Archive for the ‘Bible Study’ Category


Under Gods Command

Proverbs 10:19 When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise.

A simple rule of wisdom is to cut your words in half. Many words and much speaking greatly raise the chance of sinning with your lips. Because of this dangerous risk, wisdom teaches you to reduce your number of words and maintain silence longer than usual.

A wise man reflects soberly after speaking a great deal, for he remembers the grave warning of the first half of this proverb. If he spoke quite a few words, he has probably sinned in his speech and appears a fool (Eccl 5:3). In this context, silence is very golden.

The God of wisdom tells you to be faster to hear and slower to speak (Jas 1:19). If you emphasized listening and being skilful at that, you would have little time for talking. If you were slow and reluctant to speak, you would have an excellent spirit (Pr 17:27).

Wisely consider your words before you speak, rather than regret them after they are out. Even if you are not very bright, if you can reduce your words, those around you will assume you are wise – this is a rule from Solomon to boost your reputation (Pr 17:28).

Ah, dear reader, have you not wasted many painful hours reviewing words you spoke? Have you often said, “I wish I’d never said that,” or, “Why did I say that?” Such misery could be reduced, if you would simply refrain your lips from idle or foolish speech. If you would hold your tongue, you would not have to worry about words that escaped.

Wisdom is easy – cut your words in half. Talk less. The tongue is a fire, so douse its sparks by swallowing words (Jas 3:1-12). The tongue is deadly; use it slowly (Pr 18:21).

Words and sin are not an arithmetic, but a geometric, relationship. The words you add beyond necessary speech contain most of your verbal sins; those sins increase rapidly the more and longer you talk (Eccl 10:13). If you swallow those extra words that are unnecessary, easily half your words, you will stop many sins. Cutting your words by 50% will reduce your sins of speech by 90%! Wisdom is easy! Bridle your mouth (Ps 39:1)!

If children cut their words in half, there would be less foolishness, teasing of siblings, and dishonoring of parents. If wives did it, they would be less odious, contentious, and overbearing. If employees did it, managers would find their jobs much easier and production and unity would improve. If angry, bitter, and cruel people did it, there would be much less bleeding of wounded souls. If fools did it, they would be esteemed wise.

Of course, there are people who hardly ever speak, and this proverb does not apply to them. They need to use more words to be gracious and a tree of life to others. If they do not learn to speak, their lives will have little value for anyone, and they are a regular source of disappointment and frustration to others. True wisdom feeds many (Pr 10:21).


Under Gods Command

Proverbs 9:11 For by me thy days shall be multiplied, and the years of thy life shall be increased.

Do you want to live long? Lady Wisdom offers free life extension! What an offer!

Do you believe the Bible? Here is a test – if you do, then you will believe this promise. God and men can tell if you trust God’s word by what you stress to preserve your life.

Here is the general rule from the God of heaven – if you love and practice wisdom, you will live longer. But if you choose to ignore or reject wisdom, you must love death, for it is coming for you (Pr 8:36). It will not matter if you eat well, exercise sufficiently, and have good doctors; God will cut you down for your foolish rebellion (Pr 13:9; 24:20).

Solomon neared the end of his long personification of wisdom (Pr 9:12; 8:1). The first person pronoun, “me,” refers to Lady Wisdom, last referenced by similar pronouns in Proverbs 9:5. The Preacher used this elegant and persuasive style to present the character and benefits of wisdom, which include the sure promise of long life. Are you interested?

Recall Solomon’s dream from the LORD (I Kgs 3:5-15). Readers for 3000 years have wished they could make his choice for wisdom and receive the additional benefits of riches and long life (I Kgs 3:13-14). Yet that is exactly what Solomon offers you here! By the inspiration of the same LORD! Riches and long life (Pr 8:18,21; 9:11)! All you have to do is choose wisdom as he did, and she offers these things as additional benefits.

