Attached is another Bible study. I pray it will be a blessing to all who are
receiving it. God bless you all. Pray for me. In the love of Christ Jesus,
Bro. Riley
Our Holy Bible
The Wonderful Book of God
By Pastor F. M. Riley
January 12, 2017
"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
That the man of God may be perfect [complete; capable], throughly furnished unto all good works," 2 Timothy 3:16-17.
"We have also a more sure [certain; infallible] word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:
Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation,
For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost," 2 Peter 1:19-21.
Introduction
Those readers who have bothered to research the history of how the Bible was passed down to us today in our English language, know that the Bible as originally given was written by men inspired of God as books or letters. The Hebrew Text of the Old Testament, as well as the Greek text of the New Testament, contained no chapter divisions or headings, and no Scripture verses were numbered. The books or letters as originally written down contained very little punctuation of any kind, other than periods ending sentences.
It was only some 400 years ago when men of God divided the books of the Bible into chapters and verses, numbering them, and placing headings or titles at the beginning of some chapters.
This was done in order to make the Bible easier for people to read. It was not done to make the Scriptures easier to understand. While anyone who can read can understand what is stated in the surface text of the Bible, no one, I repeat, no one is given spiritual understanding of God's Word, regardless of what version of the Bible they are reading from, without the presence of the Holy Spirit of God to guide them into the spiritual truths of the Word, John 16:13; 1 Corinthians 2:11-16.
I am writing this study to demonstrate the majesty of our God, and the absolute accuracy of His wonderful Word. In this study I will be using and referring to the 1611 Authorized King James Version of the Holy Bible. Join me for an informative and enlightening Bible study.......
The Arrangement of the New Testament
Let's start by noticing the arrangement of the books of the Bible in the New Testament. These books were brought together by men and placed in the order we now find them in our Bible, yet obviously their arrangement was "superintended" by the Spirit of God.
I would remind our readers that the Lord God does watch over His Word, and protects it from wicked men who would corrupt and destroy it's message of salvation in Christ.....
"The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.
Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, Thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever," Psalm 12:6-7.
This is a fascinating passage of Scripture, inasmuch as those who have seriously studied how our Bible was passed down to us, know that the King James Version of the Bible went through seven meticulous proof readings, carefully comparing it with copies of the ancient Hebrew and Greek manuscripts to make absolutely certain that no errors had been made in translating the Scriptures into the English language. So we believers living today do have the uncorrupted inspired Word of God in the English language. Glory to God! Hallelujah!
Now let's look carefully at the arrangement of the books of the Bible in the New Testament. Following is their arrangement in the King James Version of the Bible.......
The Four Gospels
The Book of Acts
The Thirteen Epistles of Paul
The Book of Hebrews
The Epistles of James, Peter, John, and Jude
The Book of Revelation
The Spiritual Significance of This Arrangement
When the Lord God brought the nation and people of Israel out of the land of Egypt some 4,000 years ago, He was already laying the foundation for the New Testament. Now how could that be? I'm so glad you asked!
When God brought Israel out of the land of Egypt, He left nothing to chance. The Lord God told Israel exactly how they were to camp and march as they fled from Egypt and Pharaoh's army, Numbers 1 - 2.
The Israelites were divided into four camps. Each camp had a "standard," a banner or flag bearing a symbol on it, in front of the camp to identify which camp was which.
The symbol for the camp of Judah was a lion.
The symbol for the camp of Rueben was a lamb or calf.
The symbol for the camp of Ephraim was the face of a man.
The symbol for the camp of Dan was an eagle.
What does this have to do with the arrangement of the New Testament? Sure glad you asked!
In each of the four gospels, Christ Jesus is presenting Himself to the nation and people of Israel as their long awaited Messiah and Savior.
In the Book of Matthew, Christ Jesus is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah.
In the Book of Mark, Christ Jesus is the sacrifical Lamb of God.
In the Book of Luke, Christ Jesus is the Son of man.
