The Kingdom Of God By Pastor Tim

The phrases "kingdom of God" and "kingdom of heaven" are troublesome and controversial subjects in the twentieth century.he phrases "kingdom of God" and "kingdom of heaven" are troublesome and controversial subjects in the twentieth century. Controversy and confusion stems from a wrong kingdom theology that has produced a perverted concept of the second coming of Christ and has undermined Church authority. Views range from a first century commencement of God's kingdom to a future commencement at the Lord's second advent. Some teach that it refers to a personal reign of Christ on earth, while others teach that the kingdom is the Church with Christ reigning in the hearts of His people. When did Christ establish his kingdom, or is it yet to be established? What are the characteristics of the Kingdom? Is it visible or spiritual? What role does the Church play in the kingdom or is the Church the kingdom of God? Will there be a millennial reign between the commencement and the consummation of the kingdom of God? Is the kingdom of God progressive or future indicative? Erring on the time of the commencement of God's kingdom will automatically produce multiple contradicting views of theology. Resolving the issue of when the Kingdom of God commenced will reduce controversy and confusion. If the Kingdom of God is not here, one must be looked for. There is no difference in the meaning between "the kingdom of God" and "the kingdom of heaven". They both represent an idea deeply rooted in the Old Testament and constitute the central theme of Christ's teaching (The Interpreter's Dictionary Of The Bible 1962). When John the Baptist and Jesus Christ spoke of the Kingdom being "near" or "at hand" all understood that the Messiah was about to set up the long predicted kingdom. The prophets, especially Daniel, had foretold of the setting up of the Kingdom of God. The Jews were looking for and expecting this to happen when the Messiah arrived. The message preached by John and Jesus declared that the organization which Christ was about to establish, and did establish was this Kingdom. The Kingdom of God Present After John's ministry had ceased Jesus proclaimed the fulfillment of the time designated by the prophets in Mark 1:15. "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel." The Greek New Testament reads: "hggiken h basileia tou qeou." The Greek verb "Engiken" is in the perfect and not the present tense leaving no room for error in this matter (Thayer 1988, 716). Jesus said the Kingdom of God has arrived. (Robertson 1930, 257). The arrival of the kingdom of God superseded the old dispensation. Dayton best summed up these points and wrote: The law and the prophets were until John, said the Savior, but since that time the kingdom of God is proclaimed, and every man presseth into it. From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. And to the proud, self-righteous Pharisees and skeptical Sadducees, He said; The publicans and harlots enter into the kingdom of God before you. This could not be if the kingdom had not already come (Dayton 1856, 35).Jesus set up His Kingdom, Calvary and the Church being part of His divine sovereign plan. The first thing Jesus set out to correct in the sermon on the Mount was the misconception of a physical kingdom of God. This sermon answered the question in the mind of every Jew regarding the coming Messiah's kingdom. Jesus defined the kingdom of God by outlining it spiritual nature and visible in purpose. THE CHURCH The Church is a visible manifestation of the kingdom of God. All the laws of the Kingdom of God apply to the Church and all the promise to the kingdom are promises to the Church. People get into the kingdom through the efforts of a militant Church fighting a spiritual warfare. The Gospel of Jesus is to be preached throughout all the world and those that are born into a spiritual kingdom are called out to unite with a visible church. Through visible ordinances, baptism and the Lord's supper, there is a visible commitment to all the sayings, teachings and laws of the king, Jesus Christ. The Church is completely founded upon spiritual principles. However, practical application of these principles are visible. The kingdom of God continues to be an organized institution made up of people who have separated themselves to Him by an open profession to their allegiance and have been initiated by the rite of baptism, as the King ordained (Dayton 1856, 46). The church is also the executive body with authority from the King entrusted with a visible administration of His government. Jesus organized His Church in the Kingdom of God in His first advent and if the church is in the Kingdom of God it is safe to say that it is the Kingdom of God. The requirements are spiritual and life changing but not without commitment publicly and visibly. The Church in Christ Jesus occupies a heavenly place while in a rebellious world. Jesus said: "Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom" (Luke 12:32, KJV). Paul wrote that the Churches of Christ have been recipients of Christ's offer. "Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear" (Hebrew 12:28, KJV). It is clear that the Lord did establish the Church and idealistically this is the kingdom that all believers were to enter into. The actions or reactions of men have complicated this idea and confused the issue. The truth is that there are people that are saved that are not in the Church. Some are in the wrong Church, but they have been saved. This is the reality that confuses the Kingdom question from the ideal or factual sense. Perhaps the present Church Kingdom era is less than a perfect accomplishment for now. The fact still remains that Jesus set up the Church while he was here and that this Church can and does fit the definition of a Kingdom.

