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• Does God Really Care?

  …ster WongMixxMySpaceNetvouzNewsvineoneviewOnlyWirePlugIMPropellerRedditSegnaloShoutwireSimpySlashdotSurphaceSphinnSpurlSquidooStumbleUponTechnoratiThisNextTwitterWebrideWindows LiveYahoo!Email This to a Friend  Link HTML:  Permalink:  If you like this then please subscribe to the RSS Feed.Powered by Bookmarkify™ More »Over the course of time just about all of us are confronted with the reality of …

• Must a Man Seek God?

  ted to the righteousness of God.” (NKJV)  It attempts to make God conform to man’s judgments rather than man conform to God’s judgments.  Man ends up judging God rather than God judging man.  God, if you are really good you will save me is the idea.  If you don’t you are not good.  I, a man, get to judge you, God, as to your goodness. The reality is it does not work that way.  Man does not get to pass judgment on God nor b…

• Praying to God to Bless the Bread–Really?

  “God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and truth.” (John 4:24 NKJV) Whose job is it to bless the bread and bless the fruit of the vine when the Lord’s Supper is being  observed in the communion service?  One hears continually prayers or petitions to God to “bless the bread” and to “bless the fruit of the vine.”  Why?  I have no idea other than it has been done so long it has…

• Instrumental Music in Christian Worship–Is it God’s Will?

  I am sure there are millions of people who call themselves Christians who have never given the subject of instrumental music in Christian worship a thought.  It is just taken for granted that it is a part of acceptable worship to God.  I suspect even most of us who were raised in a religious setting where instruments were never used in worship wondered about it at one point in time or another.  Was it really wrong to use them in worship and if s…

• A Heart Right With God (Test Your Heart)

  law thinking it would be all right, God would accept what he was doing and he would get by with it, was a person who trusted in his own heart.  King Saul (1 Sam. 15) and Nadab and Abihu (Lev. 10) come readily to my mind. I am really not much interested in having any man or woman telling me how his/her heart is right with God or in what their heart is telling them about their relationship with God.  I am content to let God decide that for himself …

• Looking Down Your Nose

  …of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?  But you have dishonored the poor man.  Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts?  Do they not blaspheme that noble name by which you are called?  If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself,’ you do well; but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors.  For wh…

• What is it a Man Must Believe in Order to be Saved?

  6:16).  One must believe Jesus, must believe what he said on each and every topic about which he spoke.  For me to say I believe in a man but I just do not believe what he said about this or that shows my belief to be what it really is–unbelief.  How can I say I believe in you all the while not being willing to accept your word?  I really do not believe in a man if I will not take his word as truth. (5) One must believe that Jesus was raise…

• Resource Sites

  iscussion on faith and opinion.) The Sonship of Christ  (Be sure and scroll down the page once you get to it.  This is an extremely unique and valuable one of a kind sermon.  It details the relationship of Christ the Son with God the Father like nothing else I have ever read, a late 1800′s sermon by Dr. T. W. Brents.) Short Essays in Biblical Criticism  (Have you ever had to deal with someone who would ridicule or find fault with the Bible …

• The Struggle to be a Spiritually Minded Man or Woman

  pect thought he was being generous by saying 7 times but what did Jesus say in response?  “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.” (Matt. 18:22 NKJV)  Jesus was thus saying there is really no end to forgiving and was certainly implying God would likewise forgive us no matter how many times we need forgiveness just as long as we repent, confess our sins to him, and are willing to give it another full fai…

• Disobedience to Jesus

  on on the intercom is joking and telling you a lie) or will you take it for the truth.  What you believe about the message directly affects what you will do. It is the same way with Jesus and his message for man.  What do you really believe about what he has said whether directly or through the words of other New Testament writers?  A lot of people want to take part of what he said, the part that seems reasonable to them, believe and obey it but …

• The Kingdom of God and the New Birth–A Matter of Timing

  Why write an article on the topic the kingdom of God and the new birth?  The answer is really quite simple.  As long as people today have a desire to be saved in the way Jesus saved some during his personal ministry on earth–by faith without baptism–there will be a need to show the error of that position.  On this subject timing makes all the difference. When did Jesus become a king with a kingdom over which to rule?  When Jesus was …

• Christianity and Multiculturalism

  ly pleased with all of them.  No man can read those 2 chapters and affirm that to be the truth. Does one wish to value Nazi Germany and its culture back during the reign of the Nazis?  How about Russia under Stalin?  Does one really believe that sharia law is as good as democracy?  What happens to Christianity if Islamic law ever becomes the law of the land?  Are you women in democratic countries looking forward to that time with eager anticipati…

• Sin in the Desert–Testing God at Massah and Meribah

  purpose of a test is to prove a person worthy of trust.  If he passes the test we then have confidence in him and his ability. When we test God we are expressing doubt about either his word (is it good), or his love (does he really care), or his power (can he really do it), or his character (can you trust him).  To test God is a sin in part because it manifests a lack of faith.  “Without faith it is impossible to please him, for he who com…

• Jesus and the Furnace of Fire

  Hell is not real for most people.  They think little about it and really do not believe that if there is such a place they could end up there.  Hell would only be reserved for characters like Hitler, Himmler, Stalin, murderers, child molesters, etc., the very worst society has to offer.  It is not a place for the average man or woman is the general thinking. The Bible teaches no such thing.  What it does teach is that it is very possible for you…

• Why Men Do Not Believe

  …ble calls “the passing pleasures of sin” (Heb. 11:25 NAS) and without any threat of retribution.  We can achieve and receive the adoration and praise of men.  It is a lot more convenient if God does not exist.  We really do not want him to exist; we do not want the Bible to be true if our love is for this life and this world. Those who do not believe have the same evidence as those have who do believe.  What makes the difference then?…

• Indifference – The Great Destroyer

  along this line has led to a lot of the indifference we see in religion today, not all of it for there are other contributing factors as well but a lot of it. Indifference is one natural byproduct of denominationalism. If it really does not matter what you believe or practice just so you believe in Jesus then certainly one can be indifferent about both doctrine and practice. What difference does it make if we are all going to be saved anyway? I …

• Bible Authority, Foot Washing, the Holy Kiss, and Head Coverings?

  at services.  What would they say about being kissed? We meet the requirements of the holy kiss when we greet one another sincerely and warmly in the manner our culture is accustomed to.  The brother who charges inconsistency really understands all of this but when you are trying to find an excuse you are liable to grasp at anything the mind can imagine. In the piece I read the critic who denies need for Bible authority brings up 2 Tim. 2:9 and 1…

• The Faithfulness of Jesus to God the Father

  … NKJV) ruling “till he has put all enemies under his feet” (1 Cor. 15:25 NKJV) will then himself “be subject to him who put all things under him, that God may be all in all.” (1 Cor. 15:28 NKJV) We are really talking here about decisions made by the Godhead before the creation of the world itself.  Sometime before the foundation of the world the Godhead made the decision that once the world was created and man placed upon …

• The Need to Preach on Sin

  …in be punished?  Because if it is not God cannot be God.  Law that is not enforced is in reality no law at all.  God the lawmaker is not glorified but mocked if his law is not upheld.  Disrespect or disobedience to the law is really a slap in the face of the lawgiver.  Sin must be punished or else the lawmaker must step down and lose all authority to rule for if he will not enforce his law how can he rule?  And, besides that, sin is evil.  Should…

• Abraham’s Faith (Faith Accounted for Righteousness)

  ot enter His rest, but to those who did not obey?  So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.” (Heb. 3:18-19 NKJV)  Had Abraham not obeyed would we be talking about his faith?  To ask is to answer. What really matters for a man of faith is not what we think about what God has said but what he has said.  We can get to reasoning with the word of God to the point where we can convince ourselves that God did not really mean wha…

• Is Church Attendance Essential for Christian Salvation?

  e no more pain” (Rev. 21:4 NKJV) or will it be in the place of torment “where ‘their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched’” (Mark 9:44 NKJV) and “shall never be quenched.” (Mark 9:43 NKJV) This is a question that is really very easily answered if one will accept the word of God as being the one and only and final authority on deciding the question.  The answer is no; one cannot be saved if he will not attend church by which is meant the…

• Jesus the Foundation of and the Builder of the Church

  or. 3:17).  God (Jesus) built the first century New Testament church.  Do we think we can do better than he did?  Men are trying continually to change the church from what it was in the first century and modernize it.  Do you really think that is wise?  How do you know as a mere man that the changes that seem good and right to you are fine with God?  Jesus is a perfect builder.  Can you do better than he did without defiling the church?  Remember…

• Better to Never Have Been Born–Why?

  l fire, the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, for eternity from whence they can never ever escape or have hope of it relenting. Why are people not afraid to face Jesus in the judgment?  Why?  I cannot comprehend it.  I really can’t.  It bothers me that I am unable to get into the minds of other people and understand how they think.  If I could understand then maybe I could figure out a way to persuade them but I just do not understan…

• Why Do Men Run From God?

  ation?  Do we think we love more than Jesus who died for us all?  Do we think God is just too strict (I guarantee you many, many, many do)?  However big your heart is I can assure you it is not as big as God’s but do we really expect God to save unrepentant sinners and people who do not love him?  If he did how would heaven be any better than life on earth? Have you ever thought that perhaps Adam loved Eve just a bit too much?  Did he love …

• Honestly Deceived

  t they heard was in direct contradiction of what they knew for fact that God had told them. We can read God’s word and believe he said what he meant to say or we can believe some man who wants to tell us how the text does not really mean what it says (which was basically what Eve did). Who are you going to believe?  Will it be another man of God from Judah as was the case with the younger prophet (we call them pastors or reverend today)?   Will w…

• Acceptable Prayer

  When a person runs into trouble in his or her life they are often counseled to pray.  That is usually one of the very first things that is done and most certainly we ought to turn to God in our times of trouble.  James says, “Is anyone among you suffering?  Let him pray.” (James 5:13 NAS)  The writer of the book of Hebrews tells us to “draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grac…

• The Blessing of Affliction and the Goodness of God

  …d.” (Psalms 119:67 NKJV) We all learn very early in life that we will someday die but it just does not register with us other than as an intellectual abstraction.  Death is for us so far off into the future (we think) that it really has no meaning.  We will think about it when we get old. Life is very, very brief.  “For what is your life?  It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.” (James 4:14 NKJV)  But when we ar…

• What Does The Phrase “Born Of Water And The Spirit” Mean? (The New Birth)

  is simply not possible for water to mean water in this passage.  It has to mean something else.  My question to him would be why but he is not telling in his book. Let us now deal with the passage and make it as simple as it really is.  I begin by saying that it is essential to come to a correct understanding as your and my eternal life both depend on it.  Jesus says if we are not “born of water and the Spirit” we cannot enter into t…

• Who Gets to Decide–God or the Church?

