February 2006

Leaves Of Gold

A call to return to biblical teaching

"...to contend earnestly for the faith..."

Year I, Number 2 February 2006

Master Outline Number two:

THEME. Foundations for Bible Study

INTRO: The born again believer understands that the Holy Bible is the only revelation that the Creator of this universe has given to mankind. But many believers are starving spiritually because they do not study the Bible. Here we will study six important foundations for effective Bible study:

1. Know what the Bible says about itself, Psalm 19:7. See 2 Timothy 3:16.

(1) Psalm 119:89. The contents of the Bible, in every detail, were conceived in the mind of God from all eternity since He has always existed, Psalm 90:2.

(2) Look at what Jesus the Christ taught in John 10:35. See Romano 3:4.

2. Know what God intended the Bible to do for you, Genesis 1:1. At the very outset of our journey into the Bible we are placed on notice that we will encounter the Self-existent, preexistent God everywhere along the way.

(1) Exodus 20:2, 3. We must be controlled in our Bible by the fact that our lives are not our own, but we belong to the Creator, 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20. He is the One who created the universe, Psalm 19:1-5; Isaiah 42:5; Job 38:4. We must be thankful for the opportunity to study the Word of this One who calls Himself "I AM", Exodus 3:14.

(2) This God is our Sustainer, Isaiah 40:30, 31. We need to understand the excellent design that God had for mankind before the fall of Adam, Genesis 3:17-19.

(3) Without careful Bible study, inadequate images and misrepresentations of God´s character from in our minds. Only by careful attention to the whole counsel of God do we come to realize that His standards of righteousness are very much higher than ours, Exodus 34:6, 7. Until the conscience is thus truly aroused to a full sense of responsibility before the Judge, there can be no hope for the sinner.

(4) But the Bible is a book of hope. We must come to this study fully confident of Ezekiel 33:11. See Revelation 3:20; John 6:55; John 1:14.

3. Know that the Bible stands above all human opinions, John 10:4, 5. Other "religious" voices will be heard but those who have been saved will listen to the voice of their Shepherd.

(1) The written Word of God saves us from the babel of human opinions, John 20:30, 31. Since we have God´s own verbally inspired record, we don´t need to be confused by what others say and write, Acts 17:11.

(2) We must let the Word of God shape our opinions, Psalm 119:11; 1 Corinthians 2:16; John 8:32.

4. Know that the Bible deals in facts, Colossians 2:8. Perhaps the greatest lie of Satan is that there is no such thing as truth, but the Bible tells us that this eternal God is the great, original fact, and that He created a lot of other facts. Thus, when we study the Bible, we need to be aware that although the Bible originated with God in the Third Heaven, most of its contents deal with the way we conduct our lives in this world. Here are a few guidelines to help us be more realistic and less fanciful in our Bible Study:

(1) We need to pray for the Holy Spirit´s illumination in order to overrule a state of mind that prevents the truth from being understood as it is presented in the Word. It is important that the Word should fall on "prepared" soil, Matthew 13:3-23.

(2) We need to have sanctified common sense. Studying the Bible in a purely mystical manner is dangerous.

(3) We need to have a serious respect for the revealed facts of the Bible, Psalm 19:8.

(4) The context interprets the text of Scripture. This is a common pitfall in Bible study…reading out of context.

5. Know the correct Methods of Bible Study, 2 Timothy 2:15. Diligence is indispensable in Bible study:

(1) Bible summary. Determine the general varieties of literature in the Bible, their location, and how they relate to one another:

A. "Law" principally occurs in the first five Books. Understanding these Book is fundamental to an understanding of what follows.

B. "History" is found from Joshua through Esther, and the in N.T. from Matthew through Acts.

C. "Poetry is found in the Books of Job through the Song of Solomon.

D. "Prophecy" includes all the Books from Isaiah through Malachi, as well as the Revelation, and portions of the Gospels.

E. "Teachings" is contained principally in the Gospels and Epistles, as well as in Proverbs and Ecclesiastes.

(2) Study by Books. The mayor purpose and teaching of each Book should be noted.

(3) Study by chapter. Each chapter is analyzed and notes made.

(4) Study by themes and doctrine.

6. How to use Bible helps and Commentaries, 2 Timothy 2:2.

(1) Obtain an exhaustive concordance of the Bible.

(2) A Bible Dictionary.

