September 12, 2022

Answering Basic Questions: Introduction

Answering Basic Questions

“But sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence” (1 Peter 3:15).

In the verse above, Peter explained that each Christian needs to be ready to give an answer for what he believes. In order for us to be ready to give an answer, we need two things:

  1. A firm understanding of what we believe. This necessarily requires study on our part.
  2. An idea of what kinds of questions may be asked. This enables us to prepare as best we can.

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August 31, 2022

When Every Man Does What Is Right in His Own Eyes

Riot

The book of Judges covers the period between the conquest of Canaan under Joshua to the time just before the kings. It was a time of wickedness, oppression, and anarchy (cf. Judges 2:11-15; 21:25). Toward the end of the book, we read about a man named Micah whose story typifies the culture as a whole. Notice the text:

“Now there was a man of the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Micah. He said to his mother, ‘The eleven hundred pieces of silver which were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse in my hearing, behold, the silver is with me; I took it.’ And his mother said, ‘Blessed be my son by the Lord.’ He then returned the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother, and his mother said, ‘I wholly dedicate the silver from my hand to the Lord for my son to make a graven image and a molten image; now therefore, I will return them to you.’

“So when he returned the silver to his mother, his mother took two hundred pieces of silver and gave them to the silversmith who made them into a graven image and a molten image, and they were in the house of Micah. And the man Micah had a shrine and he made an ephod and household idols and consecrated one of his sons, that he might become his priest.

“In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 17:1-6).

We do not know much about this man, but there are some important lessons from this account. His example serves as an illustration of what happens when “every man [does] what is right in his own eyes” (Judges 17:6). Since this same attitude is prevalent in our day and age, it will be beneficial to consider some lessons from the text.

So what happens when “every man [does] what is right in his own eyes”?Continue Reading

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August 17, 2022

The Blood of the Covenant

Crown of Thorns

The book of Hebrews was written to emphasize the fact that the new covenant under Christ is better than the old covenant. This is true regarding the priesthood (Hebrews 7:23-28), sacrifices (Hebrews 10:1-4), promises (Hebrews 11:39-40), and so on.

One of the comparisons made by the Hebrew writer had to do with the blood of the sacrifices. The reason why this comparison was important had to do with the fact that blood was inherently connected with the covenant itself. After describing Jesus as “the mediator of a new covenant” (Hebrews 9:15), the Hebrew writer said:

“For where a covenant is, there must of necessity be the death of the one who made it. For a covenant is valid only when men are dead, for it is never in force while the one who made it lives. Therefore even the first covenant was not inaugurated without blood. For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the Law, he took the blood of the calves and the goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, ‘This is the covenant which God commanded you’” (Hebrews 9:16-20).

“And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. Therefore it was necessary for the copies of the things in the heavens to be cleansed with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; nor was it that He would offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the holy place year by year with blood that is not his own. Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself” (Hebrews 9:22-26).

If every covenant is inaugurated with blood (Hebrews 9:18), what was it about the blood of the new covenant that made it better than the old covenant? Notice what the Hebrew writer had to say about this:Continue Reading

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August 3, 2022

“O How I Love Your Law!” – The Message of Psalm 119

Open Bible, Turning Page

“O how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day” (Psalm 119:97).

With one hundred seventy-six verses, Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible. From beginning to end, it is focused on a single theme – the word of God. The psalm teaches us what the word of God is, what it does for us, and what it requires of us.

It would not be possible to cover everything in this psalm in one article.* Instead, in this article we are going to notice some of the highlights from this psalm to help deepen our understanding and strengthen our appreciation for the word of God. Each of these points is just as true today as when the psalm was originally written.Continue Reading

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August 1, 2022

18th Year of Plain Bible Teaching

Open Bible with Coffee Cup

The beginning of August means the start of another year of Plain Bible Teaching. The first year started back on August 1, 2005. That means we just completed seventeen full years and are beginning year number eighteen!

Let me take this opportunity to express my sincere appreciation to each one of YOU for reading, following, and sharing this material, and also for offering words of encouragement to me in this work. Some of you have been following Plain Bible Teaching since the beginning, others have discovered the site recently, and most of you are somewhere in between. No matter how long you have been following, I’m glad you’re here and hope the materials posted here continue to be a help to you for many years to come.

The goal from the beginning has been to publish materials that can accurately be described as “plain Bible teaching” in order to help others learn or be reminded of what the word of God teaches so that they might be encouraged to live in a way that will be pleasing to the Lord. I’m thankful that I’ve been able to do this for this long and have no plans to stop.Continue Reading

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July 27, 2022

Where Will Your Church Be in Twenty Years?

Church building at sunset

In this lesson,* we are going to be looking ahead into the future and trying to determine how our local congregation fits into it. My purpose is not to make any predictions or prophecies. Like Amos would say, “I am not a prophet, nor am I the son of a prophet” (Amos 7:14). Instead, the purpose for this lesson is to examine the direction we are going so we can plan, prepare, and adapt as best we can.

The future has always been uncertain, yet it seems as though there is even more uncertainty now than ever. There are a few reasons for this.

  1. Post-pandemic – The COVID-19 pandemic was possibly the most significant disruption we will experience in our lifetimes.
  2. Digital/virtual world – With the rise of the internet and social media, we are experiencing “the biggest communication shift in the last five hundred years.”
  3. Increasingly godless society – This means that we have less common ground with those around us and more hostility toward those who claim to be Christians.

As we go through this lesson, we are going to break it up into three parts:

  1. Conditions today – the current state of our society and the religious landscape in which we live
  2. General principles – some things that will always be true about the future of the church
  3. Specific issues – some specific things affecting the church today and will continue to do so in the future

So let us begin our consideration of this question: Where will your church be in twenty years?Continue Reading

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July 13, 2022

Rest for the People of God

Stone walkway

“Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience” (Hebrews 4:11).

In the verses leading up to the passage above, the Hebrew writer encouraged his readers to remain faithful in order to receive the promised rest. He reminded them of the example of their forefathers and how they did not remain faithful. He then warned them that they could also fall short of the rest that the Lord had promised.

These instructions and warnings provide an important lesson for us as well. So let us consider what the passage teaches us today.Continue Reading

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