KJV Bible Studies and Independent Baptist Resources
Msg#1619 Foreshadowing Christ
What The Bible Says
Good Samaritan's Penny Pulpit by Pastor Ed Rice
God's Hebrew poetry has depth not penetrated by the casual listener. “Give ear, O my people, to my laws incline your ears to my mouth” (Ps 78:1). A most common error in writing is changing of person or perspective. If one begins a story as a first person account from Joe the plumber, they dare not flip-flop to what Mary is thinking or to a third person narrator's input. When writing, who is speaking and the perspective presented is important. It should be consistent. The second sentence of this Psalm continues, “I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old” (78:2). This is obviously first person narrative from the LORD God. It is his people, his law, and words of his mouth, and your, second person plural, ears are the target. That second sentence continues, “Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children” (78:3, 4a). Note that the narrator's perspective changed from God to man. This is either a narration blunder or perhaps God is showing us his human side, as if he might put on flesh and dwell among us. This Psalm gives this remarkable insight to believers who know something about God's Messiah. So subtle and so precious. So overlooked by the unbeliever and modernist critical scholar. Such insight gives this Psalm a remarkable new flavor. It is a long Psalm with a curiously negative approach: that the generations to come, “might not be as their fathers, a stubborn rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright, and who's spirit was not steadfast with God” (Ps 78:8). Such a promise is only possible if God is made flesh and dwells among us (John 1).
An Essay for week #19 May 8, 16
Msg in audio at www.GSBaptistChurch.com/audio/gs160508.mp3
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Msg#1618 A Psalmists Four Instructions
What The Bible Says
Good Samaritan's Penny Pulpit by Pastor Ed Rice
The LORD God's thirty-seventh Psalm contains four instructions critical to his creature's well being. They are connected to great promise and then twice interwoven through twenty-eight of the forty verses. The first six verses spell out the instructions, the last six word them in a profound abstraction. Learning to appreciate the structure and depth of Hebrew poetry is easily done in this Psalm. First up, “Fret not thyself because of evildoers.” The failure-to-fret is expounded in verses 1-2, 7-11, and 27-28. Each section contains greater abstraction and more depth. When searching for this instruction in the last six verses one finds it thoroughly homogenized with the other three. Next up, “Trust in the LORD.” Again this instruction is contained in verses 3, 12-15, and 29 with increasing abstraction, and finally blended into the last six verses. Hebrew poetry emphasizes rhyme and meter in thought not in diction. It is marvelous to unravel and analyze it. It outperforms any poem of English literature. “Delight thyself also in the LORD,” and “Commit they way unto the LORD,” are simple instructions given a sagacious depth by the Hebrew poet and psalmist. When I was young I delighted myself in hunting and fishing in the Adirondack mountains near Griffiss AFB where I was stationed. I had towed my little Datsun out of many a swampland. The sincere desire of my heart was a four-wheel-drive Jeep-Cherokee. I did not then follow God's third instruction, thinking I could just make up my own heart's desires. The promise of following God's four instructions is expounded in verse six of this Psalm. It to is rehearsed, abstracted, and brilliantly blended into the six verse conclusion. Mark up this Psalm and it could forever change you. A student of the Bible needs to be a student of Hebrew poetry.
An Essay for week #18 May 1, 2016
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Msg#1617 I Will See You Later Mom
What The Bible Says
Good Samaritan's Penny Pulpit by Pastor Ed Rice
What love might outrank ones love for his mother? What reverence might overwhelm obedience to her call? When called by his mother Jesus answered, “Who is my mother? And who are my brethren?” (Matt 12:48). He then stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, “Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother” (49-50). A Roman religion taught my mother to venerate, deify, and even pray to Jesus' mother, but Jesus taught no such foolishness. He taught that no relationship is of more importance than the Lord-to-disciple and disciple-to-Lord relationship. Jesus went further to say, “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother,… and a man's foes shall be they of his own household” (Matt 10:34-36). This Mother's Day we should reverence our mothers as best we can. If living in her home we must obey, submit to, and reverence mom, but otherwise Jesus teaches that our relationship with our Lord trumps all other relationships. In fact, he goes on to say, “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me” (10:37). Love your mom. Honor her on Mother's Day. Love the LORD your God with all your heart, soul and mind. In 1958 my mom was in a garage on Bear Town Road in Gang-Mills, New York, it was called Faith Baptist Church, and when Pastor Cisal Palm gave an invitation she accepted our Lord Jesus Christ as her Saviour. Praise His Holy Name, I'll see her when I go home.
