- A special guest today in our time of bible study,
Let the Bible Speak, starts right now.
♪ Music ♪
Announcer: From the churches of Christ
Let the Bible Speak
with Evangelist Kevin Presley.
Good morning and welcome to Let the Bible Speak.
We're glad you're with us today on this broadcast
and today we have a special visitor on the program.
You may well remember him, Brother Ronny Wade
from Springfield, Missouri is with us.
And he preached on this program for the better part
of 40 years, I suppose,
and retired from the program in 2008.
However, he remains very active in preaching the gospel,
holding numerous gospel meetings across the nation
every year.
He is the assistant publisher
of an internationally-read religious journal.
He has debated various Bible topics all across the nation
down throughout his 60 years of preaching.
Today he has graciously agreed to join us
to teach us from the word of God.
And so we hope you'll enjoy his presentation.
He'll join us in a just a moment for that Bible study,
but first, a song.
- The Psalmist said, "Through Thy precepts,
"I get understanding."
The Bible is the revelation of God to man
and you simply can't live for God until you know something
about the Word of God
and you may say, "Well, I want to read
"and study the Bible, but I don't know where to begin.
"I feel overwhelmed" or "I don't understand the Bible."
I want to offer you a wonderful way
to get acquainted with the scriptures.
You'll learn about some of the most basic
and foundational teachings of God's Word
and you'll get a better handle on how to read
and approach and study the Bible as a whole.
Won't you get in touch with us today
and ask to be enrolled in the Bible Correspondence Course.
It won't cost you a penny and we'll mail the lessons
to your home and you take your time to read and study
through the lessons,
I think you'll be surprised how much you'll learn.
- It's a pleasure to be with you today.
I wanna study with you a lesson that I've entitled
Paul's Remedy for a Troubled Church.
There are many troubled churches
that are profiled in the New Testament scriptures
and from them, we can learn very valuable lessons,
how to avoid the situation they found themselves in.
The first few chapters of the Revelation, of course,
describe The Seven Churches of Asia Minor,
and each one of them had their own problems.
And they were, of course, were commanded by the apostle
to correct those problems
or else their name or their candlestick would be removed.
A troubled church, obviously, is of concern to everyone.
It may well be that the congregation, the city of Corinth,
was the most troubled of all.
There were a number of problems
that existed among the church members
that probably had their origin in the city itself.
We're told by historians
that Corinth was a very beautiful place,
but it was also a very wicked place.
There was an idolatrous temple there,
and in that temple horrendous things were practiced,
most of which were, of course,
contrary to the teaching of God's word.
Many of the people in the city of Corinth
who eventually were converted by the gospel
and who became members of the Lord's body
had come out of an atmosphere that was heavy
with not only idolatry, but immoral conduct, as well.
Before long, we begin to see the influence of that conduct
as it spills over into the church
and in the lives of men and women
who should have changed their conduct
when they were baptized into Jesus Christ.
We do know that immorality was great,
as I've already pointed out, in the city of Corinth.
Over in chapter five, the Bible tells us
that there was a member of the congregation
living with his stepmother.
And not only that, but many in the congregation
were obviously not bothered by that.
In fact, they were justifying the situation
that the man was in.
The Apostle Paul very plainly pointed out
that that had to be corrected.
That the individual, if he was going to be saved,
who was guilty of that sin,
had to be withdrawn from, had to be warned,
and, hopefully, that would be enough to change his conduct.
And that those people who were actually going along
with the individual in his sin had to change, as well.
They no longer could give him any comfort.
They no longer could justify the actions
and even associate with him.
Paul went so far as to say,
"You won't be able to eat with him socially.
"You're going to have to withdraw yourself from this man
"in order to get him to see the seriousness
"of the condition in his life, and thereby change."
Immorality continued to be a problem.
In the first few chapters of Paul's first letter
to the Corinthian congregation,
we see the problem of division.
Some were saying eye of Paul, eye of Cepheus,
and eye of Christ.
Paul propounded the question was Paul crucified for you?
Were you baptized in the name of Paul?
Is Christ divided?
Pointing out, of course, that division was a sin
and that these people were wrong
in lining up behind some preacher
and justifying their division because of that.
Paul said, "That's wrong.
"You can't do that.
"Christ is not divided.
"You should not be divided, but you should be united."
Then, later on, in chapter six of his first letter,
he points out that some of them
were going to law against one another before a pagan judge.
He said, "Is there not a wise man among you
"that could judge in these matters?
