George Menard

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The Work of Christ

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 The Encourager

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Elton Fairfield - "I am a Christian."

"I didn't buy that status, nor did I work for it. I was not born into it, even though both my parents are devoted Christians. I am a Christian because there was a moment in my life when I accepted the fact that the death of Jesus Christ was for my sins."

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Gathering Unto His Name - The New Testament contains a clear pattern for how a church should operate. This book summarizes relevant scriptures to what a church is and how it affects our modern day practices.

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Eternal Security

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Bible Coloring Sheets

Select several of the 350 Bible Coloring Sheets that cover nearly every story in the Bible. These pre-made Bible coloring sheets are in PDF format.  The sheets contain a word search activity, a crossword puzzle activity and a Bible coloring sheet.

You may also be interested in Bible worksheets that you can create from a Bible verse. 

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Parallel Bible

gen 1:1-5" TARGET="_blank">gen 1:1-5&search=&ver1=kjv&ver2=bbe">Click here to see an example of Genesis 1:1-5" TARGET="_blank">Genesis 1:1-5 in the online parallel Bible showing two versions (KJV - King James Version and the BBE - the Bible in Basic English).  The purpose of the parallel Bible is to allow you compare one translation to another.  Often the familiar KJV carries the traditional wording that many christians or churches have used for centuries, but another version, in parallel, may help in the understanding of the meaning of the text.

Instructions for using the Parallel Bible

1. Select the link gen 1:1-5" TARGET="_blank">gen 1:1-5&search=&ver1=kjv&ver2=bbe">Parallel Bible .

2. Type in a passage Bible reference such as John 3:1-5" TARGET="_blank">John 3:1-5 as pictured.

3. Choose the first Bible version to form the first version of the parallel (ASV -American Standard Version, BBE - Bible in Basic English, DBY - Darby "New Translation",  GFR - God's Word for Readers,  KJV - King James Version, WEB - World English Bible, YLT - Young's Literal Translation, or the ESV - English Standard Version) 

4. Select the second Bible version to complete the parallel.  The second, optional parallel, choice is not required to make a search.

5. Click Search to launch the parallel bible view.

If you enter a search word or phrase, the results of your parallel bible search will be different with each Bible version since the language in each Bible version is slightly different.

About the Bible Versions

KJV

The King James or Authorised Version of the Bible is an English translation of the Christian Bible first published in 1611. The New Testament was translated from the Textus Receptus (Received Text) edition of the Greek texts, so called because most extant texts of the time were in agreement with it. The Old Testament was translated from the Masoretic Hebrew text.

(Modern English Bibles such as the New American Standard Bible and the English Standard Version decline to use the Textus Receptus, opting instead for what many modern scholars feel are more reliable critical editions.)

The King James Version has had a profound effect on English literature. The works of famous authors such as John Milton, Herman Melville, John Dryden, and William Wordsworth are deeply inspired by it.

BBE

The Bible In Basic English (also known as BBE) is a translation of the Bible into Basic English. The BBE was translated by Professor S. H. Hooke using the standard 850 Basic English words. 100 words that were helpful to understand poetry were added along with 50 "Bible" words. The New Testament was released in 1941 and the Old Testament was released in 1949.

ASV

The American Standard Version (ASV) of the Holy Bible was first published in 1901. It has earned the reputation of being the Rock of Biblical Honesty. Although the English used in the ASV is somewhat archaic, it isn't nearly as hard to understand as some passages of the King James Version of nearly 3 centuries earlier. This translation of the Holy Bible is in the public domain, since its copyright has expired. You are encouraged to download, copy, publish, and use this translation freely.

Darby

First published in 1890 by John Nelson Darby, an Anglo-Irish Bible teacher associated with the early years of the Plymouth Brethren. Darby also published translations of the Bible in French and German.

ESV

The English Standard Version (ESV) was Published in 2003 as a translation to bridge the gap between the accuracy of the NASB and the readability of the NIV.

The ESV is an “essentially literal” translation that seeks as far as possible to capture the precise wording of the original text and the personal style of each Bible writer. As such, its emphasis is on “word-for-word” correspondence, at the same time taking into account differences of grammar, syntax, and idiom between current literary English and the original languages. Thus it seeks to be transparent to the original text, letting the reader see as directly as possible the structure and meaning of the original.

In contrast to the ESV, some Bible versions have followed a “thought-for-thought” rather than “word-for-word” translation philosophy, emphasizing “dynamic equivalence” rather than the “essentially literal” meaning of the original. A “thought-for-thought” translation is of necessity more inclined to reflect the interpretive opinions of the translator and the influences of contemporary culture.

