VISIT THE NEW DESIGNED ONLINE CHILDREN'S CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY IN THE ONLINE CHURCH CALLED:
"Infants For Khristos: Children's Community"
ENTER HERE:
http://infantsforkhristos.spruz.com/
Sunday 31 July 2011
Saturday 30 July 2011
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ENTER HERE FOR THE NEW DESIGNED CONNECT GROUP--
http://churchconnectgroupofkhristos-web.webnode.com/
Friday 8 April 2011
"Welcome to the CHURCH OF KHRISTOS"
"Wecome to the CHURCH OF KHRISTOS, Everyone, "Khristos" is the Greek Word for Christ."
INTRODUCTION TO THE "CHURCH OF KHRISTOS":"The "Church of Khristos" is a Online Christian Blog Post Website for all Christians to Grow by Learning, Studying, througth only the Gospel of Mark.This is the Place for all who want to Get to know Jesus More and want to Grow in Knowledge and understanding through the Teachings of Christ only located in the Holy Bible...
"In this Church, there are, two Bible Translations available for everyone to read from,A Bible Dictionary for studying, a Bible Commentary on the Gospel of Mark available for all Christian to grow in Christ. A Connect Group for Christians to connect with one another and discuss about ChristianSubjects. In this Online Church there is only one Gospel available, which is the Gospel of Mark. Also Available in the Online Church is Video Sermons"...
-->Thank you for Visiting "THE CHURCH OF KHRISTOS".
Stay as long as you wish:).God Bless you, Everyone.
Stay as long as you wish:).God Bless you, Everyone.
Thursday 7 April 2011
Tuesday 5 April 2011
ONLY AVAILABLE IN LESS QUARTER OF CANADA...
From Barry's Bay, Ontario to Windsor, Ontario only for receiving.
"Coming Soon to the Church of Khristos, Free King James Version Holy Bibles for
The Church of Khristos to give away to people who do not have a Bible, Just Request for a KJV BIBLE, and you should receive it within:
1. 24-72 Hours in Barry's Bay location.
2. 4-5 Months in Windsor location.
3. 1-7 Weeks for Bancroft location.
Please beware the Bibles may be late arriving, I will do my best for them to not arrive late.
Sunday 3 April 2011
"What Does the Church of Khristos believe in:
1. The COK Believes Jesus Christ was totally equal with Jehovah God. (John 5:18).
2. The COK Believes Jesus Christ was God incarnate.
3. The COK Believes that Jesus Christ is the only one who is sinless(1 John 3:5).
4. The COK Believes that the Holy Bible is without Error or Mistakes.
1. The COK Believes Jesus Christ was totally equal with Jehovah God. (John 5:18).
2. The COK Believes Jesus Christ was God incarnate.
3. The COK Believes that Jesus Christ is the only one who is sinless(1 John 3:5).
4. The COK Believes that the Holy Bible is without Error or Mistakes.
Saturday 2 April 2011
"Biblical Word: "Jehovah" // From: BIBLE DICTIONARY
The special and significant name (not merely an appellative title such as Lord) by which God revealed himself to the ancient Hebrews (
The Hebrew name "Jehovah" is generally translated in the Authorized Version (and the Revised Version has not departed from this rule) by the word LORD printed in small capitals, to distinguish it from the rendering of the Hebrew Adonai and the Greek Kurios, which are also rendered Lord, but printed in the usual type. The Hebrew word is translated "Jehovah" only in
It is worthy of notice that this name is never used in the LXX., the Samaritan Pentateuch, the Apocrypha, or in the New Testament. It is found, however, on the "Moabite stone" (q.v.), and consequently it must have been in the days of Mesba so commonly pronounced by the Hebrews as to be familiar to their heathen neighbours.Exo_6:2, Exo_6:3). This name, the Tetragrammaton of the Greeks, was held by the later Jews to be so sacred that it was never pronounced except by the high priest on the great Day of Atonement, when he entered into the most holy place. Whenever this name occurred in the sacred books they pronounced it, as they still do, "Adonai" (i.e., Lord), thus using another word in its stead. The Massorets gave to it the vowel-points appropriate to this word. This Jewish practice was founded on a false interpretation of Lev_24:16. The meaning of the word appears from Exo_3:14 to be "the unchanging, eternal, self-existent God," the "I am that I am," a covenant-keeping God. (Compare Mal_3:6; Hos_12:5; Rev_1:4, Rev_1:8.)Exo_6:3; Psa_83:18; Isa_12:2; Isa_26:4, and in the compound names mentioned below.
The Hebrew name "Jehovah" is generally translated in the Authorized Version (and the Revised Version has not departed from this rule) by the word LORD printed in small capitals, to distinguish it from the rendering of the Hebrew Adonai and the Greek Kurios, which are also rendered Lord, but printed in the usual type. The Hebrew word is translated "Jehovah" only in
It is worthy of notice that this name is never used in the LXX., the Samaritan Pentateuch, the Apocrypha, or in the New Testament. It is found, however, on the "Moabite stone" (q.v.), and consequently it must have been in the days of Mesba so commonly pronounced by the Hebrews as to be familiar to their heathen neighbours.Exo_6:2, Exo_6:3). This name, the Tetragrammaton of the Greeks, was held by the later Jews to be so sacred that it was never pronounced except by the high priest on the great Day of Atonement, when he entered into the most holy place. Whenever this name occurred in the sacred books they pronounced it, as they still do, "Adonai" (i.e., Lord), thus using another word in its stead. The Massorets gave to it the vowel-points appropriate to this word. This Jewish practice was founded on a false interpretation of Lev_24:16. The meaning of the word appears from Exo_3:14 to be "the unchanging, eternal, self-existent God," the "I am that I am," a covenant-keeping God. (Compare Mal_3:6; Hos_12:5; Rev_1:4, Rev_1:8.)Exo_6:3; Psa_83:18; Isa_12:2; Isa_26:4, and in the compound names mentioned below.
"Biblical Word: "Holy Spirit" // From: BIBLE DICTIONARY
The third Person of the adorable Trinity.
His personality is proved
(1.) from the fact that the attributes of personality, as intelligence and volition, are ascribed to him (
(2.) He executes the offices peculiar only to a person. The very nature of these offices involves personal distinction (
(1.) from the fact that the names of God are ascribed to him (
(2.) that divine attributes are also ascribed to him, omnipresence (
(3.) Creation is ascribed to him (
(4.) Worship is required and ascribed to him (
His personality is proved
(2.) He executes the offices peculiar only to a person. The very nature of these offices involves personal distinction (
(2.) that divine attributes are also ascribed to him, omnipresence (
(3.) Creation is ascribed to him (
(4.) Worship is required and ascribed to him (
"Biblical Word: "Humility" / From: BIBLE DICTIONARY
A prominent Christian grace (
Christ has set us an example of humility (Rom_12:3; Rom_15:17, Rom_15:18; 1Co_3:5-7; 2Co_3:5; Phi_4:11-13). It is a state of mind well pleasing to God (1Pe_3:4); it preserves the soul in tranquillity (Psa_69:32, Psa_69:33), and makes us patient under trials (Job_1:22).Phi_2:6-8). We should be led thereto by a remembrance of our sins (Lam_3:39), and by the thought that it is the way to honour (Pro_16:18), and that the greatest promises are made to the humble (Psa_147:6; Isa_57:15; Isa_66:2; 1Pe_5:5). It is a "great paradox in Christianity that it makes humility the avenue to glory."
Christ has set us an example of humility (Rom_12:3; Rom_15:17, Rom_15:18; 1Co_3:5-7; 2Co_3:5; Phi_4:11-13). It is a state of mind well pleasing to God (1Pe_3:4); it preserves the soul in tranquillity (Psa_69:32, Psa_69:33), and makes us patient under trials (Job_1:22).Phi_2:6-8). We should be led thereto by a remembrance of our sins (Lam_3:39), and by the thought that it is the way to honour (Pro_16:18), and that the greatest promises are made to the humble (Psa_147:6; Isa_57:15; Isa_66:2; 1Pe_5:5). It is a "great paradox in Christianity that it makes humility the avenue to glory."
