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Sarah Stickfort

Sarah Stickfort - ...I continued to read, “and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” As I read the last part of the verse, I realized again, “Well, that’s me too, when Jesus died, he died for my sins.” Right there reading Isaiah 53:6" TARGET="_blank">Isaiah 53:6 I trusted the work that was completed at Calvary for my sins and got off the road to Hell onto the road to Heaven and became a born-again Christian. I was 7 ½ years old at the time. Salvation is so simple. (more)
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Gospel Hall dot Org exists to share information about assemblies of Christians who gather to the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, to raise awareness of the gospel message and teaching about Christian living in a New Testament Church.

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Do children who die become angels?

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Can a single person be an elder?

Can a single person be an elder?

Yes. If the Spirit has developed shepherd care in the heart of a single brother and the brother expresses that care in a character consistent with 1 Timothy 3:1-7," TARGET="_blank">1 Timothy 3:1-7, Titus 1:6-9," TARGET="_blank">Titus 1:6-9, and 1 Peter 5:13," TARGET="_blank">1 Peter 5:13, God apparently has called him to that work.

This question stems from the words, "the husband of one wife" (1Tim. 3:3;" TARGET="_blank">1Tim. 3:3; Titus 1:6)." TARGET="_blank">Titus 1:6). Three considerations clarify this statement: the context; a comparison; a construction. The context in 1 Timothy 3:2" TARGET="_blank">1 Timothy 3:2 describes moral character. The overseer’s character must be blameless, vigilant, sober, of good behavior. Dealing with hospitality, Paul doesn’t say he must show hospitality (that would describe acts), but that he must be given to hospitality (describing a characteristic). "Apt to teach," judging by its only other usage (2 Timothy 2:24)," TARGET="_blank">2 Timothy 2:24), likewise appears to describe character. The following verse also deals with character and that seems to be the emphasis through verse 6.

By comparison, the expression in 1 Timothy 5:9" TARGET="_blank">1 Timothy 5:9 is "the wife of one husband." The description of the woman here and of the man in 3:2 is consistent. First, this can hardly apply to polygamy, since that doesn’t involve a woman’s being married to more than one man. It hardly seems fair for Paul to state that a true widow who will receive financial support from the assembly can only have been married once. Five verses later, he advises younger widows to marry. If, in later life, they were again widowed, by obeying God’s Word to remarry they became ineligible for financial assistance, even though they otherwise qualified. The expression then must describe her as a woman who was obviously faithful to her husband before her widowhood and retained that dignity when she became widowed. The overseer, by comparison, must be above reproach in relating to women.

The construction of Titus 1:6" TARGET="_blank">Titus 1:6 and 7 is instructive. Verse 7 insists on the irreproachable character of an overseer. Verse 6 is a conditional clause, "if any be blameless" in family life. If married, he must evidently be faithful; if a parent, the respect in which his children hold him supports his character.

D. Oliver
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Where does the Lord intend me to focus my service?

Where does the Lord intend me to focus my service?

All service begins with devotion to the Lord; serving Him is the ultimate. The Law teaches us this principle: love for God is first and flows out in love for our neighbor (Mark 12:29-31;" TARGET="_blank">Mark 12:29-31; Romans 13:8-10)." TARGET="_blank">Romans 13:8-10). Never did an act of service bring such glory and honor to God as the death of the cross (Philippians 2:6-8)." TARGET="_blank">Philippians 2:6-8). Never has an act of service brought such benefit to others: "With His stripes we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5)." TARGET="_blank">Isaiah 53:5).

The sphere in which we express that service is the assembly. Believers are "to do good and to communicate." This injunction is in the context of an assembly, with submission to elders following it and offerings of praise "outside the camp" preceding it (Hebrews 13:13-17;" TARGET="_blank">Hebrews 13:13-17; see also 10:25). The self-sacrificing love that is kind to others ( 1Corinthians 13)" TARGET="_blank">1Corinthians 13) was essential to the functioning of the Corinthian assembly.

Of course, our service is not limited to the four walls of an assembly’s meeting place. "Let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith" (Galatians 6:10)." TARGET="_blank">Galatians 6:10). When Paul wrote, essentially all "the household of faith" was in the various assemblies then existing. God intends for our service to focus on the assembly and to flow out from there.

Any service we render to others then must be consistent with the principles of the assembly and as an extension of the assembly’s testimony. That is true of every facet of our lives and will not keep us from serving, but it will channel our service. Joining in any other association or taking any other name than the Lord Jesus Christ in order to serve others denies the sufficiency of the design of God’s house to fulfill our Christian service.

D. Oliver
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Shouls someone "break" the loaf before distributing it during the Lord's Supper?

BREAKING THE BREAD

Is it right to take the loaf, that which answers to the Body of our Lord and break it in two, and then hand it round the Assembly?

