GURUISM
AT THE CHURCH HOUSEBy
Steve Van NattanAre
you letting other men do all the Bible studying for you?
2
Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not
to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. Most
Christians read that verse and figure, "That is for preachers and seminary
Ph.D.s. I don't need to worry about Bible study as long as I have a good preacher." Who
was the following said about, only preachers? 2
Timothy 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
17
That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. There
is NO title "Man of God" in the New Testament which is exclusively for
pastors. Check it out. The "Man of God" is you. And, God gave you the
Bible for YOU to study. |
So, let us look
closer at what God expects of you as he works to make a Bible student out of every
Bible believer.
THE PROBLEM FOLLOW
ME Who
said that? Matthew
4:19 And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. Jesus
did not say, "Follow Pastor Smith." That is what the Pope says. The
Roman Catholic Church, during the Dark Ages, promoted the doctrine that the Bible
was much to tricky for the average man to read and study. Catholics were told
to not read the Bible. Rather, they were told that the Priest would study the
Bible and tell them what it meant. That heresy lasted hundreds of years and was
still the standard teaching when I was a kid. The Popes, in recent years, have
modified this to actually tell Catholics to read their Bibles, but they still
discourage study of the Bible without a Priest to be in charge. But,
Fundamental Baptists, and many other denominations, teach a new version of the
same old Catholic heresy. It goes like this, "You follow me, and I will follow
Jesus." Sam Gipp, noted Fundamental Baptist apologist, put it another way,
"There is one man who stands between your family and Hell..... your pastor." This
is nothing but guruism, the same wretched philosophy that the gurus of India and
Hinduism teach. It is also the false religion of the dumb sheep that follow men
like Joel Osteen, John MacArthur, and Benny Hinn. I know of people who have all
of John MacArthur's sermons on CD. They think that, by listening to CD sermons,
they will become spiritually mature. The problem is, what if John MacArthur gets
something wrong, as I show you elsewhere in this journal? If MacArthur is your
guru, you will be at least as wrong as he is on many topics from the Bible. Type
"John MacArthur" into the search box in the header of this page to see
some of his errors dealt with in this journal. Finally,
you are guruized if you come faithfully to my journal and assume that you will
get all the teaching you need from me. I am NOT the final authority. The Bible
is. We will talk about this more below.
When
a Pope or Baptist preacher tries to park between you and Jesus Christ, that man
is a heretic and needs to be run off and replaced at once. John
14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in
my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance,
whatsoever I have said unto you. 1
Corinthians 2:13 Which things also we (Apostles)
speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost
teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. The
Apostles' teachings were often included by the Holy Spirit in the canon of the
New Testament. There were other times when the Apostles' teachings were not included
in the New Testament, such as Paul's letter to the Laodiceans. This means that,
because the Apostles were men like you, they were not always under inspiration,
and the Holy Spirit made sure you got ONLY the teachings which God approved of.
Why would you want to hand over the study of those Bible texts to someone else
when the Holy Spirit wants to teach you personally? 1
John 2:27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and
ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of
all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall
abide in him. The
Holy Ghost has come to EVERY born again believer at the time he confessed his
faith in Jesus Christ.
1 John 2:27 above says that he abides in you. That means that the Holy Spirit
does not leave you for any reason. John 14 above tells you that the Holy Ghost
will bring into your memory the things that Jesus taught. That is why we need
to study the Bible. Only by study of the Word will the Holy Ghost be able to remind
us of the truth. This rubbish talk from Charismatics that they got a special revelation
from God is a lot of horse leavings. It is ONLY by study of the Word of God that
anyone can receive any of the truth from God. 2
Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not
to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. Hebrews
5:12 For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach
you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become
such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
13 For every one that useth
milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.
14 But
strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of
use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. The
reason so many believers are off into cults and following James Dobson and Joel
Osteen is because they absolutely refuse to exercise their senses with "strong
meat." By this, the Apostle was talking about study of the Word of God. He
was rebuking the Hebrew Christians for being lazy and trusting someone else to
study for them. Are
you a "babe," sucking on your bottle, or are you a real meat eating
man of God? It
has gotten so bad that, in recent years, that pastors have resorted to feeding
their people milk on purpose. This is because if those preachers plow deep and
teach strong meat, these weak sissy Christian men will grab their families and
run off to find a milk sucking preacher at a mega church. The classic example
of this is in Fundamental Baptist churches where the pastor preaches the Gospel
in every sermons, and the deeper things of Christian life and conduct are neglected. God
has promised that you will have the Holy Ghost to teach you the truth as you study
his Word. Why are you making a guru of your preacher and letting him do all the
work of Bible study? God bluntly told you to do your own study.
