Showing results by author "James Thomas Lee Jr" in All Categories

Two of the books of the scriptures that should be studied daily are the book of Proverbs and the book of Psalms. The book of Proverbs will show one how to be biblically wise in the things of the Lord. That book is primarily for spiritual guidance in this existence. But even an ungodly person will prosper by studying and applying its principles. In the same sense, the book of Psalms will also benefit anyone who studies it on a regular basis. The reason that the psalms are so valuable is because they are experiential. One can read exactly how David had felt while he was running from a king ...

In my adult Sunday school class on December 12, 1982, I spoke to the class about the Theory of Evolution and expressed my beliefs about how that theory will lead to the Tribulation. Remarkable as such a statement may sound, I believe it to be the truth. So I have written this book to retrace the steps that led to that lecture. I hope to relate, in this summary, not just a review of that Sunday morning class, but also to provide a trail of my research. Perhaps, after reading these pages, my reader will be led to conclude, as I already have, that the end may be much nearer than we think. ...

Twenty-seven times in the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible the phrase "be not afraid" appears. Therefore, each of those cases will be discussed in this text. To better analyze them, they have been broken into eight categories. The first category, which is to "be not afraid" of the Lord, will be examined in chapters one, two, and three of this text. Those chapters will look closely at the ruler of the synagogue whose daughter had just died and also at the disciples when they had seen Jesus walking to them on the water. The second category, which is to "be not afraid" of the unexpected, ...

The title of this text is "The Life and Ministry of Jesus." But it is not just a story about Jesus' life. It is first of all a harmony of the gospels so that the reader can get a complete picture of His life. It is also a commentary on the gospel of John. What that means is that the twenty-one chapters of John's gospel are discussed. But in between those chapters are mixed in the different accounts by Matthew, Mark, and Luke. So with all of that, one gets a good chronological sequence of events of the life of Jesus. Also because John focused on showing the deity of Christ, one gets his ...

In his gospel, the Apostle John had recorded eight occasions when Jesus had made metaphorical statements about Himself. In chapter one of this text however, the evidence to show that he had actually written the gospel by his name will first be presented. One should note from that discussion that this gospel has not always had his name associated with it. So there had initially been some room for doubt. One should also understand that not everyone agrees about when this gospel was written. So that will also be a matter for discussion. Finally, chapter one will also consider some of the very ...

In this second part of this study of the Minor Prophets, the writings of Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, and Habakkuk are examined. With Obadiah, one can see the land of Edom and why the Edomites had thought that they were safe from outside attackers. Their land was very mountainous and easy to defend. Nevertheless, in about 583 BC, they did fall to the Babylonians. With Jonah, one can see the viciousness of the Assyrians in the Eighth Century BC. Everyone was afraid of them because of their brutality against their enemies. Nevertheless, at the preaching of Jonah, they had repented, and the ...

In this third and final part of the study of the Minor Prophets, the writings of the Prophets Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi are examined. With Zephaniah, one can examine the prophecies against and the warnings to Philistia, Moab, Ammon, Ethiopia, Assyria, and Judah. With Haggai, one can read about the people who had returned to Jerusalem from Babylon being caught up in their own interests and priorities rather than in the things of the Lord. For one thing, they had built themselves nice homes. But they had not rebuilt the temple that had been destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 ...

For anyone who is currently going through some kind of difficulty, the chances are very high that at least one of Solomon's principles in the book of Proverbs has been violated. Solomon was the wisest person of his times. As will be seen in the first chapter of this text, he had asked the Lord for wisdom right after having become the king of Israel. Also as will be seen, the Lord answered his prayer. James 1:5 says, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him." The book of Proverbs is that answer. It is a ...

The Bible is an honest Book. So it does not try to protect the guilty or sugarcoat their story. The Bible also does not try to distort or exaggerate the truth to advance the Lord's agenda. Therefore, a person can critically examine Bible characters, trust what he or she is reading, and then learn very much about the Lord, His Word, and His principles for living. For convenience and ease of use, the titles of all of the devotions in this book begin with the Bible character's name. That means that a reader can look up his or her favorite Bible character by name under Message Titles in the ...

In the first part of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus had made four points. First, He had been telling them to be poor in spirit, which meant that they should have a heart and mind that would be open to His instructions. Second, He had made some specific promises to those who are poor in spirit, mourning over their spiritual condition, meek, hungering and thirsting after righteousness, merciful, pure in heart, and makers of peace. He had spoken to those people who would be persecuted for His name's sake. He had spoken to those who have a responsibility to be salt and light. Third, He had ...

