The church that the Lord Jesus Christ built in the 1^st century is the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, Isaiah 2:2-3, and was the eternal plan of God from the beginning, Ephesians 3:10. The church is one of three divine institutions revealed in Scripture: marriage, government, and the church. The church that Jesus built is not to be corrupted by outside influences. It is the responsibility of New Testament Christians to maintain the purity of the church.

We do this by maintaining the purity of the Word of God. To do this, children of God must learn, grow, and teach God’s Word. Whether the New Testament church is pure or not is based upon its faithfulness to the Word of God. If I do not know God’s Word how could I know what is or is not required? Therefore I must be a diligent student and “grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ”, 2 Peter 3:18. As I learn and grow spiritually I am to teach others the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Hebrews 5:12-14 teaches “For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” All Christians are babes in Christ at the beginning of their Christians walk. It is not a sin to be a babe in Christ, however it is condemned to remain one. One must mature spiritually to defend against those who would corrupt the Gospel and thereby corrupt the church.

We must maintain the purity of the Gospel plan of salvation. The Gospel is God’s power to save, Romans 1:16. To corrupt the Gospel is to ruin its saving power. A perverted Gospel has no power to save and is not God’s power. Clearly the Bible teaches that one (1) Must Believe – John 8:24; (2) Repent of Sin – Luke 13:3; (3) Confess The Name of Jesus Christ – Matthew 10:32; (4) Be Baptized For The Remission of Sins – Mark 16:16; and (5) Be faithful Unto Death – Revelation 2:10. To add to or take from God’s scheme of redemption is to destroy its saving power.

We must also maintain the purity of worship that God has commanded. Many today will have events they call worship which are more like a rock concert or a theatre production. There will be handclapping, hyper-emotionalism, instrumental music, ad infinitum ad nauseam. The problems come when those in the Lord’s church wish to be like “the nation around them” and begin to include such unauthorized acts into their worship assembly. Faithful children of God will maintain the purity and simplicity of worship authorized in the New Testament: Acapella Singing – Ephesians 5:19, Praying – 1 Timothy 2:1-2, Lord’s Supper – Acts 20:7, Preaching – Acts 20:7, and Giving – 1 Corinthians 16:1-2.

And finally we must maintain the purity of the New Testament church by staying in the fight. It is incredibly sad when one hears that a Christian or even a congregation gives in and the purity of the local congregation is corrupted by denominationalism, worldliness, etc. If we are to maintain the purity of the church for which our Lord Jesus Christ died and gave His precious blood we must stay in the fight. 2 Timothy 2:4 teaches, “No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.” The Christian soldier must let nothing interfere in his duty to the “Captain of our salvation”, Hebrews 2:10. This battle is to the death. The purity of the New Testament church is too important.

-Jerry Sturgill

“Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” – Proverbs 4:23

In today’s world, people are very concerned about what they eat. We worry about carcinogens, GMOs, preservatives, synthetic trans fats, artificial sweeteners, MSG, gluten and other ingredients to which we could be allergic. The list goes on and on. Just as what you eat can have a tremendous effect on your quality of life, what you are ingesting spiritually is a huge factor in your eternal wellbeing. What is more important than what goes into our stomachs is what comes out of our souls. Jesus said to Peter, “Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man” (Mt. 15:17-20).

The devil has done a good job of sprinkling spiritual toxins into the components that make up our current culture. Just as Israel was to get the leaven out of their houses in Exodus 12:15, we must get corruption out of our lives. 1 Corinthians 5:7-8 commands, “Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” Just before this, Paul asked, “Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?” (1 Cor. 5:6; cf. Gal. 5:9). Even a little bit of a spiritual toxin is too much. Christians are sometimes naïve to the spiritual dangers they are exposed to on a daily basis. A little bit of lust, greed, pride, jealousy, or anger all have the potential to grow. The devil throws fiery darts of all of these trying to get any of them to catch and grow out of control (Eph. 6:16). As Christians who have escaped the harmful pollutants of the world, we must be on guard that we do not turn back to them (2 Pet. 2:20). We must keep our pure diet of God’s word (1 Pet. 2:2).

