Short Reflection from James 1-5

[Originally posted in a WhatsApp group (JAC) as a daily reading update (reflection) from each chapter of the Bible]

[06:06, 4/27/2021] S.R:

JAMES 1:2

"Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter various trials."

As I grow older year by year, as I have faced more trials than when I was much younger, I am appreciating this verse like never before. I affirm this truth now by experience. And I love Christian Life because of this truth!

"A life without trial is like an umbrella without rain!" Hahaha. You never know what an umbrella is without rain! 😀

Eh! I get a better one: "A life without trial is like a professional footballer who never plays, and is always in substitute!" Huh! He should change his profession! 😎

 

𝕁𝕒𝕞𝕖𝕤 𝟚:𝟙-𝟟

𝙹𝚊𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚘𝚘𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚑! 𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚙𝚘𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚕𝚜𝚘 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚖𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚌𝚑𝚞𝚛𝚌𝚑 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚘𝚌𝚒𝚎𝚝𝚢.

𝙸𝚝'𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚍𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚞𝚕𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚌𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚘𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚑 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚜𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎. 𝙸 𝚖𝚢𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚞𝚕𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚍𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚖𝚎. 𝙰𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎, 𝚒𝚝'𝚜 𝚎𝚚𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚍𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚞𝚕𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚙 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚕 𝚘𝚏 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚙𝚘𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚖𝚎. 𝙷𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙱𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚜 𝚞𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚌𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚘𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝚎𝚚𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚌𝚑𝚞𝚛𝚌𝚑!

𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚍𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚞𝚕𝚝 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚞𝚛𝚌𝚑. 𝚂𝚘, 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚍. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎, 𝚠𝚎 𝚖𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚌𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚜𝚎𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗.

𝓗𝓮𝓵𝓹 𝓶𝓮 𝓛𝓸𝓻𝓭, 𝓽𝓸 𝓸𝓫𝓮𝔂 𝓨𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝔀𝓸𝓻𝓭! 𝓐𝓶𝓮𝓷!

 

𝕁𝔸𝕄𝔼𝕊 𝟛:𝟠-𝟙𝟘

"But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so."

𝙿𝚛𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚋 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚊 𝚏𝚘𝚘𝚕 𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚜𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚝.

 𝙸 𝚊𝚕𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝚐𝚞𝚒𝚕𝚝𝚢 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝙸 𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚔 𝚝𝚘𝚘 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑, 𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚒𝚏 𝚎𝚡𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚎𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚕𝚢. 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚜, 𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚜𝚔 𝙶𝚘𝚍'𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚖𝚢 𝚞𝚗𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚍𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚞𝚎!

Last night, I was having dinner with Guang and Kedu. Guang had an "interesting " opinion regarding the author of Ecclesiastes. With humor and sarcasm, I suggested that he write a book on it, and commented that nobody will ever buy it. We had a hearty laugh, but when I get back to my room, I realized that I should have been more considerate instead of trying to be humorous and "witty." And I had to WhatsApp him saying, "Sorry!"

 

𝕁𝔸𝕄𝔼𝕊 𝟜

Why are we having problems with one another? And why do we create a problem for one another intentionally or unintentionally? We are angry with many things in this world, upset with this and that, discouraged with this and that, unmotivated to do this and that . . . Well James 4 has an answer, I will quote only

v2. " . . . You are envious and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel . . . "

How do we overcome this deep, deep jealousy? How do we get rid of envy from our eyes, minds, thoughts, actions? Well, it's by practicing and striving for humility as it is written in

v10. "Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you."

In reality, to enjoy life, to have a prosperous life, to have a good relationship, to have a godly life, to live an influential life, to live a meaningful life and whatever noble . . ., only God can let them happen in our life. And James says that the key is 🄷🅄🄼🄸🄻🄸🅃🅈

Lord, cause me to confess all the days of my life like David that I do not look for great things, but just to delight in Your lovingkindness. Amen!

 

JAMES 5:19-20

“Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.”

As I read James 5 today, particularly v.19-20, I remember this quote from the great evangelistic pastor, Charles Spurgeon. Have a great day, friends! “One soul won to Christ is better than a thousand merely moralized and still sleeping in their sins.”

Short Reflection from Hebrews 1-13

[Originally posted in a WhatsApp group (OVU) as a daily reading update (reflection) from each chapter of the Bible]

[9:59 pm, 21/05/2022] S.R:

ℍ𝕖𝕓𝕣𝕖𝕨𝕤 𝟙:𝟙𝟜

"Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?"

Angels are for us. Angels will help us

This "us" is referring to only true Christians, of course.

 

ℍ𝕖𝕓𝕣𝕖𝕨𝕤 𝟚:𝟙𝟜

"Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,"

It's God who gives and takes life but He often uses Satan to take life. It's the device of Satan that brought sin upon the world and also its consequence—death.

But Jesus has destroyed that power. We will still die, but we don't need to fear what will happen to the dead and living if we are in Christ.

 

ℍ𝕖𝕓𝕣𝕖𝕨𝕤 𝟛:𝟙𝟜

"For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end,"

Notice the word "𝕚𝕗"

It's conditional... In other words, the importance of endurance till the end. Holding on to the faith.

