SOME THOUGHTS ABOUT STUDYING YOUR BIBLE (PATRICK FARISH)

SOME THOUGHTS ABOUT STUDYING YOUR BIBLE

          We are in favor of Bible study, at home or with brethren.  We announce the times of congregational study, and emphasize the need of all being prepared, and present, for such sessions.  We are familiar with the passages of scripture which indicate the power of the revelation of the mind of God which is the Bible; we can probably quote most of them.  We see the need of daily study of the Bible, and even intend for that to be a part of our day.  So, what is the point of this article?

          Because, some years ago, the CHURCH I was working with had a gospel meeting, and in the morning services the theme was to be, “How To Study Your Bible”.  I was looking forward to this study directed by an OLDER MAN (he was probably thirty years old, at the time) and encouraged the brethren to take full advantage of this good opportunity.

          With every session, we learned about literal and figurative and symbolism and metaphors and similar things, profitable, but lacking in the one thing that is essential to understanding the Bible: attitude.  It is good to know all the rules of understanding composition; but for Bible study to be effective and beneficial, the Word must be approached with trembling, Isaiah 66:2.

          II Thessalonians 2:10-12, PAUL writes of “those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. …”    Some are troubled by passages which speak of people being deceived, or deluded, or (as here), where Paul goes on to say “Therefore God sends them a strong  delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all  may condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”  Why does God send them a “strong delusion”?  Because they wanted to believe error.  Why do they want to believe error?  Because they did not love the truth.

          Study your Bible, read it every day, with the determination “to do God’s will”, (John 7:17) BECAUSE THEN “you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32).                                                                                                               pf

"WHO IS JEHOVAH THAT I SHOULD HEARKEN UNTO HIS VOICE" ? (ROBERT H. FARISH )

    God's demand that Pharaoh let his people go was met with Pharaoh's retort - "Who is Jehovah that I should hearken unto his voice" (Exodus 5:2). The sentiment reflected in the retort has not gone out of style. Rebellion against proper authority stems from the basic idea seen in the question, " Who is God that I should hearken unto his voice?"

    The Psalmist presents the case of the one whose prepossessions cause him to reject the being of God in order to avoid the restraints of righteousness - "The wicked, in the pride of his countenance, saith, He will not require it, All his thoughts are, there is no God" (Psalm 10:4). Arrogance cannot thrive in the same heart where conviction that "He will not require it ", exists. Denial of judgment must be constantly repeated - all of one's thinking must be directed toward denying God.

    If there is no God, then there is no effective incentive to "deny(ing) ungodliness and worldly lust"
 ( Titus 2:12). One cannot live "soberly, righteously and godly" in this present world without rejecting ungodliness and worldly lusts.

    The compultion which causes all one's thinking to be, "There is no God", does not exist in a "good and honest heart", The good and honest heart recognizes the right and power of God to "require" it and does not demand, "Who is God that I should hearken unto his voice?"

    Solomon said "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it art the issues of life" (Proverbs 4:23). Keeping the heart involves recognition of the possibility that Jesus is Lord, Prejudice against the idea of supreme lordship effectively prevents belief in God.

DENOMINATIONALISM = Organization of the chursh (PAT FARISH)

DENOMINATIONALISM  =  Organization of the church

   The religious world is confused about many things in connection with the church for which Jesus died; among them most significantly is the matter of organization.

  First, there is "one body" ( Ephesians 4:4)The language indicates that the church in the universal sense is under consideration. The Bible teaches that He promised to build the church, that the church was bought with His blood that it is His body and He is the head of it and that He is in heaven (Matthew 16:18; Acts 20:28; Ephesians 1:20-23). There is only one church that has been built, bought and headed by Jesus - Who is in heaven. So all the denominational churches with earthly "heads" and headquarters by that expose themselves as being other than the "one body".

  The Bible speaks of the church - the one body - in two ways. It is, as we have been noticing the church universal, with Jesus as its head an no other organization; but it is also used in a local sense: the church at Philippi, the seven churches of Asia. The church is composed of saints. members of the body, in the local sense; AND in the universal sense as well, Just as the church in the local sense is composed of saints (Phillipians 1:1), so is the church in the universal sense, The church universal is not composed of churches; it is composed of saints.

  It is the local church that has responsibility of action assigned, The local church has duty in evangelism, in edification and in benevolence, and we see it at work as recorded in the New Testament. Organization has been provided for it so that it can work; Paul addressed the Philippians epistle to "all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the overseers and deacons". (1:1). No organization is revealed for the church in the universal sense: Jesus is the head, all the saints are members; and no other functionaries ( such as bishops or deacons)are revealed.

  The churches of men are a different matter entirely. If they have elders, the qualifications are ignored: if they have deacons, they are working in areas the elders are supposed to attend to;

their local churches are bound together is associations about which the Scripture knows nothing. Their practices are indifferent to the teaching of Jesus: they are denominations, not the one body.

FAITH=BELIEF=FAITH=BELIEF (PAT FARISH - PLEASANT RUN CHURCH OF CHRIST)

FAITH=BELIEF=FAITH=BELIEF

And without faith it is impossible to please him,for

whoever would draw near to God must believe

that he exists and that he rewards

those who seek him

[Hebrews 11;6]

There are two imperatives in in Hebrews 11:6. "it is impossible" is one of them; "must" is the other. Both are associated with pleasing, or drawing near to, God. Two different words are used to satisfy these imperatives: faith, and belief. If you want to please God, you must have faith, must believe - but what is the difference? IS there a difference?

This is one of those passages in which one word in the original is translated by two different ones in our text (Romans 1:17 is another, with "righteousness" and "just").

When a writer says that something is so important that it is impossible to get along without it; and then uses a different word to say the same thing, the implication is that the two words have the same meaning. It would be awkward to say it this way, but the force would be the same if they were switched, "without belief it is impossible...must have faith that he exists".

So "faith" and "Belief", are interchangeable; they translate the same word

(Pat Farish Pleasant Run Church of Christ)