“Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy: for by faith ye stand.” (2 Corinthians 1:24)
God has not called his pastors to exercise lordship or dominion over his church, but God gave gifts to the church and called men to preach to help the joy of God’s people. We need to have that perspective of the ministry. Preachers are called to aid and help and promote our joy in the Lord by dispensing to the church the word of God.
I have attempted to compile these timelines and bible study aids during my personal bible studies over the last few years. This collection covers a general overview of major events in the Old and New Testament, presented in the form of a timeline. This has been beneficial for me during my studies as a quick guide to check when certain things occurred instead of having to reverify each date or event all over again, which I had already studied and researched. I hope these timelines can serve in the same useful manner for you in your bible studies.
Click here to view and download the PDF – Biblical Timeline of the Old and New Testament.
“In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider: God also hath set the one over against the other, to the end that man should find nothing after him.” (Ecclesiastes 7:14)
One hymn we grew up singing in the church begins with this line, “Mixtures of joy and sorrow, I daily do pass through.” That is the reality of being citizens of a heavenly country passing through a foreign land, a world that’s filled with sin and sorrow. It’s inevitable in this life for us to experience great joy in the days of prosperity, but those good days are always tempered and closely followed with the days of adversity, as Solomon had fully experienced in his life. However, the final result of these contrasting highs and lows in the Christian’s life are “to this end” – that “God also that set the one over against the other, to the end that man should find nothing after him”.
I have spent my last few Sunday morning messages considering different prayers and aspects of prayer. One theme that has really stood out to me throughout those studies and messages is this: one of the chief purposes (if not the main purpose) of prayer is to more fully conform ourselves to submission to the will of God in our lives.
For the sincere child of God, we want to follow and be obedient to God’s will. However, practically speaking, what actually is God’s will? how do I know and discern God’s will for my life? how does God guide His children in walking in His will? In this study guide on the subject, we consider the verses that address God’s will in scripture and try to consider some practical ways that we can know and walk in accordance with God’s will during our lives.
Click here to view and download the PDF outline – The Will of God Study Guide
“Greet Priscilla and Aquila my helpers in Christ Jesus: Who have for my life laid down their own necks: unto whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles.” (Romans 16:3-4)
We are first introduced to the godly couple of Aquila and Priscilla as Paul arrives in Corinth in Acts 18:2. They were Jewish tentmakers who had fled Italy under the discriminatory decree of Claudius Caesar expelling Jews from Rome. The couple comes in contact with Paul because they were of the same profession (they were tentmakers), and Paul comes to reside with them during his ministry in Corinth (Acts 18:3-4). They are presented initially as simply quiet, unassuming disciples of Christ, but these simple tentmakers had a profound impact on the kingdom of God and on the first-century church.
One of the distinctive marks of the Primitive Baptist Church is our assertion to be the original and true church that Jesus established in His earthly ministry. “Primitive” simply means “original”, so we hold that we are the “Original Baptist Church”, still preaching the same doctrine and maintaining the same worship and practice as originally established by Christ. Furthermore, we deny the label of “Protestants”, since we did not come out of a protest from the Catholic church, but we predate the Protestant Reformation by almost 1,500 years. How do we support these claims that almost 2,000 years later after Christ and the apostles we can still trace our origin in an unbroken chain back to the original Baptist church?
I wrote this article in response to a brother who questioned the scriptural validity of the salvation of infants. I understand that this is a sensitive and sometimes controversial issue among believers – even among Primitive Baptists. I have tried to consider both sides of the issue in a balanced manner to reach what I consider to be the proper scriptural conclusion. I would encourage you to assess what is presented and draw your own conclusions based on the scriptural authority presented – just as Paul admonished Timothy, “Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things.” (2 Timothy 2:7)
Click here to view and download a PDF version of this article.
Philip is the only man in scripture who is specifically denoted by the Holy Spirit as an evangelist – “Philip the evangelist” (Acts 21:8). Paul tells the ordained minister Timothy to “do the work of an evangelist” (2 Tim. 4:5), and he also denotes “evangelists” as one of the four ministerial offices in the New Testament church (Eph. 4:11). Paul certainly did the work of an evangelist, but he held a different office of an apostle, so he never referred to himself by that title. Therefore, we should examine Philip’s life to see the qualifying marks of “an evangelist” and how Philip conducted himself that led the Holy Spirit to single him out solely for this title in scripture. Philip’s travels in Samaria, to the eunuch, and then from city to city have received much attention, but we also see from his later life that his evangelism was also concentrated locally as well, not just traveling from place to place perpetually.
Beloved, during this uncertain and chaotic time, it is vitally important for you to “put on the whole armor of God” and especially the “helmet of salvation” to withstand against the “wiles of the devil” (see Eph. 6:10-18). Satan is a deceiver, the father of lies, subtil, and wily. Satan cannot pluck any of God’s children of out the eternal hand of the Father, but he is out to corrupt the minds of God’s children. That is why we must put on the whole armor of God and our helmet of salvation to protect our minds. Our helmet of salvation protects our brain, or figuratively, our mind. Our mind should be filled with the salvation of Jesus Christ and our eternal security by his sovereign grace and that will protect our mind from the wiles of the devil. It is vitally for us to be properly adorned with the armor of God to withstand the onslaught of the devil against the Lord’s people.
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