The Bible is God's Word for Mankind

The Word from God is in the 66 books in the Bible.  We read and study the Bible in order to know God.

Today I finally was able to log in to this website that I have since 2006.  As to date I have posted 3,075 post.  Yes.  But the last few years so very few.  May be I can be better at this.  

 

What is God's Word Lesson by Charles e Whisnant

Contentment

 

Paul  say that “I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am” (Philippians 4:11). That’s not to say that Paul had found a state of being that was free from suffering, disasters, or opposition. Rather, he was able to embrace all hardships as essential components of God’s sovereign plan. The contentment (autarkēs in the Greek) he describes transcends all of those things. His union with Christ brought with it a profound sense of satisfaction and independence from worldly distractions. And that was because Paul’s dependence and sufficiency were found in Christ: “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).

John MacArthur elaborates further:

Paul was saying, “I have learned to be sufficient in myself—yet not in myself as myself, but as indwelt by Christ.”  He elsewhere expressed that subtle distinction: “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me”  (Galatians 2:20). Christ and contentment go together.

But the contentment Paul described was never detached from his passions; rather, it was found in His ultimate passion—Christ. It wasn’t being disconnected from all things that made Paul content. It was His connectedness to Christ that was all-satisfying and the cause of Christ was all-consuming. His letters to the churches he planted are overflowing with love for Christ and love for His people. As John MacArthur points out: “Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he took the idea of contentment much further than it was taken even in the Greek culture, where the word first found its meaning.” Anxious for Nothing, 130. What Paul left us with was a divinely inspired thank-you note.

But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at last you have revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned before, but you lacked opportunity. Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. Nevertheless, you have done well to share with me in my affliction.

Contentment

 

Paul  say that “I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am” (Philippians 4:11). That’s not to say that Paul had found a state of being that was free from suffering, disasters, or opposition. Rather, he was able to embrace all hardships as essential components of God’s sovereign plan. The contentment (autarkēs in the Greek) he describes transcends all of those things. His union with Christ brought with it a profound sense of satisfaction and independence from worldly distractions. And that was because Paul’s dependence and sufficiency were found in Christ: “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).

John MacArthur elaborates further:

Paul was saying, “I have learned to be sufficient in myself—yet not in myself as myself, but as indwelt by Christ.”  He elsewhere expressed that subtle distinction: “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me”  (Galatians 2:20). Christ and contentment go together.

But the contentment Paul described was never detached from his passions; rather, it was found in His ultimate passion—Christ. It wasn’t being disconnected from all things that made Paul content. It was His connectedness to Christ that was all-satisfying and the cause of Christ was all-consuming. His letters to the churches he planted are overflowing with love for Christ and love for His people. As John MacArthur points out: “Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he took the idea of contentment much further than it was taken even in the Greek culture, where the word first found its meaning.” Anxious for Nothing, 130. What Paul left us with was a divinely inspired thank-you note.

But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at last you have revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned before, but you lacked opportunity. Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. Nevertheless, you have done well to share with me in my affliction.

Don't Try to Please People

What’s a chronic people pleaser to do? Here are six ways I’m still learning to fight the idol of approval.

1. You can’t know what others think, but you can know what Jesus thinks.

The cruelty of approval is that you can’t ever really know what others think of you. One look at the cross, though, and you can be sure what Jesus thinks of you. He literally loves you to death.
When talking about approval, my dad likes to say, “What you think of me is none of my business.” But making what Jesus thinks of you “your business” is key.

2. The pursuit of coolness and the practice of kindness are mutually exclusive.

Being a people pleaser means that even when I’m doing something nice for you, it’s really about me. Which is shorthand for saying, “I want you to like me and think I'm cool.”
The way out of this trap is dying to what you think of me so I can begin to be kind to you in the ways Jesus has been kind to me. Because Christians have died with Christ to being cool, we’re free in him to begin being kind. The pursuit of coolnees feeds our approval idol, but the practice of kindness starves it.

3. Being yourself is better than being a cover band of someone else.

A few years ago I braved a dive bar to see a Led Zeppelin cover band called Zoso. They were amazing and the next best thing to Led Zeppelin. But they also made me sad since they’d adopted the persona of someone else, down to the long curly hair and tight leather pants (which should be illegal unless you’ve been on the cover of Rolling Stone). The world has missed out on the unique music only they could have made, even if it wasn’t appreciated beyond their cat lady aunts and favorite high school teachers.
No one wants you to be a cover band of someone else. They want you to be yourself, in all of your shame and glory.

4. Before you can ever be yourself, you have to actually like yourself.

Sadly most of us could agree with Dave Matthews (right now people with Jeeps are nodding extra hard): “I wish I had been anyone other than me.” A guy in my high school actually chose that for his senior quote because he hated himself so much.
The way out of hating yourself isn’t being someone else. It’s beginning to be who God made (and redeemed) you to be. It’s like that scene in Silence of the Lambs when Hannibal Lector escapes from prison by cutting off the guard’s face and wearing it on top of his own. As gross as it is, it’s exactly what we do when we try to be somebody else.
The only way out of the prison of people pleasing is to take off the skin of others and get comfortable in your own. Of course this doesn’t mean getting comfortable in our sin. God is at work to renew us into the likeness of Jesus. But do you realize that God made, chose, redeemed, adopted, called, and sent you?

5. Live from your identity, not for it.

Maybe it’s better to make the distinction between identity and image. Identity is something given, fundamental to the way you see yourself. Image, on the other hand, is something you create, fundamentally about the way you want others to see you. The sin of our age is to live for our image instead of from our identity. Which is why Vaughan Roberts wisely warns us that “wholehearted commitment to Christ will not be good for our image.”
But we have something better than an image. We have an identity in Christ that nothing and no one can touch. It includes words like “son,” “daughter,” “servant,” and “heir.” In the words of Aslan:

You come of the Lord Adam and the Lady Eve. . . . And that is both honor enough to erect the head of the poorest beggar, and shame enough to bow the shoulders of the greatest emperor on earth. Be content.