Solomon observed more about life and analyzed it better than any ten of the world’s great thinkers. He summarized his findings without error in these proverbs, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit (Eccl 1:12-18; 12:8-11). He observed life and death, and he saw that wisdom resulted in living longer, but folly would cut your days short (Eccl 7:17; 8:13).

Careful Bible readers should know that general rules have exceptions, especially when God’s dealings with any individual man involve many different factors. Therefore, the righteous may die young as a mercy from God (Is 57:1-2), and the wicked may live long and fat lives as a judgment (Pr 1:32; Ps 17:13-15). This proverb is still the general rule.

Christians sometimes forget the cause of death, though they should know better and never forget. The world fears dying, and they have rejected the Creator and His manual about their origin, nature, and future, so they research, promote, and worship diet, exercise, and various forms of medicine as protectors. They comfort themselves they can live longer than those around them, though God is not in all their thoughts (Ps 10:4; 49:10-13).

But the cause of death is sin! It is not eating too much fat or sugar. It is not the sedentary lifestyle of the 21st century; it is not poor health care. It is sin! You cannot postpone death by reading another book on good health or trying alternative medicine. Death is caused by Adam’s sin and your sin (Rom 5:12-14; 6:23). Sin causes life expectancy to be 73 (Ps 90:10), and your rejection of wisdom shortens that (Eccl 7:17; 8:13). Believe it!

Every father wants his children to have long lives, so Solomon stated this rule about life extension to his son several times (Pr 3:2,16; 4:10; 8:35; 10:27; 28:16). He saw that wisdom tended to life in those that had it (Pr 10:16; 11:4,19; 12:28; 14:27; 19:23). Even ordinary men know that hard living – foolish and wicked living – shortens men’s lives.

But there is another factor beyond the natural consequences of folly and wisdom; there is the sovereign government of God. He gives long life supernaturally for wise choices like honoring parents (Eph 6:1-3) and showing mercy to brute creatures (Deut 22:7). Your Creator can easily shorten or lengthen your life, and your obedience is a key factor.

Wisdom can preserve your life naturally and practically by avoiding the hard life of sinners that shortens their days, by avoiding the sword of justice of the government avenging crimes, by avoiding the accidents that often claim the foolish, by avoiding the diseases associated with certain sins, and by avoiding the sovereign judgment of God, Who judges every sinner, sometimes by taking his or her life early.

True wisdom also lays hold of eternal life and makes ones calling and election sure, for endless days and perpetual years are the elect’s future, which is life extension far beyond any days or years added here on earth (I Tim 6:17-19; II Pet 1:10-11; I Thes 4:17). Christians know the real cure for the real cause of death – Jesus removed all their sins!


Under Gods Command

 Personal Request 

1 Corinthians 16:13-14 Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love. 

As the Corinthians awaited Paul’s next visit, they were directed to:

(1) Be on guard. They were to be constantly watchful or alert for spiritual enemies that might slip in and threaten to destroy them, whether it be divisions, pride, sin, disorder, or erroneous theology.

(2) Stand firm in the faith—that is, in the good news that they had been taught in the beginning, the gospel that had brought them salvation.

(3) Be courageous, so that they could stand against false teachers, deal with sin in the congregation, and straighten out other problems.

(4) Be strong, with the strength given by the Holy Spirit.

(5) Do everything in love, because without love, they would be no more than prideful noisemakers. Today, as we wait for the return of Christ, we should follow the same instructions. 

Lets Bring it Home: Today, as we wait for the return of Christ, we should follow the same instructions.


Under Gods Command

 The Collection for the Lord’s People     

1 Corinthians 16:1-12 Now about the collection for the Lord’s people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made. Then, when I arrive, I will give letters of introduction to the men you approve and send them with your gift to Jerusalem. If it seems advisable for me to go also, they will accompany me. 

05-09: After I go through Macedonia, I will come to you—for I will be going through Macedonia. Perhaps I will stay with you for a while, or even spend the winter, so that you can help me on my journey, wherever I go. For I do not want to see you now and make only a passing visit; I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits. But I will stay on at Ephesus until Pentecost, because a great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me. 

