The Holy Spirit In Acts 2

Posted on May 6, 2024 by issuesandopinions

The Holy Spirit In Acts 2

By Carl O. Cooper

            There are those who read Acts 2:38 and conclude that it teaches an “indwelling” of the Holy Spirit for all Christians which occurs at our baptism. Members of the church of Christ who teach this will usually also conclude that we cannot “feel” or “detect” the presence of the Holy Spirit but due to the way they read these verses, it must enter us there.

            I would like to examine these Scriptures closely and decide what the Bible is telling us with these verses.

            First off, let’s set the conditions of the context here so we can decide what’s going on. Most readers will remember this story in Acts chapter 2.

            It is the Day of Pentecost which is a Jewish holiday which occurs 50 days after the Passover. It has been 10 days since Jesus ascended into Heaven. And the Apostles have gathered together in Jerusalem to wait for “The Comforter” which Jesus told them would come. There were great crowds of Jews in Jerusalem to observe the Pentecost holiday.

            Suddenly there was the sound of a mighty wind where they were staying and fire appeared on the Apostles heads. This attracted a great crowd of people who were amazed at what they saw. And in addition to all this, there were many foreigners in Jerusalem and they all heard the Apostles speak to them in their own language. Picture this scene in your mind. Would you have been amazed? I think you would and I know I would.

            The first reaction of the crowd was to accuse the Apostles of being drunk on wine. When he heard this the Apostle Peter addressed the crowd and gave a logical reason why they were not drunk. It was only the 3rd hour of the day. Too early for men to be drunk and so the explanation must be something else. Peter quoted prophecy and revealed the proper answer. “This is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:”

Acts 2:17-21 (KJV) And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: 18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: 19 And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: 20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: 21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

            Now unless you understand the full context of what is being said in Acts Chapter 2 you can easily jump to conclusions that will lead you to a wrong understanding of what is being said and taught in these verses. There is more to know here than what is so far revealed by Joel. But look at some of the things he says.

            It is obvious that Joel is speaking about the Holy Spirit. Look at all the miraculous things this Spirit will cause people to do. Can you do any of these things?  Have you seen any of these miracles? No, none of us have. Now if this is the case then it would seem that Joel is not talking about us. So, who is Joel talking about? There is an answer to these questions and I think I can make it clear. But first, what about the last statement in verse 21? “And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved”. How significant to the context is this statement by Joel? We will find out as we study just how significant this statement really is.

            As we read in Acts 2 we can see how this miraculous sight affected the crowd and we are told that they understood that they had crucified the “Son of God” and they were “Pricked in their heart”. At this stage they asked Peter what they needed to do to be forgiven. Peter told them what they needed to do to have forgiveness with God and to be saved. Look at Acts 2:38.

Acts 2:38-39 (KJV)

38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus   Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many   as the Lord our God shall call.

            So Peter told them to repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of their sins. This was true for them and it is just as true for us today. But look at the next statement by Peter is verse 38. “and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”  Now here is where most people make a grave error in exegesis. Without thinking it through most people jump to the conclusion that “the gift of the Holy Ghost” is the Holy Ghost. And when they do this they equate the words Holy Ghost here with the word “Spirit” in the prophecy of Joel that Peter quoted.

            So the error that many people make is to conclude that Joel prophesied that we would all receive the Holy Spirit when we were baptized and Peter confirmed it by saying we would receive “the gift of the Holy Spirit”.

            Now it is true that Joel was talking about the Holy Spirit. And Peter confirmed this when he connected Joel’s words to the miraculous events that were going on in Jerusalem on that day. Joel described a miraculous pouring out of the Spirit on men and women. And Joel described several miraculous events and powers that would be seen when that special “Day of the Lord” would come. That very thing was being revealed in Jerusalem on that special day and Peter confirmed it.   

            But the Holy Spirit spoken of by Joel is not the same as “the gift of the Holy Spirit”. This gift was coming to all men because of a special promise that Peter mentions in verse 39. The promise of this gift is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off. Everyone who repents and is baptized will receive this gift and it is for you and your children and all who are afar off. Now Joel spoke of the Holy Spirit causing miraculous events and wonders. Have you seen this since you were baptized?

            The correct exegesis is this;

            Joel prophesied about the miraculous events and wonders that would occur as signs to confirm the arrival of the church of Christ. This was the miraculous power that the Apostles had and also those on whom the Apostles laid their hands to transfer the power to them. But the gift of the Holy Spirit is salvation itself. A great promise was made about this salvation and it was given to Abraham by God. God told Abraham that through his seed “all nations of the earth would be blessed”. This was a mystery at that time but it was a promise that everyone would be blessed by the same opportunity to receive salvation. This promise included the Gentiles as well as the Jews. So you can see what is meant by the words in verse 39. This promise is to you and your children and all who are afar off.