The New Covenant By Pastor Tim Binion

A Change in the Covenant is clearly expressed by calling it a 'new,' covenant (Heb 9:15), the 'second' covenant ( Heb 8:7), and a 'better' covenant (Heb 7:22 & Heb 9:16-17).

Shubal Stearns By Pastor Tim Binion

Shubal Stearns was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on January 28, 1706. He was married to Sarah Johnstone but had no children. He came out of the New Light movement and became a Baptist in 1751.hubal Stearns was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on January 28, 1706. He was married to Sarah Johnstone but had no children. He came out of the New Light movement and became a Baptist in 1751. He accepted believers' baptism at the hands of Wait Palmer, the pastor of the First Baptist Church in North Stonington, Connecticut. On March 20th of this same year he was ordained into the full work of the ministry. In 1754 Shubal Stearns felt led to leave the New England area, looking for what he called "providential openings". He spent a short time at Opeckon Creek, Virginia, and did mission work at Cacapon. The greatest blessings of Shubal Stearns' ministry occurred when he arrived in North Carolina. At the time he arrived in 1755 there were only twenty to thirty thousand inhabitants in the central and western counties of North Carolina (Baptist Encyclopedia 1988). North Carolina was at this time a state experiencing great confusion, war, and controversy, it still being a British colony (Stroupe 1955, 26). It was in this western region, under these circumstances, that God chose to launch a great missionary enterprise. God used Shubal Stearns and the Separate Baptists to revive his work (shackled by hyper-Calvinism) and evangelize the South. It is clear that God did this not by might nor power but by his Spirit. Shubal Stearns was a great Baptist preacher with a unique style of delivery. God used his influence to strengthen and restore Baptists, especially in the area of evangelism. Stearns was a church planter and had great leadership quality. The Baptist Encyclopedia described him as: eloquent, wise, humble, full of faith, wholly consecrated to God, one of the greatest ministers and one of the most successful soul winners that ever presented Jesus to perishing multitudes (Baptist Encyclopedia 1988). Stearns believed in personal leadership from the Lord and believed one could receive personal instruction from heaven if he sought God earnestly (Stroupe 1955, 28). This "Divine guidance" was what Stearns remained sensitive to as a minister of the gospel and what made him a great evangelist. This sensitivity to God's will led him to Sandy Creek, North Carolina, an area ripe for revival. Historians place more emphasis on Shubal Stearns' style of preaching rather than the results that it achieved. He is described as being "very expressive" and, in addition to this dynamic deliverance, he had "penetrating eyes and a voice singularly harmonious" (Baptist Encyclopedia 1988). There are many accounts given of sinners who would literally fall to the ground under his preaching, and even his enemies were unable to resist this compelling style: He managed his voice in such a way as to make soft impressions upon the heart and bring tears from the eye, and anon to shake the very nerves and throw the physical system into tumults and perturbations (Baptist Encyclopedia 1988). Some have tried to categorize Stearns and this movement as charismatic (Hunt 1986, 5). However, those who do so have no true knowledge of what a genuine revival Spirit was like in the eighteenth century. When Stearns arrived in the Sandy Creek area, the people had religion but had no knowledge of salvation. The doctrine of salvation or the new birth was foreign to their ears. Semple wrote: They could not comprehend how it should be necessary to feel conviction and conversion. But to be able to ascertain the time and place of one's conversion was in their estimation, wonderful indeed (Semple 1810, 15) It was this Baptist principle of experimental knowledge in the eighteenth century that blazed the Southern continent with revival. It is important to note that Regular Baptists and Separate Baptists did not differ on an experimental of knowledge salvation. However, the Regular Baptists did have some concerns about the Separate Baptists manifesting an "excessive outward emotionalism" but there was never any opposition toward the doctrines of "inward exercises" associated with the spiritual state and "the divine assurance of conversion" (Reynolds 1993(?) 160).  The Baptists had always held to these elements of experimental knowledge of God. Such emphasis was ancient Baptist teaching, but was greatly strengthened among them by the Great Awakening revival through the influence of the Separate Baptists (Reynolds 1993(?) 100). Stearns and his followers never referred to themselves as "Separate Baptists"

