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The Bible View #844 — Coveting

In This Issue:
Not What I Got
Always Looking Down
Never Enough
When I Met Jesus

Volume: 844      January 31, 2022
Theme: Coveting

The Printable versions of THE BIBLE VIEW (including large print and church bulletin inserts) are available at https://www.openthoumineeyes.com/

Are you reading the Bible every day?  If not, have the free Daily View Devotion e-mailed to you.  Learn something taught in a KJV chapter from a short commentary, read the chapter, and more spiritual “meat.”    Sign-up at https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/a26cc9M to start receiving it.



Not What I Got
Bill Brinkworth

Although there are crimes and harm done against many, few see the root cause of much wrong-doing.  The sin of coveting, or not being content with what one has, rears its ugly scowl daily.  It is often the driving force in:

  • Adultery — Someone is not happy with their choice of spouse and lusts for another’s mate.
  • Arguments – Sometimes, folks are not content with others’ opinions of them, so they squabble to raise impressions of themselves by displaying a different intellect or personality.
  • Cheating – one wants grades they do not have without working for them.
  • Lies – to make others think better of them, countless lies have been told.
  • Murders — Many have been killed for another’s possessions.
  • Robberies — someone wanted something he did not have but would not work for it.
  • Sexual crimes are committed to get one what they do not have without waiting for the right mate or to get the power over a person.
  • Taxes – To get others’ money from them without working for it, countless millions have been unfairly taxed.
  • Shopping sprees — Many boast their favorite pastime is “shopping.” However, it is often an exercise showing they are not content with what they have and lust for “more.”  They are rarely satisfied.
  • Wars — Many wars have been started so others could get what another country had.
  • The list could go of activities and problems spurred on by the sin of coveting.

Coveting is sin no matter what is desired, be it money, fame, possessions, clothing, toys, houses, bicycles, or education.  It is the breaking of God’s commandment.
“Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.” Ex 20:17   Also: Deuteronomy 5:21, Romans 13:9.

Although the grievous grasp from coveting has always been a tempter, it is most enticing today.  Advertising works very hard to magnify one’s discontent with what they have so that people will purchase the newest item.  The television industry is funded by ads feeding on man’s weakness of wanting more.  Stores line most streets displaying wares that are “new and improved.” On and on, the temptations lure, pulling one toward this “tolerated” iniquity.

Like any other sin, coveting is not acceptable in God’s eyes.  He wants us far from this sin, not because He wants to deny our having the pleasures of life, but because they often lead to an unsustainable appetite and lust that can never be satisfied.  That is why God commands us to abstain from it.

The only way to achieve victory over covetousness is to first admit that it is a sin.  God wants us humbly to admit our short-comings and disobedience to Him.  Committing that iniquity indirectly says that we are not happy with what God has allowed us to have.

Be content with what you have, and you will be happier.  Be genuinely thankful for what you have and thank the Lord for His allowing you to get it.  Perhaps this is why the Scripture has far more verses on being thankful and giving praise than it does on getting the things of this world.

Sometimes new things are needed, and God certainly does not want us to live in purposeful poverty when He can provide plentifully for our needs.  However, He does not want us to be led by lust.  Be content with what you have.
“Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.” Philippians 4:11
“And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.” I Timothy 6:8
“Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”  Hebrews 13:5

Also, read the article “Never Satisfied”: https://openthoumineeyes.com/articles/neversatisfied.html.

“The man who covets is always poor.” — Claudian


Always Looking Down
Dr. Jeffers

 A young man once picked up a coin lying in the road.  Afterward, in walking along, he kept his eyes fixed steadily upon the ground hoping to find another.  During a long life, he picked up, at different times, a goodly number of coins — gold, and silver.

After all those years, while he was looking for them, he saw not that the heavens were bright above him and nature beautiful around him.  He never once allowed his eyes to look up from the mud and filth in which he sought his treasure.  When he died, a rich old man, he only knew this fair Earth as a dirty road to pick up money as he walked along.

“Though the home is a palace, yet to a discontented mind, it is a prison.”  — Henry


Never Enough
Edited from an article by Chrysostom

He that is greedy for gain will never be satisfied in his desires.  That person will not be content.  It is impossible to get all men’s goods, and whatever he may have gained, he will count himself to have “not enough.”

The one that is content and happy with what he has been allowed to have will not have to punish his soul with endless desires and lust.  I say “punish” because nothing so thoroughly answers the definition of punishment as a desire deprived of gratification.

He who lusts after riches and has increased his store is often the sort of person who feels as if he has nothing.  I ask, what is more complicated than this “disease”?  What a strange thing it is, though he has much, he is not satisfied with the riches in his hold.

If he even could get all men’s goods, his pain would be greater.  Should he gain a hundred dollars, he would be vexed that he had not received a thousand.  If he received a thousand, he would be grieved he had not ten thousand.  The more he receives, the more he desires.  So, the more he receives, the more he becomes poor since whoso desires more is more truly poor.

“Those that will not be content with their allotments shall not have the comfort of their achievements.”   — Henry


When I Met Jesus
Harry Todd

I was seeking real contentment.
In this world of sin and strife;
All the things it had to offer
Never satisfied my life.

I thought that fame and fortune
Soon would bring me happiness,
But it only left me hopeless,
Full of heartache and distress.

In this life, I was unhappy
And it left me in despair,
So I blamed the God in Heaven
For He didn’t treat me fair.

But the God I had rejected
Showed His love so pure and true;
He reached down one day and saved me,
And He gave me a life a-new.

I now have real contentment
In this world of sin and strife;
When I met my Saviour, Jesus,
He satisfied my life.

So, if your life is empty,
Then you need Jesus too;
He changed my life completely;
He will do the same for you.

“It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor.”
— Seneca

The Bible View #843 — Sin

In This Issue:
If Eve said, “No!”
Clouds and Sin
The Curse of Sin
The Tree-killing Worm
The Love of Sin

Volume: 843       January 24, 2022
Theme: Sin

FREE Printable versions of THE BIBLE VIEW (including large print and church bulletin inserts) are available at https://www.openthoumineeyes.com/

Are you reading the Bible every day?  Learn something taught in a KJV chapter from a included short commentary, read the chapter and more spiritual “meat.” Have the Daily View Devotion e-mailed to you. Sign-up at https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/a26cc9M to start receiving it.



If Eve Had Said, “NO!”
Bill Brinkworth

Genesis 3:1-19 tells the well-known story of Eve and Adam’s disobeying God.  Because of this first sin, humanity has been plagued with iniquity and its consequences.  One wrong decision changed all mankind and the Earth.  Sin has a terrible price tag.  No one gets away from its costly wages.

What happened when Eve disobeyed:

  • She thought God was not right.  The fruit did taste good, and they did not die — right away.
  • Adam and Eve had to be clothed.  Innocent animals lost their lives so that the couple’s nakedness was covered.
  • Adam and Eve could not have fellowship with God anymore.  The one-on-one conversations with the Creator in the Garden ceased.
  • Eve, and all women after her, have had pain in childbirth.  Women would not have that experience if sin did not enter the human race.
  • The ground was cursed.  Now, there are weeds that overcome most crops.  Before God cursed the land, there were none.
  • Work would not have been as hard.  There would have been no sweat in hard labor.
  • Physical death entered into our lives.
  • All people now commit sin

What happened when King David sinned:

  • King David’s wrong decision started with his staying home from battle.
  • He did not obey God by going to war.  He tarried.
  • He looked at a bathing woman.  His peeping led to adultery between him and Bathsheba.
  • David conceived a child out of wedlock with her.
  • The King deceived Uriah, his faithful soldier and husband of Bathsheba.
  • David was involved in Uriah’s death.
  • David and Bathsheba’s baby died.
  • David’s sons were disobedient, and some died early deaths.

Other great men and women sinned and “paid” its terrible consequences:

  • If Samson had not sinned, he would not have lost his strength, sight, and position to judge Israel.
  • If the people of Israel had not sinned, they would not have been attacked by serpents, faced starvation, and would have been allowed to see the Promised Land.
  • If Moses had spoken to the rock as God commanded him, he would have entered the Promised Land.
  • If Herod had not boasted, he would not have been eaten by worms.
  • If Aaron and Miriam had not talked about Moses, Miriam would not have had leprosy.
  • If Jonah had obeyed God, he would not have ended up in the belly of a whale.
  • If Haman had not been bitter against Mordecai, he might not have died by hanging.
  • If Judas had not “given place to the devil,” he would not have been used to identify Jesus so He could be killed.
  • If the soldiers had gotten saved, they would not have nailed Jesus to the cross.
  • … and on the list could go from biblical examples of sin’s wages.