            So Joel’s prophecy included the Holy Spirit in a miraculous way. And we see that develop in the days of the Apostles. It does not extend into today. We cannot perform these miracles. But this promise of salvation on both Jew and Gentile does extend into us today. This promise will continue as long as time remains.

            Remember what was quoted in verse 21 which was a part of Joel’s prophesy? 21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

            Sound familiar? It should. Even Joel quoted the promise given to Abraham about the Gentiles.

            Now this is an explanation for the verses quoted in Acts chapter 2. Now don’t misunderstand me and conclude that we do not have the Holy Spirit today. To fully explain how the Holy Spirit works in us today would take another article or perhaps a book. But I will say this; The Holy Spirit indwells us today “thru means”. We receive the Holy Spirit through our contact with the word of God. I will explain that through another article.

Carl O. Cooper

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Public Condemnation Of Bible Characters

Posted on May 5, 2024 by issuesandopinions

Public Condemnation of Bible Characters

Equivalent to using face book today

By Carl O. Cooper

            Lately there have been articles posted on face book concerning brothers in the church who have demonstrated public sin and have refused to repent. These brothers have been open and notorious in their flaunting behavior not suitable for Christians. And in spite of numerous calls for repentance they have refused to change their behavior and even seem to insist that they have done nothing wrong. Faithful brethren have tried to talk to them and nothing has changed. As a last resort their sins have been described in detail and posted publicly on face book for all to see. Even videos have been posted to show and to prove the accusations against them.

            But well meaning brethren who saw these posts have taken a stance against the brother who posted the evidence of the sins. The reasoning of these brethren seems to be a misunderstanding of what a Christian should do when he discovers another brother in sin. Just what is our responsibility in a case such as this? This too, has been described in detail by those posting comments on this face book post. After studying what people are saying, it is obvious that there is a mass misunderstanding of what is required when some brother commits open and notorious sin and refuses to repent.

            From reading what people are saying on this face book post it would seem that many are under the impression that the same response is required to deal with sin no matter what type of sin we are dealing with. Let me tell you right now that this is not the proper answer.

            Most of the people who objected to these face book posts used the same Scripture to make their judgments and to form their opinion about what is the proper way to handle every brother’s sin. Most quoted Matthew 18:15-17 (NKJV)

15 “Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him      alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother.

16 But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three             witnesses every word may be established.’

17 And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church,            let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.

            Now read these verses carefully. This is one specific type of situation where sin is involved. Note what this Scripture says; “Moreover if your brother sins against you,”. This is describing a situation where a brother sins against you personally. This is not describing a brother caught up in public sins where everyone can see what he is doing and he refuses to repent. If I have a private dispute with my brother, these verses tell me how to handle that. The proper action is very clear in a case like that and it does not include marking him or notifying other brethren about his sinful actions.

            But, all sins are not the same and we have other examples to deal with open and notorious sins from which a brother refuses to repent.

            Take this brother in the New Testament church that Peter warned the brethren about. Now Peter did not have face book but he used the face book of his day to report to all the churches about the open and notorious sins of the brother Diotrephes.

            3 John 1:9-10 (NKJV) 9 I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to have the preeminence among them, does not receive us. 10 Therefore, if I come, I will call to mind his deeds which he does, prating against us with malicious words. And not content with that, he himself does not receive the brethren, and forbids those who wish to, putting them out of the church.  

            Peter posted this information about Diotrephes in the most public format he had in his day. He put the information into a letter sent to all the churches and it would be visible to everyone who saw the letters.

            The same is true about Demas the co-worker of Paul. 2 Timothy 4:9-10 (NKJV)

9 Be diligent to come to me quickly; 10 for Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world, and has departed for Thessalonica.

            Just like John, Paul did not hesitate to post Demas’ unfaithfulness in the most public forum he had available.

            Now if you think this is isolated incidents, consider Peter’s sinful actions in Galatia with “not eating with the Gentiles” in Galatians 2:12. Paul made Peter’s actions very public in the letters he sent to the churches.

            And there was Hymenaeus and Alexander, Christians who had fallen away.

1 Timothy 1:19-20 (KJV) 19 Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck: 20 Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.

            There are many other examples I could name but this is enough to show that there are different types of sin and there are different ways to deal with those who are involved. For a personal sin against you, there is one way to deal with it. But for open and notorious sins of brethren who refuse to repent, the Bible gives us numerous examples of marking them publicly.

