Name: Mike Licona: The Historical Case for Resurrection of Jesus Christ & Minimal Facts / Bedrock Evidence @KJB1611Baptist
Uploaded: 2026-09-22T08:17:00-05:00
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Description: Mike Licona: The Historical Case for Resurrection of Jesus Christ & Minimal Facts / Bedrock Evidence

Mike Licona: The Historical Case for Resurrection of Jesus Christ & Minimal Facts / Bedrock Evidence

KJB1611 2026-09-22 | Mike Licona: The Historical Case for Resurrection of Jesus Christ & Minimal Facts / Bedrock Evidence

Two Prodigal Sons (Younger Repentant-Elder Not) & the Fathers Love for Needy Sinners: Luke 15 (#7)

KJB1611 2023-05-11 | Luke 15: The Two Lost, Prodigal Sons! The Younger Repentant - the Elder Son not Repentant - and the Father's Love for Needy Sinners.

Luke 15 contains a three-part parable; the lost sheep, lost coin, and lost son. The lost sheep, coin, and son represent a sinner who comes to repentance. The two sons appear in:

11 And he said, A certain man had two sons: 12 And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. 13 And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. 14 And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. 15 And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. 16 And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. 17 And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, 19 And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. 20 And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. 21 And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. 22 But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: 23 And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: 24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry. 25 Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick and dancing. 26 And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant. 27 And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound. 28 And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and intreated him. 29 And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends: 30 But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. 31 And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. 32 It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.

Who are you like?

1.) Are you like the younger son while in rebellion—are you a unconverted sinner still enjoying his sin, like the careless publicans and sinners who did not want to hear the Lord Jesus? You do not yet feel your want, nor the evils of the far country. You are glad to be there, away from the Father. The Bible calls you a child of wrath, a child of hell. However, you will know what it is to reject the Father one day, and unless you repent, and surrender to the Father with the attitude “Father, I have sinned very greatly against Thee. I am not worthy to be Thy son. I repent—I am willing to be the lowest of your slaves,” you will without any doubt perish in hell forever.

2.) Are you like the younger son after his repentance and conversion? What reasons do you have for gratitude! You can say: “For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell” (Psalm 86:12-13). The Father’s bowels were moved for you in love even while you were in the far country, hating him. He saw you and loved you even when you were afar off. You have now been brought safe into the Father’s house, purchased out of infinite love and at the infinite cost of the blood of He who spoke this parable in the first century, and who understood as no man else ever has, or ever will, what a price was required to redeem the sinner from the far country—the awful cross which Christ spoke of in the precontext to Luke 15 in Luke 14:25-35.

3.) Are you like the elder son—doing a slavish “service” to the Father, but without any love for Him, without any understanding of his heart? Are you an unconverted Pharisee instead of being an unconverted tax collector, or a repentant and converted sinner? If you are, Christ’s invitation is open to you. You still can recognize that, however good you may look on the outside, yet in truth you are not one whit better than those sinners who are living in the far country. You have a far country on your inside, while they have it on the outside—you are no better than they. Receive Christ’s invitation, and be converted.

Committing to Remember Gods Works: Psalm 77:11 (for Christian Ladies)

KJB1611 2023-05-09 | Committing to Remember God’s Works

Twice in this verse, Asaph commits himself to this decision of remembering.

Here Asaph chooses to put his mind to meditating on the wonders God has done from old.

What are some of those wonders?

How often do we spend time meditating on those things which are declared to be wonders in Scripture?

That same wonders is found in the following texts:
*When Sarah, at age 90, became a mother for the first time: Gen. 18:14 Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.

When God wrought miracles in Egypt: Ex. 3:20 and 34:10.

The plagues God would bring upon His own people if they failed to obey His covenant (Deut. 28:59).

The wonders God did in causing the people to walk over the Jordan River on dry ground (Josh. 3:5).

When the angel appeared to Samson’s parents (Judges 13:19).

Commands to remember His wonders:
I Chron. 16:9 tells us we are to talk of all God’s wondrous works.
I Chron. 16:12 says we are to remember the marvelous works God has done.
I Chron. 16:24 commands us to declare His marvelous works among all nations.

Does this consideration sound like something God takes seriously? If we are to talk of the works, remember the works, and even declare God’s works among all nations, what do those actions require?

They require clearly that we are filled with musing upon these works.

Our thoughts determine our words and very often our actions.
But, you say, I meditate on God’s Word and it doesn’t seem to affect my life—not in a real and tangible way.

How often I have felt myself drawn down a pathway of thought that is not God’s best.

“For as he thinketh in his heart,” Proverbs 23:7 declares, “so is he.”

When we read the word heart in Scripture, we ought to consider—my heart is what I think, the real me. How important to continually yield to the Spirit’s control in our thoughts, disciplining our minds to reflect Scripture there, so that we might be the kind of people who show forth God’s praise in our lives.

In Job 37:14, God commands Job to stand still and consider the works of the Lord.

The works of the Lord ought be a constant meditation of our hearts. His mighty acts. His wonders. His deeds. His merciful kindness in intersecting with us. As we fill our minds with such objectivity about our God, we will be helped to frame what is occurring in our circumstance in a way that reflects His glory and praise.

Further uses of this word works are found in texts such as these:.

I Chron. 26:15 explains that Uzziah was “marvelously” helped—same word as wonders. God helped Uzziah reign

Job 5:9 tells us that God does marvelous things without number.

Many verses in Psalms teach us to consider the works of the Lord.

Since God does marvelous things without number, we all can do the same, adding our own observations to these works and wonders.

Amazing facts of science and the natural world—these began my list.

For instance, a butterfly’s wings are arranged in scales, like the tiles of a roof—only a Master Designer could do that!

Other additional cards I hope to write include God’s workings in individuals’ lives throughout history. His work on continents through men and women of God dedicated to his service.

For instance, this morning my husband and I read of Mihaly (or Michael) Kornya from Hungary, whom God used to preach the gospel in 325 villages and towns in Hungary, most of which began a Bible-preaching Baptist church as a result of that witness. Kornya ministered in Hungary between 1875, the year of his baptism, and 1917, the year of his death. Kornya’s ministry still bears fruit in Bible-believing Christians in that land. In every age, God is at work, on every corner of the globe.

A regular practice of our lives ought be to rehearse such biblical truths and right thinking about God!

Purposing to guide our thoughts in a pathway that helps us become aware of His workings about us—this is a practice we can learn from men like Asaph, who determined to remember God and thus praise the Lord.

So many biblical wonders can be included on our own lists: from the wonders God accomplished in Egypt to His parting of the Red Sea to the multitude of fulfilled prophecies throughout God’s Word. The list of God’s works is unexhaustible. We know this from Scripture. Isaiah 64:4 assures us,

For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him.

When we purpose to wait upon God, remembering His works—He has the perspective of faith awaiting us, a preparation we cannot even begin to imagine.

Let us, then, purpose, as Asaph did, to set our affections on things above by meditating upon God’s mighty works!

That verse again, “I will remember the works of the LORD: surely I will remember thy wonders of old.”

Justification: Christs Righteousness Alone by Faith Alone, Reconciliation & Sanctification (4.32)

KJB1611 2023-05-07 | The Biblical doctrine of justification, compared with the justification as taught by the Roman Catholic Council of Trent and the London Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689, completes part 32 in the series learning how to lead evangelistic Bible study #4, “How Can God Save Sinners? The Gospel of Jesus Christ!” from the FaithSaves website. The Baptist doctrine properly declares:

1. Those whom God Effectually calleth he also freely justifieth, not by infusing Righteousness into them, but by pardoning their sins, and by accounting, and accepting their Persons as Righteous; not for any thing wrought in them, or done by them, but for Christ’s sake alone, not by imputing faith itself, the act of believing, or any other evangelical obedience to them, as their Righteousness; but by imputing Christ’s active obedience unto the whole Law, and passive obedience in his death, for their whole and sole Righteousness, they receiving, and resting on him, and his Righteousness, by Faith; which faith they have not of themselves, it is the gift of God.

2. Faith thus receiving and resting on Christ, and his Righteousness, is the alone instrument of Justification: yet it is not alone in the person justified, but is ever accompanied with all other saving Graces, and is no dead faith, but worketh by love.

3. Christ by his obedience, and death, did fully discharge the debt of all those that are justified; and did by the sacrifice of himself, in the blood of his cross, undergoing in their stead, the penalty due unto them: make a proper, real, and full satisfaction to God’s justice in their behalf: yet in asmuch as he was given by the Father for them, and his Obedience and Satisfaction accepted in their stead, and both freely, not for anything in them; their Justification is only of Free Grace, that both the exact justice and rich Grace of God, might be glorified in the Justification of sinners.

4. God did from all eternity decree to justifie all the Elect, and Christ did in the fulness of time die for their sins, and rise again for their Justification; Nevertheless they are not justified personally, until the Holy Spirit, doth in due time actually apply Christ unto them.

5. God doth continue to Forgive the sins of those that are justified, and although they can never fall from the state of justification; yet they may by their sins fall under God’s Fatherly displeasure; and in that condition, they have not usually the light of his Countenance restored unto them, until they humble themselves, confess their sins, beg pardon, and renew their faith, and repentance.

6. The Justification of Believers under the Old Testament was in all these respects, one and the same with the justification of Believers under the New Testament.

The Biblical doctrine of justification appears in church history in writers such as Clement, the third pastor of the church at Rome, flourishing around the end of the 1st century AD. (Roman Catholics falsely claim he was the third Pope, but there were no real Popes until centuries later.) The epistle of 1 Clement plainly teaches justification by faith alone:

And so we, having been called through his will in Christ Jesus, are not justified of ourselves or through our own wisdom or understanding or piety, or works that we have done in holiness of heart, but through faith, by which the Almighty God has justified all who have existed from the beginning; to whom be glory for ever and ever, Amen. (1 Clement 32:4)

Note as well that in 1 Clement 31, just a bit earlier, Clement had reminded the Corinthian church (to whom he was writing) that:

“Abraham attained righteousness and truth through faith” (1 Clement 31:2).

In chapter 32 Clement reminded them of God’s free gifts to his people, how the Patriarchs were not “glorified and magnified … through themselves” nor through their “righteous actions” but through God’s “righteous will.”

So at the end of the 1st century the godly pastor that Roman Catholicism claims as an infallible Pope was actually teaching justification based on Christ’s righteousness alone and received through repentant faith alone apart from works.

The Biblical doctrine of justification should fill the redeemed with joy (Isaiah 61:10).

Why do Roman Catholics think they cannot simply pray to God, but need Mary or Joseph or Saint Matilda to help them? They think that they must stand before God based, at least in part, on their own righteousness. No wonder they are convinced that God is angry with them and will reject them if they come directly to him. How sad!

Saint Lucifer's feast day is May 20 each year, so Catholics can pray to Lucifer on that day. The Roman Catholic Church removed 93 saints from the universal calendar and revoked their feast days in 1969 when they realized they were myths.

Consider the famous Roman Catholic book about praying to the saints: Pray to the Saints, by Kant Elp Yu.

In Christ sinners and the Father are reconciled. Sanctification is positional and progressive.

The Great Commission: Preach Repentance and Remission of Sins to All Nations, Luke 24 & John 20 (#6)

KJB1611 2023-05-04 | "The Great Commission: Preach Repentance to Every Nation, Mark 16, Luke 24, John 20" is part 3 of a 3 part series on the Great Commission passages (Matthew 28; Mark 16; Luke 24; John 20). Much of the material is found in the study "The Great Commission in Scripture and History" at the FaithSaves website.

The gospel of Luke records another restatement of the Great Commission by the risen Lord Jesus:

44 And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. 45 Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, 46 And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: 47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 And ye are witnesses of these things. 49 And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high. (Luke 24:44-49)

The record of the Great Commission in the gospel of John also emphasizes the tremendous responsibility and privilege of the church in preaching the gospel:

19 Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. 20 And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord. 21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: 23 Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained. (John 20:19-23)

As in the gospels of Matthew and Mark, Christ gives the Great Commission as recorded in Luke’s gospel to the church. The individual believers present in that day would not get to “all nations” (Luke 24:47) to give the glad tidings, but the church, guaranteed perpetuity by Christ, could not only reach them but continue to preach repentance to them until the end of the age.

The “ye” who will be “endued with power from on high” in v. 49 when the Father sends His “promise” represents the church of Acts one and two, which Christ, in fulfillment of His promises to send the Comforter (John 14-16), baptized with the Spirit (Acts 1:5), and so set forth as His new institution, replacing the Jerusalem temple, which (as with the tabernacle, and with the future Millennial temple) had received similar miraculous recognition as His place of public worship and service (Exodus 40:34-35, 1 Kings 8:11, Matthew 21:43; cf. Ezekiel 10:18, 43:4-5, 44:4, 48:35, Revelation 21:11, 22-23). When Christ sent the Spirit, the ones who “were all with one accord in one place” (Acts 2:1) were “filled with the Holy Ghost” (Acts 2:4) and, having received power (Acts 1:8), proceeded to preach repentance and remission of sins (Acts 2:38) as Christ had ordained (Luke 24:47, 49), “beginning at Jerusalem,” and were used by the Lord to produce tremendous conviction and many conversions. The church, clearly already alive and functioning before Pentecost in Acts chapter one, where it held a business meeting to appoint the successor of Judas (Acts 1:15, 23, 26), having now been baptized in the Spirit, had three thousand souls added to her previous membership of at least one hundred and twenty (Acts 2:1, 41). The longevity required to reach “all nations,” the explicit assembly context of Luke 24:47, and the demands of 24:49 all demonstrate that Christ delivered the Great Commission in Luke’s gospel to the church.
Christ tells His church in Luke 24:48 that her members “are witnesses of these things.” The KJV word “witness,” martus, meant in Classical Greek “a witness,” and was related to the verb martureo, “to be a witness ... to bear witness to a thing, testify to.” Christ calls every church member to be a witness for Him. In Luke 24:48, every saint present was a martus—the Lord said “ye [2nd person plural] are witnesses.” While the Commission here, as elsewhere, is given to the church, the command “ye shall be witnesses” demonstrates individual responsibility in reaching the local area, “Jerusalem,” nearby regions, “all Judaea, and in Samaria,” and the farthest regions, “unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8). The church member who fails to witness as commanded in Scripture commits despicable iniquity, violates the trust of the Great Commission, and is guilty of the blood of those who go to Hell because of his rebellion and wickedness (Acts 20:26, Ezekiel 3:18-21; 33:1-9). If the church goes and people believe, their sins are remitted; otherwise they are retained (John 20:19-23).

Justification: Roman Catholic and Baptist Doctrines Compared, Council of Trent Refuted part 2 (4.31)

KJB1611 2023-04-30 | The Roman Catholic Council of Trent teaches that justification is based on the inherent righteousness within people, while the Bible, as well as Baptist and Protestant confessions of faith, teach that sinners are justified based on the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ alone (solus Christus) received through faith alone (sola fide). The heresy of Trent's 1547 statement on justification is contrasted with the statement in the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith on justification in part 31 in the series learning how to lead evangelistic Bible study #4, “How Can God Save Sinners? The Gospel of Jesus Christ!” from the FaithSaves website.

The Roman Catholic Council of Trent followed Thomas Aquinas to claim that God infuses a sinner with grace, making men righteous in a way that transcends forensic imputation, which is a mere declaration. A justified person is not simply declared righteous in justification but is actually made inwardly righteous. Also, Aquinas also believed that sinners can perform deeds that deserve merit. He developed the distinction between condign merits—true, worthy merits performed through grace—and congruent merits—human works merely reckoned as merits. He held that condign merit results in eternal life. The Council of Trent followed Aquinas in teaching this heretical doctrine of salvation by works, accepting this entirely made-up distinction between "condign" and "congruent" merits.

The Council of Trent promulgated the Roman Catholic teaching that people cannot be certain of their personal salvation without a personal special revelation, in direct contradiction of 1 John 5:13. Accordingly, in its statement on justification, Trent declared:

But, although it be necessary to believe that sins neither are remitted, nor ever have been remitted, save freely, by the divine mercy for Christ’s sake; yet is it not to be said, that sins are forgiven, or have been forgiven, to any one who boasts of his confidence and certainty of the remission of his sins, and rests on that alone; since it may exist, yea, does in our time exist, among heretics and schismatics; and with great earnestness is this confidence, vain, and remote from all piety, preached up in opposition to the … Church.

The false Roman Catholic "Church," the Whore of Babylon of Revelation 17, creates a false dichotomy here. Either:

1.) One is unsure of his personal salvation-the Roman Catholic heresy, or:

2.) One boasts of his confidence and rests, not on Christ, but on his own boasting and confidence, remote from all piety.

Of course, the Biblical, Baptist, and Protestant position is a third option-resting on Christ, placing one's full confidence in Him, and therefore being confident that he is saved because of Christ's sufficiency, not his self-sufficiency. Furthermore, such confidence in Christ will result in genuine spirituality and piety; it will never be remote from it.

The Roman Catholic Council of Trent continues:

Having therefore, been thus justified, and made the friends and of the household of God,p advancing from strength to strength, they are renewed, as the Apostle says, day by day; that is, by mortifying the memberss of their own flesh, and by yielding them as instruments of righteousness unto holiness, they, through the observance of the commandments of God and of the Church, faith co-operating with good works, increase in the justice received through the grace of Christ, and are still more justified, as is written,—He that is righteous, let him be made righteous still; and again, Be not afraid to be justified even to death;v and also, Ye see how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. And this increase of justification, the Holy Church begs, when she prays, “Give unto us, O Lord, increase of faith, hope, and charity.”

Note that Rome claims that the church can allegedly give commands that are different from the commandments of God. Also, clearly note the Catholic heresy that confounds justification and progressive sanctification. God does make Christians more inwardly just by His grace, yes, but that is NOT how they are justified; they are justified by the imputed righteousness of Christ alone received by faith alone, and since Christ’s righteousness is a perfect and sufficient basis to stand before God, they CANNOT be more justified. Their remission of sin and standing as perfectly righteous is already as perfect as it will be after a million years in the New Jerusalem. This idea that sinners can be “more” justified is a Catholic heresy that distinguishes Catholicism from Scripture, Baptists, and Protestantism. Note that the Roman Catholic religion never defined justification in this way until this time—AD 1547—so the rejection of the imputed righteousness of Christ alone as our standing before God was not an official Catholic dogma until the middle of the sixteenth century AD.

Rome misinterprets Revelation 22:11, a command to persevere which says nothing about being more justified.

The Great Commission: Preach the Gospel to Every Person & Nation & Baptize Disciples, Mark 16, (#5)

KJB1611 2023-04-27 | "The Great Commission: Preach the Gospel to Ever Person and Nation and Baptize Disciples, Mark 16," is part 2 of a 3 part series on the Great Commission passages (Matthew 28; Mark 16; Luke 24; John 20). Much of the material is found in the study "The Great Commission in Scripture and History" at the FaithSaves website.

The resurrected Lord, Jesus Christ, commanded HIs church to "make disciples" (Matthew 28:19). What are disciples? While some erroneously teach that discipleship is a status that certain believers chose to enter into at some point after their conversion, so that, within the larger class of believers, a smaller, elite group of believers are disciples, the Bible teaches that while there are such things as false believers (cf. John 2:23-3:3; 12:42; Acts 8:13) and false disciples (John 6:60, 66; 12:4), and neither all believers nor all disciples are equally spiritually strong (cf. Acts 14:22; 18:23), the Bible nevertheless equates the categories of believer and disciple, so that all saved people, all believers, are disciples.

Generally, a disciple is a learner or follower; “Christ taught his disciples” (Mark 9:31; cf Luke 11:1). A disciple of Christ is one who follows the Lord Jesus and follows or keeps His commandments; that is, “the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them” (Matthew 21:6; cf. 26:19). Scripture thus repeatedly records that Christ’s “disciples follow him” (Mark 6:1; Matthew 8:23; Luke 22:39; John 18:15; 21:20). When does one become a disciple? He becomes a “disciple” at the same moment that he becomes a “Christian”—when he is born again:

And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch. (Acts 11:26)

This passage establishes an equals sign between the categories “disciples” and “Christians.” They are identical categories, fully overlapping. All disciples were called Christians and all Christians were disciples. Furthermore, at Antioch the disciples were called Christians “first” in time, but this designation spread to the rest of the believing community in the same manner. That is, Acts 11:26 teaches that first at Antioch, and from there in the rest of the world where the gospel had penetrated, it was disciples who were called Christians. The equation disciple = Christian was not limited to Antioch—it was universal, just starting first in time at Antioch. Acts 11:26 proves that the category of disciple and Christian are identical.

It is crucial that you see this is what you are aiming at as you go into all the world to evangelize or preach the gospel. What does obedience to this command look like? You have obeyed Matthew 28:19 when you have made disciples and are continuing to make disciples. The Commission is fulfilled is when someone who you have spoken to has believed on Christ, has a new nature, is a baptized servant in Christ’s church, and is learning of and following the Lord Jesus Christ; the baptized new convert is being taught “all things whatsoever” Christ commanded (28:20) and passing these truths on to others also. Success is when that person is spiritually mature and is ready himself to make disciples. The Great Commission looks like going into all the world, making people into born-again, baptized followers of and learners of Jesus Christ who are ready to make disciples themselves as part of your church. It looks like you making lots of disciples until it is time to send forth one or more of these disciples to establish a new congregation somewhere else where the process can continue.

The gospel of Mark provides further detail about the nature of the Great Commission, and so supplements the record in Matthew’s gospel:

14 Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen. 15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. (Mark 16:14-16)

Mark's narrative necessitates that the Commission is a church duty, not one for individuals or the apostles alone. The command of 16:15 is “Go ye,” a second person plural, which necessarily designates the church corporately. No Scriptural record exists where a Great Commission command is given to a solitary person at a post-resurrection appearance; neither Mary Magdalene (Mark 16:9), Peter (1 Corinthians 15:5), James (1 Corinthians 15:7), or Paul (1 Corinthians 15:8) received the Great Commission-the church did.

The precedence of faith to baptism, which evidences that immersion is rightly administered to believers only, divests all paedobaptist bodies from any claim to a stake in the Great Commission. The church to which Christ gave His command only baptized visible saints.

Justification: Christs Imputed / Our Imparted Righteousness? Roman Catholic Council of Trent (4.30)

KJB1611 2023-04-23 | Are sinners justified by the imputed (credited) righteousness of Christ alone, or by the imparted righteousness that is in them in the sight of God? The doctrine of the Roman Catholic Council of Trent is examined in part 30 in the series learning how to lead evangelistic Bible study #4, “How Can God Save Sinners? The Gospel of Jesus Christ!” from the FaithSaves website.

Justification is based on the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ alone and is received through repentant faith alone. Christ died so we would not need to die for our sins; He paid our penalty so we would not need to pay it, and He lived a sinless life so that God the Father could reckon to the justified His Son’s perfect obedience. Having accounted Christ’s righteousness to His people, God can treat them as if they had never sinned but had instead perfectly obeyed His Law their entire lives! This reckoning of sinners righteous is not based upon anything they have done, are doing, or will do; “God imputeth [credits/accounts] righteousness without works” (Romans 4:6); “to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness” (Romans 4:5). In the justification of sinners by means of Christ’s redemption, “Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other” (Psalm 85:10); not only does God’s mercy require that the justified enter into eternal glory, but His justice likewise demands it. The Law being satisfied, the same inflexible holiness that had previously necessitated their condemnation as sinners now requires that they receive eternal life. Since God has declared them righteous, they can, rejoicing, ask, “Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect [those He has chosen to save]? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth?" (Romans 8:33-34). The Judge has declared them holy and sinless. No one can say otherwise!

Justification is not making you inwardly righteous. It is a legal declaration of righteousness and is based solely on the righteousness of the Lord Jesus imputed to you. God initially shatters the dominion of sin in regeneration and then makes you progressively inwardly holy in this life until the Rapture or your death, when you are made perfectly pure and glorified. But justification is based only on the imputed righteousness of Christ, a righteousness that is outside of you and credited to you. Justification does not clean up your sinful heart and give you a pure heart. Justification is receiving the pure shining white robe of Christ's righteousness (Revelation 7:14). Transformation of heart is a glorious work of God that always accompanies justification but is different from it.

