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As some of my longtime readers will know, I have a tendency to uplift the Lord and share His wonderful Word whenever, and wherever, the opportunity arises. Currently, due to both my age and my health, my primary means of witnessing is by way of my online ministry. That is, Bill's Bible Basics, and the Christian Social Network. However, because the Internet is not the perfect medium for expressing one's thoughts and feelings, sometimes my motivations are called into question, and can even be grossly misinterpreted. It seems that some people erroneously assume that the primary reason why I am so forthright in my evangelical endeavors, is because, in my pride, I want to boast of my own spirituality, and impress people with my particular knowledge of the Bible.

To be quite frank, this assumption is really the furthest thing from the truth. May the Lord forgive me if I have ever yielded myself to such a temptation, and to such vanity. To be honest, I don't believe that I have. It seems to me that one of the reasons why some of these people make this silly accusation against me, as well as against other Christians, is because they are looking for any valid excuse, and any justification -- at least valid in their own deceived minds -- which they can use to try to legitimize their resistance against the conviction, and against the truth of God's Holy Spirit, which is often conveyed through ministries such as this one. This subtle tactic is nothing new. Consider what we read in the third chapter of the Gospel of John:

"And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God."


Speaking from my heart, what really motivates me to share God's Word, what really primes the pump of my personal zeal to impart His Word to others, is the simple fact that I have complete trust, and unquestionable faith, in the powerful, liberating, and life-changing truths which it reveals. In my mind, there is nothing like the Bible. No other book even comes close to the magnificence of the Holy Scriptures. For me personally, the Bible is indeed the "Book of books". It contains every solution to the myriad of life's problems. It reveals the deepest secrets of the heart. And most important of all, it offers us the keys to true happiness, spiritual well-being and Eternal Life. There is no other collection of historical documents -- or any modern work of man for that matter -- which can boast of these attributes. Taking into consideration these points, is it any wonder then that King David was inspired to write the following?:

". . . for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name."


In truth, God's Word stands above all, without exception. While many people have been blessed, inspired and motivated by this ministry, every now and then, someone will comment to me, either while we are in private Internet chat, or else by way of an email message, that they feel a certain degree of inadequacy when it comes to their personal knowledge of the Word of God. This perception they have of themselves, is sometimes due to the fact that I can so easily share the Word of God with them, with very little apparent effort on my part. I just start talking, or typing, and the verses just begin to flow through my mind.

Such was the case this morning. After a brief Internet chat, a certain hungry, little sheep left a message on my screen, in which he honestly and humbly admitted that his knowledge of the Bible wasn't what he had thought it to be, or what he would like it to be. Such honesty is not only admirable, but it also reveals the heart of a true seeker. Such individuals will be rewarded by the Lord due to their hunger to know His Word. I will be sharing more concerning this topic in a just moment.

To set the record straight, let me reiterate the fact that I am by no means any kind of a spiritual giant. While it is true that I have memorized a number of Bible verses over the years -- and have probably forgotten just as many as I have learned -- I still require the daily assistance of my "Online Bible" computer program while I am engaged in online chat, or while I'm responding to email messages, and particularly while I am working on a new article or series. This great little app is my constant companion, and I don't doubt that the person who wrote it -- who is now deceased -- has received a great reward in Heaven for having made such a wonderful study tool freely available to fellow Christians.

While Satan's children may use computer technology for more destructive, ungodly and evil purposes, the Children of Light wisely use this same technology for God's glory, by reaching out to the spiritually hungry and lost of the world, in order to bring them to the saving knowledge of the Good News of Salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord. As the Apostle Paul was inspired to write in his Epistle:

"Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God."


Although it should be rather obvious, allow me to also add that all of the information you find written in my articles, is not something which I learned overnight. We all know that learning is really a slow, continual process which occurs throughout one's lifetime. It should come as no surprise to you then, that it has taken me literally years of seriously studying God's Word, in order to grasp the things which I understand today. In fact, I continue to refine my ideas and beliefs as the Lord reveals more truth to me through His Word, as I am able to receive it. Furthermore, allow me to humbly admit, that what I understand today is still so very little, and does not give me any reason to boast of some personal greatness. We all need to maintain a certain degree of humility in this regard.