(3) A Bible Commentary. (These studies will continue. They are taken from "The Christian Life Bible)

Ages and Dispensations, part II

(Taken from the book "Rightly Dividing the Truth" by Clarence Larkins)

Reference to the Chart, "The Ages and Dispensations," will reveal the fact that outside of "Time" the Scriptures mention "Two Ages." Before "Time" the "ALPHA" or "CREATIVE AGES," and after "Time" the "OMEGA," or "AGES OF THE AGES." In "Time" there are three "Ages" and eight "Dispensations." The "Ages" are-

1.THE ANTE-DILUVIAN AGE.

2.THE PRESENT AGE.

3.THE AGE OF AGES.

The "Third Age" is a "Dual Age," composed of the

"Millennia! Age" and the "Perfect Age."

The "Dispensations" are-

1. THE EDENIC.

2. THE ANTE-DILUVIAN.

3. THE POST-DILUVIAN.

4. THE PATRIARCHAL.

5. THE LEGAL.

6. THE ECCLESIASTICAL.

7. THE MESSIANIC.

8. THE DISPENSATION OF THE "FULNESS OF TIMES."

The difference between an "Age" and a "Dispensation" is, that an "Age" stands for a period between two great physical changes in the earth's surface, while a "Dispensation" stands for a "moral" or "probationary" period in the world's history. For illustration, the "Present Age" began with "The Flood," and ends with the return of Christ to the Mount of Olives. "The Flood" caused such physical and climatic changes that the length of human life was reduced from 900 to 100 years; all this will be reversed when Christ comes back, when the whole contour of the Land of Palestine will be changed (Zech. 14:4-10. Ez. 47: 1-12), and men shall live again for upwards of 1000 years. Isa. 65: 20. While the Dispensations are probationary periods, the form of "Administration" is different and progressive in each "Dispensation." For illustration, the Administration of the "Legal Dispensation" '.vas that of "LA'vV," d the "Present Dispensation" is "GRACE," and of the one to follow is "RIGHTEOUSNESS."

1. THE CREATIVE AGES

The Scriptures begin "with the sublime declaration: "In the beginning God 'CREATED' the heaven and the earth." Gen. 1: 1. As the word "heaven" is in the singular it will clarify matters to limit this creative act to our own planet, and the solar system to which it belongs, rather than to the whole of the starry spaces or universe.

1. THE ORIGINAL OR PRE-ADAMITE EARTH

This creation was in the dateless past. The six days' work as described in Gen. 1: 3-31 "was the restoration of the earth to its original condition before it was made "formless and void" and submerged in water and darkness.

Peter speaks of it as the "World that then was, that being overflowed with water, perished." 2 Pet. 3: 5-7. See Chart, "The Three Stages of the Earth".

The manner of the creation of the "Pre-Adamite Earth" is not revealed in the Scriptures. They simply declare that-"In the beginning God CREATED the heaven and the earth." And in that statement we have all the Millenniums of time that science may require for the formation of the earth as a planet. See the Chart on "The Prophetic Earth".

2. THE CHAOTIC EARTH

The "Original Earth" was doubtless a most beautiful earth, covered with vegetation and inhabited with fish, fowl and animal life, and probably with human life. How long it continued in this condition we are not told, but an awful catastrophe befell it, it became "FORMLESS AND VOID," and submerged in water and darkness. Gen. 1: 2. That it was not originally so we know from Isa. 45: 18 (R. V.). "Thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; he is God ; that formed the earth and made it;

He established it. He created it NOT A WASTE, He formed it to be inhabited." What caused the earth to become a "Waste" after its original creation is not clearly revealed. It is clear from the account of the Fall of Adam and Eve that sin existed before man was created. The inference is that Satan and his angels were in charge of the Pre-Adamite Earth, that they rebelled, and by rebellion brought destruction on the Pre-Adamite Earth and its inhabitants, and for their sin were excluded from Heaven, and now occupy the "Heavenlies," and that they are the "Principalities and Powers" over which Satan rules and of whom we are warned in Eph. 6: 12.

The manner in which the Pre-Adamite Earth was made "formless and void," and this refers only to the exterior surface, the habitableness of the earth, is clearly revealed by Peter, where he says- "For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water; whereby the world that then was, BEING OVERFLOWED WITH WATER, perished." 2 Pet. 3: 5-6.

It is clear that Peter does not refer here to Noah's Flood, for the world of Noah's day did not perish, and Peter goes on to add that- "The heavens and the earth which are now (that is, have been in existence since the restoration of the earth of Gen. 1: 3-31), by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men" (Great White Throne Judgment, Rev. 20: 11-15.) 2 Pet. 3: 7.