An Essay for week #17 Apr 24, 16
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Msg#1628 A Christian's Belief
What The Bible Says
Good Samaritan's Penny Pulpit by Pastor Ed Rice
John 3:16 opens a thesis portraying what it means to “believe in the only begotten Son.” In chapter four the woman at the well said, “I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things” (4:25). Jesus responds, “I that speak unto thee am he.” The men she brought from Samaria said, “Now we believe... and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world” (4:42). Closing the chapter the nobleman “believed, and his whole house” (4:53). Chapter five reports, “Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the Sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God” (5:18). There had not been a son of God throughout 4,000 years of God's HisStory. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David, Daniel, these were called servants of God, friends of God, prophets of God, but not sons of God. Men are only sons of God when washed in the blood of the Only Begotten Son of God. We error when we take it lightly that Jesus announces himself the Son of God. He thereby makes himself equal with God. This tremendous chapter goes on to show only the Son of God able to “quicken” man (5:21,24,25), and only the Son of man able to judge man (5:27-29). Believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, is to believe it all. And when one believes it all, Christ quickens them with everlasting life. John wrote so that “ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name” (John 20:31). Born in Hawaii does not make you Christian, confessing Jesus as Lord and Christ is the only way.
An Essay for week #28 Jul 10, 16
Msg in audio at www.GSBaptistChurch.com/audio/gs160710.mp3
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Msg #1543 Only 144 Thousand Witnesses?
What The Bible Says
Good Samaritan's Penny Pulpit by Pastor Ed Rice
“And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand” (Rev14:1a). I heard a Messianic Jewish preacher say, “What the Gentile Christians could not get done in 2,000 years, 144 thousand Jewish preachers will get done in seven.” According to this chapter they will indeed preach the gospel to every nation during the Seven-Year Tribulation period. We have the same commission but these preachers have no cares nor connections in this world. “These are they which were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb withersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the first fruits unto God and to the Lamb” (14:4). There's a lot going on in the world during this tribulation period. But, hey, in our day, we have much. Speak of the Lamb because of climate change, because of Israel, because of politics, the economy, because of wars and rumors of wars, or because of pagan Roman Popes... there's lots of reasons to talk about the Lamb. We could learn what to preach from the 144K, “Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters” (14:7). They preach in a world where Babylon is fallen, is fallen, (vr8) while we preach as Babylon is confounded. They preach to those who are about to drink of the wine of the wrath of God (vr10). John 3:36 says we do too. Contrasting the commission of these 144K with ours is quite convicting. When is the last time you personally shared with a neighbor the gospel message that saved your soul? Be a witness of the Lamb.
An Essay for week #43 Oct 25, 2015
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Msg #1542 Consider Biblical Prophecy
What The Bible Says
Good Samaritan's Penny Pulpit by Pastor Ed Rice
“Daniel,”a book in the Holy Bible, is about Daniel. There is no fear in overstating the obvious here, because many think it a book about dreams, visions and prophecy. Instead it reveals how a man, Daniel, became so beloved of God that God revealed to him all that he had planned out in the future. The revelation, which God gave to his beloved, covered his plans for Daniel's present distress, all the way to “the time of the end” (12:4). As one becomes the beloved of God, as they become “the friend of God,” God reveals to them all his hopes and desires, all his aspirations and plans for the future. That is what friends do. If you study Biblical prophecy out of idle curiosity, or intense curiosity, you don't much get it. If you study so you can exalt yourself among your peers and say, “I know something you don't know,” you really don't get it. And never forget, oh preacher, that your peers are not the clergy who stand on wooden platforms. Our peers are drunks on the street. Clergy and laity are not Bible words. We are but preachers of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Be very leery of any preacher with a hobby horse, and flee if his horse is labeled prophecy. False prophets Harold Egbert Camping and Charles Taze Russell might come to mind here. All the more consider this Daniel, the beloved of God. When God revealed the last days to Daniel his cogitations much troubled him, his countenance changed, and he kept the matter in his heart (7:28). When God revealed his timing, Daniel set his face unto the Lord God to seek by prayer and supplication, with fasting, and sackcloth and ashes (9:3). We should do no less.
An Essay for week #42 Oct 18, 2015
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Msg #1541 Preach the Gospel
What The Bible Says
Good Samaritan's Penny Pulpit by Pastor Ed Rice
Thou art worthy, O Lord, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns, and seven eyes, the Son of God who quickens and the Son of Man who judgeth. The Revelation of Jesus Christ is more that, than anything else. Awash in a rebellious society that has rejected the LORD God as their Creator, is a tiny remnant of believers who hold to the infallible inerrant Word. Awash in an apostate Laodicean church that preaches a gospel of evolution, socialism, global warming and sodomy, this tiny remnant preaches the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Awash in an agnostic, pluralistic, hell-bent world under condemnation, this tiny remnant knows the Saviour and are witnesses that Jesus Saves. What possible difference could it make? They are just a remnant. It could make an eternal difference to your neighbor, your coworker, and your kin. For we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness, but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Bev and I have grandchildren awash in this vile drug ridden society and our daily prayer is that God would touch some believer near them, a believer who would open their mouth and preach Christ crucified. The Righteous Judge of all the earth is soon returning, and you live right next door to someone's prayed over loved one. In these last of the last days the remnant needs to keep the main thing the main thing because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. He closed his revelation saying “I come quickly, Amen.” May we daily speak up for Christ.
