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Religion See other Religion Articles Title: What is the Bible? What is the Bible? And with that, perhaps we should look at what it means to be meek. Psalms 37:11; But the meek ones themselves will possess the earth, And they will indeed find their exquisite delight in the abundance of peace. The meek ones themselves will possess the earth…… umm, guess we better set the basis for that; Genesis 1:26-28; And God went on to say: “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness, and let them have in subjection the fish of the sea and the flying creatures of the heavens and the domestic animals and all the earth and every moving animal that is moving upon the earth.” 27 And God proceeded to create the man in his image, in God’s image he created him; male and female he created them. 28 Further, God blessed them and God said to them: “Be fruitful and become many and fill the earth and subdue it, and have in subjection the fish of the sea and the flying creatures of the heavens and every living creature that is moving upon the earth.” So from the beginning of man we were designed and destined to posses the earth. It then follows, as meek is an adverb modifying “ones,” that we can tell who is to gain favor with ‘God’ and with that favor, gain salvation. You may note that I am skipping the parts about original sin, death and all of those bothersome details that keep so many from accepting what is written. We will get into that later; this is about the Bible. And being meek (might as well admit it). 1 John 4:7,8; Beloved ones, let us continue loving one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born from God and gains the knowledge of God. 8 He that does not love has not come to know God, because God is love. 1 John 5:3, 4; For this is what the love of God means, that we observe his commandments: and yet his commandments are not burdensome, 4 because everything that has been born from God conquers the world. And this is the conquest that has conquered the world, our faith. Got that? Do you understand it? Perhaps a bit more; John 8:17; (Jesus speaking) Also, in your own Law it is written, ‘The witness of two men is true.’ That is the primary point about the Bible; everything in the Bible has a witness from within the Bible. Why is this so? Because God is Love, and He would not leave us adrift in such a wicked world without guidance. John 3:16; “For God loved the world so much that he gave his only-begotten Son, in order that everyone exercising faith in him might not be destroyed but have everlasting life. Would such a God condemn us to wonder about as blind men, seeking but never finding what we seek? Or, would God make provision for us through some form of message, detailing Him, and how we may search and discover Him? To me, the answer is obvious, and after what I have learned about the Bible, and how it bears witness to what it says, I have absolutely no doubts. Bible: Definition; Jehovah God’s written Word to humankind. He used some 40 human secretaries over a period of 16 centuries to record it, but God himself actively directed the writing by his spirit (holy spirit). Thus it is inspired by God. A large portion of the record is made up of actual pronouncements made by Jehovah and details as to the teachings and activities of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. In these we find statements of God’s requirements for his servants and what he will do to bring his grand purpose for the earth to completion. To deepen our appreciation for these things, Jehovah also preserved in the Bible a record demonstrating what happens when individuals and nations listen to God and work in harmony with his purpose, as well as the outcome when they go their own way. By means of this reliable historical record Jehovah acquaints us with his dealings with humankind and thus with his own marvelous personality. Now, I am familiar enough with people not to expect that many will just accept this definition, but, we have witnesses to what is being said; Prophecy. Frankly, this subject is so vast, and so many prophecies have been fulfilled, that it would require a LOT of pages to just list them. Bur for examples, try the Old Testament. You should note that all Bible prophecies have been correct that have been fulfilled. The Bible, through the fulfillment of prophecy, has shown itself to be an accurate book, and, this accuracy is a witness to the inspired nature of the Bible; no work by man is accurate like the Bible is. 2 Peter 1:20, 21; “No prophecy of Scripture springs from any private interpretation. For prophecy was at no time brought by man’s will, but men spoke from God as they were borne along by holy spirit.” Are there additional prophecies that are yet to be fulfilled? Yes, 1 Thess. 