Helps on Reading the Bible

Originally posted by FMF
As for the words "malice, trickery, guile, jealousy, envyings" and "evil speakings", I don't much care at this particular moment who you have in mind. The words, though, that Suzianne doesn't seem to know the meaning of, are "hypocrisy" and "hypocrite"

I have heard Christians define a hypocrite as one who states beliefs [moral standards or codes of conduct], which he cannot do himself. So if I state what Jesus said, and if I cannot do what Jesus said myself then according to their definition I am a hypocrite. Similarly a priest / pastor / preacher, who commits sin is a hypocrite if he tells his church members that they must not sin. Its a weird definition.

Originally posted by Suzianne
And you shamelessly lie about me at every turn in order to fawn after someone else you inherently disagree with because it suits your agenda at the time. Don't dare to "preach" to me about hypocrisy.

Let the blind lead the blind, do you think any argument will alter their hearts? If their whole point of being is to act and smear others they will give an account for every word and will receive what is coming to them, good or bad.

Originally posted by KellyJay
If their whole point of being is to act and smear others they will give an account for every word and will receive what is coming to them, good or bad.

The irony of this is that you could just as easily be talking about Suzianne, even though it was not your intention. 😉

Originally posted by KellyJay
Let the blind lead the blind, do you think any argument will alter their hearts? If their whole point of being is to act and smear others they will give an account for every word and will receive what is coming to them, good or bad.

Your doctrine is contrary to Christ

Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. Then answered Peter and said unto him, Declare unto us this parable. And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding? Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man. (Matthew 15:14-20 KJV)

Sin or a life of worldliness and sinfulness is what defiles people.

But you and your fellow Christians make the claim that if you proclaim your faith, you have Christ, you are free from sin because Christ paid for you to continue to sin.

You will find nowhere that Christ said that.

Originally posted by Rajk999
Your doctrine is contrary to Christ

[i]Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. Then answered Peter and said unto him, Declare unto us this parable. And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding? Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into ...[text shortened]... because Christ paid for you to continue to sin.

You will find nowhere that Christ said that.

Rajk999 Have you ever encouraged a fellow Christian in these forums instead of telling them how wrong they for not believing as you? Just wondering, it is a rhetorical question so I am not really expecting an answer.

Originally posted by leunammi
Rajk999 Have you ever encouraged a fellow Christian in these forums instead of telling them how wrong they for not believing as you? Just wondering, it is a rhetorical question so I am not really expecting an answer.

A brother may chastise his less attentive sibling, who blindly rushes in the wrong direction. His encouragement comes in directing him to take heed of the sign posts, pointing the way home.

Originally posted by leunammi
Rajk999 Have you ever encouraged a fellow Christian in these forums instead of telling them how wrong they for not believing as you? Just wondering, it is a rhetorical question so I am not really expecting an answer.

I answer all reasonable and understandable questions and your question makes no sense to me.

I have constantly repeated the teachings of Christ, the doctrine of Christ, the commandments of Christ. If these are to your mind discouraging to you and other Christians then you seriously need to examine yourself and your whole attitude to Christianity.

If this does not answer your question then please rephrase it.

Originally posted by divegeester
Such as?

I bet I can find a few of yours which are juicier. I keep records remember.

I have better things to do today.

Now the topic here is Helps on Reading the Bible.
Anybody and everybody can read the Bible and do so effectively, with perhaps a little help from some experience of others.

Originally posted by Ghost of a Duke
A brother may chastise his less attentive sibling, who blindly rushes in the wrong direction. His encouragement comes in directing him to take heed of the sign posts, pointing the way home.

When chargers are spoken and they are worded along the lines of "you and your Christian brothers", do you believe the one saying that thinks of themselves as a Christian brother? If they did wouldn't they have said "our Christian brothers" adding themselves with those that they self identify with? I know I have short comings, sometimes they show up here for all to see. if I am condemned by someone who sets themselves apart from God's grace for their works sake, so be it.

How are we doing?

To reiterate - there is no RUSH to read the whole Bible.
There is no RUSH to mastefully understand everything you have read in EACH setting.

For example there is a blessing simply associated with READING and KEEPING the things written in the prophecy of a difficult book like Revelation.

You just read a little each day. Sure you will be perplexed. But you READ and keep the matters by having an "Amen" to each line you read. Here's is the promise of blessing simply because of READING the hard book like the prophecy of Revelation.

" Blessed is he who READS and they who HEAR the words of the prophecy and keep the things written in it, for the time is near." (Rev. 1:3)

My point here is not to start your reading of the Bible with a hard book like Revelation. My point is that you'll be blessed simply by READING even a difficult book.

