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The Bible View #906 — Separation

In This Issue:
Stay in the Henhouse
A Worldly Christian
Safe in the Ark
Get Far from Evil
The Danger of the World

Volume: 906   May 1, 2023
Theme: Separation

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Stay in the Henhouse  
Bill Brinkworth

I have endeavored to raise chickens to raise as much food as possible.  After hearing the locals tell of coyotes and seeing evidence of a fox, coupled with the knowledge of nearby black snakes, I knew that the pen and the henhouse must resist those predators.

When building their coop, I accommodated for all those dangers in the design.  Their outside run was wrapped with strong chicken wire.  Even the floor was laid with the fence material in case one of the raiders tried to gain entrance by digging in.  The wire was doubled stapled so no creature could gain entry by tearing off the covering.  Even the roof was partly covered with wire and sheet metal to keep out airborne enemies like hawks.

The house was sheathed in strong material, with even the smallest gaps eliminated, so an egg-hungry snake could not slither in.  Windows were covered with heavy screening that would keep them out and was higher than any ground predator could reach.  When finished, the house was safe for all the fowl that lived within.

Afterward, the squeaking and squawking chicks were brought into their new living quarters.  Their daily needs were met.  They got their daily food, water, and occasional kitchen waste that they devoured.  Soon, they grew and were nearing the age that they would produce eggs.

However, their behavior began to change.  They no longer fear me as I come to feed, water, and clean their living quarters.  At times, they were a bit hostile to me as I tried to feed them. 

As I left their pen or henhouse, they kept following me to get outside their protected environment.  Sometimes, as I went, they attempted to dart out to the unprotected outside.  Usually, they could be herded back into their safe environment and were discouraged from escaping. 

One morning, however, one hen managed to get out.  Fortunately, before she got too far, I was able to catch her and put her back in the safe area I had created for her.

I realize their discontentment with their secure environment and curiosity to go “outside” was very much what too many Christians spend their lives trying to do.  Instead of following God’s commandments, as preserved in the Bible, they take every opportunity to go outside God’s protection. 

The rules that they ignore, disobey, and often dislike are there for their protection.  A life within those guidelines will be safe and guarantee a closer walk with God.  A life lived outside those guidelines will be one without God’s protection and guidance and may result in hardship, unhappiness, and even destruction.  

God knows what waits “outside.”  He knows all about the luring temptations, the strangling grip of sin, and the devouring Devil that can ruin any man, woman, or child once they are outside His protection.

Man may learn God’s commandments and what God warns him not to do, but he often looks “outside.”  He sees most of the world doing things he knows he should not do. 

Often he observes that it appears that nothing happens when the world commits sin or even gets close to it.  It seems that they get away with it. 

He considers that the biblical warnings are wrong or for a different time and that now they must be okay to do, as so many appear to get away with iniquity.  (If man could follow those people’s lives and learn of all the details, he would find they did not get away with it after all!).

Mankind often lurches outside the protection God has provided.  For a short time, doing what everyone else is doing is fun.  There are no repercussions for sin or getting too close to it.

However, his life changes so slowly that he often does not see the changes that happen.  His desire to please God and obey Him is usually the first thing that is eroded, along with the fear of the consequences of getting involved in sin. 

Lack of concern for others also disappears.  What remains is a self-centered individual bent on satisfying one’s selfish desires. 

Often involvement in sin does physical damage or changes.  Again, the sinner never sees the damage exposure to the “outside” has done.

No one gets away with sin.  That is why God commands us not to get close to it, so it can never get a hold of a person.  There is a wage to iniquity’s commission.  Stay inside God’s boundaries, and you can escape the dangers that lurk “outside.”

“If we could look steadily at the world and see it as it is in the eyes of God, many of our estimates would be amazingly changed.”   — Edward Gareshe


A Worldly Christian
C. H. Spurgeon

“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.” Mat.  6:24

No man can serve God and mammon because there is not enough life in the heart to serve the two.  Alas!  Many people try this, and they fail both ways.

I have known a man who has tried to let some of his heart run into the world and another part he allowed to drip into the church.  The effect was that he was suspected of hypocrisy when he came into the church.

“Why,” they said, “if he were truly obeying the Lord, could he have done yesterday what he did and then come and profess so much today?”  Other believers look upon him suspiciously, or if he deceives them, they feel he cannot be trusted because he has not given all his heart to the Lord.

What is the effect of his conduct to the world?  Why, his religion is a constraint to him there.  Any mention of God or His commandments, especially any expression of guilt, makes the world uncomfortable around him, and they also do not trust him.

The world will not have him, and other Christians will not have him.  He wants to go between the two, and both avoid him.

“If you can get along with the world, then you are out of step with God.”
— Dr. Harold Sightler


Safe in the Ark
D. L. Moody

When the voice came down from Heaven to Noah, “… Come thou and all thy house into the ark, for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation,” there was a minute when Noah was outside the ark and another when he was inside.  By being inside, he was saved.  As long as he was outside the ark, he was exposed to the wrath of God just like the rest of the people.  

If he had stayed out and remained with the others, he would have been swept away, as they were.  It was not his righteousness.  It was not his faith or works that saved him; it was the ark.  

God has provided an ark for us (His Word), and the question is, “Are you inside or outside this ark?”  If you are inside, you are safe; if you are outside, you are not.


Get Far from Evil
Adam Clark

Abstain from all appearance of evil (I Thes. 5:22).  Sin not and avoid even the appearance of it.  Do not drive your morality so near the bounds of evil as to lead even weak persons to believe you touch, taste, or handle it.  Let not the form of it appear with or among you. 

Ye are called to holiness.  Be ye holy, for God is holy.

 “If you are saved, you are on the winning side.  Why would you want to look or act like the losing side that is headed for Hell?”

The Danger of the World
J. Mason

Beware of the world.  It has slain its millions!
What ruined Lot’s wife?  The world.
What ruined Achan?  The world.
What ruined Haman?  The world.
What ruined Judas?  The world.
What ruined Demas?  The world.
What will ruin you?  The world.
“For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?  or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” Mat.  16:26

The BIBLE VIEW #905 — God’s Word

In This Issue:
God Kept His Word
What the New “bibles” Do

Volume: 905   April 24, 2023
Theme: God’s Word

Start your day with some good news from the Bible!  Sign-up at https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/a26cc9M to receive the DAILY VIEW devotion.  The daily e-mail includes a KJV chapter, a brief commentary on the chapter’s teachings, and more spiritual food for the hungry soul. 

View 16+ years of printable, free BIBLE VIEWs at https://openthoumineeyes.com/newsletters.html.  Make as many copies as you need.  Use them at your church, nursing homes (large print version available), Sunday school, deaf ministry, bus ministry, and as a church bulletin insert. 


God Kept His Word
Bill Brinkworth

God said He would keep His Word for and with us, and He has done so!
“The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.” Isa. 40:8 According to verse seven, the grass refers to people.  People will come and go, but God’s Word will always be amongst us. 
“But the word of the Lord endureth for ever.  And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.” I Pet. 1:25   Also: Psalms 102:12, Luke 16:17.

God preserved His Word in written form.
“For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” Mat.  5:18   Jot and tittle refer to the dialectical marks of the languages used.  This implies that the preserved word is in written form!

Its preservation is essential to our faith.  Why would God require it if He would not keep it for us?
“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Rom. 10:17

Many places in the Scriptures were quoted accurately at a later date by prophets, leaders, rulers, and even Christ.  “As it is written” is used in 49 verses, indicating that the preserved Word was trusted then.

It is inspired!  “God breathed” into the originals, and He has preserved His original inspiration.
“The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.  Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.” Psa. 12:6-7
We have the inspired, preserved Word of God!

There have always been copies.  The originals have never been gathered together in one place.  There are now no originals!  From the beginning, God has used and blessed copies:

  • Moses broke the first tablets.  God made sure His people had an accurate copy of them.
  • King Jehoiakim (Jer. 36) did not like what Jehudi read from the Word of God and burnt them.  God again gave it to Jeremiah.  Then it was thrown in the river (Jer. 51:63); end of original #2, but we still have it now.  It is preserved!

The Hebrews preserved the Old Testament in the Masoretic Text. The New Testament was preserved in Greek in the Textus Receptus.  There have been copies from those translated texts since 150 AD.