Consider Proverbs 17:15: "He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the LORD." If "justify" meant "make one who is wicked into someone who is holy," would justifying the wicked be an abomination? No, it would be wonderful. Obviously this passage refers to a judicial sentence in a human law court, where it is an abomination to declare someone to be righteous who really is wicked. (God can justify the ungodly because He has a righteous ground for it in the righteousness of Christ satisfying the penalty of the law.) Clearly, the idea of justification as "make inwardly righteous" does not fit, but "to declare legally righteous" or "to declare legally just" fits perfectly.

Roman Catholicism, at the Council of Trent, issued a heretical decree on justification that is still the doctrine of the Roman Catholic "Church" until this day. Trent's "Decree Concerning Justification" was issued on January 13, 1547. This decree is a false gospel, a damnable heresy. It makes progressive sanctification the basis for justification. The imputed righteousness of Christ is insufficient, according to the Whore of Babylon (Revelation 17), the Roman Catholic religion-rather, sinners must stand before God based on the righteousness that they have within themselves, allegedly received by (misdefined) "grace."

The Council of Trent declared:

[A]lthough no one can be just, but he to whom the merits of the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ are communicated, yet is this brought to pass in this justification of the impious, when, by the merit of that same most holy Passion, the charity of God is shed abroad, by the Holy Ghost, in the heartsh of those who are justified, and is inherent in them; whence man, in the said justification through Jesus Christ, into whom he is ingrafted, receives, together with the remission of sins, all these things infused at once, faith, hope, and charity. For faith, unless to it be added hope and charity, neither unites [man] perfectly with Christ, nor makes him a living member of His body."

Confounding justification and sanctification, Roman Catholicism claims love within a man (meaning doing good works) is the basis of God declaring him righteous. Rome denies the gospel and is anathema.

Embracing Our Personal Choice to Trust God: Psalm 77:10 (for Christian Ladies)

KJB1611 2023-04-21 | Reckoning the Reality of his weakness.

Asaph makes a conclusion regarding his own relationship to his problem. After gazing back at his situation, his response to it, the discipline of his mind through it, he recognizes, “This is my own personal issue my own individual weakness. Asaph sees it’s something he alone is dealing with.

We’ve all been there. Our own personal difficulty looms as a monstrous shadow, dimming our vision, causing us to lose perspective. Asaph has endured sleepless nights, heart-wrenching sorrow, and a soul that refused comfort.

No doubt you’ve had times like that, too. Perhaps right now you are enduring it. The personal pain and individual grief through which you pass—they’re real.

Looking at the Hebrew dictionary, the word challah, translated infirmity, bears with it the notion of feeling empty, weak.

That weakness could be a result of spending sleepless nights, God-induced insomnia, such as Asaph recounted in verse 4 of this text.

God designed us body, soul, and spirit. When our bodies pass through a troublesome time, when our hormonal balance is askew, when we aren’t receiving proper nutrition through diet or achieving balance through exercise—in these times we become keenly aware of our own personal infirmity and weakness. This weakness is our own, felt by none other than ourselves.

The weakness could result from an admixture of factors—a physically fatigued body, a spirit that is troubled, a soul longing for peace.

Embracing the personal choice to trust God.

In verse 10 Asaph continues, “but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High.”

This choice—to remember God’s eternality—will affect Asaph’s future thoughts.

In stanza 1, Asaph has contemplated his personal crisis.
And He’s considered God’s character.

Through a disciplined mind, Asaph considered specific ways to remember God in his pain.

This decision, to call to mind the eternal God, seems to shape the conclusion of his crisis.

Perhaps in this decision Asaph remembered the words of Deuteronomy 33:27a, “The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.”

He doesn’t use the word refuge—but we see God and the forever nature of God—is where Asaph “hides out,” as it were, in the next stanza of this psalm.

Like Asaph did, each of us needs to come to the point in our struggle, where—while recognizing the challenge we alone face—nevertheless firmly root ourselves in remembering our eternal God and His track record for everlasting forever faithfulness.

Indeed, the antidote to fainting in our finite frailty is resting in God’s eternal strength.

Whatever our own personal struggle, we can affirm, “This is something I’m dealing with, I’m going through, that illustrates perhaps a personal weakness—but to get through it, I will focus on remembering God, He Who inhabits eternity.”

That God, Eternity Himself, should intersect with finite man—is an incredible thing.

Asaph determines to remember God’s foreverness. That memory leads him to meditate on the many marvelous works of God and ponder upon the many things God has done.

What are you facing today that is just your own personal struggle?
What are you facing today that you do not have answers for?

In that place, you may still be in a land of desolation and confusion; but you can, as Asaph and as David, train your thoughts to consider God, to remember eternity and the truths of eternity.

Like Asaph, you can discipline your mind to trust the ever-present, always faithful, promise-keeping God Who inhabits eternity. You can put your focus there. You can take the words of His book seriously, ordering your life in the path they provide for your feet, remembering God’s eternal kindness to you in dealing with you in the past.

As you meditate upon truth about God, those truth-filled thoughts will bear fruit in your life. You will reap in a different season than you sow. The sowing is the thought life. The reaping is the praise produced by following this biblical pattern.

Too often as women, we allow our feelings to dictate our responses. One person might resort to social media to bury her sense of loneliness. One might search out entertainment. Another may take refuge in relationships.

But the eternal God is to be our Refuge. As we hide out in Him and gaze upon His eternal truth, we begin to see Him reflected all about us.

Perhaps in heaven someday, you will be able to tell Asaph how his journey helped you. Now, his story is like one of those canvases of Levin’s artworks. It’s on display for you to appreciate. Some day your story will be told. Let it be a tale of victory, as you press ever forward—capturing each thought, making it subservient to the Word of God.

We’ll see Asaph’s continued thoughts taking root and bearing fruit in the next portion of this psalm.

Psa. 77:10 And I said, This is my infirmity: but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High.

The Great Commission of the Church: Go, Make Disciples of all Nations, Baptize & Teach Matt 28, (#4)

KJB1611 2023-04-20 | "The Great Commission of the Church: Go, Make Disciples of All Nations, Baptize and Teach Them to Observe All Things Whatsoever Christ Commanded" is part 1 of a 3 part series on the Great Commission passages (Matthew 28; Mark 16: Luke 24; John 20). Much of the material is found in the study "The Great Commission in Scripture and History" at the FaithSaves website.

Matthew chapter twenty-eight provides the fullest record of the Great Commission:

16 Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. 17 And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. (Matthew 28:16-20)

Not the Apostles only, but others were present at the giving of this Commission (Matthew 28:7, 10). Indeed, this is quite possibly the event referred to in 1 Corinthians 15:6, where the Lord appeared to over 500 brethren at once:

After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.

When they saw Christ, they “worshipped” Him (Matthew 28:17). The gathered church offered Christ the reverence, the submission, the adoration that is appropriate to He who equally possesses the undivided Divine nature with the Father, and validated His claims to be one Being with the Father by His resurrection from the dead. The Lord Jesus has always been infinitely worthy of honor as the eternal God, and is worthy of the highest honor as exalted Man, carrying human nature in His resurrected, glorified body to the very right hand of the Father, a pledge of the resurrected, ascended glory that He will also give to His people when He divides a portion with the great, and the spoil with the strong (Isaiah 53:12).

The "some" who "doubted" (Matthew 28:17) were some of the other 500 brethren who had assembled, those who had not already seen Christ after His resurrection. The verb appears in Matthew 14:31 for "little faith." The “doubt” of Matthew 28:17 is not a lack of faith or a hostile rebellion against the truth, but it was “little faith,” as with Peter who had enough faith to get out of the boat to walk on the water but not enough to keep his eyes on Christ while walking. As with other resurrection appearances, when at the Lord’s first appearances some thought they saw a spirit or who knows what, but Christ took the doubts away, so here the Lord Jesus Christ took their doubts away as after they first “saw” Him, perhaps far off, He then proceeded to came near them: “He came and spoke to them” (28:18). Talking familiarly with them, all their doubts were taken away.

The Lord tells them, first, “all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” As God the Son, the Lord Jesus always had all power, all authority, all right to rule. As the God-Man and our Mediator and Savior, He was now “given” all power. He was legally entitled to it—it was His purchased right. He had humbled Himself, even to the death of the cross, and God now exalted Him, as Philippians 2:5-11 affirms. He also was given all power, not solely for His personal exaltation as the resurrected God-Man, but in persuance of His work of salvation (John 17:2).

It was important for His church to know that He would be with them and that He had all power in heaven and in earth because of what Christ had said would happen the last time He gave His church authority and sent His disciples out (Matthew 10)-serious persecution, opposition, and hostility from the world is what they should expect.

The Lord gave one imperative, the “teach” of Matthew 28:19, with which were associated three participles, “Go” (28:19), “baptizing” (28:19), and “teaching” in 28:20. The “teach” of 28:19 is matheteusate, an aorist active imperative from matheteuo, a verb derived from the common New Testament word, mathetes, “a disciple”— the verb signifies “to make disciples.” Going is a circumstance associated with making disciples; How do you make disciples? You have to go. “Go and make disciples.” “Baptizing” and “teaching” in 28:20 are means through which making disciples is taking place. They explain how the disciple making process occurs. Disciples are baptized and then are continually taught to observe all things whatsoever Christ commands.

In other words, going, baptizing, and teaching all things were constituent parts of this over-arching command to make disciples. What is the main command, the actual thrust, what resurrected Lord commands His church to do? It is not to manipulate people into saying the "sinner's prayer." It is to make disciples. It is to make people who are learners, followers, servants of Jesus Christ.

Recounting Gods Remembrance in our Trouble, Psalm 77:9, a Psalm of Asaph (for Christian Ladies)

KJB1611 2023-04-14 | Psa. 77:9, “Hath God forgotten to be gracious? hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies? Selah.”

1. Hath God forgotten to be gracious?

Forgetting is certainly part of our fallenness, but forgetting can be costly.

After having Joseph interpret his dream for him, the chief butler went back to his palace duties only to forget Joseph.

The word forget in Genesis 40:23, referring to the chief butler, is also used here in Psalm 77:9. In a similar vein, Asaph asks, Has God failed to remember us? Are we like Joseph, tucked away in a prison-like situation and do we remain forgotten?

Joseph could have felt this way—for the chief butler forgot him…and Joseph could have felt abandoned by God, as if his only link to having justice experienced in his own life had been cut off.

Many times in the OT, God uses this word “forget” in a command to His own people, challenging His own NOT to forget. But God? He is perfect. Thus, God doesn’t forget those things that are important to remember. How blessed to know God’s people are not forgotten by Him!

God does not forget His own. His Word declares it to be true.

Those who are not His own?—Those who abandon His Word to prescribe their own message? Those who are called false prophets—these God does promise to forget, as in Jeremiah 23:39.

A) Falsely-so-called prophets who said they had a burden—against these individuals, God spoke these words:

Jer. 23:39

B) After warning how God’s people are destroyed for lack of knowledge, Hos. 4:6 declares to those who forget God’s law: Seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.”

A) He remembers the helpless.

B) He remembers the helpful.

Throughout Scripture, it is far more likely to see we fallen humans forgetting God than God forgetting us!

And yet that feeling –as if God has forgotten, as if we have been abandoned by the Almighty—that feeling can be sharp and real. Individuals in Scripture experienced it.

Here the psalmist expresses the feeling of abandonment he perceives, as if God has indeed forgotten him.

The context of Psalm 44 is a similar situation: the people of God turned back from the enemy. The enemy had spoiled God’s people. God’s people were scattered among the heathen and in a most awful way. The text says they were scattered for meat. Not only that, God’s people were sold into slavery. They had been made a scorn and derision to the nations about them. They had become a byword among the heathen. People shook their heads at them when they passed by. Confusion was the constant companion of this psalmist. He was shamed by the voice of the enemy, who blasphemed and avenged.

In the midst of his trouble, the writer of Psalm 44 chose to trust God amidst the confusion.

And unlike us frail humans who so frequently forget, who must be reminded to remember and commanded not to put out of mind the things God has done for us—God does not forget His own—the helpless and the helpful.

He has not put us out of mind, no matter how confused or difficult our situation appears this side of eternity.

2. “Hath He in His anger shut up His tender mercies?”

Asaph again returns to the theme of mercies—repeating a thought begun in the former verse which asked, “Is His mercy clean gone forever?”
As it would be wrong not to give to a brother in need, so it would be out of character for God to shut up His bowels of compassion, His tender mercies, toward His own—whom He clearly promised to remember throughout the Scriptures.

The same might be said for His mercies. As God has an ever-flowing stream of mercies available, He loves to supply mercies to those who illustrate by their dependence that they need it.

God is so merciful, so gracious, so kind and loving that He longs that no one should perish but that all should come to repentance, 2 Peter 3:9 explains.

Generally expanded, this word mercies encompasses the notion of God’s love.

Has He not extended His arm of love to me, so poor and needy as I am?

After asking this last in a series of six rhetorical questions, “Hath He in His anger shut up His tender mercies?”, Asaph places another pause within the music.

A Selah.

Thus, with the conclusion of this series of interrogatives, we stop, pondering the message. Who is this God we serve? What is His character? What is the reality about Him?

Has He, up until this present time, as some angry response forgotten to distribute blessings from His vault of graciousness? Has He closed off His kindness, shut down His mercies toward His own?

And, as has been concluded at the end of verses 6 and 7—the answer to these questions is a resounding “No!” To forget the righteous is not in God’s character. To fail to supply mercies, likewise stands completely contradictory to this God, who grants new mercy supplies each day.

Our God does has not forgotten His own.

Free, Gracious & Eternal Love of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for Sinners From All Nations (#3)

KJB1611 2023-04-13 | "Free, Gracious, and Eternal Love of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for Sinners From All Nations" is part 3 of the three part series on God's purpose to bless and redeem a vast multitude from all the nations and peoples of the earth.

The saving blessing God intended for the sons of men, for people from all nations, was not only Jehovah’s purpose from the creation, through all of past history, at this time, and in future dispensations. His love and blessing actually started far earlier than this, even from everlasting ages before the creation. God’s personal Wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:24), the eternal Son, said:

22 The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. 23 I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was. ... 30 Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him; 31 Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth; and my delights were with the sons of men. (Proverbs 8:22-31)

The Triune God is the God of joy: “The joy of thy lord” (Matthew 25:21, 23). (The redeemed get to enter into His joy, an amazing truth.) God delights infinitely in Himself, and in being the “blessed God,” He is the “happy” God. Every time the word “happy” appears in the NT it is the same form of word as “blessed” (makarios) in 1 Timothy 1:11. Note the “happy” in John 13:17; Acts 26:2; Romans 14:22; James 5:11; 1 Peter 3:14; 4:14.

God is the most happy Being of all, so being with Him forever is also the way to make men happy. In heaven His happiness will “rub off” on everyone He is with! He is perfectly happy, and all who are with Him forever are happy to the highest level possible for them! Furthermore, the Father, Son and Spirit have mutual delight in one another. The text in Proverbs 8 focuses upon here relates to the Father and the Son, but the truths are true of the Spirit also.

See that Jehovah, the Father, Son, and Spirit, was self-sufficient from eternity. God was not lonely. He did not make us because He needed someone to talk to. He had the perfect and all sufficient delight and joy in Himself and perfect fellowship among His three Persons. He would have been perfectly happy in Himself and His fellowship without ever making anyone.

When you are born again, you enter into this love and joy, the infinite joy of the Father, Son, and Spirit among themselves!

Why would you not want to draw close to and serve this blessed, happy God? Do you think that God wants you to be sad? He wants you to be the most happy you can possibly be forever! Now at times in this life sometimes He will give you hard things that cause sadness because He knows it will make you more happy forever. But keep in mind the perfect love that the Father and the Son have, and that heaven is a world of love and joy, where the saved, and the angels, and the Father, the Son and the Spirit, all live in perfect love and joy together.

You should give your heart to this God of love and joy.

He made the world, and redeemed His people, out of the overflowing of that love that He has within Himself; His love overflowing, like a spring from which an overflowing river comes, overflowed and out of the love the Father had to the Son in the Spirit the Father made the world and gave His Son a people as a gift. His Son received this gift from the Father’s love and determined to come into the world and die for them to redeem them. The Spirit, out of love to the Father and the Son, determined to show them the Son and draw them to Him, regenerate them, sanctify them, and glorify them. Thus, through the working of the Spirit upon us we receive the grace of the Son and come to the Father.

Surely for all eternity past the Son was rejoicing always before the Father in the infinite beauty and perfection of the Father, as the Father was rejoicing in the infinite Divine glory seen in the Son. The word “delight” in 8:30 is a “plural of intensification or amplification.” It is translated with the plural, “delights,” in 8:31. Now surely the delight that the Father, Son, and Spirit had in one another from all eternity was measurelessly great, and it was so “daily,” day after day, and so “always,” at all times, as we have already noted. This is exactly what is expected. Yet notice in 8:31 what was the cause of the endless, intense, amplified delight of the Father and the Son even before creation. “My delights were with the sons of men”! The Father, Son, and Spirit, were filled with intense delight and joy thinking about the millions and millions from every tongue and nation whom they would save by the death of Christ!

This delight in the sons of men was on the Son of God’s heart when He appeared to and walked with believers in the Old Testament. This delight was seen in His triumphant resurrection and ascension, when He will see what He suffered to redeem us, and will be satisfied (Isaiah 53:11)—He will look at His infinite suffering of the cross, and say "IT WAS WORTH IT!"

The Result of the Gospel: Ye are Saved: Salvation as Adoption and Justification (Bible Study 4.29)

KJB1611 2023-04-09 | “The Result of the Gospel: ‘Ye are Saved’ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4): Salvation as Adoption and Justification” is part 29 in the series through learning how to lead evangelistic Bible study #4, “How Can God Save Sinners? The Gospel of Jesus Christ!” from the FaithSaves website.

Having concluded the study of how Jesus Christ’s Person and saving work were predicted in the Old Testament, 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 explains that being “saved” is the result of “receiv[ing]” the gospel.

Being saved has many wonderful parts to it. First, being “saved” involves “adoption.” Those Christ has saved are adopted into the family of God; God the Father becomes their spiritual father. Galatians 4:4-7 reads:

“But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba [a tender word for “Father”], Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.”

The Lord says to those lost in sin, “Ye are of your father the devil” (John 8:44), for they are “child[ren] of the devil” (Acts 13:10) and “children of disobedience ... children of wrath” (Ephesians 2:2-3). However, when one is redeemed, he becomes God’s child (John 1:12-13), the object of the tender care of his loving heavenly Father, and one who will, through Jesus Christ, “inherit all things” (Revelation 21:7), for all of eternity! The Holy Spirit indwells the adopted sons of God (Romans 8:14-15), and He “beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God” (Romans 8:16). This indwelling gives the adopted great comfort now and is a guarantee of their future resurrection to eternal glory (Romans 8:23).

Believers are not God’s sons the way that the Lord Jesus is the Son of God. He is the only begotten Son, and the Son by nature; believes are God’s sons by grace and by adoption. He is Son by eternal generation, and possesses the undivided Divine essence. Believers are made holy through adoption, but they never have and never will possess the Divine essence. Thus, Christ was worshipped because He is the Son of God:

“Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God” (Matthew 14:33).

In contrast, it would be idolatry for believers to receive worship. It is an amazing privilege to be adopted into God’s family. “It were much for God to take a clod of dust and make it a star; it is more for God to take a piece of clay and sin and adopt it for his heir.” In adoption:

1.) the person first belongs to another family.;
2.) there is a family to which he has no right to belong.
3.) there is an authoritative legal translation from one family to another.
4.) the adopted person is freed from all the legal obligations of the family from which he came.
5.) by virtue of his translation he is invested with all the rights, privileges, and advantages of the new family.

The whole Trinity is involved in the believer’s adoption:

“Adoption is the gracious act of God the Father whereby He chooses us, calls us to Himself, and gives us the privileges and blessings of being His children. God the Son earned those blessings for us through His propitiatory death and sacrifice, by which we become children of God (1 John 4:10), and applies them to us as Elder Brother. The Holy Spirit changes us from children of wrath, which we are by nature, into children of God by means of regeneration; unites us to Christ; works in us a ‘suitable disposition’ toward God and Christ; and seals our sonship as the Spirit of adoption, witnessing with our spirits that we are the sons of God. In that witnessing, the Spirit shows us God’s work of grace in our hearts and lives and also “carries our hearts to God, and testifies to the Soul that God is [our] Father” (Beeke).

Human children tend to reflect and act like their human fathers. The children of the devil act like the devil and bear the devil’s likeness. The adopted children of God act like God the Father and bear His holy likeness.Oh how great the privilege of believers, to be the adopted children of God (1 John 3:1-3)!

Being “saved” also involves justification, being “declared righteous." It is a judicial act where God pardons the sins of, and accounts and accepts as righteous, all believers, not because of anything worked in them, or done by them, but for Christ’s sake alone, by crediting to them His righteousness. We cannot be justified by our own righteous actions, for “all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6), but in the act of justification, God, the blood of His Son having washed our sins away, gives us Jesus’ righteousness instead, so we are “covered ... with the robe of [Christ’s] righteousness” (Isaiah 61:10). God’s people are made “the righteousness of God in [Christ],” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Gods Purpose: Praise From All Nations, (#2): Israel in Exile, The Church, The Millennium, Eternity

KJB1611 2023-04-06 | "God's Purpose: Praise from All Nations" part two (of three) continues to examine God's intention to bless all nations and peoples of the earth as the background for the church's call to world evangelism or missions.

In Psalm 2:12, the Aramaic word "Son" emphasizes the Son of God as the object of saving faith for all peoples. The next use of Aramaic is Jeremiah 10:11:

Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens.

All nations must know that Jehovah alone is the true God, while all false gods will perish from the earth and from under these heavens.They are just dead statues. The call goes out to the nations of the world, in their language, to forsake their idols for the one God, the living God who made the heavens and the earth and is Sovereign over nature now (Jeremiah 10:11) and submit to and trust in His Son (Psalm 2).

The next portion of Aramaic Scripture is Daniel 2:4-7:28. In Daniel 2, God wants all the nations to know that He is Lord of all (Daniel 2:44). Then in Daniel 3 God wants the nations to know the narrative about how He delivered Daniel’s three friends from the burning fiery furnace when they refused to worship Nebuchadnezzar’s idol:

He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. (Daniel 3:25)

The Son of God, in whom Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego were trusting (Psalm 2:12) delivered His people from the fire, as Isaiah 43:2 had promised, in the context of the fact that Jehovah would regather His people after the exile:

When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

So Jehovah God the Son delivered His redeemed people from the fire, and He delivers all who trust in Him from the everlasting fires of hell. This message about the salvation wrought by the Son of God goes to the end of the Babylonian empire (Daniel 3:25-30).

Daniel 4 shows how Jehovah is able to turn the most powerful king into someone who acted like a beast in the field until he humbled himself before the one true God. Daniel 5 shows what happens to Belshazzar when he does NOT humble himself before the one true God. Daniel 6 records a decree about Israel's God saving Daniel from the lions that goes to the ends of the Medo-Persian empire.

The God of Daniel is the “living God” (6:20), Daniel receives salvation because he “believed in his God” (6:23), while the enemies of Daniel and his God are destroyed (6:24). Darius then issues a decree instructing “all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth” that “men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel: for he is the living God, and stedfast for ever, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be even unto the end,” and he “delivereth and rescueth” (6:26-6:27)—all nations of the earth are to hear the message that the one living and true God is the Savior.

The climax of the Aramaic portion of Daniel is the vision of the Messiah, the Son of Man, coming to rule and save in Daniel 7. He destroys the greatest manifestation of Satan’s power and the power of this world, the Antichrist. He is truly human—He is “Son of MAN.” But He comes “with the clouds of heaven” (7:13)—this image is used for God’s presence and activity in judging His enemies and saving His saints. So the Son of Man is also Divine, possessing the Divine glory, possessing free access into the presence of the Father, and ruling the entire world.

Ezra 4:7-6:18; 7:12-26 is written in Aramaic. The God of the Jews is the God of heaven; His temple in Jerusalem the place of His worship. The nations are to know where the God of heaven has His place of worship (which is also the place where the sacrifices were offered, every sacrifice preaching the gospel in a picture—so the heathen were to know the place where the gospel was preached and God worshipped.)

The book of Esther records that the Persian empire spread “from India even unto Ethiopia, over an hundred and seven and twenty provinces” (Esther 1:1). They ruled much of Asia, parts of Africa, and were expanding into Europe. The Jews were found in every province (Esther 3:8). As a result of
the glorious providential dealings of God in the book of Esther "many of the people of the land became Jews" (Esther 8:17) in all 127 Persian provinces from India to Ethiopia!