Not only that, but I am fully aware of the fact, that if I were so foolish as to ever set myself up on a pedestal, or to allow others to do this to me, and did not try to discourage them from doing so, God would quickly humble me, and perhaps even bring an abrupt end to this ministry. Our God is a very jealous God, and He will not have any other gods before Him; particularly not the false gods of self, pride and ego, which in a sense, can be worse, and perhaps even more destructive than the pagan gods which were worshipped by the ancients. Consider the following group of Bible verses:

"Thou shalt have no other gods before me . . . Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;"


"For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:"


The Apostle Paul offers some very sound advice for those people who, because they have filled their minds and hearts with Earthly wisdom, foolishly become lifted up in their own pride and vanity. He tells them that if they truly desire to become wise, then they must forsake their worldly wisdom, as well as their pride, and basically become fools. In other words, Paul is stating that they must be willing to accept the fact that, like a fool, they really don't know anything of true eternal value. Therefore, they must start all over, in order to learn the true wisdom which only comes through a dedicated study of, and adherence to, God's Word. Paul wrote as follows:

"Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?"


"Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain. Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours;"


"Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth."


". . . we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth. And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know."


In fact, as Paul also tells us, this is precisely what he personally had to do, after his life-changing encounter with the Lord that fateful day on the road to Damascus. If Paul's understanding had been correct, and had his heart really been right with God, he would never have begun his persecution of the early Christian Church. That is why when the Lord smote Paul on his horse that day, He told him that it was hard for him to kick against the pricks. This was a reference to the Spirit of God jabbing at Paul's own heart, just as a rider would poke his animal with an iron goad in order to get it to move. Wow! What a picture!

In other words, similar to a beast of burden which sometimes stubbornly resists its rider, Paul was likewise resisting the Will of his true Master -- meaning God -- because his pride, his Jewish background, and the knowledge he had gained over the years as a learned Pharisee, was more important to him than the truth of God's Word. As Paul would later write to the brethren at Rome, he had the Law -- such as the law of circumcision -- but he didn't have the Spirit. Consider the following set of verses:

"And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks."


"For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God."


"For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God."


Following his conversion, not only did Paul have to renounce his prestigious position as a Pharisee of the Pharisees, and whatever affluent lifestyle may have been associated with it, but he also had to admit to himself that much of what he had been taught as a dedicated Pharisee, and disciple of his own teacher, Gamaliel, was now worthless to him. Why? Because his understanding was based on his self-righteous zeal and blind pride, which had resulted in his faulty interpretation of the Scriptures. Paul realized that he had been dead wrong. He knew that he had to begin anew from scratch. In the verses which follow, Paul describes his background for us, and then reveals his new perspective following his conversion:

"But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee: of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question."


"I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day."


"Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,"


In agreement with his own words, Saul of Tarsus had indeed become a new creature in Christ, with a new understanding of the Scriptures, and a new outlook on life, following his spiritual transformation into the new man, who became known as the Apostle Paul. Here again are some verses for your consideration:

"And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."


"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."


Just as Jesus Himself had taught, new wine, or new doctrine, cannot be poured into old bottles. Thus, the Apostle Paul had to be willing to forsake the old wine of his former teachers, and become a new, more flexible bottle, in order that he might be able to accept, with childlike faith, the new wine of the Spirit which would soon be revealed to him by the Lord Himself, through personal revelation. Consider the following two verses:

"Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved."


"For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ."


King Solomon, who according to the Bible was one of the wisest men to have ever lived upon the face of the Earth, summed up his thoughts regarding the obtaining of worldly wisdom and knowledge, when he wrote the following lines:

"And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil."


Imagine that. One of the wisest and richest men the entire world has ever known, who was greatly admired by his peers because of his excellent counsel, encapsulated the sum of his lifelong learning process in that one magnificent sentence: "Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man."

Unlike vain men of our modern day who strive to exalt human intelligence and knowledge with their unique phrases, axioms, and many books filled with great swelling words of man's wisdom and accomplishments, this noble king was willing to humble himself and basically say "If you really want to be smart, then obey God, keep His Rules, and you will do well." Can you imagine a college professor, or the president of a country saying such a thing today? Well, in essence, Solomon was both; because he was the leader of his country, and a great scholar as well.

In their Epistles, Peter, Paul and Jude warn us to beware of those corrupt men, who speak great swelling words of man's wisdom and philosophy -- which included both scientific and religious reasoning -- in order that they might lead God's children astray from the truth of His Word, and the path of righteousness, and into the subtle net of deception and sin. Consider the following group of verses:

"For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error."


"Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ."


"These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage."


Jesus also accused the self-righteous Scribes and Pharisees of these very same sins. In fact, the Lord stated that once they lure their victims into their doctrinal net with their impressive speeches, their eloquent teaching and their long prayers, they then convert them into children of hell even worse than themselves. So much man worship, and so little of the true Spirit of God! Consider the following verses:

"Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees . . . How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees? Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees."