Different men had a burden that the Word of God be written in a language the common person could read.  Before their work, only certain clergy could read it.  They only told the masses what they wanted them to hear, often in a language the people did not understand.  The work of many preserved God’s Word in these forms from such men as Erasmus, William Tyndale, Miles Coverdale, and the six companies of 47-54 (according to different accounts) translators that translated the 1611 King James.

The King James 1611 had several changes done to it up to 1769.  The KJV that we read today is the 1769 version.  All the 400 changes from the 1611 to the 1769 version were spelling and grammatical changes as the written English language grew more consistent and changed.  Compare those minimal changes to the thousands of alterations reportedly changed in the New King James Version in the 5th version from the 1st version.

KJV 1611: “For God so loued the world, the he gaue his only begotten Sonne: that whosoeuer beleeurth in him, should not perish, but haue euerlasting life.”  John 3:16   Notice where we used a “v” the earlier language used a “u”.  Also: “I”’s were used as “J”’s,  “f”’s for “s”’s….
KJV 1769: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16 

Since the beginning, Satan has gotten man to doubt and question the Word of God.  If you doubt it, you will not believe it or live it.  I am sure this is why Satan has done much to water down God’s Word, hide His Word, or get people confused enough not to read or believe the Bible.
Gen. 3:1 “ Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made.  And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?”

Even the early church had to deal with Satan’s attack on the Truth.  That attack continues even more so in these last crucial days!
“For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.” II Cor. 2:17

If the Bible is missing or has words changed, it is not the preserved Word of God that God promised to keep.  All modern translations and revisions have changed words.  They cannot be trusted.  They are tampering with the Word of God!

The modern translations and revisions are counterfeits!

  • Their root is from Egypt.  The Bible has a negative outlook on Egypt (Rev. 11:8.), especially Alexandria (Acts 6:9, Col. 2:8).  Alexandria is where the philosophy that the Bible is fallible (Origen) grew and that it has mistakes and must be corrected.  Most modern translations come from the Alexandrian manuscripts.
  • They remove or change words.  i.e.: NIV is 90,000 words short of what is in the KJV.
  • They change the meaning of the verses.  Bible teachings are altered many times to suit the author or organization producing the “bible” and their beliefs.  Often the new perversions change verses dealing with the deity of Christ, Jesus’ virgin birth, Hell, and salvation. 
  • The new “bibles” bring confusion.  Who is the author of confusion (I Cor. 14:33)?  Not God!  Satan is behind the perversion of God’s Word.  The perversions change biblical doctrine!
  • They profess to make the Word of God easier to understand, but they do not!  The Holy Spirit reveals the understanding of God’s Word to man, not man’s intellect.  The “bible” is said to be made “easier” to understand, yet fewer than ever are reading any version!

There is a battle raging over the souls of man.  The warfare can only be won with the Word of God.  Many, including Satan, are working hard to dull the only spiritual weapon man has.  God has made sure the Bible is still preserved in the KJV.  Do you read and obey it?

“If the modern ‘bibles’ are supposed to make it easier to understand and also correct ‘mistakes,’ why did 300+ different English versions still not make it easy enough and get it right, and why are they still creating more versions?  The answer is that the goal is not to make the Word of God clearer, but to make money and make it say what they want!”


What the New “bibles” Do
Bill Brinkworth

There are thousands of changes in all the different versions.  Here are a few so one can get an idea as to how man has changed what God has said! 

They change God’s Commandments.
King James (KJV): “And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest.  And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” Acts 8:37
New International Version (NIV): Verse removed and footnoted
New American Standard Version (NASV): Verse removed and footnoted
New World Translation (NWT — Jehovah Witness Bible): Verse removed.
Revised Standard Version (RSV): Verse removed and footnoted
New Century Version (NCV): Verse removed and footnoted.
These re-writers wanted to do away with the biblical teaching of baptism!

They alter truths about Christ.
(KJV) “And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.” Mat.  1:25
(NASV) “and kept her virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called his name Jesus.”
(RSV)  “but knew her not until she had borne a son; and he called his name Jesus.”
(NIV) “But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son.  And he gave him the name Jesus.”

Other versions remove wording that indicates Jesus was Mary’s firstborn son.  
(KJV) “For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.” Mat.  18:11
(NASB) This verse is footnoted and implies that it should not be there.
(NIV) Verse removed and footnoted (footnote is changed, however).
(NWT) Verse removed.
(NCV) Verse removed.
The important reason for Jesus Christ’s coming has been deleted!  The way of salvation is removed!

They alter truths about judgment and Hell!
“Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.” Mark 9:46
(NIV) Omitted and footnoted
(NWT, NASB, NCV.  RSV, Amplified) Omitted.

They do not make God’s word easier to understand, as they claim!
(KJV) “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;” Eph. 5:18
New King James Version (NKJV)  “And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation….”
(NIV) “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery.  Instead, be filled with the Spirit.”

(KJV) “Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the princes, the governors, and the captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.” Daniel 3:2
(NKJV) “And King Nebuchadnezzar sent word to gather together the satraps, the administrators, the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.” A difficult word was inserted, and facts were changed.
(NIV) “He then summoned the satraps, prefects ….”

They change facts:
“Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel unto mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, which eat at Jezebel’s table.” I Kings 18:19
 (NKJV, NIV, NCV, NASB, RSV) “… and the four hundred prophets of Asherah ….”
(NWT) “… four hundred prophets of sacred pole ….”
In the Catholic Confraternity Version (1963), this verse is found in III Kings 18:19.

They not only remove and change words, but they add words.
“And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.” Rev. 22:19
(The Amplified Bible) “And if any one cancels or takes away from the statements of the book of this prophecy — these predictions relating to Christ’s kingdom and its speedy triumph, together with the consolations and admonitions (warnings) pertaining to them — God will cancel and take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the city of holiness (pure and hallowed) which are described and promised in this book.” — wheeww!

“Things That Are Different Are Not the Same!”  
— Title of Dr. Mickey Carter’s book on the Bible version issue

The BIBLE VIEW #904 — Alcohol

In This Issue:
Should a Christian Drink Alcohol?
Effects of Drinking
A Monster

Volume: 904   April 16, 2023
Theme: Alcohol

Start your day with some good news from the Bible!  Sign-up at https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/a26cc9M to receive the DAILY VIEW devotion.  The daily e-mail includes a KJV chapter, a brief commentary on the chapter’s teachings, and more spiritual food for the hungry soul. 

View 16+ years of printable, free BIBLE VIEWs at https://openthoumineeyes.com/newsletters.html.  Make as many copies as you need.  Use them at your church, nursing homes (large print version available), Sunday school, deaf ministry, bus ministry, and as a church bulletin insert. 


Should a Christian Drink Alcohol?
Bill Brinkworth

Today, possibly because the Word of God is not obeyed and is considered not relevant, many Christians have no conviction about what the Bible says about many things, including the drinking of alcohol.

The Bible says much about the dangers and effects that alcohol will have on one and a Christian testimony.  Indulgence in alcohol is never recommended in God’s Word.  Its use is usually negatively spoken about.

Here are some reasons why a Christian should avoid alcoholic beverages:

  • Alcohol is dangerous.  Even wine is likened to a poison that will ruin one’s life!
    “Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright     [fermenting].  32 At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.” Pro.  23:31-32
  • Alcohol should not be drunk by a wise person.
    “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.” Prov. 20:1     Wine’s influence will make one mock, or deride, others.  Strong drink will often make one loud and cause him to show his anger.
  • Alcohol will increase one’s problems and affect health and mental stability.
    “Who hath woe?  who hath sorrow?  who hath contentions?  who hath babbling?  who hath wounds without cause?  who hath redness of eyes?  30 They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.” Pro.  23:29-30
  • Alcohol will control a person and affect one’s thinking and discernment.
    “But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment.” Isa. 28:7
  • Alcohol will affect one’s will.
    “Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart.” Hos. 4:11     Notice that there are two types of wine: new, unfermented wine, and alcoholic (fermented) wine.
  • Alcohol will affect one’s desire to do something for the Lord and the desire to be industrious.
    “Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them!  12 And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the LORD, neither consider the operation of his hands.” Isa. 5:11-12 “
    Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh: 21 For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.  We are not to even be around drinking, so certainly the Saviour would not have broken this commandment.” Pro.  23:20

These verses, and many more, show we should not drink, especially if we are concerned about keeping the “temple” that God gave us clean (I Cor. 6:19) from temptations and sin.  However, what confuses many, and is often used to justify drinking, is the Bible’s usage of the word “wine.”  In the New Testament, that word is used to describe alcoholic and non-alcoholic wine.  The Greek word “oinos” refers to fermented and unfermented “wines.”  The context of the verse usually reveals which type of “wine” it refers to.