While any diet is not convenient, it is worth it. Jesus tells us to get serious about sin, guarding our hearts, even when it is not convenient. In Matthew 5:20-26, our Lord shows that murder is the outgrowth of anger. Jesus said anger in the heart for the wrong cause is sin. Jesus grew angry (Mk. 3:5), but it was for a just cause and he did not allow it to cause Him to sin (Eph. 4:26). Just because the Bible condemns murder it does not sanction the anger in the heart that leads to violent acts. In Matthew 5:27-30, the Lord addressed the issue of adultery. Jesus said lust in the heart is sin (Mt. 5:28). Man is made to be visually attracted to his wife (Prov. 5:15-23), and fulfilling that attraction is pure (Heb. 13:4), but lusting after another woman is sin (Job 31:1; Prov. 6:25). Just because the Bible condemns the outward act of fornication (1 Thess. 4:3), it does not sanction a man to lust in his heart (Mt. 5:28). A man must pluck out his eye and cut off his hand, not in physical mutilation, but in drastic spiritual measures, so that his soul is not lost (Mt. 5:29-30). Some members of the church will argue that the Bible condemns getting drunk (Gal. 5:21), but allows moderate social drinking. While much more could be said to refute this teaching, let the present line of argument suffice. Just because the Bible condemns drunkenness (Eph. 5:18), it does not sanction the first drink that would lead to drunkenness (Prov. 23:31). Sin starts small but grows. When the devil is on our doorstep, let’s keep the door closed rather than opening it just a crack.

Are you keeping your heart pure, or are there little ingredients that are poisoning it?

-Mark Day

“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!” Isaiah 52:7

Isaiah 52 is a chapter regarding the restoration of Jerusalem. Though the prophets often foretold of the destruction and calamity that was coming on Israel if they did not repent, there are also passages of restoration. These zoom forward to the time when Jerusalem would be reestablished and God’s people would be released from captivity. God would call Zion to “loose thyself from the bands of thy neck” (Isaiah 52:2). Messengers would run over the mountains surrounding Jerusalem to tell of the victory. Though Judah was able to return to rebuild Jerusalem after 70 years of Babylonian captivity, the ultimate salvation of Zion would come later in the person of Jesus Christ.

 
Nahum mentions similar imagery in telling the news of the fall of Nineveh, the capital of Assyria. Assyria aggressive war atrocities were well known in the ancient world; their cruelty caused a cry to go out to God to take vengeance on such a wicked nation. Assyria destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel in 722 BC. The southern kingdom of Judah narrowly escaped destruction from the Assyrian king Sennacherib because of God’s intervention (2 Kings 18:13-19:36). Nineveh fell in 612 BC, and Nahum gives the scene of the spreading message of victory in 1:15 by stating, “Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace! O Judah, keep thy solemn feasts, perform thy vows: for the wicked shall no more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off.”

 
When we read passages like Isaiah 52:7 and Nahum 1:15 today, we think of a New Testament text that gives the full significance of the good news of salvation. Romans 10:15 uses the image of the beautiful feet of him that brings good news of salvation in regard to the preaching of the gospel of Christ. The salvation in Romans 10 is more significant than deliverance from any physical captivity. It is salvation from sin. Jesus said in John 8:34, “Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.” The word committeth in the KJV reflects the present tense of the original Greek, which indicates a continuous action. If a man is in the continual habit of sin, it ensnares him to its bondage. Sin is a cruel master, yet many do not realize it. If not stopped sin will slay its captives with eternal death (Romans 6:23). The Assyrians who destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel and threatened Judah were cruel. The Babylonians who took the southern kingdom of Judah were also cruel, but sin has taken everyone of an accountable age captive (Romans 3:23), and it is the cruelest master of all. Jesus said he came to preach deliverance to the captives (Luke 4:18; cf. Isaiah 61:1-2).

 
Thanks to what Jesus Christ did, we do not have to remain captive to sin, but can be delivered from it to serve righteousness by submitting in baptism to the pattern of teaching concerning His death, burial, and resurrection (Romans 6:3-7, 17). 1 Corinthians 15:56-57 proclaims the victory over sin has been given by Jesus Christ, “The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” We should want to run over the mountains and tell it.

 
Legend has it that in 490 BC, when the Athenian army defeated the Persians, Pheidippides, an Athenian soldier, ran from the battlefield in Marathon, Greece twenty six miles to Athens to proclaim victory. Upon arriving in Athens he proclaimed “Niki!” (Victory!), then collapsed and died. God has given the victory over man’s greatest battle: sin. What is at stake is the eternal wellbeing of our souls. As we run this marathon of life, let us proclaim the most significant message of victory the world has ever known, the good news of Jesus Christ.