You don’t have to be someone when you already are someone.

6. Resign yourself to the awkwardness of life.

This is my new favorite line (mainly because my spiritual gift is making things awkward). It’s from the Before movie trilogy (Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, Before Midnight). From beginning to end, life is awkward. Life isn’t as it should be, and neither are we. Let’s not pretend life isn’t hard, or that any of us has it all together. Let’s admit to ourselves (and one another) that we’re broken and can’t fix ourselves. Resigning yourself to the awkwardness of life means being vulnerable about all your weakness and weirdness. Awkwardness is an invitation to vulnerability. And vulnerability is where friendship is born. It’s also where God becomes big. And not until he becomes big will people become just the right size: big enough to matter, small enough to not be enslaved to what they think.
Unfortunately, our struggle with approval won’t just go away. The fight for the gospel of grace to reign in our hearts and minds is a daily one. The fear of winning (or losing) the approval we crave is something to be repented of daily, too. That’s why I’m strongly considering getting Jesus’s words in Luke 6:26 tattooed on my forearm: “Woe to you, when all people speak well of you.” Then again, having a forearm tattoo might be its own approval struggle.
The rest we need from our constant striving to be liked will never be found in ourselves, in the clichés of “trying harder” or “doing better,” or in the shame of “just stop being this way already.” Instead it’s found at the right hand of God, where we already have all of the approval we could ever need. As someone once said, God doesn’t just love us. He likes us. He really likes us.

Sammy Rhodes is a campus minister with Reformed University Fellowship at the University of South Carolina. He also recently authored his first book, This Is Awkward (Thomas Nelson, 2016). 

What is the method whereby God wants us to use to bring about His Grace? What are the means?

June 13, 2016

Means of Grace: An action or system by which a result is brought about, a method: a way, a manner, a mode, a mesure, a technique, the purpose, the intention, the intent to compliment you on your work.

 

Denote those duties we perform for the purpose of improving our minds, affecting our hearts, and of obtaining spiritual blessings; such as, hearing the Gospel, reading the Scriptures, self-examination, meditation, prayer, praise, Christian conversation, etc.

Growing in Grace, that is growing more in our spiritual duties, by an increase of spiritual light and knowledge, by our renouncing self, and depending more upon Christ, by groiwng more spiritual in duties, by being more humble, submissive, and thankful, by rising superiour to the corruptions of our nature, and finding the power of sin more weakened in us, by being less attached to the world, and possessing more of a heavenly disposition.

 

The means are to be used without any reference to merit, but solely with a dependence on God, Christ and the Holy Spirit.

 

We can not ever expect happiness in ourselves, nor be good examples to others, living in the neglect of them.

 

It is vain to argue that the divine decree supercedes the necessity of them, since God has as certainly appointed the means as the end.

 

Besides, He Himself generally works by them, and the more means He thinks proper to use, the more He displays His glorious perfections.

 

Jesus Christ, when on earth used means: He prayed, he exhorted, and did good, by going from place to place.

 

Indeed, the systems of nature, providence and grace, are all carried on by means.

 

The Scriptures abound with exhortations to them, Matthew 5:1-48; romans 12:1-21 (21 ways we are to live) and none but enthusiasts or immoral charcters ever refuse to use them. I taught Matthew 5 to 7 with over 68 sermons. I used Romans 12 for over a year. I taught the 21 ways in which the Lord tells us to live to be able to be the kind of person He wants us to be. He does give His grace to all of His creation, the air we breath, for sure, etc. But special grace to His people He gives by means He has established in order to receive them.

 

From the Theological app on the phone I was giving this start in this paper.

 

God wants us to use the means which he has established for us to receive the grace needed to be the person He wants us to be.

 

We are not the example that others should be looking at for spiritual growth, its not the means whereby we grow in grace. Most of our experience is negative, self is usually the last thing you would want to use as an example. Why we spend so much talking about our self in life is what we do best that is for sure. So just how do we think that is going to bring glory to the Lord? It doesn't, it only gives reflection on us I guess.

 

When giving the history of our experience in ministry, we often refect on the negative, rather than express how the Lord has guided us, directed us, and protected us. We have only been the means whereby God has designed. The seed that we plant is God's Word, which is powerful and has growing power. The means is the "seed of the Word of God." God uses "means" to accomplish His purposes.

 

God's divine decree does not supercedes the necessity of the means whereby He as established to use to produce His desired will in our lives. In other words, the means whereby one is born again, for example, comes through the means of one hearing the Gospel. God could saved someone just by His action alone, which in a sense He does, but He uses the Gospel to give the understanding of what it means to be born again.

 

God could just give us what we need when we need it, simply by doing it, but He as designed the 'means" whereby we receive this "grace" from Him. He as designed the means of "prayer", He has designed that we "read and study the Word of God." He has called preachers and teachers to teach and give understanding where by we can grow in the knowledge and wisdom of God." He has designed "fellowship" with other believers so that we can grow thereby. He has given "spiritual gifts" to each believers in other that they might share those with each other.

 

God has establlished the means whereby we can grow in His Grace, and in Sanctification.

 

I am sure we can reflect on our ministry, we certalnly are not the role model for how to live life, we are such poor example. I am a poor example of a pastor, as the result will show. I don't want anyone to follow my example at all.