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"They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them. And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road. Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: ‘Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’ Hosanna in the highest!’

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey”

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How do various Bible versions translate the words Sheol and Hades?

The meaning of SHEOL and HADES

In the King James Version, the Hebrew word SHEOL is usually translated as hell.  The corresponding Greek word HADES is also translated as hell.  Sheol means “the place of departed spirits” and hades means the “place of the dead”.  The word “hell” conjures images of darkness, flames, torment and agony.  However, the departed spirits of the Old Testament believers also went to sheol/hades, but not to suffer torments.

According to Vines Dictionary…

Hades is the region of departed spirits of the lost".  This includes the blessed dead in periods preceding the ascension of Christ. It corresponds to "Sheol" in the Old Testament. In the Authorized King James Version it has been unhappily rendered "hell" (Psalms 16:10)" TARGET="_blank">Psalms 16:10) or "the grave," (Genesis 37:35)" TARGET="_blank">Genesis 37:35) or "the pit" (Numbers 16:30-33)." TARGET="_blank">Numbers 16:30-33).  In the New Testament the Revised Version always used the rendering "hades". In the Old Testament, they have not been uniform in the translation.  For example in Isaiah 14:15" TARGET="_blank">Isaiah 14:15 it is translated "hell" with a note in the margin that says "Sheol".  Usually they have "Sheol" in the text and "the grave" in the margin. Sheol never denotes the grave, nor is the permanent region of the lost.

Translation Challenge

Most Bible translators avoid using “hell” to translate the words sheol and hades. Instead they simply transcribe the words from the original Hebrew (sheol) or Greek (hades) such as the English Standard Version (ESV). Other translations that use “sheol” instead of hell include the New American Standard Bible (NASB), The New King James Version (NKJV), Darby, and Young’s Literal Translation.  The NIV and other loose translations and paraphrases use a phrase such as “the realm of the dead”. 

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How can God be fair and send people to Hell for eternity?

 “Fair” is a word that implies “treating everyone the same”, or “giving everyone an equal chance”.  In the Bible Jesus tells us a true story (complete with names, Luke 16)" TARGET="_blank">Luke 16) about a very rich man and a beggar, a homeless man so destitute that dogs licked his untreated oozing sores.  He survived on the garbage the rich man threw out.  

Is that fair?  No . . . it is not.  

Many are bitter toward God because He has allowed them to be poor, broken and sick in this life while, taking away friends and family while others sail along without a care or trouble.  The famous poem “Invictus” was written by a man who – through no fault of his - suffered deeply in this life and shook his fist at God in return.

But this story gives us the other side of the story.  When God gives poverty and earthly suffering He tends to compensate by giving spiritual favors to the ones who missed out.  “Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?”  (James 2:5)" TARGET="_blank">James 2:5)  Jesus even said, “Blessed be ye poor, for yours is the kingdom of God . . . blessed are ye that hunger now . . . blessed are ye that weep”  and contra positively, “Woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation”  (Luke 6:20-27)" TARGET="_blank">Luke 6:20-27)  

As it turned out, the rich man never prepared for eternity, and the homeless man, having nothing this life, did.  When they died the saved man went to heaven, and the wealthy man opened his eyes in the flames of hell.  The rich man, now the beggar, asked his many times over great-grandfather Abraham to send the homeless from heaven with a drop of water to cool his tongue, but was told it was physically impossible to move from one place to the other.  Abraham reminded the rich man, “Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented”, explaining how fair God is.  

When the rich man appealed for the homeless man to be sent back to earth to warn the rich man’s brothers to get saved we get another insight on how fair God is.  Abraham explains that EVERYONE has the Bible and churches and preachers to tell them all they need to know to get desperate to get ready, and a supernatural visit from a dead person would not change a single mind.  Other Scriptures that tell us that even the creation all around us drives us to seek the One who made it, and that God is carefully looking for any seeking heart anywhere in the world to guide to His Son.  If what you already know should persuade you to drop everything and – to the point of losing everything, if necessary – gain eternal life for yourself, miracles will not change that.  