"Why do you have to go out and hire a judge
"and stand before him as the people of God
"and say settle our problems for us,
"tell us who's right and tell us who's wrong."
Over in chapter 11, the Apostle Paul
talks about the abuses of the Lord's Supper,
how it was impossible to come together
and eat the Lord's Supper
because of the situation that existed
and the atmosphere that was so prevalent among them
at this particular time.
He sets in order exactly how the Lord's Supper
is to be observed,
and how they themselves are to conduct themselves
in the assembly in order for that to be the case.
We could go on and on,
because this first letter to this group of people
pointed out sin after sin and problem after problem,
and Paul said that all needs to be corrected.
But the question is what's the remedy?
How do you turn things like that around?
That may well be that you've been associated
with a congregation where problems exist
that should not exist,
and things are being done that should not be done,
and you wonder, how we gonna get that solved?
And how're we gonna resolve the situation
so that things are like the Lord wants it to be?
Before Paul concluded the first letter,
he said, "Watch he stand fast in the faith,
"quit you like men or behave like men, be strong
"and let everything you do be done with love."
I would submit to you
that that was Paul's remedy for this troubled church.
Paul was essentially saying if you follow this outline,
and if you comply with what I've said,
the problems that currently exist will melt away
and the division that is currently present
will now be absent.
Let's notice for just a few minutes this morning,
what the Apostle Paul was actually saying.
First of all, he said watch he.
You know, to me, it's very evident
that nobody was watching in Corinth.
Nobody was standing guard over the church.
Nobody was standing in guard against sin and evil.
People were left to do whatever they chose to do
and that eventually, of course,
ended in all kinds of problems and disobedience.
In the Old Testament scriptures,
the watchman was a very important person.
Back in those days they didn't have flood lights,
and they didn't have radar,
and they didn't have modern means of anticipating problems
like we do today.
The watchman, of course, as the evening would draw on
would ascend the wall of the city.
The cities were walled cities.
The wall, of course, was there for protection
so that the people could be protected from an invading army.
However, surprise was something you wanted to avoid.
You didn't wanna be surprised by an invading army.
You didn't wanna be surprised
and wake up in the middle of the night
and, as a result, being overrun by some army.
The Bible tells us that these watchmen
would ascend the walls and they'd walk around
all during the dark of the night
trying to detect any movement out there
that seemed to be wrong
or seemed to spell some kind of a trouble.
And if, indeed, it appeared that there was someone
lurking in the shadows about to attack the city,
the cry was made and the warning was sounded
and those who were in charge came to meet the problem.
The watchman was important.
If they didn't have a watchman,
they really weren't ready to detect a problem
and, obviously, overcome it.
I don't believe anybody was watching in Corinth.
I don't believe anybody was concerned enough
to realize how far the church had slipped
and how easily it was going to be for them
to drift farther and farther away
from the teachings of the apostles.
So Paul said, "Watch he."
What'd he mean by that?
Well, obviously, he meant that people needed to be on guard.
Somebody needed to be on guard.
Somebody needed to recognize
false doctrine when it was being taught.
Someone needed to recognize immoral and ungodly living
when it was being practiced.
Somebody needed to know what was happening
and they also should rise to the occasion
and so something about it.
They should speak where the Bible,
where the scriptures were speaking,
and silent where they were silent.
They needed to stand up for what's right
and condemn what was wrong.
You need to watch for that, Paul says.
Be on guard, look around you
and make sure that the tell-tale signs of sin
are not encroaching upon the kingdom of God.
I believe that's true today.
You know, many churches are troubled today
because no one watches,
no one detects early on what's happening.
Before we realize it, sin begins to grow.
And by the time we do realize it, it's grown so large,
and we've drifted so far,
that it seems almost impossible to get back
to what the Bible actually says we need to be doing
and living exactly like we need to live.
Then, you know, sometimes the watchmens criticize.
People will say, "Well, you know,
"you're always coming up with something.
"You're against this, or you're against that,
"or you don't like what we're doing and so on."
In an effort to try and justify what they're doing.
But you know that's exactly why
the Bible talks about elders in the church,
overseers in the church.
When Paul met with the overseers
of the Ephesian congregation
he pointed out the responsibility that was theirs
to guide the flock, guard the flock
and thereby watch for the false teacher
or the individual that was doing things
that would actually result
in the eventual loss of their souls.
I believe today we need watchmen in the church.
I really do.
