KJV Bible Studies and Independent Baptist Resources
Msg #1523 The Stairway to God
What The Bible Says
Good Samaritan's Penny Pulpit by Pastor Ed Rice
Romans 1:21-25 portrays a spiraling stairway leading away from the LORD God. America has taken all seven steps down, and is now languishing in the moral deprivation at the bottom. All nations, and all humans, begin at the top. All know of God's eternal power and Godhead, because that which may be known of God is manifest in them. Jesus Christ the righteous “was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world,” he tries the reins of every man's heart, and they are without excuse (John 1:9, Jer17:10, Rom 1). God does not believe in atheists. So every individual and every nation begins on the top step, then they make their descent. The seven steps are these, “Because that, when (1) they knew God, (2) they glorified him not as God, (3) neither were thankful; but (4) became vain in their imaginations, and (5) their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, (6) they became fools, And (7) changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds and four footed beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness . . .” This stairway leads away from God, down into base immorality, but if you get turned around facing up, it also contains the steps back into the presence of God. You can find your location on that stairway. Put a “You Are Here” pin on it, and make particular note which way you are facing, up or down. That works for your kids too. Going up the steps would require that we 7) Worship the Creator, 6) Seek Truth, 5) Receive Christ - the Light, 4) Set aside vanities, 3) Be thankful, 2) Glorify God, and 1) KNOW God. Awesome.
An Essay for week #23 Jun 7, 15
Msg in audio at www.GSBaptistChurch.com/audio/gs150607.mp3
In blog http://www.theology.gsbaptistchurch.com
In paperback at www.lulu.com/spotlight/GSBaptistChurch
Msg #1522 The Unrighteous Are Without Excuse
What The Bible Says
Good Samaritan's Penny Pulpit by Pastor Ed Rice
One of the most thorough dissertations in the Holy Bible declares its theme in two sentences, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith” (Romans 1:16-17). We have outlined what the soul-winner calls the “Romans Road” from this revelation, and sometimes forget that the theme of Romans is not the gospel and its salvation, from this first sentence, but the Righteousness of God from the second. Three things about the gospel that one should never shame or shun are listed; 1) the gospel is the power of God unto salvation, it is not the power of logic, philosophy, or reason; 2) The gospel reveals the righteousness of God and that the unrighteous can only attain his righteousness by faith in His faithfulness, i.e. from faith to faith; and 3) That the unrighteous are without excuse. Some have tried to shame the gospel because a soul from the darkest jungles of the Amazon, or the darkest jungles of Chicago, might never hear the the gospel message and “unfairly” be cast into the eternal flames of hell forever. God is, however, righteous in such a case, because of the next sentence, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them” (Romans 1:18,19). The unrighteous, no matter which jungle they live in, are thus, as God puts it, “without excuse” (cf. verse 20).
An Essay for week #22 May 31, 15
Msg in audio at www.GSBaptistChurch.com/audio/gs150531.mp3
In blog http://www.theology.gsbaptistchurch.com
In paperback at www.lulu.com/spotlight/GSBaptistChurch
Msg #1533 Biblical Dispensationalism
What The Bible Says
Good Samaritan's Penny Pulpit by Pastor Ed Rice
A Christian should read a lot of Scripture, as a cow chews down great quantities of grass. A cow, however, sits under a shady oak tree and chews it over a second time, and swallows it into a second stomach. Before the cow gets full use of the grass, he chews the cud again and passes it to a third stomach. “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night” (Josh1:8a), and again, “his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night” (Ps1:2). If one rereads the book of Ephesians like a cow chews and re-chews, they could draw things out of that meditation. It has some depth that has not been often visited. The Apostle Paul had languished in jail for two silent years. God sent him into the two years of silence to think about the animals he was going to have the temple priest sacrifice for his offerings. God stepped in and prevented the travesty, and now Paul writes to Ephesus. He explains the dispensation that we have entered and the new covenant that has the perfect sacrifice. Protestant theology, reformed or not, is all Roman Replacement Theology mixed with Calvin's Covenant Theology. Bible believers need to be dispensationalists, and Ephesians, well digested, will ground you in those truths. We are in “the dispensation of the fullness of times,” called “the dispensation of the grace of God” (Eph1:10, 3:2). And Paul, in this epistle, explains the mystery of dispensationalism (Eph3:1-5). Don't be afraid of that seven syllable word. It is a good Bible word that makes Clergy tremble. Believer's need to study this out, they will not hear it taught in a Protestant Church.
