"Divide To Multiply"
"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." Where does one go in the Holy Bible to find out how to be saved? Where do we search about the life of Jesus? How are we supposed to conduct our lives after salvation? What about the antichrist and the tribulation period? Where should one start reading in the Bible? When we know where to look for what we want to know, we are way ahead in our understanding of the Word of God, and we will know how to lead others into the knowledge of the Bible. We "divide" the Word of God into its appropriate categories and then follow it like a roadmap. In doing this, we multiply faith, knowledge, and understanding in ourselves and in others ... we Divide to Multiply!
The Books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in the New Testament are the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. They are accounts and perspectives of the life of Jesus Christ in earth. We read of His virgin birth, when the Angel came to Mary and she answered, "Be It Unto Me According To Your Word." We learn of Jesus' disappearance at 12 years of age, and his parents searching and finding Him in the temple confounding the doctors with His words. We feel the pain and agony of the whip ripping His flesh, and then His long bloody trudgery to Calvary, where He hung nailed to a cross between two thieves. The whole earth groaned and responded with crushing stormy darkness in the middle of the day as the Holy omnipotent God of the universe said, "It Is Finished." Our eyes wince at the brightness of angelic light as we read of the stone rolled away from the burial tomb of Jesus Christ, and now we know for a fact that He Is Risen ... because He was seen and heard, and He said it! He said He would rise on the third day; He did; He's alive! The four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John ... read them like a novel. It will spurn your curiosity for more!
You have only just begun ... now it's time to read of power falling from heaven as tongues of fire descend upon hungry souls and they speak in languages they have never learned as the Spirit of God moves them. Then come miracles, signs, wonders, miraculous jailbreaks ... and the "dividing" and "multiplying" as the Word of God goes forth bringing thousands into the Church of Jesus Christ our Lord.
The Book of Acts is recognized by theologians as the Book where the Church began. If we want to know how to be saved, we must go to where the first Church started. In the above scriptures, the people asked Peter what they should do {to be saved} and Peter explained it in Acts 2:38, Repent of your sins, be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will receive the Holy Ghost and speak with other tongues, the salvation message.
The books of Romans to Jude, which are directly following the Book of Acts, are books telling us how to live after salvation. We learn about the many gifts of the Spirit in Corinthians, and the wealth, walk and warfare of the Christian in Ephesians. We're told in Philippians, "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus." In Hebrews we learn we can have "the spirits of just men made perfect;" in James, we learn the tongue is a fire and the most wicked member of the body (this is why at salvation, we must speak in tongues, or a language we have never learned; this is God taking control and taming that most wicked member); in the Books of Peter, we're told to be holy in all manner of conversation. Finally, in Jude, we learn we must build ourselves up on our most Holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keeping ourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
The last and most blessed Book of the Bible is the stirring and incredible Book of Revelation. We receive a blessing just by reading it; verse 3 states, "Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy ..." It is the fulfillment of all things. The synopsis of Revelation is found in Revelation 1:19, "Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter." We read about the seven churches: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia (the favored Church), and Laodicea (which is the church age in which we are now living). The Rapture of the Church takes place in Revelation 4:1; following that, we read about the antichrist, the mark of the beast, the tribulation period with the seals, vials and judgment being poured out on the earth, and then we read all about Heaven in Revelation 21 and 22.
The most important thing to remember about the Holy Bible is what it says in the last few verses, "...if any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book. And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book."
The New Testament divisions: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, The Gospels, which represent the birth, life, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Next: The Book of Acts where the Church began, and instructions of how to be saved (Acts 2:38). The Books of Romans to Jude tell us how to live after salvation. Then, last but not least, the Book of Revelation: the fulfillment of all things.
We learn the divisions of the Bible just like learning how to look up a word in the dictionary. Then, we become knowledgable and we can teach others, who teach others, and it's called winning souls, bringing in the harvest, reaching the hungry, or just simply "Divide To Multiply."
By Sheryl Fowler
(Visit promiselandchurch.net and theexperience238.com.
PromiseLand Church, Austin, Texas, Pastor Kenneth Phillips)
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