"Biblical Word: "Marriage" // From: BIBLE DICTIONARY
Was instituted in Paradise when man was in innocence (
It seems to have been the practice from the beginning for fathers to select wives for their sons (
In the pre-Mosaic times, when the proposals were accepted and the marriage price given, the bridegroom could come at once and take away his bride to his own house (
Our Lord corrected many false notions then existing on the subject of marriage (
The marriage relation is used to represent the union between God and his people (Gen_2:18-24). Here we have its original charter, which was confirmed by our Lord, as the basis on which all regulations are to be framed (Mat_19:4, Mat_19:5). It is evident that monogamy was the original law of marriage (Mat_19:5; 1Co_6:16). This law was violated in after times, when corrupt usages began to be introduced (Gen_4:19; Gen_6:2). We meet with the prevalence of polygamy and concubinage in the patriarchal age (Gen_16:1-4; Gen_22:21-24; Gen_28:8, Gen_28:9; Gen_29:23-30, etc.). Polygamy was acknowledged in the Mosaic law and made the basis of legislation, and continued to be practiced all down through the period of Jewish history to the Captivity, after which there is no instance of it on record.Gen_24:3; Gen_38:6). Sometimes also proposals were initiated by the father of the maiden (Exo_2:21). The brothers of the maiden were also sometimes consulted (Gen_24:51; Gen_34:11), but her own consent was not required. The young man was bound to give a price to the father of the maiden (Gen_31:15; Gen_34:12; Exo_22:16, Exo_22:17; 1Sa_18:23, 1Sa_18:25; Rth_4:10; Hos_3:2) On these patriarchal customs the Mosaic law made no change.Gen_24:63-67). But in general the marriage was celebrated by a feast in the house of the bride's parents, to which all friends were invited (Gen_29:22, Gen_29:27); and on the day of the marriage the bride, concealed under a thick veil, was conducted to her future husband's home.Mat_22:23-30), and placed it as a divine institution on the highest grounds. The apostles state clearly and enforce the nuptial duties of husband and wife (Eph_5:22-33; Col_3:18, Col_3:19; 1Pe_3:1-7). Marriage is said to be "honourable" (Heb_13:4), and the prohibition of it is noted as one of the marks of degenerate times (1Ti_4:3).Isa_54:5; Jer_3:1-14; Hos_2:9, Hos_2:20). In the New Testament the same figure is employed in representing the love of Christ to his saints (Eph_5:25-27). The Church of the redeemed is the "Bride, the Lamb's wife" (Rev_19:7-9).
It seems to have been the practice from the beginning for fathers to select wives for their sons (
In the pre-Mosaic times, when the proposals were accepted and the marriage price given, the bridegroom could come at once and take away his bride to his own house (
Our Lord corrected many false notions then existing on the subject of marriage (
The marriage relation is used to represent the union between God and his people (Gen_2:18-24). Here we have its original charter, which was confirmed by our Lord, as the basis on which all regulations are to be framed (Mat_19:4, Mat_19:5). It is evident that monogamy was the original law of marriage (Mat_19:5; 1Co_6:16). This law was violated in after times, when corrupt usages began to be introduced (Gen_4:19; Gen_6:2). We meet with the prevalence of polygamy and concubinage in the patriarchal age (Gen_16:1-4; Gen_22:21-24; Gen_28:8, Gen_28:9; Gen_29:23-30, etc.). Polygamy was acknowledged in the Mosaic law and made the basis of legislation, and continued to be practiced all down through the period of Jewish history to the Captivity, after which there is no instance of it on record.Gen_24:3; Gen_38:6). Sometimes also proposals were initiated by the father of the maiden (Exo_2:21). The brothers of the maiden were also sometimes consulted (Gen_24:51; Gen_34:11), but her own consent was not required. The young man was bound to give a price to the father of the maiden (Gen_31:15; Gen_34:12; Exo_22:16, Exo_22:17; 1Sa_18:23, 1Sa_18:25; Rth_4:10; Hos_3:2) On these patriarchal customs the Mosaic law made no change.Gen_24:63-67). But in general the marriage was celebrated by a feast in the house of the bride's parents, to which all friends were invited (Gen_29:22, Gen_29:27); and on the day of the marriage the bride, concealed under a thick veil, was conducted to her future husband's home.Mat_22:23-30), and placed it as a divine institution on the highest grounds. The apostles state clearly and enforce the nuptial duties of husband and wife (Eph_5:22-33; Col_3:18, Col_3:19; 1Pe_3:1-7). Marriage is said to be "honourable" (Heb_13:4), and the prohibition of it is noted as one of the marks of degenerate times (1Ti_4:3).Isa_54:5; Jer_3:1-14; Hos_2:9, Hos_2:20). In the New Testament the same figure is employed in representing the love of Christ to his saints (Eph_5:25-27). The Church of the redeemed is the "Bride, the Lamb's wife" (Rev_19:7-9).
"Biblical Word: "Man of Sin" // From: BIBLE DICTIONARY
A designation of Antichrist given in 2Th_2:3-10, usually regarded as descriptive of the Papal power; but "in whomsoever these distinctive features are found, whoever wields temporal and spiritual power in any degree similar to that in which the man of sin is here described as wielding it, he, be he pope or potentate, is beyond all doubt a distinct type of Antichrist."
"Biblical Word: "Repentance" // From: BIBLE DICTIONARY
There are three Greek words used in the New Testament to denote repentance.
(1.) The verb metamelomai is used of a change of mind, such as to produce regret or even remorse on account of sin, but not necessarily a change of heart. This word is used with reference to the repentance of Judas (
(2.) Metanoeo, meaning to change one's mind and purpose, as the result of after knowledge.
(3.) This verb, with the cognate noun metanoia, is used of true repentance, a change of mind and purpose and life, to which remission of sin is promised.
The true penitent is conscious of guilt (Mat_27:3).Psa_119:128; Job_42:5, Job_42:6; 2Co_7:10) and turning from it to God; and (4) a persistent endeavour after a holy life in a walking with God in the way of his commandments.Psa_51:4, Psa_51:9), of pollution (Psa_51:5, Psa_51:7, Psa_51:10), and of helplessness (Psa_51:11; Psa_109:21, Psa_109:22). Thus he apprehends himself to be just what God has always seen him to be and declares him to be. But repentance comprehends not only such a sense of sin, but also an apprehension of mercy, without which there can be no true repentance (Psa_51:1; Psa_130:4).
(2.) Metanoeo, meaning to change one's mind and purpose, as the result of after knowledge.
(3.) This verb, with the cognate noun metanoia, is used of true repentance, a change of mind and purpose and life, to which remission of sin is promised.
The true penitent is conscious of guilt (Mat_27:3).Psa_119:128; Job_42:5, Job_42:6; 2Co_7:10) and turning from it to God; and (4) a persistent endeavour after a holy life in a walking with God in the way of his commandments.Psa_51:4, Psa_51:9), of pollution (Psa_51:5, Psa_51:7, Psa_51:10), and of helplessness (Psa_51:11; Psa_109:21, Psa_109:22). Thus he apprehends himself to be just what God has always seen him to be and declares him to be. But repentance comprehends not only such a sense of sin, but also an apprehension of mercy, without which there can be no true repentance (Psa_51:1; Psa_130:4).