  …hy worry yourself over trying to decide if this is true or that is true if only parts of it are true and you have go the guessing game route? The point I am making is that when your faith in God’s word is weak, when you really do not believe parts of it and/or do not believe it is to be taken literally, it is easy to make the jump from there into the belief that man gets to decide the law of God and make it for him.  But, I ask, are these m…

• Lessons for the Church from Isaiah (Chapter 1)

  or of physics but rather a rejection of him based on the idea that things do not matter to God.  They had gradually, and it seems almost totally, drifted away from God in their belief that what he had said mattered or that he really cared about the things he had told them through the law and the prophets. Here is the great lesson for the church and individual Christians today.  Have you ever heard it said, “I know what it (reference to the word o…

• Demas Has Forsaken Me

  …at Demas wanted out of the world we are not told.  Was it money, an easier life, respect?  We are not told.  In a way it makes no difference. There is no doubt the world has much to offer as long as we live in the flesh.  Who really desires to make their life a living self sacrifice everyday of the year? (Rom 12:1)  Who desires to always put self second?  Who is it that does not desire respect from his fellowman in this world? Christians are not …

• Christian Circumcision

  s “that the body of sin might be done away with” (Rom. 6:6 NKJV).  We have parallel passages teaching the same thing here both passages having been written by the same man inspired by the Spirit of God.  One could really summarize all of verse 11 by simply saying, “In him you were forgiven.”  The phrase “with him” is also used 3 times in this passage of Col. 2:9-13.  We were “buried with him in baptism…

• Christianity–Who Rules Reason or Emotions?

  …o matter what the Bible says thus many denominations now have women preaching and in leadership positions.  Jesus said of God’s word that it was truth (John 17:17) but in emotion based religion truth must take a back seat and really does not matter for emotion rules whatever the issue. An emotion based religion is a religion that will in time no longer see the need for Bible authority even though those holding to such a religion call themselves C…

• Fear God

  ish those who disobey the classroom rules will have utter chaos in the class.  A coach who will not discipline players who break the rules will not be respected nor have his instructions followed.  A boss who is not obeyed is really boss of no one other than in name only.  In our own country we have laws against illegal immigration.  Those laws have no teeth behind them thus are disobeyed so that we have hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrant…

• One Church—A Thing Hard to Accept

  … have been able to see a failed marriage before the ceremony but the bride couldn’t see it for the emotions overrode rational thought and the will was strong.  The eyes were deliberately closed. This brings me to what I really want to talk about it.  I have recently taken an interest in reading books on the history of Christianity from the first century up to the present.  The most recent book I have completed on the subject was a book by S…

• The Faith of Enoch

  is this–faith and obedience to God’s commands cannot be separated. When one is unwilling to obey God or just is negligent in doing so it is a manifestation of a lack of what the Bible calls faith or belief.  If we really believed strongly enough that God said what he meant and meant what he said we would not be hesitant to obey but would obey readily and promptly.  In doing so we would be walking with God and pleasing God as Enoch did…

• God’s Willingness to Forgive–King Manasseh

  y be able to bear it.” (1 Cor. 10:13 NKJV)  We thus go on living pretty much the way we would have had we never obeyed the gospel except that we go through the exercise of asking God’s forgiveness from time to time.  We never really repent from the heart. I do not want to leave the impression that to commit the same sin more than once implies that we have not repented.  It can be very tough to resist the temptation to a sin that we are attracted …

• Israel’s Rebellion at the Red Sea

  y?  Whether God meant it to be or not no man can say but one can say it ended up being a test of faith whether intentional or not–one they failed.  Man’s job before God is to trust and obey and be patient.  If you really trust God, really have faith, patience will come easier for you know God will be there for you in time. I think the final lesson for me, at least for the purposes of this article, is never look back and doubt.  Our li…

• Is Denominational Baptism Scriptural?

  …who know no better believe they have received a scriptural baptism.  It would only be scriptural if one could change the meaning of God’s word.  Want to try?  Not me.  But, that is not the main thrust of this article.  What I really want to deal with is denominational baptism.  While sprinkling and pouring are about the method of baptism leading men into error denominational baptism is about the purpose or meaning of baptism leading men into erro…

• Lincoln’s Tomb and Jesus’ Tomb

  …they were unable to distinguish the important from the unimportant and made a mountain out of a molehill and lost all control.  Who has not seen the parent that went berserk with their child over nothing in a store?   What is really important?  What really matters?  Life is soon cut off and we fly away. There are very few things in life that really matter in the long term.  What does matter though is the kind of life we have lived while we were h…

• The Case of Cornelius and the Holy Spirit

  …y Spirit?  Is it before repentance and baptism for the remission of sins or after?  The answer is evident.  This raises a question.  Is there one gospel in one location and another in a different location so that we can never really know what the gospel is?  Does the Holy Spirit preach one message concerning salvation in one location but a different one elsewhere?  Does God show partiality toward some?  Are some saved one way and others in a diff…

• The Church Christ Built–Marks of Identification

  …hrist built.  That is the church we need to be in and need to get back to.  If we did all denominations would cease to exist so men will fight it tooth and nail for it is one thing to say we want it and it is another thing to really want it enough to give up the things we have for it.  In other words the old saying “talk is cheap” was and is more than just a saying. Can we have the church Jesus built in our own day and time?  I knew a lady that o…

• Pray For Others Lest You Sin

  u ever had and no one cares.  That is at least the way it often seems to us.  We just wish someone cared enough to pray for us. What is wanted is not just “Father, be with (you fill in the name).”  What we want is people that really care, really love us, whose prayer for you will be fervent, zealous, intent.  We want a sincere prayer from the heart for us not just a word said in passing.  When we become the Christians that have taken God’s comman…

• The Heart of Man from a Biblical Perspective

  fully the context. It is time to ask the question upon which all of our fortunes depend.  Upon what treasure has my heart set itself upon?  “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matt. 6:21 NKJV)  It is really all up to us for, “The preparations of the heart belong to man.” (Prov. 16:1 NKJV)  God has empowered us and now it is up to us what we will do with that power.  We can prepare our heart if we are willing to do so.  P…

• The Wicked Shall be Turned into Hell

  David, in Psalms 9:17, made this statement:  “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.” (NKJV)  That is strong, strong language and language people do not want to hear.  Some would probably call it hate speech.  People do not want to hear about hell and many reject God because of the concept of hell as taught in the Bible.  I suspect it is highly likely many who look at what I write from time to time…

• God’s Hardening of the Human Heart

  Does God ever harden people’s hearts?  No doubt about it.  Every Bible student is aware of God’s hardening the heart of Pharaoh back in the book of Exodus.  This was God’s plan before Moses arrived in Egypt.  “And the LORD said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do all those wonders before Pharaoh which I have put in your hand. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.”…

• The Sin of Being Unthankful and the Need for Thanksgiving

  … was a Samaritan.  Jesus’ response was, “Were there not ten cleansed?  But where are the nine?  Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” (Matt. 17:17-18 NKJV) Are we really thankful?  Paul said to the Corinthians, “For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?&#…

• The Christian, Politics, and the Government

  …h men have lived it speaks to us not in specifics but in general statements on the subject.  As it relates to specifics it is often hard to know exactly what one ought to do under some of the scenarios which arise but we have God given principles by which we can act. I write on this topic not so much out of a desire to do so but because a discussion of the subject is needed especially at this time where here in America I doubt the country has eve…

• Everlasting Life–The Believer of John 3:16

  …not be a smorgasbord of Jesus’ sayings where we get to go down the line and say I will take this, and I will take that, but I will have none of that.  How can we do that sort of thing and say we believe in Jesus?  Do we really believe him if that is what we do?  If we don’t “believe him” how can we say we “believe in him?” Most people do not believe Jesus when he said, “He who believes and is baptized wil…

• If Miracles Have Ceased–the Implications

  othing of or about Christ or of the faith.  If you are carried about by false doctrine you need not be.  That is what you have a New Testament for–so you will not be led into false doctrine and can know the truth if you really want to know it.  Now what are the implications of miracles having ceased or put another way what are the implications if miracles have ceased?  Let me say to start that the implications are so great that some religio…

• How Was Noah Saved Through Water?

  condemns the latter.  You cannot merit your way to heaven by works.  Don’t you think Noah was well aware that the God who caused the flood was just as capable of capsizing the ark Noah had built if he chose to do so?  Do you really believe that people who believe the Bible teaches that baptism is necessary in order to be saved think that they are saving themselves apart from God when they are baptized and that they have no fear of God?  If the a…

• Unhappy With the Church of Christ?