10-11: When Timothy comes, see to it that he has nothing to fear while he is with you, for he is carrying on the work of the Lord, just as I am. No one, then, should treat him with contempt. Send him on his way in peace so that he may return to me. I am expecting him along with the brothers.

12: Now about our brother Apollos: I strongly urged him to go to you with the brothers. He was quite unwilling to go now, but he will go when he has the opportunity. 

16:1-4 The Christians in Jerusalem were suffering from poverty and famine, so Paul was collecting money for them (Romans 15:25-31; 2 Corinthians 8:4; 9:1-15). He suggested that believers set aside a certain amount each week and give it to the church until he arrived to take it on to Jerusalem. Paul had planned to go straight to Corinth from Ephesus, but he changed his mind (2 Corinthians 1–2). When he finally arrived, he took the gift and delivered it to the Jerusalem church. 

16:10-11 Paul was sending Timothy ahead to Corinth. Paul respected Timothy and had worked closely with him (Philippians 2:22; 1 Timothy 1:2). Although Timothy was young, Paul encouraged the Corinthian church to welcome him because he was doing the Lord’s work. God’s work is not limited by age. Paul wrote two personal letters to Timothy that have been preserved in the Bible (1 and 2 Timothy).

16:12 Apollos, who had preached in Corinth, was doing evangelistic work in Greece (see Acts 18:24-28; 1 Corinthians 3:3-23). Apollos didn’t go to Corinth right away, partly because he knew of the factions there and didn’t want to cause any more divisions.

Lets Bring it Home: Do we add to the fractions of our Church which adds to more division?


Under Gods Command

Proverbs 8:9 To the discerning all of them are right; they are faultless to those who have knowledge

Some say, “The Bible is too difficult!” Others say, “The Bible contradicts itself!” Many conclude, “Anything can be taught from the Bible. It is impossible to know the truth for sure.” The devil laughs with evil satisfaction at such absurd remarks. But Lady Wisdom teaches that the words of wisdom are plain and right – to those with understanding and knowledge! If you have a problem with the Bible, you have the problem, not the Bible!

Solomon used personification in the eighth chapter of Proverbs. The feminine pronouns refer to Lady Wisdom, a woman representing wisdom in Solomon’s appeal for men to reject ignorance and folly and embrace understanding and knowledge. The proverb at hand is part of her introduction, as she claims to speak excellent and right things (Pr 8:6), truth (Pr 8:7), and righteous words that are not at all contradictory or corrupt (Pr 8:8).

A little understanding and knowledge, from fearing the Lord and trembling before His word, will open the Bible to you (Pr 1:7; 9:10; Ps 25:14; Is 66:2; Luke 8:18). The words become plain and right, when you study the Bible humbly by its rules of interpretation. If you approach it arrogantly or critically, it is designed to confuse and destroy you (Ezek 14:1-11; I Cor 1:19-20; 2:13-15; II Thess 2:9-12; II Tim 2:15; II Pet 3:16).

The Bible is plain and right, if you are born again (John 3:3; Rom 3:11), are enlightened by the Holy Spirit (Eph 1:17-18), fear God (Pr 15:33), delight in the Lord (Neh 8:6-8; Ps 37:4), obey what you learn (John 7:17), pray for wisdom (Ps 119:18; Jas 1:5), work for it (2:1-9; 18:1; I Tim 4:13-15), will take correction (Pr 26:12; I Cor 3:18-19), have a godly motive (Ps 119:11; Luke 10:38-42), and use God-given teachers (Mal 2:7; Acts 8:30-31).

The Bible, God’s book of wisdom, reveals secrets of the universe that greatly affect human existence, but most men have no use for it. The Bible is closed to them (I Cor 2:6-15; II Cor 4:3-4). God reveals these things only to His children (Matt 11:25-27). They have no regard for intelligence, education, or the opinions of any or all men. They believe every word of God to be absolute truth, and they despise any other ideas (Ps 119:128).