THE
PRIESTHOOD OF THE BELIEVER 1
Peter 2:5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood,
to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. 1
Peter 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation,
a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called
you out of darkness into his marvellous light: You
do not NEED a priest (pastor) in order to faithfully show forth the praises of
Jesus Christ to the world. You ARE a priest, at least according to the Apostle
Peter under inspiration. At
the end of the same chapter, Peter says this: 1
Peter 2:25 For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd
and Bishop of your souls. If
you keep returning to the pastor of your local church every Sunday, under the
stupid impression that he will make you like Jesus Christ, you are a blithering
idiot. Furthermore, what would you look like if you only ate food one day a week,
say, on Sunday? You would be a physical wreck. And so, you are a spiritual wreck
if you think two sermons on Sunday, and a Bible study snack on Wednesday evening,
will make you a strong Christian and a useful priest of Christ. Consider
another fact about the New Testament. When the Apostle Paul wrote a letter to
a local church, he did not send along a Commentary by John Calvin so that the
church members could figure out what Paul was teaching. Here were Paul's instructions
about his letters: Colossians
4:16 And when this epistle is read among you, cause that it be read also in the
church of the Laodiceans; and that ye likewise read the epistle from Laodicea.
17 And say to Archippus, Take heed to the ministry which thou hast received
in the Lord, that thou fulfil it. 1
Thessalonians 5:27 I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read unto all
the holy brethren. These
letters from Paul were read in the assembly, and the ordinary church member was
expected to be edified and taught life principles and doctrine by listening to
the letter being read. Then, the letters were passed on to other local churches
to be read. Furthermore,
these early Church believers did not have the whole 66 books of the Bible to cross
reference. A letter from the Apostle Paul was anticipated to bring maturity and
strength to the lives of the believers without any other Bible books. This is
not to imply that they never checked on Paul's teaching by referencing the Old
Testament if they could get their hands on a scroll at the synagogue. Acts
17:10 And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea:
who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews.
11 These were more
noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness
of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. God
has arranged, by the invention of the printing press, for you to be able to afford
to carry around all 66 books of the Bible. That is the only commentary you need.
If the plain sense makes good sense, don't look for any other sense. And,
if you are a bit slow and unskilled at even reading and comprehension, that is
exactly what God likes. You are the kind of saint he has "chosen" to
take the most profound Bible truth and make it clearly understood by other Bible
believers, especially your wife and kids. 1
Corinthians 1:26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men
after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
27 But God hath
chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen
the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
28 And
base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea,
and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:
29 That no flesh
should glory in his presence.
30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of
God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
31 That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the
Lord. The
greatest evil in a Bible college or seminary education is that students graduate
with big heads. They are taught, by example, that they are to see themselves as
glorious. I
have gone to preacher's rallies, and they make me want to puke. These punk preachers
stand around the foyer, before preaching times, bragging on their church attendance
and how many Sunday School buses they have rolling on Sunday morning. They slap
one another on the back, like the photo at the top of this article, and they shine
on one another with sickening flattery. Then, during the meeting time, they make
jokes about their seminary days which are designed to exalt the schools they attended.
These conversations, and all pulpit introductions, were liberally laced with flattery
one for another. Flattery is of Satan..... ALWAYS. If your pastor flatters you,
find another pastor. He is speaking for Satan. SOME
OF THESE SCHOLARS ARE EXPENSIVE ALSO
2 Peter 2:3
And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you:
whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth
not. PREACHERS
OF LA...... Rather, LO
These spiritual thugs are extreme admittedly, but
this gaudy exaltation of men is what God hates.
I'M
WONDERFUL, BELIEVE ME HERE
IS A WELL KNOWN GODLY PREACHER
The point? There is nothing in the Bible
text the preacher used that you cannot understand and apply to life if you are
willing to do your own plowing. Martin Lloyd Jones was a British doctor who was
the physician to the royal family. He left that fame and became a Bible teacher.
It is not his intellect, nor his polished King's English or elocution, which made
him useful to God. He never attended any Bible training college or university.
He simply did his own digging in the Bible, and God used him to teach others.
You can find the same gold mine Martin Lloyd Jones found if you start doing your
own digging now. HERE
IS DONALD TRUMP SHOWING HIS LUST FOR FLATTERY
This men is possibly the
most insecure President the USA has ever had. He not only encourages people around
him to heap flattery on him, he also flatters himself constantly. The reason you
do not see Democrats complain about this is because they are just like him. All
politicians have to flatter themselves in excess in order to get elected and stay
in office. This is the most ugly side of democracy, and this is the reason God
has a very low regard for democracy. Witness the great image in Daniel. Democracy
is iron and clay. Do you need flattery to feel good about your Christian life?