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The Gift Of The Holy Spirit

Posted on May 4, 2024 by issuesandopinions

The Gift of the Holy Spirit

By Carl O. Cooper

Acts 2:38-39 (NKJV)

38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus   Christ for (eis) the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

39 For (Gar) the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many   as the Lord our God will call.”

            Notice that the word “for” is used 2 times in these 2 verses. And although our English word “for” is used 2 times it was not so with the original Greek. In the original Greek 2 separate words were used with 2 totally separate meanings. In the original Greek the words “eis” and “gar” were used.

            The use of the word “for” in these 2 verses has been a stumbling block for religious people for hundreds of years. You see, the English word “for” carries more than 1 meaning. “For” can mean “in order to receive” or it can mean “because”.

            In this sentence, ““Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for (eis) the remission of sins” the definition of “eis” is clear. This Greek word carries the definition of “into”, toward”, “in order to”, and “in order to receive”. This clearly makes baptism necessary and required “in order to” receive remission of sins. Now this creates a major hurdle for many denominational groups who have, for many years, taught that a person is saved by “faith alone” without the need of baptism. How can you explain Acts 2:38 and teach that baptism is not required for the remission of sins. Well, you can’t do it if “for (eis)” is properly translated “into”. So a well designed “trick” was introduced to change the meaning of all that is being said here by Peter. If we craftily ignore the definitions of the Greek word “eis” and use the many definitions of the English word “for”, we can choose a meaning that suits our false doctrine of “salvation by faith alone”. Another meaning for the English word “for” is “because”. If we ignore the proper meaning of the Greek and use the English definition of the word “for” we now can cause this sentence to read, “Repent and be baptized because your sins are forgiven”.

          This is “sleight of hand and trickery”. Notice that there are two things mentioned that are require for remission of sins. The text says “repent and be baptized”. Would anyone be bold enough to say that we could be saved without repentance?  No, I think not. A sinner is required to repent to have his sins forgiven. It would be one thing to say, “Be baptized because your sins are already forgiven” but quite another to try to justify a statement that would say, “Repent because your sins are already forgiven”. No, the trick falls apart at this point.

          Also, the Greek word “eis” is used 3 times in Romans 6:3-4 (KJV)

3. Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into (eis) Jesus Christ were baptized into (eis) his death? 4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into (eis) death:  

            Notice here that every time the Greek word “eis” is used it is translated “into”. This is the proper translation of the word “eis” from Greek into English. There are many other Scriptures where “eis” is used and properly translated. Such as Acts 3:19, Romans 10:10, Matt. 26:28 and many others.

            Now let’s look at the word “for” in this verse. Acts 2:39 (NKJV)  

For (Gar) the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”  

            Peter had just told the crowd of Jews in Jerusalem (there for the celebration of Pentecost) that they needed to be baptized “into” (eis) salvation. He goes on to tell them that those who would consent to being baptized would receive the “gift of the Holy Spirit”. He explains that they would receive this gift “because” (gar) the promise (the promise God made to Abraham) is to you and your children (the Jews) and to all them who are afar off. (Meaning the Gentiles)  

          So to explain and paraphrase acts 2:38-39, Peter tells the Jews that they needed to “repent and be baptized” in order to have their sins forgiven. And he tells them that all who would do this would receive the gift (to them) from the Holy Spirit. That gift is eternal salvation. And he says that this salvation was the promise that had been prophesied (all the way back to Abraham). The promise was that all nations of the earth would be blessed. It would be for the Jews and their children as well as all those who were afar off. (That was a reference to the Gentiles as well as the Jews).

            There are good, sound, highly intelligent brethren in the church who have a different explanation as to what is meant by “the gift of the Holy Spirit”. I feel I am correct, but I do not treat lightly or depreciate what they have to say.

Carl O. Cooper

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The Law of Inclusion / Exclusion

Posted on April 28, 2024 by issuesandopinions

The Law of Inclusion / Exclusion

Silence of the Scriptures

Carl O. Cooper 

            The law of inclusion / exclusion as used in Bible Hermeneutics, as well as everyday life, is a combination of 2 important factual considerations.

            1. What is the command?

            2. Is there silence on any more instructions?

            The proper truth of the matter is this: There is, unarguably, a boni-fied law of inclusion and exclusion. It applies to how we interpret the Bible and it applies to normal life in general. In everyday life if your employer sends you to the supply house with a list which instructs you to purchase copy paper, I don’t have to tell you this includes copy paper and at the same time it excludes everything else. If however, it also mentions ink cartridges, it also includes them. This is the law of inclusion and exclusion which common sense and logic tell us that exists for us all. This cannot, in good faith, be denied. The silence of any more information and instructions on the list determines what is authorized. This is true in everyday life and it is true for the Bible as well. It is true for the list of building materials for the arc, and it is true for the music we are authorized to present to God in worship as well. The law of inclusion and exclusion is alive and well and cannot be denied.

