ch94 How to Destroy a Church

ch94 How to Destroy a Church explains how the church functions, and gives us the criteria for judging if a person is a blessing or not, if they are like Christ.

ch94 How to Destroy a Church explains how the church functions, and gives us the criteria for judging if a person is a blessing or not, if they are like Christ.

How to Destroy a Church

By Pastor David Cox

[ch94] v1 ©2024 www.coxtracts.com
You may freely reproduce this for non-profit purposes

Matthew 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock (that rock is that Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ, the Savior) I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Galatians 1:6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: 7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. 9 As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.

Jesus created the church for His purposes. This church represents the kingdom of God on earth. Through the church, God does His divine work, which is the salvation of the souls of men (those who respond to His gospel invitation). But the church is based on the gospel, and if you change salvation, the gospel, you have already destroyed the church. The essence of the church is saved people, who are saved and are growing in their faith and their sanctification, and who are committed to obeying God and fulfilling the task that God gives to the church. But it is certain that Satan tries to destroy God’s work as much as he can.

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ch29 The Marks of a Christian (Study of 1 John)

ch29 The Marks of a Christian (Study of 1 John) is a study of what are the marks of a Christian throughout the book of 1st John.

ch29 The Marks of a Christian (Study of 1 John) is a study of what are the marks of a Christian throughout the book of 1st John.

The Marks of a Christian according to 1 John

By David Cox

v1 ©2008 www.coxtracts.com
You may freely reproduce this tract for non-profit purposes.

The Apostle John in his first epistle presents us with the marks of a true Christian. It is important that every Christian meditates on whether he himself is a true Christian, and if he is truly saved, and a part of the body of Christ. No member of a body can exists alone, apart from the rest of the body, without having exchange with the rest of the members of the body. The Christian must base his spiritual life in identification with this body of Christ, and with the work of God that makes up the body of Christ, and to function within that body.

To understand this, we need to study Matthew 25:31-46.  God is going to judge each person as being saved or not by how they have a relationship with Jesus Christ. The point of this teaching is to make us understand that our love of Christ (which is absolutely necessary to be saved) manifests itself in our relationship with the rest of our Christian brethren.

John declares in his first epistle who are our brethren with whom we must do to show our true love of God. By establishing these marks God helps us not to fail in tricks and traps with deceivers or people seeking to take advantage of our love of Christ without them loving Christ.

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ch87 The Remnant of the People of God

ch87 The Remnant of the People of God explains why "big" churches that boast of their numbers are not as God's Word dicts Christians.

ch87 The Remnant of the People of God explains why “big” churches that boast of their numbers are not as God’s Word dictates to Christians.

The Remnant of the People of God

By David R. Cox

[ch87] v1 ©2023 www.coxtracts.com
You may freely reproduce this tract for non-profit purposes

Romans 11:5 Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.

Good churches are growing from small groups of a few people to good sized groups. But Satan attacks every church that is faithful to God. In some cases, good Christians fall into sin, and leave the church for a time. Others make a scandal of something that discourages and takes the wind out of the group. The situations of life cause some Christians have to move away because of work, and this loss also affects the church. Also, good Christians die. But in all of this, God sends good faithful Christians to congregate into order to worship and praise God, and to do God’s work together, through the church. (Hebrews 10:24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: 25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.) When a Christian is discouraged, ask, “Why?” Is it because he has his eyes on others and not on Jesus Christ? If ALL abandon Christ, would even that be just cause that you also abandon Christ?

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ch20 Baptists: Why we call ourselves Baptists v.1.2

Baptists: Why we call ourselves “Baptists”? What does “Baptist” mean? An honest explanation of why we are Baptist.

Baptists: Why we call ourselves “Baptists”? What does “Baptist” mean? An honest explanation of why we are Baptist.

By David Cox

Ch20 v1.2 ©2024 www.davidcox.com.mx/tracts
This tract can be freely reproduced for non-profit purposes.