In Matthew 26:26;" TARGET="_blank">Matthew 26:26; Mark 14:22;" TARGET="_blank">Mark 14:22; Luke 22:19," TARGET="_blank">Luke 22:19, we read that the Lord took bread and gave thanks (or blessed) and brake and gave unto His disciples saying, “This is my body,” and Luke adds, “which is given (not broken) for you.” In 1 Corinthians 11:23, 24, the Lord Jesus is said to have followed the same order, with the words, “which is broken for you,” but this, R.V. changes simply (and with sufficient MS. authority) to, “which is for you.” Now, compare this with Luke 24: 30," TARGET="_blank">Luke 24: 30, where a simple meal was about to begin (for it can hardly be maintained that the two disciples had spread the table of remembrance that evening at Emmaus, in the condition in which they were of unbelief and ignorance of the true meaning of all that had taken place), and where we read that the Lord took bread and gave thanks, as he sat down to the meal, and then brake it. I do not, therefore, think we must put undue emphasis on the breaking of the bread even by the Lord, though far be it from us to affirm that any act of His was not significant. However, the brother who gives thanks in the Assembly for the bread or the cup, would shrink from any pretention to be taking the place that the Lord rightly took. His giving thanks is no official act, but only as representing the Assembly, and his breaking the bread is only for the convenience of distribution. The true breaking of bread is done by all, each one for him or herself, as we read in 1 Corinthians 10:26" TARGET="_blank">1 Corinthians 10:26: “The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ”? What is important is that the giving of thanks should take place before the loaf is broken for distribution, for the loaf is one, and this must be maintained, for it not only represents the one holy Body of the Lord given for us, but His mystical Body, the oneness of which is thus witnessed to. “The bread which we break is it not the communion of the Body of Christ? seeing that there is one bread, we who are many are one body” (1 Corinthians 10:16-17," TARGET="_blank">1 Corinthians 10:16-17, R.V., margin).

To pass a whole loaf around would be very inconvenient, and would necessitate its being divided in some way by the one who received it first, which would come to the same thing as that to which the questioner objects. The breaking of the bread by the saints is not a dividing of the Body of Christ, but a communion in it (“Him we all in common share”), a remembrance of Him in the act, and a proclamation of His death.

W.H.

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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.

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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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Option #1 : I want to create a puzzle using a chapter from the Bible such as this: John 3:1-16," TARGET="_blank">John 3:1-16, Genesis 2" TARGET="_blank">Genesis 2 or Luke 2:1-19" TARGET="_blank">Luke 2:1-19 Type the name of a Bible book, chapter and (optional) verses here ->

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Were Jesus "brothers" actually his cousins?

Were “the brethren of the Lord” in such passages as Matthew 12: 46," TARGET="_blank">Matthew 12: 46, Matthew 13: 55," TARGET="_blank">Matthew 13: 55, etc., His actual brethren? or were they his cousins, as some teach?

Were it not for controversial reasons I do not think any such question would ever have been raised. The word for “cousin” is distinct, and that used for the Lord’s “brethren,” though sometimes meaning “stepbrother,” is the ordinary one for brother, and there is no hint in the Gospels of Joseph having been married before. This effort to make the word mean “cousin” is supposed to be necessary in order to defend the miraculous birth and the false idea existing that it is holier not to have children, than to have them; whereas the two thoughts—the Virgin Birth and the perpetual virginity of Mary, are quite distinct and independent. While we believe unswervingly in the former, we hold that the testimony of Scripture is against the latter. The expression, “the brethren (adelphoi) of the Lord,” occurs nine times in the Gospels and once in the Acts. In Matthew 12:46" TARGET="_blank">Matthew 12:46 and its parallels in Mark and Luke (where His mother and brethren come to Him); Matthew 13:55" TARGET="_blank">Matthew 13:55 and its parallel in Mark (where the brethren are named Jacob, Joseph, Simon and Judas, four common Jewish names), in connection with His mother and sisters. The four others are: John 2:12" TARGET="_blank">John 2:12—”His mother and His brethren,” and chap. 7. 3, 5, io, where His brethren are said not to have believed in Him. However, it is asserted by the advocates of the perpetual virginity of Mary, that “these brethren” were the sons of Alphus, the husband of the sister of the mother of our Lord, and therefore his cousins. If this were so, it is remarkable that they should be so consistently found with the mother of Jesus, their aunt, rather than with their own mother, the wife of Alphus or Clopas, who was still alive. Now, it is nowhere affirmed that any of the Lord’s brethren were among the twelve apostles; indeed it is plainly stated in John 7," TARGET="_blank">John 7, “Neither did His brethren believe on Him.” But among the apostles there were at least two sons of Alphus, James and his brother Judas, and possibly Matthew, who in Mark’s Gospel is said to be “the son of Alphus,” and these certainly could not be among those who did not believe on Him. The two things are inconsistent. Afterwards the brothers did believe, but they never entered the ranks of the twelve apostles. In fact they are in some places distinguished from the apostles, e.g., in Acts 1:14," TARGET="_blank">Acts 1:14, where they were present in the prayer meeting, but apart from the eleven. See also 1 Corinthians 9:5," TARGET="_blank">1 Corinthians 9:5, “As well as other apostles and as the brethren of the Lord and Cephas.” In reality there are two verses in the New Testament which state implicitly that Mary had other children besides our Lord, namely Matthew 1" TARGET="_blank">Matthew 1: 25 (“till she had brought forth her first-born son”); and Luke 2:7" TARGET="_blank">Luke 2:7 (“And she brought forth her first-born son”). Now, though the Revisers have omitted, “first-born,” in Matthew 1:25," TARGET="_blank">Matthew 1:25, the word is not a plain and clear error, and therefore by the canon of authority laid down for the Revisionists,* it ought to have been left alone. The Luke passage is not disputed and is very emphatic. Had our Lord been the only Child of Mary, He wouldcertainly have been called her only Son—her “monogenës.” As it is, He is called in both these passages her first-born, her “prötotokos.”

W.H.

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