            Here are 3 examples using the law of inclusion / exclusion. There could be many more but these 3 will demonstrate beyond doubt that the logic of this law is undeniable.

Example I; Noah and the arc.

            1. Command; Make the arc out of gopher wood.

            2. There is silence on any other type of wood.

            Conclusion; The law of inclusion / exclusion authorizes the arc to be constructed out of gopher wood and any other type of wood would be a violation of the authorization given.

Example II; Church Music.

            1. Command; Sing in worship to God.

                        A. Other related instructions; Fruit of the lips, Make melody (emotion) with the                                           heart, speak.

            2. There is silence on any other form of music for worship to God.

            Conclusion; The law of inclusion / exclusion authorized vocal music as worship to God.

Example III; Your employer sends you to the supply house with a list which instructs you             to purchase copy paper.

            1. Command; Purchase copy paper

            2. There is silence on making any other purchases.

            Conclusion; You are only authorized to purchase copy paper.

                        A. However, if there was other information on the list that would also be                                                  authorized.

            As you can see, the law of inclusion / exclusion depends on both authorization and silence at the same time. Before a command can become a law you must make sure you have compiled all the information you have about the command. Since one half of the authorization includes silence on any more instruction, the silence is equal to the command.

            When we study the Bible, we must give attention to the law of inclusion / exclusion. And unless we properly use this hermeneutic in our Bible interpretation many of the doctrines we hold dear in the church could not exist.

            Consider these common doctrines:

            The Lord’s Supper. Without the law of inclusion / exclusion, how would we be able to know what type of bread we should use on the Lord’s Table? Or what about the proper day we should take communion. The observance of the Lord’s Supper is to be on the first day of the week (Acts 20:7). Since the Bible identifies that day, God automatically excluded any other day on which we may observe the Lord’s Supper. Now I know that men seem to prefer other days to suit their own reasons, but that makes no difference. Any day other than Sunday, the first day of the week, is excluded.

            Or for that matter, How could we be sure what day of the week we should come together for worship unless God told us it was done on the first day of the week?

            And what about the music we offer to God as worship? We are commanded to “speak to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord” (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16).

            Because we have this clear command, and the fact that the Scriptures are silent on any other type of music for Christian worship, we know that only vocal music is authorized. This excludes any other kind of music, such as instrumental. The words used in the authorization we have are; singing, “speaking to one another”, fruit of the lips” (Hebrews 13:15), “Psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs.”

            The commands we follow in Scripture are very clear, providing we use the law of inclusion / exclusion to understand them. This hermeneutic of understanding Scripture gives clarity to our Bible study that we could not have without this reasoning process. However, if we ignore this law of inclusion / exclusion we have the same chaos the religious world struggles with. We must never forget that proper Bible study requires that we understand that the same Scriptures that authorize, can at the same time exclude many other things due to the “silence of the Scriptures”.

Carl O. Cooper

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Why Are Our Young People Leaving The Church?

Posted on April 15, 2024 by issuesandopinions

Why Are Our Young People Leaving The Church?

Why are we losing 60% – 80% of our young people

As soon as they graduate from high school?

By Carl O. Cooper

            I recently attended a lectureship at the Florida School of Preaching. And during a speech at the banquet it was said that we are losing 60% – 80% of our young people from the church as soon as they graduate from high school. And even though I knew about this mass exodus from the church by our young people, this information suddenly struck home with me and I felt extremely guilty. What have we done as a church to cause this? And what have I done? And better yet, what have we failed to do? Ever since this event, this information has weighed heavily on my mind and on my conscience. We have got to do something as a church to turn this around.

            As I thought about this situation I began to ask others what they thought the reason for our young people leaving was. The most common answer from most people was, “they are not getting any Bible teaching at home”. Now at first this convinced me. It does seem logical that the responsibility to train their children lies with the parents. But tell me, if this is the real reason, how will we ever hope to make any difference in the commitment to the church that our young people have? Can we hope to change the way all parents are raising their children? Yes, that would be ideal but is there really any practical expectation that we can make that happen? When I thought about my own life as a young person it doesn’t seem to be realistic that trying to get more Bible study into the lives of our young people through their parents is a realistic option at all. Of course we need to do what we can with that as well, but all of our young people do not come from religious families. I did not. Religion was seldom talked about in my house when I grew up. And with that in view, I asked myself, “how did I learn a commitment to the church of Christ that kept me committed and faithful all these years”? And the answer was, the church.

