Much of Jesus’ earthly teaching was done in parables. He often used vivid images and illustrations to impress upon His hearers lessons of great importance. Luke 18 begins with two parables of Jesus, both of which are about prayer. The first has to do with persistence in praying (Luke 18:1-8), while the second emphasizes the proper attitude in praying (Luke 18:9-14). Let us examine what Jesus taught in the Parable of the Pharisee and the Publican. The Purpose of the Parable (Luke 18:9) Luke informs us that the purpose for which Jesus taught this parable was that some “trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others.” There are two things of significance to note here. (1) Trusting In Ourselves (9a). Trusting in ourselves should cause us to ponder two terrible things. First, there is the defilement of it. To trust in self reveals a lack of trust in God. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5). Second, there is the deception in it. Trusting in self can cause us to believe that we are better than we really are. Jesus said religious people thought they were righteous though they were not. The world is filled with religious people who have deceived themselves that they are righteous. (2) Treatment of Others (9b). Their self-righteousness led them to “despise others.” This violates everything that Jesus ever taught. It certainly contradicts the “golden rule” (Matthew 7:12). Paul said, “Let nothing be

In the epistles of the apostle Paul, there are constant references to the idea of being “in Christ.” Being “in Christ” involves one being influenced by Christ, being obedient to the Gospel of Christ and being added to the body of Christ where one walks in the footsteps of Christ and lives in hope of eternal life with Christ. Paul would have us to know that Christ had influenced every aspect of his life. Nowhere is this more evident than when he wrote, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). In this verse, we learn what Christ really meant to Paul. First, Paul was crucified with Christ. He had not experienced physical death on a cross. However, Paul could identify with Christ’s death. (1) He had become dead to the Law of Moses (Galatians 2:19) in that it no longer had control over him. (2) He had died to the flesh. “And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts” (Galatians 5:24). (3) He had died to the world. “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world” (Galatians 6:14). Second, Paul was changed by Christ. He said, “nevertheless

Paul’s last epistle was the Book of Second Timothy. When we come to Chapter Four of this wonderful epistle, we are faced with the reality that these are the last words that would come from the pen of the great apostle. Paul was confined to a Roman prison while under the constant threat of death. He came to Rome with his mind set on preaching the Gospel (Romans 1:15-16), and that thought was still on his mind. That is clearly seen as Paul said to Timothy, “I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the Word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching” (2 Timothy 4:1-2). He seemingly wanted to impress upon the mind of Timothy that the world’s greatest need will always be to “preach the Word.” What does it mean to “preach the Word?” Let us use W-O-R-D as an acrostic to observe four things that are essential to preaching the Word. Whole Counsel of God At Paul’s final meeting with the Ephesian elders, he rehearsed how he had openly served among them, “and how I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you, and taught you publicly and from house to house” (Acts 20:20). A few verses later he explained, “For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God” (v. 27). Here we learn

Sin is the great plague upon the earth, and every mortal is engaged in warfare against it. Failure results in terrible consequences, both temporal and eternal, a fact verified in the Scriptures as well as by personal experience. Victory is achieved through close adherence to the Word of God. In Genesis 4, we read of the second recorded sin in the Bible. There, the sons of Adam and Eve each offered a sacrifice to God. “And the Lord respected Abel and his offering, but He did not respect Cain and his offering” (4:4-5). God’s rejection angered Cain, which prompted the Lord to reply, “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it” (Genesis 4:7). In these words we find four things that should be of great help to enable us to win against sin. The Defense for Sin God’s thought-provoking question to Cain was, “If you do well, will you not be accepted.” That seems simple enough. If Cain would have done what God had said, then he would not have been rejected. Let us briefly consider three things. First, there is an adage. Remember the old adage, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Cain could have prevented that whole mess if he would have simply followed God’s commands. The best defense for sin is to do what God has said. Second, there

A recent article crossed my desk that I found interesting. It contained a list of things that babies born in 2011 will never know. Because of the rapid advancement of technology, there are many things that have been an integral part of everyday life for decades that are swiftly becoming obsolete. For example, babies born in 2011 will likely never know of things like video tape, movie rental stores, encyclopedias, CD’s, film cameras or fax machines. This prompts us to wonder just what other things might babies born today not know. Will there be fundamental truths about the Lord’s church that will become obsolete among the next generation? Will the next generation know about the establishment of the church? Will they know that Christ is the Builder of the church (Matthew 16:18)? Will they know that the church is built upon Christ as the one Foundation of the church? “For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:11). Will it be understood that Christ is the Authority of the church (Matthew 28:18) and is governed by His Word (Colossians 3:17)? If the distinctiveness of the New Testament church is not boldly preached today, then we should not be surprised that it would fade into obscurity in the generation to come. Will the next generation know about the exclusiveness of the church? There are hundreds of different denominations of churches in existence today, and a popular attitude that one is as good as

According to Webster’s New World Dictionary, the word “evolution” derives from the Latin “evolution” and means “an unrolling or opening.” It is a term that is typically used in reference to something that experiences a progression of change, such as, a child growing into an adult. Most often, however, this term is used in reference to organic evolution which holes that man owes his origin to the gradual processes of life evolving from non-life. The overwhelming majority of the scientific community has ascribed to the theory of evolution and promotes it both widely and loudly. However, those who believe in God accept the Genesis account of creation, which asserts that man owes his existence to God who created him. Creationists examine the teachings of evolution and are bewildered at how anyone could ascribe to a theory that is propped up on falsehoods, fabrications, and fairy tales. Consider, if you will, the following insurmountable hurdles that the theory of evolution cannot overcome. Evolution is unprovable. Herein is the most egregious case of “getting the cart before the horse” in all of history. Evolutionists are feverishly trying to link together all the pieces that supposedly show the ameba to man process, when they have no explanation for the origin of life. They conjecture that man’s origin is the result of spontaneous combustion. That is, billions of years ago a random explosion produced living matter. The law of biogenesis states that life comes from life. That means that it is scientifically impossible for non-life to produce life.