I believe we need men who are qualified to stand up
and not only preach the truth, but defy false doctrine,
and defy those things that are evil and sinful
and that would lead us in to sin.
How do churches drift into apostasy?
How is it that sometimes we get so far away
from what the Bible actually teaches
and what we know to be right?
Well, the answer's simple.
Nobody's watching.
Nobody's alert.
Nobody's aware of the fact that passages in the word of God
are being violated and broken.
And as a result, the church gradually drifts.
Corinth did not become the church it had become overnight.
This happened over a period of time.
It had happened in increments and it happened gradually.
Most of us, obviously, are awakened
and, obviously, sometimes even astounded,
when a major change takes place.
But, you see, major changes are not always the way
the devil enters in among us.
It's minor changes.
It's small things.
You know, take the Lord's Supper
over here in 1 Corinthians 11.
They had gradually drifted into a situation
where they obviously had mixed it
with some kind of love feast.
And as a result, some people
were entering that entire situation, they were hungry,
others were well-fed, others were left out.
Paul said the idea here, the way things are,
it's impossible to eat the Lord's supper,
impossible to do it correctly,
and it's impossible to follow the scriptures
in the way you're doing it.
Now, why?
Well, because they had drifted.
Little by little, they had reached a situation
where they felt comfortable to what was going on
and really never though anything at all
about what they were doing
and how it could actually be so wrong in the sight of God.
You know, today, my friend,
if we don't have people that are watching,
the devil's gonna overtake us.
If we don't have people who rise to the occasion
and do what they have to do and what they need to do
in order to make sure that we're right in what we practice
and what we preach, then we're gonna drift.
But then Paul goes on.
He says, "You not only need to watch,
"you need to stand fast in the faith."
That just simply means
that once you get there, you stay there.
Once you affirm what's right, you stick with it.
You don't give it up, you don't vacillate back and forth,
you don't stand firm one day and the next day grow weak
and do whatever else you wanna do
or what somebody else might wanna do.
You stand fast and firm in the faith.
If you study the scriptures, you know very well
that in New Testament times
there were people who did not stand fast.
There are names mentioned in the word of God
that indicate very clearly they had drifted.
As they drifted, some of them left the church.
You don't hear about them anymore
because they've gone off with the devil.
There are others who have become so weakened
because they don't stand fast in the faith
that they're of little value to the church.
In fact, unfortunately they are a distraction
to the truth and the church.
If everybody who ever obeyed the gospel
was still in the church at the time of their death,
we'd see a tremendous change in the church.
Wherever you may be today,
the congregation where you're a member,
I can guarantee ya, even though I may not know the location
and may not personally know all the people,
somebody's left, somebody's drifted away,
somebody grew weak,
somebody started missing church services,
somebody started dabbling in sin to some degree.
And as a result, they did not stand fast in the faith.
They moved away from the faith
and they no longer are a part of the faith
as they once were.
You may know somebody like that.
In fact, you may be somebody like that.
Maybe you have left the church.
Maybe you've left the faith.
Maybe you no longer live for the Lord,
because you didn't stand fast,
because you are not firm,
and because you are not dedicated to the cause
of truth and right.
I don't know exactly how it will be in the day of judgment,
but I do know this.
There's going to be a vast majority of the people who,
on that day, at one time, belonged to the Lord,
ceased to belong to the Lord.
They ceased to remain firm and steadfast in the faith.
That's sad.
Maybe somebody in your family today, maybe you.
Listen, friend, if you're not standing firm for the truth,
get back in there.
Don't stay away from the church.
Don't stay away from living the Christian life.
Many parents who are listening to me today
would give anything if their children
were back in the faith.
Many husbands would feel the same way about their wives,
and wives about their husbands.
In almost every congregation,
you're going to find people who are not standing fast.
Paul said, "Here's the remedy.
"If we're going to resolve these problems,
"we've gotta stand firm in what's right."
You know, those people in Corinth
were greatly influenced by the going-ons in the city.
They were influenced by that old pagan temple over there
where immorality was practiced on a daily basis
and, therefore, justified in the lives of a lot of people.
They were influenced by that.
They probably worked around, lived around,
associated with people who were involved in that every day.
Many of them gradually would begin to move back
into that same kind of lifestyle.
Paul said you can't do that.
You've gotta be firm
and you've gotta stand fast in the faith.
Then he said, "Act like men."
The King James says quit you like men.
Actually, it means to behave like men.
I suppose, probably, a better way to say that is grow up.
Grow up and be like men.
