King James Bible Study – “And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” – Mark 8:34
Date: Monday, June 10, 2019
Chapters: Proverbs 22-24
Message: Study To Show Yourself Approved Unto God
Hello My Friend,
I had a pastor that would say, “Never let an obscure, meaning not easily understood, passage from the Bible take you away from the truth of the Bible. For instance, we all know that the Bible tells us we are saved by grace through our faith and acceptance of Jesus Christ as our Saviour alone. However, when Jesus says, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved;” (Mark 16:16), many people believe it to mean that in order to be saved you must accept Jesus as your Saviour and get baptized. This is taking away the truth from the Bible. The passage itself is not two steps to salvation, it is one step, Jesus is referring to a spiritual baptism here. When you receive Jesus Christ as your Saviour you are automatically baptized spiritually, meaning you received the Holy Spirit in you. This was illustrated when Jesus was baptized by John, the second He came out of the water, the Spirit of God came down from heaven like a dove, and flowed down onto Jesus. How do I know all this? You have to read the entire Bible, and study it, not just one time, consistently. “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” – II Timothy 2:15.
“rightly dividing the word of truth.” The average Christian only reads the Bible on Sunday when they go to church, and only gets their knowledge from the few passages that are being read to them. There are two very good reasons why we are to read God’s Word ourselves. One, we show God that we truly want to hear what He has to tell us, and two, we have proof that the one teaching us is telling the truth. Do you know many people die and end up in hell because someone tells them they must receive Christ as their Saviour, and get baptized in order to be saved? Any alteration of the Gospel is creating another gospel that is false. You need to know and understand that what I am saying is true, and the only way you can do that is if you are reading the Bible for yourself. And make sure it is a King James Bible, do not buy into the false narrative that any version will do, every time a new version is made they have to remove twenty percent from the actual Bible to do that because once a version is made it becomes a copyright, that means truths are altered, and lives are lost.
“The eyes of the LORD preserve knowledge, and he overthroweth the words of the transgressor. The slothful man saith, There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets. Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto my knowledge. For it is a pleasant thing if thou keep them within thee; they shall withal be fitted in thy lips. That thy trust may be in the LORD, I have made known to thee this day, even to thee. Have not I written to thee excellent things in counsels and knowledge, That I might make thee know the certainty of the words of truth; that thou mightest answer the words of truth to them that send unto thee?” – Proverbs 22:12-13,17-21.
“There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets.” So, what does this mean? To be slothful means to be sluggish, lazy, or idle. The slothful see the dangers, yet do not know how to protect themselves, and end up victims. Do you know how many people are taught that Jesus is the only way to salvation, and yet they died having never received the knowledge to know how to be saved? We do not want to know the number because it would be numerous. All these people who relied on the one who taught them instead of reading it for themselves are in hell right now. Knowledge is power, but if that knowledge is wrong, it will only lead to serious consequence, maybe even death. “Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:” – Ephesians 4:18.
“because of the blindness of their heart:” Keep in mind that how we perceive God’s Word does come from the heart. The heart that is pure, seeks the truth, and will accept that every word is true, but the heart that is dark, blinds itself from the truth, and will only accept what it wants to believe is true. You cannot pick and choose what to believe, otherwise, that will lead to confusion. I always say that you cannot just pick a passage from God’s Word and go with that, you have to read the whole story. The man that got stoned to death just because he up sticks, when God cursed all human kind with death just because of one sin, when God told Moses he could not enter the promised land just because he hit a rock. None of these things make sense, and make it look like God is not very merciful after all, but when you read the whole story that is when things start to make sense. “Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.” – James 3:13-15.
“This wisdom descendeth not from above,” It is the devil who brings confusion, not to mention misinterpreting something so simple through His Word. Okay, I will tell you this, God designed His Word so that it speaks out to His people individually as though He is speaking to you directly. He does this because He wants that one on one personal relationship that directs you to understand His purpose for you. That does not mean He alters His Word to say that it is okay for you to live in sin to fulfill a purpose, God will never lead you down a path like that.
“Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven. Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats: For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee. Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell. My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine. Yea, my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things. Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long. The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him. Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice.” – Proverbs 23:5-7,13-17,24-25.
“but his heart is not with thee.” Do you know why there are so many versions of the Bible? And by the way, there is only one Bible, the rest are paraphrases. This is because they want the best of both worlds, they want the security of salvation, with freedom to live they way they want without conviction. Do you know they are in the process of writing a version that is gender neutral? This is so that people will not feel convicted for making a mockery out of the gender they were born in to. This again, all comes down to the heart, a person in their heart who convinces themselves that their attraction to the same sex is something God made them to be is much easier to accept than their living in sin. A parent in their heart that wanted a boy instead of a girl, teaching that child to believe it is a boy instead of a girl is much easier to accept than the fact that she is a girl. All of these things are quite cruel if you stop to think about it, and God always leads me to point out this part of Scripture because it is so baldy misinterpreted. “for if thou beatest him with the rod,” This does not mean that you are to literally take a rod and beat your child. Rod; Discipline; Correction, Chastisement. We are to discipline, correct, and chasten them so that when they are adults they will be honorable and respected, and teach the same to their children.
“Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established: And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches. A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength. If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small. If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain; If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? and he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it? and shall not he render to every man according to his works? My son, eat thou honey, because it is good; and the honeycomb, which is sweet to thy taste: So shall the knowledge of wisdom be unto thy soul: when thou hast found it, then there shall be a reward, and thy expectation shall not be cut off.” – Proverbs 24:3-5,10-14.
“If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.” The Bible is so powerful that it gives strength to the weak, sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, freedom to the slave, and life to the dead. The Bible gives us the power to stand up to adversity, to win with its two-edged sword, Christians who live a defeated life are not getting their power from God, and have no strength to fight. Before we come to know Christ as our Saviour the soul is dead, senseless, and does not have the Spirit of God in it, so when the life of this flesh is over so is the life of the soul. While works (doing good) do not save us, works are necessary to keep our spirit, soul, and body alive. You can believe all you want that Jesus can save you, but unless you ask Him to save you your soul will die. You can believe all you want that food will sustain you, but unless you eat you will die. God gives us the knowledge we need through His Word to keep the lion from killing us, slothfulness to reading it keeps us from doing anything about it. “And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” – II Timothy 3:15-17.
Jesus Christ Magnified: “By humility and the fear of the LORD are riches, and honour, and life.” – Proverbs 22:4.
Today’s Prayer: God, Thank You for Your Word, it truly is life, and without it we would all be making a mess of things trying to understand your ways, and boasting about all our good deeds in our attempts to reach you in our own righteousness. Thank You for setting the record straight, and simplifying everything for us. We are the ones who complicate things by adding to, removing, or even ignoring Your truths in an attempt to have the best of both worlds. You are not of this world, Your Son is not of this world, and none of us who choose to believe in and receive Him as our Saviour are of this world. And there is nothing that You will not do for or give us because we trusted Him as our Saviour. Lord, Lead us and guide us, help us to not envy or desire the things of this world, rather desire the things of Your world. Teach us, grow us, fill us with Your power, wisdom, understanding, discernment, judgment, love, mercies, and grace. Let us seek You with a pure heart, willing and open to receive Your Word, and not only be a hearer of it, but a doer as well. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen!
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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