Outside of Scripture, the Lemba people, in Zimbabwe and South Africa have Jewish ancestry.

Israel was to bless all nations with knowledge of the God of the gospel, and the message spread very widely from the center of the earth, Jerusalem, out to Africa, Asia, Europe, and perhaps even from the ends of Asia into the New World.

In the church age the gospel also spread greatly. Amen!

Recounting Gods Mercy in our Trouble, Psalm 77:8, a Psalm of Asaph (for Christian Ladies)

KJB1611 2023-04-04 | 1. Psa. 77:8 Asks first, “Is his mercy clean gone for ever?”

Besides considering the breadth of God’s unfailing mercy, let’s remember
a.) to whom this psalm was dedicated: Asaph presents the psalm to Jeduthan, the headnote tells us. And, as we mentioned before, Jeduthan’s job description is found in 1 Chronicles 16:41, “to give thanks to the LORD, because His mercy endureth forever.”

Jeduthan had a job. His life work was to thank the Lord because God, Who is ever worthy, Who is the fountainhead of all Mercy, whose mercy reaches so far and touches every facet of our existence—this God is worthy of all praise.

Indeed, Jeduthan’s full-time worship job was to thank the Lord, whose mercy endures forever.

b) who is writing this Psalm: Asaph, a musician himself, is writing this psalm. His job, likewise, was to offer thanks for God’s incredible mercy.

Daily in his life and existence, Asaph could see evidence all about Him in the created world, in the general revelation, which speaks forth God’s faithfulness.

Every day Asaph lived, new mercies waited to be discovered.

Lamentations 3:1-20 documents the horrors Jeremiah faced, the internal pain and struggle which were his daily reality as his beloved city was overthrown...

He explains his thought processes in verses 21-24...

b. What evidences in the natural creation today illustrate that God continues to keep His Word?

1) He set His bow in the clouds. The rainbow reminds us God keeps His word.

In Gen. 9:13 God declares, “I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.”

All across this globe, the rainbow witnesses to a covenant God has made with the earth: never again will he destroy this planet with a flood, as he did in the days of Noah.

2) Gen. 8:22 makes another promise: “While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.”

The seasons remind us God keeps His Word.

3) And, of course, the heavens continue to reveal His glory, as so aptly stated in Psalm 19.

The main aspect of God’s revealing himself to mankind is through specific revelation—God’s own speech, word, language.

What God says doesn’t end.

Jesus declared plainly in Matt. 24:35, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.” The other synoptic Gospels, Mark and Luke, echo these same words—so this verse is repeated 3x in the NT.

Some day, the current universe as it exists will be no more. But one thing will last forever—it is the Word of God.

“Doth his promise fail for evermore?” Asaph has asked.

The idea of forevermore is to every generation.

Do God’s Words fail to every generation?

Happily, no! Indeed, God’s Words are as good today as when He spoke them millennia ago. They are still truth. His Word is the same. It will not fail.

Each generation needs God’s Words as much as the last generation. From age to age—God’s Words endure. His Gospel still redeems. The message of His Word still transforms lives.

From His specific to His general revelation, God’s Word clearly does not fail. God’s Words will never pass away.

So the answer to this rhetorical question is—NO! God’s promise, His word, does not end. Rather, these words endure to every generation. And on into eternity, for His Words are eternal words.

What mercy! What wisdom!

His mercy lasts forever, His words to all generations.

Psa. 77:8 Is his mercy clean gone for ever? doth his promise fail for evermore?

What God says doesn’t end.

Jesus declared plainly in Matt. 24:35, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.” The other synoptic Gospels, Mark and Luke, echo these same words—so this verse is repeated 3x in the NT.

Some day, the current universe as it exists will be no more. But one thing will last forever—it is the Word of God.

“Doth his promise fail for evermore?” Asaph has asked.

The idea of forevermore is to every generation.

Do God’s Words fail to every generation?

Happily, no! Indeed, God’s Words are as good today as when He spoke them millennia ago. They are still truth. His Word is the same. It will not fail.

Each generation needs God’s Words as much as the last generation. From age to age—God’s Words endure. His Gospel still redeems. The message of His Word still transforms lives.

From His specific to His general revelation, God’s Word clearly does not fail. God’s Words will never pass away.

So the answer to this rhetorical question is—NO! God’s promise, His word, does not end. Rather, these words endure to every generation. And on into eternity, for His Words are eternal words.

What mercy! What wisdom!

His mercy lasts forever, His words to all generations.

Psa. 77:8 Is his mercy clean gone for ever? doth his promise fail for evermore?

Daniel 9:24-27 (70 weeks prophecy): March 5, 444 BC to Messiah the Prince on March 30, AD 33 (4.28)

KJB1611 2023-04-02 | "Daniel 9:24-27 (70 weeks prophecy): March 5, 444 BC to Messiah the Prince on March 30, AD 33" is part 28 in the series through learning how to lead evangelistic Bible study #4, “How Can God Save Sinners? The Gospel of Jesus Christ!” from the FaithSaves website. It concludes the study of the 70 week prophecy of Daniel 9:24-27 and the section of Bible study #4 on how Christ and His gospel were predicted in the Old Testament (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).

In the previous study (part 4.27), the fact that Daniel 9:24-27 predicts the coming of the Lord Jesus to the exact year was explained. However, Daniel’s prediction goes even beyond this. Artaxerxes’ decree would have been issued on March 5, 444 B. C. Crunching the numbers with precision:

1.) Convert 483 prophetic (360 day) years to days: 483x360=173,880 days.
2.) Convert to solar years: 173,880 days ÷ exactly 365.24219878 days per solar year = 476.06766299 years.
3.) Moving forward 476 years from 444 B. C. brings us to A. D. 33, since there is no year zero, as mentioned before. This leaves us with 0.06766299 of a year, which is 24.713379244 days, since 0.06766299 x 365.24219878 = 24.713379244.
4.) Rounding off, we have 25 days. Exactly 476 years after March 5, 444 B. C, when the decree was issued, brings us to March 5, A. D. 33. Adding 25 days, one comes to March 30 of A. D. 33 for the exact day the sixty-nine weeks concluded.

It is highly probable that the prophecy is accurate to the hour and minute or even to the second, not just the day and year, but archaeology will only allow any more specific reconstruction of the past.

The sixty-nine weeks of the Daniel 9 prophecy ended on March 30 of AD 33, the exact day of Jesus Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem, when He officially presented Himself as the Messiah to Israel. Zechariah 9:9 reads, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.” Christ, proclaiming Himself the King predicted in Zechariah, entered the city on that day, sitting upon a donkey, while great crowds, knowing that He had recently raised Lazarus from the dead (John 11; 12:12), shouted “Hosanna to the Son of David [a Messianic title, Isaiah 11]: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest” (Matthew 21:9). Jesus’ entry in fulfillment of Zechariah 9:9 asserted that He was the Messiah. Luke 19:41-44 records Christ’s actions on the day Daniel 9:25-26 was fulfilled:

He beheld the city, and wept over it, saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, and shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.

The Lord Jesus Christ, the all-knowing God, knew that the sixty-nine weeks His servant Daniel had prophesied about ended that day; He wept that Israel did not recognize it. He spoke of “this thy day” and “the time of thy visitation” because it was the exact day that the sixty-nine weeks of Daniel 9:25-26 were finished. Daniel 9 had predicted to the exact year and day the presentation of Jesus Christ to Israel as the Messiah.

Daniel predicted that “after” the sixty-nine weeks were over, the Messiah would be “cut off, but not for himself” (Daniel 9:26). Then the "people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.” The “prince that shall come,” whose “people” shall destroy Jerusalem and its sanctuary, is the Antichrist; his "people" are the Romans. Daniel predicted that the Romans would “destroy the city and the sanctuary” (9:26), as they did in AD 70. In Luke 19:41-44, immediately after Christ weeps over Jerusalem for not realizing that her “day,” the end of the sixty-ninth week of Daniel, had arrived, He tells the inhabitants of Jerusalem: “Thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, and shall lay thee even with the ground,” as judgment upon the city for rejecting Him, and in fulfillment of Daniel 9:26. He predicted that the temple would not have left “one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down” (Matthew 24:2; Mark 13:2; Luke 21:6), and further warned His disciples to flee from Judea when Jerusalem would be “compassed with armies ... [for then] the desolation thereof is nigh ... and they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles ... that all things which are written may be fulfilled” (Luke 21:20-24). This prediction of Daniel took place exactly as stated.

James White & Thomas Ross Debate Review #2: King James Version Translators Prefer LSB to KJV / TR?

KJB1611 2023-03-31 | James White's first argument in his King James Only debate with Thomas Ross was that (if they were alive today) the King James Version translators would prefer the Legacy Standard Bible to the King James Bible.

James White & Thomas Ross debated the topic: “The Legacy Standard Bible (LSB), as a representative of modern English translations based upon the UBS/NA text (the Greek New Testament printed by the United Bible Society, which is also the text of the Nestle-Aland), is superior to the KJV (King James Version), as a representative of TR-based (Textus Receptus or Received Text based) Bible translations.” This King James Only or King James Version Only (KJVO) or Confessional Bibliology debate took place on February 18, 2023.

This video is part two of a series of debate review videos by Thomas Ross of the arguments made by both sides of the debate. Dr. Thomas Ross provides debate background and then beings to examine Dr. James White's introductory 25 minute speech.

James White did not present an exegetical case for the type of textual criticism performed by the Nestle - Aland / United Bible Society Greek Text and adopted by the Legacy Standard Bible. In White's opening presentation he did not present an exegetical case. In fact, in James R. White, The King James Only Controversy: Can You Trust Modern Translations? (Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House, 2009), the teaching on preservation of passages such as: Deuteronomy 4:2; 8:3; 12:32; 29:29; Psalm 119:89; Proverbs 30:5-6; Isaiah 59:21; Matthew 4:4; 5:18-19; Luke 16:17; John 10:35; 12:48; 17:8 & Revelation 22:18-19 is completely ignored. James White does not obtain his textual critical position and conclusions from Scriptural exegesis.
In response to James White's claim that the King James Version translators would support the LSB over the KJB, Thomas Ross demonstrates:

1.) James provides zero evidence that the KJV translators would want to remove the canonical ending and all resurrection appearances from Mark’s Gospel, so that the Good News according to Mark ends with the women, continually afraid, running away and saying nothing, based on the slimmest MS evidence.

2.) James provides zero evidence that the KJV translators would want to introduce many readings that deny the inerrancy of Scripture into their translation (Matthew 1:7; 10; Mark 1:2; 5:1; 6:22; Luke 3:33; 8:26 23:45; 1 Corinthians 5:1).

3.) James provides zero evidence that the KJV translators preferred a Textus Rejectus that was not used by God’s people and churches to the Textus Receptus received by the churches that they actually used.

4.) James provides zero evidence that the KJV translators would want to reject the reading in all Hebrew MSS and erase God’s covenant Name, “Jehovah,” from Scripture and replace it with something else.

5.) James provides zero evidence that the KJV translators would have been fine radically altering the model prayer in Matthew 6:9-13 & Luke 11:2-4 or that they would have rejected their knowledge of the Greek NT and LXX to mistranslate “deliver us from evil” as “deliver us from the evil one.”

6.) James provides zero evidence that the KJV translators would want to eliminate “hell” from the Old Testament, eliminate the distinction between singular and plural pronouns (thee/ye), etc.

7.) James provides zero evidence that the KJV translators would have accepted a Hebrew and Greek text made by people who universally rejected the inerrancy of Scripture and included high Roman Catholic figures who submitted to the Council of Trent and whom the translators would have viewed as in league with the Papal Antichrist.

8.) James's claim about what the KJV translators would have done (were they alive today) is actually an example of what David Hackett Fisher’s Historians’ Fallacies: Toward a Logic of Historical Thought (New York: Harper & Row, 1970) calls the “fallacy of fictional questions” (pgs. 15ff.). However, if we must indulge in historical fallacies, it is much more probable that they would all have rejected the LSB, the more high Anglican KJV translators embracing a position like that of Burgon and Scrivener and the more Puritan KJV translators embracing a position like that of Edward F. Hills.

Dr. Ross then points out from the writings of the head King James Version translator, Lancelot Andrewes, that James White's claims about the translators are specious. Lancelot Andrewes embraced Textus Receptus readings such as 1 Timothy 3:16; John 5:3-4 & 1 John 5:7, and the model prayer in Matthew 6:9-13 & Luke 11:2-4, without any doubt about them whatsoever. Andrewes believed in the preservation of Scripture, writing: "Heaven and earth shall pass, but not one jot of this … law of God.” Dr. Andrewes denied that the LXX was the authority over the Hebrew Scriptures for New Testament Apostles like Matthew. As a strong Protestant, he believed that the Pope was the Antichrist and would not have rejected the Protestant Bible.

Learn more at the FaithSaves website!

Gods Purpose: Praise From All Nations, (#1): The Ages of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Israel, Moses & David

KJB1611 2023-03-26 | "God's Purpose: Praise from All Nations" is part one of a three part sermon series on God's intention to bless all nations and peoples of the earth as the background for the church's call to world evangelism or missions. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit has had a purpose for blessing all of His creation, and all mankind—the height of His creation—for His glory. Through all past dispensations, in this current dispensation, and in the coming dispensations, He has been and continues to work His plan for that end. The disciple-making church of Jesus Christ fits within a larger background.

Before the Fall God commanded Adam and Eve to fill the earth with a righteous people for His praise (Genesis 1:26-28). From the creation of the world God had a purpose to fill the world with His holy image-bearers, holy men, for His glory and for their inestimable blessedness. Immediately after the Fall, God Himself—the preincarnate Son, who would Himself enter humanity as the Savior—preached the gospel to the entire human race at the time—Adam and Eve—allowing, after the Fall, every living man to hear the good news about salvation through Jesus Christ (Genesis 3:15).

Between the time of Adam and Eve and the time of the Flood, the gospel was available worldwide. The extremely long lifespans of Adam and his descendants means that, if there are no gaps in the Genesis genealogy, the life of Adam’s son Seth overlapped with Noah’s life for 34 years; if there are minor gaps in the genealogy, there would still be only a small number of generations that passed away between Adam and the Flood. Jude 14 records the bold preaching of Enoch in this period. Noah himself was “a preacher of righteousness” (2 Peter 2:5). People everywhere would have heard about the ark that may have taken him 120 years (Genesis 6:3) to build and which cost him the constant mockery and derision of the world and almost certainly exhausted his life’s savings and all that his family had saved up to that time; the Ark itself picturing the Lord Jesus Christ and the salvation that is in Him. The Gospel was available to all the fallen sons of Adam in the pre-Flood world!

After the Flood, Noah knew the gospel and passed it on to his children. Immediately after coming off the ark Noah offered sacrifice, a sign of his faith in the sacrifice of the coming Messiah to save him from sin (Genesis 8:20ff.), and God blessed the entire world through that sacrificial offering which pictured the coming work of Christ, promising that He would not destroy the world again with a Flood.

Immediately after the judgment at Babel (Genesis 11) Moses recordsthe opening verses of Genesis 12:

1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: 2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

Galatians 3:8 explains:

And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.

The promises made to Abraham began to be fulfilled as God called Israel to Himself, redeemed Israel from Egypt, and brought His redeemed people into the Promised Land. The word would have gotten around about the plagues in Egypt, Israel’s salvation from the hand of the most powerful nation on the earth at the time, the crossing of the Red Sea, the drying up of the Jordan, the sun standing still, etc.

Consider where Jehovah put the nation of Israel. He put His nation right where Asia, Africa, and Europe come together, right where all the trade routes through that area would need to go, the best possible place on the face of the earth for Israel to be a light to all nations.

Israel regularly sang about God’s purpose for bringing all nations whom He made to Himself:

1 O praise the LORD, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people. 2 For his merciful kindness is great toward us: and the truth of the LORD endureth for ever. Praise ye the LORD. (Psalm 117)

Israel’s psalms are full of the evangelistic purpose of Jehovah to reach all the nations, to bring them all to submission to and faith in the crucified and risen Messiah and through the Messiah to be saved by Jehovah (Psalm 2; 22; 72). Old Testament Israel longed for and sang about this purpose of God for all nations, the Lord Jesus sang these inspired, infallible prayers to the Father, and psalm-singing churches today continue to sing to the Father the inspired missionary songs that the Savior of the world sang Himself, understanding the psalms better now than was possible in the Mosaic dispensation, in light of Christ’s having already come.

The dispersion of Israel to all nations of the earth also contributed to spreading the gospel.

Don't forget parts 2-3!

Daniels 70 Weeks Prophecy (Daniel 9:24-27) #2: Messiah the Prince Dies For Others in AD 33 (4.27)

KJB1611 2023-03-26 | "Daniel's 70 Weeks Prophecy (Daniel 9:24-27) #2: Messiah the Prince Dies For Others in AD 33" is part 27 in the series through learning how to lead evangelistic Bible study #4, “How Can God Save Sinners? The Gospel of Jesus Christ!” from the FaithSaves website. It continues to study the 70 week prophecy of Daniel 9:24-27.

Daniel 9:25 explains that “from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince”—483 years—the first sixty-nine “weeks,”—shall pass. The decree to restore and build Jerusalem, including “the street ... and the wall” (v. 25), issued by King Artaxerxes to Nehemiah in 444 B. C., is referred to in the book of Nehemiah. This decree specifically refers to the restoration of the city (Nehemiah 2:3, 5) and its gates and walls (Nehemiah 2:3, 8). A letter was written to Asaph that provided for material to be used specifically for the walls (Nehemiah 2:8). The book of Nehemiah discusses extensively the names and sections of the wall that various men rebuilt (Nehemiah 3). Furthermore, the various attempts by the idolatrous enemies of Israel to prevent the wall from being built clearly fulfill Daniel 9:25’s statement “the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.” The book of Nehemiah records trouble from contemptible mocking, to threatening to assassinate Nehemiah, to threatening to attack the city and kill everyone building the wall, until finally “the half [built the wall] ... and the other half of them held both shields, and spears, and the bows, and the habergeons ... they which builded the wall ... every one with one ... hand held a weapon ... his sword girded by his side” (Nehemiah 4:16-21). Thus, the decree recorded in Nehemiah fits the specifications of Daniel 9 exactly. No later decrees were issued by Persian kings pertaining to the rebuilding of Jerusalem. Clearly, Daniel predicted that “the Messiah the Prince” (v. 25) would present Himself 483 years after the decree of King Artaxerxes “to restore and to build Jerusalem” in 444 BC.

The 483 years of Daniel’s prophecy are prophetic, or Biblical, 360-day years, as opposed to modern, solar years of 365 days. Several factors demonstrate this. First, a 360-day year is used elsewhere in the Bible. Genesis 7:11 states that the flood of Noah began on the seventeenth day of the second month. Genesis 8:4 declares that the Flood ended on the seventeenth day of the seventh month—that is, exactly five months later. Genesis 7:24 and 8:3 indicate that the duration of the Flood was 150 days. Therefore, five months equals 150 days; thus, each month is 30 days, and a year is 360 days. The New Testament demonstrates that the years of Daniel 9 are 360 days long, as a comparison of Revelation 12:6, 7, 14; 11:2, 3; and 13:5 shows. These verses indicate that 1,260 days equals 42 months, which equals three and a half years. Furthermore, since these verses specifically refer to the seventieth week of Daniel (Daniel 9:27), indicating that the seventieth week is reckoned with 360-day years, the other sixty-nine “weeks” are also naturally reckoned with 360-day years. In addition, ancient India, Persia (where the decree of Nehemiah 2 was issued), Babylonia, Assyria, Egypt, etc. all had 360-day years. Most had twelve 30-day months, while a few had eighteen 20-day months. They then had a variety of ways to play “catch up” to make these years work out to solar years. It was common, then, in ancient times to think of a 360-day year, and ancient commentators on Daniel recognized that the prophecy did not speak of solar, 365-day years. The prophecy of Daniel 9:24-27, then, predicted the Messiah the Prince 483 years (of 360 days each) after the 444 BC decree of Artaxerxes to restore and build Jerusalem.

To discover what year Daniel predicted “the Messiah the Prince,” all that remains is simple calculation:

1.) Convert 483 prophetic (360 day) years to days: 483x360=173,880 days.
2.) Convert to solar years: 173,880 days ÷ c. 365.25 days per solar year = 173,880/365.25=476 solar years.
3.) Move forward 476 years from 444 B.C.: 444–476=-32 (AD. 32).
4.) Add one year since there was no year zero: 32+1= AD. 33.
5.) The Old Testament predicted that the Messiah would be “cut off, but not for Himself” in AD. 33.

We see that Daniel predicted that the Messiah would be “cut off, but not for himself” (9:26) in AD 33. “Cut off” is a Biblical term for an unnatural and violent death (Genesis 9:11; Exodus 31:14; Isaiah 53:8) with the implication of the receipt of God’s curse. It was the perfect term to use to predict Jesus Christ’s bearing the curse of God for the sins of the world on the cross (Isaiah 52:13-53:12; Galatians 3:10-14). The Messiah would die under God’s curse, but “not for himself” (Daniel 9:26); He would die for the sake of others. The prophet Daniel predicted, over 500 years in advance, that the Messiah would die in A. D. 33, the exact year of the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ.

Pleasing God: Reflections in Our Trouble, Psalm 77:7, a Psalm of Asaph (for Christian Ladies)

KJB1611 2023-03-22 | Is it possible for our forever God to reject forever? When Jeremiah viewed the desolation about him as Jerusalem lay upon heaps, as famine, plague, decay, and slaughter perpetrated the city of Jerusalem, he answered the question in Lamentations 3:31 with this certainty, “For the Lord will not cast off for ever: Verse 32 continues, “But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies.”

Jeremiah answers Asaph’s question by explaining that although God cause grief—had not Asaph likewise understood it was God who had held his eyes waking?—although God causes grief in the moment, yet he will still demonstrate compassion commensurate to His mercies.

Let’s look at the second question: Will God be favorable no more?
Will it be impossible for me to please God anymore? Will he no longer demonstrate to me that He is pleased?

All of us are living to please someone.

As he considered how he had deceived his twin brother, Jacob feared for his life. Would Esau be gracious to him?

What relief Jacob felt in knowing His brother was pleased with him! We see this word, translated favorable in Psalm 77, bears with it the idea of acceptance in Deuteronomy 33.

Moses asked God to accept, be favorable, be pleased with the offerings of the Levites. They were those tasked with teaching God’s laws and judgments in Israel at this time. Years before, the Levites had stood against the evil of the golden calf after Moses came down from the mount, assisting him in restoring righteousness in the camp. Moses himself was of the tribe of Levi and had spent much of his life serving and leading the people of God. His final blessing asks God to accept the work the Levites do.

And yet, even as a kingdom of priests, we do things that displease our High Priest or we find that we have lived in a way that is displeasing to Him. Each day we examine our hearts and motives. We repent of ways in which we have displeased our Heavenly Father. When things are going sour in our situation, we ask ourselves hard questions. Is God pleased with the way I’m living? Am I doing something that is displeasing to God?

When multiple others are offended by our efforts to please God, we may even sink into despair. When we find ourselves coming up short as we compare our desire to our actions and efforts to please God, as waves of the mundane things of life seem to wash out the spiritual focus in our lives—we can struggle, for one of the anchors of our wills is this key motivation that our lives would be lived in such a way that God is pleased.

In those days, when we don’t feel the warming sunshine of His smile upon us, when our efforts seem futile and our prayers lack impact, then we ask with Asaph, “Will God be favorable no more?”

Things don’t seem to be going right. They don’t seem to be moving in the right direction. We don’t seem to be getting answers. Whereas God would clearly direct our path in days gone by, now it seems the heavens are brass and we must wait ever so long for Him to express His pleasure in us.

From close scrutiny, we believe we are doing what we can—although we can always do more. And yet it seems something is lacking, that something we desire more than anything else.

It is then that we must consider: what is this pleasure? This favor? This ability to be accepted?

That favor. That grace. That absolute necessity of God intervening in our lives—this is remarkably a not-us reality.

Let us never part from living in the land of grace. We long to see some token of His favor, and yet, through Christ, we have every bit of grace we need.