An Essay for week #33 Aug 16, 2015
In blog http://www.theology.gsbaptistchurch.com
In paperback at www.lulu.com/spotlight/GSBaptistChurch
Msg #1446 In Everything Give Thanks
What The Bible Says
Good Samaritan's Penny Pulpit by Pastor Ed Rice
The wisest philosopher cannot account for the ongoing attitude of the born again believer who practices the three perpetuals of Christianity. Solomon ponders this dilemma in Ecc 9:1-3a, “For all this I considered in my heart even to declare all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God: no man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them. All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath. This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all...” Bad things do happen to good people. But when a believer practices God's command to “pray without ceasing,” those things cannot cause him to faint. “Men ought always to pray, and not to faint.” (Luke 18:1) When a believer can “rejoice evermore”, these things cannot overpower his joy. And when the believer learns the value of God's command, “In everything give thanks,” the rational philosopher stumbles before the supernatural God who holds us in his hand. It is amazing what praising will do. God changes brain chemistry when you “Count your many blessings.” Romans accounts man's decline from God, and the first step is “they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful.” (1:21) Don't approach that first step; many have fallen down the whole flight of stairs. Be thankful you were born in a country that still has a National Day of Thanks Giving. Then take full advantage of that fourth Thursday of November.
An Essay for week #46 11/16/2014
In paperback at www.lulu.com/spotlight/GSBaptistChurch
In paperback at www.lulu.com/spotlight/GSBaptistChurch
Msg in audio at www.GSBaptistChurch.com/audio/gs141116.mp3
View Thesis "Reformed Theology NOT" at www.Theology.GSBaptistChurch.com
Msg #1445 Thank the Healer
What The Bible Says
Good Samaritan's Penny Pulpit by Pastor Ed Rice
Thankfulness for healing is best expressed face to face to the healer. Some are thankful for the healing, but silent towards the Healer. This truth is punctuated with exclamation marks in the ten lepers which were healed as recorded in Luke 17. The ten were told to “Go shew yourself unto the priests.” They obeyed, and were healed as they went. One cannot imagine that the nine were not thankful. Surely many of them showed up at the temple as they were told, they showed themselves to the priests, as they were told, and doubtless some went through the prescribed cleansing that allowed them back into the religious system of the day. There was, however, one, a stranger who was not allowed into the temple. If he was going to give thanks to God, he would have to go back to the one who healed him and thank him. The emphasis of this account is that he gave God thanks by falling at the feet of Jesus the Christ. All of our thanksgiving should be done at the feet of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, the Almighty God, the Everlasting Father. Take care to be more enamored with the Healer, than with the healing; with the Redeemer over the religion, with the Lord over the labor, with the Saviour over the saving, with the Messiah over the message. On Veterans Day, and heading into a national day of Thanksgiving, I am thankful to the Lord Jesus Christ that when I was drafted in 1972, He was with me through my entire military career. Jesus Christ is worthy of all our thanksgiving. This year put the name of the Lord Jesus Christ in all your thanksgiving.
Msg #1444 Three Vails Removed in Christ
What The Bible Says
Good Samaritan's Penny Pulpit by Pastor Ed Rice
Three vails that are removed through the gospel of Christ, remain in man's religions. The Gospel opens a new covenant relationship with God, and 2Cor 3 details how the Lord is the life giving Spirit of that covenant. “Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech: And not as Moses which put a vail over his face that the children of Israel could not steadfastly look to the end of that which is abolished: But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the Old Testament; which vail is done away in Christ” (2Cor3:12-13). Moses hung another veil in the tabernacle. It separated the holy place (containing a lamp, a table of shew-bread, and an altar of incense), from the most holy place (containing the ark of the covenant). It separated the ministering priests from the presence of Jehovah God. Man's religions have robed priests, clergy or imams standing between common man and God, but in Christ that veil and those robed clergy are done away, “And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom” (Mark15:38). A third vail done away in Christ is the woman's vail. In Gen 24 Rebekah “took a vail and covered herself” to show Isaac that she accepted him as her lord. In weddings the bride is still vailed, until the marriage. The beauty revealed when Boaz says, “Bring the vail that thou hast upon thee, and hold it” (Ruth3:15), reveals Christ as our kinsman redeemer who fills our vail with six measures of barley, and promises to soon make us his bride. These three vails are removed via the Gospel of Christ. Make him Lord, strip away the vails.
