The Lord’s work requires some money, but money holds a subordinate place; the New Testament way of raising it is free, willing, liberal, regular first-day giving — not human fundraising systems that shift the emphasis from the spiritual to the financial — for the church is…
God and man value things differently; man is forever putting first what God puts last, and last what God puts first — so the whole art of right living is to see and rank things as God does, and “seek first His kingdom and His righteousness.”…
Paul’s five rapid charges — watch, stand fast in the faith, act like men, be strong, and let all be done in love — together outline the whole of Christian conduct: alert, steadfast, courageous, strong, and governed by love. Some Scriptures instruct, some comfort, some command…
In the Bible a “fool” is not the simple or unintelligent but the morally condemned, and Scripture marks out four classes — the atheist, the ignorant church member, the rich fool, and the “wise fool” who knows God’s will and will not do it, the last…
The eldership is an office of great responsibility, not mere honor: elders are warned against serving by compulsion, for money, or as lords; admonished to guard themselves and their households; charged to feed, oversee, and watch for the flock — and the flock, in turn, is…
The New Testament shows elders appointed in every church — at Jerusalem, Ephesus, Philippi, and the cities of Crete — always a plurality serving as shepherds and bishops in the local congregation, never one bishop ruling over many churches. “Elder” is a plain word that has…
The New Testament reveals no single method for selecting elders, only that they were appointed; therefore any method that does not violate a New Testament principle and that promotes unity may be used — but not a popular vote, which divides rather than appoints. The outline…
God has placed elders in the church, named the office, and specified its qualifications in two lists — 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 — which overlap and complete each other, together drawing the full portrait of the man fit to shepherd God’s flock. This lesson…
The eldership did not pass away with the age of miraculous gifts; because elders were not inspired men but qualified men, because their work of feeding and ruling the flock is still needed, and because God ordained the office and never repealed it, the eldership continues…
The dangers that ruin a life are usually not the great and obvious ones but the small, unseen ones — little faults of conduct, little compromises in our company, little neglects in our spiritual life — and wisdom watches for these “little foxes” before they spoil…