The Babylonian Books of The Present Day!

The history of that human ignorance which calls itself "philosophy", is absolutely identical with the history of fools! If ones were to write the history of folly, he would have to give several chapters to philosophy, and those chapters would be more revealing than any others.

Beware of the Babylonian books of the present day! The truth of God is the only treasure for which we seek, and the Scripture is the only field in which we dig for it! If you keep close to the inspired book, you can suffer no harm; you are at the fountainhead of all moral and spiritual good. This is fit food for the people of God; this is the bread which nourishes the highest life.

The prayerful study of the Word is not only a means of instruction, but an act of devotion wherein the transforming power of grace is often exercised changing us into the image of Christ, of whom the Word is a mirror.

Within the Scripture, there is a balm for every wound, a salve for every sore. Oh, the wondrous power in the Scripture to create a heart of hope, within the ribs of despair! Amidst sharp and strong temptations, and fierce and bitter trials the Word of the Lord has preserved us. Amidst discouragements which damped our hopes, and disappointments which wounded our hearts our Bibles have brought us a secret, unconquerable consolation.

There is no true doctrine which has not been fruitful in good works. Payson wisely said, "If there is one fact, one doctrine, or promise in the Bible, which has produced no practical effect upon your temper or conduct be assured that you do not truly believe it."

The "doctrines of grace" produce a fine morality, a stern integrity, a delicate purity,

 a devout holiness, consecration in life, calm resignation in the hour of suffering,

joyful confidence in the article of death. This must be a true gospel, which can produce such lives as these!

[Charles H. Spurgeon]

2 Timothy 2:15 ...  Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 

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"It is The Truth"

My dear Brother, 

My sermon seems to be received among you much in the same manner as I expected. Nature is the same in Rutland as in Berks, I rejoice to say that the doctrines which I preach receive the very testimony which the gospel always did and always will. You will find that scarcely three respectable people will speak well of it, and very few of the poor. But there shall be a remnant to say, "It is the truth." 

When I read the Scriptures, I daily discover that the little I know of the word of God is as a drop in a bucket compared to the whole. The Bible to most is a sealed book. What Ahab said to Elijah, "Are you he who troubles Israel?" may be said of me at Sutton. The Lord has been pleased to enable me to speak such things that I have troubled Sutton and the neighboring villages. Some have learned that they are wrong; whether I am or not, they are sure they are. 

The Lord is making me useful, by bringing many to a knowledge of the truth. But I caused none to cry out, "What must I do to be saved?" until I preached election, etc., boldly. My old nature fought against the truths for a long time, but when the Lord teaches, we must learn. Read your Bible; get well acquainted with it. 

Yours very affectionately, 

William Tiptaft

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Four Principles ...

There are four principles we need to maintain: 

First, read the Word of God. Second, consume the Word of God until it consumes you. Third believe the Word of God. Fourth, act on the Word. 

[Smith Wigglesworth]

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2 Timothy 2:15 ... Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Psalm 119:103 ...  How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

Ephesians 1:13 ...  In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,

James 1:22 ... But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. ❤

"Unfettered"

1. Let your praise be unfettered.

2. Let your worship be unfettered.

3. Let your prayers be unfettered.

4. Let your reading of the word be unfettered.

5. Let your service to God and others be unfettered.

6. Let your acknowledgement of His Presence be unfettered.

7. Let your sharing of His goodness be unfettered in your time, talents, and giftings.

(*) Unfettered

A fetter is a chain or shackle for the feet (such as the kind sometimes used on a prisoner), or, more broadly, anything that confines or restrains. Fetter and unfetter both function as verbs in English with contrasting literal meanings having to do with the putting on of and freeing from fetters; they likewise have contrasting figurative extensions having to do with the depriving and granting of freedom. The adjective unfettered resides mostly in the figurative, with the word typically describing someone or something unrestrained in progress or personal relationship with Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit.

[message from the Internet]

John 8:36 ...  If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

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Biblical Knowledge

Reader, remember this: if your biblical knowledge does not now affect your heart, it will at last, with a witness, afflict your heart. If it does not now endear Christ to you, it will at last provoke Christ the more against you. If it does not make all the things of Christ to be very precious in your eyes, it will at last make you the viler in Christ's eyes. 

[Thomas Brooks]

Proverbs 2:6 ... For the Lord giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.

Colossians 1:10 ... That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;

1 Timothy 2:4 ... Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. ❤

"The Bible"

The Bible contains the mind of God, the state of man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners, and the happiness of believers. 

Its doctrines are holy, its precepts are binding, its stories are true, and its decisions are immutable. Read it to be wise, believe it to be safe, and practice it to be holy. 

It contains light to direct you, food to support you, and comfort to cheer you. It is the traveler's map, the pilgrim's staff, the pilot's compass, the soldier's sword, and the Christian's charter. 

Here, Paradise is restored, Heaven opened, and the gates of Hell disclosed. Christ is its grand subject, our good the design, and the glory of God its end. It should fill the memory, rule the heart, and guide the feet. 