An Essay for week #44 11/02/2014
In paperback at www.lulu.com/spotlight/GSBaptistChurch
In paperback at www.lulu.com/spotlight/GSBaptistChurch
Msg in audio at www.GSBaptistChurch.com/audio/gs141102.mp3
View Thesis "Reformed Theology NOT" at www.Theology.GSBaptistChurch.com
Msg #1519 Practice Pure Religion Religiously
What The Bible Says
Good Samaritan's Penny Pulpit by Pastor Ed Rice
To reiterate, there is NO religion which can put one in a right relationship with the LORD God their Creator. The ONLY way to make that relationship right is through accepting, out loud, the substitutionary death of Christ in your stead (Rom10:9-10,13). Once you have that relationship right, once you are born again, there are some things that should be done 'religiouly.' “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world” (James1:27). The new commandment given to the believer is to have a renewed selflessness, to have a renewed love for others, to envelope the compassion of Christ into our very being. That will heighten a new awareness of the fatherless and widows in their affliction; they are all around us. Bev and I sought out 'buskids' for fifteen years while I was a youth pastor here and there in our military career. Today there are an innumerable host of fatherless in our society. Sometimes there's a “father” in the house, and sometimes he is the “husband” of the mom. Just the same our society is overrun with the practically fatherless. They need to see the compassion of Christ in you. Buskids are not as common as they used to be in our Baptist Churches. Shame on us. Single moms rearing children are everywhere. Pure religion is ministering to the afflicted, and keeping yourself unspotted from the world. “Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the LORD your God” (Le20:7 ), and again ”But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy” (1Pe1:15-16). Practice pure religion religiously.
An Essay for week #19 May 10, 15
Msg in audio at www.GSBaptistChurch.com/audio/gs150510.mp3
In blog http://www.theology.gsbaptistchurch.com
In paperback at www.lulu.com/spotlight/GSBaptistChurch
Msg #1443 The Golden Streets Soon Coming
What The Bible Says
Good Samaritan's Penny Pulpit by Pastor Ed Rice
You can know for certain that you have permanent residence in the kingdom of heaven. The residence is secured when one is “born-again” (John 3), and has your name on it when you are converted to Christ (Matt 18). But only a student of the end times knows that it will not have streets of gold until a thousand years has ended. The Bible speaks of three heavens, one where birds fly, one where stars fly, and the third heaven where the full glory of God is forever manifest. When a saint dies, they are absent from the body and present with the Lord in this third heaven. But the streets of gold in the city with twelve gates (for the twelve tribes of Israel) and twelve foundations (for the twelve apostles of Christ), does not show up until there is a new heaven and a new earth described in Revelation 21. Between now and then there will be a trumpet call, the rapture of the church, and the 1st resurrection, which puts us in an incorruptible body. There will be a “Bema Seat” judgment for the saints while the world sees seven years of great tribulation. The second advent of Christ, where he returns with his saints, riding into the battle of Armageddon, is described in Revelation 19. Chapter 20 describes the one thousand year reign of Christ and the Great White Throne judgment. The 2nd resurrection and the 2nd death meted out in that judgment mark the end of this world; it is all destroyed with a fervent heat (2Pet3:10). Only then are the saints from the 1st resurrection ushered into the city with streets of gold. “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection; on such the second death hath no power” (Rev20:6).
An Essay for week #43 10/26/2014
In paperback at www.lulu.com/spotlight/GSBaptistChurch
Msg in audio at www.GSBaptistChurch.com/audio/gs141026.mp3
View Thesis "Reformed Theology NOT" at www.Theology.GSBaptistChurch.com
Msg #1442 The Millennial Reign of Christ
What The Bible Says
Good Samaritan's Penny Pulpit by Pastor Ed Rice
After Revelation chapter 19, where heaven opens and the Righteous Judge, called Faithful and True, rides a white horse into the battle called Armageddon, comes chapter 20. Believing the premillennial return of Christ is that simple. Had the Roman reformers stopped allegorizing they would believe Revelation 20 which describes the thousand year reign of Christ. He reigns from the hills of Zion in Jerusalem (Psalms 2). He sits on the throne of David (Isaiah 9). And the twelve tribes of Israel are regathered into The Promised Land, because it is The Promised Land. One is not a “Zionist” because they believe in the inerrant, infallible, inspired Word of God. Dr. Chafer, founder of Dallas Theological Seminary, wrote seven volumes of theology trying to get Presbyterians and 70+ denominations to change their pernicious ways, and believe premillennialism. He was largely unsuccessful because reformed theologians would rather hold to Roman dogma than believe these two chapters in the Revelation of Jesus Christ. For the Bible believer the millennial reign of Christ is the last of seven dispensations. Each previous dispensation ended in mans failure. The Church age we live in will end as it was in the days of Noah and in Sodom and Gomorrah, just like Jesus said. And when Christ lifts the curse on this earth, so that wolf lays down with the lamb, when he binds Satan for a thousand years, and when he physically sits and reigns on this earth, man again fails catastrophically. All seven dispensations manifest the depravity of man. Such Bible truths are for those with ears to hear. They don't fit with reformed Roman covenant theology, no matter how many modern bible translations they copyright. Study to shew yourself approved unto God, rightly dividing the Word of Truth into its seven distinct dispensations.