If you do, and you find it, you may not even be born again.
BEREANS Acts
17:10 And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea:
who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews.
11 These were more
noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness
of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.
12
Therefore many of them believed; also of honourable women which were Greeks, and
of men, not a few. Paul
calls the Bereans "more noble" than the Thessalonicans because they
did not take Paul's word for it. They went home, or went and got the Bible scrolls
out at the synagogue, and they checked up on Paul to see if he was telling the
truth. The
result was that many Bereans believed in Jesus Christ. And, honorable woman were
converted because of the results of their checking up on Paul. If you do not check
up on what you pastor teaches, you are not a noble Christian. You are following
a Christian guru, and YOU ARE LAZY. Bernie
Taylor was a man in the church I pastored in the High Desert of California. He
often challenged me with questions based on sermons I preached. He was not rude,
but he felt he needed to get some answers to questions. I did not resent this
at all because Bernie was really growing in the Lord. One Sunday, he asked me,
"How can I check up on you, pastor, and see if you are really getting the
Greek word meanings right?" My old nature did not like that question, but
my zeal to see Christians grow convicted me at once. I told him I would buy him
a copy of Vine's Greek word studies. I did so, and gave the book to Bernie. A
couple of years later, I was visiting Bernie's home, and I saw his Bible and Vine's
Word Studies sitting on the floor next to his chair. The Vine's had been totally
destroyed by much use. Bernie had been having a great time doing a lot more than
Checking up on me. He was using the Vine's during his personal Bible study. Are
you a "noble Berean?"
CLARITY
OF THE SCRIPTURES We
need to decide, once and for all, if the Word of God is clear enough for the ordinary
man to understand. Many Bible scholars today do not believe the Bible is clear
enough for you to understand without a seminary education. These men are simply
craving the lordship over you and the local church. These snob Ph.D.s in many
seminaries, have taught your pastor that he is essential in order for you to clearly
understanding the Bible and the will of God for you. So,
is this the way God delivered his law and Word to Israel? Deuteronomy
30:10 If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments
and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, and if thou turn unto
the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.
11 For this
commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither
is it far off.
12 It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall
go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?
13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over
the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?
14 But
the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest
do it. And,
when God inspired the writers of the New Testament to write books, he did not
change his method of communicating with Bible believers. Neither are the truths
of God only found only in a seminary or Bible college classroom. Any pastor who
preaches this is in direct violation of the text above. God has, by divine premeditation
and predestination, caused his Word to be delivered to men who would put the truths
they heard from God into ordinary easy to understand forms. This is why Paul said
the following: 2
Peter 1:16 For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known
unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses
of his majesty.
17 For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when
there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son,
in whom I am well pleased.
18 And this voice which came from heaven we heard,
when we were with him in the holy mount.
19 We have also a more sure word
of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth
in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:
20
Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men
of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. The
Word of God is not the "private" property of intellectual theologians
who have plenty of degrees but no temperature. And..... 1
Corinthians 1:17 For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel:
not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.
18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but
unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
19 For it is written, I will
destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of
the prudent.
20 Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer
of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? God
has made the wisdom of the great biblical scholar to be foolishness. This is because
God planned for the great truths of the Bible to be understood by people who crave
plain words. Paul
said, 1 Corinthians 2:3 And I was with you in weakness,
and in fear, and in much trembling.
4 And my speech and my preaching was not
with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of
power:
5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the
power of God. Verse
4 implies something powerful, friend. You need to do your own thinking as you
read the Bible. What is implied here? The clear meaning is that when the Holy
Spirit is delivering truth, as in the Bible, he does it in plain easy to understand
language. God is not some high minded person who wants to leave you in total suspense
as to what he wants to say to you. God talks to you as you are, and the Holy Spirit
knows you personally. He is not in this divine process to befuddle you with big
words and high thoughts. KISS-
Keep It Simple Saint. It
is far better to be plain in speech,
yet walking openly and consistently with
the gospel,
than to be admired by thousands, and be lifted up in pride…
(Matthew
Henry) While
I was at BIOLA University in the 1960s, a friend of mine was a student across
the campus in Talbot Seminary. My friend was famous, even as a student, for his
mastery of Calvinism. One day, he told me that Cornelius VanTil, a Dutch Reformed
scholar, and a card carrying Calvinist, was invited to preach at the seminary
chapel hour. My friend told me all the students tried to take notes of VanTil's
message, and only Dr. Feinburg, the seminary president, could keep up with VanTil.