An Essay for week #41 Oct 11, 2015
Msg in audio at www.GSBaptistChurch.com/audio/gs151011.mp3
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Msg #1540 The Revelation of Jesus Christ
What The Bible Says
Good Samaritan's Penny Pulpit by Pastor Ed Rice
The last book of the Bible is not a revelation of prophecy, but a Revelation of Jesus Christ. Therein He commanded the Apostle John to write the things which thou hast seen. John was an eyewitness of Jesus in the flesh, and had preached about that for thirty years. Now he was commanded to write it down. John's first epistle begins, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life” (1John1:1). He was also commanded to write the things which are, and he wrote the seven messages to the seven churches. Just the titles of our Lord Jesus Christ assigned in these seven messages makes a formidable Revelation of Jesus Christ, he that holdeth the seven stars, the first and the last, he which hath the sharp sword, the Son of God, he that hath the seven Spirits of God, he that is holy and true, the Amen! But a worthy portion of the Revelation of Jesus Christ comes when John writes the things which shall be hereafter. The book of judgment, sealed with seven seals is about to be opened by the only Righteous Judge. In Revelation 4, John hears the trumpeted voice of Christ say, “Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.” The next fourteen chapters describe the seven year tribulation period wherein the wrath of God is poured out on this world. Believers are not here for wrath, but are caught up beforehand with Christ's call, “Come up hither” (1Thes4, 1Cor15). The great tribulation is called “Jerusalem's cup of trembling” (Zech12:2, Isa51:17) because Christ will ascend to the Throne of David on God's holy hill of Zion.
An Essay for week #40 Oct 4, 2015
Msg in audio at www.GSBaptistChurch.com/audio/gs151004.mp3
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Msg #1539 Dispensational Changes Delineated
What The Bible Says
Good Samaritan's Penny Pulpit by Pastor Ed Rice
One would expect that the Apostle Paul would capture the heart of this new dispensation in a single complex sentence and he does not disappoint. After a two-hundred word topic sentence, and a graphic discourse on the believers quickening, Paul captures the marvelous revelation about our present dispensation in Ephesians 2:14-18. Ephesians is the first of his prison epistles. He spent two silent years in Cæserea's jail. He reflected on his backsliding into the covenant of law, and now he lists seven aspects whereby Christ abolished the law of commandments and makes Gentiles “ONE” with Jews. That list begins, “Christ is our peace,” and ends, “so making peace.” It is a new covenant in Christ; it is a new dispensation in time. Baptists need to be careful and Evangelicals need to be warned; the resurgence of Reformed Theology, whereby the universal church replaces Judaism and even God's promises about Jerusalem, is Satanic entrapment. John Piper, a leading Baptist author and Calvinist, is paving that entrapment with enticing words, but there is no teaching of Calvinism that steers clear of the Roman Replacement Theology! It engulfs every Protestant Denomination! Paul's first prison epistle is not glorifying a new election, as Calvinism advances, it is glorifying a new dispensation, which all reformers deny. In this new dispensation Jew and Gentile are made one, and Christ has “broken down the middle wall of partition between us... For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.” By the way, when the 144 thousand Jews are chosen and sealed the partition is back, and we have obviously gone into another dispensation. Be careful to rightly divide the word of dispensational truth. The Roman Empire did a hostile takeover of Christianity. The pope is not Christian, Protestants not dispensational.
An Essay for week #39 Sep 27, 2015
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Msg #1538 You Hath He Quickened
What The Bible Says
Good Samaritan's Penny Pulpit by Pastor Ed Rice
“And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins.” Thus begins the second chapter of Ephesians. Quickening is the central commodity of the dispensation of grace which engulfs us. It is missing from the dispensations that went before. The Apostle Paul emphasizes it here as the ingredient which is revealed in exposing the mystery of Christ. In this verse, however, the phrase “hath he quickened” is in italics. Some have said, “it is in italics, and all italicized words have been supplied by the translators and can therefore be left out!” Actually the italicized text of the King James Authorized version CANNOT be left out if a clear understanding of the Greek/Hebrew text is of value. The italics, as used by the King James translators (and only the King James translators, no modernist ecumenical translators dared to afford such a careful consideration), represents necessary clarifying English words used to capture the complete Greek/Hebrew meaning. The actual words might not be present in the Greek/Hebrew syntax, but in the expertise of the fifty-seven linguistic experts which took seven years to translate God's words, the italics words are VERY necessary for competent consideration. Translation is never a word-for-word operation. Only the KJV translators had the professional courtesy to indicate the necessary English additions with italics lettering. Discarding their noble work is ill advised at best. The point here is that quickening is central in NT salvation and is well worth our study. Jesus gives a short dissertation on it in John 5 and 6 (cf5:21, 6:63). If you have eternal life, it is installed by Christ's quickening. If you do not have Christ's quickening, you are still dead in trespasses and sins. Quickening is permanent and it only comes at conversion. He that hath the Son hath life.
An Essay for week #38 Sep 20, 2015
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