Consider an example. Solomon wrote corporal punishment is the only way to rightly train children (Pr 13:24; 19:18; 20:30; 22:6,15; 23:13-14; 26:3; 29:15). But PTA and PETA mothers, drunk with the drivel of Drs. Spock, Seuss, and Dobson, reject the Bible as a primitive manual for insensitive monsters that knew nothing about loving children. They say the Bible is impossible to understand, immorally cruel to children, or needs a gentler application for today’s society; but corporal punishment is plain and right to God’s saints.

Consider another example. Moses and Solomon wrote that capital punishment is the only way to treat murderers (Pr 28:17; Gen 9:6; Ex 21:12-14; Lev 24:17). But Mother Theresa, the ACLU, and others without consciences or justice, actually pity murderers more than their victims. Hard to believe? It is true. They write the Bible off as outdated laws for a violent society, but God’s saints know it has divine wisdom for civil authority. Capital punishment is as obvious to them as putting down a rabid dog after it eats an infant.

Consider another example. Moses recorded earth’s origin by writing, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Gen 1:1). But Charles Darwin and other hallucinating educators, in a profane plot to rid the world of a creator God and His rules for living, contrived an impossible pipedream that chaotic gases exploded to form the universe, primordial slime became reproducing salamanders, who chose to become monkeys, one of which was Charles’ mother. Believers and their children laugh at this false science, which no man has or can observe, define, or duplicate (I Tim 6:20-21).

Consider another example, “This is my body,” from I Corinthians 11:24. Catholics presumed Jesus taught cannibalism and meant the words literally, so they invented transubstantiation – the cracker turns into His body, blood, soul, and divinity – though the cracker is still present to human senses and any kind of analysis. Their Bible-rejecting religion idolizes this blasphemous caricature of the Lord’s Supper, forgetting that Jesus also said, “I am the door,” and, “I am the vine,” among numerous other metaphors!

Lutherans, knowing full well the bread still existed (because they could still touch it, taste it, smell it, and see it), invented consubstantiation – the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus coexist with the bread in their version of the Mass. Presbyterians, also superstitious sacramentalists coming from Rome, invented the notion that Jesus is really, truly, and spiritually in the bread, though not present in body, blood, soul, or divinity.

The children of God, with just a little understanding and knowledge, know that Jesus spoke metaphorically, just as you do when holding up a picture of your mother and saying, “This is my mother.” You only mean that the piece of Kodak paper represents your mother. Jesus gave a simple memorial supper to His true followers. There is no sacrifice offered again in any way, shape, or form. The Supper is only to remember Him by using bread and wine to represent and signify His torn body and shed blood. It is not a sacrament, and it does not involve the altering of any substance, at all, in any way.

Reader, the Bible is the only true book on earth. It alone has the words of wisdom from heaven, which Solomon sought to tell you about through Lady Wisdom in this proverb. If you embrace her, she will bless you; if you reject her, you must love death (Pr 8:35-36). But this wonderful book can do you no good, unless you acquire the understanding and knowledge that opens its treasures. Humble yourself before the great God, repent of your pride and sins, and beg Him for wisdom. He will make the words plain and right to you.


Under Gods Command

Proverbs 5:18 May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth

Married men have a fountain. They should thank God for it, protect it, honor it, and use it. It is the wife of their youth that gives birth to their children. A wife is like a fountain in that she sends forth children to spread a man’s influence. A wise man highly values this advantage of a lawful wife over a whore. He should enthusiastically enjoy life with her.

Fathering children with a wife is a glorious and wonderful thing. Solomon warned his son against adultery by praising the privilege and pleasure of a legitimate family (Pr 5:15-18). The fountain is a man’s generative power with a woman, which he restricted to only his son’s wife. And he exalted a happy family as a blessing and delight worthy of rejoicing.

Adultery destroys this good thing. Whores cannot give it. They avoid conception, lest they be discovered. When a child is born out of wedlock, it causes more problems than blessings. And adultery crushes the heart of your wife. It is only legitimate children from a monogamous marriage that bring blessing and joy to two loving parents. Solomon condemned adultery by promoting a legitimate family.