In the Book of John, Christ Jesus is the eagle, who after being rejected by His people, flies back to Heaven from whence He came.
Any reader who seriously studies the four gospels can see this truth for themselves. Just as human history following the flood, began with God choosing Israel as His own special covenanted people, so the New Testament begins with the Lord God taking the gospel "to the Jew first." See Romans 1:16 and 2:9-10.
God's Great Plan of the Ages
As our readers looked at this arrangement of the books in the New Testament, how many noticed God's great Plan of the Ages laid out in this arrangement?
Doesn't the inspired Word repeatedly say, "to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile,"? Any honest reader knows that The Four Gospels are the record of Christ Jesus first coming to His own covenanted Jewish people with the message of salvation.
However, the Jewish people refused to receive Christ Jesus as their Messiah and Savior, rejecting and crucifying Him. Therefore they were temporarily set aside, in order that the Lord God might display His love and mercy for the Gentile peoples of the world.
The Book of Acts reveals the transition, as Israel is set aside and the Lord calls out from the Gentiles a new people; His church and New Covenant believers. Glory to God! Praise the Lord!
It is in the 9th chapter of the Book of Acts that Saul, a vehement persecutor of the Lord's church, received a heavenly visitation, and experienced a glorious conversion to Christ Jesus. Why? Because the Lord God was preparing him to become "the apostle to the Gentiles."
The Epistles of Paul to the Gentiles [13 of them] are next in the arrangement of the New Testament. These epistles of Paul have been and are the basic teachings of the Lord for His New Covenant Church and people during this present Dispensation of Grace. This is the 2,000 year period, or two days in God's great week [Psalm 90:4; 2 Peter 3:8], during which the Lord God is calling out of the Gentiles a people for His name. Then at the end of this period of grace upon the Gentiles, the Lord God will turn back to His own Jewish people again.
We see this clearly illustrated in the arrangement of the New Testament, as immediately following Paul's epistles comes The Book of Hebrews, a book clearly appealing to the Jewish people to return to God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. But how can the Jewish people turn back to God through faith in the Lord Jesus unless they are evangelized? And yes, the arrangement of the New Testament makes it clear that the Lord God provided for their evangelization.......
Next in the arrangement of the New Testament comes The Book of James, which is clearly addressed "to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad," James 1:1.
This is followed by the First Epistle of Peter, which is also addressed to "the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia." The Greek text is actually worded, "to the exiles of the dispersion," clearly indicating that Peter is addressing his epistle to the Jewish people.
The Second Epistle of Peter is also addressed to his jewish brethren, "to them that have obtained like precious faith with us....." This statement clearly implies an appeal to Peter's Jewish people. Compare the words of the Lord in Matthew 7:7-14, where the Lord Himself told the Jews that they would have to "seek" and "find" the way of salvation during this present Dispensation of Grace.
Next in the arrangement comes the three Epistles of John. There is no question that John was also a Jew, and his epistles appeal over and over to the his people to turn to and seek the Lord Jesus for salvation.
Then next The Epistle of Jude. The opening verse in this epistle clearly identifies Jude as "the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified [set apart] by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called." This makes it quite clear that Jude was a Jew, and was writing to the Jewish people, who were set apart and preserved during this present dispensation.
So, counting The Book of Hebrews, there are eight epistles written to the Jewish people at the end of the New Testament, illustrating how the Lord God will once more turn back to the Jewish people following the Dispensation of Grace, which is illustrated by Paul's epistles intervening between Acts and Hebrews.
Dear readers, how could the books of the New Testament "accidently" fall into such an arrangement of God's Plan for the End Time? Remember that men placed the books of the Bible in the order they are in today in the King James Version. Yet the arrangement of the books sets forth the exact order of the Lord's evangelization of both Jews, Gentiles, and then back to the Jews. There is no way this arrangement could have "just happened." The Lord God had to be watching over and "superintending" the arrangement of His Word when these books of the Bible were put together to form our Holy Bible. What a testimony to the Divine Inspiration of God's Word! Glory to God!
