Because no one knows the day or hour of Christ’s return, every disciple must live in constant readiness through watchfulness, faithful obedience, personal preparedness, and holy conduct. Jesus did not ask us to calculate the day; He commanded us to be ready for it.
The church is in the world but not of it; worldliness creeps in through worldly leadership, worldly recreation, idle and unspiritual members, and neglected worship — and the only cure is for each member to refuse to be conformed to the world. Jesus prayed for His…
Because God is all-wise, all-powerful, and good, He gave a book that completely supplies man’s every spiritual need; Scripture is therefore sufficient, and the man of God equipped by it needs nothing added to it. A congregation rarely denies the Bible outright. It simply acts as…
Timothy’s life is the story of what faithful parents, a mentor-apostle, and willingness to be sent can produce. He was the son of a mixed household — Greek father, Jewish mother — with no obvious path to apostolic usefulness. By the end of Paul’s ministry he…
The New Testament church has identifying marks — undenominational, congregationally governed, missionary, made up of converted and worshipping and united and pure members — and every member should know them well enough to help keep the church true to the pattern. A congregation drifts the way…
The final two chapters of II Timothy are the last words of an apostle who has finished his course. They alternate between warning and charge: warning about the times that are coming, warning about the enemies of truth, and the charge to preach anyway, to endure…
The parable of the householder is a parable about where you are and what you are doing there. The kingdom of heaven is the vineyard — the church — and the one who enters it enters to labor, not to observe. There is no reward for…
Chapter two of I Timothy governs two aspects of congregational life: prayer and the conduct of women. Both are anchored in theological claims rather than mere convention. Prayer for all men — including kings — is grounded in the universal saving will of God and the…
The third chapter of I Timothy governs the selection of the church’s leaders. The qualifications are not aspirational ideals — they are observable, verifiable criteria that a congregation can apply. A man who does not meet them should not hold office; a man who does is…
The first chapter of I Timothy is a charge to a young preacher stationed at a difficult post, anchored in the apostle’s own testimony of grace and framed by the two dangers that threaten any congregation: false doctrine from those who want to be teachers without…