Christian life is till the end. No holiday no resignation.

 

ℍ𝕖𝕓𝕣𝕖𝕨𝕤 𝟜:𝟙𝟞

"Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."

I am confident to do and say things whatever I want in front of someone I know who knows me and loves me.

That's what we need to be in front of God. God knows and loves us more than we can ever imagine, but we aren't knowing that. We are of little faith and holiness!

 

ℍ𝕖𝕓𝕣𝕖𝕨𝕤 𝟝:𝟙𝟚-𝟙𝟜

"For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil."

There are a lot of pastors who are still needing milk because they have not been laboring in the word of God consistently.

 

ℍ𝕖𝕓𝕣𝕖𝕨𝕤 𝟞:𝟙𝟝

"And so, having patiently waited, he obtained the promise."

Let's learn to wait— that's patience, that's trusting God. In it lies the calmness of life, and the blessings of God.

Disappointment, Anxiety, Anger, Fear, Suspicion, and Doubt are the telling signs that we haven't really learned to wait on God.

 

ℍ𝕖𝕓𝕣𝕖𝕨𝕤 𝟟:𝟚𝟝

"Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them."

Salvation is forever because Jesus lives forever!

 

ℍ𝕖𝕓𝕣𝕖𝕨𝕤 𝟠:𝟞

"But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises."

And we are workers of this better ministry. Think of that!

 

ℍ𝕖𝕓𝕣𝕖𝕨𝕤 𝟡:𝟚𝟚

"Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins."

That's why Jesus had to shed blood in His death. Blood is sacred in Christian Theology. Blood is life. Respect blood!

 

ℍ𝕖𝕓𝕣𝕖𝕨𝕤 𝟙𝟘:𝟛𝟙

"It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God."

We need to bring back the terror of God in our conversation, thinking, imagination, and public square.

 

ℍ𝕖𝕓𝕣𝕖𝕨𝕤 𝟙𝟙:𝟙

"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."

The most repeated word in this chapter is "Faith"

How important, powerful, and beautiful it is!

 

ℍ𝕖𝕓𝕣𝕖𝕨𝕤 𝟙𝟚:𝟜-𝟞

"You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin; and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, "MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD, NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM;  FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES."

God would surely say this of us, I am sure! Let's not be so disappointed with the circumstances of our life!

 

[2:07 pm, 02/06/2022] S.R: ℍ𝕖𝕓𝕣𝕖𝕨𝕤 𝟙𝟛:𝟝

"Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, "I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU,"

Flee from the love of money. Flee from easy money. Flee from an illegal and immoral business.

Don't look only for a high-salaried job. Make sure you get Sunday off.

The New Testament in the Original Greek: Introduction, Appendix: Book Review — Part II

B.F. Westcott and F.J.A. Hort. The New Testament in the Original Greek: Introduction, Appendix. Cambridge and London: Macmillan and Co., 1882, pp. xxxi + 324 +173.

Review of pp. 163–324 [Part II]

Pp. 1-162 deals with the necessity, methods, and application of textual criticism. The following pages 163-324 deal with the application of the principles of textual criticism and the nature and details of this edition [Volume I & II]. Page 163 begins with section V of chapter 2 of Part III with the title “Identification and estimation of readings as belonging to the chief ancient texts.” Genealogical evidence method is widely considered for the determination of the readings (p. 162.) Pre-Syrian readings are identified, and Syrian readings are rejected. Hort wrote “Readings having only characteristic Western and characteristic Syrian attestation must have belonged to the Western text: readings having only characteristic Alexandrian and characteristic Syrian attestation must have belonged to the Alexandrian text” (p. 167). Pre-Syrian readings which are neither Western nor Alexandrian are considered “Neutral” (p. 170). Hort commented that B is more neutral than other documents (p. 171). Omission of words in Alexandrian and Syrian are rare but not in the Western text (p. 175). Section VI is the review of previous criticisms with reference to the ancient texts. Textual Criticism gained momentum in 1707 with Mill’s collection of documentary evidence (p. 181), followed by the work of Bentley and Bengel. Griesbach further developed historical criticism in contrast with Hug’s theory of recensions (p. 182). However, Hort said that Griesbach was confused between the classification of ancient texts and the classification of documents derived from them (p. 183).

Chapter 3, Result of Internal Evidence of Groups and Documents (pp. 187–271), has two sections. The first section deals generally, and the second section deals specifically (B and א). The homogeneousness of the fundamental texts of all important groups may be safely trusted (p. 189). On page 191, Hort said that the Syrian text as a whole must be condemned. According to Hort, אBCDL 33 in the Gospels, אABCDE, I3 6I in Acts, אABC I3 in the Catholic Epistles, and אABCD₈G₈ I7 in the Pauline Epistle are uncontestably the primary documents (p. 192). Hort contended that the Versions are excluded from the primary category even if they were non-Western and pre-Syrian for they cannot outweigh “trustworthy attestation” (p. 198). The authors observed that one of the most common forms of paraphrase in the Versions is the change of word order (p. 200). Hort also considered patristic sources to be doubtful of their accuracy; and when they are accurate, he said it is nothing more than an accidental coincidence (p. 203-4).