This God is able to do this for us. To work in this situation. And to make us joyful in our pain, abundantly content in Him. That’s grace. Let us run to Him for this grace. Let us claim His grace in our circumstance. Let us see the fullness of this grace, made known to us in Christ.
The answer to the question “Will God be favorable no more?” is in part—No! God is favorable at all times, for He is the God of Grace. Christ our Savior is full of grace. We can run to Him and claim that all-sufficient grace.

b). Let’s also consider—not what is this favor but in what is God well pleased? We know He is pleased with certain things. What are those things?

Psa. 147:10 tells us what doesn’t delight God: “He delighteth not in the strength of the horse: he taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man.” In other words, what wows us so often doesn’t impress God. That fast car with multiple horse power might be our equivalent of the “strength of a horse.” The Olympic or professional athlete with a fantastic record of gold medals or wins in a row—this kind of thing does not impress God.

What’s acceptable to God is our dependence upon Him.

So even if it doesn’t seem that the answers are here—the answer is not to abandon our faith but to keep on fearing Him and walking in His commandments.

KJV Debate: James White & Thomas Ross: King James Bible Only & Textus Receptus Modern Versions & LSB

KJB1611 2023-03-10 | James White vs. Thomas Ross Bible versions / King James Only debate:

“The Legacy Standard Bible, as a representative of modern English translations based upon the UBS/NA [United Bible Societies, Nestle-Aland Greek] text, is superior to the KJV [King James Bible], as a representative of TR-based [Textus Receptus / Received Text - based] Bible translations."

Affirm: James White, Alpha & Omega Ministries, Apologia Church (Mesa, AZ)
Deny: Thomas Ross, FaithSaves.net, Bethel Baptist Church (El Sobrante, CA)

Debate location: Covenant Reformed Baptist Church, Tullahoma, TN, February 18, 2023

About the debaters:

James White is the director of Alpha and Omega Ministries. He is Professor of Church History and Apologetics at Grace Bible Theological Seminary, and has taught Greek, Hebrew, Systematic Theology, Textual Criticism, Church History and apologetics for numerous other schools. He has authored or contributed to more than twenty four books, including The King James Only Controversy, The Forgotten Trinity, and What Every Christian Needs to Know About the Qur’an. He is an accomplished debater; this King James Version Only debate was his 180th. He has debated leading proponents of Roman Catholicism, Islam, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Mormonism, as well as critics such as Bart Ehrman, John Dominic Crossan, Marcus Borg, and John Shelby Spong.

Thomas Ross grew up doubting the existence of God, but through God’s grace turned to the Lord Jesus Christ in repentant faith shortly after entering college at the age of fifteen and was born again. He earned a BA from the University of California at Berkeley, an MA from Fairhaven Baptist College, an M Div from Great Plains Baptist Divinity School, a ThM from Anchor Baptist Theological Seminary, and should complete and submit his PhD dissertation this year at Great Plains Baptist Divinity School. He has taught systematic theology, Greek, Hebrew, apologetics, textual criticism, and other courses with a variety of church-authorized Bible institutes, colleges, and theological seminaries in the United States and in foreign countries. His church and he partner with a number of independent Baptist educational institutions to assist them in training God’s servants for kingdom work through both distance and in-person education, in addition to assisting his congregation and equipping other Bible-believing, separatist Baptist churches in preaching, teaching, and in other ways fulfilling Christ’s Great Commission through such ministries as house-to-house evangelism, literature distribution, evangelistic Bible studies, open-air preaching, and online preaching, teaching, and apologetics ministry to the glory of the Triune God (Matthew 28:19-20). Thomas Ross has engaged in public, moderated debates both in the United States and internationally with leading representatives of non-Christian worldviews and with representatives of pseudo-Christian cults and religious organizations. He loves to read and study his Greek, Hebrew, Latin, and English Bible with the intention of obeying them, and has translated the Aramaic portions of Scripture. He has written several books.

In the debate, James White argued that the King James Version translators, were they alive today, would affirm the superiority of the LSB to the KJV, for three reasons:

1.) The LSB is textually superior to the KJV.
2.) The LSB is lexically superior to the KJV.
3.) The LSB is translationally superior to the KJV.

Thomas Ross argued that the King James Bible and the Textus Receptus or Received Text fits what the Bible teaches about its own preservation. The LSB and other modern Bible versions do not. He argued that Scripture, and faith in the promises of God, must be the “glasses” through which believers evaluate historical data about the preservation of the Bible. Scripture teaches:

1.) the verbal, plenary preservation of the verbally, plenarily inspired autographa (Psalm 12:6-7; Matthew 5:18; Matthew 24:35)
2.) the preserved words would be perpetually available to God’s people (Isaiah 59:21)
3.) Israel was the guardian of Scripture in the Mosaic dispensation (Romans 3:1-2), and the church the guardian in the dispensation of grace (1 Timothy 3:15).

The Holy Spirit would lead the saints to accept the words the Father gave to the Son to give to His people (John 16:13; 17:8). Believers can know with certainty where the canonical words of God are, because they are to live by every one of them (Matthew 4:4; Revelation 22:18-19) and are going to be judged by them at the last day (John 12:48).

Ross argued that the translation philosophy of the Nestle-Aland Greek text's editors rejected both the Biblical doctrine of preservation and undermined verbal inspiration; their heresies corrupted the UBS Greek text. Also, "Jehovah" is God's covenant name, not the LSB's "Yahweh."

Videography by Shane Irwin of Impax Films.

Watch the debate review videos at FaithSaves, on YouTube (KJB1611 channel), or Rumble (KJBIBLE1611 channel)!

Isaiah 7:14 (part 2) & Daniels 70 weeks prophecy (Intro): Jesus Christ in the Old Testament (4.26)

KJB1611 2023-03-05 | “Isaiah 7:14 (concluded) & Daniel's 70 weeks prophecy (Introduction): Jesus Christ in the Old Testament" is part 26 in the series through learning how to lead evangelistic Bible study #4, “How Can God Save Sinners? The Gospel of Jesus Christ!” from the FaithSaves website. It completes the examination of the virginal conception or virgin birth prophecy of Isaiah 7:14 and introduces the 70 week prophecy of Daniel 9:24-27.

Isaiah 7:14 reads:

"Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel."

Daniel 9:24-27 reads:

24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. 25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. 26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. 27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

In Isaiah 7:14, the "Lord," Adon, the sovereign God, is the speaker. Isaiah deliberately uses this designation instead of the covenant name "Jehovah". He emphasizes the might and omnipotence of the One who will give the sign. He who alone can give a sign, whether it be in heaven above or on the earth beneath, will now exercise his prerogative, Adon has control over all things, and Isaiah may have used this word by way of rebuke to the king. It is ʾadon, even He, who will give the sign.

The sign is for the entire nation of Israel, not for Ahaz alone (hence the plural "you"). "Behold" indicates the announcement to follow is one of great weight. The idea is: "I see a wonderful child, whose birth shall bring salvation to his people; and before such a period of time shall elapse as would lie between the conception of the child in his mother’s womb and his coming to years of discretion, the land of Israel and of Syria shall be forsaken.”

The mother of the Messiah is referred to, not in Isaiah 7:14 alone, but also in Micah 5:3:

Therefore will he give them up, until the time that SHE WHICH TRAVAILETH HATH BROUGHT FORTH: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel.

The virginal conception of the Messiah is also implicit in His being the "Seed of the woman" (Genesis 3:15).

The Hebrew word for virgin in Isaiah 7:14, ʿalmah, is never employed of a married woman. It certainly may designate one who is truly a virgin (Genesis 24:43). Proverbs 30:19 is alleged to prove that the word ʾalmah may signify an immoral girl, but such a view is not clear in the text. In any case, Proverbs 30:19 does not indicate a married woman.

Non-Christian Jews and skeptics have claimed that Isaiah should have used the word bethulah had he wished to designate a virgin birth-'almah should, they claim, be translated simply as "young woman" (NRSV). However, in Joel 1:8 bethulah is clearly a married woman, one who had a “husband of her youth.” This very common anti-Christian claim that bethulah instead of almah should be used were a virgin birth in view in Isaiah 7:14 is invalid.

Three crucial interpretive points from Isaiah 7:14 are:

(1) The birth must be a sign.
(2) The mother of the Child is one who is both unmarried and a good woman.
(3) The very presence of the Child brings God to His people. The name Immanuel cannot be applied to anyone who is not God. No one else in the Old Testament bears this name. For these reasons, the prophecy must be interpreted only of that One to whom these conditions apply, namely, Jesus the Christ, the Son of the Virgin and the Mighty God.

Note "ImmanuEL" is not only the virgin born Messiah of Isaiah 7:14, the One in whom the nation of Israel needed to trust, but also the One who owns the land of Israel ("thy land, O Immanuel," Isaiah 8:8), and the One who is the "mighty God" (El Gibbor) of Isaiah 9:6.

Daniel 9:24-27 predicts the presentation as the Messianic King on March 30, A. D. 33. Following this event, He would die a substitutionary death. Jerusalem would then be destroyed by the Romans-the fourth empire in Daniel's prophecy-for rejecting Him (fulfilled in A. D. 70). Daniel 9 predicts with perfect accuracy the very year and day of the Messiah Jesus (Zechariah 9:9).

Isaiah 7:14 & Many Other Messianic Prophecies: Jesus Christ in the Old Testament (Bible Study 4.25)

KJB1611 2023-02-26 | “Isaiah 7:14 and Many Other Messianic Prophecies: Jesus Christ in the Old Testament (Bible Study 4.25)” is part 25 of the series on learning how to lead evangelistic Bible study #4, “How Can God Save Sinners? The Gospel of Jesus Christ!” from the FaithSaves website. It introduces the virginal conception or virgin birth prophecy of Isaiah 7:14 after noting the following prophecies:

1.) The Messiah must be a descendant of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, and King David: “his government ... upon the throne of David” (Isaiah 9:7; cf. Genesis 12:3; 17:19; Numbers 24:17; Genesis 49:10).

Fufilled:

“The Lord God will give unto him the throne of his father David.” (Luke 1:32-33; 3:33-4; Matthew 1:1, 2)

2.) The Messiah must be born in Bethlehem: “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.” (Micah 5:2)

Fulfilled:

“And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.” (Luke 2:4-7)

3.) Proceeded by a forerunner (John the Baptist): “Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.” (Malachi 3:1)

Fulfilled:

“And when the messengers of John were departed, he began to speak unto the people concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness for to see? A reed shaken with the wind? ... This is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.” (Luke 7:24, 27)

4.) Declared the Son of God: “I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.” (Psalm 2:7, 12; Proverbs 30:4; Isaiah 9:6; Daniel 3:25)

Fufilled:

“And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17)

5.) Ministry in the area of Galilee, in and around the tribal land of Zebulun and Naphtali: “Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.” (Isaiah 9:1-2)

Fulfilled:

“And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; The people which sat in darkness saw great light.” (Matthew 4:13-16)

6.) A prophet: “The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me [Moses]; unto him ye shall hearken.” (Deuteronomy 18:15)

Fulfilled:

"Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world.” (John 6:14; 7:40; Luke 7:16; Acts 3:20-23)

There are many other prophecies, e. g.:

7.) Unparalleled healings (Isaiah 35:5-6; 42:7; 61:1-2; Jeremiah 31:8; Matthew 15:30-31; 4:23-24; Luke 4:18-19; 7:19-22)
8.) Presentation as the Messianic King by riding into Jerusalem on a donkey: (Zechariah 9:9; Mark 11:7-11)
9.) Betrayed by a close friend (Psalm 41:9; Luke 22:47-48)
10.) Betrayed for thirty pieces of silver, which were later used to purchase a potter’s field, after being cast down in the temple (Zechariah 11:12-13; Matthew 26:14-15; 27:3-7)
11.) Accused by false witnesses (Psalm 35:11; Mark 14:57-58)
12.) Scorned and mocked (Psalm 22:7-8; Matthew 27:39-44)
13.) Spat upon and smitten (Isaiah 50:6; Matthew 26:67-68)
14.) Pierced through hands and feet (Psalm 22:16; Zechariah 12:10; John 20:25, 27; 19:18)
15.) Executioners gambled for His garment (Psalm 22:18; Mark 15:24)
16.) Forsaken by God (Psalm 22:1; Matthew 27:46)
17.) No bones broken (Psalm 34:20; John 19:31-36)
18.) Resurrection from the dead and ascension to God’s right hand in heaven (Psalm 16:10-11; 49:15; 68:18; 110:1; Isaiah 53:10-12; Mark 16:6, 19; Ephesians 4:8; Hebrews 12:2)

Truly, the Lord Jesus is He “of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write” (John 1:45; cf. 5:46; Luke 24:27, 44)!

James White & Thomas Ross Bible Texts & Versions Debate (LSB & UBS / NA vs. KJV / TR) Review part 1

KJB1611 2023-02-25 | James White & Thomas Ross debated the topic: “The Legacy Standard Bible (LSB), as a representative of modern English translations based upon the UBS/NA text (the Greek New Testament printed by the United Bible Society, which is also the text of the Nestle-Aland), is superior to the KJV (King James Version), as a representative of TR-based (Textus Receptus or Received Text based) Bible translations.” This King James Only or King James Version Only (KJVO) debate took place on February 18, 2023.

This video is part one of a series of debate review videos by Thomas Ross of the arguments made by both sides of the debate. The introductory video explains Bro Ross' initial analysis of how the debate went and examines James White's initial post-debate comments in White's Dividing Line program for Tuesday, February 21, 2023 (James White discusses the Bible text and version debate in c. minutes 5-18; the video is entitled "Road Trip Dividing Line: Gay Mirage, Mass, Biblicism," and comments start here: youtube.com/watch?v=vR4do1nfFr4&t=517s).

By God's grace and for His glory, the Lord answered the prayers of His people and the debate went well. God is concerned that His pure Word be in use among His people, and He blessed the debate towards the furtherance of that cause. The case for perfect preservation, and its good and necessary consequence, the superiority of the TR/KJV to the UBS/LSB, was clear. All glory to the one God, the Father who gave the canonical words of Scripture to the Son, so that He could give them to the assembly of His saints by His Spirit!

Despite pressing James White on the obvious fact that the Bible promises perfect preservation, and that the original language texts behind the Legacy Standard Bible and similar modern versions are built around a rejection of these promises, and that the recognition of the canonical words of Scripture by the church were crucial to Thomas Ross' case, James still did very little to dispute Ross's case from Scripture, nor to present a Biblical basis for his own position.

James White reviewed the debate on his Dividing Line program. In his review he made very few comments about the substance of the debate. He did not talk about what Scripture taught about its own preservation. He did not talk about what Baptist confessions say about preservation. He did not talk about the case made for the Textus Receptus from history, validating how God kept His promises and the Baptist confessions are right. Instead, unfortunately, James made regular affirmations about Thomas' character that he was not able to substantiate.

James White claimed he “knew” Thomas Ross was “not intending to” bring the audience along with him. James claimed Thomas had a “really, really deep disrespect for the audience.” James said: “Ross didn’t care. He wasn’t debating for us.” James claimed this was what Thomas was doing: “I don’t care if anyone understands what I’m saying, I’m just showing off.” James claimed Thomas did not understand the concept of text types, or even “anything like that at all,” and said that Thomas “misuse[d] scholarly information.” James used his debate review to make such allegations against the character of Thomas Ross, but James was not able to substantiate any of these accusations. Similarly, in James White's book The King James Only Controversy James claims that there are KJVO people who think Abraham and Moses spoke English, but here again James provides no documentation for his claims.

Thomas Ross discusses the use of Athanasius' TR reading "only-begotten Son" in John 1:18 versus the Arian reading defended by James White, "only begotten god," which is followed by the Nestle-Aland Greek text, the New World Translation of the Watchtower Society or the Jehovah's Witnesses cult, and the Legacy Standard Bible. Athanasius seven times quotes “only begotten Son,” the TR and KJV reading of John 1:18 in the patristic writer's Defense of the Nicene Definition and his Discourses Against the Arians. The corruption “only begotten god” is first attested by the Gnostic Valentinians and is also quoted by Arius. The corruption in the NA/UBS Greek text appears in 0.3% of the Greek manuscripts, while the TR “only begotten Son” appears in 99%. It is astonishing that White’s King James Only Controversy actually employs the pro-Arian corruption of John 1:18 as evidence of the superiority of modern Bible versions on the Deity of Christ! The Nestle-Aland text encourages the Arian heresy that Christ is begotten in the sense of “created” at a point in time as a secondary god, rather than the Biblical fact that Christ is begotten eternally as Son (and “beget” does not mean “create”; the Son is begotten, not created).

Thomas also discusses the fact that there are hundreds of lines of text in the NA text—mere handfuls of words—where the NA/UBS text looks like no Greek manuscript that actually is known on the face of the earth.

Learn more at the FaithSaves website!

New Testament / Koine Greek class #24: Basics of Biblical Greek Workbook, William Mounce, chap 20

KJB1611 2023-02-21 | Lecture #24 in New Testament or Koine Greek, covers the exercises in chapter 20 of William (Bill) Mounce’s Basics of Biblical Greek textbook, covering verbal roots and other forms of the future tense. The following passages are translated:

Warm up:

α. John 12:48; β. Matthew 24:5; γ. Mark 16:17; δ. (John 8:32); ε. Luke 12:19; ζ. —; η. Mark 4:13;

Translation:

1. Mark 1:8; 2. Matthew 13:41; 3. Mark 16:7; 4. John 14:23; 5. Matthew 1:21; 6. 1 Corinthians 6:2-3; 7. (John 11:48); 8. 1 Corinthians 15:35; 9. Luke 19:22; 10. Luke 11:49

Additional Exercises:

11. —; 12. —; 13. (Isaiah 58:13, LXX); 14. (Joshua 22:22, LXX); 15. Epistle of Barnabas 11:5; 16. Revelation 2:23; 17. 2 Clement 4:1; 18. Matthew 5:8; 19. James 2:18-19; 20. John 15:10.

In relation to Mark 1:8 (Exercise 1), the reason for translating ἐν ὕδατι as, in this passage "with water" rather than "in water," are:

The translation of the Authorized Version that Christ “shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost” (Matthew 3:11, etc.) is superior in its particular context to a rendering of βαπτίσει ἐν Πνεύματι Ἁγίῳ, as “he shall baptize you in the Holy Ghost.” A comparison of the gospel texts on Spirit baptism indicate that both the simple dative and the dative with en specify the same category of usage in the text. For example, in Luke 3:16 the dative ὕδατι parallels ἐν Πνεύματι Ἁγίῳ καὶ πυρί. Acts 1:5 likewise parallels John’s baptism ὕδατι with baptism ἐν Πνεύματι Ἁγίῳ. Note also the simple dative πυρί in Matthew 3:12 and Luke 3:17.The simple datives are best taken as examples of a “dative of means/instrument [by, by means of, with] ... [where] the dative substantive is used to indicate the means or instrument by which the verbal action is accomplished. This is a very common use of the dative, embracing as it does one of the root ideas of the dative case (viz., instrumentality) ... before the noun in the dative, [one should] supply the words by means of, or simply with.” While the instrumental dative is very common, there is a great “scarcity of ... usage [for the] ... locative of place without a preposition ... [so that the grammarian] Blass indeed remarks that the ‘local dative’ does not occur in the N. T.” If there are few simple datives representing a dative or locative of place in New Testament Greek, or perhaps none at all, but the instrumental idea for the dative form without a preposition is very common, then the presumption that the baptisms in Matthew 3 and the parallel passages are “with” water, “with” the Holy Ghost, and “with” fire, rather than “in” these three, is very strong. Similarly, ἐν Πνεύματι constitutes a use of ἐν with the dative indicating instrument or means. Thus, in Spirit baptism “Christ is the agent ... and the Holy Spirit is the means ... that the Lord uses to baptize ... Πνεύματι Ἁγίῳ clearly indicates means in Mark 1:8 (as in several other passages dealing with Spirit-baptism).” Furthermore, ἐν Πνεύματι regularly possesses the sense of means or instrumentality in the LXX; the locative idea of sphere is significantly less common. Indeed, the locative sense is not clearly present in any passage in the Greek Old Testament where en pneumati refers to the Holy Spirit. The related ἐν πυρί (cf. Matthew 3:11, βαπτίσει ἐν Πνεύματι Ἁγίῳ καὶ πυρί) also very frequently possesses the sense of instrumentality or means in the LXX. However, such metaphorical language for Spirit baptism does not exclude any locative sense in Spirit baptism, nor does Christ’s pouring out the Holy Ghost from heaven, which resulted in Spirit baptism, exclude the Spirit’s “fill[ing] all the house where [the 120 in the church] were sitting” (Acts 2:2) and thus immersing the church in His overwhelmingly powerful presence. Nevertheless, syntax and context demonstrate that the rendering of the Authorized Version and of English Bibles back to Tyndale is correct-Christ performs Holy Ghost baptism with the Spirit. (from Spirit Baptism: a Completed Historical Event: An Exposition and Defense of the Historic Baptist View of Spirit Baptism, at the FaithSaves website; see references for the quotations there).

Also, nonarticular Πνεῦμα Ἅγιον is still "the" Person of the Holy Spirit, the third member of the Godhead. Πνεῦμα Ἅγιονis a monadic noun phrase, referring specifically to the Person of the Holy Spirit in the Trinity, and thus, like other monadic nouns, and in a fashion like that of proper names, it is definite without the article. Daniel Wallace wrote: “A one-of-a-kind noun does not, of course, require the article to be definite (e.g., “sun,” “earth,” “devil,” etc.). One might consider Πνεῦμα as monadic when it is modified by the adjective Ἅγιον. If so, then the expression Πνεῦμα Ἅγιον is monadic and refers only to the Holy Spirit” (Daniel Wallace, Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics, 248-250). All 50 instances of Πνεῦμα Ἅγιον in the NT refer to “the Holy Spirit” and cannot be reduced to anything less.

Be Thou My Vision

KJB1611 2023-02-11 | This is an improvisation on the hymn, "Be Thou My Vision," by Heather Ross, complete with photographs taken by the arranger.

Be thou my vision, Oh Lord of my heart;
Nought be all else to me, save that Thou art.
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise;
Thou mine inheritance, now and always.
Thou and thou only, first in my heart,
High King of heaven, my treasure Thou art!

High King of Heaven, my victory won,
May I reach Heavn's joys, Oh bright Heavn's Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Be Thou my vision, Oh Ruler of all.

Isaiah 53:12: The Resurrected & Ascended Messiah Intercedes, Returns & Rules-Isaiah 53 #8-Bible 4.24

KJB1611 2023-02-09 | “Isaiah 53:12: The Resurrected & Ascended Messiah Intercedes, Returns & Rules (Isaiah 53 #8) Bible Study 4.24” is part eight in the series through Isaiah 52:13-53:12 (Isaiah 53 for short) as part of the series on learning how to lead evangelistic Bible study, working through study #4, “How Can God Save Sinners? The Gospel of Jesus Christ!” from the FaithSaves website. As 1 Corinthians 15:1-4ff. indicates, the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ was predicted in the Old Testament or Hebrew Scriptures.

Isaiah 53:12 reads:

Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

The first half of the verse describes the Messiah’s second coming to rule and reward His people based on the grace purchased for them through His substitutionary death. The second half of the verse describes His work as High Priest for His people.

In Isaiah 53:12a, the “great” and the “strong” are parallel. The word “great” is also rendered “great” in other texts in the book (Isaiah 13:4; 16:14; 23:3; 51:10), but within the Servant Song itself, it is rendered “many” each earlier time (Isaiah 52:14, 15; 53:11-11). Immediately after this Servant Song the word appears in Isaiah 54:1 (“more”), 54:13 (“great”); the last references are Isaiah 63:1 (“mighty”) and 63:7 (“great”). “The strong” are “great” are great both in their position and in their number—they are a great multitude, are “many.” The exalted Messiah shares His blessing with His people, who in His kingdom will both be great, ruling with Him, and are also very many, a multitude that no man can number, purchased by His sacrifice, from “many nations” including their “kings” (52:15), as the Servant will “justify many” (53:11).