  Many denominational people will eventually be immersed but if it is for the wrong reason what does it avail?  If I say I am saved before and without baptism, which is the same as saying I am saved without being in Christ and really do not need to be in him to be saved, why go bother with it at all for your immersion will not be that which Peter preached or Paul preached?  The baptism Peter preached (Acts 2:38) gave you remission of sins.  The ba…

• Abortion Luke 1 – All You Need to Know

  k not.  People wanted to see it whether they had to pay to see it or not.  That is how depraved a society can get.) What American society or law, or this political party or that one, or this politician or that one, has to say really means absolutely nothing as to whether or not a thing is right in God’s eyes.  God does not determine righteousness based on man’s thoughts, opinions, or consensus.  Whatever it is whether living together …

• Can one be Just a Christian in Christ’s Church without being in a Denomination?

  … we can have just the New Testament church on earth today and worship in it they condemn themselves and they are not about to do that so all they can do is shout and shout over and over again “denomination.” But what they are really saying, if they would think it through, is that God’s word has lost its power to make just a Christian and lost its power to keep his church on earth today out in the open where it can be seen.  They are saying that t…

• Things God Cannot Do

  he previous passage from Titus telling us God cannot lie.  To be faithful means we keep our word.  For God to not do this would make him unfaithful and he would be denying himself, denying what he had previously told us. This really means that you and I can take God’s word to the bank as the old saying goes.  It is good as gold, better than gold.  There is no possibility of a failure or fault to be found with it.  We need to have confidence…

• What Does the Phrase “My Name” Mean in the Bible?

  Sometimes we run across phrases in the Bible that we really do not understand yet we think we can kind of guess at the meaning and come close enough thus we never bother to study them out to get at the truth.  The phrases trouble us a little but not enough for us to do any extra work to find out the meanings.  The phrase “my name” as found in the Bible is just such a phrase. The exact phrase “my name” is found 118 times i…

• Paul’s Conversion (Justified by Faith)

  The conversion of Saul of Tarsus, who was soon to be known as Paul the apostle, is one of the most interesting accounts of conversion to Christianity found in the Bible.  One can read about Paul’s conversion in 3 different accounts given in the book of Acts–Acts 9:1-19, 22:1-16, 26:9-20.  Saul of Tarsus was one of the really bad men we read about in the New Testament which makes his conversion even more dramatic.  How bad a man was S…

• Hypocrites in the Church

  …s in anything through us. For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation.” (2 Co 7:8-10 NASU) When we say we will have nothing to do with hypocrites we are really saying we have no concern about them; we do not love them as people; let them go to hell; I don’t care.  Love does not run away from people but rather toward them. There are probably not too many Christians who …

• The Silence of the Scriptures

  …e it to the late seventh century.  The Jews were a people well versed in the use of harps and other musical instruments.  One must ask why Jewish Christians did not use them in the earliest years of the church.  The answer is really self-evident to any who are willing to accept it. I have not exhausted my arguments in support of the belief that the silence of the scriptures is prohibitive and limits what we can do in the church and in worship but…

• How Does One Get Into the Church Christ Built?

  …being in the church built by Jesus then the denomination has no reason for existence and should drop its denominational name and associations and just call itself what it would be under those circumstances–the church of God, the church of Christ, the church, or some other scriptural name or designation.  It would be “the church” and not “a denomination.”  It would be the church Christ built. In this article I am not concerned about how one …

• Non-Offensive Christianity

  If someone was to ask you or me what constitutes Christian character what would we say?  Off the top of our head we would most likely say love for God and our fellowman and faith in the Lord Jesus.  As we thought about it more intently we would add things like the fruit of the spirit, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” (Gal. 5:22-23 NKJV)  We m…

• Bible Contradictions on Salvation?

  If we believe the Bible is the word of God why do we often interpret it in a way that makes it contradict itself?  Truth is harmonious or else it’s not truth and cannot be.  Jesus says of God’s word, “your word is truth.” (John 17:17)  It does not oppose itself when properly interpreted. Martin Luther was persuaded he had found contradiction in the Bible between what Paul wrote in Romans about salvation being by faith ver…

• Deeper Spiritual Understanding–How do I Acquire It?

  6-13), the heart ceases to be interested in anything that will disturb it.  People become satisfied with what they have right or wrong. Hear the words of Jesus: “That is why I use these parables, For they look, but they don’t really see.  They hear, but they don’t really listen or understand.  This fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah that says, ‘When you hear what I say, you will not understand.  When you see what I do, you will not comprehend.  For …

• The Truth So Called Christians Will Not Accept

  Most people who call themselves Christians are in reality not Christians at all no matter how dedicated they may be to their faith.  The word of God is truth (Jesus speaking–John 17:17) and stands as the one and only standard that is acceptable to the God of heaven and of men.  It, not man, sets the standard for who is a Christian. As there is a political correctness in our land there is likewise a religious correctness that one must adher…

• Faith, Manna, and Grumbling Against God

  t to hear the children of Israel talk you would have thought they were living in the Garden of Eden back in Egypt?  This would not be the last time you would hear them talk like that either. Moses soon lets them know they are really grumbling against God, not himself.  He says, “Your grumblings are not against us (Aaron and Moses–DS) but against the Lord.” (Ex. 16:8 NASB)  “What are we, that you grumble against us (Aaron a…

• Repentance–How Can I Be Sure?

  …have it in our minds that we are going to live an almost perfect life thereafter.  We are committed as we ought to be.  Unfortunately, we never live the perfect life.  When we next sin we begin doubting our conversion.  Did I really repent?  If I did why did I commit this sin?  Doubts arise about our conversion.  We begin to wonder am I doomed to just live my life a hopeless sinner. There is no such thing as living a sin free life after conversio…

• Parable of the Tares–No Middle Ground

  …t of debate over the years about this parable among commentators as to whether or not the kingdom referred to in the parable is the church or the entirety of the world over which God rules.  For the purpose of this article it really does not matter for the thing that struck me as I was reading this passage a few days back and which has spurred me to write on it is the stark contrast between the tares and the wheat.  There is no middle ground to b…

• Diotrephes Loves To Have the Preeminence

  t your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him … ” (Psalms 8:3-4 ESV) The man who desires preeminence has difficulty seeing himself as he really is, a man of sin.  He may fain humbleness or humility but does not feel it in his heart.  He feels, for all practical purposes, that he has risen above sin.  Thank God that he can now show everyone else how to do the …

• The Kind of Faith in God That Destroys

  you are not.  I hope that you develop the kind of faith that if there was another Hebrews 11 to be written you might be included and it would be said of you that you believed and did this or that, whatever was required. It is really our own choice.  We can follow the herd mindlessly that discounts the faith that obeys, that trusts in mental assent, or we can follow the examples of those who believed and obeyed–faith leading to obedience.  I…

• Who is the Believer in John 3:16?

  Sometimes things that are the most obvious are also the easiest to overlook.  No passage in the Bible is better known nor been memorized more than Jesus’ statement in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (NKJV)  This was part of a conversation that Jesus was having with a man named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews who …

• He Went Away Grieved

  …ase or to have demons cast out.  There was a time in our country when being a church member was seen as an honorable thing in the eyes of the public.  In those days a man might seek Jesus to further his career not that he was really seeking after the bread of eternal life but seeking for the bread of this life.  Even today the politicians will be sure and hit the churches before a major election and most certainly not for spiritual enlightenment …

• The Parable of the Talents–the Sin of Fear

  …in his absence, nothing at all.  The revenue that should have been made by farming that plot of ground has been lost.  Would the farmer be happy? The parable of the talents while couched in the language of business affairs is really a story about spiritual matters.  Its purpose is to teach us a lesson about our relationship with God and what he expects of us.  Indeed, the parable begins with the words, “For the kingdom of heaven is like a m…

• Jesus’ Baptism and You?

  r we won’t.  We will either accept his counsel or we will reject it. I am sometimes taken aback by how people can just blow off baptism as being an insignificant thing unworthy of time or trouble.  It is a reflection on God.  Really is that not what Jesus was saying way back when–you don’t believe God?  There are so many today that want to be saved by faith apart from baptism and cannot see, as though blinded, that baptism is a part of fait…

• Three Benefits of Being a Christian in This Life – Hope, Love, Peace

  …ow about the need for hope. “But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.” (1 Thess. 4:13-14 NKJV)  The Christian lives “in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began.” (Titus 1:2 NKJV)  When one gr…

• Which Denomination Did Jesus Build?

