The Bible and Life

Tuesday, July 15, 2025

Holiness Does Not Save Us

Hello everyone. Praise the Lord!

Holiness does not save us.

Google creative commons

Those of us who teach the doctrine of separation we do NOT believe separation saves us. Only faith in the the shed blood of Christ in obeying the gospel saves. However God demands His people be separate from this ungodly world or culture. We see God teaching us this in Genesis 1, He separates the light from darkness.

All through the law that is our school master it teaches those chosen people were to be a separate people in everything they did. Their lives were ordered. The Message of Grace does not teach us that we are free to lose our separation. In fact Paul the Apostle of Grace declared ‘Wherefore come out from among them and be ye separate.’ 2 Corinthians 6:17.

Google creative commons

You can be separated and NOT saved, but you can’t be saved and not separated.

Grace teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live godly in this present world.

Since we are the Chosen destined for the glories of the world to come to reign with Him, we are to learn to reign our lives through the power of the Spirit and cleansed by the preached word.

Living a saved life is the best life. I haven’t missed a thing worth having living for Him. I am humbled He would have me! Bought me by His Own Blood, forgave my sins, in fact remitted them the filled me with His own life. Gave me hope, peace, joy, then eternal life in Him.

And Heaven to come with a new immortal Body. Separated Unto Him.

Steve Epley

Google creative commons

Friday, July 11, 2025

Charles Fox Parham

Hello everyone. Praise the Lord!

Here is a short introduction to Charles Fox Parham.

THE FATHER OF PENTECOST.

Charles Fox Parham commands a degree of respect. He is best known as “The father of modern Pentecostalism,” having been the main initiator of the movement and its first real influencer. It was his student a black Holiness preacher, William Seymour, who was the catalyst for the famous 1906 Azusa Street Revival.

Charles Fox Parham gave his life to restore the revolutionary truths of healing and the baptism of the Holy Spirit to the church. The first forty years of the twentieth century were powerfully visited by this man’s Pentecostal message that changed the lives of thousands around the world.

The miracles that occurred in Charles Parham’s ministry are too numerous to record. Multiplied thousands found salvation, healing, deliverance, and the baptism of the Holy Spirit. When he proclaimed to the world in 1901 that “speaking in tongues was the evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit,” the Pentecostal truths of the early church were wonderfully restored. But the evangelist paid a price for it. The relentless backlash of persecution and slander Parham endured throughout his life would have destroyed others of lesser character. But for Parham, it only served to strengthen his hardened determination and purposeful faith.

“At Christ’s Second Coming the Church will be found with the same power that the Apostles and the early Church possessed. The power of Pentecost is manifest in us. The Christian religion must be demonstrated. The world wants to be shown. Then let God’s power be manifest through us.”

- Charles Fox Parham

Tuesday, July 8, 2025

God Is Our Provider

Hello everyone. Praise the Lord!

God is our provider!

Google creative commons

George Mueller, who ran an orphanage in nineteenth- century Bristol, England, was a man of vision. He made it a policy never to reveal his financial needs to anyone. Even when people asked, he would tell only the Lord what the needs were. He saw God as his ultimate provider, and he believed that if God was in the ministry, He would lay it on people's hearts to participate.

One man, visiting the orphanage, said to Mueller, "Of course you cannot carry on these institutions without a good stock of funds."

Mueller acknowledged that that was the case.

"Have you a good stock?" the man asked.

Mueller, knowing that he was penniless, only answered quietly, "Our funds are deposited in a bank which cannot break."

The man responded by saying he wanted to make an investment in that bank, and he gave Mueller a sizable gift!

Many times when Mueller had no money, no food, and no knowledge of where the orphans' next meal would come from, he would nevertheless gather them around the table at mealtime and thank the Lord for His gracious provision. On more than one occasion, while they were yet praying, an unexpected donor would show up with food enough for everyone.

Google creative commons

I've seen this happen in my ministry, too. As a young preacher, sensing the call of God to preach the gospel to the world, I left San Francisco on a ship with only twelve dollars in my pocket. That was all I had, except for enough faith to believe that the God who had called me could also provide my needs along the way. He did, and I learned that God's provision is one thing that is a certainty. The eyes of faith lay hold of what God has promised to do, not what the natural eyes see happening.