As the Bible confirms, there is a price tag for committing what God forbids. No one gets away with sin. Those guilty of iniquity will have their lives changed because of it:

  • Some will have a divorce because they did not wait on God’s choice of a mate.
  • Some will flunk in school because they would not learn the right way and cheated through school.
  • Some may end up in jail because they cheated on their taxes, stole cars, did drugs, etc.
  • Some may hurt someone physically because they watched the wrong TV shows and got desensitized about harming others.
  • Someone may be addicted or killed by drugs because their desensitization to sin started with a sip of daddy’s beer.
  • Some may be killed in a car accident because they disobeyed their parents and snuck out at night.
  • Some girls may have children out of wedlock because they would not listen to their parents about how, who, or when to date.
  • Some may be crippled by fighting because they did not listen to their parents and stay away from the wrong people.
  • Some may not graduate high school because they are too lazy to study.
  • Some may go to Hell and burn forever because they worried about what their friends would think if they got saved and lived according to God’s will and way.

If Eve had said “no” to sin then, we might not be battling its tempting grip today. All sin has consequences — either here or in eternity.  Most know this because they have seen what others have reaped by sowing iniquity and have seen the damage it has done in their lives.  Why do we willingly commit it and think we can get away with it?

“God hates the sin, but He loves the sinner.”  — D. L. Moody


Clouds and Sin
John Bate

  • Clouds sometimes obstruct the beneficial influences of Heaven coming upon the Earth.  Sin also prevents the blessings of God from flowing into the hearts and lives of men.
  • Clouds have their origin on the Earth.  Sin originates from below and never from Heaven.
  • Clouds can create a powerful, damaging electric field.  Sin also damages humanity, and ruins lives with the storm it can bring.
  • Clouds assume every variety of shape, color, and duration.  Sin has no set form but varies according to persons, circumstances, times, and places.
  • Clouds cannot be dispersed by any human force.  Sin also cannot be forgiven by any power except by One that is Divine!

“Oh, what authority and show of truth
Can cunning sin cover itself withal!” — Shakespeare


The Curse of Sin
Dr. J. Parker

O sin!  How it has cursed us!  It has thrown up a barrier between ourselves and God.  With its chilling breath, it has extinguished the light of our household joys.  It has robbed us of joys and filled the air with discordant cries.  Sin has unsheathed the sword and bathed itself in human blood.  It has dug every grave on the Earth.

Without it, we should not have known the name of a widow or orphan, tear or sigh, and sorrow.  Because of sin, our hearts are torn by pain and anguish, and our joy is gone!

“Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”  II Timothy 2:22


The Tree-killing Worm
Author Unknown

While touring a park of towering trees, a guide pointed out one.  “That fine tree,” he said, “was killed by a single worm.”

We learned that the tree was as healthy as any in the park two years ago.  A wood-worm, about three inches long, was observed to be forcing its way under the bark of the trunk.  It caught the eye of our guide.  Although he was warned that the worm could kill the tree, our guide left it alone as it seemed improbable to him that the black-headed worm could do such damage.

After a time, it was found that his assumption was wrong.  The worm indeed had tunneled its way a considerable distance under the bark.  The following summer, the tree’s leaves dropped off very early, and in the succeeding year, it was a dead, rotten tree.

I am reminded that there is a lesson to be learned from that tree’s demise.  How many have ruined their lives by a single, harmlessly-appearing sin!

“To cover sin with a layer of earnest efforts to do right will not take the sin away.  The underlying sin will assimilate all the dead works that may be heaped upon it, and the result will be a greater mass of sin.”  — Arnot


Love of Sin
T. Watson

It is worse to love sin than to commit it.  A man may commit sin through temptation or ignorance, and when he knows it to be sin, he is sorry for it.  He that loves sin, however, puts his will into the sin and heaps the danger onto one’s life.  The heart allows it to continue, and sin’s consequences will reap much havoc.

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:23

The Bible View #842 — Sin’s Consequences

In This Issue:
Not Even Ten
We Have Lost Our Way

Volume: 842     January 17, 2022
Theme:  Sin’s Consequences

FREE Printable versions of THE BIBLE VIEW (including large print and church bulletin inserts) are available at https://www.openthoumineeyes.com/.

All should read the Bible daily!  While at your computer,  go to www.DevotionsFromTheBible.com and read a chapter each day, and learn something from what you read. SIGN-UP to have the FREE devotion e-mailed (Mon.-Sat.) and read a devotion, the KJV chapter, and more spiritual “meat.”


Not Even Ten!
Bill Brinkworth

Lot and his uncle, Abram, had amassed great wealth and belongings.  Their servants and laborers lived and worked together.  As expected, there was strife between the two companies.

Abram, in his wisdom, realized that the two groups, their livestock, and workers, should separate.    The patriarch allowed his brother’s son to pick (Gen.  13) where he, his possessions, and workers would go.  Lot chose the choicest land.

Although the city Lot picked was prosperous, and the surrounding lands were lush,  it turned out to be a terrible, costly choice.  He chose to inhabit Sodom.

There was great wickedness in the city and included violence and rampant homosexuality.  Its indulgence in iniquity angered God Almighty.  So much was the Creator outraged by the out-of-control lasciviousness and other sins, he planned to destroy it and other surrounding cities.

The Lord shared His plans (Gen. 18) for the city with Abram (at this time known as Abraham).  On hearing that God was to destroy where his nephew dwelt, he pleaded with the Lord to spare Lot’s dwelling place.  At first, he reasoned with God to spare the city if 50 righteous people were found among those committing grievous sins.

Perhaps Abraham thought some and then remembered the rumors of atrocities occurring in the city.  He lowered his request to 45.  More consideration was most likely given to the community’s wickedness.  Then he dropped his plea to God for 40, then 30, then 20, and finally asked God if He would spare the city if only ten righteous people were found.

God’s angels went to the city and warned Lot of Sodom’s soon demise.  On hearing of the impending destruction, he pleaded with his daughter’s husbands to get their family’s to flee.  They would not.  Ten righteous people could not be found.  All he could gather to leave were his wife and two daughters.

As they took flight, perhaps by being so enamored with Sodom’s worldly pleasures and luxuries,  Lot’s wife looked back one more time at the place she would miss.  Because she disobeyed God’s commandment not to look back, she was turned into a pillar of salt.

The two young ladies may have escaped destruction from raining fire and brimstone, but their minds were corrupted by the ideas and sights they had experienced in Sodom.  Without his knowing, they committed incest with their father.

Lot, who knew what was righteous, got too close to sin and paid an outrageous price for it.   Because of his poor decision, he lost his married daughters, sons-in-law, wife,  wealth, and his virgin daughters were spoiled by the city’s behavior to which they were exposed.  His focus on the trinkets that fluttered before his eyes cost him more than he ever imagined his temptation and toleration for worldliness and sin would cost him.  The man was in a place a godly person should never have been.

Many shake their head and wonder why a man who had “it all” would make such a poor decision and lose the important things in his life.  Unfortunately, most, including many Christians, make similar poor choices, as did Lot.   They choose to live in, work around, or associate with ungodly “Sodom”s and do not consider what damage it may do to them and their relationship with the Lord.

Soon, because they allow themselves to be exposed to ungodly activities, they accept and are involved in the same things the ungodly are.  The Lord and His ways have been given a very back seat because of their love for “things,” fixation on entertainment, and all the attractive things this world offers.  So many, including “Christians,” give little thought to obeying God’s commandments,  if any at all.

A quick examination of the lives of even Christians today reveals little difference than the ungodly.  Many have allowed themselves to be contaminated by sin’s enticing grip.

People have allowed themselves to be enamored by the cares and things of this world so much that they never intend to leave the “Sodom” they chose.  Dishonesty, sexual sins, adultery, substance abuse, no regard to the sanctity of life, violence, laziness, and most sins God hates are no longer viewed as evil.  Those iniquities are so accepted that they are themes in movies and literature and are sought as entertainment.

Not only is it sinful to be involved in what God hates, but it does other damage.  As happened to the daughters of Lot, daily seeing and hearing iniquity eventually desensitizes the exposed to wrong-doing.  It no longer bothers most, as they get used to depravity and soon tolerate it.  The constant bombardment of accepting wrong-doing from all forms of media has done that to the majority today.

However, what was sin in Lot’s day is still sin today.  What ruined a person who should have known better then will do the same now.  God’s wrath was poured out on sinners then, and it will not be spared in our day.  There always will be a payday for iniquity someday.

We may not be able to flee to a faraway sin-free place, but we do not have to accept the sin and tolerate what we see or hears.  Avoid places and people that will soil minds and testimonies.  Speak up and let God’s morals and commandments be heard by many that have never been aware of what He hates. 

Christians should battle sin, not surrender to it.  We cannot stop all the evilness around us, but we can be an untolerating light that exposes it.

Christian, separate yourself from sin.  Do not look longingly to the ungodliness of this world, as did Lot’s wife.  It will cost you more than you would want to pay if tolerated.

