Is the Spirit’s leading relevant to assembly meetings?

We worship by the Spirit (Phi 3:3," TARGET="_blank">Phi 3:3, JND); we work by means of the Spirit (1Co 12:4-7);" TARGET="_blank">1Co 12:4-7); we walk together with others by the Spirit (Gal 5:25)." TARGET="_blank">Gal 5:25). The Spirit’s leading is essential in every aspect of our assembly life and service. If our assembly meetings do not display the sovereignty of the Spirit ("the Lord the Spirit," 2Co 3:18)" TARGET="_blank">2Co 3:18) in directing them, we have nothing more than mere ritual and empty form. The substance, timing, and coordination of our worship, prayer, teaching, and preaching must result from the leading of the Spirit. This will be very limiting to those of us who know little of His leading in our daily lives.

D. Oliver
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How should an assembly approach the subject of homosexuality?

How can we fulfill this responsibility effectively?

Those who teach the young or work with younger believers must be prepared to handle this subject appropriately. Bible Readings on related subjects or relevant passages should include considered comments on this topic.

At some point in gospel meetings or gatherings for Christian teaching, believers or unbelievers who have this tendency, who have imbibed society’s thinking on the subject, or who have committed such acts will be present. On some occasions, parents whose hearts are broken because of the intrusion of this sin into their family will be present. Harsh denunciations of this sin, expressions of personal revulsion, or snide references to the common idioms for this behavior are insensitive and unbecoming. Any form of speech that offends the moral sensitivities of the listeners or that compromises the dignity of God’s Word and sacred truth is inappropriate. Any statements deemed as irrational or merely emotional are counterproductive; the compelling authority of Scripture is our sole basis of persuasion.

Compassionate teaching regarding the life-transforming power of God’s grace offers hope for those enslaved by sin. The sanctifying power of God’s Word, of the indwelling Spirit, and of abiding in Christ can deliver from lust. None of us have avoided some experience with lust and sin’s slavery; we cannot be condescending.

In no case should our aversion to the subject limit our interest or expressions of loving help to those engaging in such behavior. Neither our words nor acts should build an emotional or social wall between "us and them." Fulfilling our responsibility to care for others, reach all with the gospel, maintain a godly testimony, and preserve holiness in our own lives requires divine wisdom and power.

D. Oliver
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Does a christian ever become "dead" to sin?

What does Romans 6:11," TARGET="_blank">Romans 6:11, "dead indeed unto sin," mean.

To understand the meaning of this challenging phrase, carefully consider the immediate context. These verses indicate that what we are in Christ positionally, we must now live practically. "For in that He died, He died unto sin once: but in that He liveth, He liveth unto God" (Romans 6:10)." TARGET="_blank">Romans 6:10). Thus, we are judged as having died to sin, but as having now been made alive unto God in Christ Jesus.

This is sobering truth for the believer to contemplate, as the wider context of Romans 6" TARGET="_blank">Romans 6 reveals. The believer who understands that God has made abundant provision in Christ for his daily living is enabled to live his life to the glory of Christ, and to the blessing and enrichment of his own soul. In this section of Scripture, the believer is viewed as being permanently set apart (sanctified) in Christ Jesus. This is displayed in his baptism, when he is identified with Christ in death and resurrection, having already been justified through grace. Since the believer is in this condition positionally, he must ever reckon (consider, calculate) practically that he is dead to sin, but alive to God. Obviously, there is no response to sin in a dead person! Therefore, a believer should have nothing to do with any form of sin in this sordid world; rather, he must live a life of holiness to God.

S. Wells

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Where does the name "Jew" come from?

THE TERM “JEW”

When and how did the name “Jew” originate, and to whom does it apply to-day?

The word is an abbreviation of “Judan” and occurs first in 2 Kings 16:6," TARGET="_blank">2 Kings 16:6, where we read that “Rezin recovered Elath and drave the Jews” thence. A reference back to 2 Kings 14: 21 tells how Azariah, made King by “the people of Judah,” had smitten Elath and restored it to Judah, which shows that Jews and people of Judah are synonymous terms and represented the Southern Kingdom, after the separation of the ten tribes under Jeroboam. After the Captivity, those who returned though no doubt including Levites, Benjamites and representatives of other tribes, were all known as Jews, the Judans being predominant (see Ezra 4:12;" TARGET="_blank">Ezra 4:12; Nehemiah 1:2;" TARGET="_blank">Nehemiah 1:2; Nehemiah 4:2)." TARGET="_blank">Nehemiah 4:2).