What is non-alcoholic “wine”?  We call it grape juice.  Sometimes the Bible refers to it as “new wine” (Mat. 9:17, Luke 5:39).  Understand that in biblical days there was no refrigeration and that it was hot, which would quickly ferment the “new wine.”  To keep this from happening, the new “wine” was often simmered so that the water would evaporate from the “wine.”  

That process would result in a thick grape syrup that would last a long time.  It also was called “wine.”  Before it was drunk, water would be added to it again.  An ancient shipwreck was recovered with a cargo of containers of that grape syrup, which was still preserved.

There are other reasons why a Christian should not drink, even wine.  They include:

  • Fermented wine is a picture of sin!  The yeast (“leaven”) in the grape skins turns the juice to alcohol.  Yeast is a picture of sin, as it spreads and “ruins” (fermentation is a decaying and rotting process) many things it is placed in.  For this reason, it should not be drunk and should NEVER be used in the Lord’s supper, as Jesus was sinless and should not be pictured as sinful by fermented grape juice.  

    Also, for the same reason, raised bread should not be used.  A little “leaven” in grape juice or flour will raise and spread throughout the product, just as a little sin spreads and affects whatever life it touches.
    “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.” Gal. 5:9
    “Your glorying is not good.  Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?” I Cor. 5:6
  • Many justify drinking because Jesus turned water into “wine” (John 2:9-10).  It was not alcoholic wine He changed from water.  If He did that, He would have been serving alcohol, which would have earned Him God’s “woe” rather than God’s approval on His life (Mat. 3:17).  Jesus’ converting the water was not an example of biblical doctrine on drinking.  It was a miracle to show Jesus was God in the flesh.
    “Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, that puttest thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness!” Hab. 2:15   If one is not to give it to others, then he should not be drinking it himself.
  • Alcohol is often a gateway to other sins.  One sin usually leads to others, and alcohol is no exception.
    “Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things.” Pro.  23:33
  • Some twist I Tim. 5:23 around to say that drinking wine for your health is okay.  Any drunk or doctor will tell you that alcohol will tear up one’s stomach.  Alcohol irritates the digestive system, including the stomach, causing it to produce too much acid.  This can lead to gastritis, stomach pain, vomiting, diarrhea, and bleeding.  Look at the beer belly of a beer guzzler for proof.  God knows all this, so alcohol consumption cannot be what I Tim.  5:23 is referring to.
    “Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake and thine often infirmities.” I Tim 5:23  I read that to get the “good” chemical in wine that is supposed to help one’s health, many bottles of wine should be drunk daily.  Drinking that much would qualify one as a drunkard the Bible condemns.  Eating grapes or drinking unfermented grape juice is a better choice for one’s stomach health.
  • What is “drunk”?  How many drinks does it take to be “drunk”?  An excellent answer to this question is from Jim Jorgenson in Should I.   He wrote, “Perhaps you would say, ‘It would take six beers to make me drunk.’ If you only drink one beer, then you are one-sixth drunk.  You are one-sixth less able to serve God than before drinking.”
  • We are not to have the appearance of doing anything wrong.  We are to have an upright testimony.  Drinking would give an impression to others that we were drunkards.
    “Abstain from all appearance of evil.” I Thes. 5:22

Christians should be led and guided by the Spirit of God, not the spirit of drunkenness.  Interestingly, the old-time drunkards knew that drinking was not of God, and the wrong spirits influenced users of it.  To prove that look at a bottle of booze, which will still be identified as 50% (or another number) spirits.  Drinking it leads one to follow the wrong spirit, which will not be the Spirit of God.

A Christian should be “Christ-like,” as the name implies.  He should not be close to the edge of the godless world from which he was saved.  A believer should be as far from temptation and sin as possible.  One cannot lose his salvation, but he can lose his Christian testimony and be ensnared by many of the same pitfalls the unsaved fall into when they indulge in alcohol.  All lose when they drink booze!
“And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;” Eph. 5:18

“Alcohol is a very effective dissolving agent.  It dissolves families, marriages, friendships, jobs, bank accounts, and neurons, but never problems.”


Effects of Drinking
Gleaned from Should I?  by Jim Jorgensen, Page 51

Physical Effects
Controlled by alcohol: (Isa. 5:11)
Leads to sickness: (Hosea 7:5)
Causes one to stagger: (Job 12:25)
Can cause one to vomit: (Isa. 19:14)
Affects one’s eyes: (Prov. 23:29)
Leads one to be hurt: (Prov. 23:29)
Produces filthiness: (Isa. 28:8)
Provokes one to do dumb things: (Prov. 23:34)

Mental Effects
Impairs judgments: (Prov. 31:5, Isa. 28:7)
Impairs the memory: (Prov. 31:4-5)
Encourages one to lose his temper: (Prov. 20:1)

Moral & Spiritual
Leads to indifference for the work of the Lord: (Isa. 5:12)
Is allied with gambling and licentiousness: (Joel 3:3)
Is allied with indecent exposure: (Gen. 9:21, Hab. 2:15-16)

Ultimately, it can lead to:
A ruined life: (Prov. 23:32)
Poverty: (Proverbs 21:17, 23:21)
Strife: (Proverbs 23:29-30)
Woe and sorrow: (Proverbs 23:29-30)

“One never has to battle the strangling grasp of alcohol, if one never takes the first sip.”


A Monster
T. Adams, 1871

A drunkard is the annoyance of modesty, the trouble of civility, the spoil of wealth, and the destroyer of reason.  He is the thief of one’s self, the beggar’s companion, and the sheriff’s trouble.  The drunk is his wife’s woe, his children’s sorrow, his neighbor’s scoff, and his shame.  He is a spirit of unrest, a thing below a beast, and a menacing monster.

“To a drunkard who feels unlovable, the message that God loves him comes as good news.”   — Jerry Dunn

The BIBLE VIEW #903 — God’s Words

In This Issue:
One Reason for Reading the Bible
They Can’t Understand
A Form of Godliness

Volume: 903   April 10, 2023
Theme: God’s Words

Start your day with some good news from the Bible!  Sign-up at https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/a26cc9M to receive the DAILY VIEW devotion.  The daily e-mail includes a KJV chapter, a brief commentary on the chapter’s teachings, and more spiritual food for the hungry soul. 

View 16+ years of printable, free BIBLE VIEWs at https://openthoumineeyes.com/newsletters.html.  Make as many copies as you need.  Use them at your church, nursing homes (large print version available), Sunday school, deaf ministry, bus ministry, and as a church bulletin insert. 


One Reason for Reading the Bible
Bill Brinkworth

The compiled Word of God, the Bible, has many purposes.  It tells man the mind of God, what He likes and disapproves of, how to live, how to die, how to be successful, why one fails, and many other essential life lessons.

There is another purpose for spending time in God’s preserved Word.  That reason is so man can learn from examples of those in the past.  A wise man should not want to repeat the errors of others.  Reading and learning from others’ mistakes is one of the reasons God allows us to have His preserved Book.
“Now these things were our examples …” I Corinthians 10: 6
“Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples and they are written for our admonition…” I Cor. 10:11

Although the vehicle of temptation, sin, and trials have changed appearance and may not look like they did 6,000 years ago, basically, they are the same.  Mankind may no longer be tempted to have a chariot like his Roman neighbors, but today he is enticed to lust after a car just like his neighbor’s.  Seldom does a man lust after watching a woman bathing on a rooftop, as did King David, but desire still rages through pornography on the internet.  A person may not spend time worshipping a silver idol, but many still put more value on material things than the things of God.  Fewer gossip at the city market as was done in the past, but more talk about others quite a bit on the phone or e-mail.