            I didn’t find the church until I was in my early teens. Some of my friends were members of the Maryville Church of Christ and they convinced me to go with them to church. I was so fortunate to be a part of that teenage group. And I was also fortunate to have had the Bible school teachers I had as well. This was during the 1950’s and it was common in the churches of Christ to hear Bible classes and sermons about doctrinal truths and differences in the Church of Christ to all the denominational churches all around us. When I heard these differences explained and compared to what the Bible had to say about the design of the church, I was convinced of the truth of the church just by the logical explanations I heard from the Bible teachers I had. This produced a commitment in me to the church of Christ that would never leave me as long as I lived. In fact, I dare say, that if I had ever stopped going to church my understanding and conscious would never have allowed me to get involved with a counterfeit denominational church. I understood very well the differences in the church and the denominational world around us.

            Now that was my story. Am I that much different from the teenagers of today?

            I thought about my own story as I studied why we were losing our young people today.

            But I asked other questions as well. I have encountered several people that I know who used to be regular members at congregations where I attended. These people have left the church and are attending denominational churches. In 3 cases I asked them point blank, “how can you join yourself to a denominational church after all the time you spent in the church of Christ”? And in all cases the answer was the same. “I didn’t see that much difference”.

            Brothers and sisters, how can that be? How can a person spend time in our Bible classes and hear our preachers every Sunday and say that they can see no difference in the church of Christ and a denominational church? Does that sound unbelievable? And yet, trust me, I have talked to other members who have had similar answers from members who have joined denominational churches and it is very common to hear them say, “I did not see much difference”.

            Now what does this have to do with our young people leaving the church? Well, I think I know the reason and I think we can help to prevent it.

            The reason is the method we are using to teach the young people in our Bible classes. Think about this for just a minute. When our children are very young and entering Bible class at church for the first time, we tell them Bible stories out of the Old Testament. This is good and appropriate. It holds their interest and they can understand these stories. Now these stories are easy to teach and the teachers, who are not professional teachers, can handle this style very well. Now this Old Testament study of the Bible continues as these students mature. As they get older it becomes Old Testament history and we tell them about the Old Testament characters and the stories of the kings and the great men of the Old Testament and this usually continues to the start of the high school class. Now up to this point they have heard nothing that they would not hear in a denominational church.

            Just prior to the high school class and during this class we start giving them lessons about salvation and baptism and what is required to be a Christian. All of this makes sense to fit the information they receive to what they are ready and able to understand. However, during these High School years, in order to develop a commitment to the doctrines of the church of Christ, there must be teaching about the beginning of the church of Christ and the differences to the denominational churches all around us. Before these teenagers graduate from High School and leave for college they must understand that the church of Christ is different and not at all like the other religions around us. Unless we do this before these high school students graduate, and build a strong commitment to the church of Christ, they could get involved with a denominational church and say, “I didn’t see that much difference”.

            We must not let that happen. We want these young people to clearly see and to celebrate that we are not like the “churches” around us. We are different and we are proud of the fact that we are different. Young people are so tempted and drawn to be “a part of the herd”. We must spend time in our Bible classes teaching them the differences in the Church of Christ and the denominations around them. Do not hesitate to teach it thorough and teach it plain.

Carl O. Cooper

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The Church of Christ

Posted on April 14, 2024 by issuesandopinions

THE CHURCH OF CHRIST

UNLIKE ANY OTHER RELIGION ON EARTH

By Carl O. Cooper

            We live in an age when men have decided that it is not good for the church of Christ to be different and unlike all the other “Christian” religions of the world. They have reasoned that it is hard for the church to attract visitors from the surrounding communities if they perceive us as being different from the preconceived and politically correct picture of religion that they have fixed in their minds. Some men in the church have decided that if we display ourselves in the same way we have always done in the past that we will not blend in to the modern and various cultures that have developed around us. The church of Christ, as it has always existed in the past, is very hard to “sell” to the general public and if we have any hope of reaching the people of today then we will have to change the image of the church to fit what the modern cultures want in their religion. And some people would even go so far as to say that the church was designed by God to be an ever changing, bubbling, churning, evolving , and stretching wineskin that is designed to change and evolve with the customs of the times and be whatever modern people want it to be. But none of this is true.

            The church was designed by God. It was created by God, it belongs to God, and it cannot be changed, except by God. There is a pattern and a design that originated and was created within the mind of God. It takes authority to change any of this, and that authority rests with God and not with man.