We must be the steadfast example of what the world needs to see.  They also need to hear what is right in God’s eyes from our lips.  We may not be able to save an entire city or nation from reaping the consequences of their sin, but if just ten or more escape the ultimate punishment of Hell, then it will be worth any hardship or trials we will endure.  If we do not tell or show others, who will?


We Have Lost Our Way
Bill Brinkworth

Since America’s inception in 1620, God has always been One whom the country’s citizens relied on and followed.  Most knew, and many followed, His written commandments in the Bible.  His standards enabled people to dwell together.

There was always a clear understanding of right and wrong, as many laws and practices were derived from biblical principles.  Legislations were made and followed.  Crimes were quickly recognized and punished.  It was understood that if the violation of law went undealt with, it would not be a deterrent for future law-breaking.

The butchering of unborn babies would not have been even considered sixty years ago.  Torture was something the ungodly did, not a Christian nation.  Work was something that people were proud to do, and it was a shame not to have a job or even take someone else’s aid when one was not employed.

There were clear understandings of the differences in sexes and their abilities and responsibilities.  Marriage was special, and most decent folks would not even consider pre-marital sex as they knew it could lead to social ruin, lack of respect, and other shameful situations.

Teachers were known for their outstanding, moral examples, and their decisions and discipline were rarely questioned.  Police were honored and respected.  Citizens were usually treated equally as a whole, and not different treatments for different groups.  Christians usually were better examples of behavior and showed others how to face difficulties.

After having clearly defined social standards for centuries, something changed.  One by one, the standards were slowly eroded.  Perhaps they were ignored because those guilty of doing something not socially accepted ignored ridicule or publicly encouraged others to tolerate their sin.  Soon, convicting consciences no longer had control of people’s characters, and people did what changing standards allowed.  Moral boundaries were moved further to the left or obliterated completely.

It was not long until unprincipled people gained governmental powers.  They helped society legislate what was once recognized as immoral.  These leaders passed unbiblical laws.  Perhaps it was just a means to get more votes, but it pushed overall morality further down the slope of decline.  The public allowed these changes and rarely balked at such legislation.

Since moral measurements were changed, many immoral philosophies crept into public bully pulpits such as schools, radio, and television.  Thoughts that were previously taboo were now the center of television programs and movies.  Away from parental control and knowledge, public education became a means of indoctrination of unbiblical philosophies to children.

The saturation of social input continued to corrupt and confuse morality.   Forbidden practices were often initially introduced in comedy television programs.  Soon, unmentionable activities were now giggled at and accepted more readily.  Homosexuality, drunkenness, adultery, law-breaking, and other sins gained acceptance by constant brainwashing on television, movies, and even video games.  Those once forbidden practices were now no longer “bad”; they were “entertainment.”

After decades of watered-down morality and social engineering, a nation emerged that did not know right from wrong.  Men, women, and children now do what is right in their own eyes, as the moral compass God left for man to succeed was discarded.
“In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” Judges 17:6.  Also: Job 32:1, Prov.12:15, Prov. 16:2, Prov. 21:2.

Because of moral and social changes, our country and the world are in the situation they are in today.  Murder is not the fault of guns, nor is it totally the abortion clinic’s fault for butchering millions of young babies.  It also is not the fault of some chemicals that there are so many addictions.  One cannot blame the government for not having enough laws to stop or curb out-of-control crime.

The fault for man’s decline falls rightly on each man, woman, and child for not knowing and obeying God’s preserved truths.  Society will always fail when God’s roadmap through life is ignored!  Only if His Word is believed and followed will mankind find His way again!

“Most often, today’s ‘morality’ is yesteryears immorality!  Morality’s measuring tool has been altered!” — B. Brinkworth

The Bible View #841 — Our Words

In This Issue:
Control That Tongue!
The Wanderings of a Raging Rumor
A Harsh Word
The Sinning Tongue

Volume: 841     January 10, 2022
Theme: Words

FREE Printable versions of THE BIBLE VIEW (including large print and church bulletin inserts) are available at https://www.openthoumineeyes.com/.

All should read the Bible daily!  While at your computer,  go to www.DevotionsFromTheBible.com and read a chapter each day, and learn something from what you read. SIGN-UP to have the FREE devotion e-mailed (Mon.-Sat.) and read a devotion, the KJV chapter, and more spiritual “meat.”


Control That Tongue!
Bill Brinkworth

A part of all humans, male or female, big or small, old or young, gets them in the most trouble.  This appendage, as small as it is (James 3:5), helps send many in the wrong direction (Jam. 3:3, 4) and is responsible for many things that its owner regrets.  This difficult to manage part of everyone’s anatomy is one’s tongue.

Controlled, one’s tongue can be a blessing to God and man (Jam. 3:9, 10).  Uncontrolled, the tongue can:

  • Make some desire to govern others’ lives (Jam.  3:1).  As Matthew Henry has said, “… do not give yourselves the air of teachers, imposers, and judges, but rather speak with the humility and spirit of learners.  Do not censure one another, as if all must be brought to your standard.”
  • Offend others (Jam. 3:.2).
  • Govern one’s whole body into doing wrong things (Jam. 3:3, 4).
  • Boast.  We are nothing on our merit.  If we have achieved anything more than another person, it is only because of God’s grace, mercy, and blessing.  Boasting elevates our successes due to our thoughts of self-worth and disregards God’s help and influence (Jam.  3:5).
  • Defiles one’s body (Jam. 3:6).  A slip of the tongue can destroy one’s testimony, causing others to look at him in a less desirable light.  Another slip can utter words that will change the direction of one’s life.  Words spewed in anger can wound relationships and cause one to have a lonely life. 
  • Unrestrained evil talk (Jam.3: 8) destroys its owner’s future and the futures of others.  The words uttered from an unbridled mouth have killed many in wars and changed the courses of nations.

We are blessed to have the ability to speak.  However, it can do so much harm, but it was not given to us for that reason. 

Our ability to talk was given to bring honor and glory to God (Jam. 9, 10).  It should be used to encourage others, to provide sound counsel, to give words that will guide others in the way God has revealed from His Word, and hosts of other positive outcomes.

Unbridled, the tongue will not achieve much of its original intent.  Controlled, it can do more good than any of our other appendages.  

Is your language under your control or the Holy Spirit’s?  Does your lack of controlling what your tongue utters reflect what truly lurks in your heart (Jam. 3:14)?

“Be careful little lips what you say, for the Father up above is looking down with love.  Be careful, little lips what you say.” — Child’s song


The Wanderings of a Raging Rumor
Bill Brinkworth

The student was certainly upset.  His anger was quite apparent.  “What seems to be the problem?” I asked.

“He said that I was the one that broke the class’s globe.  I didn’t, and he wasn’t even in class on that day it happened.  How could he have even known?”

“Aha,” I thought as I got the scent of a ruinous rumor en route through my classroom.  I had the class sit down as I began publicly to track down the treacherous trail of the elusive gossip.

I approached the accuser and queried, “Is that true?  Are you sure he broke the globe?  You saw it happen?”

“Well, I didn’t actually see it happen.  Keith told me he broke it.”

“Oh, I see.  You were believing the gossip and assumed it was true,” I summarized.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

On I proceeded to Keith and continued the inquisition.  “So, Keith, since you passed the story, you must have seen him break the globe?”

“Um, not actually.  Tony told me.”

On to Tony, I went.  The whispering in the class told me that the class was starting to see a pattern of the scuttlebutt.  Tony also admitted he had not seen the deed but had heard it from another.  

In the class of less than 20 teenaged boys, I followed the path of the rumor as it traveled through ten lips.  Finally, I approached a boy with whom the tale had seemed to originate.

“So, Brian, do you see how much damage your story has done and how far it has traveled?  Did you see what you accused him of doing?”

Brian was quite nervous.  He picked at abit of dirt on his desk and would not make eye contact with me.  “Well, not actually,” the boy murmured in a low voice.  “But he broke an airplane model of mine a couple of months ago and never even said he was sorry.  So, I just know he broke the globe.”

The truth finally came out.  “So you never saw him do it.  You just assumed he did it because you were still mad at him for what he did a long time ago.”

”Um, I guess so.”

The entire class shook their heads.  Someone else’s bitter grudge had misled them.  Each one had believed gossip and each had misjudged an innocent person.  Fortunately, although quite embarrassed, each publicly apologized to the accused and hopefully learned that a rumor cannot be trusted as truth.  From that episode, Brian realized that he also lost much of the trust of his classmates.
“The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly.” Proverb 26:22

“The best way to halt gossip is not to offer a listening ear!”


A Harsh Word
Author Unknown

One day a harsh word, harshly said,
Upon an evil journey sped,
And like a sharp and cruel dart
It pierced a fond and loving heart.

It turned a friend into a foe
And everywhere brought pain and woe.
A kind word followed it one day,
Sped swiftly on its blessed way.