Mankind has not changed, and because he is basically the same, we can learn about how problems were dealt with in the past, what their consequences were, and how one can face hardships.  God’s wisdom is preserved for us in God’s Word.

A wise person learns from others’ mistakes.  One should follow advice and wisdom that has worked in the past.  The Bible contains much of man’s knowledge and, most importantly, God’s leadership on how to get through life. 

God went through a lot of trouble to ensure we have every word He wants us to have so we can have a successful life.  Are you wise, and are you reading God’s example book?

“Wisdom is applied knowledge.” 


They Can’t Understand
Bill Brinkworth

“But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” I Corinthians 2:14

Many people try to understand the things of God, but they never truly grasp His truths, nor do they seem real to them.  They may have studied the Scriptures, memorized them, and appeared knowledgeable about biblical facts. However, there still seems to be a veil that does not allow them to see and understand the truths from the Word of God. 

Preaching also may be entertaining and even interesting to them. Still, the truths spoken to them from the pulpit never get into their hearts and change anything.  Many even feel church attendance is meaningless, so they seldom attend.

It is often not the preacher’s fault that they “get nothing from the service” or “do not feel convicted.”  This verse in I Corinthians 2 puts the finger on who some of them are and why a spiritual connection is missing in their lives.    

Many are not grasping biblical truths or are not Spirit-led because they are “natural” men and women.  They are either not born-again and cannot have a relationship with the Lord until they are saved or may be saved and are so worldly-minded that they could not hear the convicting Spirit of God if He blew an air horn in their left ear.  A “natural” man is just how they were born, without any spiritual alterations, illuminations, and connections.

No one can understand the things of God unless the Holy Spirit shows them to him (I Cor. 2:11).  A person can have a head-knowledge of biblical and spiritual things. Still, unless the Holy Spirit is involved, there will never be a connection to what the brain knows and what a person’s spiritual “heart” believes. 

Educated preachers have been in left field regarding understanding God’s things because they were under their own power of understanding and not the Holy Spirit’s.  Education alone does not make the “connection.”

Preaching and the things of God are not appreciated and are meaningless to a “natural” man.  However, the preaching of the Word of God is important to a saved man.  The exhortation of God’s Word and its teaching are spiritual food to a spiritual person.  It encourages, guides, and strengthens a child of God.  To him, it is foolish not to be at church where God’s Word is taught.

“If you want to hear from the Father, you must speak the same language.”
— Barbara Brinkworth


A Form of Godliness
Bill Brinkworth

Paul warns us that sin will be rampant in the church’s last days.  He lists 19 different sins churches during the end times will be guilty of in II Timothy 3.  Many of those iniquities have always been committed by individuals throughout history.  

In the last days, however, the commission of those sins will change civilization, and they will be committed without guilt or restraint.  Although no man knows exactly when the Lord will return for His church, one has to admit that the prominence and rampant involvement of the sins listed in this chapter describe today’s spiritual condition too well.

One particular sin has done so much damage to the cause of Christ and Christian living.  It may look Christian.  It may use religious and Christian vocabulary.  Perhaps it may even involve many doing biblically correct things, but this sin is very deceptive and dangerous.  It is watered-down, liberal Christianity.  It is a “… form of godliness, but denying the power thereof …” (I Tim. 3:5 5), and it is doing much damage in the world today.

Most want to please God and believe He is real sometime in their life.  Many look for Him in a church.  They go there, but instead of hearing the true Word of God preached and practiced, they only hear partial truths and a lot of humanistic, unbiblical teaching. 

Because so many do not search and study the Scriptures themselves, they soak up and believe lies.  Sadly, so many will die and open their eyes in a dark, tormenting Hell only to discover that they were led astray by false teachers, preachers, and lies.  That is why Paul said to avoid any church or ministry that does not align with what the Word of God teaches (II Tim. 3:5).

However, as dangerous as it is, unless people find the truth in the Word of God for themselves, they will never see the lies they may have been exposed to.  To make matters worse, even the Word of God has been tampered with by those that are deceiving those searching for the truth. 

Words have been added to modernized “bibles,” and words have been removed or changed.  Even if they pick up a newer translation (any other than the KJV version for English-speaking people), they are still only getting a “… form of godliness.”

Seminaries that once trained leaders of churches sthat did much for the cause of Christ have strayed far from biblical teachings and practices.  Denominations have replaced the Word of God with their writings or modified a “bible” to teach their beliefs.

Many churches have embraced all religions into their fellowship and called themselves non-denominational or have gotten far from where they spiritually stood years ago.  Some organizations have cropped up discarding biblical references and created their own philosophies and religion.

As the time approaches for the Lord’s return, finding churches that teach the truth is getting more difficult.  However, we cannot blame them alone for their errors.  Most of the time, they have been allowed to stray from biblical teachings because there were none or few that even knew the truths the Bible teaches.  That is why it is essential, as II Timothy 2:15 says, to “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”  If more would delve into the Scriptures for themselves, fewer watered-down, unbiblical teachings from pulpits would go unchallenged.

“A little arsenic in a glass of drinking water will poison the drinker.  Just a few altered words in the ‘bible’ will poison one’s mind about the things of God.”
— Author Unknown

The BIBLE VIEW #902 — Salvation

In This Issue:
Unacceptable Payment
His Part and God’s
Whosoever and Whatsoever
Necessary and Enough
“Just Ask for Them!”
God Does the Saving

Volume: 902    March 27, 2023
Theme: Salvation

Start your day with some good news from the Bible!  Sign-up at https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/a26cc9M to receive the DAILY VIEW devotion.  The daily e-mail includes a KJV chapter, a brief commentary on the chapter’s teachings, and more spiritual food for the hungry soul. 

View 16+ years of printable, free BIBLE VIEWs at https://openthoumineeyes.com/newsletters.html.  Make as many copies as you need.  Use them at your church, nursing homes (large print version available), Sunday school, deaf ministry, bus ministry, and as a church bulletin insert. 

Unacceptable Payment
Bill Brinkworth

Christopher eyed the video game one more time.  The young, potential customer glanced at the counter salesman before he dug into his jean pockets.  He was determined to buy that game.  Imaginative visions of flying through space on his video game’s starship encouraged him to search his pockets even deeper.

He wrestled out of its denim prison one wiggling frog, which he pridefully placed on the store’s counter top.  “Will you take this frog, and,” he then dug his dirty hand into another pocket and extruded three, long red licorice twists, and placed them next to the ribbeting amphibian, “and these three pieces of candy?”

“Young man,” the grimacing clerk answered, “We cannot take your frog or your candy.  The price of that game is $29.95.  You need that amount to walk out of here with the game.”

A persistent hand dove into a jacket pocket and produced a baseball mitt.  “Well, this glove is one of the best you can buy.  It is worth far more than $29.95.  Won’t you take the glove for that game?”

The clerk shook his head.

“How’s about the glove, candy, the frog, and,” and out of his seemingly endless supply of pockets produced one more item and banged it on the countertop, “this packet of baseball cards?  It’s got to be worth something.”

“Young man, I appreciate your effort; but the only payment acceptable is $29.95 in American currency.  That is the only payment we recognize here.”

The boy wandered away, returning all his valuables to their denim storage facility.  “It just ain’t right,” the boy muttered as he left the store, “It seems to me that my stuff is worth more than that lousy $29.95.”

Many think similarly about salvation.  God says the only payment acceptable for anyone’s sins is the blood of His only Son, Jesus.  Man still tries to pay his way to Heaven with his “currency.” 

Many try to pay for entrance into Heaven with their good works, performing “religious” rites, and following church rules.  “Surely,” they think, “if my good deeds outweigh the bad things I have done, God will like what I have done and let me in.”
“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”  John 14:6

Our charitable donations, helping others, religious acts, sacrificial efforts, and good works may be good, but they will earn no one a ticket to Heaven.  Those deeds are the frogs, candy, and baseball cards God will not accept as payment into Heaven.  The only way anyone will get to Heaven is by receiving the price that Christ paid with His blood for our iniquities.

“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

His Part and God’s
Dr. Harry Ironside

A man rose in a meeting to testify to God’s saving grace.  He told how the Lord had won his heart and given deliverance from the guilt and power of sin.  The man spoke of Christ and His work but said nothing of his efforts.