            Nevertheless, there is a mindset and world view among a certain segment of the population that views authority as “relative”. This person tends to see the design of the church as relative to something that they see as far more important than pattern and design. And that “something” is the number of members in the congregation where they attend. When this person compares within their own mind the value and importance of the number of people in attendance with the importance of design and pattern, then design and pattern are unimportant. In this person’s thinking, design and pattern actually become a hindrance to church growth. They see design and pattern as being restrictive to what they consider to be “evangelism”. Evangelism in many cases is defined as “having visitors visit the worship services”. The fallacy of this line of thinking is that once you become committed to creating a “visitor friendly” atmosphere in the worship service, then design, pattern, and doctrine become “off limits” in the teaching and preaching done in the presence of visitors for the fear of offending them. In place of this type of teaching, a new message has evolved. It is a message of hope and comfort and cheer that is designed to seek out and address those areas within people’s lives where they struggle and feel they need help and to give them soft words and emotional uplifts to help them in their daily walks of life. A preacher who can do this with emotional stories and humor and personal antidotes can create an atmosphere that draws a crowd. If he is within a church that is committed to creating a “visitor friendly” environment at the expense of “pattern, design, and doctrine”, then this “new form” of evangelism takes place. The result of this “new evangelism” is a church that grows in numbers and at the same time becomes more and more weakened in knowledge of design, pattern, and doctrine. Eventually there will be enough members with a “relative” mindset that the church no longer resembles the church as it started out. It evolves with the culture and changes to something else. It is no longer true to the design and without any desire to continue with the pattern of the original church.

            The devil has seized an opportunity to do the church great harm by taking advantage of a group of people’s desire to do good. Almost everyone feels the need and desire to “evangelize” the world. This is right and good. The Bible instructs us to evangelize the world. The problem comes about in how we attempt to carry out this command. We know that the Bible tells us that the power of God is in “the Gospel”, the word of God. We must never lose sight of this fact. The word of God, the Gospel, is our sword and our power to evangelize the world.

            There is a new line of thinking among the generation alive today. To some, this old method of evangelism has failed. To them, when they look at the numbers in a church and consider them low, they are ashamed. They are ashamed of what they consider as a failure on the part of the church to “evangelize”. They have come to judge the value of their congregation in terms of the number of people present. This mindset is where the devil seizes the opportunity to do the church great harm. When a person becomes ashamed of the numbers in the church and sees the church as a failure, there is a strong desire to build the numbers to a higher level. Building the numbers to a higher level is a desire to do good. But this is a great problem when it comes with the feeling that the church is a failure because the numbers are low. This feeling produces that strong desire to increase the numbers “at any cost”. The first step to this is to design a way to “sell the church” that really works. Herein lays a major problem with this method of evangelizing. If you know anything about selling, you know that people only buy what they want. How then can we repackage the church to make more people “want to buy”? Well, first we need to poll them and find out what they want. Once we discover what they want, then let’s repackage the church and give them what they want. And I can tell you this, they do not want to be told that they are lost and in sin. They do not want to be told that their lifestyle is sinful. They do not want to be told that their past religions are not approved by God. And they do not want to hear restrictive and uncompromising doctrines. What they do want is a message of hope and comfort and cheer that is designed to seek out and address those areas within people’s lives where they struggle and feel they need help and to give them soft words and emotional uplifts to help them in their daily walks of life. A person who is ashamed of the number of people in the church and sees the church as a failure because of a failure to grow has no problem creating a “visitor friendly” atmosphere and giving these people what they want in an effort to grow.

            Now when this mindset captures and controls a local congregation, and the people of this view of the church are the people in charge, what makes it different from the denominational religions of the world around us? In reality, there is very little difference.

Carl O. Cooper

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The Fall of a Nation

Posted on April 11, 2024 by issuesandopinions

The Fall of a Nation

By Carl O. Cooper  

What would it mean with a Democrat win? Does it mean our God approves of sin? Or could those words that the preacher said Be useless words because God is dead?

Abortion and murder and same sex sin Are what we will have with a Democrat win. So please honor God and the words of His book Don’t be foolishly caught with a Democrat hook.

Can a liberal win if God still rules? Or are Christian doctrines just for fools? Or could it be God has a plan And time is short for our great land.

Does God allow unrighteousness men To lead our nation into sin? But if they do, God help us all. The end result will be our fall.

The Bible says, “God sets the kings”. But if they sin the anvil rings. And though they think they rule the land, God holds the power in His hand.

God is not fooled by tricks or deceit At the pleasure of God is your win or defeat. So for evil to win seems wrong to a man But never forget, our God has a plan.

And if they do not honor God They soon will face the chastening rod. And the anchors will break and the nation won’t stand And the people will find They’re not safe in God’s hands.

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Questions About The Missionary Society

Posted on April 6, 2024 by issuesandopinions

Questions About The Missionary Society

Clarified

By Carl O. Cooper  

            The debate within the church of Christ over an organized entity to collect funds and to oversee mission work has now lingered on for over 100 years.

