Who was Ezra?

Yet often I forget to thank My God for His good grace And take for granted all His gifts – Forget to seek His face.

But if God should forget me, How sadly would I grieve, I can’t exist without Him, For in Him I live and breathe.

So may each day be filled with praise As I pray on bended knee, Ever mindful of His gracious love To such a one as me.

Contrast these words of . . . [continue reading]]]> What will your dying words be? For those who are able to utter anything before they die, very often what they do say sums up their whole character and reveals where their heart is. Some of the greatest historical figures have died uttering words of failure and regret. Sir Winston Churchill, recently voted one of the greatest Britons of all time, died a disappointed man. He wanted to leave behind him a Europe at peace and desperately tried to unite the USA and Russia, but failed miserably. His dying words were: “I’m bored with it all.”

Contrast these words of miserable human failure with the words of the Lord Jesus Christ from the cross. The gospels record seven things that Jesus said as he poured out his life:

1. “Father forgive them” – Jesus forgave his enemies who hadn’t even said they were sorry for murdering him. And we have the challenge to forgive in the same way;

2. The Lord comforted the thief, “you will be with me in paradise”. An encouragement for us to continue to preach the gospel even when suffering acutely;

3. Jesus lovingly provided for the needs of his mother: “woman here is your son”. We too must provide for the needs of our families;

4. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” In allowing himself to be separated from his father, by death, as our representative, Jesus loved us to the uttermost;

5. “I thirst” highlights Jesus’ complete trust that God would raise him from the dead, fulfilling the type of Samson (Judges 15:9-
20);

6. “It is finished” – the victory shout of the only one who was totally obedient to God in all his ways. The completion of his fight against sin and the assurance of our redemption;

7. Finally, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit” shows that Jesus died in full confidence of the resurrection. He died with dignity. He died willingly. He died with power. Little wonder that the centurion uttered those powerful words: “Truly this was the son of God!”

History

Now, holding, or clipping, those pages together, divide . . . [continue reading]]]> Finding your way about the Bible is not as difficult as some might think. Try this simple experiment. Hold your Bible closed in front of you. (It must be a basic copy without a concordance etc. at the back.) Now, find the centre of the pages and open it. It is almost certain that you will be in, or near the five poetical books, consisting of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon. All these provide a great amount of interesting reading, and are just so easy to find.

History

Now, holding, or clipping, those pages together, divide the left hand pages into two and you will be close to the division between what is termed The Pentateuch or the main historical books. The five books of the Pentateuch tell first about God’s Creation, and the earliest times of God’s people Israel, plus all the laws that governed them.

The historical section beginning with the book of Joshua leads on to the period of the Judges, and then Samuel, which begins the period of the Kings, taking us right through to the sad period of the captivity of the nation into Babylon and their return, in the times of Ezra and Nehemiah. In a nutshell, that is the left hand part of your Bible, but you are still only halfway.

Prophecy

Now, on the right-hand side of the poetic section, take those remaining pages and divide them fairly equally in two. The left hand section contains the prophetical books of the Old Testament; four Major prophets and twelve Minor prophets. These are conveniently grouped, but historically, they relate to different periods in Israel’s history. The final book is Malachi, which concludes the Old Testament.

New Testament

You will discover that the right-hand side of this division contains the whole of the New Testament, which forms less than a quarter of the Bible itself. It may be short but it contains all the information about God’s plan of salvation for mankind, centred on the Lord Jesus Christ.

It begins with the four Gospel accounts of the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. It is followed by the exciting period of the Acts of the Apostles, telling how, in miraculous ways, the Gospel (good news), was spread abroad. Then follow twenty one apostolic letters, or Epistles, each containing valuable teaching about Christian living. Finally comes the Book of Revelation.

This is a book of sign and symbol containing amazing prophecies, leading up to the triumphant return of Christ to earth, and the establishing of the Kingdom of God

Once you know the Bible you get a lot of encouragement to begin reading it. If you haven’t started already, why not begin today?

It is a widely held view that if there is a God in heaven – and a lot of people haven’t made up their minds about that – it is to be hoped that He is a benevolent being who will be kind to all those who try to live a decent life. I expect you have heard the argument that “I have never done anybody any . . . [continue reading]]]> Jesus was once asked how many people will be saved: would it be many or few? His answer challenges many of the assumptions held today by people who are hoping for the best.

It is a widely held view that if there is a God in heaven – and a lot of people haven’t made up their minds about that – it is to be hoped that He is a benevolent being who will be kind to all those who try to live a decent life. I expect you have heard the argument that “I have never done anybody any harm”, where the inference is that such behaviour should be good enough for God, in the hope that He is not too demanding.

View the full article at thebiblestudy.co.uk …