"Biblical Word: "Redemption" // From: BIBLE DICTIONARY
The purchase back of something that had been lost, by the payment of a ransom. The Greek word so rendered is apolutrosis, a word occurring nine times in Scripture, and always with the idea of a ransom or price paid, i.e., redemption by a lutron (see
There are many passages in the New Testament which represent Christ's sufferings under the idea of a ransom or price, and the result thereby secured is a purchase or redemption (Compare Mat_20:28; Mar_10:45). There are instances in the LXX. Version of the Old Testament of the use of lutron in man's relation to man (Lev_19:20; Lev_25:51; Exo_21:30; Num_35:31, Num_35:32; Isa_45:13; Pro_6:35), and in the same sense of man's relation to God (Num_3:49; Num_18:15).Act_20:28; 1Co_6:19, 1Co_6:20; Gal_3:13; Gal_4:4, Gal_4:5; Eph_1:7; Col_1:14; 1Ti_2:5, 1Ti_2:6; Tit_2:14; Heb_9:12; 1Pe_1:18, 1Pe_1:19; Rev_5:9). The idea running through all these texts, however various their reference, is that of payment made for our redemption. The debt against us is not viewed as simply canceled, but is fully paid. Christ's blood or life, which he surrendered for them, is the "ransom" by which the deliverance of his people from the servitude of sin and from its penal consequences is secured. It is the plain doctrine of Scripture that "Christ saves us neither by the mere exercise of power, nor by his doctrine, nor by his example, nor by the moral influence which he exerted, nor by any subjective influence on his people, whether natural or mystical, but as a satisfaction to divine justice, as an expiation for sin, and as a ransom from the curse and authority of the law, thus reconciling us to God by making it consistent with his perfection to exercise mercy toward sinners" (Hodge's Systematic Theology).
There are many passages in the New Testament which represent Christ's sufferings under the idea of a ransom or price, and the result thereby secured is a purchase or redemption (Compare Mat_20:28; Mar_10:45). There are instances in the LXX. Version of the Old Testament of the use of lutron in man's relation to man (Lev_19:20; Lev_25:51; Exo_21:30; Num_35:31, Num_35:32; Isa_45:13; Pro_6:35), and in the same sense of man's relation to God (Num_3:49; Num_18:15).Act_20:28; 1Co_6:19, 1Co_6:20; Gal_3:13; Gal_4:4, Gal_4:5; Eph_1:7; Col_1:14; 1Ti_2:5, 1Ti_2:6; Tit_2:14; Heb_9:12; 1Pe_1:18, 1Pe_1:19; Rev_5:9). The idea running through all these texts, however various their reference, is that of payment made for our redemption. The debt against us is not viewed as simply canceled, but is fully paid. Christ's blood or life, which he surrendered for them, is the "ransom" by which the deliverance of his people from the servitude of sin and from its penal consequences is secured. It is the plain doctrine of Scripture that "Christ saves us neither by the mere exercise of power, nor by his doctrine, nor by his example, nor by the moral influence which he exerted, nor by any subjective influence on his people, whether natural or mystical, but as a satisfaction to divine justice, as an expiation for sin, and as a ransom from the curse and authority of the law, thus reconciling us to God by making it consistent with his perfection to exercise mercy toward sinners" (Hodge's Systematic Theology).
"Biblical Word: "Paul, the Apostle" // From: BIBLE DICTIONARY
=Saul (q.v.) was born about the same time as our Lord. His circumcision-name was Saul, and probably the name Paul was also given to him in infancy "for use in the Gentile world," as "Saul" would be his Hebrew home-name. He was a native of Tarsus, the capital of Cilicia, a Roman province in the south-east of Asia Minor. That city stood on the banks of the river Cydnus, which was navigable thus far; hence it became a centre of extensive commercial traffic with many countries along the shores of the Mediterranean, as well as with the countries of central Asia Minor. It thus became a city distinguished for the wealth of its inhabitants.
Tarsus was also the seat of a famous university, higher in reputation even than the universities of Athens and Alexandria, the only others that then existed. Here Saul was born, and here he spent his youth, doubtless enjoying the best education his native city could afford. His father was of the straightest sect of the Jews, a Pharisee, of the tribe of Benjamin, of pure and unmixed Jewish blood (
We read of his sister and his sister's son (
According to Jewish custom, however, he learned a trade before entering on the more direct preparation for the sacred profession. The trade he acquired was the making of tents from goats' hair cloth, a trade which was one of the commonest in Tarsus.
His preliminary education having been completed, Saul was sent, when about thirteen years of age probably, to the great Jewish school of sacred learning at Jerusalem as a student of the law. Here he became a pupil of the celebrated rabbi Gamaliel, and here he spent many years in an elaborate study of the Scriptures and of the many questions concerning them with which the rabbis exercised themselves. During these years of diligent study he lived "in all good conscience," unstained by the vices of that great city.
After the period of his student-life expired, he probably left Jerusalem for Tarsus, where he may have been engaged in connection with some synagogue for some years. But we find him back again at Jerusalem very soon after the death of our Lord. Here he now learned the particulars regarding the crucifixion, and the rise of the new sect of the "Nazarenes."
For some two years after Pentecost, Christianity was quietly spreading its influence in Jerusalem. At length Stephen, one of the seven deacons, gave forth more public and aggressive testimony that Jesus was the Messiah, and this led to much excitement among the Jews and much disputation in their synagogues. Persecution arose against Stephen and the followers of Christ generally, in which Saul of Tarsus took a prominent part. He was at this time probably a member of the great Sanhedrin, and became the active leader in the furious persecution by which the rulers then sought to exterminate Christianity.
But the object of this persecution also failed. "They that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word." The anger of the persecutor was thereby kindled into a fiercer flame. Hearing that fugitives had taken refuge in Damascus, he obtained from the chief priest letters authorizing him to proceed thither on his persecuting career. This was a long journey of about 130 miles, which would occupy perhaps six days, during which, with his few attendants, he steadily went onward, "breathing out threatenings and slaughter." But the crisis of his life was at hand. He had reached the last stage of his journey, and was within sight of Damascus. As he and his companions rode on, suddenly at mid-day a brilliant light shone round them, and Saul was laid prostrate in terror on the ground, a voice sounding in his ears, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?" The risen Saviour was there, clothed in the vesture of his glorified humanity. In answer to the anxious inquiry of the stricken persecutor, "Who art thou, Lord?" he said, "I am Jesus whom thou persecutest" (
This was the moment of his conversion, the most solemn in all his life. Blinded by the dazzling light (
Immediately after his conversion he retired into the solitudes of Arabia (
At length the city of Antioch, the capital of Syria, became the scene of great Christian activity. There the gospel gained a firm footing, and the cause of Christ prospered. Barnabas (q.v.), who had been sent from Jerusalem to superintend the work at Antioch, found it too much for him, and remembering Saul, he set out to Tarsus to seek for him. He readily responded to the call thus addressed to him, and came down to Antioch, which for "a whole year" became the scene of his labours, which were crowned with great success. The disciples now, for the first time, were called "Christians" (
The church at Antioch now proposed to send out missionaries to the Gentiles, and Saul and Barnabas, with John Mark as their attendant, were chosen for this work. This was a great epoch in the history of the church. Now the disciples began to give effect to the Master's command: "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature."
The three missionaries went forth on the first missionary tour. They sailed from Seleucia, the seaport of Antioch, across to Cyprus, some 80 miles to the south-west. Here at Paphos, Sergius Paulus, the Roman proconsul, was converted, and now Saul took the lead, and was ever afterwards called Paul. The missionaries now crossed to the mainland, and then proceeded 6 or 7 miles up the river Cestrus to Perga (
After remaining "a long time", probably till A.D. 50 or 51, in Antioch, a great controversy broke out in the church there regarding the relation of the Gentiles to the Mosaic law. For the purpose of obtaining a settlement of this question, Paul and Barnabas were sent as deputies to consult the church at Jerusalem. The council or synod which was there held (Acts 15) decided against the Judaizing party; and the deputies, accompanied by Judas and Silas, returned to Antioch, bringing with them the decree of the council.
