Just The Book

James 3:6 - And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell. Of the many things we as believers need to hear repeatedly, I would venture to say the most important is, "Go soulwinning!" And the next may be, "SHUT UP!" The text above makes it very clear that the words we speak can have life (and eternity) changing consequences in the lives of others (Proverbs 18:21). I would dare say the judgment we face over the words we speak will be just as harsh as the judgment we face over the things we do (Matthew 12:36)! No doubt, brethren, it behooves us to stop: * Gossiping - an honest word study on "talebearing" in scripture would do much to shut our mouths! * Criticizing - if we truly realized how imperfect WE are, we would do a lot less telling others how imperfect THEY are! * Giving unsolicited advice - despite what we think, we do NOT know as much as we THINK we know!

In II Chronicles 25:1-13 we find a tragic illustration of the domino effect of sin. Indeed, one sin often triggers a long line of subsequent sins and unavoidable consequences. In this case with Amaziah, his sin of deciding to yoke up with Israel led to the loss of 100 talents of silver, the death of 3000 civilians in Judah, and the spoiling of their cities during the attacks. Consequences that came despite the fact that Amaziah had already hearkened to the man of God and severed the alliance with Israel. This same principle was also vividly demonstrated in the case of David with Bath-sheba (II Samuel 11:1-12:18) - the sin of lust led to adultery, an illegitimate pregnancy, the murder of Uriah, and the death of the innocent bastard child. Yet, as devastating as one sin can be in leading to a series of compound sins and tragic consequences, this domino effect can be avoided. That's right, by just never committing that first sin!

Pictured above is Little Sodbury Manor, Gloucestershire, England. Owned and occupied in the 16th Century by Sir John Walsh and Lady Anne (Poyntz), who hired and housed William Tyndale to tutor their children. It was in his bedroom at this home where, against the law of England but for the glory of Christ our Saviour, he began translating the scriptures into English. Interestingly, this estate was first offered for public sale in 2016. The listing price at the time was around 8 million English Pounds (over 10.5 million US Dollars). Best I could find, records show it sold in 2018 for around that price, the name of the buyer undisclosed. This much we know... the current owner occupies a home in which King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn were guests, William Tyndale resided and worked, and that precious word of God we love so dear began its earthly journey from Hebrew and Greek into English.

So many changes over the past 2000 years since the Apostles held, preached, and handed down our faith... Nations change, leaders change, cultures change, societies change, languages change, technologies change... But you know what has never changed over these past 2000 years? Hell is still hot, heaven is still high, all are still sinners, and the ONLY way for a sinner to be saved from the hell he deserves for his sins is still by grace through faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ for his sins! I Corinthians 15:1-4 still says what it says, Romans 10:9-15 still says what it says, and if we don't go and get 'em, a JFW, a Mormon, or some other cult that works harder to get their message out than we do will!

If the reason God saved us was to reconcile us to Himself - and it was... And if leaving us here on earth in this vile flesh after saving us creates a battle for us to maintain close fellowship with Him - and it does... Then why didn't He just take us directly to heaven to be with Him after saving us?  Why did He leave us here? Brethren, the answer to that question reveals the very reason for our presence here on earth, and that reason is the reconciliation of OTHERS to God (II Corinthians 5:18-20) - that reason is SOULWINNING! I once preached a sermon in a good IFB church down south with a good soulwinning preacher who is a friend of mine.  The name of my sermon was "Behind It All", and the message was that God does want us to be good husbands, wives, parents, children, work hard, pay the bills, be faithful to church, etc.... but the reason behind it all, the direction it should all point is to us being better soulwinners.  Much to my surprise (and disappointment), when I finished preaching he got up and practically apologized to his people for me downplaying the importance of marriage and relationships in this life.  That, of course, is not what I had done, nor do I in any way esteem the relationships and responsibilities of this life as insignificant or unimportant... but the truth still remains, none of those things are THE reason we are here. You'll have to forgive me, I am literally just an insignificant nobody in the great sea of time and history, but for the life of me I cannot see how we could ever place too high a premium on soulwinning above everything else in this life!  I mean, is there a hell or not?!  Because if there is, then that settles it!!