It healed the wound and soothed the pain,
And friends of old were friends again.
It made the hate and anger cease,
And everywhere brought joy and peace.

And yet the harsh word left a trace
The kind word could not efface,
And though the heart its love regained
It left a scar that long remained.

Friends can forgive but not forget,
Nor lose the sense of keen regret.
Oh, if we would but learn to know
How swift and sure our words can go.

How we would weigh with utmost care
Each thought before it reached the air —
And only speak the words that move
Like white-winged messengers of love.

“To save face, keep the lower part shut!”


The Sinning Tongue

Many sins are committed by the tongue.  Here is some of what the Bible says about our tongue:
“But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.” James 3:8
“Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: ….“ Isa. 6:5
“He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him.” Proverbs 30:5
“And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.” Matthew 12:32
“For thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity, and thou choosest the tongue of the crafty.” Job 15:5
“Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs; like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.” Psalms 52:2
“Who whet their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words:” Psalms 64:3
“They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth.” Psalms 73:9
“The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright: but the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness.” Proverbs 15:2
“The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a vanity tossed to and fro of them that seek death.” Proverbs 21:6
“A lying tongue hateth those that are afflicted by it; and a flattering mouth worketh ruin.” Proverbs 26:28
Also: Psalms 15:3, Proverbs 6:17, Pr. 18:21, Pr. 17:4, James 3:5-6

“Wisdom is having lots to say, but not saying it!”

The Bible View #840 — Assurance of Salvation

In This Issue:
Doubt vs. Assurance
How Can I Know I Am Saved
If One Could Get Unsaved…

Volume: 840     January 3, 2022
Theme: Assurance of Salvation

FREE Printable versions of THE BIBLE VIEW (including large print and church bulletin inserts) are available at https://www.openthoumineeyes.com/.

All should read the Bible daily!  While at your computer,  go to www.DevotionsFromTheBible.com and read a chapter each day, and learn something from what you read. SIGN-UP to have the FREE devotion e-mailed (Mon.-Sat.) and read a devotion, the KJV chapter, and much more at your computer.

A printable version of this Bible View is available at https://openthoumineeyes.com/views22/EmailVersion/BibleView840Email.pdf


Doubt vs. Assurance
Bill Brinkworth

The Bible clearly teaches that one cannot lose salvation when saved. Jesus paid for everyone’s sins that have trusted on His sacrifice on Calvary’s cross to cover their iniquities  ― past, present, and future.
“And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.” John 10:28-29
“These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.” I John 5:13  Also: John 6:37, I Corinthians 15:3, Isaiah 53:5.

Although most realize that salvation is a gift from God, some try to add good works to “keep” their salvation. Others often feel their salvation was too “easy” to get and are unsure if they are a child of God.
“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”  Romans 6:23
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:” Ephesians 2:8

Some go years constantly battling. “Am I saved or not”? “Have I lost it because of something I did or didn’t do?”

Many that have been saved are not assured that they are born-again. Doubts rob them of the joy, peace, and security they could have if they knew for sure that one would eventually be with Jesus. 

God never intended for the rescue of one’s soul from a fiery eternity to be a guessing game. A child of God can know for sure that they are saved and not guess any longer. Doubt can be silenced by believing what the Bible says about it:
Doubt may be unbelief in disguise:
“And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.” Mat. 17:20  

Doubt indicates little faith:
“And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?” Mat. 14:31  Also: Mat. 21:21, Mark 11:23.

Doubt makes one unsure and confused:
“But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.” James 1:6

Doubt keeps one from accomplishing all one could:
“And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.” Luke 17:6
“And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this?” Acts 2:12

Doubt sees things inaccurately:  
“And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live” Acts 28:4  The islander’s assumption about Paul was wrong.

Doubt questions:
“I desire to be present with you now, and to change my voice; for I stand in doubt of you.” Gal. 4:20  
Doubt, however, can be a legitimate red flag of one not being born again. It can be a nagging force to get one to seek what the Bible says one must do to have the assurance of going to Heaven. However, that can be eliminated by simply doing what the Bible says one must do to be saved:

  • Know one is a sinner (Rom. 3:16).
  • Know that there is an eternal price-tag for your sins (Rom. 6:23).
  • Know that Jesus paid for our sins if we trust what he did for us to cover ALL our sins (Rom. 5:23).
  • Then with the heartfelt conviction, ask and trust that all one must do is ask (“confess”) Him to save you from the punishment due because of sin.
    “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” Rom. 10:9

If one believes and trusts what the Bible says, then one must have the faith that they are saved. It is ONLY faith that anyone is saved. 
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:” Eph. 2:8  Also: Rom. 1:17, 3:28, 5:1, 10:17.

Often, however, after that step of reliance is taken, God will cement that trust into concrete proof. The assured believer will see changes in their thinking and actions (II Corinthians 5:17), answers to prayers, and understanding of things that were not previously clear.

Doubt of one’s salvation will cause a crippled walk with the Lord. It makes one wonder if questioning one’s salvation is another debilitating weapon Satan uses to keep another Christian soldier off the battlefield. However, knowing what the Bible teaches about knowing for sure one is saved can silence the destructive and handicapping doubt:

Assurance comes from one’s confidence in one’s beliefs. If one knows God’s Word is the truth and believes what it says, that should settle the doubts. Further doubts of God’s truth should be barred from one’s thought-life. “God said it. I believe it. That settles it. Then Satan, leave me alone!”
“For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he can keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.” II Tim. 1:12

Assurance comes from believing what God’s Word says!
“For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;” 1 Corinthians 15:3

Assurance is trust!
“All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” John 6:37

Assurance is proof of one’s salvation:
“And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever.” Isa. 32:17

Assurance is proof of one’s faith!
“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.” Heb. 10:22

Assurance makes our beliefs unshakeable and sure.
“Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)” Heb. 10:23

After being saved, most have their doubts about their deliverance from Hell’s fiery flames and eternal destination with the Lord. There must come the point when one puts their finger on the promises of God and wholly trusts them. That is all anyone ever has. Do you believe what God says about salvation or not?

“Every step toward Christ kills a doubt.  Every thought, word, and deed for Him carries you away from discouragement.”  — Culyer


How Can I Know I Am Saved?
Bill Brinkworth

A person can know if he is saved. If one has trusted in Christ’s death as payment for one’s sins as the only way to Heaven, changes in one’s life will be seen.

Here are some of those new changes:
A NEW belief. A saved person believes differently than he believed before.
“He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: …These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.” 1 John 5:10-13

A NEW interest in God’s people.
“We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.  Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.  Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” I John 3:14-16  The “brethren” are other saved people.

A NEW Master. A saved person is interested in obeying a new Master — God!“Jesus answered them, …  But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.  My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:  And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.  My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.” John 10:25-29

A NEW Life. A born-again child of God gets a second chance at life. He gets to start over, this time with God’s guidance and help.
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” II Cor. 5:17

The new life may include things one would never have suspected that he would do, such as reading the Bible, desiring a ministry, being faithful to church attendance, etc.  He will also find he no longer wants to do many of the wrong things he used to do and even has a conviction against doing them.

A NEW Trust. A saved person has a God upon whom he can trust and rely.
“For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.” II Tim 1:12

A NEW fruit — NEW behaviors“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,  Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts….” Gal. 5:22-25  

When the Spirit of God indwells us, there are some things He wants done in our lives. Those changes that we allow Him to do in us are proofs of our salvation.

“Why didn’t someone tell me I could become a Christian and settle the doubts afterward?” — Harper


If We Could Get Unsaved…
Bill Brinkworth

The Bible teaches that when one is born again (John 3:3) into the family of God, one’s salvation cannot be lost! No one certainly deserves such a wonderful gift as eternal life. It is the gift God gives to those that trust Christ’s payment was enough for their sins.

Many, however, fear they can lose their salvation. Logically, this makes little sense. If one really could lose their salvation, it would mean that:

Jesus did not die for all my sins. We know Jesus did die for all our sins: the sins of our great-great-grandfather, our sins, and our great-grandchildren. The iniquities Christ paid for on the cross were for all our trespasses. That includes the trespasses against God we did before we were saved, the ones that we will commit today, and the ones we will do next year — all iniquity!
“For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;” 1 Corinthians 15:3
“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 53:5

Jesus’ payment for sin was not enough for the trespasses we did today. If one believes they can lose their salvation, then they imply that Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross was not sufficient to cover sins.
“Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.” 1 Peter 2:24
“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” Romans 10:9
“Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.” Romans 4:25 Also: I Corinthians 15:3.