The leader of the meeting was of a legalistic mindset.  When the man’s testimony was ended, he added, “Our brother has only told us of the Lord’s part in his salvation.  When I was converted, there was a whole lot I had to do myself before I could expect the Lord to do anything for me.  Brother, didn’t you do your part first before God did His?”

The other man was on his feet instantly and replied, “Yes, sir.  I clear done forgot.  I didn’t tell you ‘bout my part, did I?  Well, I did my part for over thirty years, runnin’ away from God as fast as my sins could carry me.  That was my part.  An’ God took aftah me till He run me down.  That was His part.”

“There are either of two things we must do.  One is to send back the message to Heaven that we don’t want the blood of Christ to cleanse us of our sin, or else accept it.” — D. L. Moody


Whosoever and Whatsoever
Author Unknown

Two precious words are often used in the mouth of Christ: whosoever and whatsoever.
“… And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” Rev. 22:17
“And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” John 14:13

“Whosoever” is outside the gate and lets in all who choose.  “Whatsoever” is on the inside and gives those who enter the free range of all the region and treasury of grace.  “Whosoever” makes salvation free.  “Whatsoever” makes it full.

“What we mean by salvation is this: deliverance from the love of sin, rescue from the habit of sin, and to be set free from the desire to sin.”  — Spurgeon


Necessary and Enough
Dr. Harry Ironside

In a hospital ward, a lady missionary found an undersized and undeveloped little Irish boy whose pale, wizened face and emaciated form burdened her heart for the child.  She spoke of his soul’s need, and he was made aware of his lost condition, insomuch that he seriously considered how he might be saved. 

Brought up a Catholic, he thought and spoke of penance, confessionals, sacraments, and the church, yet never mentioned Christ Jesus and His atoning work.  The two talked about what the Scriptures said, but he made no decision at the time for salvation.

The following day the lady called upon him again and found his face aglow with a new found joy.  Inquiring the reason, he replied with an assurance born of faith in the revealed Word of God, “O miss, I always knew that Jesus was necessary, but I never knew till yesterday that He was enough!”

“Human nature’s way of salvation is, ‘Do, do, do.’ God’s way of salvation is, ‘Done, done, it is all done.’  You have but to rely by faith on the atonement that Christ accomplished on the cross.”  — Spurgeon


“Just Ask for Them!”
Walter Knight

Colonel Teddy Roosevelt commanded a rough-rider regiment in Cuba during the Spanish War.  He became much attached to his men and was concerned when several got sick.

Hearing that Miss Clara Barton (the lady who devoted herself to nursing the wounded soldiers) had received a shipment of medicines and food for the invalids under her care,  Colonel Roosevelt requested her to sell a portion of them to him for the sick men of his regiment.

His request was refused.  The Colonel was very troubled.  He cared for his men and was willing to pay for the supplies out of his pocket.

“How can I get these things?” he asked.  “I must have proper food for my sick men.”

“Just ask for them, Colonel.”

“Oh,” said Roosevelt, his face breaking into a smile, “that’s the way, is it?  Then I ask for them.”  He got the supplies at once.

Have you asked the Lord Jesus to save you from the wages of your sins?
“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Rom. 6:23

God Does the Saving
D. L. Moody

Men will never find salvation until they give up all efforts to save themselves.  Someone asked a man how he got converted.  To answer the question, he built a fire in a circle around a worm.  After the worm had crawled around in every direction, it lay down to die.  The man then reached over the flames, took the worm out, and put it in a safe place.  “That is how we all get saved,” replied the man.  “God does the saving.”

“Exposure to the Son prevents burning.”

The BIBLE VIEW #901 — Sin

In This Issue:
The Pet Rattler
Little Sins
The Apple with A Wormhole
I Believe
Sin
How Heavy Is The “Burden of Sin”?
The Pressure of Need

Volume: 901    March 20, 2023
Theme: Sin

Start your day with some good news from the Bible!  Sign-up at https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/a26cc9M to receive the DAILY VIEW devotion.  The daily e-mail includes a KJV chapter, a brief commentary on the chapter’s teachings, and more spiritual food for the hungry soul. 

View 16+ years of printable, free BIBLE VIEWs at https://openthoumineeyes.com/newsletters.html.  Make as many copies as you need.  Use them at your church, nursing homes (large print version available), Sunday school, deaf ministry, bus ministry, and as a church bulletin insert. 

The Pet Rattler
Robert G. Lee, in Whilrwinds of God

The Memphis Commercial Appeal carried a news dispatch of a man in Arkansas who had a pet rattlesnake.  The fellow found the snake as a baby snake.  He took, fed, and made quite a pet of it.  The reptile would come when he whistled.  It would eat from his fingers.  It would coil around his arm and let him stroke its head with the palm of his hand or the tips of his fingers.

One day, he took it to town to exhibit it among his friends.  They marveled at its gentleness, how it coiled itself around his arm, how it would come when he whistled, and were amazed that it would eat from his hand.

He went back home with his pet.  When he got home, suddenly, with only the slightest provocation, the reptile became angry.  Quicker than the zig-zag lightning flashes from the bosom of a dark cloud, that pet rattler buried its fangs in the man’s arm.  In a few hours, the man was dead.  In one quick instant, with poisonous fangs, the serpent had written the man’s death in his own blood.  Two nights later, the man who should have been sitting with his family was buried in the mud of an Arkansas grave.

With such dread cometh such an hour to every man and woman who makes a pet of sin.  A time of terror awaits the person who disregards what God forbids.

Do not befriend sin.  It is hazardous and always has a price that no one desires to pay. A day of dreaded despair may come, as that man learned when he pulled the pet snake’s fangs from his arm.
“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” Galatians 6:7

Turn away from iniquity now.  There’s danger and death in delay.  Let go of that sin!  Drop it now!


Little Sins
Spurgeon

Years ago, there was not a single thistle in Australia.  A Scotchman, who admired thistles, thought it a pity that such a great island should be without that great symbol of his nation. 

He collected a pack of thistle seeds and sent it over to one of his friends in Australia.  When it landed, the inspection officers may have said, “Oh, let them in.  There’s only a few seeds?  It is only to be sown in a garden.”

Yes, it was but a few, but now entire districts of the country are covered with it, and it has become the farmer’s pest and plague.   Just a “few” sins, like several seeds, can spread, soon become uncontrollable, and ruin lives.
“Your glorying is not good.  Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.”  I Corinthians 5:6

The Apple with A Wormhole
Author Unknown

You may have seen an apple with a wormhole in it.  Do you know whether the worm bore the apple from the inside or the outside? 

Most would say “from the outside,” but the scientist would disagree.  Sometimes the worm began from the inside.  The egg may have been laid on the blossom, and the worm hatched in the apple’s heart.  Later, it bored its way out.

That is precisely the way the worm of sin starts its destructive work.  It begins in one’s spiritual heart, bores its way out, and can ruin lives. 

One’s “heart” can direct one’s life.  If one is determined to do what is biblically right, one will avoid many mistakes and hardships.  If one allows sin and temptation guide them, they surely will encounter regrets and ruin.

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” — Jeremiah 17:9


I Believe
Written before 1900 by General Booth, the founder of The Salvation Army

I believe that the chief dangers that confront the coming twentieth century will be:

  • Religion without the Holy Spirit,
  • Christianity without Christ,
  • Forgiveness without regeneration,
  • Morality without God, and
  • Heaven without Hell.


Sin
Author Unknown

Man calls sin an accident; God calls it an abomination.
Man calls sin a blunder; God calls it blindness.
Man calls sin a chance; God calls it a choice.
Man calls sin a defect; God calls it a disease.
Man calls sin an error; God calls it an enmity.
Man calls sin fascination; God calls it fatality.
Man calls sin infirmity; God calls it iniquity.
Man calls sin luxury; God calls it leprosy.
Man calls sin liberty; God calls it lawlessness.
Man calls sin a trifle; God calls it a tragedy.
Man calls sin a mistake; God calls it madness.
Man calls sin a weakness; God calls it willfulness.

“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” Romans 3:23


How Heavy Is The Burden of Sin?
Author Unknown

As a preacher talked, a flippant youth interrupted him, “You tell about the burden of sin.  I feel none!  How heavy is it?  Eight pounds?  Two pounds?  Twenty?”