 
-Mark Day

It is believed by this student of the Bible that some of the conversion accounts in the book of Acts contain the entire Plan of Salvation in both inferred and direct statements. Last month we looked at the Conversion of the Pentecostians in Acts 2. In this study we will examine the Conversion of Saul (Paul) in Acts 9. As the chapter begins Saul is persecuting the disciples of the Lord indicating that he had heard at least some of the teaching of “that way” (9:2). As the light shined around him and in response to Jesus’ question, Saul asks “Who art thou, Lord?’ Saul is addressing the one in front of him with respect. The response comes to Saul “I am Jesus whom thou persecutest…” Upon hearing that, the Biblical record says that Saul was “trembling and astonished.” This is surely belief on the part of Saul. Saul must have thought “These disciples of the one called Christ had been right. He had risen from the grave. He was alive. How could Saul have missed it?” In spite of all the eye and ear witness testimony Saul had been given he had persecuted these people and even worse Jesus said when Saul had persecuted them, he had persecuted Jesus. He had thought he “ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth” (Acts 26:9). He had been sincere, but had been sincerely wrong.

The next words recorded from Saul were “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” Saul this time undoubtedly uses the word “Lord” in an entirely different sense than he had previously. Before Saul had addressed an unknown stranger and had spoken respectfully. Now in the presence of the risen Messiah he uses the term in the sense of one with authority, my Lord and Master. This would indicate confession at this point, hard to miss with the resurrected Son of God standing before one. Saul additionally says “what wilt thou have me to do?” This indicates Saul’s readiness to repent, to change his will to the will of the Savior.
Before proceeding further I wish to make the following point. It is not my intention to imply that it would take a personal appearance of Jesus Christ today in order to bring about belief, confession, and repentance. The purpose of Jesus’ personal appearance to Saul was to qualify him as the last apostle of Christ, see Acts 1:22. In the other conversion accounts in Acts there is no personal appearance of Jesus to bring about conviction or conversion and in fact today we have even more compelling evidence of the Gospel message in the inspired words of the New Testament. Saul was convicted on the road to Damascus by the evidence before him confirming the testimony he had heard. Today we have the evidence of the multiple miracles and testimony of multiple eye and ear witnesses. See John 20:30-31.
Saul in hearing, believing, repenting, and confessing on the road to Damascus had surely been convicted, but he was not yet converted. Jesus said for Saul to “Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.” There was something more, a must, a requirement. Saul spends three days fasting and praying (again, penitence) and the Lord sends a man named Ananias to Saul and he “arose, and was baptized.” (9:18)
In this account we have the entire plan of salvation presented that all accountable people are required to obey to have their sins forgiven.
Hear, Believe, Repent, Confess, and Be Baptized for the forgiveness of sins.

– Jerry Sturgill

Ephesians 1:5 says that God has, “…predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.” In Roman law, when one was adopted, a new relationship began with the adoptee and the head of the family. The father who adopted would cancel all the debts of the one whom he adopted, but also from that time would own all the property of the one whom he adopted. The Father had the right to discipline the adoptee, but was also liable for any actions of the adoptee.

Isn’t this a great parallel to the gracious character of our Heavenly Father? He chose to adopt us as children according to the pleasure of His will (Eph. 1:5). He cancels our debts, but also owns all we have. He disciplines us, but what we do as a child of His is a reflection of Him to the world. While Ephesians 1 is not teaching that we had no choice in the matter, it is focusing on the fact that God decided “before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:4), to work out a means to bring us into the family privileges that we now have as children of Him. We ought to be so thankful that God chose to do this, because we could not afford these blessings on our own.

As children of God, all spiritual blessings are available to us in Christ (Eph. 1:3). We are accepted (Eph. 1:6), because we have redemption and forgiveness through the blood of Christ (Eph. 1:7). As children of God, we share in the wisdom He passes to us through the teachings of the Spirit through the first-century apostles and prophets, recorded in the pages of the Bible (Eph. 1:17-18; 3:2-6).

Since God has been so gracious to cancel our debts and bring us into a new relationship with Him, we should reciprocate that love by walking according to His commandments. We are children of God; thus, we should act like our Father. Ephesians 5:1 says, “Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children.” This means that we should abstain from participating in the sins of the world. Ephesians 5:11 says, “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.” If you have been adopted into the family of God through the new birth (John 3:5; Eph. 5:26), then remember to focus on the spiritual blessings you have now and the great inheritance you have because you are a child of God (Eph. 1:18). Don’t forfeit these blessings for anything the world may offer.

-Mark Day