  …ion.  Think about that.  It is the same as saying what Jesus established in the first century was a denomination.  If we did what they did back then we would just be a denomination.  Jesus established a denomination?  Yeah, I really believe that don’t you? Can the church we find in the New Testament be restored in a community today?  If not why not?  As long as you have the original plans you can restore or make anew anything just as it was…

• Christian Wars–A Misnomer

  netime historical event only and that the gospel has never been perverted since then. What I have said above is simply reason and common sense.  If you have ever read your New Testament you know these things are true.  Do you really think a true Christian could call for such wars and true Christians answer the call to arms for such wars?  Let us go kill the pagans.  Do you believe that? You might subdue by force of arms those of another religion …

• Ignorance Does Not Excuse Sin

  God does not consider ignorance an excuse for sin and will not overlook a sin just because you or I were ignorant of the sin when we committed it.  The verse that teaches this is found in Lev. 5:17, “If a person sins, and commits any of these things which are forbidden to be done by the commandments of the Lord, though he does not know it, yet he is guilty and shall bear his iniquity.” (NKJV)  (See also Lev. 4:1-2, 13, 22, 27 and Lev. 5:2 and 5:…

• Work Out Your Own Salvation

  …of a mistranslation holds no water. The other man I was reading after based his argument on verse 13, “for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for his good pleasure.” (NKJV)  His idea seemed to be that it is not really us working out our salvation but rather God; it is God working, him moving us.  Well, as the kids would say, “Duh!”  So what?  How does that negate us working out our own salvation? Of course, God is working in us to …

• They Loved the Praise of Men

  milies, it cannot keep the pain away that hits us in the pit of the stomach when a son or daughter goes wrong or becomes alienated, it cannot keep us from growing old and feeble, it cannot take our place at the grave.  In the really important things of life it is but vain. Those whose praise we so often seek are those whom we see as being more important, or powerful, or influential than ourselves.  We seldom seem concerned with being praised by t…

• Misunderstanding the Grace of God

  …cost as found in Acts 2:38. His position is not unusual.  Millions of people have read Paul’s statement in Eph. 2:8-9, “for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (NKJV) and said okay, that is it, no need for further study. I would like to say first of all this is a poor approach to God’s word to isolate and elevate part of his …

• The Church as the Family of God–Things Found in It

  The church in the New Testament is described under various appellations the best known perhaps being the family of God.  It is the designation that touches the heart with the greatest force.  We long to be part of a family, to have people that care about us and care how we are doing and who will help us willingly and gladly should we need it, people who do love us.  One of the saddest things one can experience in life, a gut wrenching experience…

• Weak, Defiled, and Seared Consciences

  …n other versions for I believe it clarifies the meaning a little.  The English Standard Version (ESV) translates it, “However, not all possess this knowledge. But some, through former association with idols, eat food as really offered to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled.”  The New Living Translation (NLT) reads, “However, not all believers know this. Some are accustomed to thinking of idols as being real, so…

• Faith, Works, and Baptism

  … being one reason infant baptism is of no account being a pure human invention.)  Faith saves because it believes God and does not doubt; therefore, it acts.  Without obedience (acts, works, call it what you will) faith never really lives and is dead from the beginning and thus never saved the man at any point in time.  If dead faith saved the demons would be saved for James says they believe (James 2:19).  The same could be said of those rulers …

• Mary of Bethany–Doing What You Can

  …th being persecuted himself.  Why?  Because the church is Christ’s body. It is understood that in giving to the church that the funds given will be used for the purposes God would have them be used for else they are not really being given to God at all.  One cannot take out of the church treasury funds to take an age group to a recreational site to enjoy themselves and say “it is God’s work.”  It is robbing God, that is wh…

• Abuse of the Old Testament

  authority for Christians today as the New Testament?  How should Christians today relate to and handle the Old Testament scriptures?  These are questions we all ought to be interested in for we are saved by truth, not error. God has commanded us to rightly divide the truth (2 Tim. 2:15) and Peter says (2 Peter 3:16) that the scriptures can be twisted to our own destruction thus we must be careful and not make assumptions or just give our opinion…

• Are Works Essential for Christian Salvation?

  …t in his judgment of those in Matthew 25 who did not provide food, drink, clothing, etc. for those in need.  If one can be saved without works then Jesus did not judge justly in Matthew 25 and James is a false teacher.  It is really that simple.   …

• Peter’s Preaching and the Apostle’s Preaching

  …ames or Peter against Paul. The truth is the scriptures do not belong to Paul, or James, or Peter, or to any other writer even if their name happens to be attached to a letter.  “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” (2 Tim. 3:16 NKJV)  The scriptures came by inspiration of the Holy Spirit.  God used men’s tongues and pens to …

• Christianity, Homosexuality, and Gay Marriage–What Do We Do With the Bible?

  maybe we can find another that will flatter us just as well. The subject of this little piece is Christianity, homosexuality, and gay marriage and what we are going to do with what the Bible has to say about it all.  There is really no need to discuss it for it is becoming more obvious what we are going to do with it every day.  We are going to use the Bible as a football and give it a big swift kick, one so hard that it will get it so far away f…

• The Grace of God in Baptism

  Most Americans of a Christian persuasion believe that baptism has little to nothing to do with the grace of God. One wonders have they never read Titus 3:4-7? The truth about God’s grace and its tie in with baptism is clearly set forth in Paul’s passage to Titus which reads as follows: “But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he s…

• Moses, the Waters of Marah, and a Lesson for Today

  …ET Bible, the Hebrew word “Marah” means bitter.  The Bible says, “The people complained against Moses, saying, ‘What shall we drink?’” (Ex. 15:24 NKJV)  One has to understand Moses was only God’s representative thus to complain against Moses was to complain against God (see Ex. 16:8).  Moses individually had no power to provide them with water and they knew that so the complaint was against God. This mani…

• Obedience of Faith and Justification by Faith–Opposing Doctrines?

  …m. 16 he speaks of the gospel being made known to all nations with the purpose being “obedience of faith.” (Rom. 16:26 NAS) Obedience of faith is simply the obedience that grows out of or is the result of faith.  No man obeys God who does not first believe God.  Without faith there is no motivation for obedience.  Where there is no faith the natural man prevails–our fleshly human nature.  We do that which pleases us without thought of God. …

• What Is Baptism (the Sprinkling Hoax)

  …ave now come to wholeheartedly embrace sprinkling how many Bibles do you think they would sell?  You can still learn the truth on this topic through your own study but you will get no help from your Bible translators.  Do you really want to know what is sad?  It is that some will read what I have written here, they will then go and do their own research, find out that what I have said is the truth, and yet it will not make one bit of difference i…

• A Good and Pure Conscience

  …ion of Jesus Christ.” (NKJV)  How can baptism be the answer of a good conscience toward God?  Most say that even though God commanded it (John 3:5, Matt. 28:19, Mark 16:15-16, Acts 2:38, Acts 22:16, etc.) baptism is not really necessary.  Most would say, “I can have a good conscience without it.”  Well, if so it may well say more about how your conscience has been trained than anything else. Peter associates baptism with a good …

• Faith Comes by Hearing the Word of God–the Implications

  “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Rom. 10:17 NKJV)  On its surface this proclamation by Paul is very simple and easy to understand and yet the failure to grasp its implications has brought much division and strife among those who believe Jesus is the Son of God.  Faith and opinion are mixed and it seems no one is able to separate the two.  It appears to the casual observer that one man’s faith is another man’s op…

• The Hardening of the Human Heart

  There are passages in the Bible that are frightening.  Heb. 3:12-13 is one such passage. “Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called ‘TODAY,’ lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.” (NKJV)  This is a passage addressed to Christians but the idea that the heart can be hardened by sin is appl…

• The Church as the Body of Christ–Which Means What?

  …l made up of men and women and boys and girls of accountable age who each in their individual spirits have submitted to Christ in both faith and obedience.  “You are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.” (Rom. 8:9 NKJV)  “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.” (Rom. 8:14 NKJV)  “If by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body (the fleshly physical body we each pos…

• Saved by Jesus Outside the Church?

  …de and not found in scripture.  I am not fond of terminology that cannot be found in scripture.  Why not express biblical concepts in biblical language?  Why not use language like “faith in Christ,” “love of God,” and other scriptural language one can readily pop up in a Bible concordance search? All of that aside I want to deal with the idea that one can develop this relationship with Jesus on a personal level that will s…

• Three Attitudes That Destroy the Hope of Salvation

  e adding to it “Never Will Die” and “Never Will Face God in Judgment.”  One cannot help but wonder if worldly success will not destroy more people spiritually than poverty ever dreamed of doing. If you really think you are self-sufficient and do not need God time will have to be your teacher if you will not learn any other way.  Time teaches us all but to learn too late in time, in eternity, is too sorrowful a scene to con…

• The Great Commission and Cornelius

  A great many people believe that Cornelius was saved the moment the Holy Spirit fell on him to which I disagree.  It seems to be a topic of interest so I have decided to write on the subject from a different vantage point than is usual. This is really, at its core, a discussion of whether or not water baptism is for the remission of sins as stated in Acts 2:38.  Since that is the basis of opposition every related subject such as conversion, the …

• Christ and Baptism in Colossians

  … deceived, but the woman being quite deceived, fell into transgression.” (1 Tim. 2:14 NAS)  We need to read the Bible, even more we need to study it, “a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of God.” (2 Tim. 2:15 NAS)  We need to read the book of Colossians and see what it teaches about Christ and baptism.  What Paul teaches there he teaches elsewhere in the New Testament as well. “Christ in you, the hope of glory,…

• The Need to Sing in Worship

  … around and you never sing while physically able to do so there is a problem.  When you never or only very rarely sing there is a problem. What is that problem?  The question is answered with another.  Is singing a command of God for worship?  If it is but I fail to do it when I am able am I sinning?  I see no way around that conclusion.  If I am a Christian and the Lord’s Supper is being observed and the emblems are passed around but I fai…

• Is Holy Spirit Baptism The Baptism That Saves?

  … baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.”  (Mark 1:5 NKJV)  We know Jesus when baptized “came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him.”  (Matt. 3:16 NKJV)  So our very first introduction to the subject of baptism relates it to water, not the Holy Spirit.  However, John did prophecy of two other baptis…

• The Prodigal Son–When He Came to Himself

  …he was not the person who could see reality; he was not the person who could reason correctly. One could almost say sin is a form of insanity.  If the Bible is true (as it is) does any man of reason think he can fight against God and win?  How does one fight against God and win?  A sane man reasoning correctly sees there is only one course of action to pursue–a willing submission to the power that is, to the “rock that is higher than I” (Ps…

• Must the Christian Keep the Sabbath?

  l had come out of Egypt but had not yet reached Mt. Sinai.  The events that transpire in Exodus 16 occur in the second month of their journey (Exodus 16:1).  This is the time when the children of Israel were grumbling against God (see Ex. 16:2-3, 7), complaining about food, and the time when God gave them manna to eat.  They were given instructions from God through Moses about how to gather the manna, store it, and use it. “This is what the…

• Behold the Judge is Standing at the Door

  It is sometimes hard for Christians to grasp emotionally that they will be judged by Christ on the Day of Judgment.  So much has been made of the grace of God and God’s love that it is hard to come to grips with the idea of judgment but James in writing to Christians says, “Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned.  Behold, the Judge is standing at the door!” (James 5:9 NKJV)  That ought to be a sober…

• What Must a Man Believe to be Saved by the Gospel?

  That the gospel of Christ must be believed (as well as obeyed) in order to receive Christian salvation is made abundantly clear by the apostle Paul in one of the best known passages found in the Bible–Rom. 1:16:  “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” (Rom. 1:16 NAS)  It thus becomes essential that we learn what it is that …

• Mt. Sinai and the Day of Judgment

  What do the children of Israel coming to Mt. Sinai have to do with the Day of Judgment?  More than you might think.  The children of Israel reached Mt. Sinai in the third month after they left Egypt (Ex. 19:1-2).  They had had by this time many experiences and had seen God working actively on their behalf in miracle after miracle.  They had seen the plagues in Egypt from many of which they were spared.  They had crossed the Red Sea on dry ground…

• Canaan and Heaven–How God Gives

  How God gives to men is not only an interesting study but also one of upmost importance as it relates to our salvation, a salvation which is clearly set forth in the scriptures as being a free gift of God to man.  “Being justified freely by is grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” (Rom. 3:24 NKJV)  It is by grace through faith that we are saved and not by works. (Eph. 2:8-9)  Salvation is specifically said to be “the gift of God…

• When did Obedience Become Legalism?

  We seem to be living in a time in the present Christian era where people seem to feel that all that matters in Christianity is love and God’s grace, that obedience is simply legalism, and that people do not have to obey Bible commands for salvation (except, of course, for the command to believe in Jesus as the Savior). Grace is made cheap.  Live as you like, call yourself a Christian, and God’s grace will cover you.  It is said it is what is in …

• Healing For the Brokenhearted

  … from the cause of Jesus’ broken heart but is not a broken heart a broken heart?  Is pain not pain?  Is sorrow not sorrow?  Must one’s heart be crushed by a particular thing in order to call it a broken heart? Can God help us mend?  God understands that in this life there are things that are too big for us to deal with alone.  We are put in a position where we cannot act in a proactive way for we have lost that power.  Events have ove…

• Confirmation Sunday–No Bibles Required

  …brews spoke of how an “oath for confirmation” (Heb. 6:16) is for men an end of all dispute but was just making an observation about secular matters among men in order to make a greater point about the confirmation God has made to man.  Another search on the word “confirm” only brought up 2 hits (Rom. 15:8 and 1 Cor. 1:8) and like the references above neither have relevance for the practice of a “confirmation Sunday,&…

• Never Give Up

  …  What do we do when that happens?  Too many just gradually give in to those kinds of feelings and give up.  But, is the situation hopeless?  Does it have to be that way?  I would like to take a look into the lives of some of God’s people who seemingly had the same problems I speak of here and see what they did that was sinful, what led them to do it, and how they handled it in the hope that it will help all of us. There is no doubt that Moses wa…

• Jesus Defines Repentance

  The Bible clearly teaches that repentance is a command of God to all men (Acts 17:30) and that if we fail to repent we shall perish (Luke 13:3, 5).  It is essential then that we come to a proper understanding of the meaning of repentance.  What does it mean to repent?  Jesus tells us and we can find no higher authority on the subject than Christ himself.  Let us hear what he has said. “The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this ge…

• If Baptism is Not Essential for Salvation

  Baptism is not essential for salvation according to most denominations.  The thought came to me recently if baptism is not essential for salvation what then?  What are the necessary implications of such a doctrine?  (1)  If baptism is not essential for salvation then Jesus taught error when he said, “unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:5 NKJV) for you can enter the kingdom of God without water …

• Spiritual Mirages

  …nt. In the realm of religion, just as in the realm of personal relationships, there are mirages.  People think they see things that are in reality only illusions.  One such example is found in the book of Jeremiah.  Jeremiah, God’s prophet, had been prophesying for years to Judah to repent and amend their ways lest God send a foreign force to their country for their destruction and ruin.  They never listened and so God did indeed send the B…

• The Cleansing of the Church at Ephesus

  Many believe the church at Ephesus (the church being the membership) was cleansed from sin by faith based on the teachings of their denomination and the famous Ephesian passage found in chapter 2 verses 8 and 9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast.” (NAS)  Many, many passages of the New Testament teach that salvation is a matter of …

• For By Grace You Have Been Saved Through Faith Alone

  No, Eph. 2:8-9 does not read that way but that is the way most seem to want to read it.  Let me quote the verses for you from the New King James version. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” There is no believer in his right mind who would discount the grace of God in man’s salvation.  You do not believe you deserve to be sav…

• Regrets

  …eitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?”  If we want to be self deceived it is not hard to do so. A second reason some develop this negative attitude is their ignorance of the scriptures.  Some really do not know the scriptures well enough to know what is and what is not sin.  There is all kind of sin apart from just sins of commission but some are relatively unaware of this.  If I do not love my brother have I sin…

• Things People Do Not Know About the Church

  …here is no such thing as a Christian who is not a part of the Lord’s church.  “And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:47 NKJV)  Who is saved?  Is it the Christian or the non-Christian?  If God has not added you to the church there is a good reason–you are not yet one of those who are being saved. It is only the church that Christ sanctified and cleansed “with the washing of water by the word that he migh…

• The Chastening of the Lord

  People often have a misconception about God.  They cannot imagine that God would ever bring upon us trials and tribulations, punish us for our sins, or do anything in this life but bring us good–good as we measure it.  God is love, God is grace, and the very idea that God would ever send upon us anything but that which is most pleasant is abhorrent to their way of thinking. There is no doubt that when one looks at the big picture that God …

• Gospel Obedience at Corinth

  …Baptized into what body?  The body of Christ as per Gal. 3:27.  Who was baptized?  “We were all baptized,” Paul says.   Objection may be made and it be said that the body is the church (Eph. 1:22-23) so baptism is really just about getting into the church.  Baptism is about getting into the spiritual body of Christ and, yes, that is the church but that is also the very thing Christ is the Savior of.  “He himself being the Savior…

• The Army of the Lord–the Church

  … how true it was and is yet to this day.  Many is the man who will speak softly to us and who will allow us to go to hell before they will offend us but how many a man is there who will tell us the truth?  Which of the two is really our friend? I told my children when they were growing up that one of the worst things that happens with adulthood is that when you reach that point there are few who are willing to tell you the truth even when you are…

• God’s Plea–On Christ’s Behalf be Reconciled to God

  …One wonders why people refuse to be reconciled when reconciliation is the road to peace, joy, and happiness.  Whatever the cause it begins and ends with perverseness of heart. The account of the prodigal son and his father is really about you and me and God.  We are God’s creatures, his people, “It is he who has made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people and the sheep of his pasture.” (Psalm 100:3 NKJV)  “All we like sheep have gone astray;…

• The Parable of the 10 Virgins–7 Lessons

  …rom the account given, the 5 foolish virgins were prepared fully in every way but one. (4)  When a door is shut it is shut.  There comes a time even in this life when doors are shut never to be opened again.  This thought was really the catalyst for this article.  There are so many things that need to be done today but we procrastinate.  There are relationships that need to be repaired.  It ought to be done today but we are betting on tomorrow or…

• The Grace of God and the Parable of the Laborers–Is God Just?