 

When I say that I follow the pattern of John MacArthur, for example, as I reflect upon this, its his ablity of preaching and teaching the Word. its not his personal life, for I don't have a clue really about his home life. What I have followed is his teaching the Word of God. Learning the means whereby he learns the Word of God. Its not the man we are to follow, its the Lord that he follows.

How is the best way to expess to others, how you follow Christ as Lord in your life is the role what we should desire to live. When we get finish with our talk, others should see that its all about Christ, we are only the means to give that to others.

Verese on the Abiding Joy that Christians Can Have In Christ

C. S. Lewis got a bit closer to the Biblical meaning when he called joy an "unsatisfied desire which is itself more desirable than any other satisfaction." That statement is a bit obtuse but Lewis then goes on to add that joy "must be sharply distinguished both from happiness and from pleasure". Ultimately Lewis' experienced joy when he discovered that Jesus was the wellspring of all joy.

 

Joy then is the deep-down sense of well-being that abides in the heart of the person who knows all is well between himself and the Lord. It is not an experience that comes from favorable circumstances but even occurs when those circumstances are the most painful and severe as Jesus taught His disciples declaring...

Psalms  2:11
Psalms 9:14


Psalms 13:4
Psalms 13:5

Psalms  14:7

Psalms 16:9

Psalms 19:5
Psalms 19:8

Psalms 21:1,

Psalms  30:1,


Psalms 31:7

Psalms  32:11
Psalms  33:21

Psalms  34:2

Psalms  35:9
Psalms  35:15
Psalms  35:19
Psalm 35:24
Psalms  35:26
Psalm's  35:27

Psalm 38:16

Psalms 40:16
Psalms 45:15
Psalms 48:11

Psalms 51:8
Psalms 53:6
Psalms 58:10

Psalms  63:11
Psalms 65:12

Psalms 66:2

Psalms 68:3

Psalms 70:4
Psalms 85:6,

Psalms 89:16
Psalms 89:42

Psalms 96:11

Psalms 97:1
Psalms 97:8,

Psalms 106:5

Psalms 118:24

Psalms 119:14
Psalms 119:162

Psalms 149:2

Doing Bible Study

TAKING THE WORD OF GOD AS BEING A PART OF MY EVERYDAY LIFE

 

Jam 1:22-25 ^{22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. 23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: 24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. 25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.}

Question: "What is the key to applying the Bible to my life?"

Answer: Applying the Bible is the duty of all Christians. If we don’t apply it, the Bible becomes nothing more to us than a normal book, an impractical collection of old manuscripts. That’s why Paul says, "Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you" (Philippians 4:9). When we apply the Bible, God Himself will be with us.

The first step toward applying God’s Word in our lives is reading it. Our goal in reading is to get to know God, to learn His ways, and to understand His purpose for this world and for us individually. In reading the Bible, we learn about God’s interactions with humanity throughout history, His plan of redemption, His promises, and His character. We see what the Christian life looks like. The knowledge of God we glean from Scripture serves as an invaluable foundation for applying the Bible’s principles for life.

Our next goal is what the psalmist refers to as "hiding" God’s Word in our hearts: "I have hidden your Word in my heart that I might not sin against you" (Psalm 119:11). The way we "hide" God’s Word in our hearts is by studying, memorizing, and meditating on what we have first read. These four steps—read, study, memorize, and meditate—make it possible to successfully apply the Scriptures to our lives.

Study: While studying certainly involves reading, reading is not the same as studying. To study God’s Word means that we prayerfully devote time and attention to acquiring advanced knowledge on a particular person, subject, theme, passage, or book of the Bible. A multitude of study resources is available, including biblical commentaries and published Bible studies that enable us to feast on the "meat" of God’s Word (Hebrews 5:12-14). We can familiarize ourselves with these resources, then choose a topic, a passage, or a book that piques our interests and delve in.

Memorize: It is impossible to apply what we cannot remember. If we are going to "hide" the Word in our hearts, we have to first get it in there by means of memorization. Memorizing Scripture produces within us a well from which we may continually drink, especially at times when we are not able to read our Bibles. In the same way that we store up money and other earthly possessions for future use, we should "lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul" (Deuteronomy 11:18, KJV). Create a plan for the Scripture verses you would like to memorize each week.

Meditate: Writer and philosopher Edmund Burke once said, "To read without reflecting is like eating without digesting." We cannot afford to "eat" God’s Word without "digesting" it. In the parable of the four soils (Matthew 13:3-9; cf. 18-23), Jesus tells of a sower who goes out to sow seed in his field, only to find that some seeds – the Word of God (Matthew 13:19) – had fallen on "rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away" (13:5-6). This, Jesus says, is the person in whom the Word is sown but does not take root (13:20-21).

Psalm 1:2 says that the man who meditates on God’s Word is blessed. Donald S. Whitney, in his book Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, writes, "The tree of your spiritual life thrives best with meditation because it helps you absorb the water of God’s Word (Ephesians 5:26). Merely hearing or reading the Bible, for example, can be like a short rainfall on hard ground. Regardless of the amount or intensity of the rain, most runs off and little sinks in. Meditation opens the soil of the soul and lets the water of God’s Word percolate in deeply. The result is an extraordinary fruitfulness and spiritual prosperity" (pp. 49-50).

If we desire for the Word to "take root" in our lives so that we produce a harvest that pleases God (Matthew 13:23), we must ponder, reflect, and meditate on what we read and study in the Bible. As we meditate, we can ask ourselves some questions:

1. What does this passage teach me about God?
2. What does this passage teach me about the church?
3. What does this passage teach me about the world?
4. What does this passage teach me about myself? About my own desires and motives?
5. Does this passage require that I take action? If so, what action should I take?
6. What do I need to confess and/or repent of?
7. What have I learned from this passage that will help me to focus on God and strive for His glory?