And when you read you just say "Amen" - "So It IS" - "That's the Word" - "Amen" - to whatever you read comprehension or not.

Now let me emphasize this point. My friends, you will be blessed for simply READING and not despising every word of the Bible. There is no question that some things you won't understand right away. There is no question that there may be some things you wish were not even written there.

My suggestion to you from much experience - JUST READ IT and KEEP the things written by having an attitude of "Amen to the Word of God".

Now I remember that some version in English said "Blessed are those who read aloud the prophecy". Let me see if I can find that translation.

Here's one -

International Standard Version
How blessed is the one who reads aloud and those who hear the words of this prophecy and obey what is written in it, for the time is near!

It doesn't have to be LOUD. But it is also good to read so you can hear yourself read. Or read together a chapter with a companion ALOUD.

If your companion is equally open, together, when you come to a more potent portion, you stop and repeat that a few times. The listener or the one you are trading off verses with can say "Amen".

I am glad I found this translation in the ISV. I don't know if that is where I first read "Read ALOUD". It was many years ago before I paid any attention to English versions. But there you have it.

Here's Young's Literal Translation on the same verse.

Young's Literal Translation
Happy is he who is reading, and those hearing, the words of the prophecy, and keeping the things written in it -- for the time is nigh!

This implies that at least one person is LISTENING. So the reading must be aloud.
It could be a companion who is listening while you two trade verses.

Anyway, this blessedness is on the ENTIRE Bible not just a hard book like Revelation. Blessed is the man or woman who reads and even reads aloud a potrion of the Bible each day !

Don't discard the things written. Resist that temptation. KEEP the things written. Even if they step on your toes. Just KEEP them by saying in your heart "Amen" Amen to what is written in this Holy Bible.

This way leads to the greatest spiritual profit.

Originally posted by Rajk999
Christians understand what Jesus is saying here and in the dozens of other places where the same doctrine is repeated. They just dont like it and gravitate to doctrines which allow them to continue with their lives without having to change themselves.

Not so sure that they do understand. Seems more likely that their dogma "blinds" them from "hearing" and "understanding" what Jesus is saying. That and a lack of humility. Jesus speaks of this phenomenon in the following and many other places. Conceptually this is different from what you've conveyed here.

Matthew 13
10And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” 11Jesus answered them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. 12“For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. 13“Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.

Now if you notice you have a couple of people speaking of verses and their interpretations. Now these may lead to arguments. What I interpret could also lead to arguments.

THE LAST THING you want to do is close your ears or heart to any Bible passage.
I don't like the way ThinkOfOne treats some passages in John. But I refuse to close my mind to those passages.

It is best to say "Amen" to any sentence and any portion of the word of God.
Problematic portions or portions which lead you into arguments, do not discard and do not suppress as to fight against them.

All the more, verses which people use to contradict your standing about some things, you EMBRACE. Blessed is she who reads and he who HEARS the words of the prophecy.

Get to the place where you can hardly tell whether you are reading the Bible or praying the Bible. But you have to touch your spirit. You have to "mix the word with faith".

Do not recoil at any part of the Holy Bible. Neither rush to say "All that the Lord has spoken we will do" with self confidence that you can really DO anything without the grace of God.

Hebrews 4:2 is about mixing the word of God with faith.

"For indeed we have had the good news announced to us, even as they also; but the word heard did not profit them, not being mixed together with faith in those who heard." (Hebrews 4:2)

Mix your reading of the passages of the Bible, a bit at a time, with the faith of saying "Amen. So Be iT. God says so. Amen. "

There are two words (I can think of right now) which translate a Greek word into the English word ["word". They are logos and rhema.

Logos is of course that famous translation in John 1:1 were we are told that "in the beginning was the Word ..."

The word rhema is translated "word" in a significant place in Ephesians 5 where it tells us that Christians can be WASHED ... in the water of the word [rhema].

" That He [Christ] might sanctify her [the church], cleansing her by the washing of the water in the word [rhema]." (Eph. 5:26)

Reading the word of God prayerfully with an open heart can WASH your heart.
Here I do not say the redemptive blood of Jesus washes you per se, though that is critically true. We have our sins washed away in the redeeming blood of Jesus.

But there is also a washing in the WATER of the WORD [rhema]. Try it.

You take a chapter in the morning. You read without haste. You muse as you read. You meditate upon it as you read. You repeat it as you read. The effect can be that a washing of your inner being takes place.