The apostle Paul, writing about the faith of Abraham, said he trusted a God who "calls those things which do not exist as though they did" (Rom. 4:17). What would we normally say about someone who calls things that are not as though they were? We would say he is a liar. But not so with God. He can call the things that are not as though they are because He knows the end from the beginning (see Isa. 46:10). That means He knows how things will turn out from the time they start. He looks into the future and sees the culmination of all He's going to do. The future is so certain with Him that He counts it as an accomplished fact and declares it to be so.

- Dr Lester Sumrall ( The Making Of The Champions )

Google creative commons

Friday, July 4, 2025

The Lollards

Hello everyone. Praise the Lord!

Here is an article by an unknown author. Enjoy.

The Lollards

The Morning Star of the Reformation, John Wycliffe (1320-1384) had died but his ideas did not. As a group called the Lollards kept his doctrines alive. Wycliffe died peacefully in 1384, but the Roman church at that time condemned him posthumously. In 1428, forty-four years after Wycliffe was dead, they dug up his body and had it burned; his ashes were thrown into the River Swift. As one historian said, his ashes spread down the river into the sea and touched the banks of countries all over the world, and everywhere his ashes touched so did his teachings.

In England, the Lollards (meaning “mumblers”) continued Wycliffe's teachings. Historian Phillip Schaff said the Lollards were so prevalent in England by the end of the 14th century that “of every two men found on the roads, one was sure to be a Lollard.” After severe persecution, many Lollards moved out of England, as a result, their ideas spread all over Europe. Jon Hus, for example, was influenced by Wycliffe’s teachings all the way across Europe in Czechoslovakia.

Here is an interesting summary of the teachings of the Lollards, called the Twelve Conclusions, as presented to the English Parliament of 1395. You can clearly see the seeds of the Reformation here, 120 years before Luther.

(excerpt from gotquestions.org):

1) The Church of England has become subservient to the Church at Rome.

2) The ordination ceremonies for bishops and priests have no biblical support.

3) Celibacy of the clergy has encouraged sodomy among the clergy.

4) The doctrine of transubstantiation leads to the idolatrous worship of the wafer.

5) Exorcisms and consecrations practiced by the priests are more in line with witchcraft than Christianity.

6) Men who hold powerful church offices should not simultaneously hold powerful secular offices.

7) The practice of praying for the dead should be rejected, and accepting money to say prayers for the dead corrupts the church.

8 ) Making pilgrimages and venerating relics are ineffective for spiritual growth and can lead to idolatry.

9) Confession of sin to a priest should be stopped because only God can forgive sins, and, if priests had the power to do it, they should forgive everyone regardless of whether or not they had confessed.

10) Christians should not participate in warfare, especially warfare that purports to have a spiritual basis (such as the Crusades).

11) Vows of celibacy among women have led to all kinds of sexual sin among those women.

12) Christians are spending too much time producing things, not being content with what they have.

Lollards also believed that the primary duty of priests should be to preach and that every person should have access to the Bible in his/her own language.

William James Roop

Tuesday, July 1, 2025

I Will Deliver Him

Hello everyone. Praise the Lord!

I WILL DELIVER HIM.

Google creative commons

The story is told about a black woman who was in trouble many years ago in the days of slavery. Her 16-year-old daughter was about to be sold on the auction block.

The mother bowed her head and prayed, "Dear Lord God, if You were in trouble as I am in trouble, and I could help You as easy as You could help me, I would do it!"

This story is a historical fact; a U.S. Senator was present.

The senator's 15-year-old son was with him, and when the boy saw them pulling this girl away from her mother, and he saw their tears, he ran to his father and said, "Daddy, loan me $10!"

The senator gave him the $10, and the boy ran to the auction block.

Before anybody else could start bidding, he said, "I will bid $10." (Ordinarily, $200 would have been a low opening bid, but everybody was so thrilled at what he was doing that nobody else would bid.)