The manner then in which the Pre-Adamite Earth was made "formless and void" was by WATER. Violent convulsions must have wrecked the Pre-Adamite Earth and covered its surface with the waters of its oceans. Not a living creature remained alive upon it, and its atmosphere of murky darkness hid the light of the sun, moon and stars. To all intents and purposes it was a dead planet, though the seeds of its vegetable life remained entombed in its bosom ready to spring into resurrection life. The absence of the warm rays of the sun caused the earth to pass through the "Winter" of its life, and the submerging waters were congealed into ice that preserved in "COLD STORAGE" the remains of immense quadrupeds and winged creatures, that we might know the kind of animal life that inhabited the Pre Adamite Earth. This was probably the Glacial Period of Geologic Times. The Prophet Jeremiah records a vision of the time:

"I beheld the earth, and, 10, it was WITHOUT FORM AND VOID; and the heavens, and they had NO LIGHT. I beheld the mountains, and, 10, they TREMBLED, and all the hills MOVED LIGHTLY. I beheld, and, 10, there was NO MAN, and all the BIRDS OF THE HEAVENS WERE FLED. I beheld, and, 10, the fruitful place was a WILDERNESS, and all the CITIES thereof were broken down at the presence of the Lord, and by His fierce anger." Jer. 4: 23-26.

If this was, as it appears, an account of the destruction of the Pre-Adamite Earth, then the Pre-Adamite Earth was inhabited, and its inhabitants dwelt in cities, and God's purpose in destroying the Pre-Adamite Earth was to efface all historic monuments and evidences of the sinfulness of its occupants.

How long a period elapsed between the creation of the earth and its becoming "formless and void" we do not know; neither do we know how long it continued in that condition, but when the time came in the purpose of God to restore the earth to its habitable state, and make it fit for the abode of man, He did it in six periods of longer or shorter duration. The Hebrew word translated "day" may mean either a day of 24 hours or a longer period of time. The probability is that the time was short. (Note: This is the opinion of Mr. Larkins, not of the editor)

What Baptists Believe About Faith:

INTRODUCTION: God must be believed in by faith. No one can see God with his physical eye as he sees His creation. Believing that He is the creator of all things is a faith. It is not saving faith, but it is a belief or conviction, when one believes in God and believes that He created all things. This is only a beginning place for one to experience a personal relationship with God-Hebrews 11:6. In the Scripture, however, the word, "faith" must be understood in its proper usage. In addition to the above-mentioned way that faith is used, in a general belief in God as creator, here are three other examples of the way this word is used.

Personal trust in Jesus Christ as Savior from sin. This is a personal faith in experience;

Then the believer's faith (one who is already saved) in Christ as Lord of life and all things

The New Testament system of doctrines (teachings) called "The Faith" is still another one. Now study them one by one.

I. PERSONAL FAITH IN THE PERSON OF JESUS AS ONE'S SAVIOR FROM SIN AND DEATH

1.Personal faith in Jesus is the channel through which God's saving grace flows into the heart of a person in wonderful redeeming experience-Ephesians 2:8, 9.

2.The salvation of the individual soul can only come through faith, after repentance of one's sins has been duly made to God-Acts 20:21, Luke 17:5, and Acts 15:9.

a. Personal faith and not "OF" works-Ephesians 2:9.

b. Personal faith in Jesus and not "ACCORDING TO" our works -II Timothy 1:9.

c. Personal faith and not "BY" works of righteousness which we have done-Titus 3:5.

d. Faith alone, not part faith and part works, but all by faith in Jesus-Romans 11:6.

e. Salvation by faith is the only way it could be by the grace of God, and to His glory. Read how His plan could only work for all in justice, by faith-Romans 4:16.

3. This is an experience of Grace that takes place in the heart of the person at the point of faith in Christ Jesus as Savior-Ephesians 1: 13, I Peter 1: 8, 9, and Galatians 2:16.

II. THE BELIEVER'S FAITH IN JESUS AS LORD OF HIS LIFE AND ALL THINGS

1. This faith can be increased, developed, strengthened, etc., Luke 17:5 and II Corinthians 10:14, 15. Abraham's faith was not weak (Romans 4:19) but was a strong faith (Romans 4: 20). A saved person may have either, depending on how he exercises what he has, how he uses it, develops it, etc., to strengthen it. The Lord will surely bless and help if the believer will do so.

2. This is a believer's faith in action, or experience, John 11:12-1 Lessons of experience teach faith, as in the case 0 Jesus teaching His disciples at the raising of Lazarus in John 11. Jesus was glad He was not present at the death of Lazarus, "to the intent that His disciples might believe." They were already saved; they just needed to believe more and more. Experience taught them a great lesson and strengthened them.