            Some very well respected preachers in the church have stood against the formation of a system such as this. However, one such famous preacher who was perhaps one of the most outspoken in favor of the Missionary Society was Alexander Campbell. Campbell wrote many articles in favor of establishing the Missionary Society and at one time he served as president. On the other side of the fence were men like David Lipscomb and Tolbert Fanning and others who felt that there was no authorization given in the Bible for any outside organization to do the work of the church; Nor was there any authorization given to establish any other church offices to take the place of local elders in local congregations.

            It needs to be said and understood that there is more involved in authorizing a Missionary Society than only establishing an unauthorized entity that is formed to do the work of the church. The objection also includes the question of how does the church collect and oversee and distribute money and authority in a project where church cooperation is considered. How do churches cooperate and oversee funds for missionaries and for that matter, benevolence work? Many of those who objected to forming a Missionary Society also objected to any local church collecting funds for a multi-church project that required the elders of one local church to oversee and distribute funds that were collected from many separate congregations. David Lipscomb wrote many articles in the Gospel Advocate objecting to a local church collecting and distributing funds from other congregations other than their own. His view was that God gave no instructions for one congregation to abdicate authority to another congregation to do the work of the local church. Today, 100 years later, this system is common place in church co-operation everywhere.

            But here is my take on this situation of church co-operation and Missionary Societies.

            A few years ago I encountered, while on a mission trip to Guyana, South America, a group who called themselves “The Guyana Church of Christ Board of Trustees”. They sent me a letter and they said they wanted to be involved in selection or rejecting an American Missionary who I knew. I thought it was unbelievable that there was such an organization that did actually exist in Guyana. But it did exist. I took issue with them as a board and told them that there was no such office in the church of Christ. They told me that the Government in Guyana required them to exist and to be the spokesman for all the churches of Christ in Guyana. As I questioned them and their authority to make decisions for the church they tried to tell me that they understood that they had no authority to exist and they denied making decisions for local churches in Guyana. However, as time went on I discovered that local congregations were taking their problems and disputes to “The Board of Trustees” for them to settle disputes among the members. I knew that would happen as soon as I heard of their existence.

            Here is my reasoning on church co-operation and entities such as a missionary Society and a Board of Trustees.

            There are two ways the church of Christ is presented in the New Testament. There is reference to individual local congregations such as the church in Corinth or the church in Philippi. And these local churches are governed by the rulers (or Sheppard’s) of each congregation. Each congregation is self governing and autonomous and there is no higher office for the church on earth higher than the elders of each local congregation. And in addition to this way of describing the church, it is sometimes referred to as “the church universal”. This reference includes all the congregations of the church worldwide. In this case the only head of the church in this category is Jesus Christ.

            There is no Bible authorization, what-so-ever, that would describe or allow another entity to be formed by man that God did not design. No institution can be designed by man that would claim to do the work of the church God designed. This includes a missionary society, a benevolence society, or a board of trustees in order to make decisions in place of local elders in local churches. These entities are not described or authorized anywhere in the Bible.

            We do have an example of church co-operation in the Bible about collecting money to be sent to the poor Saints in Jerusalem. Paul gave instruction for a local congregation to collect funds on the first day of every week so that when he came to them he would either take the money himself or he would designate another person to take it to those in need.

            To me, this seems to justify the process of the elders of a local church to collect and oversee funds that could be used for special projects. These funds could be collected by contributions from other churches or individuals and distributed according to the oversight of the elders of the local congregation.

            I do not deny that there are some congregations of the church of Christ who disagree with many forms of church co-operation. These call themselves “non-institutional” churches of Christ. My explanation does not attempt to define their doctrine at this point.

Carl O. Cooper

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Why Are Homosexuals Increasing In America?

Posted on December 15, 2023 by issuesandopinions

Why are homosexuals increasing in number in America?

By Carl O. Cooper

            There is no scientific evidence of a “gay gene” or genetic mutation creating homosexual people and causing them to develop. And even if there was, this would not explain the surge in people claiming to have a homosexual orientation in their sexual make up. So why the surge in the people identifying themselves as homosexual?

            The answer is very simple. There is being created for them a conducive and seductive environment for the acceptance and glorification of the homosexual model. I am told by high school students that it is now commonplace to see both male and female students embraced in the hallways at school in both male/male and female/female embraces. We are also seeing churches reach out to the homosexual population as well. This is usually done with the explanation that we need to love the person and not the homosexual act. But in reality, it is usually an acceptance of the sexual orientation of the homosexual with a half hearted rejection of the homosexual lifestyle itself. This message resonates clearly with the youth and young adult population of the congregations and the schools. The message comes into young people’s lives just at the moment when their hormones and sexual urges are beginning to develop and to surge. These feelings are mysterious and new and not fully understood.