After a short rest at Antioch, Paul said to Barnabas: "Let us go again and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord, and see how they do." Mark proposed again to accompany them; but Paul refused to allow him to go. Barnabas was resolved to take Mark, and thus he and Paul had a sharp contention. They separated, and never again met. Paul, however, afterwards speaks with honour of Barnabas, and sends for Mark to come to him at Rome (
Paul took with him Silas, instead of Barnabas, and began his second missionary journey about A.D. 51. This time he went by land, revisiting the churches he had already founded in Asia. But he longed to enter into "regions beyond," and still went forward through Phrygia and Galatia (
As he waited at Troas for indications of the will of God as to his future movements, he saw, in the vision of the night, a man from the opposite shores of Macedonia standing before him, and heard him cry, "Come over, and help us" (
He then began his third missionary tour. He journeyed by land in the "upper coasts" (the more eastern parts) of Asia Minor, and at length made his way to Ephesus, where he tarried for no less than three years, engaged in ceaseless Christian labour. "This city was at the time the Liverpool of the Mediterranean. It possessed a splendid harbour, in which was concentrated the traffic of the sea which was then the highway of the nations; and as Liverpool has behind her the great towns of Lancashire, so had Ephesus behind and around her such cities as those mentioned along with her in the epistles to the churches in the book of Revelation, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. It was a city of vast wealth, and it was given over to every kind of pleasure, the fame of its theatres and race-course being world-wide" (Stalker's Life of St. Paul). Here a "great door and effectual" was opened to the apostle. His fellow-labourers aided him in his work, carrying the gospel to Colosse and Laodicea and other places which they could reach.
Very shortly before his departure from Ephesus, the apostle wrote his First Epistle to the Corinthians (q.v.). The silversmiths, whose traffic in the little images which they made was in danger (see DEMETRIUS), organized a riot against Paul, and he left the city, and proceeded to Troas (
While at Jerusalem, at the feast of Pentecost, he was almost murdered by a Jewish mob in the temple. (See TEMPLE, HEROD'S.) Rescued from their violence by the Roman commandant, he was conveyed as a prisoner to Caesarea, where, from various causes, he was detained a prisoner for two years in Herod's praetorium (
At the end of these two years Felix (q.v.) was succeeded in the governorship of Palestine by Porcius Festus, before whom the apostle was again heard. But judging it right at this crisis to claim the privilege of a Roman citizen, he appealed to the emperor (
This first imprisonment came at length to a close, Paul having been acquitted, probably because no witnesses appeared against him. Once more he set out on his missionary labours, probably visiting western and eastern Europe and Asia Minor. During this period of freedom he wrote his First Epistle to Timothy and his Epistle to Titus. The year of his release was signalized by the burning of Rome, which Nero saw fit to attribute to the Christians. A fierce persecution now broke out against the Christians. Paul was seized, and once more conveyed to Rome a prisoner. During this imprisonment he probably wrote the Second Epistle to Timothy, the last he ever wrote. "There can be little doubt that he appeared again at Nero's bar, and this time the charge did not break down. In all history there is not a more startling illustration of the irony of human life than this scene of Paul at the bar of Nero. On the judgment-seat, clad in the imperial purple, sat a man who, in a bad world, had attained the eminence of being the very worst and meanest being in it, a man stained with every crime, a man whose whole being was so steeped in every namable and unnamable vice, that body and soul of him were, as some one said at the time, nothing but a compound of mud and blood; and in the prisoner's dock stood the best man the world possessed, his hair whitened with labours for the good of men and the glory of God. The trial ended: Paul was condemned, and delivered over to the executioner. He was led out of the city, with a crowd of the lowest rabble at his heels. The fatal spot was reached; he knelt beside the block; the headsman's axe gleamed in the sun and fell; and the head of the apostle of the world rolled down in the dust" (probably A.D. 66), four years before the fall of Jerusalem.Act_23:6; Phi_3:5). We learn nothing regarding his mother; but there is reason to conclude that she was a pious woman, and that, like-minded with her husband, she exercised all a mother influence in moulding the character of her son, so that he could afterwards speak of himself as being, from his youth up, "touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless" (Phi_3:6).Act_23:16), and of other relatives (Rom_16:7, Rom_16:11, Rom_16:12). Though a Jew, his father was a Roman citizen. How he obtained this privilege we are not informed. "It might be bought, or won by distinguished service to the state, or acquired in several other ways; at all events, his son was freeborn. It was a valuable privilege, and one that was to prove of great use to Paul, although not in the way in which his father might have been expected to desire him to make use of it." Perhaps the most natural career for the youth to follow was that of a merchant. "But it was decided that... he should go to college and become a rabbi, that is, a minister, a teacher, and a lawyer all in one."Act_9:5; Act_22:8; Act_26:15).Act_9:8), his companions led him into the city, where, absorbed in deep thought for three days, he neither ate nor drank (Act_9:11). Ananias, a disciple living in Damascus, was informed by a vision of the change that had happened to Saul, and was sent to him to open his eyes and admit him by baptism into the Christian church (Act_9:11-16). The whole purpose of his life was now permanently changed.Gal_1:17), perhaps of "Sinai in Arabia," for the purpose, probably, of devout study and meditation on the marvelous revelation that had been made to him. "A veil of thick darkness hangs over this visit to Arabia. Of the scenes among which he moved, of the thoughts and occupations which engaged him while there, of all the circumstances of a crisis which must have shaped the whole tenor of his after-life, absolutely nothing is known. 'Immediately,' says St. Paul, 'I went away into Arabia.' The historian passes over the incident [compare Act_9:23 and 1Ki_11:38, 1Ki_11:39]. It is a mysterious pause, a moment of suspense, in the apostle's history, a breathless calm, which ushers in the tumultuous storm of his active missionary life." Coming back, after three years, to Damascus, he began to preach the gospel "boldly in the name of Jesus" (Act_9:27), but was soon obliged to flee (Act_9:25; 2Co_11:33) from the Jews and betake himself to Jerusalem. Here he tarried for three weeks, but was again forced to flee (Act_9:28, Act_9:29) from persecution. He now returned to his native Tarsus (Gal_1:21), where, for probably about three years, we lose sight of him. The time had not yet come for his entering on his great life-work of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles.Act_11:26).Act_13:13), where John Mark deserted the work and returned to Jerusalem. The two then proceeded about 100 miles inland, passing through Pamphylia, Pisidia, and Lycaonia. The towns mentioned in this tour are the Pisidian Antioch, where Paul delivered his first address of which we have any record (Acts 13:16-51; compare Act_10:30-43), Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe. They returned by the same route to see and encourage the converts they had made, and ordain elders in every city to watch over the churches which had been gathered. From Perga they sailed direct for Antioch, from which they had set out.Col_4:10; 2Ti_4:11).Act_16:6). Contrary to his intention, he was constrained to linger in Galatia (q.v.), on account of some bodily affliction (Gal_4:13, Gal_4:14). Bithynia, a populous province on the shore of the Black Sea, lay now before him, and he wished to enter it; but the way was shut, the Spirit in some manner guiding him in another direction, till he came down to the shores of the Aegean and arrived at Troas, on the north-western coast of Asia Minor (Act_16:8). Of this long journey from Antioch to Troas we have no account except some references to it in his Epistle to the Galatians (Gal_4:13).Act_16:9). Paul recognized in this vision a message from the Lord, and the very next day set sail across the Hellespont, which separated him from Europe, and carried the tidings of the gospel into the Western world. In Macedonia, churches were planted in Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea. Leaving this province, Paul passed into Achaia, "the paradise of genius and renown." He reached Athens, but quitted it after, probably, a brief sojourn (Act_17:17-31). The Athenians had received him with cold disdain, and he never visited that city again. He passed over to Corinth, the seat of the Roman government of Achaia, and remained there a year and a half, labouring with much success. While at Corinth, he wrote his two epistles to the church of Thessalonica, his earliest apostolic letters, and then sailed for Syria, that he might be in time to keep the feast of Pentecost at Jerusalem. He was accompanied by Aquila and Priscilla, whom he left at Ephesus, at which he touched, after a voyage of thirteen or fifteen days. He landed at Caesarea, and went up to Jerusalem, and having "saluted the church" there, and kept the feast, he left for Antioch, where he abode "some time" (Act_18:20-23).2Co_2:12), whence after some time he went to meet Titus in Macedonia. Here, in consequence of the report Titus brought from Corinth, he wrote his second epistle to that church. Having spent probably most of the summer and autumn in Macedonia, visiting the churches there, specially the churches of Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea, probably