Apply: The degree to which we study, memorize, and meditate on God’s Word is the degree to which we understand how it applies to our lives. But understanding how the Word applies is not enough; we must actually apply it (James 1:22). "Application" implies action, and obedient action is the final step in causing God’s Word to come to life in our lives. The application of Scripture enforces and further enlightens our study, and it also serves to sharpen our discernment, helping us to better distinguish between good and evil (Hebrews 5:14).

As a final word, it is important to note that we are not alone in trying to understand and apply God’s Word to our lives. God has filled us with His Spirit (John 14:16-17) who speaks to us, leading and guiding us into all truth (John 16:13). For this reason, Paul instructs believers to "walk by the Spirit" (Galatians 5:16), for He is a very present Help in our time of need (Psalm 46:1)! The Spirit will faithfully guide us into the will of God, always causing us to do what is right (Ezekiel 36:26-28; Philippians 2:13). Who better to teach how to live according to all that is written in the Bible than the One who inspired the Bible to begin with—the Holy Spirit Himself? Therefore, let us do our part by hiding the Word in our hearts and obeying the Holy Spirit as He draws that Word out of us.

Deuteronomy

 

WHY SHOULD YOU READ DEUTERONOMY THIS WEEK
Deuteronomy 1:29
1:30
2:7
3:24
4:4
4:29
5:6
5:10
5:14
6:4,
6:5
6:7
7:7
7:8
7:9
7:21
8:2
8:10
8:18
9:4
9:5
10:14
10.20
10:21
11:19
12:11
13:8
13:14
14:21
15:10
16:17
17:20
18:1
18:5
18:15
18:18
18:19
18:21
8:22
20:1
20:4
20:8
21:18
22:6
22:7
23:5
24:21
25:15
26:11
27:10
28:2
28:12
28:14
29:29
30:6
30:19
30:20
31:8
31:6
31:8
31:23
32:4
32:11
32:12
33:27  

 

Meditation and Communion With God is the Christian Life Fuel

Bringing Meditation Back

Meditation is distinct from mere reading — especially so-called "speed reading." It means not just running the words quickly through your mind, aiming only to grasp a minimum of meaning, but pausing enough to ponder their significance, and trying to feel their emotional weight by pressing them into the heart. Meditation seeks to experience the truth of the text — not just pass information through the mind, but truly grasp it with our affections.

Jack Davis is right in waving the flag for "a more reflective and leisurely engagement with Scripture" in our day (Meditation and Communion with God: Contemplating Scripture in an Age of Distraction, by John Jefferson Davis. 10.00 kindle Footnote on the book which I got 04 16 2016

 

 

As culture has become at once more secular and more religiously pluralistic, a renaissance of interest in the spiritual disciplines has been sparked in evangelical Protestant circles. Mounting levels of stress, burnout and spiritual dryness among those in ministry has only stoked this desire for spiritual nourishment and renewal. John Jefferson Davis helps us recover the practice of meditation on Scripture as he explores the biblical and theological foundations rooted in the arrival of "the age to come" in Jesus Christ. Indeed by virtue of our union with Christ, the Triune God of the Bible draws near to his people so that they may also draw near to him. Meditation on God's revelation has always been central to enjoying communion with the Father through the Son and in the Spirit. Davis gives us fresh and practical guidance on removing the obstacles that block our fellowship with God and listening to Scripture in ways that can enrich our worship, faith, hope and love.

 

). Far too often, we are far too rushed when we come to our Bibles. According to Davis, the nature of modern life, and the "information overload" we have through television, smartphones, and endless new media "makes a slow, unhurried, and reflective reading of Scripture more vital than ever"

Bible Study Library

A prime object of pastoral teaching is to teach the people how to read the Bible for themselves. A sealed book cannot be interesting. If it be read without the key of comprehension, it cannot be instructive. Now, it is the preacher’s business, in his public discourses, to give his people teaching by example, in the art of interpreting the Word: he should exhibit before them, in actual use, the methods by which the legitimate meaning is to be evolved. Fragmentary preaching, however brilliant, will never do this.

Which Bible is the Word of God?

Is The Bible You Hold in Your Hand  is the Word of God?

The Logo of many Preachers use.  I am An Independent Fundamental Baptist. They mean they are a select kind of Baptist.  Not just any kind of Baptist, all other Baptist are not the real Baptist.  And if you use any other Bible other than the KJV you are not a real Bible Baptist at all.

I am not one of those kind of Pastor.

From a number of resource.

Having been raised on the KJV and was led to believe it was the only “Word of God” that I was not allowed to believe there were any other Bible other than Scofield Bible KJV.

 

Yes this is my 1960 well used and read Scofield Bible KJV

So for a number of years I would only read the KJV,  until I learned the facts.

I still read the KJV and it is a good translation, but I have come to believe (1983) that there are a few other good translation.

Timothy and Maura had been married only three weeks when the persecution of Emperor Diocletian reached Mauritania in Northern Africa. In A.D. 303 Diocletian had ordered that all Scripture be destroyed. Some Christians complied with the emperor’s order and as a result, a new word entered into the vocabulary - traitors (traditores - those who delivered).

As a deacon, one of Timothy’s jobs was to keep the Scriptures and knowing this, the authorities had him arrested. When Timothy refused to turn over the Scriptures, he was blinded with red hot irons so that "The books shall at least be useless to you."(1) When, after further torture, Timothy continued his refusal to surrender the scriptures, he and his new bride were crucified.