Since Jehovah gives His reward of exaltation to the Servant here in 53:12. The Messiah is mentioned first; after Him the “great” in number and position: “Therefore will I divide HIM a portion with the GREAT, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong.” It is not that the great give some of what belongs to them to the Messiah as much as He gives of His riches to them, although it is also true that in Christ’s kingdom the high ones of the nations will bring their gifts and offerings to Him in Jerusalem (Revelation 21:24, 26; Isaiah 49:7). The fundamental idea is that the justified “many” will be exalted in union with their suffering and exalted Savior. The Messiah will divide the spoil with His people when His people follow Him as their Captain to destroy the wicked, when “Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power” (Psalm 110:3; Revelation 19:14).

The Messiah “was numbered” in that He caused himself to be numbered; for it is only that which was undergone voluntarily which can be stated as the reason of the reward. The “transgressors” here, just as the “wicked” in ver. 9, are criminals. This appears from the connection in which the being “numbered with the transgressors” stands with the “pouring out of the soul unto death.” We can hence think of executed criminals only. The pure, innocent One was not only numbered with sinners, such as all men are, but He was numbered with criminals. It is in this sense also that the Lord Jesus understands the words (Luke 22:37; cf. Matthew 26:53-56; Mark 15:28).

It was in this fact that it came out most palpably, that Christ had been made like criminals. The rulers of the people caused two common criminals to be crucified with Him, just that they might declare that they put Him altogether among their number.

The “intercession” of Isaiah 53:12 is here brought into close connection with the bearing of the sin, by which Christ represents himself as being the true sin or trespass offering (Isaiah 53:10). So Christ prays for all His elect people in John 17, and His prayers are always answered, guaranteeing their eternal security and their perseverance in the faith. So He prayed for Peter (Luke 22:31-32).

But in light of the “numbered with the TRANSGRESSORS” with its specific reference to criminals being repeated in “and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the TRANSGRESSORS,” the cross is specifically in view. Christ prayed in Luke 23:33-34 for the soliders who crucified Him. The result is the conversion of the centurion and the other soldiers (Luke 23:47; Matthew 27:54). Christ asked for them to be forgiven in Luke 23:34, and they consequently were, almost immediately after His death! Christ interceded for those who literally crucified Him, and they all repented and became believers shortly after His death! Matchless grace!

Very possibly the crowds watching also repented and were converted shortly after His death as well (Luke 23:48). And the criminal transgressor for whom Christ acted as High Priest, entered Paradise shortly after his new Lord did (Luke 23:39-43).

Searching our Hearts in Our Trouble, Psalm 77:6b, a Psalm of Asaph (for Christian Ladies)

KJB1611 2023-02-09 | Psalm 77:6b states, “I commune with mine own heart: and my spirit made diligent search.”

1. Communion with his own heart

Here, the word translated commune has the idea of meditating or thinking upon.

Heart, of course, refers to the inner person. It is the seat of thought and emotion.

Deuteronomy 6:5 uses this word when it says, “And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

Part of loving God with all our heart can include weighing our innermost self by musing on our relationship with God. We see this in the second part of the verse.

2. Diligent searching with his innermost person

As a young girl, I remember the day my mom’s wedding band went missing. She didn’t want to get her lovely ring dirty or encrusted with dough, so she took the ring off while making bread dough. She worked, letting the dough rise, forming rolls and bread, placing the dough in pans, and then having the savory smell ascend from the oven. Some time later, she realized: her ring was not there. Searching piles of trash and other odd places, my mother looked and looked. But the wedding ring was gone. In fact, that day was the last time she saw her ring.

That incident caused me to decide early after my engagement that I would not take my ring off. Some people take off their rings while completing a messy project, but mine would stay on. I didn’t want the unfortunate occurrence my mom had to repeat itself with me.

One evening in December as my husband and I packaged boxes and hurried them off to the post office, I looked down, only to discover that my diamond ring was missing. Where could it be? I called the post office. The worker there assisted in our search as my husband re-opened boxes we had just packaged, tearing their seams to see if the ring was somehow there. It wasn’t. Everything seemed to stop. I walked about in a daze. Where could the ring be? I must find it! Retracing my steps back up to the third story attic where we had been wrapping the boxes, I picked through items from box after box, one at a time. After having rummaged through four different boxes, I noticed something. A glint caught my eye. Sure enough, there, at the bottom of the fifth cardboard box, my ring gleamed.

The next day I wasted no time taking the ring to the jewelers and getting it resized once again. In the meantime, I purchased a fake diamond ring at Walmart until the jeweler had finished his task.

When we search for something precious to us, we search diligently until—hopefully, we find it. This is the kind of diligent search depicted in Psalm 77:6 b.

Psa. 77:6b, “I commune with mine own heart: and my spirit made diligent search.”

In the last part of this verse, Asaph tells us he made a diligent search of his inner man. His spirit has examined his thoughts.

As he had calculated and weighed the dealings of God in the past, as he had counted up the times God had given him His song in the night, now he calculates, searches, looks into his own heart, no doubt examining himself in light of the truth he knew and sought to live by.

Part of seeking God is inward examination so that “each thought and each motive is beneath his control,” as the song “Take Time to Be Holy” indicates.

In Psalm 139:23-24, we see how David prays, “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

When life is hard and painful, we are reminded of our heart’s own wickedness and it is a good time to ask God to search us, to try us.

Lam. 3:40 commands, “Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the LORD.”

Job’s friends wrongly assumed that the reason he was encountering difficulty was that God was punishing him for something wrong he had done. Actions have consequences. Sometimes the inward ache of our own heart is caused by an unconfessed sin, a wicked way within us which needs exposure.

Certainly, as Job’s case indicates, that is not always the case. But it is right in our moments of sadness and inward grief to examine ourselves, to try our ways, to be sure God occupies first place in our hearts and lives.

The NT counterpart of this notion is found in 1 Cor. 11:28-32. Before taking the Lord’s Table, we are to examine ourselves so that we do not drink or eat unworthily. Internal examination is certainly part of a healthy Christian life. And if God chooses to give us sleepless nights or painful days in order that we might do so, that is His prerogative.

Regardless of Asaph’s regular practice, which may have included self-examination, Asaph takes this time of darkness to ask himself hard questions about his own heart, to see if his own heart is what it ought to be, if he truly is right with his God.

Isaiah 53:11: The Sin-Bearing & Resurrected Messiah Justifies Many (Isaiah 53 #7) Bible Study 4.23

KJB1611 2023-02-05 | “Isaiah 53:11: The Sin-Bearing & Resurrected Messiah Justifies Many" is part seven in the series through Isaiah 52:13-53:12 (Isaiah 53 for short), as part of the series on teaching an evangelistic Bible study, looking at study #4, “How Can God Save Sinners? The Gospel of Jesus Christ!” from the FaithSaves website, the section of the Bible study on the Lord Jesus Christ’s substitutionary death and resurrection being “according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).

Part 4.23 examines Isaiah 53:11:

He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

In the phrase “by his knowledge …” is the knowledge in view that His people have of the Servant, or the knowledge the Servant has Himself? The idea that people are justified by knowing the Messiah—justified by faith—is certainly true to the overall teaching of Scripture:

Jeremiah 31:34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all KNOW ME, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

However, the knowledge here is more likely to be the knowledge that the Messiah Himself has, not the knowledge others have of Him. Note earlier in Isaiah that the Spirit of knowledge will rest upon the Messiah and make Him of quick understanding, Isaiah 11:1-4:

1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: 2 And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, THE SPIRIT OF KNOWLEDGE and of the fear of the LORD; 3 And SHALL MAKE HIM OF QUICK UNDERSTANDING in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: 4 But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.

Furthermore, in Isaiah 52:13, when we are introduced to the Servant in his specifically expiatory undertaking, there is express mention of the Servant’s wisdom and understanding, “Behold my servant shall deal prudently.” In its primary signification, "prudently" merely means to act with the understanding or intelligence. Since, however, such intelligent action usually results in success, the verb comes also to include the idea of effective action. Thus, we are to understand that the Servant will act so wisely that abundant fruition will crown His efforts. Surely it is appropriate that knowledge should likewise be associated with his justifying action in such a way as to condition its exercise and insure its effectiveness.

Furthermore, in Isaiah 53:3 the expression rendered “acquainted with grief” means that the Servant is “known of grief” and reflects upon the extent to which He experienced grief; it accentuates the depth of his knowledge of grief. His saving undertaking made necessary this experiential acquaintance with grief.

In Proverbs 22:17, "my knowledge" means "what I know," not "knowing me."

The Messiah's knowledge is also connected with His mediatorial office as Prophet, Priest, and King. As Priest He must have knowledge (Malachi 2:7). As the of David and King the Spirit of knowledge rests upon Him (Isaiah 11:1-4). Those who teach or give forth the Word must have knowledge (Daniel 12:3, "wise," KJV margin, "teachers") themselves:

And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.

In this passage "they that be wise" is from the same Hebrew verb as "deal prudently" in Isaiah 52:13, and "they that turn many to righteousness" could also be translated as "they that justify many" or "they that cause many to be righteous," the same verb as "justify many" in Isaiah 53:11. Daniel 12:3 is alluding to Isaiah 52:13; 53:11. The Servant of Jehovah is the ultimate example of practicing Daniel 12:3, and will receive the highest reward for it. So the Messiah has knowledge as Prophet, as One who gives forth and reveals God, connected here to justifying many.

The Son's knowledge of the Father is crucial to His being the Mediator and to His being able to give knowledge of the Father to us:

Matthew 11:27 All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.

Because the Son is the all-knowing God, He fully knows the Father and can fully reveal Him, so His people can come to Him and learn of Him. The Messiah knows "how to speak a word in season to him that is weary,” (Isaiah 50:4), to raise up the weary and heavy laden. Through this knowledge He will justify the "many."

Recollecting God in Our Trouble, Part 2: Psalm 77:5b-6a, a Psalm of Asaph (for Christian Ladies)

KJB1611 2023-01-24 | Asaph has spent time considering the years of ancient times.

Note here the word years. In this cursory moment, this transitory time of trouble, Asaph decides to mull over God’s track record.

Year after year, from ancient times, this God had proved Himself faithful.
Your day itself may be dark. The season of life in which you find yourself may boast little comfort. But days become weeks; weeks become months; months become years. And it is those years which testify to the faithfulness of God.

The Hebrew lexicon identifies the word translated “ancient times” as also being translated “forever, everlasting, eternity.”

Our God supersedes days. While He is the Dayspring from on High, He is also the Ancient of Days. His glory? It lasts not only one day, as a human’s does, by comparison. No, His glory lasts forever. As such, His ways are so much higher than our own; His thoughts, so much more enduring than ours.

It is good, very good, to consider eternity. To weigh our difficulty in the balance beam of the forever. To ponder how our moments measure up with the meaning of everlasting.

Judge your situation by comparing it to the eternal. God is eternal. His forever nature so often contrasts starkly to our momentary pain and yet He is present in our moment of weakness, willing to sustain us in those days of desolation.

Yet how dwarfed we feel, contemplating the volumes of history in which God has already worked and comparing those many deeds to the heavy hardship that personally befalls us in our present.

And yet this remembering. This recollection is what we see Asaph doing. He follows the biblical command to Remember the former days. He considers God’s eternal nature and character in light of his own hardship and difficulty.

And even though he continues to feel the weight of this burden, he marches on diligently, using his thoughts to calculate God’s intervention in the past.

Little annoyances or daily dilemmas that fester into future days—whatever our frustration, we can follow right thinking by calling to mind God’s work and eternality.

3. He has also remembered his songs in the night.

Psa. 77:6a says, “I call to remembrance my song in the night:”

One of the beautiful gifts God gives to us is a song in the night! The ability to praise Him in the darkness, to lift up our voice when we are worn out, when sleep departs us, when our physical and emotional well-being is compromised. At these dark moments, God can lighten our darkness with His song!

Consider Psa. 42:8, “Yet the LORD will command his lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life.”

Job 35:10 refers to “God my maker, who giveth songs in the night;”

These songs are His gift.

Acts 16 tells us of “Paul and Silas,” who at midnight “prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.”

God gave Paul and Silas His gift of songs. Similarly, Asaph had experienced the strengthening hand of God upon his life. He had felt definitive encouragement from his Maker and could recount times in which He had been so buoyed up in his faith by receiving these songs, in faith framing his words to these songs when he felt the darkest.

In this time of questioning, Asaph uses his moments to remind himself of the special ways in which God’s grace had encouraged him through songs in the night. Other times when he had questions, when he had lost his way—God had given him the gift of song.

Asaph takes time to recall those moments, to relive, as it were, those victories.

It is good to recall the songs of triumph God gives us amidst our trials of days gone by.

What we really have here is a man disciplining his mind to think as God would have him think so that he can get to answers in his darkness. It would seem that he has practiced such behavior before—so that he can recall how God got him through this time or that time, he can rehearse just what the Lord did in the history of his people. It was as if his mind was conditioned, prepared for such a trial.

He was employed, was he not, in leading Scripture truth about God regularly in God’s house? Was not Scripture already an important part of his daily existence?

But Asaph was the kind of man, so this text would seem to indicate, that had learned to steer his thinking, learned to discipline his thought life in such a way that it traveled down the road to arrive at God-fearing answers to soul-searching dilemmas.

How do our free moments find us engaged? Meditation upon God’s law is to be an important part of a believer’s life. What of the discipline of our thoughts? A few verses back, Asaph mentioned how he was complaining and thus his spirit was overwhelmed.
st.

Even though it seems he still felt no relief, he disciplined his mind to think truth.

Isaiah 53:10-12: The Resurrection of the Suffering Servant / Messiah (Isaiah 53 #6) Bible Study 4.22

KJB1611 2023-01-16 | “Isaiah 53:10-12: The Resurrection of the Messiah" is part six in the series through Isaiah 52:13-53:12 (Isaiah 53 for short), as part of the series on teaching an evangelistic Bible study, looking at study #4, “How Can God Save Sinners? The Gospel of Jesus Christ!” from the FaithSaves website, the section of the Bible study on the Lord Jesus Christ’s substitutionary death and resurrection being “according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).

Part 4.22 examines Isaiah 53:10-11:

Isaiah 53:10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
Isaiah 53:11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

It “pleased Jehovah” to bruise the Messiah because, as the context explains, by the Servant’s sacrifice the will of the Lord is realized, His Servant glorified, and the salvation of mankind secured. “Bruise” is a strong word which can be rendered “crush.” The verb in the same Hebrew tense (Piel) appears in:

Isaiah 3:15 What mean ye that ye BEAT my people TO PIECES, and grind the faces of the poor? saith the Lord GOD of hosts.
Psalm 143:3 For the enemy hath persecuted my soul; he hath SMITTEN my life down to the ground; he hath made me to dwell in darkness, as those that have been long dead.
Job 4:19 How much less in them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, which are CRUSHED before the moth?
Lam. 3:34 To CRUSH under his feet all the prisoners of the earth.

The verb “put to grief” appears in:

Micah 6:13 Therefore also will I MAKE thee SICK in smiting thee, in making thee desolate because of thy sins.
Proverbs 13:12 Hope deferred maketh the heart SICK: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.

The sense is to wound or make sick, put in a bad physical condition, not solely a poor emotional state.

The texts above refer to the Hebrew Hiphil; compare the passive Hophal:

1Kings 22:34 And a certain man drew a bow at a venture, and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness: wherefore he said unto the driver of his chariot, Turn thine hand, and carry me out of the host; for I AM WOUNDED.
2 Chronicles 18:33 And a certain man drew a bow at a venture, and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness: therefore he said to his chariot man, Turn thine hand, that thou mayest carry me out of the host; for I AM WOUNDED.
2 Chronicles 35:23 And the archers shot at king Josiah; and the king said to his servants, Have me away; for I AM sore WOUNDED.

Christ voluntarily offers His soul or life as a trespass-offering for sin, and the Father makes His life or soul a sin or trespass offering:

Leviticus 17:11 For the life [SOUL] of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.

The sacrifice of the soul or life of the sacrifice substitutes for the soul or life of the one who is benefited by the sacrifice.

See also:

John 10:11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life [or soul] for the sheep.
John 10:15 As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life [or soul] for the sheep.
John 10:17 Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life [or soul], that I might take it again.
John 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life [or soul] for his friends.
1John 3:16 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life [or soul] for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
Matthew 20:28 Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life [or soul] a ransom for many.

These texts refer back to Isaiah 53:10-12. The Messiah would lay down His life or soul for us as a “ransom” (Matthew 20:28) or an “offering for sin” (Isaiah 53:10).

The words “He shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days” refer to the resurrection of the Messiah. The seed of the Servant of God, identical with His “generation,” in 53:8, are just those for whom, according to the words immediately preceding, He offers His soul as a trespass-offering — the many who, according to 53:12, are assigned to Him as His portion; who, according to Isaiah 52:15, are to be sprinkled by Him; who, according to 53:11, are to be justified by Him; they whose sins He has taken upon Him (53:5), and for whom He intercedes before God, 53:12. They are the Messiah’s seed because in His sacrificial death there will be a life-giving power to turn sinners into adopted children (Isaiah 8:18; 9:6; Matthew 9:2; John 13:33), the wicked into saints. The Messiah is raised to an exalted eternal life in glory not only for His own sake, but for the sake of His redeemed people.

Recollecting God in Our Trouble: Psalm 77:5a, a Psalm of Asaph (for Christian Ladies)

KJB1611 2023-01-06 | Verse 5 states, “I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times.” Psa. 77:6a continues, “I call to remembrance my song in the night:”

Luxor and Karnak Temples, located nearby or inside the city of Luxor, Egypt, boast magnificent art that is millennia old. On a trip to Egypt with a knowledgeable Egyptologist as our guide, my husband and I were able to understand with better clarity just what the art on the walls of these temples meant. Dozens of times, we stopped before battle scenes at various temples at historic sites in Egypt as our guide pointed out unique features, like a pile of right hands that was counted as a number of individuals defeated, or other significant aspects, such as a list of place names recorded here that provided archaeological validation for the scriptural account.

History on the walls of such temples frequently portrays the victories—it is not a record of defeats. For later generations, recorded history such as this could inspire patriotism. Bolster courage. And assist in remembering former days so that today’s generation might be encouraged that such victories could happen again.

As Asaph lay searching for answers, frustrated by tremendous lack of clarity, he employs his time in many biblical ways. We saw earlier that he sought the Lord in His confusion. He beat out that path, treading over and over His way to the throne of God.

Here we see other ways in which Asaph responded biblically, though he felt no immediate relief. Verse 5 states, “I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times.”

1. He has spent time considering the days of old.

To consider is to think about, to account.One thinks of an accountant drawing up a ledger, listing expenses, keeping careful track of what has been spent or what has been acquired. It is this same sort of consideration that we learn Asaph did in his time of hardship.

He accounted the former days, when God miraculously intervened on the behalf of His people. Dividing the Red Sea. Bringing His own out of Egypt. Commanding deliverance after deliverance for Jacob.

I wonder, does this sort of discipline, this sort of reckoning, characterize our thoughts when we are experiencing difficulty? Do we purposely decide, perhaps as we toss and turn on the bed at night, to count up the things God has done in former times that evidence His power?

Meditation upon the past, upon God’s working in the past, is a thing that ought to prioritize our time. And yet how many of us take time to ask older believers of the work of God in their lifetimes? Do we search out stories in which those who have walked with God for years tell of His mercy and strength to their souls?

Here we learn that a regular discipline of our lives should be to remember what God has done and to ask older believers what God has done in their lives, so that as we learn of Him and see how He works, we have molded for us a biblical perspective on our current situation.

This discipline requires that we habitually 1) learn facts about the past—that we search out and study what God has done in former days. We are such forgetful creatures. Frequently in His Word, God commands, “Remember.” For the children of Israel, remembering included calculating how God had specifically worked in their corner of the earth, with His own. A contextual study of Deuteronomy 32 shows how God chose Israel, redeemed Israel, and put them in the land. Meditating on such deliverance becomes a precious use of time for God’s children.

For us as New Testament believers, it may be learning about the history of the specific church we attend or history of Bible believers of the past, who, although persecuted, remained firmly tenacious as they clung to God’s Word.

We should fill our minds with truth about God’s work as it touches His people in this world. If we spend our time musing only on current events, we can easily forget what God has done in the past. In reality, God puts down kings and sets up others. As we saturate our minds with truth about God’s work with His own on this planet, as we see what God has done in believers throughout history—our minds and hearts will be better prepared to understand, to some degree, what God is doing in our own lives.

This discipline of remembering requires also that we 2) ask questions of the right people. The command in Deuteronomy 32 continues with, “Ask thy father, and he will tell thee.” Older believers, who have experienced God’s deliverance in many dark days will remember what the Lord has done for them as they respond to your question. You will be helped in having edifying conversations with believers as you ask specifics concerning God’s working in their individual lives. And you will grow in your knowledge of God and His work as you marvel together in this God Who commands deliverances for His own.

Isaiah 53:8-10: The Suffering Servant with Sinners and the Rich (#5 in Isaiah 53): Bible study 4.21

KJB1611 2022-12-25 | “Isaiah 53:8-10: The Servant with Sinners and the Rich" is part five in the series through Isaiah 52:13-53:12 (Isaiah 53 for short), as part of the series on teaching an evangelistic Bible study, looking at study #4, “How Can God Save Sinners? The Gospel of Jesus Christ!” from the FaithSaves website, the section of the Bible study on the Lord Jesus Christ’s substitutionary death and resurrection being “according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). Part 4.21 examines Isaiah 53:8-10:

Isaiah 53:8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
Isaiah 53:9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.
Isaiah 53:10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.

Jesus the Messiah was likely put in an actual prison, although He also suffered oppression. “Judgment” was passed upon Him, but Jehovah took Him to Himself, as Enoch was taken to God (Genesis 5:24).

The word "generation" refers to those who are connected with the Messiah by a holy disposition. Compare:

Psalm14:5 There were they in great fear: for God is in the generation of the righteous.
Psalm 24:6 This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob. Selah.
Psalm 73:15 If I say, I will speak thus; behold, I should offend against the generation of thy children.
Psalm 112:2 His seed shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the upright shall be blessed.
Here, the generation of the Servant of God is the communion of those who are animated by His Spirit, filled with His life. This company will, after His death, increase to an innumerable greatness.
The word "declare" is connected with the idea of meditation. Compare:

Psalm 145:5 I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works.

Allusion is made to the promise to Abraham: Genesis 13:16: " And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered."

In Isaiah 53:8, the KJV marginal note reads: “was he stricken: Heb. was the stroke upon him.” Some argue that "upon him" is plural and so cannot refer to the Messiah, but a basis for a singular translation is found in (Isaiah 44:15; Job 22:2; Psalm 11:7)

The verb “to be cut off” never occurs of a quiet, natural death, but always of a violent, premature death.
Christ's death was for "my people" in that it had respect to Israel in a special way, but other texts indicate that He also died for all men.

In Isaiah 53:9, the "he made ... with the wicked, and with the rich" could also be translated as "and it was given to him ..." The verb "made / it was given" applies both to "with the wicked" and "with the rich." Men fixed for Him the ignominious grave with criminals; by the providence of God, He received the honourable grave with a rich, and that for the sake of His innocent sufferings, as a prelude to the greater glorification which, as a reward, was to be bestowed upon Him. Criminals received, among the Jews, a disgraceful burial. See Josephus, Antiquities 4:202 (4.8.6): He that blasphemeth God, let him be stoned, and let him hang upon a tree all that day, and then let him be buried in an ignominious and obscure manner.

Maimonides wrote: “Those who have been executed by the court of justice are not by any means buried in the graves of their ancestors; but there are two graves appointed for them by the court of justice, — one for the stoned and burnt; the other for the decapitated and strangled.”

The Messiah's grave was assigned Him with criminals, but after He had actually died a sacrificial death, He was really laid in a grave that was intended for the corpse of a rich man:

57 When the even was come, there came a rich man of Arimathaea, named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus’ disciple: 58 He went to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be delivered. 59 And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60 And laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock: and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed. (Matthew 27:57-60)

Compare the rich tomb in Isaiah 22:16:
Is. 22:16 What hast thou here? and whom hast thou here, that thou hast hewed thee out a sepulchre here, as he that heweth him out a sepulchre on high, and that graveth an habitation for himself in a rock?

Because Jesus the Messiah was righteous, He received burial with the rich, prefiguring His resurrection and exaltation. In Isaiah 53:10, "bruised" has the sense of "crushed." Compare Isaiah 3:15; Psalm 143:3; Job 4:19; Lamentations 3:34.