  Everyone is pleased to have the grace of God in their life but are we disturbed by it when his grace shows up in the lives of others seemingly more generously than in our own?  I am afraid that is sometimes the case.  The parable of the laborers found in Matt. 20:1-16 is a perfect example and is also an excellent illustration of how man feels he knows more about what is just and right than God does. The passage is too long to quote here but I wi…

• Abel’s Sacrifice by Faith versus Cain’s Sacrifice

  Abel, the son of Adam and Eve, is the first person listed among many in Hebrews chapter 11 commended by the Holy Spirit for their faith.  Of Abel it is said, “By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks.” (Heb. 11:4 NKJV)  Men have long been troubled by this passage trying to figure ou…

• God the Father, Christ, and the Holy Spirit

  Does God Really Care? Things God Cannot Do Jesus as the Bread of Life Jesus and the Furnace of Fire Behold the Judge is Standing at the Door The Need to Preach on Sin What Does the Phrase “My Name” Mean in the Bible? Audio Sermons (by Waymon Swain) Wonderful Jesus Who Is Jesus? Born To Die The Appearance of Jesus All Spiritual Blessings Are in Christ Enemies of Christ The Holy Spirit (Part I) The Holy Spirit (Part II) The Holy Sp…

• How Does the Blood of Jesus and Baptism Tie Together

  I know of no one who claims to be a Christian but what believes we are saved by the blood of Jesus.  All believe that for the Bible clearly teaches it stating it plainly, “We have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.” (Eph 1:7 NKJV)  There are very few, however, who realize where God has placed that blood spiritually speaking.  Christianity is a religion of the spirit.  No man is saved by coming into physical contac…

• Christian Living

  Pray For Others Lest You Sin Is Church Attendance Essential for Christian Salvation? Are Works Essential for Christian Salvation? Willful Sin–Can Anyone be Saved? More on Willful Sin–Can Anyone be Saved? Ignorance Does Not Excuse Sin Never Give Up Does God Really Care? Three Benefits of Being a Christian in This Life – Hope, Love, Peace The Struggle to be a Spiritually Minded Man or Woman Fear God Regrets If Miracles Have Cease…

• A New Creation in Christ

  …f will be exalted.’” One could probably get up several lessons from this one parable but today I want to concentrate on one specific aspect of the story–the need man has, all men, to become a new creation in God’s sight.  In two places in the New Testament we read of man’s need to become a new creation, a new spiritual being. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away;…

• Faith is Not Just What You Believe

  …nd not do the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46 NKJV)  He is “the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.” (Heb. 5:9 NKJV) Thus a salvation by faith without works of obedience would also be a salvation without love for God.  Faith only advocates will not have baptism as an element of salvation for they fear it is a work.  Well, no more so than repentance.  When the Bible teaches we are saved by grace through faith and not of works, Eph. 2:…

• Born Again At The Point Of Faith – John 1:12-13

  en to use the word “begotten” versus “born.”  Remember as a correct translation of the Greek either word is correct but there are times when the context demands one or the other.  In John 1:13 there is really no choice unless you desire a Bible contradiction in which case the Bible cannot be true.  When you understand John 1:12-13 you will understand that faith alone is not enough to make you a child of God no matter what …

• Religious Titles Forbidden in Christianity

  …t step up after being a Father or priest in a local congregation is to become a bishop with the highest position being that of Pope but we must remember (a little sarcasm here) it is not about titles, power, and position (Oh, really!). It is said by both the messianic Jew I was in discussion with and by the Catholics that we cannot take the passages literally in Matt. 23.  Why not, Jesus did.  He was describing a real situation that then existed—…

• Peter’s Second Gospel Sermon

  … “means properly to ‘turn; to return to a path from which one has gone astray; and then to turn away from sins, or to forsake them.’ It is a word used in a general sense to denote ‘the whole turning to God.’” (This is from his commentary on Acts.)  It does not then designate one specific thing but includes everything not covered by the word “repent.” One needs to ask some questions.  Earlier in this sermo…

• Are Paul’s Writings as Authoritative as Jesus’ Words?

  …eter, and Jude wrote as well. The truth of the matter is every single word of the New Testament excepting only those words added by translators for clarification (usually marked by being printed in italics) came directly from God the Father including the words of Jesus himself.  In John 1:1 Jesus is called “the Word” (NKJV) but he says later, “He who rejects me, and does not receive my words, has that which judges him—the word t…

• Ways into Christ–How Many Ways Are There?

  …e.  But it goes without saying that our love for one who is not walking in the light of truth cannot change truth itself.  No man is saved “unconditionally” which is to say saved regardless of belief, character, and conduct.  God saves sinners true enough but not while they actively engage in the practice of sin unrepentant. The fact remains that no matter how much we desire another’s salvation it is up to them to bring their life into accord wit…

• The Book of Ecclesiastes

  ie we lose it all. I believe we error greatly, however, when we read the book and get from it the idea that there is no use or value in striving to achieve in this life.  When we live this life with understanding and purpose, God being at its center, we can find joy and happiness.  Hear Solomon: “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, …  I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice,…

• The Joy and the Danger of a Clean Conscience

  …common reaction from those who finally decide to quit fighting the conscience they have violated and pay the price conscience demands. The apostle Paul said, “I have lived my life with a perfectly good conscience before God up to this day.”  (Acts 23:1 NAS)  He made this statement the day after his arrest in Jerusalem.  How many of us can say what Paul said?  Can you?  Can I?  My guess is very few can. Peter who denied Christ could no…

• Saved by Faith or Saved by Holy Spirit Baptism–Which Is It?

  …nd in Act 10 is where most of the difficulty arises.  People feel that when the Holy Spirit fell upon Cornelius that saved him or, let me get this straight, did it mean he was already saved before the Spirit fell upon him for God would not place his spirit on an unsaved sinner? Thus my first question is which is it?  It makes a difference.  If the Holy Spirit falling upon Cornelius is what saved him, he being an unsaved sinner before that happene…

• Faith in the New Testament–Different Meanings

  …n a little paperback Merriam Webster Dictionary that I have being curious as to what I would find.  I found 4 meanings listed as follows:  (1) allegiance to duty or a person which you could call loyalty (2) belief or trust in God (3) complete trust and (4) a system of religious beliefs. I then went to another book I have entitled An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words by W. E. Vine.  This is a standard work, a word definition book quite …

• Singing and Playing in Christian Worship

  …t you all the information your heart could desire. This is a historical fact about instrumental music in Christian worship none will deny.  (The earliest date I have seen listed in my research is around 670 AD.)  If it was of God, if the apostles had instructed the early Christians to use it, then it goes without saying that in those very early years they would have been worshipping with it.  The very fact that we can be certain beyond doubt that…

• Though He Slay Me

  The title for this article comes from the Old Testament book of Job, chapter 13 verse 15, where Job makes the statement, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust him.” (NKJV) The story of Job as told in the Old Testament is one of pain, suffering, and sorrow, of the loss of loved ones (sons and daughters), of possessions, of health, and very nearly of hope.  His state got to be such that his wife’s advice was, “Curse God and die!” (Job 2:9 NKJV)  De…

• Are the New Testament Scriptures Alone a Sufficient Guide to Heaven?

  …sufficient then those denying such make it clear they are not Bible believers despite any and all claims to the contrary. The Holy Spirit speaking through Paul the apostle said, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Tim. 3:16-17 NKJV) Who was Paul, at …

• King Saul–As Long as It Glorifies God

  …sons for those of us living today. Every Bible student who has been a student any length of time is aware of Samuel’s encounter with King Saul as Saul returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites.  Saul had been commanded by God through Samuel to go and put to death every living Amalekite and to destroy everything they had. (1 Sam. 15:3)  He disobeyed sparing the life of King Agag, king of the Amalekites, and the best of the livestock bringing t…

• Christ the Savior of the Body but Which One–the Matter of Timing?

  …ury is so self evident from even a casual glance at scripture I do not want to waste much time on it here.  Many of Paul’s salutations in the epistles establish that fact for he often begins with words like, “To the church of God which is at Corinth” (1 Cor. 1:2 NKJV), “To the churches of Galatia” (Gal. 1:2 NKJV), “To the church of the Thessalonians” (1 Thess. 1:2 NKJV).  It is hard to write to a body not yet established, to something that does n…

• The Peace Found in Forgiveness of Others

  …ject to the supreme spiritual being—God himself.  It is not the physical man that gets hurt, who develops anger and bitterness and hatred and who is unwilling to forgive, but the spiritual man. Man was created in the image of God (Gen. 1:26).  As we have received hurt at the hands of others we have to remember we all, every one of us, have hurt God with our own lives.  This has been true of man from the beginning.  “And the Lord was sorry that he…

• Willful Sin–Can Anyone Be Saved?

  …nd they knew what they were doing.  The word translated “immorality” in this verse in the NAS is translated in the NKJV and others as “fornication”.  It is the Greek word “porneia.”  Do you really believe these people did not know fornication was sinful?  They were committing willful sin and yet we see they could be forgiven if they would but repent. What then is the meaning of Heb. 10:26-27?  Any sin you are k…

• The Lord’s Supper as a Part of a Larger Meal–Right or Wrong?

  Should the Lord’s Supper be incorporated as a part of a larger meal in the worship of God in the Christian religion? Some are today arguing for such a practice. All any of us can know about what we should or should not do is found in the Bible, at least that has been the traditional view of conservatives. Today there is a liberal element in Christianity who feels they no longer need Bible authority for what they do. That being the case they feel…

• Be Faithful to the Lord (The Conversion of Lydia)

  …n assembled there.  The first mystery to some people is found in the statement in verse 14 where it is said that “the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul.”  Well, how did he do that?  Did God take a kind of spiritual crow bar to her mind and heart and force conversion on her?  Did the Holy Spirit come upon her in some mysterious operation taking over her will and making her receptive to the gospel as Paul pre…

• Did Christ Rise From the Dead or is Faith Folly?