Down through the years many Christians, like Timothy, have given their lives for the Word of God. The Bible is the foundation for our beliefs and doctrines. The dissemination and teachings of the Bible are some of the main jobs of the Church. In order to make the Bible more accessible, it has been translated, in whole or in part, into more than 1,000 languages.(2)

Until recently, the Authorized Version (AV) (which is more commonly referred to as the King James Version (KJV)) was considered to be the English translation of the Bible. In fact for many it was not even seen as a translation, it simply was "the Bible." While the KJV is a good translation, two factors have pushed for newer translations.

Why A New Translation?
The most important factor for a new translation is that, over the nearly four hundred years since the KJV was translated, the English language has changed to the point where many people have trouble understanding it. For example, few people today would know what "and anon with joy receiveth" (Matt 13:20) or "I trow not" (Luke 17:9) means unless they were raised reading the KJV.

The other factor pushing for newer translations was of concern mainly to scholars. Since the translation of the KJV in 1611, our understanding of ancient languages, and the number of early manuscripts on which to base a translation has increased tremendously.

As a result, over the last 100 years there has been a flood of new translations, with an alphabet soup of initials. Some of the more notable ones are

The English Revised Version (RV - 1885),

The American Standard Version (ASV - 1901),

The Revised Standard Version (RSV - 1952),

The New American Standard Bible (NASB - 1967)

The New English Bible (NEB - 1970),

The New International Version (NIV - 1978),

The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV - 1990).

Translation Controversy?

Yet all of this effort to make the Bible more understandable has not been without controversy. Some simply prefer the KJV as the version they grew up with (either literally, or in the faith, or both). Others, however, take a much more divisive stance. They claim that these new translations are not just updating, but changing the Word of God. These proponents have "defended the KJV and its text and unashamedly call for their re-instatement as the Bible for the English-speaking world."(3)

Still others take a more extreme position of KJV-only and outright condemn these modern translations. G. A. Riplinger, for example, recently charged that there exists "an alliance between the new versions of the Bible (NIV, NASB, Living Bible and others) and the chief conspirators in the New Age movement’s push for a One World Religion."(4) Are these charges true? Is the KJV the only true word of God?

One of the factors that makes this debate so difficult for most people is that much of the discussion does not center on the translations themselves, but on the underlying Greek text on which the translations are based. For example, in 1 Tim 3:16 the KJV reads: "God was manifested in the flesh" while the NASB reads "He who was revealed in the flesh." The difference is not in the translation but in the fact that the Greek text used to translated the KJV reads "God" (theos) while the text used to translate the NASB reads "He who" (hos). As such, the problem is not really a question of the translation, but is a textual issue - a question about the Greek text itself. In order to simplify the discussion, this article will concern itself solely with the New Testament.
The Text of the New Testament

Currently we have over 5,000 early Greek manuscript portions and over 20,000 early translations of the New Testament. While most of the time these manuscripts agree, there are some places where they differ. When they do, a decision must be made as to which reading is most likely the original reading. This process is called Textual Criticism. Generally, there is little difficulty in determining the original reading, but sometimes scholars are not completely sure. This is why you sometimes will see a footnote on a verse indicating there is a variation in the Greek texts at that point.

The early Greek manuscripts of the Bible can be categorized into three groups depending on their readings: Western, Alexandrian, and Byzantine. The Alexandrian texts centered around Alexandria, Egypt. Because of the dry climate of Egypt, these texts tend to be the oldest. The Byzantine texts centered in the Byzantine Empire. Since the West church switched to Latin, and Alexandria fell to the Arabs, the Byzantine texts tend to be the most numerous.

Textus Receptus: Inspired?
Neither side of this debate question the inspiration of the apostles and prophets who wrote the Bible. But in addition to this, most supporters of the KJV-only position also claim that the Greek text used to translate the KJV, the Textus Receptus (TR), was either protected by God, or that those who assembled the TR were also inspired. Some even go as far as to claim that the translators of the KJV were inspired.(5)

Because of this, KJV-only supporters see any variation from the readings found in the TR (and thus the KJV) as a change in God’s Word. As such, the real question in this whole debate is: Does the TR hold some special status above all other Greek texts of the NT?
The origin of the TR can be traced to a Dutch scholar, Erasmus who in 1516 published the first Greek New Testament using the newly invented printing press. (6) Erasmus was not able to find a single Greek manuscript that contained all of the New Testament. As such, he had to combine the few manuscripts he had in order to make one complete text.

Erasmus had only one copy of the book of Revelation, from which the last page was missing. To get around this problem, he translated the missing six verses from the Latin. Erasmus published five editions of his Greek New Testament which became the basis for the text used to translate the KJV.

From its origin it is hard to see how the TR can lay claim to being the only true Word of God. Since Erasmus combined several manuscripts and translated some portions from the Latin, the resulting text was in many ways unique. An identical text had never existed before. Thus if the TR is the only true word of God, the true word of God did not exist until the 16th century!

Of course one could argue that Erasmus was inspired by God to recreate the original Greek New Testament, and as such his translations from the Latin only restored the original. But this raises the question, what claim had Erasmus to being a prophet? Also, if Erasmus were inspired by God, which of his five versions should be considered inspired since they all have minor differences between them?
KJV: A Perfect Translation?

Perhaps the clearest example of an error made by the translators of the KJV is in 1 John 5:7-8. Actually, as we will see, it was not the translators who made the error, but Erasmus, when he printed the Greek text that was later used by the translators. In the KJV this verse reads:

For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one. (Italics added to mark disputed portion)

The same verses in the NIV reads:

For there are three that testify: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and the three are in agreement.

It is quite apparent that some of the words in the KJV (referred to as either the Comma Johanneum, or the Heavenly Witness passage) do not appear in the NIV. The question is: were these words part of the original text written by John, or were they added by someone else later? (6)

To date, this passage has been found in only four Greek manuscripts (manuscripts are designated by number)

Manuscript Date
61 - 1520 A.D.
2318 - 1592 A.D.
629 - 14th -16th century A.D.
918 - 16th century A.D.

