesus did here, it is imperative that we fulfill that requirement. If we intently place the church second, third, fourth or any position other than first, we sin. What does sin do in our lives? One of God’s prophets pointed out the terrible condition of one who had willfully sinned. He stated, “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, That it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, That it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear” (Isaiah 59:1-2). The prophet said these people were separated from God by their iniquities. The word “iniquities” means sin, corruption,

About sixty years ago, I was visiting a faithful Christian family. The lady was having a health problem and was telling me how she was having to count her calories. Then she asked me, “Do you live to eat or eat to live?” I had never heard that question before and had to think about it. Just looking at the title we can see that we all have a choice to make. Some sixty years after being asked, I can easily answer it without hesitation. My stomach demands that I eat to live. If I don’t, my whole body knows and suffers from my inaction. Life is made up of choices that each one has to make. Some choices affect our health, which determines our joy and happiness here on earth. Years ago, the exception was an overweight person; there were very few. One doctor stated recently that 85% of people in the United States are overweight. Certainly, we know God didn’t make us all to be the same size, but what does God’s Word say about the amount we eat? “For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty…” (Proverbs 23:21 KJV). The word glutton means eating or drinking to excess. “…This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard”(Deuteronomy 21:20). Notice in these two verses that drunkard and glutton are listed together. In 1 Corinthians 6:10, Paul condemned the drunkard. Food must be consumed with temperance,

Responsibility: Putting First Things First There are a number of Scriptures that reveal the responsibilities which God has placed upon His children. When Jesus delivered the sermon on the mount, He said, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33 NKJV). The responsibility here is to “seek first the kingdom of God.” The only way to fulfil this command is for one to put God and His church at the top of his or her priority list. If the Lord requires us to put Him first, then He doesn’t mean second, third or fourth! It is so easy to put Him first – after we have done the things we want to do. [Let’s not do that! ~ Louis Rushmore, Editor.] It takes dedication, love, and conviction to put Jesus first in every thought, action and deed (Colossians 3:17). Responsibility: Share the Christian Faith Our Lord also said, “…Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations…” (Matthew 28:19). Many will never be able to go to another nation, but we can talk to someone stateside about Christ and His church. We can live the Christian life before the world and those with whom we come in contact, and perhaps others may desire the Christian life we enjoy. Responsibility: Study God’s Word The apostle Paul penned, “Be diligent [“Study” KJV] to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word

It doesn’t take a prophet to look around and see a great nation heading for destruction. Solomon wrote, “Righteousness exalts a nation, But sin is a reproach to any people” (Proverbs 14:34 NKJV). The principle set forth here applies to every generation. Sin has always been and will always be the most destructive element in a nation. Notice the conditions of Judah, “Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No! They were not at all ashamed; Nor did they know how to blush…” (Jeremiah 6:15). Our nation is in the same condition! Today, society has devolved to the point that sin is rampant and people in general have little respect for the Word of God. Over and over God has stated the punishment for sin, yet many openly live in those sins. Homosexuality is pictured in God’s Word as a sin worthy of death. “If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them” (Leviticus 20:13). Yet, today, people argue that it is only an alternate lifestyle. God said they were to be put to death! Who are we going to believe, God or man? Satan does his best to get all to believe man. In the New Testament, the apostle Paul wrote, “For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature.

When one thinks of the church of the New Testament, he has to realize that the church of the Bible is distinctive. It is different from all other religious organizations. Let us notice some of these differences. First, Christ said, “…I will build my church…” (Matthew 16:18). We find several things from this verse. (1) Christ is the builder. (2) The church belongs to Christ, for He said, “my church.” (3) Christ used the singular tense (church not churches); therefore, there is one, not a multitude of churches differing from each other. Second, Bible prophecy states that the Lord’s church would have its beginning in the city of Jerusalem. Now it shall come to pass in the latter days That the mountain of the Lord’s house Shall be established on the top of the mountains, And shall be exalted above the hills; And all nations shall flow to it. Many people shall come and say, “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, And we shall walk in His paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. (Isaiah 2:2-3NKJV) Yet, today, most religious people list Rome, Zurich, Holland, England, America, etc. when asked where their church had its beginning. Third, the Bible states that Christ is the Head of His church. Paul, speaking of what God did, stated, “And He put all things under

The apostle Paul wrote, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18 NKJV). The cross has different meanings for different people, and it always has. To the people of Jerusalem in A.D. 33 the cross was just a cruel form of execution, usually reserved for the worst type of criminals. It was shameful, and that is the reason for the statement about Jesus that He “…endured the cross, despising the shame…” (Hebrews 12:2). However, for believers, the shame of that cross was overcome by the glory made possible by Jesus who died there. Paul wrote, “But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ…” (Galatians 6:14). What do we see in the cross? Do we just see a religious symbol to be worn as decoration? Do we see a form of torture and execution? Do we see hope for eternity? Let us notice some things that we should see in the cross. We should see the love of God. When Adam and Eve sinned in Eden, God drove them from His presence. Yet, He announced to them His intentions to overcome the devil’s influence and save man from sin (Genesis 3:15). God sent His Son to do that. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting

The church that Jesus built was the subject of prophecy. The prophet Isaiah stated, “Now it shall come to pass in the latter days That the mountain of the Lord’s house Shall be established on the top of the mountains, And shall be exalted above the hills; And all nations shall flow to it. Many people shall come and say, ‘Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, And we shall walk in His paths.’ For out of Zion shall go forth the law, And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem” (Isaiah 2:2-3 NKJV). We can learn several things from this prophecy. First, it was to be in “the latter days” (NKJV) or “the last days” (KJV). The apostle Peter said the events of Acts 2, when the church was established, were “the last days” (v. 17). Second, Isaiah was speaking of the Lord’s house. From 1 Timothy 3:15, we find that the Lord’s house is the church. Third, “the Lord’s house” (Isaiah 2:2) or “the house of God, which is the church” (1 Timothy 3:15) was to begin in Jerusalem (Isaiah 2:3; Luke 24:47). In Acts 2, we find that the church had its beginning in Jerusalem (Acts 2:47). Therefore, we can say that Isaiah foretold the coming of the Lord’s church. Before our Lord was crucified, He made a promise after Peter confessed that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of