Corinthians 6
Posted by Philip Strong | Categories: Apostasy, Church, Preaching Through the New Testament, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians
Resurrection and Concluding Matters
“Comfort”
Posted by Philip Strong | Categories: Obedience, Repentance, Salvation, 2 Corinthians
Our desires for "comfort" can get us in trouble if we seek it from the wrong source(s)- God comforts us spiritually.
Confronting Sin
Posted by Philip Strong | Categories: Repentance, 2 Samuel, Matthew, 2 Corinthians
We all must confront our sin. We can do this voluntarily through the proper working of our conscience, or someone else can help us by bringing our sins before us to confront. Failing these confrontations with our violations of God's will now, He will confront us with our sins on the day of judgment. We all will, one way or another, confront our sins or be confronted by them. The real questions then become: (1) How will we confront our sins; and (2) will we successful? This lesson details some keys to being successful in confronting our sins now, so that we will not be forced to suffer their consequences in judgment.
Giving Account to the Lord
Posted by Philip Strong | Categories: Commitment, Fidelity, Obedience, Romans, 2 Corinthians
When we all stand before the judgment throne of God to "give account" of ourselves to Him, the occasion will not be to allow us to excuse, justify, or otherwise explain our failures- God is omniscient and needs nothing of the sort from us to determine our eternal destiny. That's not what "giving account" means in my understanding. But, a simple look through the New Testament does show us many things for which we will "give account" to God. This lesson identifies several of them.
Giving as God has Prospered
Posted by Philip Strong | Categories: Church, Worship, Acts of Worship, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians
This lesson is a follow-up to others previously given on the specific acts of worship engaged in by Christians on the first day of the week. Previous studies included "Singing is Music in Worship" and "The Lord's Supper". It examines several principles that should govern "giving of our means" in contribution to the Lord's work.
The Difficulties of Converting the Lost
Posted by Philip Strong | Categories: Choices, Commitment, Growth, Matthew, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Revelation
While we do live in a culture, both physically and religiously, that makes converting the lost to Christ more difficult, we must guard against excusing ourselves from the responsibility to do just that. If Christ's church, as a whole, is failing in this regard, each individual member of it must take that failure personally for things to change. These things being said, there are cultural and religious factors that make the task more difficult. This lesson seeks to outline: 1) the responsibilities that each Christian has toward evangelism; 2) why we do not take these responsibilities as seriously as we should; and 3) the cultural and religious factors that make the job more difficult.
“Heaven Holds All to Me”
Posted by Philip Strong | Categories: Commitment, Fidelity, Matthew, 2 Corinthians
These are the words of a familiar refrain written by Bro. Tillit S. Teddlie, who was, in my opinion, one of the greatest authors of our hymns. His songs are singable, melodic, and always seem to carry a thought-provoking and or inspirational message. Such is certainly true of this great anthem. But my question is this: "Is it really true for you?" Or otherwise stated, "Can you honestly and enthusiastically sing this particular song?"
Inherited Church Membership
Posted by Philip Strong | Categories: Choices, Commitment, Fidelity, Growth, Salvation, Romans, 2 Corinthians
If we are only members of the Church because our parents are, we have an inherited membership. In reality, such is impossible according to New Testament teaching- but it seems to occur nonetheless with church membership today. This lesson identifies, explains, and poses solutions for the problem.
Fellowship and Faith
Posted by Philip Strong | Categories: Faith, Obedience, Acts, 2 Corinthians
Though "fellowship" is defined and exemplified from both physical and spiritual applications, this lesson has as its objective one question: "What produces fellowship- how do we get to where we feel and act toward God and His children the way we should?" For many, if not most, "religious" people today, this gets to be horse and cart issue. That is, we get the "cart" before the "horse" in that the things we think produce fellowship, are actually the by-product of it.
Walking by Faith
Posted by Philip Strong | Categories: Faith, 2 Corinthians
"Walking by faith" is one of those phrases that most everyone has heard, many have even used, but perhaps few truly understand, and even less actually manage to accomplish. This lesson examines both the general and specific contexts of 2Cor.5:7 to answer two questions: 1) What is "faith"- and therefore "walking by faith"? And 2) How do I know whether or not I am "walking by faith"- what does it look like?