In addition it has been found written in the margins of four other Greek manuscripts
Manuscript Date
221 - 10th century A.D.
635 - 11th century A.D.
88 - 12th century A.D.
429 - 14th century A.D.

The first time we hear of the passage quoted as being from John is in a fourth century Latin work Liber Apologeticus written by the Spanish heretic Priscillian, or one of his followers. After that, the passage is quoted by some of the Latin fathers, and from the sixth century forward it begins appearing in Latin manuscripts of the Bible. The passage was not quoted by any of the Greek fathers, which would be most unlikely when one considers the controversy concerning the Trinity. Furthermore, as Bruce Metzger has pointed out "The passage is absent from the manuscripts of all ancient versions (Syriac, Coptic, Armenian, Ethiopic, Arabic, Slavonic), except the Latin."(7)

Thus it would seem clear that the passage was added to the Latin versions of the Bible. (Perhaps an early scribe wrote it in the margins as a note, and a later scribe copying the manuscript thought it was a correction and included it in the text). If as it appears, the Heavenly Witness passage was an addition to 1 John, then Erasmus could not have been inspired when he assembled his Greek text, nor can we consider the translators of the KJV to have been inspired when they translated the KJV.

Doctrinal Problems?

Allen Roberts and Another charge that is often leveled against the modern translations is that they corrupt the doctrines of the Bible.
P. A. Hall concluded that "Our comparison of the various English translations shows a weakening of the major doctrines." (8) Riplinger charges that those in the New Age movement are "gradually changing the bible to conform to its One World Religion." (9)

There is a major problem with the approach taken by some of the KJV-only supporters.
They make doctrine more important than the Word of God. In other words, they are judging the Bible by doctrines instead of judging doctrines by the Bible. One cannot have it both ways. If we are to judge our translations by how they conform to a set of doctrines, we could easily end up with a Bible like that of the Jehovah Witnesses’ New World Translation (NWT) in which all difficult passages are written in such a way as to eliminate any difficulty.

Deity of Christ: Weakened?

While we do not have space here to examine all of the doctrines, we will look at one of the most important, the deity of Christ. Do modern versions weaken Jesus’ claim to be God? To show that they do, supporters of KJV-only cite verses which support the deity of Christ in the KJV but have been changed in modern translations. There are two problems with such an approach.

One is that, by selecting different verses, the argument could be turned completely around. Consider John 1:18

KJV - No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. (Italics added)

NIV - No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known. (Italics added)

Here the NIV refers to Jesus as God, while the KJV refers to him as the Son. If we were to follow the logic of the KJV-only supporters we would have to conclude that the translators of the KJV were trying to weaken the doctrine of the deity of Christ.

Difference or Contradiction

The second major problem with the approach of the KJV-only supporters is that a change in one verse does not necessarily affect the overall teaching of the Bible. Changing 1 Tim 3:16 from "God was manifest in the flesh"(KJV) to "He who was revealed in the flesh" (NASB), does not affect the teaching of the Bible on the deity of Jesus, for there are many other verses (such as John 1:1) which do support this doctrine and which have not been changed. Roberts and Hall base their criticism on a belief that "a change in one verse renders the concept at least contradictory to other verses," (10) but this is simply not the case.

The NASB version of 1 Tim 3:16 does not say that Jesus is not God, or even that God was not manifest in the flesh, it simply says "he" was manifest in the flesh. If we ask who this "he" was, we will find that the NASB version of John 1:14 still says "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us," and the NASB version of John 1:1 tells us that "the Word was God." Thus the NASB still teaches that it was God who was manifest in the flesh. We may have to do a little more studying to discover this (which may account for the addition of the word "God" in 1 Tim 3:16), but the doctrine is identical.

You Can Trust the Bible

The bottom line is that it really does not make much difference which of the major Bible translations you use. It is true that, because of the vast increase in our understanding of ancient languages and the number of manuscripts upon which to base translation, there are some differences between the KJV and the modern translations. For the most part, these differences are minor.

In fact, the important point that so often goes overlooked in such discussions is that with over 5,000 early Greek manuscripts, there really is very little variation. Norman Geisler and Ron Brooks noted, "There are less than 40 places in the New Testament where we are really not certain which reading is original, but not one of these has any effect on a central doctrine of the faith. Note: the problem is not that we don’t know what the text is, but that we are not certain which text has the right reading. We have 100 percent of the New Testament and we are sure about 99.5 percent of it."(11)

The KJV is a good translation, but so are the NIV, NASB, NRSV, etc. All of the major translations have their good points. All major translations, including the KJV, have their problems.

When choosing a translation, as long as you are considering a major translation, you do not have to worry if it really is the Word of God. The only real concern is whether or not this is a Bible you will read and study. For if you don’t bother to read and study the Bible, then the accuracy of the translation is of little importance.