            The message is this, “this person had these mysterious problems and they are being recognized and loved. They are getting help and attention for their problems. I, too have mysterious problems. Therefore my problems must be like their problems. I, too must be homosexual”

            In the churches, the schools, and everywhere you turn, the homosexual is being glorified and openly recognized as accepted into the mainstream population of America. This is done for many reasons. But for whatever reason the population does not see the serious consequences of this acceptance on the youth of this generation. Most people avoid the conflict because of a fear of being politically correct among the general population and even among Christian people as well. There is a great fear among Christian people that they will be accused of not “having love” for their fellow man. Even when there is a grievous sin involved. So people keep quiet out of fear and allow the homosexual to celebrate and glorify and proclaim their sexual orientation as legitimate. These people may discount the practice for themselves but still do not claim to discount the sexual preference and orientation. It is somewhat like saying, “I do not worship Baal anymore, but I still have the idol in my dresser drawer”.

            Why are homosexuals increasing? The answer is clear. There is a desensitizing of our American youth of the greatness and severity of this horrific sin within our population. And young people are being drawn to it because it is not being made clear that the results and consequences are destructive and evil.

Carl O. Cooper

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God’s Promise to Abraham

Posted on December 15, 2023 by issuesandopinions

God’s Land Promise To Abraham

Is Our Promise For Salvation

By Carl O. Cooper

          Do you remember God’s promise to Abraham? It consisted of 3 separate things in which He would bless Abraham. That promise is recorded for us to read in several places. God first made the promise to Abram (Abraham) when He appeared to him and instructed him to leave Haran to “a land that He would show him” recorded in Gen. 12:1. The promise is repeated to Abraham’s son Isaac in Gen. 26:4.

            for to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”   

            God made 3 special promises to Abraham and they were also for all of Abraham’s descendants as a perpetual covenant; as long as they obeyed God and remained faithful.

            #1. And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven;

            #2. I will give to your descendants all these lands;

            #3. in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed;

            These promises are filled with so much information and typology and they apply to every generation of Abraham’s seed. Granted, it is not easy for everyone to see the connection here and I want to point out some of the connections of these promises to us today.

            Probably the easiest one where we can see the connection is the “seed promise”.

            This is explained for us in “New Testament Commentary” It is explained in Gal.3:15.

            Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,” who is Christ.

            So who is God talking about when He says “in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed;”? Pretty clear, isn’t it? There is no doubt that it is through the blood of Christ that all nations of the earth will be blessed. That includes every type people in all the nations of the earth.

            But just a minute, are we Abraham’s descendants? In order to be Abraham’s descendants I thought we had to be born a Jew. Well the Bible tells us we are all Jews if we are “in Christ”.

Galatians 3:26-29 (NKJV)

 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.  

            “Heirs according to the promise”? Now just what promise would this be referring to? Well, that’s clear enough. It’s the promise God made to Abraham. If we are in Christ, we are heirs according to the promise God made to Abraham. We are the descendants of Abraham.

            But there is more to this promise. What about this part?

            “And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven;”

            Has this part come true? It sure has. How many descendants of Abraham are there when we count the number of Christians that have lived on the earth? You might say, “as the stars of the heaven”.

            God’s promises always come true.  

            But what about the land? Has God included Christians in the promise of “a Land”?

            Well the Israelites could possess the land of Canaan as long as they were faithful to God and obeyed His commands. But what about Christians today. Is there still a promise of a special land for them? God has a special “promised homeland” prepared for Abraham’s descendants today.         Hebrews 11:12-16 (NKJV)

            Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude–innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore. These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

            For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland.

            And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return.

            But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.

            The ones who died in faith in the hebrews passage included Abraham and Sarah

            The ultimate fulfillment of the land promised to Abrham is the city in which God lives which is Heaven Our land our citizenship is in heaven Phil 3:20

            So there you have it. The promises God made to Abraham and his descendants was an everlasting promise and it includes us as well. But like God said to Isaac, these promises were given because Abraham kept God’s commands and stayed faithful and obedient to God. That holds true for us today as well. Do you want to be included in these promises? Then you must be “in Christ” in order to be called a descendant of Abraham.

            What did we read in Gal. 3:26? Look at that again. “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.”

            In order to be Abraham’s descendant we must put on Christ. Now how does it tell you to do that? It is through faith in Christ when you are “baptized into Christ”. It is through baptism that we encounter the blood of Christ. We are redeemed and made a new person. We become a Christian and we become a descendant of Abraham and “heirs according to the promise”.

Acts 22:16 (NKJV)

16 And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins,

calling on the name of the Lord.             Carl O. Cooper

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