penetrating into the interior, to the shores of the Adriatic (Rom_15:19), he then came into Greece, where he abode three month, spending probably the greater part of this time in Corinth (Act_20:2). During his stay in this city he wrote his Epistle to the Galatians, and also the great Epistle to the Romans. At the end of the three months he left Achaia for Macedonia, thence crossed into Asia Minor, and touching at Miletus, there addressed the Ephesian presbyters, whom he had sent for to meet him (Act_20:17), and then sailed for Tyre, finally reaching Jerusalem, probably in the spring of A.D. 58.Act_23:35). "Paul was not kept in close confinement; he had at least the range of the barracks in which he was detained. There we can imagine him pacing the ramparts on the edge of the Mediterranean, and gazing wistfully across the blue waters in the direction of Macedonia, Achaia, and Ephesus, where his spiritual children were pining for him, or perhaps encountering dangers in which they sorely needed his presence. It was a mysterious providence which thus arrested his energies and condemned the ardent worker to inactivity; yet we can now see the reason for it. Paul was needing rest. After twenty years of incessant evangelization, he required leisure to garner the harvest of experience... During these two years he wrote nothing; it was a time of internal mental activity and silent progress" (Stalker's Life of St. Paul).Act_25:11). Such an appeal could not be disregarded, and Paul was at once sent on to Rome under the charge of one Julius, a centurion of the "Augustan cohort." After a long and perilous voyage, he at length reached the imperial city in the early spring, probably, of A.D. 61. Here he was permitted to occupy his own hired he was permitted to occupy his own hired house, under constant military custody. This privilege was accorded to him, no doubt, because he was a Roman citizen, and as such could not be put into prison without a trial. The soldiers who kept guard over Paul were of course changed at frequent intervals, and thus he had the opportunity of preaching the gospel to many of them during these "two whole years," and with the blessed result of spreading among the imperial guards, and even in Caesar's household, an interest in the truth (Phi_1:13). His rooms were resorted to by many anxious inquirers, both Jews and Gentiles (Act_28:23, Act_28:30, Act_28:31), and thus his imprisonment "turned rather to the furtherance of the gospel," and his "hired house" became the centre of a gracious influence which spread over the whole city. According to a Jewish tradition, it was situated on the borders of the modern Ghetto, which has been the Jewish quarters in Rome from the time of Pompey to the present day. During this period the apostle wrote his epistles to the Colossians, Ephesians, Philippians, and to Philemon, and probably also to the Hebrews.
Tarsus was also the seat of a famous university, higher in reputation even than the universities of Athens and Alexandria, the only others that then existed. Here Saul was born, and here he spent his youth, doubtless enjoying the best education his native city could afford. His father was of the straightest sect of the Jews, a Pharisee, of the tribe of Benjamin, of pure and unmixed Jewish blood (
We read of his sister and his sister's son (
According to Jewish custom, however, he learned a trade before entering on the more direct preparation for the sacred profession. The trade he acquired was the making of tents from goats' hair cloth, a trade which was one of the commonest in Tarsus.
His preliminary education having been completed, Saul was sent, when about thirteen years of age probably, to the great Jewish school of sacred learning at Jerusalem as a student of the law. Here he became a pupil of the celebrated rabbi Gamaliel, and here he spent many years in an elaborate study of the Scriptures and of the many questions concerning them with which the rabbis exercised themselves. During these years of diligent study he lived "in all good conscience," unstained by the vices of that great city.
After the period of his student-life expired, he probably left Jerusalem for Tarsus, where he may have been engaged in connection with some synagogue for some years. But we find him back again at Jerusalem very soon after the death of our Lord. Here he now learned the particulars regarding the crucifixion, and the rise of the new sect of the "Nazarenes."
For some two years after Pentecost, Christianity was quietly spreading its influence in Jerusalem. At length Stephen, one of the seven deacons, gave forth more public and aggressive testimony that Jesus was the Messiah, and this led to much excitement among the Jews and much disputation in their synagogues. Persecution arose against Stephen and the followers of Christ generally, in which Saul of Tarsus took a prominent part. He was at this time probably a member of the great Sanhedrin, and became the active leader in the furious persecution by which the rulers then sought to exterminate Christianity.
But the object of this persecution also failed. "They that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word." The anger of the persecutor was thereby kindled into a fiercer flame. Hearing that fugitives had taken refuge in Damascus, he obtained from the chief priest letters authorizing him to proceed thither on his persecuting career. This was a long journey of about 130 miles, which would occupy perhaps six days, during which, with his few attendants, he steadily went onward, "breathing out threatenings and slaughter." But the crisis of his life was at hand. He had reached the last stage of his journey, and was within sight of Damascus. As he and his companions rode on, suddenly at mid-day a brilliant light shone round them, and Saul was laid prostrate in terror on the ground, a voice sounding in his ears, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?" The risen Saviour was there, clothed in the vesture of his glorified humanity. In answer to the anxious inquiry of the stricken persecutor, "Who art thou, Lord?" he said, "I am Jesus whom thou persecutest" (
This was the moment of his conversion, the most solemn in all his life. Blinded by the dazzling light (
Immediately after his conversion he retired into the solitudes of Arabia (
At length the city of Antioch, the capital of Syria, became the scene of great Christian activity. There the gospel gained a firm footing, and the cause of Christ prospered. Barnabas (q.v.), who had been sent from Jerusalem to superintend the work at Antioch, found it too much for him, and remembering Saul, he set out to Tarsus to seek for him. He readily responded to the call thus addressed to him, and came down to Antioch, which for "a whole year" became the scene of his labours, which were crowned with great success. The disciples now, for the first time, were called "Christians" (
The church at Antioch now proposed to send out missionaries to the Gentiles, and Saul and Barnabas, with John Mark as their attendant, were chosen for this work. This was a great epoch in the history of the church. Now the disciples began to give effect to the Master's command: "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature."
The three missionaries went forth on the first missionary tour. They sailed from Seleucia, the seaport of Antioch, across to Cyprus, some 80 miles to the south-west. Here at Paphos, Sergius Paulus, the Roman proconsul, was converted, and now Saul took the lead, and was ever afterwards called Paul. The missionaries now crossed to the mainland, and then proceeded 6 or 7 miles up the river Cestrus to Perga (
After remaining "a long time", probably till A.D. 50 or 51, in Antioch, a great controversy broke out in the church there regarding the relation of the Gentiles to the Mosaic law. For the purpose of obtaining a settlement of this question, Paul and Barnabas were sent as deputies to consult the church at Jerusalem. The council or synod which was there held (Acts 15) decided against the Judaizing party; and the deputies, accompanied by Judas and Silas, returned to Antioch, bringing with them the decree of the council.
After a short rest at Antioch, Paul said to Barnabas: "Let us go again and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord, and see how they do." Mark proposed again to accompany them; but Paul refused to allow him to go. Barnabas was resolved to take Mark, and thus he and Paul had a sharp contention. They separated, and never again met. Paul, however, afterwards speaks with honour of Barnabas, and sends for Mark to come to him at Rome (
Paul took with him Silas, instead of Barnabas, and began his second missionary journey about A.D. 51. This time he went by land, revisiting the churches he had already founded in Asia. But he longed to enter into "regions beyond," and still went forward through Phrygia and Galatia (
As he waited at Troas for indications of the will of God as to his future movements, he saw, in the vision of the night, a man from the opposite shores of Macedonia standing before him, and heard him cry, "Come over, and help us" (
He then began his third missionary tour. He journeyed by land in the "upper coasts" (the more eastern parts) of Asia Minor, and at length made his way to Ephesus, where he tarried for no less than three years, engaged in ceaseless Christian labour. "This city was at the time the Liverpool of the Mediterranean. It possessed a splendid harbour, in which was concentrated the traffic of the sea which was then the highway of the nations; and as Liverpool has behind her the great towns of Lancashire, so had Ephesus behind and around her such cities as those mentioned along with her in the epistles to the churches in the book of Revelation, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. It was a city of vast wealth, and it was given over to every kind of pleasure, the fame of its theatres and race-course being world-wide" (Stalker's Life of St. Paul). Here a "great door and effectual" was opened to the apostle. His fellow-labourers aided him in his work, carrying the gospel to Colosse and Laodicea and other places which they could reach.