Boys should be taught early that marrying young – the wife of thy youth – and having a happy family with children are great sexual and social goals. Girls should believe being a wife and mother are their most fulfilling and noble roles. Childbirth, a nursing mother, and happy children are blessings (Pr 17:6; Job 21:11; 42:16; Ps 107:41; 127:3-5; 128:1-6). They are also great deterrents to the short, deadly pleasure of fornication or adultery.

This perverse generation despises and ridicules the large families of several generations ago. Family size in America has fallen from an average of 7.0 children in 1800 to 3.5 in 1900 to 1.6 in 2000. This collapse is partly due to change from an agrarian/rural society to a service/urban one, but it also reflects the selfish and whorish lifestyles of most adults.

Defying the wisdom of a happy family, this lascivious generation promotes a lifestyle of casual sex, multiple partners, commitment-free love, professional women, marriage without children, and spousal independence. The family unit God ordained and blessed, which was for man’s pleasure, prosperity, and protection, has become an item of scorn.

Divorce, single parenting, cohabitation, and same-sex marriages are in. Many children are raised in one-parent homes. When there are two parents, the one child they have is spoiled beyond description. These children’s dysfunctional lives condemn the trends of this evil generation by the obvious results. God’s wisdom of the family is never outdated.

The righteous, who fear God and trust His Word, must restore the glory and prosperity of the family – a man and wife committed for life, loving their several or more children, and rejoicing in their family extension by grandchildren. You can do this by building your own marriage and family to be an example of blessing and pleasure, by condemning and avoiding all forms of casual sex outside marriage, by teaching your children these things, and by reproving and ridiculing all societal trends against God’s family ordinances.


Under Gods Command
The Resurrection Body

1 Corinthians 15:35-58 35 But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?” How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. Not all flesh is the same: People have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor.
     So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. Physical and Resurrection Bodies If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being” the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven. As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man.
     I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

“Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

     Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

Paul launches into a discussion about what our resurrected bodies will be like. If you could select your own body, what kind would you choose—strong, athletic, beautiful? Paul explains that we will be recognizable in our resurrected body, yet it will be better than we can imagine, for it will be made to live forever. We will still have our own personality and individuality, but these will be perfected through Christ’s work. The Bible does not reveal everything that our resurrected body will be able to do, but we know it will be perfect, without any infirmities, sickness, or disease (see Philippians 3:21).
Paul compares the resurrection of our bodies with the growth of a seed in a garden. Seeds placed in the ground don’t grow unless they “die” first. The plant that grows looks very different from the seed because God gives it a new “body.” There are different kinds of bodies—people, animals, fish, birds. Even the angels in heaven have bodies that are different in beauty and glory. Our resurrected body will be very different from our earthly body. It will be a spiritual body full of glory.
Our present body is perishable and prone to decay. Our resurrection body will be transformed. The spiritual body will not be limited by the laws of nature. This does not necessarily mean we’ll be superpeople, but our body will be different from and more capable than our present earthly body. Our spiritual body will not be weak, will never get sick, and will never die.
The “last Adam” refers to Christ. Because Christ rose from the dead, he is a life-giving spirit. This means that he entered into a new form of existence. He is the source of the spiritual life that will result in our resurrection. Christ’s new glorified human body now suits his new glorified life—just as Adam’s human body was suitable to his natural life. When we are resurrected, God will give us a transformed, eternal body suited to our new eternal life.
We all face limitations. Those who have physical, mental, or emotional disabilities are especially aware of this. Some may be blind, but they can see a new way to live. Some may be deaf, but they can hear God’s good news. Some may be lame, but they can walk in God’s love. In addition, they have the encouragement that those disabilities are only temporary. Paul tells us that we all will be given new bodies when Christ returns and that these bodies will be without disabilities, never to die or become sick. This can give us hope in our suffering.
“We will not all sleep” means that Christians alive at that day will not have to die but will be transformed immediately. A trumpet blast will usher in the new heaven and earth. The Jews would understand the significance of this because trumpets were always blown to signal the start of great festivals and other extraordinary events (Numbers 10:10).
Satan seemed to be victorious in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3) and at the cross of Jesus. But God turned Satan’s apparent victory into defeat when Jesus Christ rose from the dead (Colossians 2:15; Hebrews 2:14-15). Thus, death is no longer a source of dread or fear. Christ overcame it, and one day we will also. The law will no longer make sinners out of us just because we cannot keep it. Death has been defeated, and we have hope beyond the grave.