Read it slowly, frequently, and prayerfully. It is a mine of wealth, health to the soul, and a river of pleasure! It involves the highest responsibility, will reward the greatest labor, and will condemn all who trifle with its sacred contents! 

[Author Unknown]

Psalm 119:89 ... For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 ...  All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:  That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

1 Thessalonians 2:13 ... For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe. ❤

Father of The English Bible

How many Bibles do you have in your house? For most of us, Bibles are easily accessible, and many have several. That we have the Bible in English owes much to William Tyndale, sometimes called the Father of the English Bible. 90% of the King James Version of the Bible and 75% of the Revised Standard Version are from the translation of the Bible into English made by William Tyndale, yet Tyndale himself was burned at the stake for his work on this day, October 6, 1536. 

[Bible Study Tools - William Tyndale: Life and Death of the Father of the English Bible - Topical Studies]

Luke 6:22 ... Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake.  ❤

Daily Privlege

Reading God’s Word and meditating on its truth will have a purifying effect upon your mind and heart and will be demonstrated in your life. Let nothing take the place of this daily privilege. 

[Billy Graham]

Psalm 119:97 ... O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day.

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Religion vs. Gospel

The Bible is a living, breathing document. How you read it will determine how you see Christ. 

[Christopher Gregory]

2 Timothy 2:15 ... Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. ❤

Reading the Bible

1. Read the Bible with an earnest desire to understand it. Do not be content to just read the words of Scripture. Seek to grasp the message they contain.

2. Read the Scriptures with a simple, childlike faith and humility. Believe what God reveals. Our reason must bow to God's revelation.

3. Read the Word with a spirit of obedience and self-application. Apply what God says to yourself and obey His will in all things.

4. Read the Holy Scriptures every day. We quickly lose the nourishment and strength of yesterday's food. We must feed our souls daily upon the manna God has given to us.

5. Read the whole Bible and read it in an orderly way. "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable." (2 Timothy 3:16) I know of no better way to read the Bible than to start at the beginning and read straight through to the end, a portion every day, comparing Scripture with Scripture.

6. Read the Word of God fairly and honestly. As a general rule, any passage of Scripture means what it appears to mean. Interpret every passage in this simple manner, in its context.

7. Read the Scriptures prayerfully, ever asking the Holy Spirit to illumine the Word. "Then He opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures." (Luke 24:45) "Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law." (Psalm 119:18)

8. Read the Bible with Christ constantly in view. The whole Book is about Him. Look for Him on every page. He is there. If you fail to see Him there, you need to read that page again.

[J. C. Ryle]

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Study The Bible!!

Be careful that you don’t promote a preacher's words, ideas, commentary above your own, or worse, above the Bible itself. I see too much of this where one preacher becomes the final authority on a subject. 

[Christopher Gregory]

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2 Timothy 2:15 ... Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

John 5:39 .... Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.

Acts 17:11 ...  These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. ❤

New Christmas Tradition

 The book of Luke has 24 chapters and tells the story of Jesus' life.

Read one chapter per night in December and wake up Christmas morning knowing why we celebrate the King of Kings!

The Gospel of Luke

Just a Little Bit, and Off You Go!

Do not many of you read the Bible in a very hurried way, just a little bit, and off you go! Do you not soon forget what you have read, and lose what little effect it seemed to have? How few of you are resolved to get at its soul, its juice, its life, its essence and to drink in its meaning. Well, if you do not do that, then your reading is miserable reading, dead reading, unprofitable reading; it is not reading at all the name would be misapplied. 

May the blessed Spirit give you repentance concerning this thing. Meditation and careful thought, exercise us and strengthen the soul for the reception of the yet more lofty truths. We must meditate, brethren. These grapes will yield no wine until we tread upon them. These olives must be put under the wheel, and pressed again and again that the oil may flow therefrom. In a dish of nuts, you may know which nut has been eaten by a worm, because there is a little hole which the worm has punctured through the shell. It is just a little hole, and then inside there is the living worm eating up the kernel. 

In the same way, it is a grand thing to bore through the shell of the letter of Scripture, and then to live inside feeding upon the kernel. I would wish to be such a little worm as that living within and upon the Word of God, having bored my way through the shell, and having reached the innermost mystery of the blessed gospel. The Word of God is always most precious to the man who most lives upon it. 

Beloved, never be satisfied with a sound creed, but desire to have it engraved on the tablets of your heart. The doctrines of grace are good, but the grace of the doctrines is better still. See that you have it and be not content with the idea that you are well-instructed, until you so understand the doctrine that you have felt its spiritual power. O living Christ, make this a living Word to me. Your Word is life, but not without the Holy Spirit. I may know this book of Yours from beginning to end and repeat it all from Genesis to Revelation and yet it may be a dead book, and I may be a dead soul! 