  …5:16-17 NKJV)  If Christ did not rise from the dead what hope do we have as we grow old and face the inevitable?  Are we but animals? The evolutionist would say yes we are only animals and talk like it is absurd to think of a God in heaven yet they talk about life evolving from non-life as if it just kind of popped out on its own from dead matter–dead matter evolving into living matter.  Now that is a scholarly concept for you is it not but…

• The Conscience as a Witness

  A man can run from many things but one thing he cannot run from is his own conscience.  Wherever a man goes his conscience follows him just as much as his shadow and is a constant companion.  It is a man’s witness to himself and to God of his character as it relates to his willingness or unwillingness to abide in what he considers to be that which is right and good. The conscience cannot be a man’s perfect guide for it like man’…

• He Feared

  … to have faith in sufficient strength to remain faithful.  It is a challenge to all men to develop a strong faith. Paul, in writing to the Christians in Ephesus, in chapter 6 verse 11, tells them to, “Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.” (NAS)  In verse 13 he explains saying, “that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.”  In speaking of t…

• Ashamed of Jesus and His Words

  …hat is generally true. We do not speak because we do not want to be embarrassed or shamed by the world that ridicules faith in Jesus thus are more concerned about receiving honor from men rather than the honor that comes from God alone.  We do not speak because we do not want to contend earnestly for the faith (Jude 3).  We do not speak because we do not want to wield “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (Eph. 6:17 NAS…

• Without Natural Affection and Covenant Breakers

  …itness between you and the wife of your youth, with whom you have dealt treacherously; yet she is your companion and your wife by covenant.  But did he not make them one, having a remnant of the Spirit? And why one?  He seeks godly offspring.  Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously with the wife of his youth.  ‘For the Lord God of Israel says that he hates divorce, for it covers one’s garment with violence,’ says the …

• The Pleasures of Sin

  …ason” (KJV) or “the passing pleasures of sin” as the New King James puts it.  “By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin.” (Heb. 11:24-25 NKJV) There is another passage found in 2 Thess. 2:12 that also teaches there is pleasure in sin.  That text simply speaks of those who will be condemned becaus…

• Why Men Today Cannot Be Saved Like The Thief On The Cross?

  “that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” (Luke 24:46-47 ESV) This gives us a beginning point of both time and place of the gospel message God has for us today.  Those desiring to be saved the way the thief on the cross was saved (by faith without baptism) go back too far, past Jerusalem, past the beginning, and in doing so end up with another gospel. The only …

• Who Governs the Church if We Follow the Bible?

  …orld full of denominations and the Roman Catholic Church.  If we are not careful we just inherit a religion from either our parents or our wife or husband and claim it for our own all the while assuming it must be pleasing to God.  The truth often is the one whose example we are following after likely received his/her religion the same way. One of the easiest ways to test one’s religion is by comparing how the church of which he is a member…

• Whatcha Gonna Do When They Come For You?

  …his the judgment.” (Heb. 9:27 NKJV)  A few verses later in chapter 10 verses 30 and 31 we read, “And again, ‘The LORD will judge His people.’  It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” Paul says it this way in 2 Cor. 5:10-11 (NKJV), “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good…

• Cornelius’ Conversion–Final Thoughts

  … follows that because the Holy Spirit fell on Cornelius that he was saved instantly at that point in time. But, I read the verse in context.  One verse above this one, in verse 12, it is stated, “If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us.” (1 John 4:12 NKJV)  Two verses down I read this, “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.” (1 John 4:15 NK…

• Christ Did Not Send Paul to Baptize

  to not hold his peace but to speak up in preaching the gospel (verse 9).  Paul spent 18 months in Corinth preaching (verse 11). In 1 Cor. 6:11 Paul, after speaking of sins that will prohibit one from inheriting the kingdom of God (verses 9 and 10), says to the Corinthians, “And such were some of you.  But you were washed … .” (NKJV)  Now what kind of washing would it be that would make a difference in one’s salvation (as this on…

• The Mysterious Eloquent Evangelist

  …tely the things concerning Jesus, being acquainted only with the baptism of John; and he began to speak out boldly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. And when he wanted to go across to Achaia, the brethren encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him; and when he had arrived, he helped greatly those who had believed through grace; for he p…

• I Can Do All Things Through Christ

  …do to keep from crying.  Night after night at bedtime I would go back and the two of us, my son and I, would set there and talk about this verse and it seemed to calm his fears after a while as we would talk.  Is that the way God strengthens us?  I have little doubt that there is strength in the word of God–power to strengthen not only a babe but people of all ages.  If we will only hear the word and believe it with conviction of heart we w…

• Jesus as the Bread of Life (John 6:48)

  …iptive terms used in reference to Jesus in the Bible of which the bread of life is but one. In the book of John alone Jesus is described as the Word (John 1:1), the Light (John 1:9), the only begotten (John 1:14), the lamb of God (John 1:29), the Messiah (John 1:41), the Son of God (John 1:49), the bread of life (John 6:48), the light of the world (John 8:12), the door through which one must enter if he is to be saved (John 10:9), the good shephe…

• Repent–How Hard It Is To Do

  …mbers of his own family.  Only 8 people were saved from the flood–Noah and his wife and his sons and their wives. The Bible says of those who died in the flood that they were “disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared.” (1 Peter 3:20 NKJV)  It was the “world of the ungodly” (2 Peter 2:5 NKJV) that perished in the flood. I take from the passages quoted above that Noah preache…

• Faith

  Paul’s Conversion–Justified by Faith Faith Comes by Hearing the Word of God–the Implications Who is the Believer in John 3:16? What is it a Man Must Believe in Order to be Saved? Faith is Not Just What You Believe Obedience of Faith and Justification by Faith–Opposing Doctrines? Disobedience to Jesus The Faithfulness of Jesus to God the Father I Can Do All Things Through Christ If Miracles Have Ceased–the Implicatio…

• Faith and Baptism in Paul’s Preaching

  t of Lydia. The story of Lydia’s conversion is so short we can quote all scripture has to say about it here:  “And a certain woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul.  And when she and her household had been baptized, she urged us, saying, ‘If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, com…

• The Washing of Water by the Word–Baptism and Salvation

  …spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish.” (NKJV) The phrase “washing of water” is a direct reference to baptism.  “By the word” signifies the reason for the baptism–God’s word.  God’s word directs one to be baptized. Some think they can be saved outside the church.  There is no way that can happen.  Why?  Because Christians are the church and it is Christians that will be saved.  The church is the b…

• Baptized For the Dead

  …ons in the church at Corinth.  To show the brethren the error they were following in dividing up into followers of men he says, “Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name.” (1 Cor. 1:13-15 NKJV) This does not mean that only a few of those whom Paul converted in Corinth were bapt…

• Denominationalism’s Sin Against Peter

  The apostle Peter has taken a beating among denominationalists.  I would feel sorry for him save for the fact that I would be feeling sorry for the wrong party seeing as how he was an inspired apostle of God and his antagonists are but mere flesh and blood men and totally uninspired. It was not always the way it is today.  For at least a few hundred years after his sermon in Acts 2 he was honored by those who proclaimed faith in God and belief i…

• Fornication–Take It Lightly at Your Peril

  “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are:  adultery, fornication…and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Gal. 5:19-21 NKJV)  One of two things is true today–the world either believes it can treat God with utter contempt or no longer believes in him and his word period.  Man has always had to battle sexual desire …

• The Fragrance of Christ

  The apostle Paul made the following statement in 2 Cor. 2:15-16, “For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.  To the one we are the aroma of death to death, and to the other the aroma of life to life.  And who is sufficient for these things?” (NKJV) I like the phrase “the fragrance of Christ.”  When I think of the word fragrance I think of that which has a pleasant smell–a f…

• Keep Your Heart With All Diligence

  … Yes, life is a struggle to do what is right.  Perhaps this is why I get upset with Christians of a liberal bent.  Their idea comes across to me as being as though they were saying “you go ahead and struggle I am depending on God’s grace” which translated means I will pretty much do in my life what I want and let God’s grace cover me in the end.  We are suppose to “fight the good fight of faith” (1 Tim. 6:12 NKJV) and have been given a sword (the…

• Salvation (Becoming a Christian)

  Peter’s Second Gospel Sermon Peter’s Preaching and the Apostle’s Preaching Jesus as the Bread of Life Must a Man Seek God? Jesus and the Furnace of Fire Whatcha Gonna Do When They Come For You? Indifference – The Great Destroyer God’s Plea–On Christ’s Behalf be Reconciled to God Why You Cannot be Saved like the Thief on the Cross Bible Contradictions on Salvation How Was Noah Saved Through Water? How Doe…

• Baptism

  Baptism has been a hot topic down through the ages–who should be baptized, why, for what purpose, are there any prerequisites, what is accomplished in it, does it matter, is it essential for salvation or have anything at all to do with it, what is baptism (is it sprinkling, pouring, immersion, or take your choice?).  So many questions but are there no answers?  Was God such a poor communicator that he could not make the subject clear?  Wha…

• The Conversion of the Philippian Jailer

  …8220;what must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16:30 NAS)  There is a lot of information that can be gleaned from those few words.  First, it can be fairly inferred that the jailer was convinced that Paul and Silas were men of God who knew God’s will.  Perhaps their reputation had proceeded them as not long before this they had converted Lydia (Acts 16:14-15) and also had cast out a spirit of divination from a slave girl, a spirit that was t…

• The New Birth and Water

  Having written on the subject of the new birth before I was surprised, although I doubt I should have been, to have gotten some comments back to the effect that the water mentioned in John 3:5 where Jesus says, “most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (NKJV) had reference not to baptism but to the water of childbirth.  Probably shows what a sheltered life I have led to be surp…

• Assorted

  …gs Christianity, Homosexuality, and Gay Marriage When Did Obedience Become Legalism? Healing For the Brokenhearted Better to Have Never Been Born Though He Slay Me The Fragrance of Christ Deeper Spiritual Understanding Things God Cannot Do Without Natural Affection and Covenant Breakers The Christian, Politics, and the Government Why Men Do Not Believe Did Christ Rise From the Dead or is Faith Folly? Denominationalism’s Sin Against Peter Wh…