Lets Bring it Home: Paul says that because of the resurrection, nothing we do is useless. Sometimes we become apathetic about serving the Lord or hesitate to do good because we don’t see any results. Knowing that Christ has won the ultimate victory should affect the way we live right now. Don’t let discouragement over an apparent lack of results keep you from doing the work of the Lord enthusiastically as you have opportunity, knowing that your work will have eternal results.


Under Gods Command

1 Corinthians 15:29-34 Now if there is no resurrection, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized for them? And as for us, why do we endanger ourselves every hour? I face death every day—yes, just as surely as I boast about you in Christ Jesus our Lord. If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus with no more than human hopes, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.” Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God—I say this to your shame.

Some believers were baptized on behalf of others who had died unbaptized. Nothing more is known about this practice, but it obviously affirms a belief in resurrection. Paul is not promoting baptism for the dead; he is illustrating his argument that the resurrection is a reality.

If death ends it all, enjoying the moment would be all that matters. But Christians know that life continues beyond the grave and that our life on earth is only a preparation for our life that will never end. What you do today matters for eternity. In light of eternity, sin is a foolish gamble. Your belief in the resurrection will affect your view of the future. It also ought to affect how you live today.

“I face death every day” refers to the dangers Paul encountered daily. The “wild beasts” in Ephesus referred to the savage opposition he had faced there.

Keeping company with those who deny the resurrection can corrupt good Christian character.

Lets Bring it Home: Don’t let your relationships with unbelievers lead you away from Christ or cause your faith to waver.


Under Gods Command

 Proverbs 4:25 Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you.

How is your vision? Forget detail, distance, or depth. How is your directional vision? Do you see straight ahead, or do you have peripheral vision? Peripheral vision, or seeing things from the corner of your eye, is a good thing for driving and sports, but it is horrible for Christians. You must see only one object – God, His kingdom, and His righteousness.

Having told you to keep your heart with all diligence (Pr 4:23), the Preacher warned against peripheral distractions, either left or right (Pr 4:26-27). You must establish your direction straight ahead and keep going that way – to the single goal of pleasing the Lord.

“Eyes” and “eyelids” are synecdoche, where part of a thing represents the whole. Solomon did not care about the little flap of skin that covers your eyeballs. He wanted your heart and mind and soul. He wanted all of you. In the last eight verses of this chapter, he lists ear, eyes, heart, flesh, heart, mouth, lips, eyes, eyelids, feet, and hand.

Your eyes select objects and direct your movements toward them, but it is your heart and mind that give and receive feedback from your eyes. Heart and eyes cannot be separated. It is your overall person, eyes included, you must keep in the way of wisdom and truth.

The Lord Jesus taught against spiritual peripheral vision with similar language. And you should look unto Him as the great example of perfect vision for your soul (Heb 12:1-4). The context of His words will let you learn their sense and application (Matt 6:19-24).

“The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.  But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!” Matthew 6:22-23

Consider the context well. He condemned laying up treasure on earth, when you can lay up treasure in heaven, for your heart will follow your treasure (Matt 6:19-21). And He denied any man can serve two masters – God and mammon, or money (Matt 6:24).

He reasoned, if a man’s natural vision directs his bodily movements, then a blind eye is a horrible thing, for the body cannot know where to move. Considered spiritually, an eye with undivided honesty and zeal for God will lead to holiness, but a double eye of hypocrisy and worldly lusts will lead to destruction. Consider the Saviour’s warning!