Very shortly before his departure from Ephesus, the apostle wrote his First Epistle to the Corinthians (q.v.). The silversmiths, whose traffic in the little images which they made was in danger (see DEMETRIUS), organized a riot against Paul, and he left the city, and proceeded to Troas (
While at Jerusalem, at the feast of Pentecost, he was almost murdered by a Jewish mob in the temple. (See TEMPLE, HEROD'S.) Rescued from their violence by the Roman commandant, he was conveyed as a prisoner to Caesarea, where, from various causes, he was detained a prisoner for two years in Herod's praetorium (
At the end of these two years Felix (q.v.) was succeeded in the governorship of Palestine by Porcius Festus, before whom the apostle was again heard. But judging it right at this crisis to claim the privilege of a Roman citizen, he appealed to the emperor (
This first imprisonment came at length to a close, Paul having been acquitted, probably because no witnesses appeared against him. Once more he set out on his missionary labours, probably visiting western and eastern Europe and Asia Minor. During this period of freedom he wrote his First Epistle to Timothy and his Epistle to Titus. The year of his release was signalized by the burning of Rome, which Nero saw fit to attribute to the Christians. A fierce persecution now broke out against the Christians. Paul was seized, and once more conveyed to Rome a prisoner. During this imprisonment he probably wrote the Second Epistle to Timothy, the last he ever wrote. "There can be little doubt that he appeared again at Nero's bar, and this time the charge did not break down. In all history there is not a more startling illustration of the irony of human life than this scene of Paul at the bar of Nero. On the judgment-seat, clad in the imperial purple, sat a man who, in a bad world, had attained the eminence of being the very worst and meanest being in it, a man stained with every crime, a man whose whole being was so steeped in every namable and unnamable vice, that body and soul of him were, as some one said at the time, nothing but a compound of mud and blood; and in the prisoner's dock stood the best man the world possessed, his hair whitened with labours for the good of men and the glory of God. The trial ended: Paul was condemned, and delivered over to the executioner. He was led out of the city, with a crowd of the lowest rabble at his heels. The fatal spot was reached; he knelt beside the block; the headsman's axe gleamed in the sun and fell; and the head of the apostle of the world rolled down in the dust" (probably A.D. 66), four years before the fall of Jerusalem.Act_23:6; Phi_3:5). We learn nothing regarding his mother; but there is reason to conclude that she was a pious woman, and that, like-minded with her husband, she exercised all a mother influence in moulding the character of her son, so that he could afterwards speak of himself as being, from his youth up, "touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless" (Phi_3:6).Act_23:16), and of other relatives (Rom_16:7, Rom_16:11, Rom_16:12). Though a Jew, his father was a Roman citizen. How he obtained this privilege we are not informed. "It might be bought, or won by distinguished service to the state, or acquired in several other ways; at all events, his son was freeborn. It was a valuable privilege, and one that was to prove of great use to Paul, although not in the way in which his father might have been expected to desire him to make use of it." Perhaps the most natural career for the youth to follow was that of a merchant. "But it was decided that... he should go to college and become a rabbi, that is, a minister, a teacher, and a lawyer all in one."Act_9:5; Act_22:8; Act_26:15).Act_9:8), his companions led him into the city, where, absorbed in deep thought for three days, he neither ate nor drank (Act_9:11). Ananias, a disciple living in Damascus, was informed by a vision of the change that had happened to Saul, and was sent to him to open his eyes and admit him by baptism into the Christian church (Act_9:11-16). The whole purpose of his life was now permanently changed.Gal_1:17), perhaps of "Sinai in Arabia," for the purpose, probably, of devout study and meditation on the marvelous revelation that had been made to him. "A veil of thick darkness hangs over this visit to Arabia. Of the scenes among which he moved, of the thoughts and occupations which engaged him while there, of all the circumstances of a crisis which must have shaped the whole tenor of his after-life, absolutely nothing is known. 'Immediately,' says St. Paul, 'I went away into Arabia.' The historian passes over the incident [compare Act_9:23 and 1Ki_11:38, 1Ki_11:39]. It is a mysterious pause, a moment of suspense, in the apostle's history, a breathless calm, which ushers in the tumultuous storm of his active missionary life." Coming back, after three years, to Damascus, he began to preach the gospel "boldly in the name of Jesus" (Act_9:27), but was soon obliged to flee (Act_9:25; 2Co_11:33) from the Jews and betake himself to Jerusalem. Here he tarried for three weeks, but was again forced to flee (Act_9:28, Act_9:29) from persecution. He now returned to his native Tarsus (Gal_1:21), where, for probably about three years, we lose sight of him. The time had not yet come for his entering on his great life-work of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles.Act_11:26).Act_13:13), where John Mark deserted the work and returned to Jerusalem. The two then proceeded about 100 miles inland, passing through Pamphylia, Pisidia, and Lycaonia. The towns mentioned in this tour are the Pisidian Antioch, where Paul delivered his first address of which we have any record (Acts 13:16-51; compare Act_10:30-43), Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe. They returned by the same route to see and encourage the converts they had made, and ordain elders in every city to watch over the churches which had been gathered. From Perga they sailed direct for Antioch, from which they had set out.Col_4:10; 2Ti_4:11).Act_16:6). Contrary to his intention, he was constrained to linger in Galatia (q.v.), on account of some bodily affliction (Gal_4:13, Gal_4:14). Bithynia, a populous province on the shore of the Black Sea, lay now before him, and he wished to enter it; but the way was shut, the Spirit in some manner guiding him in another direction, till he came down to the shores of the Aegean and arrived at Troas, on the north-western coast of Asia Minor (Act_16:8). Of this long journey from Antioch to Troas we have no account except some references to it in his Epistle to the Galatians (Gal_4:13).Act_16:9). Paul recognized in this vision a message from the Lord, and the very next day set sail across the Hellespont, which separated him from Europe, and carried the tidings of the gospel into the Western world. In Macedonia, churches were planted in Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea. Leaving this province, Paul passed into Achaia, "the paradise of genius and renown." He reached Athens, but quitted it after, probably, a brief sojourn (Act_17:17-31). The Athenians had received him with cold disdain, and he never visited that city again. He passed over to Corinth, the seat of the Roman government of Achaia, and remained there a year and a half, labouring with much success. While at Corinth, he wrote his two epistles to the church of Thessalonica, his earliest apostolic letters, and then sailed for Syria, that he might be in time to keep the feast of Pentecost at Jerusalem. He was accompanied by Aquila and Priscilla, whom he left at Ephesus, at which he touched, after a voyage of thirteen or fifteen days. He landed at Caesarea, and went up to Jerusalem, and having "saluted the church" there, and kept the feast, he left for Antioch, where he abode "some time" (Act_18:20-23).2Co_2:12), whence after some time he went to meet Titus in Macedonia. Here, in consequence of the report Titus brought from Corinth, he wrote his second epistle to that church. Having spent probably most of the summer and autumn in Macedonia, visiting the churches there, specially the churches of Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea, probably penetrating into the interior, to the shores of the Adriatic (Rom_15:19), he then came into Greece, where he abode three month, spending probably the greater part of this time in Corinth (Act_20:2). During his stay in this city he wrote his Epistle to the Galatians, and also the great Epistle to the Romans. At the end of the three months he left Achaia for Macedonia, thence crossed into Asia Minor, and touching at Miletus, there addressed the Ephesian presbyters, whom he had sent for to meet him (Act_20:17), and then sailed for Tyre, finally reaching Jerusalem, probably in the spring of A.D. 58.Act_23:35). "Paul was not kept in close confinement; he had at least the range of the barracks in which he was detained. There we can imagine him pacing the ramparts on the edge of the Mediterranean, and gazing wistfully across the blue waters in the direction of Macedonia, Achaia, and Ephesus, where his spiritual children were pining for him, or perhaps encountering dangers in which they sorely needed his presence. It was a mysterious providence which thus arrested his energies and condemned the ardent worker to inactivity; yet we can now see the reason for it. Paul was needing rest. After twenty years of incessant evangelization, he required leisure to garner the harvest of experience... During these two years he wrote nothing; it was a time of internal mental activity and silent progress" (Stalker's Life of St. Paul).Act_25:11). Such an appeal could not be disregarded, and Paul was at once sent on to Rome under the charge of one Julius, a centurion of the "Augustan cohort." After a long and perilous voyage, he at length reached the imperial city in the early spring, probably, of A.D. 61. Here he was permitted to occupy his own hired he was permitted to occupy his own hired house, under constant military custody. This privilege was accorded to him, no doubt, because he was a Roman citizen, and as such could not be put into prison without a trial. The soldiers who kept guard over Paul were of course changed at frequent intervals, and thus he had the opportunity of preaching the gospel to many of them during these "two whole years," and with the blessed result of spreading among the imperial guards, and even in Caesar's household, an interest in the truth (Phi_1:13). His rooms were resorted to by many anxious inquirers, both Jews and Gentiles (Act_28:23, Act_28:30, Act_28:31), and thus his imprisonment "turned rather to the furtherance of the gospel," and his "hired house" became the centre of a gracious influence which spread over the whole city. According to a Jewish tradition, it was situated on the borders of the modern Ghetto, which has been the Jewish quarters in Rome from the time of Pompey to the present day. During this period the apostle wrote his epistles to the Colossians, Ephesians, Philippians, and to Philemon, and probably also to the Hebrews.