"And he said unto them in his doctrine, Beware of the scribes, which love to go in long clothing, and love salutations in the marketplaces, And the chief seats in the synagogues, and the uppermost rooms at feasts: Which devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayers: these shall receive greater damnation."


"Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God."


"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves."


In contrast to the vain, worldly and deceptive wisdom and doctrines of men, while discussing the profundity and wonder of God's Wisdom and Divine Purposes, which far surpass our limited human wisdom and understanding, the Apostle Paul was inspired to write the following lines in two of his Epistles:

"O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!"


"But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.‭ But God hath revealed ‭them‭ unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.‭ For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.‭ Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.‭"


In writing the previous words, perhaps Paul was reminded of some of the following verses from the Old Testament, where we also find both Patriarchs and Prophets being awed by the deep wonders of God and His profound, unsearchable ways:

"Which doeth great things past finding out; yea, and wonders without number."


"LORD, how great are thy works! ‭and‭ thy thoughts are very deep.‭"


"Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law."


"Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it."


"Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable."


"As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all."


"Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding."


"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."


Returning to King Solomon for a moment, it is undoubtedly because of this very same reason -- that is, because he obviously recognized the supremacy of the Lord's Wisdom and Divine Purposes -- that in his Proverbs, Solomon instructs us to not trust in our own wisdom or human rationale, but to place our faith, our trust, our very confidence, solely in the Lord. If we do, Solomon tells us, God will indeed direct our every step, and ultimately, the course of our lives. In fact, Isaiah takes it a step further by telling us that if we do trust in the Lord, it will bring peace to our lives, such as we have never known before. Consider the following set of verses:

"Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."


"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee."


"And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left."


So as can be clearly seen, when it comes to God's Wisdom, and understanding His Ways, we are all like little children. The best thing that we can each do, is to forsake our silly pride, our stubbornness, and our preconceived ideas of what we think is right, and humbly take the hand of our Heavenly Father, and allow Him to lead the way. That is why in the Gospels, Jesus tells us that we must have the faith of a little child in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The Lord said the following:

". . . Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven."


". . . Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God."


From reading the Holy Scriptures, we know that not everyone fully understood what Jesus meant when He spoke such cryptic words. One such man was the Pharisee -- and secret follower -- Nicodemus. As I explain in other articles, Nicodemus came to the Lord by night -- possibly because he was fearful of the opinions of his contemporaries, as was common at that particular time -- and asked of Jesus, exactly what He had meant by the previous statements. In John chapter three we find the following conversation:

"Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit."


Thus we see that to "be converted, and become as little children", requires that we be born again in a spiritual sense. But there is more to this that what meets the eye; and I don't doubt that Jesus knew this full well. Exactly what is the faith of a little child like? Well, for one thing, he obeys his parents, even though in his young mind, he may not fully understand why they are telling him to do something. That little child has full faith in his parents. He has an inner confidence which tells him that they will not ask him to do something which will bring harm to his being. Faith in their word, is basically synonymous with faith in their love for him. If he cannot trust in their love for him, which guarantees his protection, then neither will he be able to trust in their word. Can you see that?

In the case of very young children, they accept the words of their parents as absolute truth in their lives. If mommy or daddy says that something is true, then it must be true. After all, they ought to know, right? Sadly, in our modern day, due to serious compromise by some parents, even by some Christian parents, this kind of childlike "blind faith" has had a detrimental effect on the lives of many children. It has resulted in the widespread belief in Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and a host of other pagan beliefs, traditions and practices which are contrary to the Word of God. It may come as a shock to some parents someday when the Lord holds them accountable for their irresponsible actions, and weak faith.

So exactly what is my point? Well, just like young children who place their faith in their parents, we must do likewise when it comes to our Heavenly Father and His holy Word. In short, while we may not always understand everything with our carnal minds and human understanding, and while we may sometimes not know or see where the Lord is leading us along life's rugged road, nevertheless, we must still accept His Word as absolute, immutable truth, and we must take His Hand by faith. We must believe that He loves us so much, that He will not allow anything to happen to us, unless He knows that it is for our own good, and that it will result in good fruit in our lives in the end. These truths become evident in the following group of verses:

"The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them."


"Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved."


"A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee."


"Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows."


"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."


"Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you."


". . . for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee."


Please go to part two for the continuation of this series.

⇒ Go To The Next Part . . .

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