Consider an obscure reference to soldiers in Chronicles. Zebulun brought 50,000 fighting men who were of one heart for David (I Chron 12:33). They had no mixed emotions. They were not thinking about going home. They were not thinking about anything else.

Jesus rejoiced to see Nathanael, for his heart was free from duplicity, hypocrisy, and a double mind (John 1:47). He was an Israelite indeed, fully committed to his God. This single purpose in life marks a consistent Christian that is of great value to Jesus Christ.

The Christian life is a race (I Cor 9:26; Heb 12:1). To win, runners must look straight ahead without being distracted by competitors or other things. Paul pressed forward, not looking sideways, to win the prize of God’s high calling (Phil 3:13-14), and he described those with peripheral vision for worldly things as belly worshippers (Phil 3:18-19).

Wicked men have a double heart (Ps 12:1-2). They are not totally committed to the Lord and spiritual things. Their hearts still lust after this world and its things. They are carnally minded, and they show little evidence of grace in their hearts. You can easily spot them, for they never talk about the Lord with the same passion as they talk about their things.

James warned twice against being double minded – or having more than one objective for your life (James 1:8; 4:8). He said a double minded man is unstable in all his ways, and he exhorted you to diligent efforts to reduce your objectives to only one (James 4:8-10).

Eve was seduced by her wandering eyes (Gen 3:6). Lot’s wife could not keep from looking back (Gen 19:17,26). Achan saw Babylonian goods and money that cost him his life (Josh 7:21). And David took what he saw one night from a rooftop (II Sam 11:2).

Your prayer should be for God to keep your eyes from seeing vanity (Ps 119:37). The lust of the eyes is one of the great temptations of man (I John 2:15-17). So careful was Job in his pursuit of holiness, he made a covenant with his eyes against thinking upon young beautiful women (Job 31:1). Contrast him with false teachers (II Pet 2:14).

The first church, under the powerful influence of the Holy Ghost, had a single mind with God and each another (Acts 2:46). They were undivided in their dedicated and solitary ambition of serving the Lord. Things in the corner of their vision did not distract them.

Godly men serve masters with single hearts (Eph 6:5; Col 3:22). Their solitary goal is to please the Lord on the job, regardless of what men may think or do. They do not seek a raise or promotion as their principal objective, for they see only God’s reward.

Dear reader, what distracts your vision and progress? You need only one goal – pleasing God with a holy life and preparing for heaven. Put on your blinders and keep your eyes and motion straight ahead. Look only forward – only upward – and only heavenward!

Did the Lord Jesus have any other objectives in His life on earth? None! Did things around Him distract him? Never! Though he had food, honor, and glory offered to Him by the devil, He remained absolutely faithful to His one goal – pleasing His Father by a perfect life and death. Glory! Follow this great Example and His singular vision!


Under Gods Command 

1 Corinthians 15:20-28 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own turn: Christ the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For he “has put everything under his feet.” Now when it says that “everything” has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all. 

Just as the first part of the harvest was brought to the temple as an offering (Leviticus 23:10-44) so Christ was the first to rise from the dead and never die again. He is our forerunner, the proof of our eventual resurrection to eternal life.

Death came into the world as a result of Adam and Eve’s sin. In Romans 5:12-21, Paul explained why Adam’s sin brought sin to all people, how death and sin spread to all humans because of this first sin, and the parallel between Adam’s death and Christ’s death.

Although God the Father and God the Son are equal, each has a special work to do and an area of sovereign control (15:28). Christ is not inferior to the Father, but his work is to defeat all evil on earth. First, he defeated sin and death on the cross, and in the final days, he will defeat Satan and all evil. 

Lets Bring it Home: World events may seem out of control, and justice may seem scarce. But God is in control, allowing evil to remain for a time until he sends Jesus to earth again. Then Christ will present to God a perfect new world.