Many religious groups proclaim “We are not a religion. We are not a denomination, and because of that we don’t use any name except ‘church’. Names are bad.” But it is as if a person goes to the doctor and the doctor gives a prescription, but he doesn’t want to write down the name of the medicine, and just writes “that medicine”. It is useless. We use labels and names to identify what is what. Each name has a meaning, and we use these labels to correctly identify things. This tract will explain why we use the name “Baptist”.

Whatever name we choose to call ourselves by, wicked people can attack us, and without a doubt, somebody will come out using that name without really having the significant life, conduct, and doctrine which should go with that name. The only thing that we can do is to make it very clear what are our beliefs and conduct (defining the label as we understand it) and defend ourselves.

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ch27 Tithe Is it biblical to tithe? v2

ch27 Tithe Is it biblical to tithe? v2 makes the biblical case for giving to God’s work. Topics: The Principle of Giving to God | What is the Tithe? | Why do we tithe? | Is Tithing for the NT?

Is it Biblical to Tithe? v2

Tithe: Is Giving a tithe a NT Obligation?
By David Cox
[ch27] v1 ©2008 www.coxtracts.com
This tract can be reproduced for non-profit purposes




There are people who attack the work of God from without, and there are those who attack the work of God from within. The two most critical points of God’s work which have been seriously attacked from within is the role of pastor in taking care of the church, and the economic sustaining of the church. If convince the ministers to work a secular job to support themselves (see 1Cor 9:14; Mat 10:10; Gal 6:5; 1Tim 5:17) then you will cause an economic poverty within the work of God, basically making it impossible for ministers to accomplish anything more than just keeping their doors open.

There are groups who wish to “free” or unlink the tithe from being a NT Christian’s obligation. If we accept their arguments for a moment, then this means that God doesn’t want his children to support the work of God? What is the biblical alternative? This makes no sense that good Christians don’t want to support the work of God. The rejection of the tithe for the NT Christian has to be a teaching of the devil.




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ch34 Brethren, we must not fight!

ch34 Brethren we must not fight!

ch34 Brethren, we must not fight! explains why Christians should not be contentious, especially between brethren.

Brethren, we Must Not Fight!

By David Cox

[ch34] v1r © 2009 www.coxtractscom
You can freely photocopy and print this brochure




But about brotherly love you don’t need me to write to you, because you yourselves have learned from God that you love one another; 1Thes. 4:9

The Bible speaks of a Christian as a person who has a different personality. This person who is saved is someone who seeks to impose brotherly love in his life, in that he loves his brethren. This is a change from the carnal life he was in before he was saved, “living in malice and envy, loathsome, and hating one another.(Titus 3:3).




Because it is important?

1Jn. 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another; because love is from God. Everyone who loves is born of God, and knows God. 8 He who does not love does not know God; because God is love.

Perhaps it is not very obvious why brethren should not fight, but God hates brethren when they are fighting. First, we have to understand that God in his essence is love. Aggression, friction, strife, and fighting are things that God opposes. They are from the Devil. When two brothers get into a fight, then they are lending themselves to the Devil’s purposes. It is not God. But much more than “God doesn’t like it,” God says his children have to learn, understand, and practice love.

1Jn. 2: 9 He that says he is in the light and hates his brother, is still in the darkness. 10 He who loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no stumbling. 11 But he who hates his brother is in the darkness, and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

God proposes a union and friendship between His children, in which a brother helps and supports his brother in what he does in life. When two people are brothers and fight, then God says that they walk in darkness and that they stumble.

1Jn. 3:10 In this the children of God are manifested, and the children of the devil: everyone who does not do justice, and who does not love his brother, is not of God.

If a person does not love his brethren, then it is manifested that he is not a child of God.

1Jn. 3:14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers and sisters. He who does not love his brother remains in death.

The mark that a person is truly saved is that they love their brother, they do not fight, and they tend to not enter into conflicts and in contentions with their brethren. The Christian understands that God commanded that we have brethren, to have a relationship with them. In demonstrating the love of one brother to another, reveals his faith in Christ. Resistance in fighting or seeking to contend with your brethren is something that draws attention to whether one is saved or that one is still unconverted.