His death was in vain. If one believes that Jesus’ death alone was not enough to save them, then His death on the cross was unnecessary and for naught! However, the Bible says:
“Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,” II Timothy 1:9

They are doing something to keep their salvation. Opinions of this nature usually follow with thoughts of doing good things to earn or keep their salvation. God’s Word says:
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast” Ephesians 2:8-9 

Then God is a liar! If one thinks they can lose their salvation, they prove that they do not believe what God’s Word says about receiving eternal salvation. They would be implying He is a liar. Perish the thought. It is impossible for God to lie (Hebrews 6:18). God’s Word says:
“And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.” John 10:28-29

“Whoso draws nigh to God one step through doubtings dim, God will advance a mile in blazing light to him.” — Unknown

The Bible View #839 — Sin’s Grasp

In This Issue:
Free the Slaves
Sin’s Damage

Volume: 839     December 20, 2021
Theme: Sin’s Grip

FREE Printable versions of THE BIBLE VIEW (including large print and church bulletin inserts) are available at https://www.openthoumineeyes.com/.

All should read the Bible daily!  While at your computer,  go to www.DevotionsFromTheBible.com and read a chapter each day, and learn something from what you read. SIGN-UP to have the FREE devotion e-mailed (Mon.-Sat.) and read a devotion and KJV chapter at your computer.


Free the Slaves
Bill Brinkworth

When speaking of slavery, most immediately think of those taken against their will from Africa and other countries in the early-to-mid 1800s. However, forced labor continues today and is more prevalent than in the 1800s. 

The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimated in 2013 that 20.9 million men, women, and children around the world are “forced to work for little or no pay and at the complete mercy of their ‘employer’” (www.antislavery.org, 11/2013). Some estimates make the count closer to 30 million.

Those forced to work in mental or physical slavery or controlled by an “employer” are not even close to the numbers of those in bondage in a different, less obvious way.  Those in this type of slavery outnumber the 30 million many times over.  To make matters worse, those in this popular type of bondage often do not realize they have lost their freedoms!

The Bible has much to say about this type of oppression:

  • There are two choices in this world.  One can serve himself and one’s selfish desires, which are often sin and sometimes the devil’s destructive ploys or one can serve God.  There are only these two choices, whether man recognizes it or not.
    “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon [the self-serving desires of our flesh].” Matthew 6:24  Also: Luke 16:13.
  • Although sin is always an individual’s choice, it becomes “addictive” and leads to more iniquity.  Soon sin controls one’s thoughts and is a demanding and controlling force in one’s life.

Lying and deceitfulness oftenlead to more lies and alienation from others as one becomes mistrusted. Bitterness , unforgiveness, resentment, and jealousy rob many of peace and good relationships. Drinking, drugs, pornography, and most sins never fulfill one’s lust and often lead to committing more iniquities in hopes that their cravings will be satisfied. Sexual sins ruin lives and families, wreck relationships but leave the committer with a feeling of loneliness and failure.

On and on goes the list of the consequences of sin.  No one gets away without paying the horrible cost to one’s life because of sin. Iniquities leave one’s life changed and often physically damaged from its commission.  Iniquity never does anything but rob and destroys what is good in one’s life.  Its grasp robs one of joy and makes one a slave.  The committer of sin is led by desires and loses freedoms.

  • When one chooses to do his own thing and ignore the life God desires one to have, the person will not only reap the terrible consequence of sin but will alienate himself from God.
    “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” I John 2:15
    “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” James 4:4
    “For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.” Gal. 1:10
  • Jesus addressed a group of saved Jews and told them they could be free (John 8:31-32).  The believers responded that they were not in bondage.
    “They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?” John 8:33

Then Jesus pointed out to them that they were indeed slaves to the sins they had committed.
“Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.” John 8:34

  • Those given over to sin have no permanent desire to live a life that pleases the Lord.
    “For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.” Rom. 6:20
  • Trusting Christ’s payment for all our iniquities is the only way one can be free of sin’s control and from the ultimate price for committing them — the Lake of Fire!
    “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” John 8:36
    “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.” Rom. 8:2
  • The choice is always up to the individual!  One does not have to serve sin, although many choose to continue committing it.  We have the liberty to do right.
    “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” Gal. 5:1
    “For he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord’s freeman: likewise also he that is called, being free, is Christ’s servant.” I Cor. 7:22
  • When free from the desire to sin, one should strive to live righteously.  However, the longer one is involved in sin, the harder the battle will be against the temptations it will present.  Halting sin can be changed to a lifestyle that is pleasing to God.
    “Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.” Rom. 6:18
    “But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.” Rom. 6:22
    “Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles.” Mat. 12:18
  • One freed from the desire to sin has the opportunity to serve God freely, and in so doing, one should get their sights off themselves and desire to help others.
    “And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all.” Mark 10:44
  • Although one may choose to serve God, it is servitude out of gratitude and love, not out of forced bondage.  When one decides to surrender control of selfish desires and live the way God commands, one will have a life that is blessed and honored by God! God looks at his servant not as a bond slave but with special love — as a friend.
    “Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.” John 15:15
    “If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.” John 12:26
  • Jesus, our example, was this type of servant also.
    “But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:” Philippians 2:7
    “His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.” Mat. 25:21   Also: Mat. 25:23.



The most dangerous and ever-present threat to anyone, even a saved person, is the commission of sin.  It always has a price tag that no one would ever dream would come when committing it.

The charge for getting involved in iniquity usually continues longer than anyone would ever want to pay.  Its bill often comes due when the sin’s commission is forgotten, but there is always a payday for sin.  No one avoids its cost.

When a believer sins, one can always go to the Father in prayer, seek forgiveness, and plead with God for strength not to commit the trespass again. The guilt may be gone, and one will not have to answer for the sin.  However, its temptation will often appear again in one’s life and be a future difficulty one must battle to avoid.

All the good intentions and halting of sin’s commission will not remove sin’s payment.  One must realize one is a sinner and trusts Christ’s death on the cross as the only payment God will recognize to cover one’s wrongdoings. When one does that and asks God to save him, the eternal wage for sin will be removed.  You must be born again (John 3:3) to have the free pardon from all sin.

Do you realize that your sin is against what God desires for your life?  Confess it to God. He knows about it already but wants you to humble yourself and admit it.  Seek to live the way God commands in His Word, the Bible.

Obeying God and living the way He desires you to live will break the chains of sin that are keeping you in bondaget.  You can be free.  There is hope!

“The way to keep the heart quiet is to keep ourselves in the love of God and to do nothing to offend him.”  — Henry


Sin’s Damage
Keach

Sin is composed of naught but subtle wiles,
It fawns and flatters and betrays by smiles;
‘Tis like the panther, or the crocodile,
It seems to love, and promises no wile,
It hides the soul and hates when it vows most love.
It plays the tyrant most by gilded pills (unpleasant people),
It secretly ensnares the souls it kills.
Sin’s promises they all deceitful be,
Does promise wealth, but pays us poverty;
Does promise pleasure, but doth pay us sorrow;
Does promise life today; pays death tomorrow.
No thief so vile, nor treacherous as sin,
Whom fools do hug and have much pleasure in.

“Sin will keep you from the Bible.  The Bible will keep you from sin.” — D. L. Moody

The Bible View #838 — Christmas

In This Issue:
Was Jesus Born on December 25?
An Opportune Time
Jesus Came Anyway
The First and Last Time He Comes

Volume: #838     December 13, 2021
 Theme: Christmas

FREE Printable versions of THE BIBLE VIEW (including large print and church bulletin inserts) are available at https://www.openthoumineeyes.com/.

All should read the Bible daily!  While at your computer,  go to www.DevotionsFromTheBible.com and read a chapter each day, and learn something from what you read. SIGN-UP to have the FREE devotion e-mailed (M-Sat.) and read a devotion and KJV chapter at your computer.


Was Jesus Born on December 25?
Rev. Alexander Hislop

Many Christian holidays have their true meanings and even the time they occurred altered by false religion’s influence.  Christmas, unfortunately, is one of those days.  Although Christ was born on this Earth, and all the Bible says about Him is true, false religions and their effort to get people to accept their false teachings successfully merged their doctrines with those of Christianity.

Here is some of the history behind how December 25th was adopted to be the day of Christ’s birth, according to Rev. Alexander Hislop’s The Two Babylons:

“… The festivals of [Catholic] Rome are innumerable, but five of the most important may be singled out for elucidation: Christmas day, Lady day, Easter, the Nativity of St. John, and the Feast of the Assumption. Each and all of these can be proved to be Babylonian.” This is especially true with the festival in honour of the birth of Christ, Christmas.

“… How comes it that that festival was connected with the 25th of December? There is not a word in the Scriptures about the precise day of His birth or the time of the year when He was born. What is recorded implies that at what time His birth took place couldnot have been on the 25th of December.

“… At the time that the angel announced His birth to the shepherds of Bethlehem, they were feeding their flocks by night in the open fields. Now, no doubt, the climate of Palestine is not so severe as the climate of this country; but even there, though the heat of the day be considerable, the cold of the night, from December to February, is very piercing, and it was not the custom for the shepherds of Judea to watch their flocks in the open fields laterthan about the end of October. It is in the last degree incredible, then, that the birth of Christ could have taken place at the end of December.