Only twice in the Synoptic Gospels do we find the word (Matthew 28:15;" TARGET="_blank">Matthew 28:15; Mark 7:3)," TARGET="_blank">Mark 7:3), if we except a few occurrences of the phrase, “King of the Jews,” but the name is common in John and the Acts. I believe it is a great mistake to meet the British Israel “hypothesis” (which I believe for many reasons, historical and scriptural, to be a complete delusion), by denying any difference between “the lost tribes of Israel” as they are usually and properly termed, and the scattered Jews. Certainly many Israelites had lapsed to the Southern Kingdom, before their captivity by Assyria, under Sargon, but in spite of this the Northern Kingdom of Israel was able to withstand a three years’ siege from the greatest of the then world-powers. We are distinctly told that they were taken captive, except a feeble remnant, and placed “in Halah and Habor, by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.”

Considering that these places were far-removed geographically from Babylon, at a distance of 300 or 400 miles to the north, and that the captivity of Israel took place in 721 B.C., that is a century-and-a-quarter before that of Jehoiachin, it is very unlikely that the two captivities mingled or even came in contact. When a thing is lost it is not a bad idea to seek for it as near where it was lost as possible, and probably the representatives of the lost tribes may still exist in or near those parts.

The difference between Judah and the ten tribes of Israel is preserved in the accounts of the final return to the land, e.g., in Isa. ii. Ia, we read of “the outcasts of Israel” and “the dispersed of Judah.” See also Isaiah 27:13;" TARGET="_blank">Isaiah 27:13; Zepheniah 3:19, and especially Ezekiel 37:16-22," TARGET="_blank">Ezekiel 37:16-22, where God commands prophetically the two sticks to be taken, one “for Judah and the children of Israel his cQmpanions” (representing those individual members of the ten tribes who had lapsed to Judah and are confused sometimes with those tribes themselves), and the other “For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and for all the house of Israel his companions” (i.e., the lost tribes). To meet this British-Israel delusion with a defective argument is to strengthen it, for its advocates will surely take notice of it, though they usually leave the sound arguments, which abound against their theory, severely alone.

W.H.

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Does the head covering of a woman meant to cover her glory?

Does the head covering hide the woman’s glory and the man’s glory so that all glories are hidden except Christ’s?

A woman’s long hair may be her beauty, but that is different from her glory. Her long hair is the recognition of headship which God has established (1Co 11:15)." TARGET="_blank">1Co 11:15). As it was to Eve’s shame that she didn’t recognize this truth (Gen 3:6)," TARGET="_blank">Gen 3:6), so it is a woman’s glory to display headship by her long hair. The head covering a woman wears covers her head, not her glory. The covering of her physical head displays that the headship of the man, her head (1Co 11:5)," TARGET="_blank">1Co 11:5), is not in view in the assembly. The man’s physical head is uncovered so the headship of Christ, his Head, is expressed (v. 4).

D. Oliver
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HTML code for Online Bible Search

The web page HTML code to add a Bible search dialog box to your site is listed below. You can customize the HTML code including colors, size and starting verse reference if you are familiar with editing HTML code. You can use something as simple as notepad or a full-featured as DreamWeaver. Simply copy and paste the HTML code below into your HTML editor, save the results and update your page.

This is what the form looks like.

This is how you add the HTML code to your website.

Copy the following code and paste it into the HTML code for your web page. This will provide a link to the Online Bible.

<form action="http://www.gospelhall.org/bible/bible.php" method="GET" target = "new">
<table width="160" border="1" bordercolorlight="#000000" bordercolordark="#000000" bgcolor="#F0DFB9" bordercolor="#000000">
<tr bgcolor="#CCCCCC">
<td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><b><font size="+1">Online Bible</font></b></font></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<p> <font size="1" face="Arial,Helvetica">Show a passage: e.g. "<b>John
3:1-5</b>" <br>
<input type="text" size="25" name="passage" value="John 3:1-5" TARGET="_blank">John 3:1-5">
</font> <font size="1" face="Arial,Helvetica"><br>
Search word(s) in the bible: e.g. "heaven hell"<br>
<input type="text" size="25" name="search">
<br>
Bible Version:
<select name="ver1" size="1">
<option value="kjv" selected >King James Version</option>
<option value="asv" >American Std Version</option>
<option value="bbe" >Bible in Basic English</option>
<option value="dby" >Darby Translation</option>
<option value="esv" >English Standard Version</option>
<option value="gfr" >The Gospels for Readers</option>
<option value="web" >World English Bible</option>
<option value="ylt" >Youngs Lit. Translation</option>
</select>
</font>
<input type="submit" name="submit" value="Search">
<br>
<font face="Arial,Helvetica" size="-3"><a href="http://www.gospelhall.org">Online Bible at GospelHall dot Org</a></font> </p>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</form>

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Is there more to know about God than what the Bible says?