5:3; Rev. 17:16; Ezek. 38:14+19; Dan. 2:44; Eek. 38:23; Rev. 20:1-3; John 5:28; Rev. 21:3,4; 1 Cor. 15:24-28. That there are prophesies yet to be fulfilled should give you pause for thought, because it means that God is not yet done re-shaping us. Many world leaders acknowledge that mankind is on the brink of disaster. The Bible foretold these conditions long ago, and it explains their meaning and what the outcome will be. It tells what we must do in order to survive the impending world destruction, with the opportunity to gain eternal life under righteous conditions here on earth. 2 Timothy 3:16, 17; All Scripture is inspired of God and beneficial for teaching, for reproving, for setting things straight, for disciplining in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be fully competent, completely equipped for every good work. What does that mean? It means that you, and I, do not have the RIGHT to pick and chose what we wish to believe in the Bible. Either we accept the Bible, or, we reject it, in its entirety. Why is that so? Because if we are going to pick and chose, then we are repeating the Original Sin; deciding for ourselves what is right and wrong. Jeremiah 10:23; I well know, O Jehovah, that to earthling man his way does not belong. It does not belong to man who is walking even to direct his step. Besides which, because the Bible is filled with witnesses to what is written, you can not reject just one verse, or two, without rejecting much, much more. The problem is not with the Bible; the problem is with us, because we will not take the time to study the Bible enough to begin to understand what is being said, and why it is being said. John 17:3; This means everlasting life, their taking in knowledge of you, the only true God, and of the one whom you sent forth, Jesus Christ. I posted a paper, What is the Meaning of Life, a couple of days ago. There were some strong objections to the paper. Why? Because the paper states that simply saying that I believe in Jesus Christ, and calling on his name, may not be enough to ensure salvation. But that goes in the face of everything that organized religion teaches! And…. Your point would be… what? And what caused the most problems is this verse; James 2:26; Indeed, as the body without spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead. The claim is; WE DON GOTS TO DO NOTHING TO BE SAVED! James should not even be in the Bible! Etc. Etc. But…. Remember the witnesses? If you will read John 17:3 again, their taking in knowledge of you is a work. You do not absorb knowledge from the air and you do not absorb knowledge from others; you must actually open the Bible and study and learn. So is this a work. What causes the problem with understanding? Ephesians 1:8, 9; By this undeserved kindness, indeed, you have been saved through faith; and this not owing to you, it is God’s gift. 9 No, it is not owing to works, in order that no man should have ground for boasting. Amazing how people delude themselves. You can not work your way into salvation, that no man should have ground for boasting, but where in that does it say anything about the only requirement for salvation being saying a few words now and then? Salvation is a gift from God, but it is a gift that only goes to those who are pleasing to Him, which is how it should be. Hebrews 5:9; and after he had been made perfect he became responsible for everlasting salvation to all those obeying him, To obey. Does this conflict with the statement that Christians are “saved through faith”? Not at all. Obedience simply demonstrates that their faith is genuine. So this is also a work. Matthew 28:19; Go therefore and make disciples of people of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son. Disciple is an active word. It speaks of someone who is an active follower and worker. For an example, the Apostles were the original Disciples of Jesus Christ, but there have been and are many, many more. To be a disciple of Jesus Christ is a work. What did the original disciples of Christ Jesus do? Acts5:42; And every day in the temple and from house to house they continued without letup teaching and declaring the good news about the Christ, Jesus Believe me, that is a work! And if you are not an active disciple? What does God have to say about those who are silent in His behalf? Revelation 3:16; So, because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I am going to vomit you out of my mouth. The bottom line is that you must, if you have doubts, prove what the Bible says from within the Bible. That takes study and work, just as it says in John 17:3; their taking in knowledge of you. To me, actually, I have moved beyond this point. I accept that there is more wisdom in the Bible than in all of the other books I have read in my life, and that is a lot of books! Therefore, who am I to question what it says? I think that John, a faithful servant of Jesus and the last of the original disciples to die, said it best; Revelation 1:1; A revelation by Jesus Christ, which God gave him, to show his slaves the things that must shortly take place. And he sent forth his angel and presented (it) in signs through him to his slave John. Frankly, slaves do not have any right to question; they just accept. Perhaps when you begin