“… the celebrated Joseph Mede pronounces a very decisive opinion to the same effect. … At the birth of Christ, every woman and child was to go to be taxed at the city whereto they belonged, whither some had long journeys, but the middle of winter was not fitting for such a business, especially for women with child and children to travel in. Therefore, Christ could not be born in the depth of winter. Again, at the time of Christ’s birth, the shepherds lay abroad watching with their flocks in the nighttime; but this was not likely to be in the middle of winter. And if any shall think the winter wind was not so extreme in these parts, let him remember the words of Christ in the Gospel, ‘… pray ye that your flight be not in the winter … (Mat. 24:20)’.  If the winter was so bad a time to flee in, it seems no fit time for shepherds to lie in the fields and women and children to travel in.”

 “… Indeed, it is admitted by the most learned and candid writers of all parties that the day of our Lord’s birth cannot be determined, and that within the Christian churchno such festival as Christmas was ever heard of till the third century, and that not until the fourth century did it gain much observance.

“… How, then, did the Romish Church fix on December the 25th as Christmas day? Why, thus:

Long before the fourth century a festival was celebrated among the heathen, at that precise time of the year, in honour of the birth of the son of the Babylonian queen of heaven; and it may fairly be presumed that, in order to conciliate the heathen, and to swell the number of the nominal adherents of Christianity, the same festival was adopted by the Roman Church, giving it only the name of Christ. This tendency on the part of Christians to meet paganism halfway was very early developed; and we find Tertullian, even in his day, about the year 230 AD, bitterly lamenting the inconsistency of the disciples of Christ in this respect and contrasting it with the strict fidelity of the Pagans to their superstition.

“… Upright men strove to stem the tide, but in spite of all their efforts, the apostasy went on, until the church, with the exception of a small remnant, was submerged under pagan superstition. That Christmas was originally a pagan festival is beyond all doubt. The time of the year, and the ceremonies with which it is still celebrated, prove its origin.

“Also, in Egypt, the son of Isis was born at this very time, ‘about the time of the winter solstice.’ The very name by which Christmas is popularly known among ourselves — Yule-day — proves at once its pagan and Babylonian origin. ‘Yule’ is the Chaldean name for an ‘infant’ or ‘little child’;  and as the 25th of December was called by pagan Anglo-Saxons, ‘Yule-day,’ or the ‘Child’s day.’ The night that preceded it became known as ‘Mother-night,’ long before (380–362 BC) they came in contact with Christianity. This sufficiently proves the real reason December 25 was selected.”

“Christmas is a time for ‘giving up’ sin, bad habits, and selfish pleasures.  Christmas is a time for ‘giving in’ and surrendering to Christ and accepting Him as King.  Christmas is a time for ‘giving out,’ real giving and not swapping.”

An Opportune Time
Oliver B. Greene

Christmas is a depressing time for many people. An article written by a director of the California Department of Mental Hygiene warned: “The Christmas season is marked by greater emotional stress and more acts of violence than any other time of the year.”

Christmas is an excuse to get drunk, have a party, get something, give a little, leave work, get out of school, spend money, overeat, and all kinds of other excesses. But, for the real church, Christmas is an excuse for us to exalt Jesus Christ in the face of a world that is at least tuned in to His name.

“The message of Christmas is that the visible material world is bound to the invisible, spiritual world.”


Jesus Came Anyway
Oliver B. Greene

Sherwood Wirt captured the mood of that first Christmas in this description, which he wrote in a Christmas card: “The people of that time were being heavily taxed, and faced every prospect of a sharp increase to cover expanding military expenses. The threat of world domination by a cruel, ungodly, power-intoxicated band of men was ever just below the threshold of consciousness.

Moral deterioration had corrupted the upper levels of society and was moving rapidly into the broad base of the populace. Intense nationalistic feeling was clashing openly with new and sinister forms of imperialism. Conformity was the spirit of the age. Government handouts were being used with increasing lavishness to keep the population from rising up and throwing out the leaders. Interest rates were spiraling upward in the midst of an inflated economy. External religious observances were considered a political asset, and abnormal emphasis was being placed upon sports and athletic competition. Racial tensions were at the breaking point.”

In such a time, and amid such a people, a child was born to a couple who had just signed up for a fresh round of taxation and were soon to become political exiles. The born child was called, among other things, Immanuel, God with us.

“Selfishness makes Christmas a burden; love makes it a delight.”


The First and Last Time He Comes
Oliver B. Greene

The Lord Jesus Christ, whom we exalt especially at Christmas, is not just a baby in a manger. He is not a character in a children’s story. He is far more.

  • The first time He came, He came veiled in the form of a child. The next time He comes, and we believe it will be soon, He will come unveiled, and it will be abundantly and immediately clear to all the world just who He really is.
  • The first time He came, wise men and shepherds brought Him gifts. The next time He comes, He will bring gifts, rewards for His own.
  • The first time He came, there was no room for Him.  The next time He comes, the whole world will not be able to contain His glory.
  • The first time He came, only a few attended His arrival. The next time He comes, every eye shall see Him.
  • The first time He came as a baby. Soon He will come as Sovereign King and Lord.

“The hinge of history is on the door of a Bethlehem stable.” 
— Ralph W. Stockman

The Bible View #837 — Fighting Our Battles

In This Issue:
A Battle Rages

Volume: 837    December 6, 2021
Theme: Fighting Battles

FREE Printable versions of THE BIBLE VIEW (including large print and church bulletin inserts) are available at https://www.openthoumineeyes.com/.

All should read the Bible daily!  While at your computer,  go to www.DevotionsFromTheBible.com and read a chapter each day, and learn something from what you read. SIGN-UP to have the FREE devotion e-mailed (M-Sat.) and read a devotion and KJV chapter at your computer.

A Battle Rages
Bill Brinkworth

“Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places….” Ephesians 6:11-13

“Christian, be careful. Get out of harm’s way.  Don’t you see or hear what the enemy is doing out there?  A battle surrounds us. Stay with me in this safer place. Believers need to stick together in times of trouble.
“Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” Heb. 10:25

“You can’t see it? Why open your eyes, man! Can’t you hear it? Why we’re facing a frontal attack.  The enemy is aiming right at you.  They’re trying to get us to doubt our faith.  They’re throwing everything they have at us.

“Why, can’t you hear the fellow over there trying to get you to quit because you don’t have a chance and that you are outnumbered?  That guy way over there is even questioning if you are a Christian. He must know you because he is shouting that he has watched you and believes you are acting more like his side than a Christian. 

“You are a child of God, aren’t you?  You have been saved? You do know that just going to church doesn’t make you a Christian?

“Well, I thought so, but I was just checking and making sure you knew that for sure.  When those on the other side lob insults and hurl more doubts, you will need to be certain you’re a child of God and on the winning side.
“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” I Cor. 15:58
“For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;” Heb. 3:14

“Oh no. Turn around. Some of who we thought were on our side are attacking us from the rear.  Why, they even claim to be born-again.  That fellow charging behind us attended my church.  Now he’s ganging up on us, too!
“Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.”  Eph. 6:6
“For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.” II Cor. 11:13

“They’re showing us their true colors.  They never were one of us.  That must be why they only acted ‘Christian’ on Sunday, but acted like the world the rest of the week. Why they’re shouting the same things we’re hearing from the frontal assault.  Ignore, them brother.  If they learn anything from us, it should be that a Christian is “Christian’ all the time and that we will not back down from our convictions.

“Look out! I can’t believe it.  Now we’re being flanked on the right. Get really low because they’re launching temptations, and they’re coming our way.  Don’t look because the flash of some of what they want us to see will be etched in our minds, and those thoughts are hard to forget.  That missile that landed behind us was loaded with filth; it’s a good thing we were looking in a different direction.
“I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me.” Psalm 101:3

“We’re being attacked from the front, rear, and even our flanks that we never expected to be breached.  But don’t get discouraged, warrior.  We are on the winning side.  We have weapons far superior to theirs. For every projectile hurled at us, counter it with the promises from our great Commander.  His Words are the only truths.  When the enemy hears His Words, they sometimes get mad and confused.  Often, they never heard such truths that go against all they have ever been told.
“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Heb. 4:12

“Several times, I have replied to their sneers and accusations with His great words, and the advancing army stopped dead in their tracks.  Some became confused and did not know what to do next.  Some shook their heads and retreated.  His Word is a powerful weapon.

“Do you have a copy?  You do, but you don’t know where it is?  Here, use mine.  It is well worn, but it has all the answers for every attack you will ever face.

“No, you can’t keep it, but you can use it while we are under attack.  It is my old friend, and I cherish and rely on it.  Many of its principles are stored in my heart.  When I face predicaments like this, they automatically come to mind in my time of need. They always guide me through these battles.

