Showing results by author "JAMES THOMAS" in All Categories

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 ...

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 ...

This book has been written to clear up some confusion about John 3:16. In the pages that follow, the actual originator of those words will be identified. The verse is in red in Bibles that identify the words of Jesus with red letters. But did He really say those words in His conversation with Nicodemus? In reaching the most logical conclusion, careful consideration will be given to the verb "gave" in that verse and to the Apostle John's use of the aorist active indicative case for that verb. Verses from other parts of his writings and the New Testament will also be considered to arrive at ...

The Bible teaches that there are seven separate judgments. This book was written about the first one, which was the judgment of Satan and sin by the cross of Jesus. It starts with Satan sinning in heaven and being cast to the earth. It carefully analyzes the Garden of Eden environment and the whole theology around what happened when Adam ate fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It considers several logistical questions concerning his sin, the consequences of his sin, and the resulting physical and spiritual separations from God. Once those topics have been addressed, some ...

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 ...

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 ...

This book discusses one of the most important set of verses in one of the most important chapters in one of the most important books of the Bible. The whole doctrine about being born again is based upon a conversation that Jesus had had with a Pharisee named Nicodemus. From that conversation, one can easily see the analogy between the brass serpent on a pole in the Old Testament and Jesus on the cross at Calvary. That analogy makes it clear that Jesus is the only way of salvation. People may try whatever they like. But John 14:6 says that no one comes to the Father except by the Son. All of...

Earlier this year in 2022, I completed a daily devotion book on the book of Proverbs. That book was intentionally meant to be very non-technical. By design, the devotions were meant to be easy to read and understand but without involving the reader with a lot of Hebrew words and scripture references. So that book was completed earlier this year in one very large volume. But now, this book, which is being prepared as six separate parts in six volumes, is meant to be everything that the devotion book was not meant to be. For example, each of the devotions that are in the devotion book are ...

Earlier this year in 2022, I completed a daily devotion book on the book of Proverbs. That book was intentionally meant to be very non-technical. By design, the devotions were meant to be easy to read and understand but without involving the reader with a lot of Hebrew words and scripture references. So that book was completed earlier this year in one very large volume. But now, this book, which is being prepared as six separate parts in six volumes, is meant to be everything that the devotion book was not meant to be. For example, each of the devotions that are in the devotion book are ...

This study looks at the Genesis account of Creation in Genesis chapter one. Key Hebrew words are analyzed. Discussion is presented about some of the more popular views about Creation, such as the Big Bang theory, the Theory of Evolution, the Gap Theory, the Age-Day Theory, and Pantheism. Key creation terms, such as Fiat Creationism, Progressive Creationism, and Theistic Evolution are defined. The role of the Second Law of Thermodynamics as it pertains to Creation is discussed. At the end of the commentary on the first chapter in Genesis, the creation and impact of angels is briefly examined...

This book contains a series of short essays that discuss twenty-five of the important promises from the Lord that have been stated in the scriptures. Each of the essays is basically independent of the others. But at the same time, they have also been ordered somewhat loosely from most important to least important based upon logical order. The Lord promises to love every person. He promises to be found but not indefinitely. He promises grace for salvation and living. He promises goodness and mercy. He promises salvation that cannot be lost. He promises to not be bought. He promises to resist...

Ten places in the Bible, mention is made about events and decisions that were made from, before, or since the foundation of the world. Four of those occasions were spoken by Jesus during His public ministry. One was written by the Apostle Paul. One was written by the Apostle Peter. Two occurrences were included in the book of Hebrews. Two occurrences were mentioned in the book of Revelation. In chapters one through three of this text, two of the writings about events and decisions from the foundation of the world will be shared. First, Jesus taught secrets about the Word of God and secrets ...

The purpose of this book is to celebrate the victory that the saints of God can have through the power and might of a personal relationship with Christ. It has been divided into four parts. Part one is, "The devil could not overthrow God." In that part, the reader will learn when the devil became the devil. A key point will be that he is not in control of the events of this life. In fact, he is quite limited in what he can and cannot do. Part two is entitled, "The devil cannot overthrow or stop the saints." In that part, key times and events in the lives of Job, David, Abraham, and Joseph ...

This text was not written to show how much better the godly kings were than the ungodly kings. It was not written to try to show that God had loved the children of Israel more than the people of all of the other nations. To the contrary, this text was written to show that, in some instances, the godly kings did some things that were just as bad as any of the ungodly kings of Israel. It was written to show that the Lord loved the people who opposed the children of Israel just like He loved the children of Israel. The notion that He had showed special favor to one type of people over another ...

This text was written in response to a question that I was asked at a Wednesday night Bible study at Wallers Baptist Church in Partlow, Virginia. The question, which was asked by the church's pastor, was in regard to the obvious enthusiasm that some of the saints of God seem to have for the Lord's work. The study that evening was in Acts 13:13, which talks about the Apostle Paul's first Bible-recorded missionary journey. It says, "Now when Paul and his company loosed from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia: and John departing from them returned to Jerusalem." So when the company ...