to understand that, you will also begin to understand what the Bible means when it says to put on a new personality; Colossians 3:9,10; Do not be lying to one another. Strip off the old personality with its practices, 10 and clothe yourselves with the new (personality), which through accurate knowledge is being made new according to the image of the One who created it, Ephesians 4:22 - 24; that you should put away the old personality which conforms to your former course of conduct and which is being corrupted according to his deceptive desires; 23 but that you should be made new in the force actuating your mind, 24 and should put on the new personality which was created according to God’s will in true righteousness and loyalty. Force actuating your mind = holy spirit. Romans 6:6, 7; because we know that our old personality was impaled with (him – Jesus Christ), that our sinful body might be made inactive, that we should no longer go on being slaves to sin. What is that new personality? It is what the New Testament is all about. Psalms 37:11; But the meek ones themselves will possess the earth, And they will indeed find their exquisite delight in the abundance of peace. That is what it is all about. Why? Because you have to be alive to possess the earth, which means Salvation and Resurrection. Isaiah 61:1; The spirit of the Sovereign Lord Jehovah is upon me, for the reason that Jehovah has anointed me to tell good news to the meek ones. … Zephaniah 2:3; seek Jehovah, all you meek ones of the earth, who have practiced His own judicial decision. Seek righteousness, seek meekness. Probably you may be concealed in the day of Jehovah’s anger. Zephaniah is extremely important, for the prophecy in Zephaniah is for the Day of Jehovah, when the Christ Jesus returns to the earth and puts an end to this wicked system of things. It is apparent from the Bible that meekness has a special quality to it that Jehovah requires-likes-desires for us to posses. And by the way, who was perfect in his meekness? That’s right, Jesus Christ, who could have called forth an army of angels to protect and fight for him….. but he did not. Nor did he permit his disciples to fight for him. He did his Father’s will, and to have done otherwise would have been to be in rebellion to his Father. You might want to keep that in mind as we continue. For additional information, you should read Ps 10:17; 22:26; Isa 11:4; 29:19. Amos 2:7; They are panting for the dust of (the) earth on the head of lowly persons; and the way of meek people they turn aside; … Meekness. Just plain old weakness, ain’t it? Numbers 12:3; And the man Moses was by far the meekest of all the men who were upon the surface of the ground. Yet, Moses was a great leader. He stood up to the most powerful leader in the world, Pharaoh Ramses. He led God’s people through the wilderness to the border of the promised land. pastors.christianpost.com...-are-the-meek/item331.htm A MISUNDERSTANDING ABOUT MEEKNESS. A. Many equate Meekness with weakness. 1. Many associate meekness with an attitude of allowing everyone to run over you because you are afraid of them. 2. This is not meekness. In fact, some of the strongest men who have ever lived have been meek. (See Moses above.) Matthew 11:29; Take my yoke upon you and learn from me (Jesus Christ), for I am mild-tempered and lowly in heart, and you will find refreshment for your souls. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE MEEK? A. An understanding of the root definition of meek in the original language and how it was used will help us in understanding what Jesus meant. 1. Greek word praus a. Used to describe a soothing medicine. b. Used by sailors to describe a gentle breeze. c. Used by farmers to describe a broken colt. 2. What do all these definitions have in common? They all describe great power under control. B. A good working definition of biblical meekness. 1. Strength under control. 2. Some Bible passages that illustrate this definition. a. Matthew 11:28, 29 - "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls." (NOTE; different translation) i. Just as Jesus the all-powerful took upon himself the yoke of earthly obedience to His Father, so too does Jesus call on us to take on the yoke of submission to His will. b. Ephesians 4:1,2 - "I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;" i. Meekness means walking according to the precepts of our vocation and controlling our attitudes toward our brothers and sisters in Christ. 