The preacher answered, “Tell me, if you laid four hundred pounds of weight on a corpse, would it feel the load?”

“No,” replied the youth, “because it is dead and can feel nothing.”

“An unsaved soul is dead and does not feel the load of sin,” was the preacher’s answer.
“And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;  Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:  Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.  But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:” Ephesians 2:1-6

The Pressure of Need
Gospel Herald

If we have a conviction of sin, we will feel the pressure not to commit iniquity.  Sin is not a theological abstraction; it is a genuine threat to one’s life. 

Iniquity is the evil of the world brought home to our door.  It is the lust of the world that brings men to ruin.  It is the lowered moral standard that threatens our youth.  The greed for power and money fills the economic world with corruption.  It is impatience without discipline that breaks up our homes. 

Sin crouches at the doors of all people to weaken them.  Iniquity is as real as the flu or cancer.  We daily face the sickness of the soul which sin has created.

Much of the world is lost.  Men are lost when they do not trust Christ as payment for all their sins.  They do not know or care where they are, where they are going, or why they are here. 

They are lost when their moral compass does not operate and when the price tags on sin are so demanding, they cannot tell what life’s values are. 

We should not be surprised if people stay away from church meetings.  Why should they come?  They are lost.  They do not know God or the Father’s will and way. 

The BIBLE VIEW #900 — Preaching

In This Issue:
He Was Right!
The Preacher’s Advice

Volume: 900    February 20, 2023
Theme: Preaching

Start your day with some good news from the Bible!  Sign-up at https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/a26cc9M to receive the DAILY VIEW devotion.  The daily e-mail includes a KJV chapter, a brief commentary on the chapter’s teachings, and more spiritual food for the hungry soul. 

View 16+ years of printable, free BIBLE VIEWs at https://openthoumineeyes.com/newsletters.html.  Make as many copies as you need.  Use them at your church, nursing homes (large print version available), Sunday school, deaf ministry, bus ministry, and as a church bulletin insert. 


He Was Right!
Bill Brinkworth

Although I was saved at 12, I did not live right and for the Lord. A spiritual change did not occur until I was 28, in the late 70s.

When I finally got right with the Lord, I looked for the right church.  After about six months, I found the one I knew God wanted me to attend.  The pastor was Paul Fedena, a wise, godly man who knew the Word of God well.

His preaching often touched on current events and how Christians should react and spiritually examine them.  Pastor Fedena touched on many “hot” topics.  Many people were glad about the warnings; others got mad and pouted off, never to change their life nor darken the ministry’s doors again.

One sore spot for many was the time spent watching television preachers.  The pastor warned that their doctrine was often unbiblical, and many were in it for the money.  He cautioned not to send them tithes and offerings as the money would go to the continuance of false teachings and often their personal bank accounts.
“(For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: 19 Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)” Philippians 3:18-19

Many got very mad when their favorite television “pastor” was pointed out for doing wrong.  Some stormed out.  However, it was not long before the pastor’s discernments proved true.  Some evangelists were found out, and some were sent to jail.  Others had their scams revealed, as were the large amounts of money absconded for personal use.  The preacher was right!

There was also preaching against the charismatic movement.  Well-researched information was given to the congregation about how the spiritual gifts for the early church were not for today’s believers who were to live by faith and not sight.
“Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.” I Corinthians 13:8 

Scams of some false teachers were revealed, yet many Christians got mad and stormed out of the church when unbiblical teachings and deeds were exposed.  Again, the pastor was right!

Another very sore spot was touched upon.  The preacher repeatedly revealed what the Bible said about the dress and appearance of men and women. 

At that time, women were beginning to wear pants publically which were worn by men only for centuries.  He also exposed men’s hair-styles as not biblical as men were not to appear “effeminate” and not to have the “hair of a woman.” 
“The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God.” Deuteronomy 22:5
“Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?”  I Corinthians 11:14

His admonitions included that the respect and distinction of the sexes would be confused.  He warned men would be doing what God assigned and prepared women to do, and women’s roles and abilities would also be changed and abused.  The sin of homosexuality was discussed, and that changes in men’s and women’s goals and standards would cause that sin to be more prevalent.

People strongly disagreed with the preacher’s discernments, as “so many were doing it, so it could not possibly be wrong.”  The pastor was mocked for his stand.  Many ignored his warnings.  Women wore pants in defiance, and men strutted their long hair.  Pastor’s warnings from the Bible were disregarded by many.

Now, look at what has happened to society.  The sexes are confused.  Men are often not the leaders God desires them to be.  Women wear the “apparel of man,” and men wear their hair however they choose.  Family values and structures have changed, and divorces are at an all-time high.

Homosexuality and transsexuality, recognized as mental illnesses during that time, are now prevalent and even encouraged in some circles.  Many are now angered when those practices and sins are mentioned and spoken about negatively.  Again, the pastor’s warning against breaking biblical taboos came true.  He was right!

Separation from ungodly living and worldliness were also preached against.  It was made clear to the congregation that when Christians get too close to sin, they would soon become desensitized about it, would no longer be convicted by iniquity, and would soon be no different from the ungodly.
“Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,” II Corinthians 6:17

Slowly preaching in other ministries caved into the pull to be more like the world “to get more to come to church.” They encouraged rock music to replace biblical-based hymns.  Dress standards were removed.  The reliable, preserved King James Bible was replaced with modern perversions of what God saved to direct His people. 

Eventually, many churches became places of entertainment rather than stalwarts of the truth.  Faithful and bold preaching of God’s Word was replaced by watered-down opinions and soothing sermonettes.  Refusal to separate from sin and worldly places of fellowship stopped many churches from being healing institutions for sin-sick souls. 

Again, the preacher’s warnings sadly came true.  To the surprise of the modern preachers, church attendance diminished significantly, the Gospel was not emphasized, and the power of God was off many ministries.

Although we should heed what comes from the pulpit, not all preachers’ predictions and discernments come to fruition.  However, when the Word of God is believed, trusted, and used as the only illuminating light, it will expose many sins, wrong doctrines, and guide one through the maze of temptations and iniquities.

The Bible’s exposing wrong activities, teachings, and behaviors is not limited to a preacher’s discernment.  Any Word-of-God-grounded Christian can also determine what is of God and what is not.

Do not let popular beliefs and actions be your compass for finding God’s truths.  Often, the majority is not right.

Dive into and diligently study His Word for yourself.  Use it to direct your path in this sin-sick world, and you, too, can discern right from wrong and His will and way.
“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” II Timothy 2:15

“To love to preach is one thing; to love those to whom we preach is quite another.” —  Cecil


The Preacher’s Advice
Bill Brinkworth

In giving pastoral advice to another preacher, Titus, Paul showed us we could often face what the early church had to be wary.  Churches had to be careful of false teachers undermining the work of God.

Paul’s warnings to Titus can help us identify some false preaching and teaching in pulpits today.  Some of the telltale signs of a “false preacher” include:

  • They are preaching things that should not be preached or taught.  Perhaps some of what came from the pulpit was not even biblical, as happens in many ministries today.  Somehow, what was said was often motivated by the preacher’s desire to make more money for himself (Titus 1:11).
  • Much of what was said ruined families.  Perhaps unwise preaching brought division rather than unity in families and caused problems (Titus 1:11).  It may also have been teachings that encouraged families to leave the church.
  • Their having their own prophets (Titus 1:12) that supposedly got a “new message from God” and added their thoughts and philosophies.  Today, we see this with Muslims following the teaching of their prophet, Mohammed, and the Mormons following their “prophet,” Joseph Smith.  It also is seen in other religions and denominations throughout the world.
  • Their teaching of “fables, and commandments of men” (Titus 1:14).  Instead of “thus saith the Lord,” it was “thus saith the preacher” or “thus saith our religion.” Today, we see this with many false religions having their own books and teachings that receive more credence than the Word of God.
  • Their works proved they were not from God (Titus 1:16).  They claimed they were from God with their mouth, but their involvement in sin and ungodly actions was contrary to their profession.

Many claim that they will not “judge” others, and we should not.  However, we must discern right from wrong and avoid what God does not approve.  False religion is one danger we need to recognize as not being of God. It must be avoided before damage is done to our thinking, testimony, and Christian walk.