Isaiah 53:7-8: The Suffering Servant / Saviors Silence & Reward (Isaiah 53 #4): Bible study 4.20

KJB1611 2022-12-18 | “Isaiah 53:7-8: The Suffering Servant and Savior's Silence and Reward" is part four in the series through Isaiah 52:13-53:12 (Isaiah 53 for short), as part of the series on teaching an evangelistic Bible study, looking at study #4, “How Can God Save Sinners? The Gospel of Jesus Christ!” from the FaithSaves website, the section of the Bible study on the Lord Jesus Christ’s substitutionary death and resurrection being “according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). Part 4.20 examines Isaiah 53:7-8:

Isaiah 53:7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
Isaiah 53:8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.

Isaiah 53:7 describes the patience with which Jesus the Messiah undertook His substitutionary and saving suffering for sin as the true Passover Lamb (Exodus 12:3); hence John the Baptist called Christ the "Lamb of God" John 1:29; cf. 1 Peter 1:18-19; Acts 8:32-35). The verse emphasizes Christ's silence in suffering with a repetition similar to that in Isaiah 53:3 & Judges 5:15-16. Isaiah 53:7 was fulfilled in 1 Peter 2:23:

Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:

as well as in Christ's silence before Pilate:

12 And when he was accused of the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing. 13 Then said Pilate unto him, Hearest thou not how many things they witness against thee? 14 And he answered him to never a word; insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly. (Matthew 27:12-14)

7 The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God. 8 When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid; 9 And went again into the judgment hall, and saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no answer. (John 19:7-9)

The Messiah's silence before other interrogators:

62 And the high priest arose, and said unto him, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee? 63 But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God. (Matthew 26:62-63)

and the Lord Jesus' silence before Herod:

8 And when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceeding glad: for he was desirous to see him of a long season, because he had heard many things of him; and he hoped to have seen some miracle done by him. 9 Then he questioned with him in many words; but he answered him nothing. (Luke 23:8-9)

How willingly Christ suffered in our stead. Infinite love of the suffering Savior!

Isaiah 53:8-10 begins the third subdivision of the principal portion of Isaiah 53. It describes the reward of the Servant of God, expanding the words: “kings shall shut their mouths at him” (Isaaih 52:15) and “He shall be exalted" (Isaiah 52:13).

God takes the Servant to Himself from heavy oppression. He who apparently was destroyed without leaving a trace receives an infinitely numerous generation as a deserved reward for having, by His violent death, atoned for the sins of His people, delivered them from destruction, and acquired them for His property. That is, "who shall declare his generation?" specifies the Messiah's numerous spiritual descendants or generation who will belong to Him because of the value of His sacrificial, vicarious death for them.

The word translated "prison" has the sense of "oppression" (cf. Psalm 107:39), that is, "shutting up,” “restraining,” or “hindering.” While some have argued that general abuse and oppression which are spoken, there is no reason to deny that an actual prison is in view. There clearly was an actual prison in Jerusalem where people were whipped (Acts 22:22-30), so Isaiah 53:8 could well refer to an actual prison in which Christ was tortured and whipped, even though the LXX translates the word rendered "prison" in the KJV as "humiliation" and the Latin Vulgate speaks of "anguish" or "tribulation," while the Aramaic Targum refers to "sufferings."

"Judgment" refers to what the enemies of the Messiah passed upon Him. The "prison" or "oppression" are connected to the judgment-an unjust judicial procedure is in view. But behind the human judgment, the divine is concealed (cf. Ezekiel 5:8; Jeremiah 1:15-16).

Because God has appointed the Servant to suffer as our Substitute, God used sinful men to oppress and wrongly judge Him.

The words "he was taken from" refer to the Messiah's being “taken away from suffering, being delivered from it by God’s having taken Him to himself, to the land of eternal bliss," that is, to the resurrection, ascension, and glorification of the Servant of God, with an allusion to the ascension of Enoch in Genesis 5:24.

Isaiah 53:4-7: The Suffering Servants Substitutionary Sacrifice (#3 in Isaiah 53): Bible study 4.19

KJB1611 2022-12-11 | “Isaiah 53:4-7: the Suffering Servant's, Substitutionary Sacrifice,” demonstrating the saving work of Jesus the Messiah, is section 4.19 in the series on teaching an evangelistic Bible study, looking at study #4, “How Can God Save Sinners? The Gospel of Jesus Christ!” from the FaithSaves website. Part 4.19 is section 3 of an exposition of Isaiah 52:13-53:12, demonstrating that the Lord Jesus Christ’s substitutionary death and resurrection were “according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). Isaiah 53:4-7 reads:

Isaiah 53:4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
Isaiah 53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
Isaiah 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Isaiah 53:7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.

The second subdivision of Isaiah 53, covering 53:4-7, provides the key to the sufferings of the Servant of God described in what precedes, by pointing to their vicarious character, to which the conduct of the Servant of God under His sufferings corresponds (Isaiah 53:7).

In Isaiah 53:4, the word “griefs” can refer to “sicknesses” (cf. Matthew 8:16-17). For believers in the Messiah, sickness, pain, and, in general all sorrow, have lost their sting; they will be utterly abolished in the resurrection Christ has purchased for us by His death. He has, accordingly, not only put away our sicknesses and pains, but He has, as our substitute, taken them upon Him; He has healed us by His having himself become sick in our stead. This could be done only by His having, in the first instance, as a substitute, appropriated our sins, of which the sufferings are the consequence (1 Peter 2:24).

Both “stricken” and “smitten” can refer to being afflicted with disease (Psalm 73:14; 2 Kings 15:5; Leviticus 13; Numbers 14:12; Deuteronomy 28:22).

The unbelieving Israelites did not err in considering the suffering of the Servant of Isaiah 53 as a punishment of sin, but only in considering it as a punishment for the sins committed by the Servant of God himself. Once they came to faith, they saw the Servant had really suffered for their sins, as He Himself had none.

“He” stands in front, in order emphatically to point out Him who suffered as a substitute, in contrast to those who had really deserved the punishment, and the Hebrew accent indicates that one is to pause on this initial word: “He, wounded on account of our transgressions.” The chastisement of our peace is the chastisement whereby peace is acquired for us. Peace stands as an individualizing designation of salvation, and the peace is inseparable from the substitution. If the Servant of God has borne our sins, He has thereby, at the same time, acquired peace; for, just as He enters into our guilt, so we now enter into His reward. The justice of God has been satisfied through Him; and thus an open way has been prepared for His bestowing peace and salvation. The “chastisement” here is not fatherly correction, but retributive punishment borne by the Servant (Proverbs 15:10; Jeremiah 2:19). His “stripes” are the welts from the whip with which Christ was whipped before He went to the cross (Matthew 20:19; 27:26; Psalm 129:3).

Compare Isaiah 53:5’s “we are healed” with Isaiah 6:10’s “convert, and be healed”; the healing is an individualising designation of deliverance from the punishments of sin, called forth by the circumstance that disease occupied so prominent a place among them, and had therefore been so prominently brought forward in what precedes. [T]he punishment, the inseparable companion of sin, already existed, and was taken away by Him.

In Isaiah 53:6, in order the more strongly to impress upon the hearts of men the benefits of Christ’s death, the Prophet shews how necessary is that healing which was mentioned before. “All we” have sinned; “We have turned every one to his own way”; but the good Shepherd sought us out His scattered flock (Psalm 119:176; 1 Kings 22:17; Ezekiel 34:4-6; Matthew 9:36). Turning to one’s own way is sinful (cf. Isaiah 56:11); the verse specifies both the sinful condition and the misery that results from it.

The iniquities of the whole community are laid upon the Servant of God in their punishments. By this throwing the guilt upon the Servant of God, the condition of being without a shepherd is done away with, the flock is gathered from its scattered condition. The wall of separation which was raised by its guilt, and which separated it from God, the fountain of salvation, is now removed by His substitution, and the words: “The Lord is my Shepherd,” now become a truth; compare John 10:11-15.

Realizing God in Our Trouble: Psalm 77:4, a Psalm of Asaph (for Christian Ladies)

KJB1611 2022-12-11 | D. His Realization that God has allowed this adversity.

Verse 4 says, “Thou holdest mine eyes waking: I am so troubled that I cannot speak.”

My husband and I visited Kenya over five years ago now. One of the missionary wives was enduring very difficult and trying circumstances. They’d planned to take a trip to South Africa and so she’d received a yellow fever shot—but the medication reacted with her system.

Sleepless night after sleepless night followed, with days being little better for catching sleep. Day passed day and her body began to feel the physical, emotional, and mental anguish of that lack of REM sleep.

Her condition lasted at least two weeks and in that time, her spirit became drained; her body became weakened; her stamina slowed to a snail’s pace.

God answered prayer and, as time went on, she returned to full health—but those weeks with such little sleep had a tremendously wearing-down affect upon her body.

1. God has allowed the sleepless nights.
In Verse 4, Asaph tells us, “Thou holdest mine eyes waking:

It’s an interesting notion. Here Asaph says it is God who has allowed him to stay up at night, who has caused him to water his bed with his tears, who has allowed him this condition so that he has no sleep.

Insomnia is a terrible condition. I have known others besides my missionary friend who have suffered from insomnia for some length of time. The kind of wearing down that occurs in the entire person is something very difficult to endure.

For the body repairs itself at night. The lovely rest of the evening is something we should never take for granted.

When Adam slept deeply, God created Eve from his rib.
As Jacob slept soundly, he had visions of a heavenly ladder.
Sleep is frequently used as a metaphor for death—quiet, peaceful slumber.

When Ahasuerus could not sleep, he had the chronicles read to him and learned of Mordecai’s heroic act to save his life in days gone by.

Unlike the idols of wood and stone of the nations around Israel, who must be put in their naos each night—into the alcove designed for them to sleep—the God of Israel does not sleep.

When sleep eludes us, when dreams cannot be had, when our eyes lay awake at night, our bodies fatigued with overexertion but unable to rest—we may consider, as Asaph did, that God holds our eyes.

2. He cannot speak in response to God’s sharp dealings with Him.

As we have seen in this text, Asaph sees God as the One allowing his sleepless night. The sharp ache of his heart is so sorely pained within him that he cannot speak. And here, at night, as he lies awake yet again (so it would seem), he has descended from one crying aloud his complaint to God to simply acknowledging silently, without uttering any words, that God is holding his eyes awake.

God is allowing this very difficult thing in his life.

We may not have answers. We may be stuck directly in the middle of a tortuous maze of life. Nothing may make sense. Life may be completely unpredictable in every sense—yet if we acknowledge that God is allowing this difficulty…if we see He is orchestrating this challenge…if we hang on to the truth that He knows our frail, enfeebled frame of mind and can even perceive the unframed words of our lips—if we acknowledge Him, cling to Him in our pain—we’re doing the right thing.

Romans 8:26 encourages us, “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”

When we’re talking about words that can’t be uttered it’s good to remember that God’s Spirit intercedes for us with inward sighings that none of us know about.

God cares for you. First Peter 1:7 encourages us to cast our cares upon God, for He cares for us.

Our care for ourselves, often shaped by our own minds and hearts, lacks the kind of compassionate care God has for our eternal souls. When we are stuck in the hurt of a pain-filled existence, which no one seems to understand, let us take consolation that this Father of the fatherless and Judge of the widows, this God who cares for the lost and dying of the world—cares for His children to the point that He begs us to cast our care upon Him. To the point that He encourages us to remember His Spirit, whose groanings over us cannot be uttered.

When you have no words left to express your grief, see your pain as an allotment from God, Who does all things well. When sleep departs from your eyes, see Him as keeping you awake. Never stop beating out that path of seeking Him.

And seek to encourage yourself in the Lord, instead of musing upon your complaints—for that is sure to make you faint.

Remembering God in Our Trouble: Psalm 77:3, a Psalm of Asaph (for Christian Ladies)

KJB1611 2022-12-03 | Psalm 77:3, “I remembered God, and was troubled: I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah.”

In the middle of our difficulty we often have trouble viewing the end God has prepared. We’re like a pancake cooked on only one side. Or a loaf of banana bread raw all the way through the middle. The end has not come, so the finished product of what is to be is not yet.

Too often we judge a thing before its time. We criticize the painful progress, squirm with discomfort at the daily trouble, failing to look ahead to what will be forever.

But if we will keep our eyes on the end—knowing the pain we feel now will not last forever…if, instead of looking about at today’s disaster keep our eyes fixed on the kingdom of God which awaits us in our forever future—then we can hope.

The middle of one of my mom’s cooking projects doesn’t look like much with the kitchen in disarray and flour strewn all about the countertops, but in the end, when the counter is back to its pristine shine and the table is set, the end is realized. And those seated at the table enjoy a dinner that results in them feeling fully satisfied.

Then, all those moments of labor are worth it as sweet fellowship and delicious food are paired at another homemade meal.

Here Asaph is still in the midst of this dilemma. The mess is all about him and, when he remembers God, instead of getting consolation, he feels even deeper confusion.

Psalm 77:3, “I remembered God, and was troubled: I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah.”

1. He remembered God and was troubled.
Sometimes the unanswered questions loom within us, rising up as unsurmountable things. They threaten our thoughts. They cause us to doubt and question God. Although we factor Him in, although we seek to listen to His voice, to hear what He has to say, although we remember Him in the middle of our pain—our troubled spirit cannot be quieted.

We can remember God and, to our undiscerning gaze, which sees only the underside of the quilt above, all appears as a tangled mess, confirming our hunches, adding pinpricks and sharp arrows of discomfort to our already sorrowful state.

Our perspective of God, our lack of understanding of His perfect ways—this can trouble our spirit profoundly.

Let us not view God solely as the key player in our life’s story—but may we see Him as He is. May the rounded-out character of our God greatly encourage our obedience and bolster our faith.

Let us not view Him only as we see Him intersecting with our lives in what appear negative ways, blaming Him for the mess we see around us as it were. Let us instead borrow faith’s glasses and view our circumstances in a way only He can help us to see.

2. He complained and his spirit was overwhelmed.

Often, when we complain, a sense of being overwhelmed descends upon our spirit. We are troubled.

Being overwhelmed has the sense of being faint, enfeebled.

As we rehearse complaints, our spirit—that immaterial part of us which illustrates our thoughts and emotions can clearly grow weary. We can feel our weakness. We droop and are troubled in our circumstances. We view the world about us as a painful reality and nothing seems to awaken our sensibilities to a faith perspective as we continue to utter our complaints.

The idea of complaining here is one of meditating, musing on.

So often when we complain, it’s because we’ve rehearsed that thought pattern in our head multiple times. We’ve chosen to meditate on the negativity. Negativity in our circumstances or surroundings is plainly noticed. We think of it. We’ve feel the inward pain. We’ve experienced frustrations as God has dealt hardly with us—and we muse upon the pain caused by those particular thoughts. Over and over again in our mind, we allow that negative feeling to spoil our faith-filled response until we, from rehearsing this sort of meditation, grow weary. Faint. Enfeebled.

Selah.

Here is a pause in the music.

Here is a time to consider what has just been said.

Consider it. Remember it. As we confirm in our minds unanswered questions or as we rehearse pain in our brain—we actually set ourselves up to become faint. Enfeebled. Overwhelmed.

Like you and me, like Asaph and others, David too felt this overwhelmedness. He says in Psalm 61:2, “From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I.”

When we are feeling faint because of our complaint—let us echo the cry of David. We need God, Who is stronger. We must have God, Who is higher. God, Who can provide perspective. God, Who can strengthen in our weakness. God, Who can assist us in our lives. And only He can lead us to Himself.

Only He can give us that clear vision of the end—His kingdom is coming. His will will be done in our lives as it is in Heaven. And, instead of growing weary at our current situation and immediate surroundings, we can put our trust in Him.

Isaiah 52:15-53:3: the Lord Jesus, Suffering and Rejected Messiah: Isaiah 53 (#2), Bible study 4.18

KJB1611 2022-11-20 | “Isaiah 52:15-53:3: the Suffering and Rejected Messiah, Jesus: Isaiah 53 part 2,” is section 4.18 in the series on teaching an evangelistic Bible study, looking at study #4, “How Can God Save Sinners? The Gospel of Jesus Christ!” from the FaithSaves website.

Part 4.18 explains Isaiah 52:15-53:3:

Isaiah 52:15 So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider.
Isaiah 53:1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?
Isaiah 53:2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
Isaiah 53:3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

The verb “sprinkle” in 52:15 occurs frequently and everywhere signifies in the Hebrew tense used “to sprinkle.” It is especially set apart and used for the sprinkling with the blood of atonement, and the water of purification. When “the anointed priest” had sinned, he took of the blood of the sacrifice, and sprinkled it before the vail of the sanctuary, Leviticus 4:6; 5:16-17. The high priest had, every year, on the great Day of Atonement, to sprinkle the blood before the Ark of the Covenant, in order to obtain forgiveness for the people (Leviticus 16:14, 18-19). These sorts of Old Testament texts explain why this word “sprinkle” is used for spiritual cleansing based on sacrifice. For example:

Psalm 51:7: Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Hyssop was used to sprinkle the sacrificial blood and to sprinkle the water which had been mixed with the ashes of the sacrificed red heifer (female cow)]. Also, see Ezekiel 36:25:

“Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.”

All the laws of purification in the Pentateuch have a typological character. That which was done to the outward impurity was, in point of fact, done to the sin which the people of the Old Testament beheld under its image. Thus, Isaiah 52:15 indicates that Christ is the true High Priest, to whom the ordinary priesthood with its sprinklings typically pointed. The expression is a summary of that which, in the following chapter, we are told regarding the expiation or atonement through sacrifice through the suffering and death of the Servant of God. The words “when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin” in Isaiah 53:10, and “[He will] justify,” in Isaiah 53:11 ver. 11, correspond. Unlike on the Day of Atonement, Christ the ultimate High Priest enters heaven itself, not the tabernacle/tent in the wilderness, or Solomon’s Temple! Christ comes, fully face-to-face, into the presence of the Father! The Lord Jesus, the Messiah, brings the value of His own death and bloody sacrifice, not the blood of a sacrificial animal! And now the sacrifice does not just cover the sins of Israel for one year, but it takes sin away, forever, for many nations—including you!

In the New Testament, Isaiah 52:15 is alluded to on numbers of occasions, e. g.:

Hebrews 10:22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.

Hebrews 12:24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.

Hebrews 9:13 For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:
Hebrews 9:14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

To the contempt and horror with which the Jews shrink back from the Messiah in His humiliation, would thus be opposed the faithful, humble confidence, with which the heathen draw near to the glorified Messiah. Now even kings shall shut their mouth at Him on account of His atonement. The shutting of the mouth is a sign of reverence and humble submission.

After the preliminary sketch of 52:13-15, there follows, in Isaiah 53:1–10, the enlargement. First, in Isaiah 53:1–3 that is expounded which, in Isaiah 52:14, had been said of the many being shocked or astonished, and of the cause. The commentary upon “many were astonied at thee,” Isaiah 52:14, “they were shocked,” is given in Isaiah 53:1: a great portion of the Jews do not believe in the salvation which had appeared. The enlargement of: “so marred ...” is given in Isaiah 53:2, 3. The cause of the unbelief is, that the glory of the Servant of God is concealed behind humiliation, misery, and shame. God became Man to save sinners!

Suzerain-Vassal Treaties & the Books of Moses or Pentateuch: Dr. Joshua Berman, Bar-Ilan University

KJB1611 2022-11-18 | "Suzerain-Vassal Treaties & the Books of Moses or Pentateuch" is an interview with Jewish scholar Dr. Joshua Berman, professor of Hebrew Bible at Bar-Ilan University in Israel. Dr. Berman, a graduate of both Princeton University and Bar-Ilan University, discusses the powerful archaeological evidence from the suzerain-vassal treaty format in the Books of Moses--Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy-for the authorship of the Pentateuch by its traditionally recognized author-Moses-in the traditional time period, the Bronze Age.

The interview was conducted by Dr. Thomas Ross during a faculty tour of Egypt led by Egyptologist and Christian scholar Dr. James Hoffmeier in conjunction with Tuktu Tours. Scholars such as Kenneth Kitchen (On the Reliability of the Old Testament), James Hoffmeier (The Archaeology of the Bible), and Meredith Kline (Treaty of the Great King: The Covenant Structure of Deuteronomy) are also quoted on the topic.

The Bible presents the true God-the God of Israel-as the great King, the suzerain, and Israel as the vassal, or subordinate, who needs to obey the great King or suzerain because the suzerain has delivered or saved the vassal. By God's saving Israel from Egypt, He became the nation's king, and Israel become God's vassal.

Approximately one-hundred treaties and law codes have been discovered and translated of comparative value to the Sinai covenant the Bible declares that God gave to Moses. The covenants from the third millennium BC differ in structure from those of the second, and those of the second differ in structure from those of the first. Exodus 20-24 and Deuteronomy are written in a covenant structure employed in the second half of the second millennium BC-the Biblical time of Moses. This suzerain-vassal treaty format was consciously followed in both Exodus and Deuteronomy. Treaties from a thousand years later-when skeptics must date the Pentateuch if they wish to explain away its predictive prophecies-are radically different in format” from those of the time of Moses, in which the Sinai covenant was composed. The Biblical text shares intimate distinctions with the late-second-millennium documents not found in the first-millennium.

Dr. Kenneth Kitchen notes:

The particular and special form of covenant evidenced by Exodus-Leviticus and in Deuteronomy (and mirrored in Josh. 24) could not possibly have been reinvented even in the fourteenth/thirteenth centuries by a runaway rabble of brick-making slaves under some uncouth leader no more educated than themselves. The formal agreeing, formatting, and issuing of treaty documents belongs to governments and (in antiquity) to royal courts. Private citizens had no part in, and no firsthand knowledge of, such arcane, diplomatic procedures. Their only role was to hear the content of a treaty (if they were vassals of a suzerain-overlord), and obey it through their own ruler. So also today, treaties are agreed to by heads of state, and implemented by them; and any bills are picked up by the long-suffering taxpayers with never a sight of the original interstate document responsible for the cost.

So, how come documents such as Exodus-Leviticus and Deuteronomy just happen to embody very closely the framework and order and much of the nature of the contents of such treaties and law collections established by kings and their scribal staffs at court in their respective capital cities in the late second millennium? This is socially and conceptually a million miles away from serfs struggling to build ... Pi-Ramesse (and Pithom) in the sweaty, earthy brickfields of Exodus 1:11–14 and 5:6–20! No Hebrew there could know of, or would care about, such high-level diplomatic abstractions.

Even a runaway rabble inevitably needs a leader. To exploit such concepts and formats for his people’s use at that time, the Hebrews’ leader would necessarily had to have been in a position to know of such documents at first hand—either because he knew people who shared such information with him or because he was himself involved with such documents. There is no other option.

In short, to explain what exists in our Hebrew documents we need a Hebrew leader who had had experience of life at the Egyptian court, mainly in the East Delta (hence at Pi-Ramesse), including knowledge of treaty-type documents and their format, as well as of traditional Semitic legal/social usage more familiar to his own folk. In other words, somebody distressingly like that old “hero” of biblical tradition, Moses, is badly needed at this point, to make any sense of the situation as we have it. ... On the basis of the series of features in Exodus to Deuteronomy that belong to the late second millennium and not later, there is, again, no other viable option.

Since the Pentateuch was written by Moses, the Bible must be true, for the Pentateuch contains specific predictive prophecies that were fulfilled many centuries later. Only God can predict the future in this way!

Seeking God in Our Trouble: Psalm 77:2, a Psalm of Asaph (for Christian Ladies)

KJB1611 2022-11-16 | At Taal Volcano near Batanya, Philippines, my husband and I followed our guide up a steep mountain path. But this was no ordinary path. Massive mounds of erosion on either side of the path made it look more like an old gulley or stream rivulet. Unlike the switchbacks we were used to in places like the Rocky Mountains or the Sierra Nevadas, that wound nicely around the mountains to make as little erosion as possible, we encountered one very well eroded path up to the quiet volcano.

Sure, people had worn out a footpath, but so had rain and wind. By constant use, the pathway had become incredibly worn out.

We will see how in today’s verse, a similar image of wearing out a path by much use is used.

B. His Seeking God in Trouble

Psa. 77:2, “In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord: my sore ran in the night, and ceased not: my soul refused to be comforted.”

1. In the day of his trouble he sought the Lord.
He was experiencing personal difficulty. It was trouble that perhaps only he understood. In that time, he sought the Lord.

