The teachers of the Premillennial theory lift a multitude of “promise” passages from the Old Testament—passages which turn on promises and prophecies, many of which are figurative and poetical in nature—and without regard to context, they apply the passages to the future. These teachers refuse to observe how that in the events of history those Scripture references have long been fulfilled. Since their theory concerns the Jews, Canaan and Christ they have a distorted view of the Abrahamic promises and their fulfillment. Since so much of the Bible is taken up with the fulfillment of these promises, should they be found wrong here, their whole system will be found to be in error.

The National Promise
In Genesis, God promised Abraham, “And I will make of thee a great nation” (Gen. 12:2). This promise was renewed in several places (Gen. 13:16; Gen. 15:5). When God made this promise, Abraham » Continue reading “Have the Promises of Premillenialism been Fulfilled?”

It must be noted that it is next to impossible to give a definition to this term premillennialism which all millennial teachers would accept. There are various approaches made by different teachers of this theory, and each one professing to believe it will have some peculiar twist to it that others would repudiate. However, there are certain views which are so common among millennialists as to justify a general definition. It is fundamentally the idea that there will be a literal one thousand year period during which Jesus Christ shall return to this earth and reign in Jerusalem on David’s throne; the Jews will return to Palestine and Christ will rule over them in a material kingdom; this thousand years stands between the second coming of Christ and the final judgment of all. The prefix “pre” means we are living before that time. The suffix “ism” means this idea has been crystallized into a dogma.

This doctrine is extremely popular with nearly every denomination or sect holding to some form » Continue reading “What is the Doctrine of Premillennialism?”

Contributing to the misunderstandings relative to the Lord’s Supper is the doctrine of transubstantiation. This doctrine holds that, when blessed by the priest, the bread becomes the physical body of Christ and the cup becomes the literal blood of our Savior—though the outward appearance of the bread and the fruit of the vine remain unchanged. This is an unobservable change in the substance of the communion elements according to Roman Catholic dogma. Their words “Eucharist” and “sacrament” are terms not found in the New Testament.

The Roman Catholic Church introduced this doctrine of transubstantiation about a thousand years after Christ established His church. In the Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent, Sess. XIII, this doctrine is set forth: » Continue reading “What Is The Doctrine Of Transubstantiation?”

The great importance of the Lord’s Supper can be seen by the fact that Christ Himself instituted the Supper. On the night of His betrayal and after celebrating the Passover we read:

And while they were eating, Jesus took {some} bread, and after a blessing, He broke {it} and gave {it} to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave {it} to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins. –Matt 26:26-28 NAS

The bread, representing the Lord’s body, and the cup, representing His » Continue reading “Is The Partaking Of The Lord’s Supper Important?”

One of the first impressions obtained by a visitor to our services today is the fact that mechanical instruments are conspicuous by their absence. Being so commonly used in churches of today, the fact that we do not use mechanical instruments of music causes surprise and wonder on the part of many and not infrequently the question is raised, “Why do churches of Christ refuse the use of instruments of music in worship?”

Essential to a proper understanding of this matter are two very important questions: First, “What is the purpose of our worship anyway?” The Scriptures are crystal clear that our worship must be for the purpose of pleasing our Heavenly Father, inasmuch as that is the design and end of all of our worship. Jesus said, “But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and » Continue reading “Did The First Century Church Use Instrumental Music In Worship?”

The important element in preaching is the message of God. Paul wrote to the Romans, “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). The same apostle wrote to the Corinthians, “For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not {come to} know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe” (1 Cor 1:21 NAS). Then Paul also said, “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves” (2 Cor 4:7 NAS). Man is a means through which the message comes, but the message itself is the absolutely essential element in preaching because it is from God. » Continue reading “How Important Is Preaching In Worship?”

The Bible reveals the nature and will of God to man and one of the great themes is worship. Although the Word of God tells us whom to worship, it never commands us simply to worship. But, does it really matter how we worship God?

In speaking to the Samaritan woman at the well Jesus stated the principles of proper worship to God when He said: » Continue reading “Does It Really Matter How We Worship God?”

The church of the New Testament assembled on the first day of the week (Sunday) to worship as Luke records, “And on the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul {began} talking to them, intending to depart the next day, and he prolonged his message until midnight” (Acts 20:7 NAS). The Lord’s church met for worship on Sundays for some very special reasons.

First, churches met on Sunday because some very important events happened on that day: » Continue reading “Why Did New Testament Churches Worship On Sunday?”

When Jesus promised, “I will build my church” (Matt. 16:18), He intended to make very important changes in the way people worshiped God. He established a new temple in which a new priesthood served. The assemblies, ceremonies, and offerings of the Israelite heritage ceased. Even the age-long argument between Jews and Samaritans as to the proper place of worship became irrelevant because both were now wrong (John 4:20-24).

In the place of perpetual animal sacrifices, the Messiah offered His blood once for all time (Heb. 10:12). In this act of laying down His life for the sins of the world He laid the foundation for a new temple—a structure composed not of lifeless stones, as in the old Temple, but of living souls. » Continue reading “How Did The Church Of The New Testament Worship?”

In prophesying of the establishment of the church, Isaiah said, “Now it will come about that in the last days, the mountain of the house of the LORD will be established as the chief of the mountains, and will be raised above the hills; and all the nations will stream to it” (Isa 2:2 NAS). The last statement in this verse indicates two very important things about membership in the church. First, citizenship in the kingdom would be available to all races and nationalities. This would be in obvious contrast to the exclusively nationalistic religion of the Jews of the Old Testament. Second, the statement implies that citizenship in the kingdom of God, which is the church (Matt. 16:13-18; Col. 1:13), would be greatly desired.

The very next verse in the second chapter of Isaiah reads: » Continue reading “How Does One Enter The Church?”