Now once again I want to set the arrangement of the New Testament before our readers.
The Four Gospels.......The Lord God chose Israel as His own
covenanted people, and therefore came to
them with the gospel first even in this present
dispensation.
The Book of Acts.......However, the Jewish people refused to receive the
the Lord as their prophesied Messiah and Savior,
rejecting and crucifying Him. So the Lord made
provision to bring the Gentiles under His grace,
which is clearly recorded in this fifth book of the
New Testament.
The Thirteen Epistles of Paul.......These epistles set before us believing
Gentiles the great truths of God's
Word, which we are to believe,
teach, and practice during this
present Dispensation of Grace.
The Book of Hebrews.......Following this present dispensation, the Lord
will turn again to His covenanted people,
the Hebrews or Jews, as they are commonly
called today [in fulfillment of Deuteronomy
28:37 and five other Scriptures in God's
Word].
The Epistles of James,
Peter, John, and Jude.......Here are seven epistles illustrating the
evangelization of Israel and the Jewish
people during the seven year Tribulation
that will follow this present dispensation.
The Book of Revelation.......This book describes the events of the
seven year Tribulation in detail, ending
with the establishment of God's glorious
Kingdom of righteousness and peace
upon this earth for all of mankind, exactly
as the Lord instructed His people to pray
for in Matthew 6:9-10.
Conclusion
When I was a little boy growing up, I was fascinated by my daddy's tools. He could use those tools to make about anything he wanted to make. And I could use them too! I tinkered with about everything with my daddy's tools, including "fixing" my perfectly good toys. Of course, the result was that my toys were often ruined and had to be thown away. Over and over again, as a boy growing up, I heard my daddy say to me, "Son, something isn't broken, don't be trying to fix it!"
Today, there are a lot of people all over the world trying to "fix" the Holy Bible. Since the Revised Standard Version was first published in the 1940's or early 1950's (I don't remember the exact time), there has been a flood of so-called "new and better translations" that have been presented to the public. Pshaw! The claim just isn't so!
Folks, the Holy Bible is not broke, and it doesn't need "fixing." It just needs to be read, studied, and believed. The multiplicitly of new versions of the Bible were and are produced to make money for the publishers of these Bibles, and they are Satan's attempt to discredit the Bible in the minds of lost men and women, boys and girls. To discredit the Bible in the minds of lost people means that they will remain lost, for ".....faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God," Romans 10:17.
As previously stated, I wrote this study to demonstrate the majesty of our God, and the inspiration and accuracy of His wonderful Word. I have, throughout my now 63 years in the Lord's ministry, always used the King James Version of the Holy Bible in my preaching and teaching. During all of these years in the Lord's ministry, I have seen hundreds of souls come to a saving knowledge of Christ, and a few men surrender their lives to the Lord's ministry, as I preached the gospel set forth in the King James Version of the Bible.
Folks, the King James Version of God's Holy Word is not broken. I truly wish that the Bible merchants, and even some of God's people, would stop trying to fix it! Just read it, study it, believe it, and share the truths you find in it with others while there is still time for them to be saved. The time of the resurrection and rapture, bringing this present dispensation of grace to an end, is staring God's people in the face! If you ever intend to "witness" to your lost loved ones, friends, and neighbors, do it NOW!
May our gracious Lord God add His blessings to this study.
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Permission is granted to any true believer or Bible believing Christian ministry to reproduce this study to share with others, or to quote from in context as written. Please do share it with others.
My heartfelt thanks again to those readers who lift me and this ministry up to the Lord in prayer, and to those readers who from time to time has chosen to support this ministry with their gifts. Thank each of you so very much.
Please address all comments, questions, and correspondence to: Pastor F. M. Riley, 14275 County Road 8120, Rolla, Missouri 65401. Those readers who would prefer to speak with me personally can reach me by calling 573-201-0491.
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