The reason, my friend said, was that VanTil was so profound and erudite that he
was far above all the students. That man, my dear reader, was worthless as tits
on a boar hog in a Louisiana swamp. I once bought a book by VanTil, and it was
so high minded and scholarly that I threw it away. And for the record, I can plow
right alone with some of the men who like to plow deep. I never wasted my money
worse than on that book by VanTil. 2
Corinthians 10:10 For his letters, say they, are weighty and powerful; but his
bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible.
11 Let such an one think
this, that, such as we are in word by letters when we are absent, such will we
be also in deed when we are present. Now,
think please..... What does verse 11 imply? Answer: "If you thought I was
weak, and my speech contemptible, when you read my letters, guess what? That is
exactly the same way I will be when I come to visit your church." You did
not find Paul standing in a group of five of six church leaders waxing eloquent
and exalting his own ministry. Paul would have been sitting in the corner talking
about Christ with some mentally handicapped kid. I will tell you the truth.....
if you can explain the Gospel so that a kid with autism can understand it, you
have mastered that doctrine better than any triple Ph.D. from Dallas Seminary. The
discussion of Cornelius VanTil brings up another issue. The Roman Catholic Church,
from 300 AD to the 1500s, buried the Bible under mystery, and their Canon Law.
Defining all their doctrine, was as tricky as a contract to buy General Motors.
Martin Luther, William Tyndale, and all the Reformers were obsessed with making
the Bible so plain and open that the ordinary plowman could understand it. Many
Reformers actually were burned at the stake for helping the common Christian understand
the Word of God. In this, these men should be remembered as heroes. But,
sadly, along came John Calvin and John Knox, and with other Reformers they started
writing "confessions" which added high toned verbose descriptions of
what they believed in legal language. Soon, the average Christian was forced to
become a Philadelphia lawyer and be able to debate and expound these confessions
in order to be "confirmed" as a sho nuff Reformed Christian. This progressed,
and soon every famous Reformation leader felt obligated to write a 24 or 38 volume
commentary. To this day, Calvin's Institutes, and his commentary, are exalted
to the same authority as the Bible itself by many Dutch Reformed, Lutheran, Presbyterian,
and Anglican scholars and pastors. These writings are presented as essential to
anyone who wants to study the Bible. In past years, my own experience with commentaries
was that, when I found a Bible verse I could not understand, I went to some commentary,
and the writer skipped that verse. He was no wiser than I am. Why buy one of these
$600 sets, only to find that the author only talked about the Bible texts you
can already easily understand on your own? Thus,
the average Reformed church member is timid and terrified of studying the Bible
on his own unless he has a double domed domini with a doctorate bossing the Bible
study. Much ado is made of the Reformer's notions, and the Greek is parsed and
mulled over until the sincere seeker is totally in awe of the scholar more than
the Savior. This process can all go to Hell in my book. If you are stupid enough
to allow some conceited self-aggrandizing pimp of some seminary to rob you of
the study of the Bible, you are a fool. And I say that, as always, in all good
Christian charity. Regular readers here all know how gentle and patient I am with
self-exalting scholars..... NOT. 1
Corinthians 14:8 For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare
himself to the battle?
9 So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words
easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? for ye shall speak
into the air. Who
is blowing the trumpet of truth, human scholars, or the Holy Spirit? In fact,
the Bible tells us what to do with these men who use clever preaching, big words,
and chatter about "the original Greek" to intimidate church members.
DR. PETER SELLERS, THE SCHOLAR FROM PRINCETON
WHO WOULD NOT DIE. Romans
16:17 Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences
contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.
18 For they
that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good
words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple. When
a pastor, evangelist, or wandering special speaker is known for his "fair
speech," that is, his fantastic way of shelling the corn, so that people
are in awe of the man rather than in awe of Jesus Christ, that man is a devil
and a servant of Satan. Read that again please. Any
man who helps you take your eyes off of the Lord Jesus, and who causes you to
doubt your own mind when reading your Bible, and who draws all men to himself
instead of to Jesus, is devil possessed. That is what Jack Hyles was. Churches
which had sold their souls to Jack Hyles had deacons running around with "100%
for Hyles" buttons on their lapels on Sunday morning. "Jesus is just
OK, but we are for Hyles." The
Bible is an easy book to read, and it is just as likely to be understood clearly
by YOU as by a Ph.D. from Temple Baptist College or Crown College. The Bible scholar
from Dallas Seminary, who is exalted as a fantastic Bible teacher, is not any
more likely to understand the Word of God than some lowly deacon in Appalachia. Romans
1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly
seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and
Godhead; so that they are without excuse: God
did not say that his revelation was "clearly seen" only if you have
a Masters degree from Dallas Seminary. God created you so that you would be ready
to receive his revelation and understand it. Here
is what God thought of these high toned scholars in the Old Testament era: Jeremiah
23:30 Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that steal
my words every one from his neighbour.
