Library of Plainer Words
Introduction - Bible Mountaineers
Like a team of mountain climbers, Bible students are trekking steadily upward to the dazzling heights of Biblical truth. However, some Bible-mountaineers halt their assent at certain heights for
various reasons. The greatest danger they face, however, is not ascending to the higher peaks, but in turning back to the safety of their base camp.
Some want-to-be Bible-mountaineers leave their established base camp whether it is Acts 2, or Acts 9, or Acts 13, or even Acts 18 and venture up-ward, fearful of what they might discover. [More]
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PLAINER WORDS ON …
BACKGROUND OF CHRISTIANITY
By Tom L. Ballinger
This series of studies includes the Introduction and Part I through Part
VIII.
Part I -
Part II - Part III -
Part IV -
Part V -
Part VI - Part VII -
Part VIII
Introduction
The “Christian religion,” the largest and most influential of the
world’s religions, is found not to be in the Bible. What we have, today,
in Christianity is not the subject of Old Testament prophecy, nor is it
a true development of New Testament truth. The “Christian Religion,”
with all of its’ divisions, sects, and denominations, is not the result
of the pure, unleavened, revealed Word of God. It is, in fact, the
natural outgrowth of confusion, darkness, and error. This is a hard
statement to make. This statement sounds absurd to some and a shock to
others, especially to those who are devoutly or emotionally, attached to
the “Christian Religion.” Only those who have “ears to hear” can
comprehend the truth of this statement.
A study of “Church History,” when viewed in the light of the rightly
divided Word, reveals that every sect, division, and denomination has,
as its’ source, the same foundation. They all, to one extent or another,
are the outgrowth of the theology of the so-called “Church Fathers.”
[More]
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FALLING AWAY AND REBELLION By Tom L. Ballinger
“Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, That ye be
not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word,
nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no
man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there
come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of
perdition”(2 Thess, 2:1-3).
For many years, we have made a distinction between the “Day of Christ”
and the “Day of the Lord.” Admittedly, most students and teachers of the
Word do not do so. They, superficially, declare the two days to be the
same.
Our understanding of the future events in God's prophetic program
demanded that we take a long, hard look at the phrase in verse 2; the
“Day of Christ.” The “Day of Christ” doesn't fit the context in 2
Thessalonians. The “Day of the Lord” does.
[More]
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THE DAY OF JESUS CHRIST
By Tom L . Ballinger
“Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted
out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the
Lord; And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto
you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all
things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets
since the world began” (Acts 3:19-21).
The Apostle Peter, in Acts 3:19-21, was divinely enabled to speak
concerning “the times of refreshing” which is to come from the presence
of the Lord. He was talking about the “restitution of all things” which
was, perhaps, the major theme of the Hebrew Bible because he stated that
God spoke about it “by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the
world began.” In Paul's writings, he was inspired to refer to this
future time as the Day of Christ. This term is grossly
misunderstood by most Bible students. Failure to “see” its’ significance
results in one misunderstanding the plot of the Bible. The Lord Jesus
Himself spoke about His Coming Day, but most Christians are unaware of
Him having a Day. We’re not talking about a twenty-four hour day but a
period of time marked by the Supremacy of Christ in all matters—the
Day of Christ.
[More]
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THE COMING (PAROUSIA) OF CHRIST
For three and one-half years, the Lord Jesus Christ taught that the
Kingdom of Heaven was “at hand.” He constantly taught things that
related to the coming Kingdom. His Jewish audience understood that when
the Kingdom would be established on earth, God would rule the world on
His righteous terms. They understood that Israel would become a priestly
nation, and that through Israel, all of the nations would be blessed of
God. [More]
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“See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if
they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall
not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:”
(Hebrews 12:25).
Here is a very somber announcement made by the writer of Hebrews who I
believe was the Apostle Paul. Here is a warning to the Hebrews during
the Acts period. When God spoke on earth at Mount Sinai, those who did
not heed His warning received a just recompense of reward. If that was
so then, how much more will the recompense be to those who turn away
from Him when He speaks from heaven. When He spoke on earth, the earth
trembled. [More]
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CONSUMMATION of the KINGDOM OF GOD
“And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” (Matthew 24:3).
Before writing this, we were looking up some countries on a multimedia encyclopedia atlas. After doing so, just out of curiosity, we typed in the “Find” section, “consummation,” then we clicked “Go,” and was stunned to find it took us to a article on “Eschatology.” The highlighted word “consummation” was in a sentence which stated that in Christian doctrine, the Parousia is the CONSUMMATION of the kingdom of God.” It included such things as the resurrection of the dead, the last judgment, and the immortality of the soul. In the article, about the only thing it got right was that the Parousia of Jesus Christ is to be the consummation of the Kingdom of God. [More]
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The disciples
of our Lord Jesus Christ came to Him wanting to show Him the magnificent
buildings of the Temple complex in Jerusalem. “And Jesus said unto them,
See ye not all these things? Verily I say unto you, There shall not be
left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down”
(Matthew 24:2).
