Who runs the Local Church? is a tract by David Cox on how the local church should be governed, a pastor leading, elders advising, deacons serving.
By David Cox
[ch55] v2 © 2021
http://www.coxtracts/
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Why read the Bible? spiritual reasons is a tract for new converts on the importance of reading and studying the Bible for Christian growth.
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The Covetous that Hordes; Idolizing Possessions and Riches
by David Cox
[fam10] v1 ©2006 www.coxtracts.com
This tract can be freely photocopied and reproduced
This is somebody who desires or presumes is his right to have abundance and live in luxury and pleasure, especially speaking of material things. Contrary to the principles of proportion and the Christian living aware of others (Eph 4:28 Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.), he lets other suffer while he lives enjoying his goods and riches, enjoying the pleasures of life.
Self-Esteem
Esteeming One’s Self
By David Cox
[PC08] v1r ©2008 www.coxtracts.com/pc08
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Phil 2:3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.
Modern psychology treats the “psyche” of man, which they define as existing but without observations nor definitions from actual science. But in that, psychology has been recognized as a science even though its conclusions, bases, and methods cannot be confirmed nor denied through science (in other words it is ALL unproven theories).
Perhaps one of the principle points in psychology is the exaltation of the human image itself (his psyche or person), or self-esteem. Modern psychology’s principal trust is to simply emphasize the need for self exaltation.
Whatever thing seems to lower one’s view of one’s self is a “sin” in psychology. Their remedy to all problems is to understand that “you are not so bad”, and “the guilt lies with others”, i.e. raise self-esteem. Continue reading
Training our Kids
By David Cox
[fam06] v1 ©2006 www.coxtracts.com
This tract may be freely reproduced for non-profit use.
The Bible in Malachi 2:15 mentions that God hates divorce God “seeks a godly seed.” God commands us very clearly about our children, that we should guide them in the way of God so that they would be saved and serving God. This is not optional, and the manner of doing it is likewise not optional. Some say that they will wait until their kids are adults and let them choose for themselves. This only lets the world educate your children as Satan and our sinful nature would have it.
Eph. 6:4 And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
This verse commands us to bring them up, doing it the correct way against the incorrect (provoke to wrath). “Nurture” means the act of providing direction to live responsibly in this world. “Admonition” means to counsel about stopping or avoid incorrect or improper conduct based on what God has said in His Word. It is a warning in what should or should not be done. Paul commented that Timothy was wise through his knowledge of the Scriptures (2Tim 3:15), and that this is exactly what the Scriptures do when we study them and apply them to our lives. We should do this as adults, but parents equally should do this for their children until they are able to do it for themselves. The OT is full of examples of these types of exhortations (Deu 4:9; 6:7; Psa 78:3-6).
Pro 3:12 For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.
Heb 12:6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 7…for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? 8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. 9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? The principal point here is that the parent receives the child as his own only if he disciplines the child. The motive for correcting and disciplining our children is not just to chastise them, but to correct their lives so that God doesn’t have to punish them more severely later in their lives. It is love that forces one to discipline, and that has to begin at a young age Pro 13:24 He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes. The child should always hear “we discipline you, because we love you.”
This instruction is not information only, but it is information about the will of God through the Scriptures (2Tim 3:15) such that it changes his being, his character, his attitude, and his will. This teaching is to help him stop sinning, and it should come from his parents (Pro 1:8-10), and be focused on his fulfilling the will of God (Pro 4:1-4), and recognizing the parents moral values and obeying them by following the pattern of their lives. In the Bible this is “living” so as to obtain eternal life. Isa 38:19 The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth.
Psa 78:3 Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. 4 We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done. 5 For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children: 6 That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children: 7 That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments: 8 And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not stedfast with God. The end or purpose of training our children is so that we pass our Christian faith to them, so that they may be saved, and not forget God, so that they will keep the commandments of God and walk in faithfulness with God.
Exo 20:12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. God promises us that if we honor and respect our parents that God himself will extend our lives on the earth. Col 3:20 Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord. 1Pe 2:13 Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme. In other words, the will of God is that we have respect for all in authority, especially the elderly and our own parents.
Pro 16:32 He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city. The person who cannot control his own spirit is a threat to society, and is condemned to suffer under the hand of God and the civil authorities. Mat 16:24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. What God imposes in our lives (and in the lives of our children) is that we deny ourselves, and suffer the hard things in order to comply with God’s wishes. Pro 22:15 Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him. Human character without the influence of God is totally devoid of moral character, and this is seen by the foolish things of the world in his life. Men dedicate themselves to make the biggest ball of rubber bands in the world, as is seen constantly on Ripley’s “Believe it or Not” presenting time after time. Where is the eternal value in such foolishness? What importance will today’s sports have in 100 years? None. Most people hardly even remember it a year later.
1 Cor. 15:33 says “Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.” The goal here is to teach our children to recognize and resist bad influences in the world, their friends, fashions, television, what they see, etc. It is good to remember that the saved are a remnant (Rom. 9:27), and we will never be in the majority or the popular.
Phil. 2:3 Do nothing out of strife or vainglory; rather with humility, each one estimating the others as superior to himself; 4 not looking each one for his own, but each one also for the others. Part of finding God’s will and staying with it is seeing what God wants from our character. It is Satan’s spirit (Isaiah 14:12-15) to exalt oneself. Prov. 27:2 Let a stranger praise you, and not your own mouth; A stranger, and not your own lips. To be a mature adult Christian who is pleasing to God, one has to focus one’s life on serving others and not being served, seeking to saturate oneself with sensual delights and pleasures.