Oh, cling to Scripture! Scripture is not Christ, but it is the silken clue which will lead you to Him. Follow its leadings faithfully. 

[Charles H. Spurgeon] 

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Joshua 1:8 ... This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

Psalm 1:2 ...But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. ❤

Make Time for God!!

He who cannot find time to study his Bible will one day find he has time to be sick.

He who has no time to pray must find time to die.

He who can find no time to reflect is most likely to find time to sin.

He who cannot find time for repentance will find an eternity in which repentance will be of no avail.

He who cannot find time to work for others may find an eternity in which to suffer for himself.

[Hannah More]

Matthew 6:33 ... But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

1 Thessalonians 5:17 ...  Pray without ceasing.

Hosea 10:12 ...  Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.

Mark 1:15 ...  And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.

Colossians 4:5 ... Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time.

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We Need to Re-Study!!

We need to re-study our Bibles and learn what real Christianity is, how holy, how heavenly, how spiritual, how loving, how morally and socially excellent a matter it is. What separation from the world, what devoutness, what intense earnestness, what conscientiousness, what enlarged benevolence, what unselfishness, what zealous activity, what unearthliness, what seeds of celestial virtue our profession of godliness implies. 

Having examined this, and obtained an impressive idea of it, let us survey our own state, and ask if we do not need, and ought not to seek, more of the prevalence of such a piety as this, which, in fact, is primitive Christianity. Is our spiritual condition what it ought to be, what it might be, what it must be to fulfill our high commission as the salt of the earth and the light of the world? 

A Christian, acting up in some tolerable measure to his profession, walking in the holiness of the Gospel is the strongest and most emphatic testimony for God to our dark revolted world, next to that of Christ Himself.

[John Angell James]

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2 Timothy 2:15 ... Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Acts 17:11 ... These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

Philippians 2:12 ...  Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.❤

Practical Wisdom

It shall greatly help you to understand Scripture if thou mark not only what is spoken or written but of whom and to whom with what words at what time where to what intent with what circumstances considering what goeth before and what followeth. 

[Miles Coverdale]

2 Timothy 2:15 ... Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. ❤

Just Correct!!

There is nothing more important in the Christian life than the way in which we approach the Bible, and the way in which we read it. 

[Martyn Lloyd-Jones]

2 Timothy 2:15 ... Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.  ❤

Meditate!!

We live in stirring days, when deeds are everything when closet work is often neglected for active business, and little time is given to meditation. Yet, with more thought and prayer wholesome activity would be greater in the end, and all our actions more successful.  Time is not lost, which is spent in meditation, in searching wisdom's ways, and seeking out profound realities. There is one who often meditate and yet accomplishes much. There is another who hastens and yet does little. 

None works so heartily, nor reaps so fully as he whose wits are sharpened by prayer and meditation. Reading either Scripture or Christian books, apart from meditation, does little good. It is much the same as not digesting what you eat, this only starves the soul. How many read the Bible thus! 

The art of meditation may be learned by dint of effort. You say, "I am quite unused to meditate. How shall I begin?" Deal gently with yourself at first. Select your subject, some passage from the Word. Then fix the time you choose to give; say, five minutes at a time. Begin, and think aloud. This makes it easier, and saves the mind from distracted thoughts, the hardest task of all. The sound even of your own voice will help you; it is like speaking to a friend.   And what is meditation, but communing with self, that self may be a constant hearer. 

But, more than all, make it a time of prayer of communing with God. This helps the matter greatly. Take the words of Scripture, and ask Jesus what they mean. In doing this, the mind is exercised. A glow of thought attends the effort. You honor Jesus; and He will honor you, by pouring out a largeness of capacity, a quicker mind. The interchange of thought between you and Jesus goes on apace, and you are surprised to find how long the exercise has lasted. Thus meditation grows, the more it is exercised. It feeds the soul, expands the mind, increases thought, and, best of all, it brings you into fellowship with Jesus. This is the very life and soul of meditation. 

 [George Mylne] 

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 Ecclesiastes 7:25 ... I applied mine heart to know, and to search, and to seek out wisdom, and the reason of things, and to know the wickedness of folly, even of foolishness and madness:

 Joshua 1:8 ... his book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

 Psalm 1:2 ... But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

 Psalm 77:12 ...  I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings.❤

Worldly Doings

Give me a candle and a Bible, then shut me up in dark dungeon, and I will tell you everything that the whole world is doing. 

 [J.C. Ryle]

1 John 5:19 ... And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.

Matthew 18:7 ... Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!

2 Corinthians 4:4 ... In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

John 7:7 ... The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil.❤

The Book of God

My mind being now more open and enlarged, I began to read the Holy Scriptures upon my knees, laying aside all other books and praying over, if possible, every line and word. This proved food indeed and drink indeed to my soul. I daily received fresh life, light, and power from above. I got more true knowledge from reading the Book of God in one month, than I could ever have acquired from all the writings of men! 

[George Whitefield]

Psalm 119:97 ... O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day.

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