Showing results by author "Lee Thomas" in All Categories

In summary, what was Jesus saying to those people in this first part of His sermon? First, He was telling them to be poor in spirit, which meant that they should have a heart and a 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 who would be persecuted for His name's sake. He spoke to those who have a responsibility to be salt and light. Third, He shared His ...

The fourth edition of this book has been written to clean up some of the poorly worded text in the first three editions and to show important Bible verses rather than just refer to them. An effort has also been made to convert previously used first person speech with more formal third person speech. In looking at the second chapter of the epistle of James, this standalone book considers authorship, the date that the whole epistle was written, and the basis for its acceptance into the biblical canon. With a strong focus on the Greek language, the goal has also been to perform good exegesis ...

People sometimes have difficulty understanding the Trinity. But if that is the case with someone reading this Introduction, then he or she should not feel too bad. It took the scholars and theologians of the early Church about five hundred years after the Incarnation of Jesus to even begin to figure it out. The whole idea of one God is not too difficult to understand. But when the same scholars and theologians start talking about one God in three persons, then the whole matter becomes much more complicated. Is it biblically correct to say or think of three different persons of deity, daily ...

In the first part of the fourth chapter of the epistle of James, the author wrote about the unanswered selfish prayers of those who primarily pray for what they want. The obvious conclusion is that truly godly people should always pray for what the Lord wants of them rather than for what they might hope to get for themselves from Him. In the second part of the fourth chapter, he wrote about the importance of putting the Lord first in all things. The reasons for doing that are many. It is important to live a holy life. It is important for the saints of God to hold up each other. It is ...

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 ...

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 detailed outline for the end-time prophecies has been divided into thirteen chapters. It should probably be suitable for a diligent student of the Bible who wants to look through the prophecies in an outline format. It will also be good for anyone who wants an easier way to study the prophecies. Each chapter will begin with a focus for the entire chapter. Then a list of usually five questions will follow which are intended to guide the reader through the most important parts of the chapter. The structure of each chapter is in a somewhat loose outline format. That should make it easier ...

What I am about to say might sound confusing. But it is not meant to be. First, this book is about me. But second, this book is not about me. In the pages that follow, I will share thirteen times from my life when the Lord spoken directly to me, non-audibly, in my heart. For the first three, I did not know exactly what was happening. For the last ten occasions plus one, I was fully aware of what was happening. So in that sense, this book is about me. It will share fourteen personal experiences from my life. But this book is not really about me because the purpose is to show how anyone can ...

This book has taken three fairly short books that are very similar to each other and combined them into one book. The three books are God Was in Control of Abraham's Circumstances, God Was in Control of Job's Circumstances, and God Was in Control of Joseph's Circumstances. One can learn different lessons from each saint. So it just makes sense to combine the three short books into one still fairly short book. There is one note, however, to be made with respect to the organization of this text before concluding this Introduction. Something that the reader might find useful is boxes ...

This book begins by examining the two occasions when Satan and the "sons of God" presented themselves in heaven before the Lord. A brief explanation will be offered at that time concerning the use of the term "sons of God" and what it has meant in other places in the Bible, especially in Genesis 6:2 and Genesis 6:4. From there, the discussion will show how people can know that Job actually lived and when he had probably lived. The point will even be made that some theologians believe that Moses might have been the author of the book of Job. Next, the visit to Job by his three friends will ...

When this book was begun in late November 2013, the intent was to write a commentary on chapter five of Paul's letter to the church at Ephesus. But about fifty pages into that endeavor, it became clear that the book was not going in that direction. For one thing, his letter to that church had not even been mentioned in those pages. For another, the focus up to that point had been on Paul's missionary journeys. The reason for those problems was that the original intent had been to put his letter to the church into the context of his journeys. But there was so much to say about the journeys ...

In the first part of the third chapter of the epistle of James, the author warned spiritual leaders within the church about being God-called and about being God-prepared for their respective ministries. That warning applies to anyone who is in a position to lead others to Christ and to also show them how to live according to biblical principles and standards. So the clear teaching is that one does not actually choose his or her own ministry. Instead the Holy Spirit places saved men and women into those positions where He would have them work for Him. Once they are in those areas of ministry...

Some people might think that Easter is about family get-togethers and the Easter Bunny. It is not. Therefore, this text, while focusing primarily on the prophecies of the Prophet Isaiah and especially on those that explain why Jesus was crucified, also discusses prophecies written by other Old Testament prophets. In the first three parts of this text, nine passages from the book of Isaiah will be examined leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus. Those passages are Isaiah 1:18, Isaiah 64:6-7, Isaiah 7:14, Isaiah 9:6-7, Isaiah 42:1-7, Isaiah 41:27-29, Isaiah 61:1-3, Isaiah 50:4-9, and Isaiah ...

This book has been written about Joseph, the son of Jacob. He had had two dreams about his family members bowing to him, and those dreams had made them very angry with him. In fact, they hated him so much that they actually tried to get rid of him. They sold him to some merchants going to Egypt. Then, an Egyptian captain bought him out of the local slave market and brought him into his household. Because the Lord was with him, Joseph excelled everywhere he went and in everything that he did. But that did not keep him from getting into a lot of trouble. He ended up in prison when the ...

In his first letter to Timothy, the Apostle Paul shared nine important truths. First, he spoke about the necessity for every saint to be called by the Holy Spirit into his or her specific ministry. Second, he indicated that salvation is by the Lord alone and that He is longsuffering with people because His desire is for them to be saved. Third, he told Timothy that the Lord wants everyone to come to the knowledge of the truth of the gospel so that they can be saved. Fourth, he told Timothy that Jesus performs the role of mediator in reconciling lost and saved sinners to God the Father. When...

In December 1967, my life was in more trouble than I could realistically handle. While in the midst of those struggles, I asked the Lord to forgive me for all the wrong that I had done and to put my life on a path that would lead me out of my difficulties. More than fifty years later, I can now say that He was faithful to do exactly that. He changed me from the inside out. Then He changed the dreadful circumstances of my entire life. Since that night in 1967, I have experienced the joy of knowing the God of the universe and the one and only Creator of everything. Through the years, I have ...

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, ...

In chapter five of this epistle, James had concluded his writing to his Jewish, Christian brethren by encouraging them to not be troubled by their poverty or by their mistreatment by others. In particular, they had been hurt and victimized by wealthy landowners who had cheated them out of their wages and who had also had many of them executed. So James had written that they should be patient and trust in the Lord. They should be joyful and full of songs of praise for the Lord. They should live according to biblical standards. They should be soul-winners. They should also encourage one ...

The Hebrew word, 'elohiym, for "God" was used at least two thousand six hundred and six times in the Old Testament. Its first use in the scriptures was in Genesis 1:1. The Hebrew word, yhwh, for "LORD" was used six thousand five hundred and nineteen times in the Old Testament. Its first use in the scriptures was in Genesis 2:4-5. Those two Hebrew words when put together become yhwh 'elohiym and form the expression "LORD God." That combination appears five hundred and nineteen times in the Old Testament. But each of those words was also used separately throughout the scriptures with other ...

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 ...