"Biblical Word: "Maranatha" // From: BIBLE DICTIONARY
(1Co_16:22) consists of two Aramean words, Maran'athah, meaning, "Come,Lord Jesus" or is "coming." If the latter interpretation is adopted, the meaning of the phrase is, "Our Lord is coming, and he will judge those who have set him at naught." (Compare Phi_4:5; Jam_5:8, Jam_5:9.)
"Biblical Word: "The Kingdom of God" // From: BIBLE DICTIONARY
(
(1.) Christ's mediatorial authority, or his rule on the earth;
(2.) the blessings and advantages of all kinds that flow from this rule;
(3.) the subjects of this kingdom taken collectively, or the Church.
(2.) the blessings and advantages of all kinds that flow from this rule;
(3.) the subjects of this kingdom taken collectively, or the Church.
"Biblical Word: "John, The Baptist" // From: BIBLE DICTIONARY
The "forerunner of our Lord." We have but fragmentary and imperfect accounts of him in the Gospels. He was of priestly descent. His father, Zacharias, was a priest of the course of Abia (
At length he came forth into public life, and great multitudes from "every quarter" were attracted to him. The sum of his preaching was the necessity of repentance. He denounced the Sadducees and Pharisees as a "generation of vipers," and warned them of the folly of trusting to external privileges (
The fame of John reached the ears of Jesus in Nazareth (1Ch_24:10), and his mother, Elisabeth, was of the daughters of Aaron (Luk_1:5). The mission of John was the subject of prophecy (Mat_3:3; Isa_40:3; Mal_3:1). His birth, which took place six months before that of Jesus, was foretold by an angel. Zacharias, deprived of the power of speech as a token of God's truth and a reproof of his own incredulity with reference to the birth of his son, had the power of speech restored to him on the occasion of his circumcision (Luk_1:64). After this no more is recorded of him for thirty years than what is mentioned in Luk_1:80. John was a Nazarite from his birth (Luk_1:15; Num_6:1-12). He spent his early years in the mountainous tract of Judah lying between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea (Mat_3:1-12).Luk_3:8). "As a preacher, John was eminently practical and discriminating. Self-love and covetousness were the prevalent sins of the people at large. On them, therefore, he enjoined charity and consideration for others. The publicans he cautioned against extortion, the soldiers against crime and plunder." His doctrine and manner of life roused the entire south of Palestine, and the people from all parts flocked to the place where he was, on the banks of the Jordan. There he baptized thousands unto repentance.Mat_3:5), and he came from Galilee to Jordan to be baptized of John, on the special ground that it became him to "fulfill all righteousness" (Mat_3:15). John's special office ceased with the baptism of Jesus, who must now "increase as the King come to his kingdom. He continued, however, for a while to bear testimony to the Messiahship of Jesus. He pointed him out to his disciples, saying, "Behold the Lamb of God." His public ministry was suddenly (after about six months probably) brought to a close by his being cast into prison by Herod, whom he had reproved for the sin of having taken to himself the wife of his brother Philip (Luk_3:19). He was shut up in the castle of Machaerus (q.v.), a fortress on the southern extremity of Peraea, 9 miles east of the Dead Sea, and here he was beheaded. His disciples, having consigned the headless body to the grave, went and told Jesus all that had occurred (Mat_14:3-12). John's death occurred apparently just before the third Passover of our Lord's ministry. Our Lord himself testified regarding him that he was a "burning and a shining light" (Joh_5:35).
At length he came forth into public life, and great multitudes from "every quarter" were attracted to him. The sum of his preaching was the necessity of repentance. He denounced the Sadducees and Pharisees as a "generation of vipers," and warned them of the folly of trusting to external privileges (
The fame of John reached the ears of Jesus in Nazareth (1Ch_24:10), and his mother, Elisabeth, was of the daughters of Aaron (Luk_1:5). The mission of John was the subject of prophecy (Mat_3:3; Isa_40:3; Mal_3:1). His birth, which took place six months before that of Jesus, was foretold by an angel. Zacharias, deprived of the power of speech as a token of God's truth and a reproof of his own incredulity with reference to the birth of his son, had the power of speech restored to him on the occasion of his circumcision (Luk_1:64). After this no more is recorded of him for thirty years than what is mentioned in Luk_1:80. John was a Nazarite from his birth (Luk_1:15; Num_6:1-12). He spent his early years in the mountainous tract of Judah lying between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea (Mat_3:1-12).Luk_3:8). "As a preacher, John was eminently practical and discriminating. Self-love and covetousness were the prevalent sins of the people at large. On them, therefore, he enjoined charity and consideration for others. The publicans he cautioned against extortion, the soldiers against crime and plunder." His doctrine and manner of life roused the entire south of Palestine, and the people from all parts flocked to the place where he was, on the banks of the Jordan. There he baptized thousands unto repentance.Mat_3:5), and he came from Galilee to Jordan to be baptized of John, on the special ground that it became him to "fulfill all righteousness" (Mat_3:15). John's special office ceased with the baptism of Jesus, who must now "increase as the King come to his kingdom. He continued, however, for a while to bear testimony to the Messiahship of Jesus. He pointed him out to his disciples, saying, "Behold the Lamb of God." His public ministry was suddenly (after about six months probably) brought to a close by his being cast into prison by Herod, whom he had reproved for the sin of having taken to himself the wife of his brother Philip (Luk_3:19). He was shut up in the castle of Machaerus (q.v.), a fortress on the southern extremity of Peraea, 9 miles east of the Dead Sea, and here he was beheaded. His disciples, having consigned the headless body to the grave, went and told Jesus all that had occurred (Mat_14:3-12). John's death occurred apparently just before the third Passover of our Lord's ministry. Our Lord himself testified regarding him that he was a "burning and a shining light" (Joh_5:35).
"Biblical Word: "The Gospel of John" // From: BIBLE DICTIONARY
The genuineness of this Gospel, i.e., the fact that the apostle John was its author, is beyond all reasonable doubt. In recent times, from about 1820, many attempts have been made to impugn its genuineness, but without success.