Act like a man.
Don't act like a child.
We know what happens
when somebody steals a little boy or a little girl's toy,
they throw a fit.
They don't act like an adult.
They're not an adult, they're a child.
Paul says if you're gonna salvage the church in Corinth,
you've gotta act like men.
You've gotta grow up.
You've gotta be someone who's advanced
and they're able to discern good and evil
and they're able to stand up for what's right
without getting mad.
Or they're able to take rebuke
without saying, well I just quit
and I won't come back anymore.
Act like men, don't act like children.
Watch, stand fast in the faith.
Quit you like men.
Be strong, be strong.
What makes you strong in Christ?
I believe the same principle
that makes you strong physically,
makes you strong spiritually.
You become strong physically with exercise.
You become strong physically
by eating the right, proper diet.
By the same token, you become strong spiritually
by doing the same thing.
You become strong spiritually by eating a proper diet.
I ask you today how many times
do you feast on the word of God every week?
How many times do you really study,
diligently study, the scriptures?
How many times do you practice what you read?
Well, if you don't, you're not gonna stand fast in the faith
and you're not gonna grow.
If you don't grow, you may regress.
And if you regress,
you're going to drift father and farther away.
Paul said, "Here's the remedy.
"The remedy is be strong."
Then he said, "Let everything you do be done with love."
You know, it's amazing how much you can do
and how easily it is to convince other people
to do what's right when you act out of a spirit of love
instead of a spirit of spite and anger
and things of that nature.
There was division in the Corinthian church
and that division existed partly
because of a lack of love for one another
and a lack of consideration for one another.
Let everything you do be done with love.
Does that mean that you approve of sin?
No.
Does that mean you condone evil?
No.
Does that mean you justify what other people are doing?
No, it just means that in the process of dealing with that,
you do it in the spirit of love.
You do everything you can
to win those people back to Christ.
You do everything you can to strengthen them.
It may be necessary for me to rebuke you,
but I need to do it in the spirit of love.
It may be necessary for me to look you in the eye
and say, "You're wrong and you're gonna be lost
"if you don't change."
But I do it in the spirit of love.
I don't do it to spite you
and I don't do it to make you mad.
I do it to save you.
I do it because I love you.
The Apostle Paul was saying to this congregation
that really, I think, was bordering
on the brink of total collapse in many ways.
He was merely saying you've gotta stand up for what's right,
but you've gotta do it in the right spirit
and you've got to be strong.
You can't cave in to the influences of Satan
and you can't give up to the surrounding cry
of those who are idolatrous and those who are ungodly.
Can the church at Corinth be saved?
Of course it could.
Can a congregation today be saved?
Of course it can.
It all depends on whether or not
we're willing to follow the divine instructions
that are given in the word of God.
If we're willing to do that,
churches that are weak can become strong.
Churches that are lazy can become active.
Churches that have quit growing can actually grow.
And churches that seem to be almost destroyed
can rise from the ashes and be active and successful
in serving God.
What about the congregation of which you're a member today?
Are you doing your part to make it the kind of church
the Lord wants it to be and the kind of church
the scriptures indicate that it has to be?
I want you to think
about Paul's remedy for a troubled church.
It's been good to have you with us today
and I'm thankful to have been able to share with you
these thoughts from the word of God.
Until next time, may the Lord bless you.
Saying in first Thessalonians two in verse five that he
didn't use flattering words nor a cloak of covetousness.
But yet, preachers week after week
come into our living rooms with their hand out.
We don't expect you to fund our ministry,
or to pay to hear the gospel.
Therefore Let the Bible Speak is different.
This program is brought to you by a local congregation
of the Church of Christ in your community
who simply wanna reach out and spread
the truth of New Testament Christianity.
We thank you for watching Let the Bible Speak,
and we hope that you'll tell someone else about
this program and encourage them to see the difference.
(( Sound of heart monitor ))
(( Sound of heart monitor flat line ))
- It was great hearing Brother Wade again
and I trust that you enjoyed hearing him again
on this broadcast.
If you would like a copy of his lesson today,
we'll be happy to send it to you.
Simply get in touch with us and it'll be on its way.
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We'll give you our mailing address in just a moment.
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Thanks for spending your time with us today
in study of the word of God.
I hope you'll visit a congregation
of The Church of Christ near you very soon.
We'll list them for you here in just a moment.
And I hope you'll make your plans
to join me back here next week
for another study of the word of God.
Until then, may the Lord bless you.
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