I do not personally know anyone who disagrees with the fact that eating organic foods is better than eating processed chemicals. This is not a profound concept. However, I do personally know folks who blame virtually every illness someone gets on unhealthy eating. Biblically speaking, this is asinine. There are numerous reasons God afflicts people with illness. It may be punishment for sin (Deuteronomy 28:15, 61), it may be a thorn of humility (II Corinthians 12:7), it may be a trial of faith (Job 2:7), it may be specifically to glorify God (John 9:3), it may be the holy call to suffering God places upon some, it may be the genetics that plague man from the sin curse, etc., etc., etc. Can unhealthy eating cause illness? Of course. Is it better to eat healthy? Of course. But saying unhealthy eating causes all illness and healthy eating can cure all illness is similar to the charismatic saying lack of faith causes all illness and abundance of faith can heal all illness... It's. Just. Not. True.

"After he had been examined several times before a council, which was a mere mockery of justice, he was turned over to Bonner, bishop of London, who caused him to go through a second mock examination; and, at last, declared him to be an obstinate heretic. A certificate of this was, in the ordinary course, sent into chancery, and a writ was issued for the burning of Mr. Rogers in Smithfield. This sentence did not in the least frighten our martyr, who, by faith in the blood of Christ, was ready to go through with his attachment to the truth, without paying any regard to the malice of his enemies. On the 4th of February, 1555, Mr. Rogers was taken out of Newgate, to be led to the place of execution, when the sheriff asked him if he would recant his opinions? To this he answered, that what he had preached he would "seal with his blood." "Then," said the sheriff, "thou art a heretic." To which Mr. Rogers answered, "That will be known when we meet at the judgment seat of Christ." As they were taking him to Smithfield, his wife and eleven children went to take their last farewell of a tender husband and an indulgent parent. The sheriffs, however, would not permit them to speak to him; so unfeeling is bigotry, so merciless is superstition! When he was chained to the stake he declared that God would in his own good time vindicate the truth of what he had taught, and appear in favour of the protestant religion. Fire was then set to the pile, and he was consumed to ashes. He was a very pious and humane man, and his being singled out as the first victim of superstitious cruelty, can only entitle him to a higher crown of glory in heaven." John Foxe. Foxe's Book of Martyrs, pg. 372

A few historical highlights of Cambridge University Press: * 1534 - King Henry VIII grants Letters Patent to Cambridge University to print "all manner of books". * 1591 - John Legate prints the first Cambridge Bible (an edition of the then popular Geneva Bible). * 1629 - Thomas Buck & John Buck print the first Cambridge Edition of the King James Bible (the fourth Purification Edition). * 1833 - The Pitt Building (pictured above left) is completed and becomes the headquarters of Cambridge University Press for over a century - and particularly in 1900, when the Pure Cambridge Edition of the King James Bible was first printed. * 1963 - Cambridge University Press moves its headquarters to the Shaftesbury Road location (pictured above right), where it still currently operates as the second largest university press in the world - superseded only by Oxford University Press, Oxford, England.

I have only been as far west as Grand Junction, Colorado... as far southwest as Longview, Texas... as far south as Orlando, Florida... and as far north as Old Orchard Beach, Maine and Ogdensburg, New York.  I have never in my life stepped foot outside of the borders of the good old USA... nor can I even say I have much of an interest to do so. But if I was ever to travel outside of the country, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England would be one of the places I would like to visit most - where the word of God was printed on earth for the very first time in its entirety, precisely as it appears in heaven! Psalm 119:89 - For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven. Psalm 68:11 - The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those that published it.