2. In the night, when his sore was unceasing, he sought the Lord.

That pain in his heart he felt at night. Perhaps he lay awake hurting either physically or spiritually. It was constant, so that even sleep would not assuage it. The nights had him, perhaps, tossing and turning in his bed. As he did so, he sought the Lord.

This was his personal trouble, but he would not cease to seek God.

According to BDB, the standard Hebrew lexicon, the idea of seeking is “to resort.” In Arabic, it’s the word, “rub over,” as one would rub over the face of a coin. It contains the idea of treading, as one would tread wheat over and over again to stamp out the kernel. Related ideas include to read repeatedly, to study.

Thus, this seeking is a continual thing. As one would beat a path out of the grass by continually walking that same way-- that is the idea of this word to seek.

Beat down the path of seeking the Lord.

In your trial, in your test, in your darkness, don’t stop seeking Him.
When day comes and that hurt persists, seek His face. When night comes and the pain doesn’t go away, seek Him. Keep seeking Him.

Read His Word. Pray. Meditate on the Bible. Memorize Scripture. Study the Word. Talk about it. Keep seeking Him.

One of the Lord’s names that became particularly precious was this one:

“The Lord is my Shepherd.”
I too could rest content, knowing that He is my Gentle leader into righteous paths.
Another was that of God being my Abba Father—my Daddy.
Romans 8:15 declares,
“For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear;
but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.”

Psalm 71:5-6 reflects this, too. It says,
“For thou art my hope, O Lord GOD:
thou art my trust from my youth.
By thee have I been holden up from the womb:
thou art he that took me out of my mother’s bowels:
my praise shall be continually of thee”

3. In a continuous way, his soul had no comfort.
As he sought the Lord, the Bible says, his soul “refused to be comforted.”

His soul, that innermost part of him, still cried out. He was seeking God. He was doing what he was supposed to do, but the pain was so deep. The grief was so sore that night and day, to the very depths of his soul, it was as if his innermost being could not receive the satisfaction God offered.

Asaph is describing a real-life situation. Anyone who has lived as a Christian for any length of time, who has endured hardship and difficulty, understands this kind of perennial pain.

Many today don’t want to talk about it, but there’s a nagging, soul-searching frustration that they bear. They’re seeking God but there’s something in them that can’t get away from the dark thoughts, the painful moments, the frustrating things of life.

The trouble was real. Nothing seemed to do.

If you feel this way—if you have ever felt this way—take heart in knowing—you are not alone. The man whose job was to offer praise to God in the temple felt this way, too. His job was to sing praise but here in this personal difficulty, all he could do was find futility. Emptiness. And nothing could change his mind.

It wasn’t that he didn’t know truth.
It wasn’t that he wasn’t seeking God.
The pain was just so real…

But notice what he’s doing. He’s telling God what he’s going through. He’s pouring out his complaint before God. He’s putting precise words on his feelings and telling the Lord all about it.

And yet he chose the right path—seeking the Lord.

Whatever we’re going through, let’s do the same. Let’s wear out the fresh grass of hardship every day by beating out a path to our Father’s throne, where we take our burdens to the Lord and leave them there, trusting that in time all will be clear and God will make a way where a way could not be!

Isaiah 52:13-52:15-the Suffering Messiah, the Lord Jesus (#1), Intro to Isaiah 53 (Bible study 4.17)

KJB1611 2022-11-12 | "Isaiah 52:13-52:15-the Suffering Messiah, the Lord Jesus (#1), Introduction to Isaiah 53" is section 4.17 in the series on teaching an evangelistic Bible study, looking at study #4, “How Can God Save Sinners? The Gospel of Jesus Christ!” from the FaithSaves website. Part 4.17 begins the exposition of Isaiah 52:13-53:12.

Isaiah 52:13-15 reads:

13 Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high. 14 As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men: 15 So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider.

In Isaiah 52:13-15 Jehovah speaks. These verses contain a short summary of what is enlarged upon in Isaiah 53. as E. W. Hengstenberg in his Christology of the Old Testament explains, the very deepest humiliation of the Servant of God shall be followed by His highest glorification. In consequence of the salvation wrought out and accomplished by Him, the nations of the earth and their kings shall reverently submit to Him. In Isaiah 53:1-10, the Prophet utters the sentiments of believing Israel; this sort of confession will characterize believing Israel in the Tribulation period. At first, in His humiliation, Israel had not recognized the Redeemer; but now they acknowledged Him as their Redeemer and Saviour, and saw that He had taken upon Him His sufferings for our salvation, and that they had a substitutionary character. The commencement forms, in Isaiah 53:1, the lamentation that so many do not believe in the report of the Servant of God, that so many do not behold the glory of God manifested in Him. In Isaiah 53:2-3, we have the cause of this fact, that is, the appearance of the Divine, in the form of a Servant—the offence of the cross. In lowliness, without any outward splendour, the Servant of God shall go about. Sufferings, heavier than ever befel any man, shall be inflicted upon Him. In Isaiah 53:4-6, the vicarious import of these sufferings is pointed out. The people, seeing his sufferings, and not knowing the cause of them, imagined that they were the well-merited punishment of His own transgressions and iniquities. But the Israel of God, now brought to believe in Him, see that they were wrong in imagining thus. It was not His own transgressions and iniquities which were punished in Him, but ours. His sufferings were voluntarily undergone by Him, and for the salvation of mankind, which else would have been given up to destruction. God himself was anxious to re-unite to himself those who were separated from Him, and who walked in their own ways. To the vicarious import of the sufferings of the Servant of God corresponds, according to Isaiah 53:7, His conduct: He suffers quietly and patiently. In Isaiah 53:8-10 we have the reward which the Servant of God receives for His obedience in suffering. God takes Him to himself, and He receives an unspeakably great generation, Isaiah 53:8, burial with the rich, Isaiah 53:9, numerous seed and long life, and that the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand; Isaiah 53:10. In Isaiah 53:11-12, the Lord again appears as speaking, and confirms that which has been declared by believing Israel. Isaiah 53:11-12, together with the introduction, Isaiah 52:13-15, occupy five verses. The main body, ten verses, is divided into seven referring to the humiliation and suffering, and three referring to the exaltation of the Servant of God. The seven are, as usual, divided into three and four. In the three verses, the suffering of the Servant of God is exhibited; in the four, its cause and substitutionary import.

After the Prophet has, in Isaiah 51:1-52:12, described the transition of the Israel of God from humiliation and sorrow to glorification, it is quite natural that he should now turn from the members to the Head, through whose mediation this transition was to be accomplished, after the same contrast had been exhibited in Himself. There is the most intimate connection between the people of God and God's redemptive Servant, for, all that He does and suffers. He does and suffers for them; and all that befals them is prefigured by the way in which He has been led by Jehovah. What follows is Isaiah 54, where the people of God are comforted by pointing to their future glorification, based on the work of the Messianic Servant on their behalf.

So Isaiah 52:13-53:12 explains not only what will happen after the people get out of Babylon, but how Babylon can be taken out of the people, by solving the sin problem. The Servant of Jehovah accomplishes this by His atoning death and resurrection, the value of which is applied to the people as described in Isaiah 54-55.

In Isaiah 52:13 the Messiah acts wisely or prudently, fulfilling Jehovah's will and receiving His blessing, like David. In 52:14-15, Christ's blood sprinkles many nations

He Hears Your Voice: Psalm 77:1, a Psalm of Asaph (for Christian Ladies)

KJB1611 2022-11-09 | I. Asaph’s Actions

Our voices can be used for so many different things. A mother may yell, “Stop!” to a child who puts himself in danger. Later that day she might exclaim, “Good job!” to her son, who brings home an A paper. Later, she may tenderly soothe her toddler with, “Everything’s going to be all right,” as he sobs, trying to catch his breath, after skinning his knee.

In this verse we are going to see how Asaph, who was familiar with singing in the temple of God, used his voice in his own quiet time alone to cry out to God. In verse 2, we’ll see how seeking God was a pattern of Asaph’s life.

A. His Cry to God: Verse 1, “I cried unto God with my voice, even unto God with my voice; and he gave ear unto me.”

1. A personal cry: I cried unto God with my voice.

a. Here Asaph, a singer in the temple of God, appointed by God, David, and Jeduthun to minister in song, a man under authority, as it were and yet a man having authority as well (Scripture teaches us that he was over the singers, who were his sons—see 2 Chron. 35:15), remembers a time of his own affliction, trial, and difficulty.

b. Regularly a servant of God already, “on display” as it were in the tabernacle of the Most High as choir director of sorts, he illustrates by his response in difficulty that God was not just One he worshiped in the tabernacle: God was his God in life. God was his first resort. God was the one to whom he fled as the refuge of his soul.

1Chr. 6:39 And his brother Asaph, who stood on his right hand, even Asaph the son of Berachiah, the son of Shimea,

1Chr. 25:2 Of the sons of Asaph; Zaccur, and Joseph, and Nethaniah, and Asarelah, the sons of Asaph under the hands of Asaph, which prophesied according to the order of the king.

2Chr. 35:15 And the singers the sons of Asaph were in their place, according to the commandment of David, and Asaph, and Heman, and Jeduthun the king’s seer; and the porters waited at every gate; they might not depart from their service; for their brethren the Levites prepared for them.

c. The poetic repetition of “even unto God with my voice” is intensifying.

1.) This God, who inhabits eternity, who fills heaven and earth—will hearken to the voice of a fallen man! An incredible truth, an amazing privilege it is to use my voice to cry aloud to Him—to use my voice to reach His ears.

2.) This man who was used to using his voice to sing forth God’s praise, to lead others in praise to Jehovah (as choir director in the temple under the chief musician’s direction) uses his voice to cry aloud to God.

Not every use of our voice is one of praise. Sometimes it is a cry which reaches God’s ear. The word in Arabic has the idea which perhaps in the original meant something like “sound as thunder, thunderbolt, bellow like a bull”(BDB on qal, H6817).

It is ok when feeling such distress to let God hear this cry, as well.

My voice can project many tones—even a study of the Hebrew word translated verse illustrates this—sometimes a voice is pleasant, singing; other times it is calling, shouting; perhaps it is employed in rejoicing and laughing. Yet other times it is weeping, an outcry of distress or lamentation. Yet other times it is supplicating. A voice then can make many sounds.

Since God is my Creator, He longs to hear my voice—even if that is a cry of distress.

My voice can reach Him because of Christ—how amazing!

2. An answered cry: “and He gave ear unto me.”

God listened. God paid attention.

As a mother can responds to the cry of distress from her infant child, so God pays attention to the needy cry of His own. How wonderful to know this God, Who cares so deeply for individual needs, Who, as a mother who hears her infant child, attends to my cry when I am in distress.

Isaiah 53: The Lord / Messiah Jesus or National Israel? Introduction to Isaiah 52:13-53:12 #2 (4.16)

KJB1611 2022-11-06 | “Isaiah 53: The Lord / Messiah Jesus or National Israel? Introduction to Isaiah 52:13-53:12 part 2” is section 4.16 in the series on teaching an evangelistic Bible study, looking at study #4, “How Can God Save Sinners? The Gospel of Jesus Christ!” from the FaithSaves website. Part 4.16 concludes the introduction to the Servant Song of Isaiah 52:13-53:12 (short, Isaiah 53). Can the Servant here be the nation of Israel?

The Servant of God has voluntarily taken upon Himself His sufferings (53:10, 12). Himself sinless, He bears the sins of others (53:4-6, 9). His sufferings are the means by which the justification of many is effected. He suffers quietly and patiently (53:7). None of these took place with the nation of Israel; the Jews did not go voluntarily into the Babylonish exile, but were dragged into it by force. The Jewish people were not without sin in suffering; but they suffered, in the captivity, the punishment of their own sins (Leviticus 26:14ff.; Deuteronomy 28:15 ff.). Ezra's prayer (Nehemiah 9:20ff.) shows clearly that Israel suffered for her own sins in the exile.

According to Isaiah 53:4–6 and 12, the Servant’s suffering brought healing to the people. We sinned, He suffered, and His suffering brought us redemption and forgiveness and mercy and healing. This cannot possibly apply to the sufferings of Israel. Their terrible suffering did not bring healing to the nations who afflicted them. The nations who attacked, punished, and abused them were judged by God! In complete contrast with this, when the Messiah died on the cross, He died for a sinning world. He died that we might live. All who have truly put their trust in Him have found forgiveness of sin and transformation of life by the power of His death and resurrection.

The view that the nation of Israel is the servant of Isaiah 53 is not found once in the Talmuds, the Targums, or the midrashim (in other words, not once in all the classical, foundational, authoritative Jewish writings). In fact, it is not found in any traditional Jewish source until the time of Rashi, who lived in the eleventh century A. D. For almost one thousand years after the birth of the Lord Jesus, not one rabbi, not one Talmudic teacher, not one Jewish sage, left us a surviving interpretation showing that Isaiah 53 should be interpreted with reference to the nation of Israel (as opposed to a righteous individual, or righteous individuals, within Israel), despite the fact that these verses from Isaiah are quoted in the New Testament and were often used in Jewish-Christian debate.

By way of contrast, for the last thousand years, religious Jews have often interpreted Isaiah 53 with reference to the people of Israel-but that has by no means been the consensus interpretation, and it is not the interpretation of the Talmudic rabbis. Virtually without exception, the earliest traditional Jewish sources—and therefore the most authoritative Jewish sources—interpret Isaiah 52:13–53:12 with reference to an individual, and in some cases, with reference to the Messiah. Ancient Israel believed that Isaiah 52:13-53:12 spoke of God’s “servant the Messiah” (Targum Jonathan on Isaiah 52:13.).

Even in later times, prominent non-Christian Jews have recognized the Messianic interpretation. Noteworthy also is the oft-quoted comment of Rabbi Moshe Alshech, writing in the sixteenth century: “Our rabbis with one voice accept and affirm the opinion that the prophet is speaking of the Messiah, and we shall ourselves also adhere to the same view.” Alshech claims that all his contemporaries agreed with the Messianic reading of the text. Most recently, from the early 1990s and right up to today—Isaiah 53 has been applied to Menachem Schneerson (1902–1994), the Grand Rabbi of the Lubavitcher Hasidic movement. Obviously, his followers had no problem applying the prophecy to him as an individual (as opposed to the people of Israel as a whole), in keeping with the most ancient Jewish traditions.

All this is especially important since sections from Isaiah 52:13–53:12 are quoted numbers of times in the New Testament, and the passage as a whole can arguably be called the clearest prophecy of Jesus in the entire Old Testament. Yet many traditional Jewish commentators and teachers have still interpreted the prophecy as Messianic. How tempting it would have been for the Talmudic rabbis and their successors to interpret this passage with reference to Israel—rather than to the Messiah or any other individual—seeing that it played such an important role in Christian interpretation and polemics. Yet they did not interpret the passage with reference to the nation of Israel in any recorded traditional source for almost one thousand years, nor did they interpret it with reference to national Israel with unanimity thereafter. It is clear that there is substantial Jewish tradition—spanning a period of up to two thousand years—that differs with the view that Isaiah 53 is the entire nation of Israel.

Whats In a Name: An Introduction to Psalm 77, a Psalm of Asaph (for Christian Ladies)

KJB1611 2022-11-03 | Psalm 77

Headnote: To the chief Musician, to Jeduthun, A Psalm of Asaph.

Audience: to the Chief Musician, to Jeduthun

Writer: A Psalm of Asaph

Introduction: Baptist. Lady. Goldie. Wilbur. Pipsqueak. Johnny. Each of these names is associated with a particular animal I met growing up on a small hobby farm in Wisconsin. Baptist was a dog who wandered in one Sunday afternoon. Lady was our first family dog. Goldie, a hen that lay green eggs. Wilbur, a crippled pig. Pipsqueak, an adorable lamb that even followed one of my brothers around the property, just like Mary’s lamb did in the song. Johnny, a scary bull that nearly charged my mom one time when she went to clean his pen.

All these names remind me of particular animals.

The particular audience of this psalm is Jeduthun. Who exactly is Jeduthun? If I asked you, who was David or who was Jonathan in the Scripture, you could tell me. But when is the last time you played Bible Trivia and someone asked, Who was Jeduthuna?

Who was Jeduthun?
Here and in other Psalms we see him ascribed as the chief musician. He is named here. Other psalms are directed to the “chief musician” without a name attached. It is likely he would be the one referred to.

First Chronicles tells us of his worthy place in the sanctuary: “And with them Heman and Jeduthun, and the rest that were chosen, who were expressed by name, to give thanks to the LORD, because his mercy endureth for ever” (1 Chronicles 16:41).

The text above illustrates he was chosen by God for this task. It also indicates that he is one of the people in Scripture whose name God saw fit to preserve for us. It’s an interesting expression “who were expressed by name.” On the farm, some of our animals bore names—but not all. In general, we named those who were special to us, those who had something distinctive, were memorable.

In contrast, humans have names. This naming pattern started when God named Adam. Adam then named Eve. Sometimes names are chosen for their beauty. Sometimes they are chosen for their meaning. In the Old Testament times, it was common for a child to be named in accordance with a parent’s hope or wish. Sometimes the name indicates the personality of the child.

This man’s name meant love (song, referring to a wedding song) (Kohlenberger, Mounce Hebrew Lexicon). What greater love song can we bring forth than to our ever lovely One, Jesus, the Rose of Sharon, the Bright and Morning Star, the Lily of the Valley, the Fairest of Ten Thousand?

Jeduthan has a phenomenal job description: “to give thanks to the LORD, because His mercy endureth forever.” Now that’s terrific. And isn’t that part of our job description as well, as God’s own? Are we not commanded to give Him thanks (in all things, for all things)? And is it not a worthy reason—that His mercy lasts forever?

So Jeduthun would take this psalm and give worthy, lasting praise to Jehovah. In singing it, in directing it—did he know it would be part of the praise that would outlast heaven and earth, since it is part of the canon of Scripture, part of eternal praise to God?

A Christian musician, a truly biblical one, adapts a similar name as he offers praise to God—His goal, His job, His desire is to offer thanks to the Lord. He is saturated with the reality of mercy—that without God’s mercy, life would be hard, difficult, and discouraging. But because of the magnificent mercy of God, thanks becomes the natural result, the fitting words that frame the tongue in response to all God has done.

Asaph we know as another writer of Psalms. He is named in Psalm 50 and other psalms, as well. What a glorious occupation—to write psalms for the worship and praise of God! This prompts me to continue to write music, to seek to ascribe praise to God.

Headnote: To the chief Musician, to Jeduthun, A Psalm of Asaph.

Isaiah 53 (52:13-53:12): Does Isaiah Predict Messiah Jesus or National Israel? Introduction (4.15)

KJB1611 2022-10-30 | “Isaiah 53 (52:13-53:12) Introduction: The Messiah or National Israel?” is section 4.15 in the series on teaching an evangelistic Bible study, looking at study #4, “How Can God Save Sinners? The Gospel of Jesus Christ!” from the FaithSaves website. Part 4.15 continues to introduce the Messianic prophecy of the Servant Song of Isaiah 52:13-53:12 (short, Isaiah 53). The view by anti-Christian Judaism that the prophecy refers to the nation of Israel rather than the Person of the Messiah is examined, along with other introductory issues.

Since Isaiah 53 is a clear prediction of the future, the Bible has indubitable evidence of a miraculous origin. The Dead Sea Scrolls contain pre-Christian copies of the book of Isaiah—such as 1Q Isaiah A—so atheists cannot say the prophecy was invented after-the-fact. Muslims follow the Quran, which teaches that Jesus did not die on the cross (Quran 4:157).

This Quranic allegation is refuted by Isaiah 53—the death and resurrection of the Messiah was predicted hundreds of years in advance and exists in physical, extant documents that predate Christianity.

Isaiah 53 is such a clear Messianic prophecy that one can simply read it, with no explanation, and see clearly that it refers to the Lord Jesus. How do skeptics and the portion of Jews who reject Jesus as the Messiah attempt to explain it away? The most common attempt in modern times is to claim that the servant is a personification of the nation of Israel, rather than being the specific person of the Messiah. However, not one sure analogous instance can be quoted in favor of a personification carried on through a whole section, without the slightest intimation that it is not a single individual who is spoken of.

In Isaiah 53:3, the Servant is called a “man” of sorrows, and 53:10-12 refer to “his soul.” Also, “grave” and “death” are used in a way that supports a singular subject. The situation is different in those passages where Isaiah designates Israel by the name of the Servant of the Lord. In them, all uncertainty is prevented by the addition of the names of “Jacob” and “Israel,” and Isaiah uses the plural by the side of the singular, to intimate that the Servant of the Lord is an ideal person, a collective (Isaiah 48:20-21).

There is the sense in which the Messiah is the ultimate true Israelite because Israel finds its unity and its salvation in Him. One can think of a pyramid with Christ at the top, then believing Israel, then the entire nation of Israel. But nothing in Isaiah 52:13-53:12 indicates that the Servant is anyone other than the individual Person of the Messiah.

The first condition of the vicarious (substitutionary and sacrificial) satisfaction which, according to our prophecy, is to be performed by the Servant of God, is, according to 53:11 (“He, the righteous one, my Servant, shall justify the many”) the absolute righteousness of the suffering subject. He who is himself sinful cannot undergo punishment for the sins of others. He is, on the contrary, visited for his own sins, both as a righteous retribution, and for sanctification. Only if the Servant is the sinless Messiah, the Lord Jesus, is absolute righteousness is not to be found. The universality of human sin on all other people pervades the Old Testament (Genesis 6:5; 8:21; Job 14:4; 15:14-16; Psalm 14:2-3; Proverbs 20:9; 1 Kings 8:46; Ecclesiastes 7:20). When all men are sinners themselves, they cannot serve as substitutionary sacrifices for sinners.

Also, only since the Servant is the God-Man can He offer a sacrifice of sufficient value; His Deity combined with humanity is testified in Isaiah 7:14; 9:6, etc.; He is human, virgin-born, but also God with us; He is the Son of David, but also “the Mighty God.”

Nowhere does the Old Testament speak of a satisfaction to be accomplished by a sinful man for another sinful man.

The precontext of Isaiah 52:13-53:12 makes it clear that the nation as a whole is not in view. In Isaiah 42:1-7- the Servant in 42:7 is given as a covenant to/for the people (meaning the people of Israel) and as a light for the nations (meaning the Gentiles). This would clearly point to the servant as an individual. (In Luke 4:16-21 Christ specifically applied Isaiah 42 to Himself.)

By way of contrast, when the nation of Israel is God’s servant, they are not responsive to God’s purposes (Isaiah 42:18-20). Even as God’s servant—the Jewish people—is being led out of Babylonian exile, the servant is still deaf and blind: “Bring forth the blind people that have eyes, and the deaf that have ears.” (Isa. 43:8). This hardly sounds like the righteous servant of the Lord who earlier in Isaiah 42:6-7 opens the eyes of the blind. Although the servant’s mission had been given to Israel as a whole (Isaiah 41:8; 43:10; 44:2, 21; 49:3), Israel through disobedience could not fulfill it (42:19), so that the one who would fulfill it had to restore Israel as well as bring light to the Gentiles (49:5–7; 52:13–53:12).

The Day Christ Crucified: Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday? & Messianic Servant Song, Isaiah 53 (4.14)

KJB1611 2022-10-16 | "The Day Christ was Crucified: Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday? and an Introduction to the Messianic Servant Song of Isaiah 53" is section 4.14 in the series on teaching an evangelistic Bible study, looking at study #4, "How Can God Save Sinners? The Gospel of Jesus Christ!" from the FaithSaves website. Part 4.14 looks at the day of the week Christ died and introduces the next section of study #4, how Christ's death was "according to the Scriptures," by introducing the Messianic prophecy of Isaiah 52:13-53:12.

The Wednesday crucifixion view, based almost exclusively on Matthew 12:40, argues that Christ was in the tomb for a literal 72 hour period, starting Wednesday afternoon and ending Saturday. However, this view makes Christ rise on the fourth day, not the third day, when Scripture is very clear that He rose the third day (cf. Matthew 16:21; 17:23; 20:19; 27:64; Luke 9:22; 18:33; 24:7, 21, 46; John 2:19–22; Acts 10:40; 1 Corinthians 15:4).

The Wednesday view also requires that Jesus’ triumphal entry was on Saturday, the Sabbath. Since Jesus was riding on an animal, He would have been breaking the Mosaic Law, which states that even animals were not to work on the Sabbath (Deuteronomy 5:14). Also, the people were cutting down branches from the trees (Matthew 21:8), which also would have also violated the Law.