“Our Commander is also the greatest warrior that ever lived.  He promised that even when all looks bleak that we would be victorious.  Onward we must attack with the weapons He has issued us.  When He gives the Word, we will move. For now, we must resist the attacks and fight them with His Truths.  Be steadfast, unmovable.   We will persevere!
“Ye shall observe to do therefore as the LORD your God hath commanded you: ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.” Deut. 5:32

“Oh my.  The enemy is not giving up.  Now’s he’s air-dropping more discouragements.  Their bombardment by radio waves and television programs won’t sway me.  I will not look or hear the wicked things they put before my ears and eyes, nor should you. Keep your eyes on the attack and don’t let yourself be distracted.
“Be ye therefore very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, that ye turn not aside there from to the right hand or to the left;” Joshua 23:6
“… 21 And turn ye not aside: for then should ye go after vain things, which cannot profit nor deliver; for they are vain.” I Sam. 12:20-21

“Hang in there, Christian.  It looks like we’re surrounded, but still, our commanding officer has a plan.  He is not idle.  Wait patiently until He gives the Word! You may not see Him, but our great Leader has also sent a great Comforter, and as we speak, He is doing something to help and protect us.  He may even be working in the minds of our enemies to turn them to His side.  The Comforter has done that many, many times.
“For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. 9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” Gal. 6:8

“Although you think it is just you and me in this trench, we are not alone. We can talk to our great Leader, and He will hear our pleas wherever we are.

“No, we don’t have a radio for communications.  We don’t need one.  We can talk to Him right now. Here, join me as we bow our heads in respect and call upon his help. I told you our Commander was the greatest.”

Both soldiers bowed their heads and pleaded for their leader’s mercy and help in their time of need. They shared their greatest fears and feelings with their unseen Protector.

After their time of fellowship with their unseen Leader, the two warriors continued to engage the enemy.  Soon, something unbelievable happened. 

The attacks of the enemy halted as quickly as they started. A great silence cloaked the area where previously confusion, temptations, and mayhem rained upon the faithful men.  The two battle-worn infantrymen poked up their heads from their places of safety to see why there was suddenly silence. 

To their amazement, they saw the enemy fleeing, but it was unclear why their adversaries retreated.  It did not appear anyone was pursuing them.  Perhaps the enemies pulled back to attack other Christians, hoping they are weaker than those they had just faced.  Perhaps they were frightened or confused. The two may never know why the calm, but they were sure the conflict had ended.

However, one can be assured that the battle may have been won, but the war continues. Somewhere and somehow, the enemy is attacking other soldiers of the Great Commander. 

Often there are casualties.  At other times, there are not. But still, the war rages.  The next battle may be close to or involve you. Are you armed and ready for action? 

The war will continue until one day our Great Leader no longer tests and seasons His followers and ends the battle forever!  There will one day be an end to this great battle between the forces of good and evil.  Until then, which side will you be on, or will you retreat?
“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:” I Peter 5:8
“Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.” Eph. 3:13
“For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.” II Cor. 4:16

“Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.” 
I Timothy 6:12

The Bible View #836 — Trials & Tribulations

In This Issue:
“Why, Oh Lord?”
After the Trial
Cleansing Afflictions
Learned Sympathy
Made More Compassionate

Volume: 836    November 29, 2021
Theme: Trials and Tribulations

FREE Printable versions of THE BIBLE VIEW (including large print and church bulletin inserts) are available at https://www.openthoumineeyes.com/.

All should read the Bible daily!  While at your computer,  go to www.DevotionsFromTheBible.com and read a chapter each day, and learn something from what you read. SIGN-UP to have the FREE devotion e-mailed (M-Sat.) and read a devotion and KJV chapter at your computer.


“Why, Oh Lord?”
Bill Brinkworth

“And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the LORD be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt? but now the LORD hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.” Judges 6:13

When an angel of the Lord spoke to Gideon, God’s messenger told Gideon that the Lord was with him. Gideon recalled the state of his country, Israel. He knew that the enemy, the Midianites, had destroyed their crops and flocks (Judges 6:4).  Gideon and his nation were in a terrible situation. After hearing the message, he questioned what the angel said to him.  He wondered if the Lord was with him, then why were all the terrible things happening to him and his country?

In this situation, God’s hand of protection was off the country because they were involved in idolatry (Judges 6:10).  God used the Midianites to get Israel to a place where they would again turn to God and call on Him (Judges 6:6-7). Although the nation was involved in sin, and God was disciplining Israel, God was still with His people.

We need to realize this today.  Although a saved person is a child of God, whom He promises never to “… leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Heb. 13:5), a wayward Christian may get to where God has to chastise him.  Also, a person’s indwelling Holy Spirit may be grieved (Eph. 4:30, I Thes. 5:19) and not working in a person’s life like He wants to, but God will not desert the person.
“For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.” Prov.3:12

Too many wonder, as Gideon did, “Why is God allowing this to happen to me?”  Often, they feel left alone without His help. They feel abandoned. Most of us have had times our faith was weak, and we doubted and wondered about our situation, as did Gideon. 

However, there are many reasons God allows us to go through difficulties, other than being disciplined, as was Israel.  Some of those reasons include:

  • To be an encouraging example to others as they observe how a Christian handles an unpleasant situation.
    “Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; 4 Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.” II Cor 1:3-4
  • To put us in a position where the Lord wants us in the future.  Joseph was an example of this.  God allowed many misfortunes to happen in the man’s life, so he could help his family and others when famine came to their country. Many times closed doors in our life move us to the open door God desires us to go through.
  • For us to see the mighty hand of God meet needs in our life.  Trials and tribulations bring us to a point where we call on Him more and focus on seeing His help and intervention in our lives. When we see His help, our faith is strengthened to face future problems. Hardships are an essential method to get us to grow spiritually! Our trust and reliance grow when we see Him work in our lives.
  • Being a Christian does not mean that you will not face problems.  It’s just life! This is a sinful world, and all suffer because of iniquities.
    “That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” Mat. 5:45

If you are going through a difficult time and wonder as Gideon did, examine your life.  Is it possible that you are in the situation because you are in a wayward condition? A first step in going through a hard time is to rule out if your behavior or spiritual condition has anything to do with your situation.  If it does, earnest prayer may reveal it to you.  Quick obedience to any conviction and repentance is what the Lord wants from us in such circumstances.

If no conviction is stirred or past offenses do not come to mind, your situation may be for a completely different reason or divine purpose.  Not all problems are God’s judgment on your life. Sometimes God reveals the reason for the trial; sometimes, He does not.  Whatever the reason, one should immediately draw closer to Him and wait for Him to do His will in your life.
“Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.” James 4:8

 “Often, affliction is God’s shepherd dog to drive us back to the fold.”
— Megiddo


After the Trial
Brooks

God afflicts us for our profit that we might be partakers of His holiness. The flowers smell sweetest after a shower.  Vines bear better after trimming. The walnut tree is most fruitful when shaken. Children of God grow and thrive when they are afflicted.

Afflictions are the mother of virtue. Manasseh’s chain was more profitable to him than his crown. Luther could not understand some scriptures till he was in affliction. Christ’s cross was no letter, yet it taught more than all the letters and books ever did.

God’s house of correction is His school of instruction. All the stones that came about Stephen’s head did but bring him closer to Christ. The waves lifted Noah’s ark nearer to Heaven. Afflictions lift the soul to rich, clear, and full enjoyments of God.

God makes afflictions to be but inlets to the soul’s more sweet and full enjoyment of Him. When was it that Stephen saw the heavens open and Christ standing at the right hand of God, but when the stones were thrown at him?  Then there was but a short step betwixt him and eternity.

When did God appear in glory to Jacob?  It was in the day of his troubles when stones were his pillows, the ground his bed, the hedges his curtains, and the heavens his canopy?  Then he saw the angels of God ascending and descending in their glittering robes.

Hard times often bring us closer to God and allow us to see His power and glory.

 “Sometimes God makes his people’s troubles contribute to the increase of their greatness, and their sun shines the brighter for having been under a cloud. — Henry


Cleansing Afflictions
Beecher

There are some troubles that beat us down. Some situations give a stimulus to our minds and lift us up to a closer relationship with God. Have you not, in the great hours of sorrow —  not in the despairing hours of suffering, not in the degrading hours of despair, not in the sordid hours in which sorrow drags you in its slime — but in those hours in which you feel you are a son of God under affliction, that this world is not your abiding place, and that your home is the eternity of God?  Have you felt that the world to come was opened as it had never been before in those hours and that God’s glory shone as it had never shone before? Have you never, in those hours, felt that those doubts and skepticisms which pestered your mind had been swept away?

In the insect-breeding days of summer, how insects abound!  Every tree is a harbor for stinging pests. Wherever you sit, they swarm around, and annoy you, and destroy your peace and comfort.