3. Thus meekness is curbing the "natural" desires to rebel, fight, have our own way, push ourselves forward, etc. We submit to the Lord in obedience to His will. (See the site given above for more examples.) A.W. Tozer once wrote, The meek man is not a human mouse afflicted with a sense of his own inferiority. Rather he may be in his moral life as bold as a lion and as strong as Samson; but he has stopped being fooled about himself. He has accepted God's estimate of his own life. He knows he is as weak and helpless as God declared him to be, but paradoxically, he knows at the same time that he is in the sight of God of more importance than angels. In himself, nothing; in God, everything. That is his motto." “Rather he may be in his moral life as bold as a lion and as strong as Samson;” Moral life. I would state that differently; Rather he may be in his obedience to Jehovah as bold as a lion and as strong as Samson. Please, permit me to give you a couple of examples. Jehovah’s Witnesses are famous for their neutrality. They favor no government of man, and, in fact, refuse to bow down to such. They follow a strict Biblical line when dealing with such, which leads, at times, to problems. In the 4um, under Headlines – Religion, several days ago I posted; Thank Jehovah’s Witnesses for Speech Freedoms. There are several instances from America, and Germany, detailed in there. In addition, I have a video tape about the Witnesses in Russia. They were sent to Siberia, where, instead of quitting or bowing down as was required, they formed new congregations and taught their jailers about Jehovah and His Kingdom. In central Africa, in one notable instance, a new law was put into effect which required that everyone in the nation pay a poll tax of (approximately) 25 cents. This poll tax required an oath of allegiance to the government. The brothers refused. The demands escalated from threats to beatings to, finally, beheadings. The congregations are still there, the government that made the demands is not. Those are good examples of meekness; iron-hard meekness, and a dedication to Jehovah. THEY… will possess the earth after resurrection. The question is… will you? 2 Peter 3:9, 10; Jehovah is not slow respecting his promise, as some people consider slowness, but he is patient with you because he does not desire any to be destroyed but desires all to attain to repentance. 10 Yet Jehovah’s day will come as a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a hissing noise, but the elements being intensely hot will be dissolved, and earth and the works in it will be discovered. 11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of persons ought you to be in holy acts of conduct and deeds of Godly devotion, 12 awaiting and keeping close in mind the presence of the day of Jehovah, … 13 But there are new heavens and a new earth that we are awaiting according to his promise, and in these righteousness is to dwell. 14 Hence, beloved ones, since you are awaiting these things, do your utmost to be found finally by him spotless and unblemished and in peace. 15 Furthermore, consider the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul according to the wisdom given him also wrote you, 16 speaking about these things as he does also in all (his) letters. In them, however, are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unsteady are twisting, as (they do) also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. I am going to give to you one example (The Trinity – also to be the next paper) of what Peter was speaking of (which the untaught and unsteady are twisting, as (they do) also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.), and that will end this paper; The New Encyclopedia Britannica says: “Neither the word Trinity, nor the explicit doctrine as such, appears in the New Testament, nor did Jesus and his followers intend to contradict the Shema in the Old testament: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord’ (Deut. 6:4)…. The doctrine developed gradually over several centuries and through many controversies…. By the end of the 4th century … the doctrine of the Trinity took substantially the form it has maintained ever since.” – (1976), Micropaedia, Vol. X, p. 126. The New Catholic Encyclopedia states: “The formulation ‘one God in three Persons’ was not solidly established, certainly not fully assimilated into Christian life and its profession of faith, prior to the end of the 4th century. But it is precisely this formulation that has first claim to the title the Trinitarian dogma. Among the Apostolic Fathers, there had been nothing even remotely approaching such a mentality or perspective.” – (1967), Vol. XIV, p. 299. Matthew 6:13; “Go in through the narrow gate; because broad and spacious is the road leading off into destruction, and many are the ones going in through it. 2 Thessalonians 1:8, 9; in a flaming fire, as he brings vengeance upon those who do not know God and those who do not obey the good news about our Lord Jesus. 9 These very ones will undergo the judicial punishment of everlasting destruction from before the Lord and from the glory of his strength. Revelation 21:8; But as for the cowards and those without faith and those who are disgusting in their filth and murderers and fornicators and those practicing spiritism and idolaters and all the lairs, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulphur. This means the second death. If the above sounds to you as if everyone will have salvation, then you and I have a serious point of disagreement.
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