“There are only two types of religions: those that “do” to get God to overlook their sin and those that know that Jesus paid for their iniquities on the cross.” 

The BIBLE VIEW #899 — Assorted

In This Issue:
I’m Outa There!
A Grateful Whale
Salvation — God’s Gift

Volume: 899    February 20, 2023
Theme: Assorted

Start your day with some good news from the Bible!  Sign-up at https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/a26cc9M to receive the DAILY VIEW devotion.  The daily e-mail includes a KJV chapter, a brief commentary on the chapter’s teachings, and more spiritual food for the hungry soul. 

View 16+ years of printable, free BIBLE VIEWs at https://openthoumineeyes.com/newsletters.html.  Make as many copies as you need.  Use them at your church, nursing homes (large print version available), Sunday school, deaf ministry, bus ministry, and as a church bulletin insert. 

I’m Outta There!
Bill Brinkworth

“And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: 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.” Hebrews 10:24-25

Church is the place we should hear the Word of God and be strengthened in following the Lord.  Our Bible reading is one way we grow in the things of the Lord.  However, God has ordained the local church to assist us also in our spiritual walk.  It is there we can get more spiritual food

God has given people an appointed preacher to minister to them in the local church.  Many can also hear the Gospel and be saved.  It is often a place where folks can also find a place to serve Him.

Going to church is the right thing to do, but many reasons keep people from heeding God’s command to attend.  It is not always the devil that encourages us not to go.  Often our sinful flesh, which struggles to do right, intervenes.  Between the two, there are a lot of excuses and wrong decisions that people use to keep them out of church.  Here are a few of them that keep too many from a Bible-believing local church:

Sin.  Attending church and hearing God’s Word will remind too many of their sin.  To avoid conviction, many avoid church so they do not get unpleasant reminders of their wrongdoings.

Church hopping.  They try this church, then that one, then go to another with a friend.  Soon, they find themselves out of their routine of faithfulness where God had led them.  In a short time, they are not attending any church.

Discontentment.  Folks can easily find a reason for not being happy with their church.  “I don’t like the way the preacher preaches.  He screams too much,” or “They sing too much.”  There is no perfect church.  If there were one, it would not be perfect after we entered.

Hurt feelings.   Probably the number one killer of church attendance is when folks get their feelings hurt and leave the church.  “No one shook my hand,” or “No one even said ‘hello’ to me.  It just is not a friendly church.”

Lack of understanding.  Many do not have a clue what the Bible teaches.  If they attend a church that preaches and practices biblical doctrine, they do not understand it and may leave.  Many go for the religious trappings of the denomination they were raised in and do not realize that many “religious” practices are not biblical.

Pride.  The old folded-arm excuse of “No one is going to tell me what to do!” keeps many out of church.  They have not realized that the preacher’s message that got them indignant and wanting to leave was from the Word of God.  Ultimately, they leave, not because of what the preacher said, but what God said to their hearts.

Legitimate reasons.  Legitimate excuses of sickness or vacations can become bad habits of non-attending.

Most excuses are not acceptable to keep us from God’s house.  We cannot please God when we stay home from an avenue He uses to speak to us and change our way of living.  Even many unsaved know where a Christian should be on Sunday morning.

God started and sent His Son to die for the local church.  The local church is important to God.  Be at one this week.  Be faithful in attending one teaching what the Bible instructs and where you believe God has led you to attend.

“The Church is not a gallery for the exhibition of eminent Christians, but a school for the education of imperfect ones.” —  Beecher

A Grateful Whale
Bill Brinkworth

A 45 – 50 foot humpback whale was rescued off the coast of San Francisco.  The whale had become entangled with ropes, crab traps, and weights.  The animal was so weighted down that he could hardly surface to get air.  A rescue team was summoned to free the 50-ton behemoth.

Divers went into the water and discovered at least 20 crab-pot ropes, each about 240 feet long, and their weights tightly wrapped around the whale.  The humpback’s tail was encircled four times by ropes.  Twelve crab traps, each weighing 90 pounds, hung off the whale.  (Those extra burdens entangling the creature remind me of all the sin that burdens so many sinners.)

Soon four divers were in the water cutting off the entanglements with curved knives.  The whale quietly waited and allowed the rescuers to free him.  The diver who cut the rope from the creature’s mouth remarked that the whale winked at him as he did his work.

After realizing he was free, the animal swam to each diver and nuzzled him.  It was as if the animal were thanking each one that had a part in his new freedom.  He certainly was appreciative of those that worked to free him.

Is it possible that the whale had better manners and appreciative courtesy than most people?  There are too many husbands that rarely thank their wives for all the important things they do to make their lives easier.

Too many children never even think of thanking their fathers for working diligently daily to provide for their upkeep.  Nor do they even consider thanking their mother for her sacrificial efforts to provide a good home for them. 

Countless bosses are the topic of criticism and gossip but are rarely thanked for providing a job for their employees.  Teachers put in long hours going the extra mile to grade papers and spend much of their time helping those who do not want to be helped.  Rarely do they receive any appreciation.

Police spend long days trying to protect residents they do not know.  Yet, the public’s guardians face ridicule and threats from many that are breaking the laws.  Rarely do they ever receive any gratitude.

Many make our lives much more pleasant and safe.  We owe them for their work and effort. 

It takes no intelligence or character to ridicule, judge, or criticize others.  It does take an appreciative spirit to realize what we have and to thank others for their part in our lives.  As the whale “thanked” his rescuers, many of us need to do the same to those who have helped us.

“If gratitude is due from children to their earthly parents, how much more is the gratitude of the great family of men due to our Father in Heaven.” 
— Hosea Ballou

Salvation — God’s Gift
Harry Todd

As you travel down life’s highway
It’s a broad road to destruction;
The Bible says that “All have sinned…”
And you must change direction.

Now you are helpless by yourself,
You are dead in trespasses and sin,
God hates sin; Heaven is holy,
Therefore you cannot enter in.

Someone must die because of sin,
It should be you and I,
But God loved the world so much
He sent His only Son to die.

Now Jesus paid the sin debt
Upon dark Calvary’s tree,
So you and I by simple faith
Are forgiven and set free.

By grace are ye saved through faith,
Not of works or by any deed;
Salvation is a gift of God;
So of His Word, you must take heed.

He came unto His own
But they turned Him away,
Now you can be a child of God
By receiving Christ today.

Today is the day of salvation,
Tomorrow may be too late,
Behold!  Now is the accepted time,
Oh!  Sinner, do not wait.

“The way to be saved is not to delay but to come and take.”  — Dwight L. Moody

The BIBLE VIEW #898 — Sin’s Stranglehold

In This Issue:
Free the Slaves
Sin’s Damage

Volume: 898     February 20, 2023
Theme: Sin’s Stranglehold

Start your day with some good news from the Bible!  Sign-up at https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/a26cc9M to receive the DAILY VIEW devotion.  The daily e-mail includes a KJV chapter, a brief commentary on the chapter’s teachings, and more spiritual food for the hungry soul. 

View 16+ years of printable, free BIBLE VIEWs at https://openthoumineeyes.com/newsletters.html.  Make as many copies as you need.  Use them at your church, nursing homes (large print version available), Sunday school, deaf ministry, bus ministry, and as a church bulletin insert. 


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) estimates today 49.6 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).  Those statistics have drastically increased since 2013!

The numbers forced to work in mental or physical slavery or owned or controlled by an “employer” are not close to those in bondage in a different, less obvious way.  Those in that type of slavery outnumber the 49+ million many times over.  To make matters worse, those in that popular type of bondage may not even know they have lost their freedoms!

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

  • There are two choices in this world.  One can serve oneself and selfish desires, which are often sin and sometimes the devil’s destructive enticements, or one can serve and live for God.  There are only those two choices, if man realizes it or not.  One’s decision can enslave one to sin or free one from its strangling, controlling grasp!
    “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 soon becomes “addictive” and leads to more iniquity.  Soon, sin controls one’s thoughts and is a decisive force in one’s life.

Lying and deceitfulness lead 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 one to commit more sin hoping their cravings will be satisfied.  Sexual sins ruin lives and families, wreck relationships, but still leave the committer with a feeling of loneliness and failure.