The design of John in writing this Gospel is stated by himself (
After the prologue (
The peculiarities of this Gospel are the place it gives
(1.) to the mystical relation of the Son to the Father, and
(2.) of the Redeemer to believers;
(3.) the announcement of the Holy Ghost as the Comforter;
(4.) the prominence given to love as an element in the Christian character. It was obviously addressed primarily to Christians.
The design of John in writing this Gospel is stated by himself (
After the prologue (
The peculiarities of this Gospel are the place it gives
(2.) of the Redeemer to believers;
(3.) the announcement of the Holy Ghost as the Comforter;
(4.) the prominence given to love as an element in the Christian character. It was obviously addressed primarily to Christians.
Friday 1 April 2011
"Biblical Word: "Jesus" // From: BIBLE DICTIONARY
(2.) A Jewish Christian surnamed Justus (
(3.) The proper, as Christ is the official, name of our Lord. To distinguish him from others so called, he is spoken of as "Jesus of Nazareth" (
(b.) that of his public life, which lasted about three years.
(b.) The second year was the year of public favour, during which the country had become thoroughly aware of him; his activity was incessant, and his frame rang through the length and breadth of the land. It was almost wholly passed in Galilee.
(c.) The third was the year of opposition, when the public favour ebbed away. His enemies multiplied and assailed him with more and more pertinacity, and at last he fell a victim to their hatred. The first six months of this final year were passed in Galilee, and the last six in other parts of the land." Stalker's Life of Jesus Christ, p. 45.
This is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Joshua, which was originally Hoshea (Num_13:8, Num_13:16), but changed by Moses into Jehoshua (Num_13:16; 1Ch_7:27), or Joshua. After the Exile it assumed the form Jeshua, whence the Greek form Jesus. It was given to our Lord to denote the object of his mission, to save (Mat_1:21).
The life of Jesus on earth may be divided into two great periods,Mat_1:1; Luk_3:23; compare Joh_7:42). His birth was announced to the shepherds (Luk_2:8-20). Wise men from the east came to Bethlehem to see him who was born "King of the Jews," bringing gifts with them (Mat_2:1-12). Herod's cruel jealousy led to Joseph's flight into Egypt with Mary and the infant Jesus, where they tarried till the death of this king (Mat_2:13-23), when they returned and settled in Nazareth, in Lower Galilee (Mat_2:23; compare Luk_4:16; Joh_1:46, etc.). At the age of twelve years he went up to Jerusalem to the Passover with his parents. There, in the temple, "in the midst of the doctors," all that heard him were "astonished at his understanding and answers" (Luk_2:41, etc.).
Eighteen years pass, of which we have no record beyond this, that he returned to Nazareth and "increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man" (Luk_2:52).
He entered on his public ministry when he was about thirty years of age. It is generally reckoned to have extended to about three years. "Each of these years had peculiar features of its own.
"Biblical Word: "Scripture" // From: BIBLE DICTIONARY
Invariably in the New Testament denotes that definite collection of sacred books, regarded as given by inspiration of God, which we usually call the Old Testament (2Ti_3:15, 2Ti_3:16; Joh_20:9; Gal_3:22; 2Pe_1:20). It was God's purpose thus to perpetuate his revealed will. From time to time he raised up men to commit to writing in an infallible record the revelation he gave. The "Scripture," or collection of sacred writings, was thus enlarged from time to time as God saw necessary. We have now a completed "Scripture," consisting of the Old and New Testaments. The Old Testament canon in the time of our Lord was precisely the same as that which we now possess under that name. He placed the seal of his own authority on this collection of writings, as all equally given by inspiration (Mat_5:17; Mat_7:12; Mat_22:40; Luk_16:29, Luk_16:31). (See BIBLE; CANON.)
"Biblical Word: "Satan" // From: BIBLE DICTIONARY
Adversary; accuser. When used as a proper name, the Hebrew word so rendered has the article "the adversary" (
He is also called "the dragon," "the old serpent" (
Christ redeems his people from "him that had the power of death, that is, the devil" (Job_1:6-12; Job_2:1-7). In the New Testament it is used as interchangeable with Diabolos, or the devil, and is so used more than thirty times.Rev_12:9; Rev_20:2); "the prince of this world" (Joh_12:31; Joh_14:30); "the prince of the power of the air" (Eph_2:2); "the god of this world" (2Co_4:4); "the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience" (Eph_2:2). The distinct personality of Satan and his activity among men are thus obviously recognized. He tempted our Lord in the wilderness (Mat_4:1-11). He is "Beelzebub, the prince of the devils" (Mat_12:24). He is "the constant enemy of God, of Christ, of the divine kingdom, of the followers of Christ, and of all truth; full of falsehood and all malice, and exciting and seducing to evil in every possible way." His power is very great in the world. He is a "roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour" (1Pe_5:8). Men are said to be "taken captive by him" (2Ti_2:26). Christians are warned against his "devices" (2Co_2:11), and called on to "resist" him (Jam_4:7).Heb_2:14). Satan has the "power of death," not as lord, but simply as executioner.
He is also called "the dragon," "the old serpent" (
Christ redeems his people from "him that had the power of death, that is, the devil" (Job_1:6-12; Job_2:1-7). In the New Testament it is used as interchangeable with Diabolos, or the devil, and is so used more than thirty times.Rev_12:9; Rev_20:2); "the prince of this world" (Joh_12:31; Joh_14:30); "the prince of the power of the air" (Eph_2:2); "the god of this world" (2Co_4:4); "the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience" (Eph_2:2). The distinct personality of Satan and his activity among men are thus obviously recognized. He tempted our Lord in the wilderness (Mat_4:1-11). He is "Beelzebub, the prince of the devils" (Mat_12:24). He is "the constant enemy of God, of Christ, of the divine kingdom, of the followers of Christ, and of all truth; full of falsehood and all malice, and exciting and seducing to evil in every possible way." His power is very great in the world. He is a "roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour" (1Pe_5:8). Men are said to be "taken captive by him" (2Ti_2:26). Christians are warned against his "devices" (2Co_2:11), and called on to "resist" him (Jam_4:7).Heb_2:14). Satan has the "power of death," not as lord, but simply as executioner.
"Biblical Word: "Blasphemy" //From: BIBLE DICTIONARY
In the sense of speaking evil of God this word is found in
Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost (Psa_74:18; Isa_52:5; Rom_2:24; Rev_13:1, Rev_13:6; Rev_16:9, Rev_16:11, Rev_16:21. It denotes also any kind of calumny, or evil-speaking, or abuse (1Ki_21:10; Act_13:45; Act_18:6, etc.). Our Lord was accused of blasphemy when he claimed to be the Son of God (Mat_26:65; compare Mat_9:3; Mar_2:7). They who deny his Messiahship blaspheme Jesus (Luk_22:65; Joh_10:36).Mat_12:31, Mat_12:32; Mar_3:28, Mar_3:29; Luk_12:10) is regarded by some as a continued and obstinate rejection of the gospel, and hence is an unpardonable sin, simply because as long as a sinner remains in unbelief he voluntarily excludes himself from pardon. Others regard the expression as designating the sin of attributing to the power of Satan those miracles which Christ performed, or generally those works which are the result of the Spirit's agency.
Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost (Psa_74:18; Isa_52:5; Rom_2:24; Rev_13:1, Rev_13:6; Rev_16:9, Rev_16:11, Rev_16:21. It denotes also any kind of calumny, or evil-speaking, or abuse (1Ki_21:10; Act_13:45; Act_18:6, etc.). Our Lord was accused of blasphemy when he claimed to be the Son of God (Mat_26:65; compare Mat_9:3; Mar_2:7). They who deny his Messiahship blaspheme Jesus (Luk_22:65; Joh_10:36).Mat_12:31, Mat_12:32; Mar_3:28, Mar_3:29; Luk_12:10) is regarded by some as a continued and obstinate rejection of the gospel, and hence is an unpardonable sin, simply because as long as a sinner remains in unbelief he voluntarily excludes himself from pardon. Others regard the expression as designating the sin of attributing to the power of Satan those miracles which Christ performed, or generally those works which are the result of the Spirit's agency.
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