Will we ever know more of truth than the Bible reveals?

We must state clearly that in this life, no further truth will ever be known than what is revealed in Scripture.

However, we would have to say that additional truth will be unfolded while endless ages roll.

As to the present, the Bible indicates that God's total mind and will have already been revealed. 1 Corinthians 13:10" TARGET="_blank">1 Corinthians 13:10 shows that "sign gifts" were only required until the canon of Scripture, "that which is perfect," was complete. Thus when John, the last writer of the New Testament, completed his part of the inspired writings, God had no further message to give to this world.

Regarding the coming world (Ephesians 2:7)," TARGET="_blank">Ephesians 2:7), the writer shows "that in the ages to come" fresh manifestations of our Lord Jesus Christ will ever be unfolded and never be exhausted. Another has well said, "When we arrive at our desired haven, we will never graduate from heaven's university."

S. Wells

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What is the chain of events when "the saints which slept arose"?

What is the chain of events when "the saints which slept arose"?

Christ commanded His spirit to depart. A divine hand sundered the temple’s veil from top to bottom. An earthquake opened graves. Sleeping saints arose. They exited their graves after Christ’s resurrection. They appeared to many in Jerusalem (Matthew 27:50-53)." TARGET="_blank">Matthew 27:50-53). This spanned the three days of the Lord’s death, burial, and resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:3, 4)." TARGET="_blank">1 Corinthians 15:3, 4). But is Christ’s resurrection before or after the "sleeping saints arose"? If they rose when He died, they remained in the stench of corruption until the third day, alive in an opened sepulcher whose contents were visible to passers-by. Why these saints waited in the tombs and why they were not discovered (thus causing excitement in Jerusalem) are problems that make this interpretation unlikely. The grammar equally supports another interpretation: after Christ’s resurrection, these saints came back to life, exited their tombs, and appeared in the city. The punctuation in the KJV agrees with this sequence.

The order is consistent with the way the Lord raised Lazarus (John 11" TARGET="_blank">John 11:). The stone was rolled away and the grave was open; then Lazarus was raised. At the Lord’s death, the graves were opened, as though in anticipation that those bodies within would be brought back to life.

D. Oliver
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When does the worship end at the Breaking of Bread?

When does the worship end at the Breaking of Bread?

Believers who worship by the Spirit of God (Phi 3:3)" TARGET="_blank">Phi 3:3) will come to the Breaking of Bread with overflowing hearts (Psalm 45:1)." TARGET="_blank">Psalm 45:1). Their worship begins before they come, but their united worship begins as the meeting opens. How could an assembly remember the Lord (1Co 11:24, 25)" TARGET="_blank">1Co 11:24, 25) without worshiping? The united worship ends with a closing prayer, but the fragrance of worship lingers in spiritual hearts long after the gathering is dispersed. Any prayer or singing following the actual breaking of bread will continue the worship. Since the believers have already "declared the Lord’s death" (1Cor 11:26)," TARGET="_blank">1Cor 11:26), it is likely that the Spirit would lead the worship to emphasize the Lord’s resurrection and glory. Spirit-led ministry at the close of the meeting would hardly quench the spirit of worship in the gathering.

And there is ample reason why worship should be integral to all our gatherings. Worship will be our eternal occupation.

D. Oliver
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Does God grant the believer the desires of his heart?

Does God grant the believer the desires of his heart?

"Delight thyself also in the Lord; and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart" (Psalm 37:4)" TARGET="_blank">Psalm 37:4) promises this. The promise, though, has a condition, "Delight thyself also in the Lord."

Faith is the result of the work of God in our souls. After all, why is faith being tried (James 1:3)" TARGET="_blank">James 1:3)? God is strengthening our faith. Therefore, when we ask for the desires of our heart, if that request results from what we have learned about God through His Word and through the trials He allows for our learning, He grants it. If our requests come from our own desires for comfort, self-fulfillment, pride, or whatever, they are not of God, not of faith, and not promised an answer.

Sometimes our God waits for us to rearrange our priorities. For example, a man might view marriage as a way to help him avoid inconveniences and overcome weaknesses. Through experience with God, he learns that the eternal value of a wife is to enable him to fulfill God's will, to learn more of God's ways, and to become more like Christ. When that adjustment of priorities takes place, he is actually looking for a different woman than he was at first. Now he is thinking in keeping with God's will. Now the desire of his heart is God's desire.

D. Oliver
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HTML code for Online Bible Search

This is how you add the HTML code to your website.