This book has been written to examine the seven statements that Jesus had made while He was on the cross. When someone is about to pass away, their final words are often worth remembering, and that is definitely true of the Lord. In the first five chapters of this text, many of the events that had led to His crucifixion will be discussed. The Old Testament prophecies about His coming, His mission while on earth, and His Incarnation will be considered. A conversation that He had had with Nicodemus will be examined to see why He had had to be crucified as opposed to experiencing some other ...

The seven churches to whom the seven letters of Revelation chapters two and three were written are shown in the below diagram. They are from top to bottom Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Smyrna, Philadelphia, Ephesus, and Laodicea. The Apostle John was exiled to the isle of Patmos because of his stand for Christ. So on the Lord's Day, Jesus came to him and told him to write the words that appear in the book of Revelation. Revelation 1:10-11 says, "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice…Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest...

Chapter one of this text provides a general introduction to the five points of Calvinism and for the acrostic, TULIP. The intent, whenever possible, has been to share direct quotes from Pastor John Calvin on each of the points as a way to let him speak for himself. When that was not possible, the intent was to find and present consensus on the given point by other professing Calvinists. Their comments were provided along with the Bible verses that they had used to defend their position. The main premise of Calvinism is that God chooses those who will be saved and those who will be lost. So ...

This book will attempt to discuss and defend perhaps the most difficult and most challenging parts of the scriptures by looking at the Rapture of the Church, at the Great Tribulation, and at the Second Coming of Jesus. Those are items of interest to almost every person alive. But there are also probably just as many viewpoints about those events as there are people. So this book will begin at the beginning by suggesting that the literal approach for interpreting those future events is probably superior to trying to interpret them figuratively or in some other non-literal fashion. The ...

This book discusses most of the key events in Abraham's life as they have been recorded in the Bible. Part I will begin by discussing his life in Ur of the Chaldees when he was first told by God to go to the land where he would be led. Analysis of that instruction, along with some other Bible passages, will show that God had probably told him twice to go to a new land. It will also be pointed out that those multiple calls were not because of his disobedience. Following that discussion, when and how he probably got saved will be presented. He was not just automatically saved. He had to ...

This text is a commentary on the gospel of John. Because John focused on showing the deity of Christ, one gets his unique slant on how the story of Jesus is told. He did not write about the birth of Jesus. He did not write about when Jesus, as a young boy, outwitted the religious leaders during one of His family's trips to Jerusalem. But with this text, one does get the eight "I am" statements made by Jesus. Jesus said that He is the bread of life. He said that He is the way, the truth, and the life. He said that He is the light of the world. He made those statements plus five more. John ...

One cannot study the opening chapters of the book of Genesis without getting into some very weighty issues. There is, of course, the first chapter that talks about Creation. But there are also other issues as well. For example, who wrote the book of Genesis? Not everyone will agree that it was Moses. Plus, when, if he did write it, did he actually write it? As will be seen in that part of this text, the higher critics have argued against Moses for a reason that will be shared at that time. But other critics have also argued against Moses, as being the author of the first five books of the ...

For anyone who is currently going through some kind of difficulty, the chances are very high that at least one of Solomon's principles in the book of Proverbs has been violated. Solomon was the wisest person of his times. As will be seen in the first chapter of this text, he had asked the Lord for wisdom right after having become the king of Israel. Also as will be seen, the Lord answered his prayer. James 1:5 says, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him." The book of Proverbs is that answer. It is a ...

This short book has been written to share a couple of very important spiritual truths. The first, called the Eternality of Bible Truth, maintains that every word of the Bible has always been true even before it was spoken or written. The second truth is that the Old Testament saints probably did not hear God's audible, out loud voice. That simple statement is not meant to sound heretical. Those words are also not meant to deny anything that Christians have traditionally believed about God. The real message is that what we have many times just accepted as truth in the Bible may in fact not ...

The five individual chapter commentaries on the Epistle of James that I have written have been incorporated into one text of the entire epistle. The first two chapter commentaries were written in 1998 and have been greatly modified for this text. An effort has also been made to convert previously used first person language with more formal third person language. That having been said and in looking at the first chapter of the Epistle of James, it considers authorship, the date that the epistle was written, and the basis for its acceptance into the biblical canon. With a strong focus on the ...