Then, some of them came to Him, privately, as He sat on the Mount of
Olives and wanted to know what would be the sign of His Parousia and the
consummation of the age? (Matthew 24:3). The age in view was not the age
in which they were living. It was not this present age, in which we live
because ours is one that no-one knew about. The age in view was the one
in which their hope was centered. The very one the Lord Jesus told them
to pray for: “Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy
kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us
this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our
debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For
thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen”
(Matthew 6: 9-13). [More]
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The dispensation which follows the Dispensation of God’s Grace will be a dispensation of Divine Government. Ever since He suspended His work with Israel, at the end of the Book of Acts, His present method of dealing is entirely by means of grace, and nothing, but grace, enters into his dealings with the world and His own. This limits the activities and works of Him at this present time, but it is a self-imposed limitation. It will result in a full demonstration of the graciousness of His character; a demonstration that will stand as a witness throughout the ages to come (Ephesians 2). While grace is all that the Lord is dispensing today, it is not all He can do, or will do. His resources are unlimited. In the coming dispensation, He will bring all of His resources to bear in His relationship and dealings with man. [More]
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The biggest Christian hoax of the Twentieth Century was that the present nation of Israel was the direct result of God’s promise to restore the Jewish State. Evangelical Christians felt vindicated in their view of Biblical prophecy, in 1948, when Israel was recognized by the U.S.A. as a nation-state. They were either willfully ignorant, or didn’t have a clue, as to the clear process God foretold in Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and the other prophets that the restoration of Israel was to be His work. [More]
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DISPENSATION OF THE MYSTERY AND PROPHECY
As a student of Scripture, we believe that we should study to show ourselves approved unto God as an unashamed workman, rightly dividing the Word of Truth (2 Tim. 2:15). As we rightly divide the Word, we are to seek His approval—not man’s. In so doing, it is believed that when “The Acts of the Apostles” ended, God suspended His dealing with Israel and ushered in an unprophesied dispensation. In this study, we will refer to it as “the dispensation of the Mystery.” The Dispensation of the Mystery was not mentioned, or even alluded to, in either type or shadow in the Old Testament, the four Gospels, the Book of Acts, nor in the scriptures written during the Book of Acts. [More]
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From time-to-time, I’ll watch charismatic, or Pentecostal preachers, on television. When they feel a need to reject the idea of dispensational truth, they invariably quote Hebrews 13:8 to dismiss right division. When they do, it brings loud applause from the congregations. Their logic is faulty. Once upon a time, Jesus Christ was a baby. In this sense, He was not the same yesterday, today, and forever. To use Hebrews 13:8 to invalidate right division of the Word of truth does harm to the profound truth contained in the verse.
The great truth in Hebrews 13:8 is that Jesus Christ was God yesterday, and is God today, and will be God forever. Hebrews 13:8 should be studied in the light of other verses. The fact that Jesus Christ is God never changes. But, His methods of dealing with mankind have changed over the course of the ages. [More]
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One-hundred-sixty-three times in the King James Version of the Bible, God says, “I am the LORD;” LORD being the translation of Yahweh. One-hundred-sixty-three times, God says of Himself—I AM THE LORD. As it was pointed out in our last study, Joseph Rotherham, in his Emphasized Bible, always translates LORD as “Yahweh.”
The last of the Old Testament references of “I AM The LORD” is found in Malachi 3:6; “For I am the LORD, I change not: therefore ye sons of Jacob are consumed.” This is the definitive comment on Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” [More]
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THEME OF THE BIBLE - THE KINGDOM OF GOD
The theme of the Bible, without question, is the Kingdom of God. This is said in the full acknowledgment of the fact that Jesus Christ is the Chief Person of the Book. It is true that all Scripture points to the Lord Jesus Christ. Some of the references are very subtle, and others are very obvious. He is the principal Person, the leading Character, if you please. He is the LORD (Yahweh) of the Old Testament and the Lord Jesus Christ of the New. Despite these facts, the main theme of the Word of God, from Genesis to Revelation, is the Kingdom of God. [More]
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THE TIMES OF REFRESHING
We sincerely believe that the truths set forth in this issue of Plainer
Words presents the most significant Dispensational Truth which we have
ever written. The writing may not be the most erudite, or scholarly, but
it brings to light truth that has been deliberately papered over, hid,
obscured, or ignored by Bible teachers of great reputation. Those who
have attempted to let this truth see the light of day have been
vilified, denigrated, slandered, and maligned. This understanding is the
key to Dispensational Truth; regardless of who says it is not. We have
written about this several times, but because of its’ momentous
importance, we considered it not to be grievous (Philippians 3:1) to
write about it again. [More]
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At what point in a Bible teacher’s vocation does he cease being a Bible student? Is it upon graduation from Seminary or Bible College? Or, is it when he has mastered the acceptable and approved doctrines of his denomination or fellowship? Or, is it when a sect ordains him as one of their “ministers?” Or, is it when he becomes self-ordained? [More]
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Paul’s last “charge” (2 Timothy 4:1) concerns one of the most momentous passages of Scripture as it relates to a future judgment. This judgment is one which is misunderstood to such an extent that it is almost totally ignored. We have checked the following Christian works and found that they are virtually silent on this major subject; New Unger’s Dictionary, Smith’s Bible Dictionary, International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Nelson’s Bible Dictionary, Chafer’s Systematic Theology, Scofield Reference Bible, The Companion Bible, and Adam Clarke’s Commentary, as well as Matthew Henry’s Commentary. They all mention various judgments, at various times, relating to various people and places. But, none addresses this one. THE CHARGE [More]
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