“The Word of God — Forever!”, “Study,” “Effect of Reading the Bible,” New Testament Reading Schedule

THE BIBLE VIEW In Church Insert Format: by Bill Brinkworth http://openthoumineeyes.com/views19/BibleView719.pdf

Bible View In E-mail format: by Bill Brinkworth http://openthoumineeyes.com/views19/EmailVersion/BibleView719Email.pdf

In This Issue: The Word of God — Forever! Study! Effect of Reading the Bible Context! Context! Context!
Volume: 719 August 15, 2019

The Word of God — Forever!
Bill Brinkworth “For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.” I Peter 1:24-25
Kings and presidents come and go. Celebrities also rise and fall. People are here on this earth for a relatively short time, and then they are gone. One thing that will never vanish, and one thing that will never be just a “fad,” is the Word of God.
One could knock on most doors in the area and not find many households that have a book that was written over 100 years ago. Those houses would also hold even fewer copies of books that were over 500 years old. However, the majority of those houses have the Bible, which has portions that are over 3,500 years old. This fact validates the prophecy that God’s Word will always be with us.
Men, sometimes with Satan’s influence, have tried to make God’s promise of preserving His Word for us not true. However, their attempts have failed. It has been burned, ripped up, and hidden, but the Bible remains. People have been killed for even reading it. Men have tried changing its words with over 400 modern translations and diluting what God wants every man, woman, and child to know, but the truths from the Word of God are still available.
This year, the most accurate English translation of the Bible is celebrating its 408th birthday. The King James Version is the translation from the preserved Hebrew and Greek manuscripts. The Word of God is still with us! God cannot lie, and He is keeping His promise. His Word will endure forever!

“Read my Bible; pray every day, and I’ll grow, grow, grow.” — From a Child’s Song

Study!
Bill Brinkworth One of the most important responsibilities all Christians have is to study the Scriptures for themselves. Church is important, and one can learn quite a lot from the man of God in the pulpit, but it is up to us to study and learn what the Word of God says. “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” II Tim. 2:15
II Timothy 2:15 teaches us five things about studying the Word of God: 1. We get God’s approval when we think it is important enough to study what God has recorded for us in the Bible’s preserved words. 2. Notice that the word God used is “study” and not “read.” We are to delve into it like we want to pass life’s tests and know God’s mind. It is the only source that will help us get through life’s difficulties and know more about the Father. Reading is a shallower, less urgent, and less purposeful approach of a subject. Studying takes time, rereading, comparing Scripture with Scripture, and a lot of prayer. It takes “work,” commitment, and a great desire to get all one can out of God’s Word. That is how God expects every Christian to approach His Truth. Be a workman! 3. When we study the Bible, we will never be embarrassed by believing the wrong things. There are so many that have never read the Word of God for themselves. All they know about God’s Word is what others have taught them. If the teachers are wrong, then the students may be wrong.

If more would delve into the Word of God with an anxious desire to find what God has in store for them, learn His teachings, and practice them, most liberal, unbiblical churches would be out of business in a month! Unscriptural denominations would be history! The greatest revival ever would sweep this planet! 4. In studying the Word of God, one must separate, or “divide,” some teachings. Some practices were for past dispensations. The priesthood, sacrifices, and signs from God were practices for times past. A proper study of God’s Word will expose those facts, and one will not include them in their beliefs for this church age. 5. God’s Word is the “word of truth.” It is not a collection of statements that are true, but it is the only truth. It is the only source of truth on Earth, and God has preserved it for all to read!
The reverse teaching of II Timothy 2:15 is if one does not study God’s truth, he is not approved of God! Gulp! That is hard to swallow. Looking at it that way should make learning what the Bible teaches a higher priority.
Is knowing what God says important to you? Is it important enough for you to invest some of your time in knowing what God wants you to know?

“To know Him is to love Him.”

Effect of Reading the Bible
Oliver Green A young believer was discouraged in his attempts to read the Bible. He said, “It’s no use. No matter how much I read, I always forget what I have just read.”

A wise pastor replied, “Take heart. When you pour water over a sieve, no matter how much you pour, you don’t collect much. But at least you end up with a clean sieve.”

Some seem to expect the Word of God to hit them like a jolt of adrenaline each time they read or study it. Although the “jolt” may hit us periodically, the benefits of the Word of God act more like vitamins. People who regularly take vitamins do so because of their longterm benefits, not because every time they swallow one of the pills, they feel new strength surging through their bodies. They have developed a habit of consistently taking supplements because they have been told that, in the long haul, vitamin supplements are going to have a beneficial effect on their physical health, resistance to disease, and general well-being.

The same is true of reading the Bible. At times, it will have a sudden and intense impact on us. However, the real value lies in the cumulative effects that long-term exposure to God’s Word will bring to our lives.

“The Word of God is an armory of heavenly weapons, a laboratory of infallible medicines, a mine of exhaustless wealth. It is a guidebook for every road, a chart for every sea, a medicine for every malady, and a balm for every wound.” — Guthrie

Context! Context! Context!
Oliver Green There is a story of two lawyers on opposing sides of a case. During the trial, one thought he would make a great impression on the jury by quoting from the Bible. So he said, concerning his opponent’s client, “We have it on the highest authority that ‘… all that a man hath will he give for his life.’”

The other lawyer knew the Bible better. He said, “I am not very much impressed by the fact that my distinguished colleague here regards as the highest authority the one who said, ‘All that a man has will he give for his life.’ You will find that this saying comes from the book of Job and the one who utters it is the Devil. And that is who my colleague regards as the highest authority!”

“The needle of a compass always points to the North Pole. The Bible is a book that always points to Heaven.”

By Bill Brinkworth http://openthoumineeyes.com/

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