Turns out God balances everything out very carefully.  Everyone gets enough information to motivate them to find God’s salvation.  The Lord says, “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”  (Jeremiah 19:13)" TARGET="_blank">Jeremiah 19:13)   Eternal hell cannot be changed, as this is the unavoidable consequence of dying without knowing God, part of the fabric of the universe.  God has, however, sent His only Son – Jesus – to bear the punishment of hell for us in unimagined and completely unfair suffering on the cross so we can all be born again.  That payment is worth more than the universe, all of us included.  Having done so He commands us all to repent and trust Jesus as Savior and Lord (master).  God expects us to drop everything and do exactly what He says.  When He provides opportunity after opportunity to do so, even with special favors given to us that He withholds from others as well as special warnings aimed directly at us, and we decide we have better things to do, is God unfair when we suddenly open our eyes to find that we have shamed and dismissed Him one too many times?

Alfred Corduan

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PARADISE

Is there any truth in the idea that the Lord, when He arose, changed the place of the Old Testament saints from some Paradise below, to be with Himself in a Paradise above?
 
We may eliminate from this consideration, Enoch and Elijah, who are clearly exceptional. Exactly into what part of the heavenly sphere they were introduced is not revealed. Even did we know, it would tell us nothing about the dead. It is clear, however, that the Old Testament saints did not go at death to be “with Christ,” not for the reason alleged by some, that they were not forgiven, etc., for they clearly were (see Psalm 32:1-2)," TARGET="_blank">Psalm 32:1-2), and that on the ground of the work of Christ, yet to be accomplished.

The reason was that as yet there was no Christ, in the Theanthropic sense, for them to be with. He had not yet died and risen nor “brought life and immortality to light, through the gospel,” though ever in the bosom of the Father as the only-begotten Son of God. As for those who died in Old Testament times, such expressions are met with as, “He slept with his father,” “He fell on sleep,” “Descended to the grave,” the idea being that the dead went down into Sheol, the unseen world (Hades of New Testament). See Jacob’s words (Genesis 37:35)," TARGET="_blank">Genesis 37:35), where he could not have meant a literal grave, as he believed Joseph devoured, and so, not buried.

In Numbers 16:33" TARGET="_blank">Numbers 16:33 we read that Korah, Dathan and Abiram went down alive into the pit (Sheol). The case of Samuel (1 Samuel 28" TARGET="_blank">1 Samuel 28:) may occur to some. The Scriptures do not say that the witch brought up Samuel. On the contrary, when she saw the strange apparition, she cried out, presumably in fear. I have no doubt that God in his sovereignty did bring Samuel’s spirit up from Paradise (not his body, for that was buried at Ramah, fifty miles away), for the express object of conveying to Saul the news of his approaching end, On the morrow, Saul and his sons would be with Samuel in the unseen world.

Sheol never** represents the literal grave, but some other word is always used of it, like “Qeber” or “akath.” Psalm i6. to makes it plain that the Lord in spirit went to Sheol, and His body to the grave. That saint and sinner went to one general place, before the resurrection, is clear from Luke 16," TARGET="_blank">Luke 16, where our Lord lifts the veil of the unseen world in the intermediate state. The word there is “Hades.” True the saved were far-off from the lost, there being “a great gulf” fixed between the Paradise of the blessed and the place of torment, but still they were within seeing and speaking distance. Why should this be incredible, even if we had not our Lord’s words for it?

The Tower of London was for a long period in two sections—a royal palace and a state prison. It meant everything, which part a man went to, It was into Paradise that the Lord descended in Spirit, and where He welcomed the repentant thief. Can we suppose that only three days after, He left this trophy of grace behind? Did no benefits accrue to the saints confined there? The resurrection of Christ had mighty effects on the universe—He filled it: on the Church—He bestowed on her His spiritual gifts: on the Old Testament saints—”He led captivity captive,” that is, I believe, He set them free from their cabined and confined condition, and took them to be with Himself, henceforth in the Paradise above. This may throw light on the words in Hebrews 2:14," TARGET="_blank">Hebrews 2:14, “to deliver them who through fear of death,” etc. The word here translated, “deliver,” depotes usually a change of place, a release, a removal. The change did not mean, of course, that they were raised, but translated to be “with Christ” in a new sphere. Thither Paul was caught up, temporarily (2 Corinthians 12:4)," TARGET="_blank">2 Corinthians 12:4), and permanently at His decease ”Absent from the body . . . present with the Lord,” awaiting the perfect condition of glory at the resurrection
day. W.H.

** Psalm 141." TARGET="_blank">Psalm 141. 7 (though the Authorised Version gives “grave” for “sheol”) is no exception. Bones are not scattered at the grave’s mouth, but buried in it. The idea is rather of bones left unburied, on the brink of Hades—the unseen world, where the owners of the bones had entered. Dr. Tregelles trarilate, sheol here as elaewhere—Hades

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