An Essay for week #42 10/19/2014
In paperback at www.lulu.com/spotlight/GSBaptistChurch
Msg in audio at www.GSBaptistChurch.com/audio/gs141012.mp3
View Thesis "Reformed Theology NOT" at www.Theology.GSBaptistChurch.com
Msg #1441 The 7 Year Tribulation is not Allegorical!
What The Bible Says
Good Samaritan's Penny Pulpit by Pastor Ed Rice
The seventieth week of Daniel marks a seven year period where Jesus tells us, “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor even shall be” (Matt 24:21). Roman and Reformed Theologians try to allegorize the reality of a premillennial advent and a literal seven year tribulation period into disbelief, but when Christ divides the seven years in half, seven distinct times, their false teachings come unraveled. A Hebrew calendar has twelve, thirty day months, and they add an extra month in seven years. Daniel 12 divides the seven year tribulation into 1260 days and then 1290 days, calling them time, times, and half a time. The times of the Gentiles in Revelation 11 is forty-two months, or half the tribulation period. The two indestructible witnesses in Jerusalem prophecy for 1,260 days before Satan destroys them and God tells them, “Come up hither.” (Rev 11:3-12) After the seven seals and the seven trumpets, halfway through the tribulation, and exactly halfway through the 404 verses of Revelation, Satan is booted from heaven and torments the earth, knowing his time is short. The persecuted Israel is fed in the wilderness for 1,260 days of Satan's vile persecution. The commercial Babylon is fallen is fallen, halfway through the 7 year period. And Mystery Babylon, the false church and Jezebel is devoured and destroyed by the Dragon, Beast, and False Prophet of the new world order. Mid-trib is a very busy time indeed, and the week of tribulation, the literal 7 years such as was not since the beginning of the world, is not an allegorical pretense, it is a Bible reality. You can only be saved from the wrath to come, by first calling on Christ, the soon coming judge.
An Essay for week #41 10/12/2014
Msg #1440 Don't Be Left Behind
What The Bible Says
Good Samaritan's Penny Pulpit by Pastor Ed Rice
There is coming a Last October. “In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation... Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: ...and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD... The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles...” (Lev23:23-24,27,34). Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and the Feast of Tabernacles mark the important fall memorial of blowing of trumpets. Bible believing Christians are listening for the trumpet symbolized in this feast. It will be a voice “as it were of a trumpet, talking with me; which said, Come up hither” (Rev 4:1). “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible” (1Cor 15:52). “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and (we) shall be caught up... to meet the Lord in the air” (1Thes 4:16-17). This is the rapture of the Church, and one must here distinguish between Bible believers and the Bible allegorizers. The Roman Religionists taught their reformers to allegoize away Jews and the premillennial return of Christ. Consequently Protestants do not perceive the rapture in these verses, and the Reformed cannot conceptualize our Christ on the Throne of David, in Jerusalem, for a 1,000 year dispensation. The truths in the 2nd advent of Christ are reserved for those with ears to hear, and eyes that don't allegorize. Bible believers often “stand gazing up into heaven” (Acts 1:8-11). A “Hunt for the Last October” begins, don't be left behind.
An Essay for week #40 10/05/2014
In paperback at www.lulu.com/spotlight/GSBaptistChurch
Msg in audio at www.GSBaptistChurch.com/audio/gs141005.mp3
Part 2 in audio at www.GSBaptistChurch.com/audio/gs141005pm.mp3