Google creative commons

The boy bought the girl for $10. Taking the bill of sale, he marched right over and handed the girl back to her momma. God heard and answered that prayer. She had said, "If I could help You as easy as You could help me, I would do it." I've told about that dear old black woman's prayer more than once, and I have followed her example and have gotten results.

I just say, "Lord, if You were in trouble like I'm in trouble, and I could help You as easy as You could help me, I would do it." And He does—He does! Because He says in His Word, "I will do it. I'll be with him in trouble. I will deliver the man who sets his love upon me." Psalm 91:14.

This God who is more than enough says, "I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him."

- Kenneth E Hagin ( El SHADDAI )

Google creative commons

Friday, June 27, 2025

The Grantham Miracle

Hello everyone. Praise the Lord!

I WENT TO THAT VILLAGE UNNOTICED BUT…

I had many telegrams to go to a place near Grantham, to a young man who was very dangerously ill. After I arrived at Grantham I had nine miles to go by bicycle. When I came to that farm house that afternoon a woman at the door asked, “Are you Wigglesworth?” I replied, “Yes.” She said, “I am sorry to say that you are too late. My son is beyond anything being done for him now.” I answered, “God has never sent me anywhere too late.”

Grantham (Google Commons)

I asked if I could see the young man. He lay in his bed with his face toward the wall and whispered that if he was turned over he would die, for his heart was so weak. “Well,” I said, “I’ll pray for the Lord to strengthen you.” In most of my work in those early days I used to pray much and fast. I knew that this case was beyond all human hopes, and so I lay awake most of the night praying. I got up very early the next morning and went out to an adjoining field to pray, for I was very much burdened about this case. There in that field God gave me a revelation that this had to be something new in my life.

I went into the house and asked them to put their son’s clothes to air because the Lord would raise him up. In that part of England the climate is very damp, so I knew it would be necessary for them to put his clothes before a fire before he could wear them. But they did not believe and so did not do anything about his clothes.

That was Sunday morning and I knew that there was a service at the Primitive Methodist Chapel. I went to the service and was invited to take charge. Through the word of the Lord, faith was planted in the hearts of all those people, and then something happened! They all knew that young man by name, and they all said, “Matthew will be raised up!”

Grantham (Google Commons)

That led me to see that faith could be created in others just as it had been created in me, and I went back to that house and said, “Have you put his clothes to air?” I think they were a little ashamed that they had done nothing, so they got out his clothes and put them before the fire.

Then I went into the room and told the young man the vision I had, and said that something would happen different from anything that I had experienced before. I said, “When I place my hands on you the glory of the Lord will fill the place till I shall not be able to stand. I shall be helpless on the floor.” I went out and got his clothes, and said to one of the household, “All I want you to do is put his stockings on him.”

Why I had asked them to put his stockings on is a mystery. His legs were like those of a skeleton and I saw his helplessness, and knew that a miracle would have to be performed. After this member of the household had put the stockings on the young man I said, “Now you can leave the room.”

Grantham (Google Commons)

They shut the door. I think it is a very important thing to have the door shut, when you have a case like this to deal with, for then you know that you are just shut in with God. I prayed for the vision to be made good, and instantly, the moment I touched the young man, the power of God filled the room and was so powerful that I fell to the floor. My nose and my mouth were touching the floor and I lay there in the glory for a quarter of an hour. All that while Matthew in the bed was shouting, “Lord, this is for thy glory! This is for Thy glory!” the bed simply shook, as did everything in the room, by the power of God.

Matthew’s strength, his life, and his heart (which was considered the weakest thing about him) were all renewed. I was still on the floor in the glory when he arose from his bed and began to dress. After he was dressed he began to walk up and down the room shouting, “I’m raised up for Thy glory! I’m raised up for Thy glory!” Opening the door he shouted, “Dad, God has healed me. I’m healed!” The same glory filled the kitchen; the father and mother fell down; and the daughter who had been brought from the asylum and whose mind was still affected was made perfectly whole that day.

Grantham (Google Commons)

That whole village was moved and a revival began that day. I went into that village unnoticed and unknown, but when I left all the village turned out and shouted, “Please come back, please come back, and stop with us longer next time.”

- Smith Wigglesworth ( 📕 Apostle of Faith )

Grantham (Google Commons)