In our very first meeting of the King James Bible study, on October 7, 2017, we opened with a reading of 1 Corinthans chapter 2 (the entire chapter). We then went through a foundational study Understanding the Deep Things of God pertaining to what is needful to be able to understand the deep things of God (1 Corinthians 2:10). The very first neeful thing is like a mandatory prerequisite: according to the words of Jesus Christ, Ye must be born again (John 3:7). Without being born again, it is impossible to understand the deep things of God. This is encapsulated in 1 Corinthians 2:14, which tells up that… The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
Once a person becomes is born again, he can understand the deep things of God. But, there are certain requirements that must be applied for the possibility to become reality. We reviewed seven requirements (with a sampling of scriptures for each) that the believer must embrace in order to begin to understand the deep things of God: we identified them as the “heart-set” of the believer (as opposed to the “mind-set” of the critic). These seven requirements, along with the mandatory prerequisite, are:
Mandatory Prerequisite: Ye must be born again.
Requirements:
- Fear God (not man)
- Believe the Bible (that it – the KJB – is the very word of God)
- Be meek (not wise in thine own eyes)
- Pray (for understanding)
- Obey (that which you come to understand)
- Meditate upon Memorized Scripture
- Read the Bible (the KJB) Again and Again and…
I recently had the privilege to present Understanding the Deep Things of God Thursday night at Mountain Baprist Church in Somerset, PA. Much thanks to Jim Martin and his wife Cindy for inviting me and giving me this honour to be able to serve the Lord (and get my feet wet, so to speak, in standing upon (behind) “a pulpit of wood”). It made me think of, and led me to pray that I would obey in the similitude of, Jeremiah:
Jeremiah 26:2 Thus saith the LORD; Stand in the court of the LORD’s house, and speak unto all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the LORD’S house, all the words that I command thee to speak unto them; diminish not a word:
Blessings to all who read (Rev 1:3)