3. A believer's faith can abound and increase by "doing" what one already believes to be the truth-I Thessalonians 3:12 and James 1:21-25.

III. THE NEW TESTAMENT SYSTEM OF DOCTRINES FOR CHURCHES CALLED, "THE FAITH"

1. When the Bible says, "The Faith," it simply means there is a unity of doctrine and that these doctrines are in complete harmony with each other in God's revelation to man. Note those in Ephesians 4:4-6 ..

2. One is urged to "contend" for the faith-Jude 3. Guard it with your life is the meaning of this statement. The very truth of God is worth giving one's life for if necessary.

3. When Jesus said, "my faith," in Revelation 2: 13, this is what He meant, i.e.-His doctrines.

It is this faith (system of teachings, or doctrines) that establishes churches-Acts 16: 5.

a. When believers are established in the doctrine of salvation by grace, security, etc. they must proceed in growth (II Peter 3:18) unto further development-Hebrews 6: 1.

b. When they are established in the why, how, when, and by whom of baptism, they go on.

c. When they learn the truth about the church and its purpose, mission and destiny, they have only begun, as it were, and many, many rich truths yet await them. WHY? So they will be ESTABLISHED in God's truth. Ephesians 6 is a good study as to why this must be.

5. This faith must be continued in (meaning this system of truth), and a reward is promised for so doing-Colossians 1: 23 and II Timothy 4: 6-8.

POINTS FOR REVIEW OF LESSON, AND DISCUSSION

1. When one is saved, he has exercised a personal trust in Jesus Christ. This means that Christ and His atoning blood is the

object of his faith, as faith MUST have an object. The believer has everlasting life and will never be lost again-John 3:18, John 5: 25, and I John 5: 12.

2. After salvation, this faith MUST grow, increase, strengthen and develop in maturity. The best Bible example of this is Acts 2:41, 42. It simply points out that the ones who gladly received the word (were saved) were baptized, added to the church, and CONTINUED in the Apostles' Doctrine (this is the same thing previously referred to as "The Faith"): breaking of bread and prayer. In simple words,

(1) Saved

(2) Baptized

(3) Added to (fellowshipped by) the church

(4) Continued in the faith.

Notice Acts 18:8-11. The same order is found at Corinth. They heard, believed, were baptized, and were taught a year and a half by Paul, learning the faith. (These studies will continue)

The Leaves of Gold is published by James A. Nelson and is available only over the W.W.W. leaves-of-gold.com This page is sponsored by David Pickett and the web master is Martin Gutzmer. You may contact the editor at: jan@twinvalley.net The editor and his wife are members of the Messiah Baptist Church, Wichita, Kansas.

2. One is urged to "contend" for the faith-Jude 3. Guard it with your life is the meaning of this statement. The very truth of God is worth giving one's life for if necessary.

When Jesus said, "my faith," in Revelation 2: 13, this is what He meant, i.e.-His doctrines.

It is this faith (system of teachings, or doctrines) that establishes churches-Acts 16: 5.

When believers are established in the doctrine of salvation by grace, security, etc. they must proceed in growth (II Peter 3:18) unto further development-Hebrews 6: 1.

When they are established in the why, how, when, and by whom of baptism, they go on.

When they learn the truth about the church <Uld its purpose, mission and destiny, they huve only b('l'{un, as it were, and many, many rich truths yet awuit them. WHY? So they will be ES'l'AI:3LLSUEI) in God's truth. Ephesians 6 is a good study as to why this must be.

This faith must be continued in (meaning this system of truth), and a reward is promised for so doing-Colossians 1: 23 and II Timothy 4: 6-8.

POINTS FOR REVIEW OF LESSON, AND DISCUSSION

When one is saved, he has exercised a personal trust in Jesus Christ. This means that Christ and His atoning blood is the object of his faith, as faith MUST have an object. The bel icver has everlasting life and will never be lost again-John J: 18, John 5: 25, and I John 5: 12.

After salvation, this faith MUST grow, increase, strengthen and develop in maturity. The best Bible example of this is Acts 2:41, 42. It simply points out that the ones who gladly received the word (were saved) were baptized, added to the church, and CONTINUED in the Apostles' Doctrine (this is the same thing previously referred to as "The Faith"): breaking of bread and prayer. In simple words,

(1) Saved (2) Baptized

(3) Added to (fellowshiped by) the church (4) Continued in the faith.

Notice Acts 18:8-11. The same order is found at Corinth. They heard, believed, were baptized, and were taught a year and a half by Paul, learning the faith.