Soon vast floods of clouds bring tornadoes and are thunder-voiced through the valleys. Then over the hills and mountains sweep drenching and cleansing rains. When the storm has ceased and the clouds are gone, you sit under the dripping tree.  Not a fly, a gnat, or an insect is to be seen. The winds and rains have driven them all away.

Has it never been so with those ten thousand little pests of pride, vanity, envying, jealousy, and unlawful desire?  For days, they have teased and fretted you.  They kept you busy with conscience, taste, affection, and all the higher faculties until God sent upon you some great searching sorrow or overwhelming trouble.

There was that babe that you loved so much, and God laid your heart and baby together in the grave. He subverted your household. He brought on you such torrents of suffering that it appeared the foundations of the great deep were broken up. In those heart-wrenching days, God graciously sustained you and lifted you toward Himself.  Although you suffered unutterable affliction, you felt that it had cleansed you from jealousies, envies, vanity, pride, the entire swarm of venomous and stinging insects that had beset you,


Learned Sympathy
W. M. Taylor

One night, wandering the streets of London in disguise, King Henry the Eighth was met at a bridge by some guards.  Because of not giving a good account of what he was doing out at night, the King was locked up in Poultry Compter without any fire, candle, or food. On being released from prison, he made a grant of thirty chaldrons of coals and a quantity of bread for the night prisoners in the Compter.

Experience brings sympathy as it did to the King. Those who have felt sharp afflictions, terrible convictions, racking doubts, and violent temptations will be zealous in consoling those in a similar condition. Our experience of such difficult times can help us be a blessing and an encouragement to those now facing similar trials.


Made More Compassionate
Downame, 1644

By these afflictions, we are made more compassionate unto others who endure like hardships. Those that have been sick are apt to pity those whom they see pained with the like diseases. Those who have been imprisoned are more compassionate and helpful in relieving those who are restrained. They who have been pinched with penury and pined with hunger do pity them in the situation they once were.

This was one end why God allowed our Saviour so many afflictions so that He might have compassion on them that are also faced with tremendous trials and tribulations

 “It is the crushed grape that gives out the blood-red juice. it is the suffering soul that breathes the sweetest melodies.”   — Hamilton

The Bible View #835 — God’s Creation

In This Issue:
It Is Finished!
God Made It.  He Can Keep It!
Created!
They Warned Others

Volume: 835    November 22, 2021
Theme: God’s Will and Way

FREE Printable versions of THE BIBLE VIEW (including large print and church bulletin inserts) are available at https://www.openthoumineeyes.com/.

All should read the Bible daily!  While at your computer,  go to www.DevotionsFromTheBible.com and read a chapter each day, and learn something from what you read. SIGN-UP to have the FREE devotion e-mailed (M-Sat.) and read a devotion and KJV chapter at your computer.


It Is Finished!
Bill Brinkworth

To understand God and His will more fully, one must realize that some things He has done or promised in the past are finished. What He has done other times may not happen today.

Creation is finished! 
“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.” Genesis 2:1
 After God’s six-day work of creating the universe, putting all the stars and planets in place, and creating the Earth and all that lives on it, He had it recorded that His creation was finished. No more new creations will be put into outer space,  although some may “burn out” or change. There will be no more species of plants or animals created, although many more may be discovered. Man or beast will not transform into something different (“evolve”). God’s perfect creation is finished.

God may not deal with the people of today as he has dealt with them in the past! No longer will He destroy mankind as he did in the time of Noah. Although God still supplies our daily needs, most of us will never eat the daily manna, as did the children of Israel as they fled Egypt. The church and Christ’s sacrifice replaced the need for a Temple and priests to present sacrifices on our behalf. Although God still performs incredible supernatural feats in individual lives and for nations, most of the time, He will not deal with circumstances the same way as He has done in the past.

God’s Word is finished!
 “Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.” Deuteronomy 4:2 
“For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:” Revelations 22:18

God made sure all we needed to know was recorded in the written word preserved for the major languages. Today, English-speaking people have His Word exactly the way He gave it to the prophets, scribes, and other men of God. It is preserved in our King James Bible. There is no need to have a modern scholar tell us something that God had “forgotten” to say or something He had preserved incorrectly. What He said thousands of years ago is finished, and nothing is to be added or taken away from it.

Jesus’ work is finished!
 “When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.” John 19:30  Also: John 17:4. 
Man’s only way to Heaven was finished when Christ died for all of our sins on the cruel cross at Calvary. That day, the price was paid for sin when the blood flowed out of God’s only Son.

There is nothing we can do to earn our way to Heaven. There is no religious task we can do that will keep us out of Hell.  Also, no one can say certain words that will absolve us of our sins. All that was necessary for our salvation was completed when Jesus died.

There are, however, several things that are not finished. Some prophecies are yet to be fulfilled. All the prophecies about the Messiah’s coming were fulfilled when Jesus came and died. Although all of what was predicted about the Messiah hundreds and thousands of years before His birth came true, there are many prophecies about man’s last days on this Earth that are yet to come true, as God’s Word says they will.

We are still waiting for the promises of His coming and the calling of His own out of this world. We are still waiting for the judgments God promised to the inhabitants of this world to be fulfilled. Those prophecies are yet to be finished.

Lastly, one thing that is not finished is your life. If you are reading this, you still have the opportunity to be saved and miss Hell. You still have time to do what God commands you to do. However, one day you will not have that opportunity. You will not be able to look out of the flames of Hell, change your mind, and be saved because your time to be saved had passed.

Have you trusted Christ’s finished work on the Cross as the only way to Heaven, or are you still putting your trust in what your religion says or what you think you must do to please God? Have you been saved (Rom. 10:9)? Have you done what God has spoken to your heart to do for Him or made the changes to your life that He required? One day it may be too late as your life will be finished here on this Earth.


God Made It.  He Will Keep It!
Bill Brinkworth

Psalm 104 is a Hebrew hymn restating the Genesis account of creation. It reminds the Psalm’s singer of what God created in this universe and on Earth in six days. Here, the God of creation is given credit for His wonderful works in those days.

God’s creation of light (Genesis 1:2) is mentioned, as are all the following summarized five days of what He did.  The God-deniers and God-haters, of course, deny God’s account and resort to their theories of “accidental” developments of all the amazing wonders we have on this Earth and in the skies.

All the evolutional “accidents” modern “science” claims to be the result of all on this Earth have never been proven, and the theories are constantly changing.  Still, those ideas are believed by most. 

In recent decades, a new scare tactic has been forced down the throats of a gullible public.  It is an attempt to convince people that this planet will soon be uninhabitable or destroyed.  This chapter refutes two of those accusations that are causing ungrounded fears.

The first biblical principle taught here (Psalm 104:4) crushes current political propaganda that the Earth will not be around or inhabitable forever.  Our planet will experience geological upheavals, changes, and during the final days of sinful man, it will be made new (Revelation 21:1).  However, the Earth is here to stay and is not going anywhere, thus saith the Lord!
“Who [God] laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed for ever.” Psalm 104:5

As for rising oceans that politicians have attempted to get citizens fearful of, God also says that there are boundaries that waters cannot cross. Although panic is growing that polar ice will melt, and cities and other lands will be flooded, it is contrary to what God promises in His Word. The waters will not invade any further than God has planned them to go.
“Thou hast set a bound that they [water] may not pass over; that they turn not again to cover the earth.” Psalm 104:9

Although government scare tactics repeatedly warn of Earth catastrophes man thinks he can control, the Creator of this planet decides what will become of what He has made.  God says it will be here forever! 

Who do you believe, man, who has a political or financial agenda, or God who loves His creation and all He has made?
“The glory of the LORD shall endure for ever: the LORD shall rejoice in his works.” Psalm 104:31

“If the Father designs to touch with divine power the cold and pulseless heart of the buried acorn and to make it burst forth from its prison walls, will He neglect the soul of man that was made in the image of his Creator?”  
— William Jennings Bryan


Created
Watson, 169

If a man should go into a far country and see stately edifices there, he would never imagine that those built themselves but that some greater power erected them. To imagine that the work of the creation was not framed by God is as if we should conceive a curious landscape to be drawn by a pencil without the hand of an artist.


They Warned Others
Bill Brinkworth

I noticed something interesting while reading a book written in 1872.  There was a collection of 15 or so articles on atheism written by preachers of the time.  All the articles were about those that denied that God created the heavens and the Earth.

Without today’s pseudo-intellectualism and political correctness hindering them, those preachers publically identified those that did not believe God created the universe as heathens. They warned their “flocks” of those that believed or taught contrary to what the Bible says.

Toleration today of unbiblical beliefs has silenced many from calling God-haters and Bible-deniers what they really are. Those against biblical teachings and principles must be identified and avoided, or their false teachings may spread.

“The probability of life originating by accident is comparable to the probability of the unabridged dictionary originating from an explosion in a print shop.”  — Edwin Conklin