1Jn. 3:15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has permanent eternal life in him. 16 By this, we have known love, in which he laid down his life for us; we too must lay down our lives for the brethren. 17 But whoever has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?

God puts love, being friendly, ignoring, hating, and murderous all on the same line. They are actually degrees of the same thing, your relationship with your neighbor is a reflection of your relationship with God. At one extreme is love, in which one dies for the other. At the other extreme is the murderer. Everything between the two is degrees from one extreme or the other. In addition, brethren share what they have in this life.

Mat. 5:43 You have heard that it was said: You shall love your neighbor, and you shall hate your enemy. 44 But I say to you: Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who abuse and persecute you;

When a person understands (1) the love of God,
(2) what the moral character of God is like, (3) that God is love, (4) that God is not aggressive, and contentious, then one understands God and our common salvation. It is very important to understand that everything is based on two points, as Jesus emphasized.

Mat. 22:37 Jesus said to him: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is similar: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Salvation and the whole Christian life is based on our relationship with God, and on how we demonstrate this spiritual relationship, especially on how we accept and imitate him (Eph. 5:1 Be imitators of God as beloved children“) i.e. nature and moral character of God, and then how we manifest this change of moral character in us to be like God through how we relate to other people (our neighbor, especially our brethren).



Irritating one another

1Co. 13:5 Love is … not irritated.
Gal. 5:26 Let’s not become boastful, irritating each other, envying one another.

God commands us not to irritate each other. The idea here is to provoke, to call for conflict and contention. A Christian is a person who seeks peace, not conflict. As Christians, we sometimes have to face even our brethren when they disobey the will of God the Father, but in general, we must be people who love their neighbors and brethren, forgetting and covering up their offenses and not seeking conflict and contention with them.

Biting and wasting away

Gal. 5:15 But if you bite and eat one another, see that you also do not consume one another.

Between the brethren, when they start attacking and destroying each other then they end up killing each other. The idea is taken literally from one animal that attacks and turns against another to such an extent that it consumes the other.

The Relationship Between One Another

Jn. 13:34 A new commandment I give you: Love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
Jn. 15:12 This is my commandment: that you love one another, as I have loved you.
Jn. 15:17 This I command you: Love one another.
Rom. 13: 8 Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.

It is essential to see the importance that Jesus placed on his children having a loving relationship with each other. This relationship defines and reveals the moral character of God, and one announces God living within them by living in this way.

Upholding one another and putting up with one another

Col. 3:13 bearing with one another, and forgiving one another if anyone has a complaint against another. As Christ forgave you, so do you.

Simply put, if one is saved, he supports and endures his brethren. We seek peace, forgiving each other if we are children of God.

Forgiving one another

Eph. 4:32 But be kind to one another, merciful, forgiving one another, as God also forgave you in Christ.

If you seek and want to be forgiven by God, then He gives you the test of someone offending you so He can see if you really want forgiveness IN YOUR OWN LIFE. If you want to be forgiven by God, then you will also forgive others, bearing their offenses, not holding a grudge and envy against them. God sees the sincerity of your heart toward the salvation that God gives you through how you forgive other people who offend and annoy you.

Exhorting and teaching you

Col. 3:16 The word of Christ abundantly dwells in you, teaching and exhorting one another in all wisdom…

When we understand the Bible and the will of God, then we understand that it is our task as children of God to be those who proclaim the virtues of God (“that you proclaim the virtues of him who called you 1Pet 2:9). In this, we explain and live God’s word (God’s will in words and actions) for others. We encourage and teach, but we do not litigate or be aggressive and conflictive in nature.

Cheer up and build yourselves

1Thes. 5:11 Wherefore encourage one another, and build one another up, just as you do.

The truth of a saved person is that he encourages and edifies his brethren instead of fighting with them.