31 Behold, I am against the prophets,
saith the LORD, that use their tongues, and say, He saith.
32 Behold, I am
against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the LORD, and do tell them, and
cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them
not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith
the LORD. 2
Timothy 3:6 For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive
silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,
7 Ever learning,
and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. All
that is needed for truth to shine forth in your soul, my friend, is YOU, a copy
of a black backed KING JIMMY, and the HOLY GHOST. What follows will be just as
deep as it needs to get for the Gospel to be exalted and Christ glorified in your
life and the life of your family. You are your wife's and kids' pastor. Never
forget that, sir. ALSO,
WHO IS THE AUTHORITY IN YOUR LIFE AND HOME?
TOOLS
FOR BIBLE STUDY Technology
has brought the present day Christian many sources to help do his own study. E-SWORD
This is a free Bible study program full of many features to help learn word meanings
and find cross references and contextual meanings. For
$60 you can now buy the full version of SWORD
SEARCHER. This is the most complete Bible study software available. It has
many features and will even search for words you misspell. It allows you an area
to do Bible studies and save your notes and thoughts. This resource is more help
than you can get in four years of a Bible major at Bob Jones University. How can
I say that? Experience, sir. I had a Bible study in the High Desert of California
long ago, and a Bob Jones graduate attended. He told me he had not learned, as
a graduate of Bob Jones U., the simple methods of Bible study we used in that
group. You
may want to buy a chain reference Bible. I believe this can be of help. There
are references with the text to find other Bible texts on the subject. I would
discourage you from buying a study Bible that has notes added by someone at the
bottom of the pages. This tempts you to make a guru of the man who wrote the notes.
Keep a notebook in which you make notes about what you study. A wide margin Bible
lets you make notes in the margin of the Bible. HERE
IS A REFERENCE AND WIDE MARGINED CAMBRIDGE BIBLE IF YOU CAN AFFORD IT. Make
a time and place where you study the Bible. You may study with someone, but if
you study alone, you will find that the Lord will bless you in a special way.
Do not assume that daily Bible reading in the morning or evening is study. Bible
study is work, though it is a blessed work. Study
a whole book of the Bible all the way through. Pot shot study, in which you pick
topics that you think you need to deal with, is a poor discipline. You will miss
the feeling of plowing the whole field of a whole book. What would you think of
a farmer who plowed an acre here and an acre over there because he liked those
acres better than others? If
you share what you are learning with your pastor, and he clearly shows that he
does not approve, find another church. A pastor who resents you doing your own
Bible study is a Bastard Son, not a servant of
Christ. Finally,
encourage your spouse and kids to study their own Bibles. The reason so many Christian
kids are slipping away from Christ and their profession of faith today is because
no one expects them to feed themselves spiritually. Having
said the above, please do NOT imagine you must have outside sources or software
in order to understand the Bible alone. That is blasphemy against the Holy Ghost
whom Christ sent to teach you. But, if you can find ways to learn what all of
the bible says on some topic by using a study help that has done that for you,
this is helpful. Just be a noble Berean and check every source against the rest
of the Bible. Also, never feel obligated to accept the opinions of scientists,
even Christians who are in the sciences. This will tempt you to believe that the
Bible does not have all the revelation you need. 1
Timothy 6:20 O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane
and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called: Finally,
do get yourself a King James Version (not "NKJV"). The KJV is the Bible
God used to bring us all the great revivals over 350 years of the Church Age,
and all the new translations remove many verses, and the name of Jesus hundreds
of times. If you come on a word that is old English, just drop it into Google
and ask for "definition," and you will know the meaning at once.
CONCLUSION Revelation
20:6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such
the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ,
and shall reign with him a thousand years. You
are a priest of God now, as we saw above, and this verse in The Revelation tells
you that you will be a priest of God during the Messianic reign of Christ. Maybe
if you study your Bible more now, you will not have to go to Priest's Bible College
in Jerusalem because Jesus decides you don't know enough Bible to reign with him
yet. I confess, I made that bit up about the Bible college, but how will you feel
with a fellow named Zephaniah comes up to you in the Messianic Kingdom and says,
"Did you ever read my book, sir?" And, you say, "I think I did.
Was it published by Zondervan or Barnes and Noble?"
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