Section 2 deals specifically with reference to B and א (p. 207–271). Westcott and Hort considered these documents to be more trustworthy (paragraph 285). Comparison of manuscripts against these documents must either be Alexandrian or Western and cannot be mixed of both to be trustworthy (p. 208). They reported their findings on page 210: “Every group containing both א and Β is found, where Internal Evidence is tolerably unambiguous, to have an apparently more original text than every opposed group containing neither; and every group containing B, with the exception of such Western groups as include Β in the Pauline Epistles, is found in a large preponderance of cases, though by no means universally, to have an apparently more original text than every opposed group containing א.”

They also compared B to א to seek its independent nature, and they stand alone in numerous readings (p. 213). They presumed that the scribe of B was a corrector of א (p. 214), but remarkable differences were observed in their divisions into sections and other externals. They also adopted the strategy to exclude any manuscript which has no other attestation (p. 216). They proposed that the readings of א B should be accepted until strong internal evidence is against its readings, and if it has no support from Versions or Fathers, it cannot be rejected absolutely but must be on an alternative footing (p. 225); examples are listed on paragraph 304. Regarding the reliability of scribes, Hort wrote that no scribe can make the text better than he found it, and his best is to not make it worse (p. 232). He also suggested that the manuscript which is closer to the original will have more omissions than the Textus Receptus (p. 235).

Westcott and Hort argued that that B preserved a very pure line of a very ancient text, and that there is a greater integrity of text in B than in א (p. 251), however, the book of Revelation is missing in B. Hort admitted that it is “by no means sure” but they are convinced that “such relative insecurity” are removed through examination of the genealogical relations of the documents (p. 262). The most reliable documents for the Book of Revelation are A and C (p. 272). Regarding the birthplace of א and B, Westcott and Hort suggested that it must be in the West (p. 266), probably at Rome; ancestors of B were wholly Western, and ancestors of א were Alexandrian in a geographical sense (p. 267).  On pages 270–1, Hort discussed briefly the nature of scribes and correctors with reference to א and B.

Chapter 4 attempts to present the transmitted text as trustworthy copies of the original text (pp. 271–287). Variations of text must have existed in the early centuries and were forgotten through eclectic texts (p. 274). Regarding the immunity of the New Testament, Hort wrote, “If among the very ancient evidence now extant, collected from various quarters, so little can be found that approves itself as true in opposition both to Β and א, there is good reason at the outset to doubt whether any better readings have perished with the multitudes of documents that have been lost” (p. 277–8). Hort believed one does not need to lose confidence just because there were some instances of tampering with the text by dogmatic theologians like Tatian (p. 283).

Part IV is about the nature and details of this edition [Volume I & II] (pp. 288–324). The aim of this edition is “to obtain the closest approximation to the apostolic text itself” (p. 288). Hort assured that the “text” was based on “direct ancient authority of the highest kind” (p.290); when they weren’t certain, alternate readings were supplied. Precedence of documentary authority over internal evidence was employed. Notations were used to express probabilities of variant readings, and they hope that future textual criticism will reduce them to very few. Different markings like ⸂ ⸃, [[ ]], [ ], etc. were employed in this edition [Volume I & II]. Hort also admitted that a considerable number of readings that deserved to be mentioned are excluded because of no sufficient claim (p. 298) but are catalogued in the Appendix.

Hort devoted a section on orthography expressing the importance of it, and attempting to present the spelling as nearly as to the autographs by means of documentary evidence (p. 303). To Hort, “orthography deals with elements of text transmitted uninterruptedly, with more or less of purity, from the autographs to the extant MSS” (p. 311). Careful attention was given to breathing, accents, and other accessories of printing (pp. 311–318). The last section of this book concludes with a discussion on Punctuation—Division of Text, and Titles of Books—and Acknowledgement (pp. 318–324).

The strength of this book lies in the detailed explanation of their methods of textual criticism with some examples. The book is properly outlined, and each paragraph is numbered making the reading easy to trace. There is even a change in font size when certain paragraph deals with specific issues. I wish some of the paragraphs were shorter. And I get lost in some of his continuous descriptions; it would have been better if they had included some more examples or illustrations of what they are writing about.  I am quite aware this was their first edition of (Volume II), perhaps, subsequent editions were much better and easier to read and comprehend.

Westcott Hort considered א and B to be the most reliable Manuscripts of the New Testament. Even among the two, they prefer א though the book of Revelation is missing. They appealed to manuscripts that are Pre-Syrian Non-Western Non-Alexandrian to be the reliable sources, calling “Neutral,” represented by א and B. They accused Textus Receptus of an eclectic text, however, their method of constructing the text is also eclectic. However, the way the book concluded with an attempt to make the readers feel confident of the retention of the original writings of the sacred writer is commendable (which Metzer and Ehrman failed to do in their book).