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More Tracts from the Church Category

Author Pastor David Cox

Pastor David Cox

See also Why People leave your church (posts November 6, 2020)

ch44 Why we don’t charge for Ministering

Why we don’t charge for ministering

By David Cox

[ch44] v1 ©2011 www.coxtracts.com
You may freely reproduce for non-profit purposes

Matt 10:8 freely ye have received, freely give.

Part of the instructions that Jesus gave his disciples was to not put the Gospel or ministering on a give-if-you-pay basis. Serving if somebody pays, and not if they don’t is to commercialize the ministry. The principle behind this phrase, “freely ye have received, freely give.” is that everything we do in the ministry for God should be free, and should be given irrespective of financial giving by who gets the benefit of that works. God designed the ministry in such a way that the spiritually mature brethren pay for things, they teach the financial obligation to give to the spiritually immature, but leave giving as a free-will activity free of coercion or pressure. What cannot be done that way, should not be done at all.

We should seek our reward from God in heaven. When a people are unthankful, and finances don’t come in to support something, it should be stopped.




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ch49 The Biblical Pastor: The Biblical Duty

The Biblical Pastor: The Biblical Duty

By David Cox

 [ch49] v2 ©2013 http://www.coxtracts.com/

You may reproduce this tract for non-profit purposes.

Jer 3:15 And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.  




God has prepared the life of each believer in relation with a congregation and local community of believers, where there should be at least one man of God that “pastors them”. To pastor is to spiritually take care of the believers.

This is the heart of God, and it is his promise (Jeremiah 3:15). But the problem with many churches is that they do not understand nor know what are the duties of a pastor (and at times neither does the pastor), so we need to search the Scriptures to understand God’s teaching on this matter, what are the duties and responsibilities of a pastor.

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ch39 What should we preach?

ch39 What should we preach? is a study tract examining the Bible's comments on good and bad preaching. Topics: What is biblical preaching? Wholesome Doctrine; Good Doctrine produces Piety; Bad doctrine and preaching; Strong Reproof; Preaching to Entertain; and Beneficial Preaching.

ch39 What should we preach? is a study tract examining the Bible’s comments on good and bad preaching. Topics: What is biblical preaching? Wholesome Doctrine; Good Doctrine produces Piety; Bad doctrine and preaching; Strong Reproof; Preaching to Entertain; and Beneficial Preaching.

What should we preach?
The ministry of the Word

What should we preach?
Por David Cox

[ch39] v1 ©2009 www.coxtracts.com
You may freely print this tract for non-profit purposes

See copy of this tract on churchplantingworkshop.com https://www.churchplantingworkshop.com/improving-preaching/what-should-we-preach/https://www.churchplantingworkshop.com/uncategorized/what-should-we-preach/ Note that in the sidebar, there are more posts on improving your preaching.

Ch39 Cox - What we Preach-v1r
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What is “biblical preaching”?

ch39-what-do-we-preach-v1r-b1Ti 2:7 Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity. The word “preacher” is a herald, somebody that repeats loudly the words of the king. Eze 3:17 Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.

It is important that preachers concentrate in their preahing on what God has commanded us to preach (nothing more, nothing less, nothing else, completely). In our day, many pulpits have sidetracked into sermons, content, and non-biblical elements such as jokes, stories, and current events. In this tract we examine what we are, and are not, to preach. Continue reading

ch42 Destitution of Pastor

Destitution of the Pastor

The Destitution of the Pastor

Considerations and Reasons in which the Pastor should leave his office.
By David Cox
[Ch42] v1 ©2011 www.coxtracts.com
You may freely reproduce this tract for non-profit purposes.



Many times there are problems in church between the pastor and the members. In general, it is the pastor who governs and directs the church according to the light that God has taught him. In this, the concept of “pastor” is to direct (govern) the flock of God. The Bible does not indicate that the church can remove him because they do not like something that he does, especially when it is of minor importance. But the pastor likewise is not without his obligations and responsibilities. He cannot just do whatever he wants. For some, the pastor is “untouchable”. Once he enters, there is nothing except God in heaven killing him or the very same pastor renouncing that can remove him. But things are not like this.




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