Archive for the ‘False Teachers/Doctrine’ Category
The Principle of Restoration in the Battle for Truth
March 15th, 2018 | 
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Introduction
This subject deals with attitude. Neither restoration nor maintenance of the church of Christ is possible apart from the proper and wholesome attitude toward Truth. Paul wrote of the crucial importance of one's attitude toward the Truth:
And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness (2 The. 2:10–12).
Notice that twice in this remarkable passage Paul emphasized the importance of proper attitude toward the Truth in the phrases, received not the love of the truth and believed not the truth. The sentence upon those possessing such blasphemous attitudes is manifold: (1) deception through unrighteousness, (2) belief of error (i.e., "strong delusion," "a lie"), (3) taking pleasure in unrighteousness, and, at last, (4) perishing, being lost, and damned.
Stand Fast or Compromise
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The whole point of a soldier’s being well-armed is not for the parade ground, the reviewing stand, or mock maneuvers, but for the field of combat. The reason we are to "take up the whole armor of God" is that we "may be able to withstand in the evil day, and, having done all, to stand" (Eph. 6:13). The evil day is best understood as the day of combat, trial, temptation, persecution, or opposition. The real spiritual battles are the frequent, often daily, encounters the Christian soldier faces as he takes up the cross daily to follow his Commander-in-chief (Luke 9:23). In the daily fray is where the armaments and weapons supplied by the Lord are required. Each of us will stand or fall spiritually for the most part, not in one great, pitched battle, but in the daily skirmishes that add up to the prolonged warfare.
Avoiding New Fads
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Introduction
The worldly, fashion-mad nature of humankind has changed little through the centuries. Luke provides an interesting description of the philosophers whom Paul encountered at Mars Hill in ancient Athens: “Now all the Athenians and the strangers sojourning there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell or to hear something new” (Acts 17:21).[1] The word new in this passage comes from the root word kainos, which means “that which is unaccustomed or unused, not new in time, but new as to form or quality, of different nature from what is contrasted as old.”[2] This definition tells us that those Athenians were always looking for something different, new-fangled, novel, modern—some new gadget or fresh gimmick. In short, they were fad-mad!
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The “Easter” Season—From God or Man?
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The “Easter” season, involves much more than “Easter Sunday.” It begins with…
- “Mardi Gras” (French for “Fat Tuesday,” also called “Shrove Tuesday”), referring to the day before the beginning of the traditional season of “Lent,” which is called…
- “Ash Wednesday” (observers are often marked by an ash “cross” on their foreheads), which continues for 40 days (46 including Sundays), ending at “Easter Sunday.” Six weeks later…
- “Maundy Thursday” arrives, which, in turn, precedes…
- “Good Friday,” the alleged day of Jesus’ crucifixion (an ironic name for the day of the Lord’s terrible suffering), and is followed by…
- “Holy Saturday,” which then leads to…
- “Easter Sunday,” the supposed anniversary of the Lord’s resurrection.
Strong and Fully Armed
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Introduction
A recurring metaphor in the New Testament likens the church to a spiritual army and its members to soldiers (Phi. 2:25; 1 The. 5:8; 1 Tim. 6:12; 2 Tim. 2:3–4; 4:7; et al.). God’s people are engaged in spiritual combat (2 Cor. 10:4; 1 Tim. 1:18). Paul gives us the most concentrated description of the soldier-army-battle figure in Ephesians 6:10–18. His opening exhortation is so powerful that it takes on the character of a command: “Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of his might” (v. 10). This context is so familiar to so many that some may have overlooked and neglected the great practical force of it. It is surely worth revisiting.