• Ghost Hunting and Consulting the Dead

  … is not just a matter of walking through a building and seeing what happens but it always, sooner or later, comes down to an attempt to make contact with the dead and that is where the problem comes in.  Why?  Because of what God has said. “There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conju…

• Sin

  Honestly Deceived The Pleasures of Sin Better to Have Never Been Born Jesus and the Furnace of Fire Willful Sin–Can Anyone be Saved? More on Willful Sin–Can Anyone be Saved? Three Attitudes That Destroy the Hope of Salvation Disobedience to Jesus Must a Man Seek God Indifference – The Great Destroyer Looking Down Your Nose Ghost Hunting and Consulting the Dead Christianity, Homosexuality, and Gay Marriage The Wicked Shall be Tu…

• Was Cornelius Saved Before Baptism? (Cornelius’ Conversion)

  …he same subject.  Why do so?  Because there is absolutely no possibility that Holy Spirit inspired men, some apostles, could have gotten it wrong.  The case of Cornelius is unique in the respect that he appears to have been a godly man even prior to his conversion.  In Acts 10:2 the Bible says of him that he was “a devout man, and one who feared God with all his household, and gave many alms to the Jewish people, and prayed to God continual…

• More on Willful Sin—Can Anyone be Saved?

  …ally (he is here talking about the word ‘willfully’—Denny), for all sin is voluntary, or is committed willingly, but must refer to a deliberate act, where a man means to abandon his religion, and to turn away from God. If it were to be taken with metaphysical exactness, it would demonstrate that every Christian who ever does anything wrong, no matter how small, would be lost.” You will be hard pressed based on my research to fin…

• Word of God

  Are Paul’s Writings as Authoritative as Jesus’ Words? Are the New Testament Scriptures Alone a Sufficient Guide to Heaven? The Need to Preach on Sin I Can Do All Things Through Christ If Miracles Have Ceased–the Implications Audio Sermons (by Waymon Swain) What a Preacher Must Preach The Power of the Word of God to Change Lives False Standards of Authority What the Word of God is Like Some Great Bible Questions …

• Receiving the Gospel (Acts 2:41)

  …for the remission of sins.”  (Acts 2:38 KJV)  They do not believe what Peter spoke, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to be true.  They are not willing to receive his words.  Be all of that as it may do not be misled.  God is able to say what he means to say.  He is able to communicate clearly.  If you gladly receive the word Peter preached (I ask again did he preach the gospel?) you will do what he by the Holy Spirit told you to do.   Ple…

• New Birth

  Born Again at the Point of Faith – John 1:12-13 Paul’s Conversion (Justified by Faith) What Does the Phrase “Born of Water and the Spirit” Mean? The Kingdom of God and The New Birth The New Birth and Water A New Creation in Christ The Truth So Called Christians Will Not Accept Audio Sermons (by Waymon Swain) Born Again When One Obeys the Gospel Things That Happen With Gospel Obedience Why I Am a Christian Keeping The C…

• The Church

  Things People Do Not Know About the Church How Does One Get Into the Church Christ Built? Saved by Jesus Outside the Church Jesus the Foundation of and Builder of the Church One Church–A Thing Hard to Accept Which Denomination Did Jesus Build? The Church as the Family of God–Things Found in It The Church Christ Built–Marks of Identification Can One be Just a Christian in Christ’s Church Without being in a Denomination? Ch…

• The Kingdom of God

  The Kingdom of God and The New Birth   Audio Sermons (by Waymon Swain) The Seed of the Kingdom …

• Philip Preaching the Gospel in Samaria

  “But when they believed Philip preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being baptized, men and women alike.” (Acts 8:12 NAS) It would be good to read an earlier article on this web site from an earlier time in the book of Acts, an article entitled, “Receiving the Gospel–Acts 2:41,” as Acts 8:12 is pretty much a parallel passage teaching the same thing as Acts 2:41.  …

• Old Testament Studies

  Abuse of the Old Testament The Book of Ecclesiastes King Saul–As Long as it Glorifies God Canaan and Heaven–How God Gives Must the Christian Keep the Sabbath? Spiritual Mirages  (a lesson from Jeremiah) Audio Sermons (by Waymon Swain) Moses–The Fork in the Road When Your Walking Stick Comes Home The Valley of Dry Bones The Weaver’s Shuttle Remove Not the Ancient Landmarks On to Canaan But He Lingered The Day of Decision …

• Worship

  The Lord’s Supper as a Part of a Larger Meal–Right or Wrong? Praying to God to Bless the Bread The Need to Sing in Worship Instrumental Music in Christian Worship–Is It God’s Will? Singing and Playing in Christian Worship Confirmation Sunday–No Bibles Required Bible Authority, Foot Washing, the Holy Kiss, and Head Coverings King Saul–As Long as it Glorifies God Audio Sermons (by Waymon Swain) The Lord’s…

• Children of Israel

  Israel’s Rebellion at the Red Sea Moses, the Waters of Marah, and a Lesson for Today Faith, Manna, and Grumbling Against God Sin in the Desert–Testing God at Massah and Meribah Mt. Sinai and the Day of Judgment Canaan and Heaven–How God Gives The Chastening of the Lord …

• Grace

  Misunderstanding the Grace of God For by Grace You Have Been Saved by Faith Alone The Grace of God and the Parable of the Laborers How Was Noah Saved Through Water   Audio Sermons (by Waymon Swain) How God’s Grace Works The Gospel of the Grace of God Noah Found Grace …

• Faith Based On Deception–Gen. 37:31-33

  …14-15 NKJV) Satan quoted scripture to Jesus while tempting him after his baptism. False teachers can quote scripture. We today are gullible. We believe about anything that is called Christian, whether in doctrine or works, is God approved. We just accept it and go on and assume it is fine with God and in accord with New Testament teaching. We need to beware. “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of Go…

• DennySmith.Net

  Welcome to my website, DennySmith.Net.  DennySmith.Net is a repository for my personal writings on God’s word, Christian articles if you will, and the audio sermons of Waymon Swain of Bastrop, Louisiana.  Waymon is a gospel preacher I have known since childhood, a man who has been preaching for approximately 60 years now.  In addition I have also listed under the “Resource Sites” link at the top of each page links to other webs…

• Forgiveness

  God’s Willingness to Forgive–King Manasseh Willful Sin–Can Anyone be Saved? More on Willful Sin–Can Anyone be Saved? The Need to Preach on Sin The Peace Found in the Forgiveness of Others Audio Sermons (by Waymon Swain) Forgiveness Contacting the Blood of Salvation No Condemnation Is Your Name Written There? The Goodness and Severity of God Are You Ready? …

• The Heart

  The Heart of Man from a Biblical Perspective A Heart Right With God (Test Your Heart) Keep Your Heart With All Diligence The Hardening of the Human Heart God’s Hardening of the Human Heart He Went Away Grieved Healing For the Brokenhearted Audio Sermons (by Waymon Swain) Blessed Are the Pure in Heart (Part I) Blessed Are the Pure in Heart (Part II) Love Motives …

• Repentance

  Jesus Defines Repentance Repentance–How Can I Be Sure? Repent–How Hard It Is To Do Peter’s Second Gospel Sermon Willful Sin–Can Anyone be Saved? More on Willful Sin–Can Anyone be Saved? The Chastening of the Lord The Blessing of Affliction and the Goodness of God …

• Waymon Swain’s Audio Sermons

  …rmons as well:  Bob Swain’s Audio Sermons Authority  (1 sermon) Baptism  (4 sermons) Bible Characters  (1 sermon) Bible Conversions  (5 sermons) Christian Living  (26 sermons) Faith  (7 sermons) Forgiveness  (6 sermons) God the Father, Christ, and the Holy Spirit  (10 sermons) Grace  (3 sermons) Miscellaneous  (22 sermons) New Birth  (7 sermons) Old Testament Studies  (13 sermons) Prayer  (1 sermon) Salvation  (26 sermons) Sin  (21 sermons)…

• Preaching Jesus Means Preaching Baptism–The Conversion of the Ethiopian Eunuch

  …said on the Day of Pentecost baptism is for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38) without which one cannot be saved. When Philip preached in the city of Samaria the Bible says he preached “the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ” (Acts 8:12 NAS) with the result being that men and women “were being baptized” (Acts 8:12 NAS).  Here in Acts 8:35-36 he has an audience of only one man and in a different …

• Bible Conversions

  …sion of Lydia The Conversion of the Philippian Jailer Gospel Obedience at Corinth   Audio Sermons  (by Waymon Swain) The Ethiopian Eunuch The Conversion of Saul Philip Preaches the Gospel The Seed of the Kingdom Promises God Has Not Made …

• The Two Covenants

  The Kingdom of God and The New Birth Abuse of the Old Testament Must the Christian Keep the Sabbath? …

• Bible Characters

  Mary of Bethany–Doing What You Can Demas Has Forsaken Me Diotrephes Loves to Have the Preeminence The Mysterious Eloquent Evangelist Never Give Up (Moses and David) Regrets He Feared (Peter) Honestly Deceived (the young prophet and Eve) He Went Away Grieved (the rich young ruler) King Saul–As Long as it Glorifies God They Loved the Praise of Men Audio Sermons (by Waymon Swain) Moses–The Fork in the Road …