The Thursday view would also require that Christ traveled a significant distance and raised Lazarus from the dead on a sabbath, which is unlikely.

Both the Wednesday and Thursday view must claim that the "sabbath" which was coming shortly after Christ died was not Saturday, but a different day of the week. They claim that John 19:31 justifies viewing a festival day as a "sabbath." However, none of the 68 uses of the Greek word "sabbath" refer to any day of the week other than Saturday. That sabbath was a "high day" because the festival of the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread began on Saturday.

The day Christ died is called the "Day of Preparation," but this was a technical Jewish term for Friday, the day before the Saturday sabbath (Mark 15:42; Luke 23:54).

JJosephus also attests that the “preparation” was Friday in Antiquities 16:163 (16.6.2): "[T]he Jews ... [should] have liberty to make use of their own customs, according to the law of their forefathers, as they made use of them under Hyrcanus, the high priest of Almighty God; and that their sacred money be not touched, but be sent to Jerusalem, and that it be committed to the care of the receivers at Jerusalem; and that they be not obliged to go before any judge on the Sabbath day, nor on the day of the preparation to it, after the ninth hour[.]"

The Friday view recognizes that the Lord Jesus Christ predicted that He would die and be raised on the third day (Matthew 16:21; Mark 8:31; Luke 9:22). Christ's body was laid in the tomb on the evening of the day of preparation (Friday), the day before the Sabbath (Matt 27:62; 28:1; Mark 15:42; Luke 23:54, 56; John 19:31, 42). The women returned home and rested on the Sabbath (Saturday, Luke 23:56). Early on the first day of the week (Sunday), they went to the tomb (Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:1–2; Luke 24:1; John 20:1) which was empty. Furthermore, on the same day He arose from the grave, Jesus walked with two disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13), and they told Him that their Master was crucified and “to day is the third day since these things were done” (Luke 24:21), although far after the 72 hours of the Wednesday view had already passed. The only viable conclusion is that Jesus was crucified on Friday and rose on Sunday, a recognition that fits well with Old Testament typology. On Monday, Nisan 10, Jesus presented Himself as the Paschal lamb at the triumphal entry. On Nisan 14 He was sacrificed as the Paschal lamb (1 Corinthians 5:7), and on Nisan 16 His resurrection was a type of the offering of First Fruits (1 Corinthians 15:23).

The view that Jesus was crucified on Friday and rose on Sunday was the consensus in the early centuries of Christianity and the generally accepted view today.

Matthew 12:40 indicates that Christ was on the cross for at least parts of three days. "Three days and three nights" does not require a literal seventy-two hours (cf. Genesis 42:17-18; Esther 4:16; 5:1 & 1 Samuel 30:12-13).

Early Jewish tradition also specifies that:

"A day and night are an Onah [‘a portion of time’] and the portion of an Onah is as the whole of it.” (Eleazar ben Azariah (ca. A.D. 100); Jerusalem Talmud: Shabbath ix. 3; cf. also Babylonian Talmud: Pesahim 4a)

The New Testament, Old Testament, and Rabbinic literature all agree that a part of a day is counted as a whole day-and-night. The expressions: “the three days and three nights,” “after three days,” and “on the third day” refer to the same time span, supporting the fact that Christ was crucified on Friday and was resurrected on Sunday, and indicating that Matthew 12:40 does not require a Wednesday or Thursday crucifixion.

The USS San Francisco & the Battle of Guadalcanal; USS San Francisco Memorial, Land’s End, SF, GGNRA

KJB1611 2022-10-05 | The USS San Francisco played an important role in the Battle of Guadalcanal. At the USS San Francisco Memorial (located on Land's End Park within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area in San Francisco, California), a sign post records the story of brave men who died, fighting for their country and the cause of freedom.

The story is as follows:

"The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal: Friday, November 13, 1942. By July 1942, Japan's military juggernaut had invaded and occupied Korea, Manchuria, China, Hong Kong, Burma, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Borneo, New Guinea, Rabaul, Turk, the Philippines, Aleutians, Marshalls, Carolines, and the Solomons, which includes Tulagi, Savo, and Guadalcanal Island: 'A steamy, tropical, malaria infested jungle.'

The Japanese worked feverishly to build airfields on several islands. The airfield on Guadalcanal was their last and most important. It was strategically located since the Japanese Air-Corps could then 'hop' from Japan to Iwo Jima, Guam, Rabaul, Truk, Bougainville, and then Guadalcanal. Their next planned invasion was Australia.

U.S. Marines landed on Guadalcanal August 7, 1942. They captured and secured the airfield, naming it 'Henderson Field.' True to their tradition and dedication, the Marines fought for months against thousands of Japanese soldiers attempting to regain control of the airfield. Dramatic aerial 'dog fights' were fought daily in the skies above.

Japan's Vice Admiral Hiroaki Abe was dispatched to bombard and land troops on Guadalcanal. His strike force consisted of two 32,000 ton battleships--the Hiei and the Kirishima. Together they could fire off 23,840 pounds of bombardment salvos every three minutes--spewing deadly carnage--continuously for three hours. Also under his command were one cruiser, 14 destroyers, and 11 transports carrying 14,000 troops.

Rear Admiral Daniel J. Callaghan, on board his flagship the USS San Francisco (CA-38), a 10,000 ton treaty cruiser, was directed to intercept the Japanese naval strike force. His command consisted of 5 cruisers and 8 destroyers.

On November 12, near Guadalcanal, a damaged enemy plane crashed into the USS San Francisco, destroying the aft control station, killing and wounding 51 men. With a crippled flagship, RADM Callaghan bravely prepared his task force for this imminent battle. Overheard on the bridge was the comment, 'But this is suicide.' Rear Admiral Callaghan--cool, calm, and resolute, replied--'Yes, I know, but we've got to do it!'

This ferocious battle commenced at 1:48 a.m. Friday the 13 of November 1942. It was a sudden clash between 27 steel armored warships--14 Japanese and 13 American. The U.S. Naval ships had penetrated into the center of the Japanese battleship formation, a major advantage for RADM Callaghan.

Massive guns exploded in the pitch black night, firing hot projectiles with smoke and fire. Suddenly, the Japanese snapped on their bright searchlights. This gave the admiral an additional advantage by identifying the enemy ships. He then issued the order 'Get the big ones first!' Hundreds of salvos rained down on the enemy battleships with blistering devastation. Blazing ships became targets.

Hundreds of men on both sides escaping from their sinking ships swam for their lives in the black night sea. Men were killed by the spinning propellers of ships twisting and turning to avoid collision. Man more were killed by circling sharks.

Never in the history of modern warfare had U.S. Naval Forces clashed with enemy ships at collision range in a pitch-black night. This is the only U. S. Naval surface ship engagement in which an American admiral was killed in action, let alone two: RADM Daniel J. Callaghan on the USS San Francisco (CA-38) and RADM Norman Scott on the USS Atlanta (CL-51).

A total of more than 6,000 men on both sides were killed or wounded. 2 U.S. cruisers, 4 U.S. destroyers, and 2 Japanese destroyers were sunk. At dawn, the battleship Hiei, aflame, floundering, and dead in the water--a derelict--was abandoned and sank later that day. During the next few days, other Japanese ships were chased down and sunk, including the battleship Kirishima.

The USS San Francisco, severely damaged and crippled, limped home at Christmas-time to receive a new bridge and other major repairs at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard. She then returned to sea to give battle and bombardment support for landings and occupations in the Pacific. These included the Aleutians, Wake, Kwajalein, Bougainville, Tarawa, Yap, Palau, Ulithi, Rabaul, Truk, Guam, Saipan, Tinian, Luzon, and the Battle of the Philippine Sea. Then, on to Iwo Jima, and finally Okinawa, where the USS San Francisco (CA-38) earned her 17th battle star.

This battle of November 13, 1942, was a major turning point of World War II. It prevented the possible loss of Henderson Field, thus saving Australia from the planned invasion. It marked the beginning of victory in the Pacific.”

New Testament Greek #23: Basics of Biblical Greek vocabulary chapter 20 & Workbook chapters 19-20

KJB1611 2022-10-04 | Lecture #23 in New Testament or Koine Greek, covers the vocabulary in chapter 20 of William (Bill) Mounce’s Basics of Biblical Greek textbook, along with chapter 19 in Basics of Biblical Greek Workbook by Bill Mounce.

In the chapter vocabulary, βαπτίζω means “immerse” or “dip.” The μα suffix is often used in Greek to specify the result of the action described by the root. The result of being immersed (βαπτίζω) is that one has received baptism (βάπτισμα). Even in Mark 7:4-5 baptidzo has its normal meaning; the “tables” or dining couches of the passage were indeed immersed by the Jews. Also, there is no conspiracy against immersion in the fact that the KJV translators transliterated the verb instead of rendering it "to immerse."

Also, in the chapter vocabulary the fact that the King James Version renders βαπτίζω as "baptize" rather than as "immerse" is not because of a conspiracy to hide the fact that baptism involves immersion; King James himself was immersed (albeit as an infant). Among Protestants in England a movement against immersion actually really only started with the Westminster Assembly of 1643-1649—several decades after the translation of the KJV—when immersion was rejected in favor of sprinkling or pouring by only one vote after heated debate.

Concerning the vocabulary word "tongue, language," γλῶσσα, -ης, ἡ, note that the word is always used of real languages, not of people speaking gibberish after the manner of modern Pentecostalism. Pentecostalism requires a rejection of sound hermeneutics, following its antecedents in the Keswick and Higher Life movements:

"[There is a] distinct hermeneutic, a distinctively Pentecostal manner of appropriating the Scriptures. In contrast to magisterial Protestantism [and Baptist orthodoxy] ... Pentecostalism reads the rest of the New Testament through Lukan eyes ... [placing] [n]arrative material [over] ... didactic ... Pauline texts. ... In making this claim, Pentecostalism stands in a long tradition of a “subjectivizing hermeneutic.” ... The “higher life” antecedents to Pentecostalism in the nineteenth century used a similar approach to Scripture in appropriating elements of the Old Testament Heilsgeschichte devotionally. The exodus from Egypt, the wilderness wanderings, and crossing Jordan River into the Promised Land all became stages in the normative pattern of the spiritual pilgrimage from conversion into the 'second blessing.'"

In relation to the vocabulary word μένω, note that the verb used for abiding/continuing/remaining in Christ. Scripture promises that all true Christians will abide in Christ:

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. (1 John 2:27)

Those who do not abide are cast into hell fire:

If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. (John 15:6)

The one who does not, as a summary of his life, abide (aorist tense), or continue faithful to Christ, is cast into hell fire, where he will be continually burned (present tense) for all eternity. The branch without genuine connection to the Lord pictures an lost person with only a profession of Christianity. John 15:6 does not picture a loss of reward for a disobedient believer. Other than John 15:6, the verbs “cast forth” (ballo) and “burned” (kaio) are found together only in Revelation 8:8 and 19:20. Neither reference speaks of believers being cast forth or burned. Revelation 19:20 (cf. 20:11-15; 21:8, “the lake which burneth (kaio) with fire and brimstone”), however, demonstrates that the lost will be “cast (ballo) ... into a lake of fire burning (kaio) with brimstone.” Also, out of 125 instances of the verb “cast forth” (ballo) in the NT, believers are never once said to be cast forth by God, but the lost are, over and over again, said to be cast (ballo) into the fires of hell (note Matthew 3:10; 5:13, 25, 29-30; 7:19; 13:42, 48; 18:8-9; Mark 9:42 (cf. vv. 41-48), 45, 47; Luke 3:9; 12:58; 14:35; Revelation 2:22; 12:4, 9, 13; 14:19; 18:21; 19:20; 20:3, 10, 14-15). Thus, the verse indicates that a lack of fruit is evidence of a non-living, non-saving connection to the vine. Someone who does not abide, remain, or persevere in the faith was never truly born again.

The Basics of Biblical Greek workbook for chapter 19 translates from the New Testament and the Greek LXX:

α. John 11:48; β. John 9:21; γ. Luke 12:17; δ. John 8:12; ε. 1 Corinthians 16:4; ζ. —; η. Matthew 12:19; 1. Matthew 4:10; 2. Matthew 27:42; 3. Luke 1:13; 4. Philippians 4:19; 5. John 5:25; 6. Mark 13:13; 7. John 14:12; 8. John 4:22-23; 9. John 13:33; 10. Mark 12:29-31; 11. —; 12. —; 13. Deuteronomy 28:41; 14. (Exodus 23:24); 15. Genesis 12:1-2; 16. Matthew 5:48; 17. Romans 1:17; 18. John 14:15; 19. Mark 9:35; 20. Acts 13:22.

The Messiah Rose Again the 3rd Day: Old Testament Proof for the Lord Jesus Resurrection (4.13)

KJB1611 2022-10-02 | "The Messiah Rose Again the 3rd Day: Old Testament Proof for the Lord Jesus' Resurrection," is section 4.13 in the series on teaching an evangelistic Bible study, looking at study #4, "How Can God Save Sinners? The Gospel of Jesus Christ!" from the FaithSaves website. Part 4.13 continues an examination of the Old Testament evidence for the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. The most important of the "many infallible proofs" (Acts 1:3) of Christ's resurrection is that the Old and New Testaments declare its reality.

Hosea 6:2 predicts the resurrection of the Messiah on the third day. The passage reads:

1 Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. 2 After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. 3 Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.

The "revive," "raise us up," and "we shall live" phrases clearly refer to resurrection. Compare Hosea 6:2 with:

Isaiah 26:19 Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.

Job 19:25 For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:

The passage alludes to Jehovah's statement by Moses in Deuteronomy 32:39:

Deuteronomy 32:39 See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.

The Assyrian cannot heal (Hos. 5:13); but the Lord, who manifested Himself as Israel’s physician in the time of Moses (Ex. 15:26), and promised His people healing in the future also (Deut. 32:39), surely can. “He revives after two days" is merely a special application of the general declaration, “I kill, and make alive” (Deut. 32:39), to the particular case in hand. What the Lord there promises to all His people, He will also fulfil upon the ten tribes of Israel.

The ancient Jews understood Hosea 6:2 as a resurrection text. Note the Targum:

“He will revive us for the days of consolation that will come; He will raise us up on the day of the resurrection of the dead, and we will live before Him.”

If Hosea 6:2 speaks of the resurrection of the Messiah on the third day, why the plural "us"? Christ rose again, not as a single Person, but as a public Head, representing all his people, who are therefore said to be raised up together with him. God would, after two days, and on the third, raise up his redeemed people; for Christ, we know, did not rise privately for himself, but for his members, inasmuch as he is the first-fruits of them who shall rise. The prophet here encourages the faithful to entertain hope of salvation, because God would raise up his only-begotten Son, whose resurrection would be the common life of the whole body of His people.

For Jehovah to raise up His sinning people on the third day the Divine Messiah would need to conquer death by undergoing it on His people's behalf as their representative:

"I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes." (Hosea 13:14)

Hosea 11:1 also relates, when compared with Matthew 2:14-15:

When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt. (Hosea 11:1)

When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt: And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son. (Matthew 2:14-15)

Israel's deliverance from Egypt as God's adopted son was a type of Christ's descent into and coming forth from Egypt as God's true Son. The prophets couched prophecy in typological patterns. Christ in His life and ministry embodied Israel or recapitulated the sojourn of Israel. Thus, for example, Christ’s forty days in the wilderness paralleled Israel’s forty years of wandering, and his giving of his Torah on a mountain (Matthew 5–7) paralleled the Sinai experience.

Hosea 6:2 refers to the resurrection of the Messiah from the grave, a resurrection which secures the resurrection of His people who are in union with Him. Other texts also support the Messiah's resurrection on the third day:

Jonah was “resurrected” from the belly of the whale on the third day:

"Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights." (Jonah 1:17)

"For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." (Matthew 12:40)

See also Genesis 22:3-4, Hebrews 11:17-19; 2 Kings 20:5.

Christ Arose! Infallible Proof from the Hebrew Old Testament for the Lord Jesus Resurrection (4.12)

KJB1611 2022-09-23 | "Christ arose! Infallible Proof from the Hebrew Old Testament for the Lord Jesus' Resurrection," is section 4.12 in the series on teaching an evangelistic Bible study, looking at study #4, "How Can God Save Sinners? The Gospel of Jesus Christ!" from the FaithSaves website.

Part 4.11 began an examination of the Old Testament evidence for the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. The most important of the "many infallible proofs" (Acts 1:3) of Christ's resurrection is that the Old and New Testaments declare its reality. General Old Testament teaching that requires the resurrection of the Messiah was examined in section 4.11, as well as the prophecy in Psalm 16. In that psalm, the resurrection for the Holy One, the Hosios, is necessary because of His very nature as the Holy One. The holy God could not leave His holy Son, the holy Messiah, to suffer corruption from death (a product of sin, that the body returns to dust, Genesis 3:19), but must raise Him and bring this perfectly Holy One to Himself. And so will He, so must He, do to all those who, in union with Christ, are judicially holy, becoming inwardly holy, and are predestined to future perfect holiness-so David's flesh also could rest in hope.

In addition to quoting from Psalm 16, Paul in Acts 13:34 quotes Isaiah 55:3 to prove the resurrection of the Messiah.

How does Isaiah 55:3’s promise of the “sure mercies of David” require the resurrection of the Messiah? Consider the context—Isaiah 52:15-55:7. (Note that the Hebrew translated “sure mercies of David” could also be rendered “the holinesses of David” because Jehovah’s mercy is a holy mercy, and His holiness is a merciful holiness.)

First, note that in Isaiah 55:3, by “David,” we are to understand the Messiah.

Second, note that the resurrection of Christ is tied to the greater context of Isaiah 55:3. Isaiah 53 refers to the death and resurrection of the Messiah, chapter 54 then refers to the results of the salvation purchased in chapter 53, and then Israel is called upon to receive salvation freely from the Messiah based on the New Covenant through repentant faith by grace apart from merit in Isaiah 55:1-7. All of this is implicit in Paul’s quotation of Isaiah 55:3, for Paul, under the control of the Holy Ghost and with a great understanding of the Old Testament, quoted Old Testament texts in full awareness of their immediate context and context in the Old Testament canon. (It is somewhat like Christ’s cry of Psalm 22:1 on the cross—it showed His suffering the wrath of the Father on the cross at that time, but the deliverance described later in the Psalm is implied as well—Christ had in mind the whole psalm, not just 22:1, in His statement.)

The “sure mercies”—the faithful holy things that pertain to the Son by purchase—Isaiah 52:13-53:12, which involves the Messiah’s substitutionary death, resurrection, an eternal reign—with chapter 54 as more results, including the New Covenant—are then given to “you” plural in Isaiah 55:3, those who receive free salvation by grace through faith in the Messiah. They are “sure mercies” that pertain to the Servant in the narrowest sense and the “servant” as believing Israel in the broader sense require the Servant’s resurrection and eternal reign. Note that the context of Isaiah 55:3 extends the promise of covenantal blessing to eunuchs and believing Gentiles (Isaiah 56:4-7); all believers are blessed through the certain, holy, sure mercies given to the dying, rising, and reigning Messiah for the sake of His elect. The gifts of God to “you” plural (13:34) as a result of the faithful holinesses/mercies of the Davidic Messiah include forgiveness of sin in Isaiah; hence, Paul properly draws the conclusion that forgiveness of sin comes through faith in Christ (Acts 13:38-39).

From the quotation in 13:34 of Isaiah 55 with its context of free salvation purchased in the previous chapter, the context of Psalm 16:10 with life given through the resurrected Messiah’s life, the “therefore” of 13:38 is clearly correct—Isaiah 55:3 and Psalm 16:10 in context not only prove the resurrection of the Messiah, but that unmerited forgiveness of sin is promised through Him that could not obtained by the law of Moses.

In Isaiah 55 the Davidic mercies are given to “you” with the “everlasting covenant”; the resurrection promised the Messiah in Isaiah 53 will also be given for the Messiah’s sake to those who receive free forgiveness through the covenant. The Messiah will rule, not being subject to death and corruption, as God’s Holy One, which requires His resurrection from the grave. “When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand” (Isaiah 53:10). He must rise from the dead to save and reign, to give His people the faithful holinesses/mercies of David. He will “justify many” (Isaiah 53) by imputed Messianic righteousness (Jeremiah 23:6; 33:16); these are their "sure mercies."

Objection #4 to the Resurrection & Appearances of Jesus Christ: Hallucination Theory Refuted (4.11)

KJB1611 2022-09-17 | “Objection #4 to the Resurrection & Appearances of Jesus Christ: Hallucination Theory Refuted" is part 4.11 in the series on teaching an evangelistic Bible study, examining study #4, “How Can God Save Sinners? The Gospel of Jesus Christ!” from the FaithSaves website.

A hallucination is an apparent act of vision for which there is no corresponding external object. We may safely rule out the suggestion that the resurrection appearances were mass hallucinations, because such a mass hallucination of a demonstrably physical person is unparalleled in history.
The New Testament totally opposes the vision hypothesis. In addition, the hallucination theory is not plausible because it contradicts laws and principles to which visions conform. The appearances that Christ made were not restricted to persons of any particular psychological makeup. Hallucinations are very individualistic and extremely subjective. It is extremely unlikely, then, that two persons would have the same hallucination at the same time. Five hundred people, of average soundness of mind and temperament, in various numbers, at all sorts of times, and in a variety of situations, will not experience all kinds of sensuous impressions—visual, auditory, tactile—while all these manifold experiences should rest entirely upon subjective hallucination. If such a theory were applied to any other than Biblical miracle, it would be dismissed immediately as a ridiculously insufficient explanation.

The kind of evidence which modern science, and even psychologists, are so insistent upon for determining the reality of any object under consideration is the kind of evidence that we have presented to us in the Gospels regarding the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, namely, the things that are seen with the human eye, touched with the human hand, and heard by the human ear. Christ was regularly seen, heard, and touched after His bodily resurrection.

Hallucinations are usually restricted in terms of when and where they occur, but the times of Christ’s appearances and their locations did not conduce the witnesses to hallucinate. No fancied events were dreamed up because of familiar surroundings. Furthermore, the appearances were not fleeting glimpses of Christ but prolonged interactions.

Furthermore, Christ’s followers were caused to believe against their wills. The appearances were rather forced upon the mind’s attention from without rather than created from within. Furthermore, any theory of hallucination breaks down on the fact that on three separate occasions this hallucination was not immediately recognized as Jesus (Luke 24:13-34; John 20:15; 21:4)
Hallucinations also usually tend to recur over a long period of time with noticeable regularity. However, all the accounts suggest that the appearances of the risen Christ came to an end abruptly fifty days after His death. Hallucinations would have been very unlikely to suddenly cease; the ascension of Christ is the best explanation for cessation of visions of the resurrected Lord.
In summary, in the case of the Resurrection appearances, everything we know about hallucinations is violated. The appearances did not follow the patterns always present in hallucinations, for hallucinations are private and arise out of a state of extreme emotional instability in which the hallucination functions as a sort of wish-fulfillment. What occurred after the Resurrection was very different. The disciples had little trouble accepting Christ’s departure; they decided to go back to their fishing. The appearances came as surprises while the disciples were intent on other things. Most importantly, the appearances came to groups of people, with each member seeing the same thing. That is simply not how hallucinations work. The resurrection appearances could not have been hallucinations.

Such facts have led many historians to conclude that the Resurrection of Jesus is one of the best attested facts of history. The failure of skeptical alternatives to the resurrection creates a serious problem for the non-Christian:

[N]one of the ... counter-explanations can account for the evidence as plausibly as the resurrection itself. One might ask, “Well, then, how do skeptical scholars explain the facts of the resurrection appearances, the empty tomb, and the origin of the Christian faith?” The fact of the matter is, they don’t. Modern scholarship recognizes no plausible explanatory alternative to the resurrection of Jesus. Those who refuse to accept the resurrection as a fact of history are simply self-confessedly left without an explanation.

Honest evaluation of the historical data demonstrates that the case for Christ’s resurrection is overwhelming.

Finally, the most important proof of Christ’s resurrection is that it is taught by Scripture—both the Old and New Testaments clearly teach the resurrection of the Messiah, Jesus the Lord, from the dead. Every OT prophecy of the death and second coming of Christ implies His resurrection.