The Study Of Bible Translation By Pastor Tim

One of three primary methods (also called theories or philosophies) of translation is adopted to bridge the historical distance or gap between the original and receptor languages.he Original languages Hebrew ( small portions written in Aramaic) and Greek were chosen by God to reveal His Divine will. Thousands of Hebrew and Greek manuscripts were preserved by God to insure accuracy of the words that are Divinely inspired of God. Translators bring these words from Hebrew and Greek manuscripts to our own language (Receptor Language). One of three primary methods (also called theories or philosophies) of translation is adopted to bridge the historical distance or gap between the original and receptor languages. Every receptor language whether French, German, Spanish, English etc . . . must first discover which method the translators have used in order to chose the best translation. One must question how these translators dealt with the differences in our understanding of words, grammar, idioms, culture and history. The degree to which one is willing to go in order to bridge the gap between two languages have flooded the market with different translations and challenge us in choosing the best English version. For example, should the word "torch" be translated "flashlight" or "lamp," should "holy kiss" be translated the "handshake of Christian love?" Some translations may use modern day expressions rather than the words, phrases and languages that reflect what is found in the original text. There are three main theories of translation used or adopted in bridging the original and receptor languages; Literal, Dynamic Equivalent, and Free or Paraphrase. 1) Literal: The attempt to translate by keeping as close as possible to the exact words and phrasing in the original language, yet still make sense in the receptor language. A literal translation will keep the historical distance intact at all points. 2) Dynamic Equivalent: The attempt to translate words, idioms, and grammatical constructions of the original language into precise equivalents in the receptor language. Most keep historical distance but update matters of language, grammar and style. 3) Free or Paraphrase: The attempt to translate the ideas from one language to another, with less concern about using the exact words of the original text. This type of translation tries to eliminate as much of the historical distance as possible. The problem with a Free translation should be quite apparent. The translator updates the original author too much and becomes a private interpretation or commentary. Though some interpretations may be necessary in translating to the receptor language, the least amount of personal interpretation the better the translation. A Free translation is always done by a single translator. The Living Bible is a Free translation and uses words like "flashlights" in Ps. 119:105; "handshakes" in 1 Peter 5:14; "pancakes" in Gen. 18:6; "special abilities" (spiritual gifts Greek word charismata) in 1 Corinthians 12 - 14; and Rome (in the place of Babylon) in 1 Peter 5:13 (the translator thinks Babylon was a code word for Rome conforming scripture to Roman Catholic tradition). Most of us do exchange Bible day words for more current day understanding in issues of Weight, Measurement and Currency. We change bathes, ephahs, homers, shekels, talents, subit, span, denarius or penny into pounds, inches and dollars to understand how big, heavy or how much something costs. Any group of translators that change these original weight, measurement and currency words within the text generally feel the liberty to change more significant words and thereby interpret for you what God has said. I personally want a English Bible that is as true to the original text as possible so I can form my own opinions of cultural and historical relevance. New Translations tend to add euphemisms or words that are less expressive or direct but considered less distasteful or less offensive. Matters of sex and private circumstances fall into this category. For examples compare Gen 31:35 in the (NIV, NASB, KJV, RSV) and 2 Sam. 13:14 (KJV, NIV). Perhaps the most critical part of translation is finding the right English word that means the same as the Hebrew or Greek word. For example in 2 Timothy 3:16 we read "All scripture [is given by inspiration of God, and is] (one Greek word "theopheoustos") profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:" The NIV translates "theopheoustos" "is God-breathed". Some new translations may in places better reflect the original meaning of a Hebrew or Greek word but the overall method used by the translators determine our translation choice.

Husband Of One Wife By Pastor Tim Binion

While 1 Timothy 3:2 clearly reveals intolerance, stating that a "bishop must be". . . or he is disqualified to oversee the flock of God, some only consider them as recommendations.

Tongues Tales and Tattlers By Pastor Tim Binion

The Bible describes the tongues as either a tree of life or the root of evil. We need to be aware and understand the power of the tongue. We must assume responsibility for its misuse.

The Roman Road By Pastor Tim Binion

Those leaving the primary theme and purpose of Romans chapter ten, and using it for a canned presentation of another Gospel called "The Roman Road" ignore the overwhelming need of a spiritual change.