Footnotes
1 Fox’s Book of Martyrs ( Grand Rapids, Zondervan) p. 29
2 Josh McDowell, Evidence That Demands a Verdict (San Bernardino, CA: Here’s Life, 1979) p. 19
3 Allen S. Roberts and P. A. Hall, Take Heed Unto Doctrine: The Degrading of Doctrine in Modern Bible Translations (Warburton, Victoria, Australia: Good News Literature Centre, 1987) p. 83
4 G. A. Riplinger, New Age Bible Versions (Munroe Falls, Ohio: AV Publications, 1993) p. 1
5 Riplinger, New p. 510
6 The often heard story of Erasmus including this passage based on a challenge has been called into question by recent scholarship and cannot be considered reliable.
7 Bruce M. Metzger, A Textual Commentary On The Greek New Testament (United Bible Societies, 1975) p. 716
8 Roberts, Take p. 36
9 Riplinger, New, p. 1
10 Roberts, Take, p. xi
11 Norman Geisler and Ron Brooks, When Skeptics Ask: A Handbook on Christian Evidences (Wheaton, ILL: Victor Books, 1989)
http://www.consider.org/library/which.htm

The Means Of Salvation

The Peace-Maker

Those That Would Be Bless Are The Peacemaker

Charles e Whisnant, Pastor/ Expositional Teacher of the Word of God
Rivers of Joy Baptist Minford, Ohio July 05 2015

Luke 6 and Matthew 5

A  The Meaning of Peace: Righteousness

The Divine Perspective on Peace:  It is more than the absence of something, it is the presence of something .  Peace is must stopping ware peace is creating righteousness that brings enemies together in love.

James 3:17, Hebrews 12:14; Psalms 88:10'  Matthew 1:34, Jude 5.  Luke 12:51-53

Where there is real peace there is righteousness because that resolves the issue.

2A  The Menace to Peace:  Sin.

What is it that hinders peace?  Jeremiah 17:9; Isaiah 48:22; Isaiah 57:21; Jeremiah 8:11; James 3:18

    Peace is not be be found in our human reason or in our circumstances.

3A  The Maker of Peace: God.

First Corinthians 13:33, Romans 15:33  Peace belongs to God, not to man at all.  Ephesians 2:14, Colossians 1:20

Jesus is our peace maker.  Galatians 5:22  The fruit of the Spirit is peace.  Jeremiah 29:11, John 16:323

Peace in our hearts is the calmness that comes because God has wrong His righteousness there and the war is over.

4A  The Message of Peace: 

    Matthew 5:9; First Corinthians 9:15; Second 5:18-19, Colossians 4:5; Philippians 4, Ephesians 6:16

A peacemaker is one who has made peace with God himself.

A peacemaker will help other make peace with God,.

A peacemaker is one who helps other make peace with men. First Peter 5:21-23, Matthew 5:44;  Romans 12:18; Mark 9:50

5A  The Merit of Peace: Sonship

They shall be called the sons of God. That is nice right?

   

Learning To Know the Master (outline)

WHY SHOULD WE REALLY DESIRE TO KNOW THE WORDS OF GOD IN THE BIBLE STUDY

Charles e Whisnant, Teacher

April 12, 2015

Lesson 1: What is Scripture, and why?
Lesson 2: The Bible as God's Message
Lesson 3: Scripture Teaches Us
Lesson 4: The Bible in discernment
Lesson 5: Studying the Bible
Lesson 6: Asking and Thinking with the Bible
Lesson 7: What Does 'Biblical' Mean? (you just read this!)
Lesson 8: Some Key Concepts of Bible Study
Lesson 9: Words For Describing the Bible
Lesson 10: Devotional Bible reading

The sacred page is not meant to be the end, but only the means toward the end, which is knowing God himself. A. W. Tozer

The Bible were not written over 2000 years, and  lived by many, to be kept and collected and piled up , just to be put into a basket for holding God's wonderful, life changing truths  and stories with morals that have good effects.

Thirty million sought psychotherapy.   "People go to therapy to cope with disorders, relationships, stress, grief, to figure out who they are and learn to live life to the fullest."

First Peter 2:1 "desire the pure milk of the word that you may grow thereby.."  Growbylearning.org.

Thirst to know.... To learn of God requires that you thirst to find out.  Just to know plenty is not good enough.

It means to be intentional -be eager to learn. Be disciplined. Question, challenge, wrestle, and sometimes even insistently reject what you hear.  Some time you need to disbelieve your knowledge, and disbelieve your doubts, and don't believe everything that you think and hear. 

Learn to trust that the Spirit is at work, and it is this same Spirit that communicates the truths of the Scriptures beyond anything thing else.   God wants you to know.  And to thirst to know God, the Lord Jesus Christ is the best avenue.

HOW TO LEARN FROM THE BIBLE:

One: read the notes Pastor/Teacher Charles gives you and take them home and study them, made a devotion out of them.

Two: listen to the sermon again on you tube or vimeo.

Three: study it yourself, study it with others, live how the Word leads you by the Word. Live it out with others that are living it out, and also others who are not living it out.

Your mind will change as you learn - and if you are not - then you are not really learning.  You can learn to think biblically, you can learn to change your behavior, you can learn to be lead by the Spirit.  Practice the Presence of the Holy Spirit.

DON'T JUST READ THE WORD OF GOD, DO SOMETHING WITH IT.  WHEN GOD SPEAKES THINGS HAPPEN.

The truths in the Word of God can effect and rub off on just about anybody. The applying of the Word will not come back empty.

READ THE SCRIPTURE WITH ATTTIUDE

    Read with faith that is right, and with passion. 

Pastor Charles loves bibles, but not for the paper that its written on, but for the person whom speaks through them. 

The truths that are in the Bible teach that which is the foundation for depth and exploring, mining and understanding all dimensions of God's truth.

THE BIBLE IS THE VOICE OF GOD, not a Charles Martin, or Lisa Harris, or Melody Carson novel.

TRY THE FOLLOWING

1. Choose a book of the Bible you've never read before, and read it aloud at the loudness and speed you would use in ordinary speech. Read it all the way through, even the technical parts. This can be done a chapter or two a day, which gives you more time to think about it.
2. Or, choose a poetic passage, such as in the Psalms, Song of Songs, or Lamentations. Read it aloud, slowly, giving yourself time to savor it and let it sink in.
   
