Lying In A Manger (song)

Who Is Jesus?

He is found in every book of the Bible. Throughout the Old Testament there are types, forms, and mentions of Him.

Genesis- He's the substitute ram caught in the thicket sacrificed in place of Isaac

Exodus- He's the lamb slain whose blood on the door post spared the firstborn

Leviticus- He's the faithful High Priest who presents the sacrifices for our sins

Numbers- He's the brazen serpent that Moses lifted up in the wilderness 

Deuteronomy- He's the prophet like unto Moses that was prophesied to come

Joshua- He's the captain of the Lord's army 

Judges- He's the Savior sent to rescue the enslaved people

Ruth- He's the kinsman redeemer

I & II Samuel- He's the faithful prophet

I & II Kings- He's the rightful king of Israel

I & II Chronicles- He's the Most High dwells in the temple and listens to their prayers

Ezra- Heworks to help them rebuild the temple

Nehemiah- He provides to help them rebuild Jerusalem

Esther- He's the one who advocates to save His people from a holocaust decree

Job- He's the God who hears our complaints during our trials

Psalms- He's the reason for song

Proverbs- He's the Good man full of wisdom

Ecclesiastes- He's the reason we should live righteously

Song of Solomon- He's the beloved who seeks us

Isaiah- He's the Prince of Peace who sends prophets to warn of coming judgement

Jeremiah- He's the Branch that's grieved by Israel's idolatry

Lamentations- He is the weeping prophet that weeps over the judgment that He's had to unleash

Ezekiel- He's the hope for Israel's restoration

Daniel- He's the fourth man in the fire who protects His servants and judges kings

Hosea- He's the faithful husband

Joel - He's the divine judge but also the promised future

Amos - He's the watchman giving warning to the wayward

Obadiah- He's the One who will bring judgment against the wicked heathen

Jonah- He's the God who pleads with all mankind

Micah- He's the God of justice and mercy

Nahum- He's the One who executes judgment on His enemies

Habakkuk- He's the longsuffering God who gives mankind time to repent

Zephaniah- He's the God of reckoning

Haggai- He's the God who calls His people to come home

Zachariah- He's the Restorer, the fountain open to the house of David

Malachi- He's the one who is foretold to come rescue His people

He is the Creator of all things, the Word of the Lord made flesh,

He is the first and the last, the alpha and the omega,

The bright and morning star that shines as a light in the darkness.

Unmovable, unchangeable, He always was, always is, and always will be.

He was despised and rejected so that we could be accepted.

He was acquainted with grief to offer us peace.

He tasted God's wrath to allow sinners to become saints.

He's the author of Salvation, the Lamb of God, and the promised Messiah.

The King of kings, and the Lord of lords are His titles.

The great "I AM" is His name, the Almighty God, Emmanuel,

The good shepherd who lays down His life for the sheep,

And the coming King who will rule in righteousness.

He is all this and so much more, but most important of all-

He is my Savior!

Noel (poem)

 Grim was the world and grey last night:
The moon and stars were fled,
The hall was dark without song or light,
The fires were fallen dead. 

The wind in the trees was like to the sea,
And over the mountains’ teeth
It whistled bitter-cold and free,
As a sword leapt from its sheath. 

The lord of snows upreared his head;
His mantle long and pale
Upon the bitter blast was spread
And hung o’er hill and dale. 

The world was blind, the boughs were bent,
All ways and paths were wild:
Then the veil of cloud apart was rent,
And here was born a Child. 

The ancient dome of heaven sheer
Was pricked with distant light;
A star came shining white and clear
Alone above the night. 

In the dale of dark in that hour of birth
One voice on a sudden sang:
Then all the bells in Heaven and Earth
Together at midnight rang. 

Mary sang in this world below:
They heard her song arise
O’er mist and over mountain snow
To the walls of Paradise, 

And the tongue of many bells was stirred
In Heaven’s towers to ring
When the voice of mortal maid was he​ard,
That was mother of Heaven’s King. 

Glad is the world and fair this night
With stars about its head,
And the hall is filled with laughter and light,
And fires are burning red. 

The bells of Paradise now ring
With bells of Christendom,
And Gloria, Gloria we will sing
That God on earth is come.