On and on goes the list of the consequences of iniquity. Transgression against God’s commandments leave one’s life changed, and often physically damaged from its commission. No one gets away without paying the horrible cost of sin.

Iniquity does nothing but rob and destroy what could be good in one’s life.  Sin’s grasp steals one of joy and enslaves.  The committer of sin is led by one’s desires and loses freedoms.

  • When one chooses to “do his own thing” and ignores the life God desires one to have, one 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).  They replied they were not in bondage.  The Jews thought they were free. 
    “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 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 to be free of sin’s control and from the ultimate cost for sinning — Hell!
    “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, even the saved, often freely choose to continue doing wrong.  We have the opportunity not to be forced to serve iniquity.  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 will want to live righteously. However, the longer one is involved in doing wrong, the harder the battle will be against the temptations it will bring.  Sinful lifestyles can be changed to one 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 can freely serve God and will get their sights off themselves and desire to serve 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 control.  When one surrenders control of selfish desires and lives the way God commands, one will have a life blessed and honored by Him!  God looks at his servant not as a bound 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 that 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
  • Ultimately, God rewards those who choose to live the way He commands.
    “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 ever dreamed would come with the commission of iniquity.  The charge for the sin usually continues for longer than anyone would ever want to pay.  Its cost often comes due at a time that the sin’s commission is forgotten, but there is always a payday for doing wrong.  No one avoids its cost.

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

An unsaved person can also go to God in prayer.  However, unless one realizes and admits one’s sin and fully trusts that Christ’s death on the cross is the only payment God will recognize to cover one’s wrongdoings, the eternal payment for sin will not be removed.  All the good intentions and halting of sin’s commission will not eliminate its expensive cost.  Without God’s help, one will still be a slave to sin.  You must be born again (John 3:3) to have the free pardon from all transgressions committed.

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), and seek to live the way God commands in His Word, the Bible.  Serving God, and living the way He desires you to live, will break the chains of sin that are keeping you in bondage to it.  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 tame much pleasure in.

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

The BIBLE VIEW #897 — Judgment

In This Issue:
Whoa!  Woe Could be Headed Your Way!
When God Struck
What Motivated Booth
God’s Pay 
Others’ Sins

Volume: 897     February 20, 2023
Theme: Judgment

Start your day with some good news from the Bible!  Sign-up at https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/a26cc9M to receive the DAILY VIEW devotion.  The daily e-mail includes a KJV chapter, a brief commentary on the chapter’s teachings, and more spiritual food for the hungry soul. 

View 16+ years of printable, free BIBLE VIEWs at https://openthoumineeyes.com/newsletters.html.  Make as many copies as you need and use them at your church, nursing homes (large print version available), Sunday school, deaf ministry, bus ministry, and as a church bulletin insert. 


Whoa!  Woe Could be Headed Your Way!
Bill Brinkworth

Stop now if you are involved in sin because you could be headed to great sorrow, grief, and misery.  Payday for iniquity is someday, either immediately or in your eternal future.

Over 98 times, the King James Bible warns of the woe sinners will face.  Twenty-six of those times, the warning was given to nations given over to sin.  The rest of the references were to sinning individuals.

“woe” —  misery, grief, experiencing great mournfulness

There will be woe to nations when:

  • they are not bothered by their committing of sin.  Some nations even flaunt or boast of their wickedness.  There will be woe to them, as some biblical nations were warned.
    “The shew of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not.  Woe unto their soul!  For they have rewarded evil unto themselves.” Isaiah 3:9
    “I have seen thine adulteries, and thy neighings, the lewdness of thy whoredom, and thine abominations on the hills in the fields.  Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem!  Wilt thou not be made clean …” Jeremiah 13:27
  • they legalize sin.
    “Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed;” Isaiah 10:1

There will also be woe to many individuals.  Some of God’s warnings are to:

  • the unsaved.
    “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” Revelation 20:15
  • those that sin.
    “Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us?  and who knoweth us?” Isaiah 29:15
    “Woe unto the wicked!  it shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him.” Isaiah 3:11
    “Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong; that useth his neighbour’s service without wages, and giveth him not for his work;” Jeremiah 22:13
  • Christians that want to be like the world and seek the world’s approval.
    “Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets.” Luke 6:26
  • drunkards.
    “Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them!” Isaiah 5:11
  • those that help others drink!
    “Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, that puttest thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness!” Habakkuk 2:15
  • those that approve of sin.
    “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” Isaiah 5:20
  • those who think they are so smart and have all the answers and excuses for their ungodly behavior.
    “Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!” Isaiah 5:21
  • to pastors that preach philosophies and ideas contrary to God’s Word.
    “Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!  saith the LORD.” Jeremiah 23:1
  • those with filthy, ungodly speech.
    “… 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: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.” Isaiah 6:5
  • trouble-makers.
    “Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds!  when the morning is light, they practise it, because it is in the power of their hand.” Micah 2:1
  • a man that turned against Christ: Judas.
    “The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed!  it had been good for that man if he had not been born.” Matthew 26:24.  I wonder if the principle taught here applies to the many who oppose and attempt to discredit Christ today.
  • those that will go through the great, future tribulation warned about in Revelation.
    “One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.” Revelation 9:12 

Since God is the same today as when he had men of God record these warnings, it would be correct to assume that many of the “woes” apply today.  God left these warnings to remind the readers that unless they halt their sins, afflictions, unhappiness, or disaster will be upon them for their transgressions.  Stop!  Heed God’s warning, and turn from iniquity in your life!

“Foolish men imagine that because judgment for an evil thing is delayed, there is no justice, only coincidence here below.  Judgment for an evil thing is often delayed some a day or two, some a century or two, but it is sure as life.  It is sure as death!”  — Thomas Carlyle

 When God Struck
Sunday School Times

A Christian physician once took refuge from an approaching storm in a grocery store that also contained a bar.  Two drunken men were present, and as the lightning flashed, they poured forth such a volley of fearful oaths that finally the storekeeper said, “Gentlemen, I am no Christian, but I want to say that your awful cursing is too much for me.  God will strike you dead right here with a stroke of lightning if you do not hush your blasphemous oaths.”

The leader of the two rolled up his sleeves, went to the door, cursed God, and defied Him.  At that moment, a blinding flash of lightning descended with a flame of fire.  Quickly, the light was gone, and only smoke remained.  In a moment that, too, had disappeared, and there lay God’s defier in a heap, just as an empty garment.  The physician helped to lay the man out, and he said he did not believe there was a bone two inches long left unbroken in his body.

“We evaluate our friends with a God-like justice, but we want them to evaluate us with a God-like compassion.” — Sydney Harris


What Motivated Booth
Walter Knight

Many Christians say that they believe in the day of accountability but are as silent as the sphinx when it comes to warning others to flee from the wrath to come.  The thing that made William Booth a “fiery” salvationist was the indicting, taunting statement of an infidel lecturer, who said, “If I believed what you Christians say you believe about the coming judgment and the day of reckoning, with the resultant eternal lostness of the impenitent Christ-rejectors, then I would crawl on my bare knees on crushed glass all over London, night and day telling men and women to flee from the wrath to come!”


God’s Pay
Dennis McCarthy

Who does God’s work will get God’s pay,
However long may seem the day,
However weary be the way,
Though powers and princes thunder, “Nay!”
No human hand God’s hand can stay;
Who does His work will get His pay.

He does not pay as others pay,
In gold or land or raiment gay,
In goods that perish and decay,
But God’s high wisdom knows a way;
And that is sure, let come what may,
Who does God’s work will get God’s pay!

Others’ Sins
The Dawn

During a revival, a young man said he did not wish to be a Christian.  When asked for his reason, he replied, “Several years ago, I was in a man’s kitchen.  He found me there, swore at me, and kicked me out.  He was a professing Christian, and from that time, I decided never to have anything to do with religion.  And I never have to this day.”

The young man was asked to write down his reason in full and sign it.  Then it was handed back to him with the words, “Take this, and when you are asked for your excuse on the Day of Judgment, hand this up.”  The young man saw his folly and came to Christ that night.

Are you letting the sins of others keep you from giving your heart to Jesus?  Don’t be so foolish, for it will not stand the test on Judgment Day.