3. Think of Scriptural ideas, symbol, or passages that have affected your life through non-Christian or general-public sources or people. (They're all over the place, but you may have to think a bit to find them.)
4. Name one thing you have learned from the Scriptures.
5. When you're studying the Gospel, try memorizing some of the key summary lines Jesus says, or scriptures of encouragement, or some of the promises Jesus makes to His followers.
6. If you're reading the Bible in a church study group, try asking yourselves the question: What does

Sermon Preparation

 
Preaching is an important part of pastoral ministry, but preparation can be stewarded better with the right kind of help. |

What we say in the pulpit has the ability to transform people's lives, and lead them to be like Jesus.

In 2010 LifeWay Research found that Protestant pastors devote more time to sermon preparation than anything else they do—and that's good news.

Only 7% dedicate less than 5 hours a week, which is a smaller number than the 9% who dedicate more than 25 hours per week to sermon preparation.
The preaching of God's Word matters greatly.
That's a lot of time out of a pastor's work-week. With 65% of pastors working at least 50 hours a week, that indicates to us that the average pastor is dedicating a significant amount of time in sermon preparation.

You don't have to wait until the week before to start listening to the Holy Spirit!

God is just as present in your planning and preparation months in advance as He is "in the moment," and by getting ahead you give Him time to reveal even more inspiration to you as each Sunday's topic approaches. Plus, you'll be able to engage more of your creative staff and volunteers to make each Sunday the best it can be, for God's glory!

 

God has spoken in Scripture. It is the business of all Christians to seek to understand God's Word and put it into practice. If this is the case for every believer, then it is certainly true for pastors. Their key task is to teach and apply the message of the Bible for the salvation of the lost and the building up of the people of God. Acts 20:17-41.

Charles Whisnant, Personal Library

 

John MacArthur books

 

 

Charles e Whisnant January 18, and 21 2015

 

BIBLICAL INSIGHTS:

An Exegetical and Expositional Commentary on First Peter

PREVIEW OF THE BOOK OF FIRST PETER

Getting to know Peter        1:1-2        Getting to Know Peter
Peter's prayer for his readers    1:3-12        Peter's Prayer for His Readers
Living in Holiness            1:13-16    Loving for Salvation 1:10-12
Living in Smart            1:17-21    Living Smart
Living in God's Truth        1:22-25    Living in God's Truth
Living like New Babies        2:1-8        same
Living with a New Identity        2:9-10        same
Living as Aliens and Foreigners    2:11-12    Living above to Flesh
Living obediently to human authorities    2:13-17 Civic Duties of Believers
Living as Christian slaves        2:18-25    Serving non-Christian Bosses
Living as Chrisitan wives         3:1-6        Winning a non-Christian husband
Living as Christian husbands     3:7        Husbands, live with your wife
Living Obediently             3:8-12        Live compassionately
Living with Abuse            3:13-22    Suffering unjustly   
Living in Paganism            4:1-6        Understanding suffering
Living in service to others        4:7-11        The end is near
Living in the fire            4:12-19    Understanding suffering
Living with one another, leaders, and members  5:1-5    Develop the Right atmosphere
Living    in victory over the devil    5:6-9        Standing up to opposition
Praising God                5:10-11    God's Promise
Saying Goodbuy            5:12-14    Saying Goodbye

http://cranfordville.com/IBC%20Cologne/BI_v21_1Peter_German.pdf
Context and Background: 

Serious study of the Bible requires careful analysis of the background and setting of the scripture passage. Failure to do this leads to interpretive garbage and possibly to heresy. Detailed study of the background doesn’t always answer all the questions, but it certainly gets us further along toward correct understanding of both the historical and contemporary meanings of a text. This serious examination of both the historical and literary background of every passage will be presented in summary form with each of the studies
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When the non believers in seeing the lives of godly believers, they want praise the believers, instead, they will have to acknowledge the activity of God in the lives of believers even though they refused to accept it at the time.  In the day of judgment this is how it will be.

Here is the way to spiritual awakening in our world.  This is the only way to spiritual renewal.  Such is the key strategy in evangelistic outreach to the pagan world. Until a significant percentage of Christianity realizes the biblical truth here in First Peter 2, spiritual decline and deterioration will continue to happen in country after contry.  Christianity will continue to shrink and impact ever smaller percentages of the population

How To Get The Most Out of Bible Study Notes

 

HOW TO GET THE MOST FROM READING THE BIBLE

1. REMOVE THE HINDRANCES 

Matthew 13:22

2.  READ IT WITH REVERENCE

I Samuel 7:3

3  PREPARE YOUR HEART

4.  READ THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE IN ORDER

5.  GET A TRUE UNDERSTANDING OF SCRIPTURE

Psalms 119:73

READ WITH SERIOUSNESS

Deuteronomy 32:47, Hebrews 4:1

PERSEVERE IN REMEMBERING WHAT YOU READ

Psalms 119:52 and  Matthew 13:4, 19

Bible Study Material Charles Whisnant

All these post is about my experiences in ministry. Most of us pastors and preachers are in a small church, in a small community or even in a small part of a town or county.

I certainly realize that the John MacArthur’s the Dave Jeremiah’s, the Charles Price, and Charles Stanley, and the other big time TV preachers are doing a great work.

But with that said, it does mean that we who are in the vast majority should just do nothing.

I highly suggest   that every one would follow these men mention.  I have, and have profit from them. 

I am fully responsible for what I do and serve the Lord.  There are others that are better examples of the work of the ministry. But that does not negate the fact that each of us are responsible to do the work in which the Lord has called us.

I have no problem for any Christian to follow the for mention men and ministry. I encourage them to do so.

But with all that said these are the things that I do to do the work of the ministry and preach and study the word of God.