Spirit of not complaining, but doing everything with a good heart, as for the Lord: Here we see the attitude of the child. Many times your child may agree to do what you tell him to do, but he does not do it in a good spirit, but with murmuring and conflict. Phil. 2:14 Do everything without grumbling and disputing. Col 3:23 And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men. Here we see that God fixes the attitude of our hearts when we do something, even things that seem insignificant to us. Our Christian faith shines through even our “insignificant” activities in our lives because we have joy, peace, and encouragement in everything we do.
We must include here also Job 9:27 “I will forget my complaint, I will leave my sad countenance, and I will strive.” Part of having the right attitude is not to float when it’s something you don’t want to do. One must do what he does with joy of heart, and this joy must be manifested outwardly.
We must focus on some methods that God has sent for us to instruct our children. The first is for being the spiritual example for our children. The truth is that everything one can say or instruct a child is for nothing if the person teaching him is a hypocrite in his own life before God. The vision that God gives us about this is to take them where we are going. Genesis 18:19 For I know that (Abraham) will command his children and his household after him, to keep the way of the Lord, doing justice and judgment… Abraham’s example is that an obedient believer will always command his own house in the ways of God. This is about the most important thing there is (apart from his own salvation). The influence of a holy life is what changes people. Joshua 24:15 But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. We also see the good example of Joshua in showing dedication and decision in following God and in training his children in the things of God.
Second, we must see that training our children has a moral character. In other words, we are not only dealing with behavior, but also what causes this behavior. Prov. 22: 6 Train up a child in his way, and when he is old he will not depart from it. The word “instructs” comes from the word “palate”. It refers to the custom of mothers when a newborn does not want to drink milk from her breast. He puts honey or sweets on his palate, and if he wants more, he drinks his mother’s milk. This is probably the first thing such a creature learns. Thus the training is to deal with moral principles and rules. This implies that no father can train his children well without going to the Holy Scriptures, studying and teaching them. Sometimes people try to impose morals without reference to the Bible, and this always fails.
Third, we must understand that God commands us to discipline our children in order to impose these moral teachings on them. The point is not to punish them for their bad behavior, but to change their spirit and appearance to obey God. Prov. 3:12 For the LORD punishes the one he loves, as a father punishes the son he loves. Prov. 13:24 He who spares punishment hates his son, but he who loves him corrects him early.
By David Cox
[ch20] v1 ©2006 www.coxtracts.com
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. Continue reading
Always Late for the House of God
By David Cox
[fam15] v1 ©2008 www www.coxtracts.com
You may freely reproduce this tract for non-profit use
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Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time. Col 4:5
We ask ourselves at times why some of our brethren always arrive late to the house of God. The world we live in grows more complicated and entangled every day, and the demands on our lives and time also grow every day. At times it seems that we will never reach something what appears like peace and tranquility. When we touch on this problem, it is only tip of the iceberg.
We need to take time to reflect and meditate on what we are doing, how we live our lives, and above all, how we relate to our God. The plan and work of Satan is to never allow us peace and calm so that we can reflect, meditate, and order our lives after what pleases God.
Why we don’t use Cell Groups
The Church Growth Methodology of Cell Groups
By David Cox
[Pent09] v1 ©2005 www.coxtracts.com
You may free reproduce this tract for non-profit purposes
Problems:
• It isn’t the biblical model nor example.
• It is for personal glorying and Blasting.
• It doesn’t permit the proper Leadership formation.
• Promotes women in Leadership over men.
• It removes the local pastor as example.
• It steals sheep from other churches.
There is nothing wrong with having Bible studies in homes, but as long as those teaching are fully qualified. Bigness for bigness sake is wrong. When this growth means teachers and leaders are installed without concern about their testimony nor their doctrine, this becomes a sinful situation.
Do Heaven and Hell really Exist according to the Bible?
by David Cox
[D03] v1 ©2005 www.coxtracts.com
you may freely reproduce this tract
There are religious groups and individuals that believe that neither heaven nor hell exists. For them, everybody goes to the grave, and at this moment their existence ends. To deny the existence of heaven is to deny the possibility of salvation, eternal life, or a place and experience of eternal happiness after death. Heaven represents the reward God gives to those that obey Him, and it even represents God and his promises to us. To deny the existence of hell is to deny that an Almighty God exists, that God is a just Judge, and that He is holy. Hell represents the punishment of God on those that refuse His will. God is a judge that judges men about moral matters. God does not permit sin in His presence; neither does he allow sinners to escape with a “ceasing to exist” (annihilation). God punishes them in a place of extreme punishment called “hell.”
In the concepts of the ancients, there were actually three places called “heaven”.
The first heaven is the air above the earth (this is also “up” for those who live on earth) Mat 24:31; Mark 6:41; 13:27; Luke 4:25; 9:16; 17:24; 29; 18:13; John 6:31-33; 17:1; Acts 1:10-11; (this heaven gives rain Acts 14:17; James 5:18).
The second heaven is where the sun and stars reside Mat 24:29-30; 26:64; Mark 13:25; Luke 21:11, 26.
Athanasius Creed: There is one God in Three Persons
290-373 A.D.
[D07] v1 ©2008 www.coxtracts.com
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