Germs of the mind - washed out.
Wounds in the memory - washed out.
Blemishes in the soul - washed away.
Filth in the imagination - washed, washed away.

You can be washed by the "water in the [rhema] WORD" of God. Now let's look at the passage again with the next.

"That He might sanctify her [the church His corporate lover and spouse] , cleansing her by the washing of the water in the word, [rhema],

That He might present the church to Himself glorious, not having spot or wrinkle or any such things, but that she would be holy and without blemish." (Eph. 5:26,27)

The logos is more like the eternal constant truth of God.
The rhema which washes away blemishes and wrinkles (of oldness) and cleanses, is like the fresh water of God's intimate and instant speaking to a person very personally.

This speaking of the Holy Spirit to a man or woman intimately and corresponding to their immediate spiritual situation is a washing. Old things are removed. New things are added. Reading the word to touch the rhema of God's intimate speaking to your heart is a washing, cleansing and waste removal process. It refreshes and heals.

It does so on a daily bases.

For the coming of Christ all Christians should seek to prepare by being WASHED in the water of the word of God. This is a time for the whole church to be washed in the rhema of the water of the word of God.

Each morning we can begin our day by this "washing in the water of the word [rhema]"

I experienced this before I knew what was happening. I experienced this before I understood it. Then I got some help TO understand what I was experiencing. Help from where? I thought you'd never ask.

There is tremendous insight into the "washing of the water in the WORD" found in the book "The Glorious Church" by Brother Watchman Nee.

The WASHING of the WATER in the WORD. Here is a significant portion of a chapter dealing with this subject.

THE CLEANSING OF THE CHURCH
BY THE WASHING OF THE WATER IN THE WORD

We must notice this phrase "by the washing of the water in the word." In the New Testament two Greek words are used to denote word. One is logos, referring to the word in a general sense; the other is rhema, which although translated as word in Scripture, means something quite different from logos. Logos refers both to things which have been eternally determined and to things used in an objective way. This is word, as we generally use it, and word, as it is generally known in Christianity. But rhema refers to words which are spoken. This is more subjective than logos. Let us look at several passages in the New Testament where rhema is used.

In Matthew 4:4 Jesus said, "It is written, `Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out through the mouth of God.'" In this verse "word" is rhema, not logos. When we say that the Bible is the Word of God, the "word" is logos, not rhema. Can we say that man shall not live by bread alone, but by the Word of God recorded in the Bible? No. We are not saying that the written Word of God is of no use, but that logos—the Word of God recorded in the Bible—is of no use to us by itself. One day a messenger came to tell a mother that her son had been run over by a car and was at the point of death. The mother immediately opened the Bible and happened to turn to John 11:4: "This sickness is not unto death..." Because of this verse she felt peaceful and even began to rejoice, but when she arrived at the scene of the accident, she found that her son had already died. Did this mean that what is recorded in the Gospel of John is not the Word of God? It is the Word of God, but it is logos, not rhema. The word she grasped was not the word which God spoke to her at that specific instance. Both logos and rhema are the Word of God, but the former is God's Word objectively recorded in the Bible, while the latter is the word of God spoken to us at a specific occasion.

My bolding from The Glorious Church, Watchman Nee, Living Stream Ministry,

See http://www.ministrybooks.org/books.cfm?n

God intimately knows our daily situation. In another thread there was a squabble about making our words public some day at the last judgment.

God is not scandalous but loving. Though He knows the intimate details of our lives He takes not delight to expose us. Man's technology is able to trace where you went on the Internet, what you looked at, how long you looked at it, and all kinds of things which are really one else's business. This technology is growing all the time.

God, who can do far greater in His recording of our actions then this, is loving and wants to cleanse, heal, wash, consul, correct, adjust us IN LOVE

One way God definitely does this is with "the WASHING of the WATER in the WORD".

So I say read daily in the morning a small portion of the Bible. Let us say a chapter or two. You do not need to gorge, hurry or be over anxious to understand everything you read at once.

Just the reading in your spirit with the Holy Spirit will be a WASHING over your mind, emotion and will. The rhema of the word will often speak to your personal situation. God shows His LOVE by shining light on your personal situation. You can be washed by the instant and intimate speaking of the Spirit of Christ.

Look again at what the Apostle Paul wrote:

" ... cleansing her [the aggregate collective of believers] by the WASHING of the water in the word,

That He might present the church to Himself glorious, not having spot or wrinkle or any such things, but that she would be holy and without blemish." (Eph. 5:26b,27)