Byzantine Fresco from Mt. Athos, Greece, Depicting the Curse of Ham (Circa 1500-1600). The inscription reads, “He blesses Shem and Japheth” and “He cursed Ham.” Post-1964 professing Christians avoid it like the plague, but the truth of the matter is that the historical Christian position, across denominational lines, was not a curse limited to Canaan, but a curse on Ham and all his posterity. I’d much rather be lumped in with men like Martin Luther, Theodore Beza, John Bunyan, William Tyndale, Myles Coverdale, Lancelot Andrews, King James I & VI etc. who took an uncompromising stand on the Biblical doctrine of the curse of Ham than be compared to the likes of Benny Hinn, T.D. Jakes, MLK Jr., John Piper, Joel Osteen etc. who rejected the Bible’s clear teaching in order to be in communion with the spirit of the age known as egalitarianism. 𝔹𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕤 𝕠𝕗 ℍ𝕒𝕓𝕚𝕥𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟

I Corinthians 4:3-4: 3 But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man's judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self. 4 For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord. If you're…

I Corinthians 4:3-4: 3 But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man's judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self. 4 For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord. If you're the open type who tells everyone all of your burdens, what you're doing, why you're doing it, etc., expect you're going to have folks judging you - from your authorities to your peers. And if you're the private type who shares very little with others about your burdens, what you're doing, why you're doing it, etc., expect you're going to have folks judging you - from your authorities to your peers. It is the nature of sinners to believe (and all too often share) that they know what you should and shouldn't be doing, and why you should and shouldn't be doing it. Even the most humble and selfless of believers, if honest, will admit they have done the same themselves toward others... Which is why it is so important for us to remember the passage above...

II Chronicles 20:15 - And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's. Yes, the world hates us because we stand for: * That Ol' Black Book, the King James Bible... * A literal heaven for the saved and a literal hell for the lost... * Salvation by grace through faith in Christ alone... * Believer's baptism by immersion after salvation... * Non-universal visible independent local church... * Aggressive confrontational personal soulwinning... * Separation from sin, the world, and the worldly, etc.... But remember, brethren, WE didn't come up with any of these things. It is HIS commandments, HIS words that we have believed, and HIM that the world hates because of these things. They only hate us because they hate HIM (John 15:18-20)! And we need only stand strong as good soldiers of Christ (II Timothy 2:1-3)... the war is already won!

Ecclesiastes 3:1 - TO every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: Of the numerous things this chapter teaches, one is the fact that God runs things by schedule... and so should we. The simple honest truth is, responsibilities…

Ecclesiastes 3:1 - TO every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: Of the numerous things this chapter teaches, one is the fact that God runs things by schedule... and so should we. The simple honest truth is, responsibilities that are not scheduled usually don't get done. Take soulwinning for example. Of course, winning souls is not something that should be relegated to merely one day of the week. Most of us come into contact with lost sinners who need Christ every day of our lives. But there should still be a designated scheduled time we go out for the explicit purpose of winning souls. Why? So that it will definitely get done. And though it is true that life circumstances change as years go on, and along with those changes come different time consuming responsibilities - caring for ailing loved ones, personal health deterioration, etc. - these things will inevitably shift how our 168 hours per week gets spent, but schedule will still keep us keepin' on for God!

It would be great if life always went the way we expect it to, the way we plan it to, the way we want it to... but it doesn't. Sometimes God changes our course, sometimes others throw obstacles in our way, and sometimes - more often than not - we make decisions and mistakes that knock us off track and leave us reeling. Even so, even when we stand in the midst of uncertainty, or even when we find ourselves crawling out of the ruins of disaster... through it all there are staples of life we can - and must - remain resolved and stedfast in: * Daily prayer and Bible reading... * Faithful church attendance... * Regular scheduled soulwinning... * Disciplined financial stewardship... * Separation from the world... * Loving and serving others... And regardless of the twists and turns we are forced to navigate in this life, we will always have that anchor that keeps us from being carried away in the chaos (Hebrews 6:19)!