-J. R. R. Tolkien

Of Him, Through Him, And To Him (video sermon)

Offences Will Come

 “Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.” (Matthew 13:21)

Among the many things that continually surprise me in modern Christianity is the inability of so many professing Christians to withstand those who object to their words and actions. It seems as though many have the idea that the world loves them for following Christ and will commend them for it. When the opposite happens, they become discouraged and begin rethinking their position.

The best mode for a Christian to be in is the offensive mode, always realizing that when you run the ball you’re going to get hit. We are running the gospel ball for the Lord Jesus, and Satan’s defenders are out there in attack mode. This should never surprise us or upset us.

Since my teenage years, my favorite football team has been the Pittsburgh Steelers. Several years ago they had a receiver named Hines Ward, and his game attitude is a fine example of what a Christian ought to be. I’ve seen Ward make catches and then nearly get his brains knocked out, yet he would always get up smiling, even laughing. He was happy that he made the catch, not bothered that he got hit.

Friend, if God opens a door for you to get in a witness for Him, then rejoice in that and take for granted that someone will object. That’s the attitude to have.

Shortly after I began writing for the Lord, I placed some tracts in a tract rack at the church I attended at the time, and one of the members complained because one tract had one small paragraph that spoke against the doctrines of the Mormons and the Charismatics. The preacher (independent, Baptist, KJV, etc) agreed with me that the tract was a good one, yet he asked me to remove the tract from the church because of that one objector. That’s where we are today: in a society where one person can object to something and everyone gets all scared and tense.

Why would a Christian be moved from the will of God by an objector? I think I know the answer. I think it has to do with convictions and preferences. If I call your wife an ugly witch, you’ll probably go into immediate fight mode. If I slap her, you’ll punch me out. Why don’t you just overlook it? The answer is CONVICTION. You will not overlook it because I have attacked someone very dear to your heart. That’s conviction. I suspect that most professing Christians do not have much real godly conviction—not much that they really believe in strongly—so they lack the will to keep fighting when the objections come. They have preferences, not convictions. They prefer this church, that Bible, this preacher, that gospel group, etc. They really BELIEVE very little, so the smallest objections, like a door slammed in their face or a tract thrown down, will knock them out of the fight.

The objectors will only increase as the politically correct and ultra-sensitive days of Laodicea continue, so may God grant us some deep rooted convictions, based on the word of God, that we might not be moved. "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord." (I Corinthians 15:58)

-James L Melton

Why The King James Translators Rejected The Apocrypha As Scripture

A favorite lie of the KJV critics is that the original KJV of 1611 "included the Apocrypha," which no serious Christian today accepts as Scripture. The Apocrypha is a collection of several pagan writings which the Roman Catholic chu​rch accepts as inspired Scripture. In fact, the Council of Trent (1546) pronounced a CURSE upon anyone who denies that these books are inspired. The King James translators did NOT consider the books to be inspired Scripture, nor did they include them in the canon as such. They included the Apocryphal books for historical value, not as Scripture. Their reasons for not accepting the Apocrypha as Scripture are listed on page 185-186 of the book "Translators Revived," by Alexander McClure. The seven reasons are basically as follows:

1. Not one of them is in the Hebrew language like the rest of the Old Testament books.

2. Not one of the writers lays any claim to inspiration.

3. These books were never acknowledged as sacred Scriptures by the Jewish church, and therefore were never sanctioned by our Lord.

4. They were not allowed a place among the sacred books, during the first four centuries of the Christian church.

5. They contain fabulous statements and statements which contradict not only the canonical Scriptures, but themselves also. For example, in the Books of Maccabees alone, Antiochus Epiphanes dies three times in three places!

6. It inculcates doctrines at variance with the Bible, such as prayers for the dead and sinless perfection.

7. It teaches immoral practices, such as lying, suicide, assassination and magical incantation.

McClure's work has been published for over 150 years, and it has been quoted and referenced many times by various Bible-believing authors, including myself. Our "Fighting Back" booklet has contained this information for nearly twenty years, in print and on various web sites. Dr. Gipp's "The Answer Book" contains this information, and has been published since 1989. There is simply NO EXCUSE for the continuance of such misinformation. It is a LIE, plain and simple, and those who spread it are liars, whether they know it or not. They need to get their heads out of the sands of Laodicea and start doing some reading.

-James L Melton
www.biblebaptistpublications.org

Come, Ye Thankful People, Come (song)