Do forums increase your faith?

[Johann]

A brother on here suggested the NET "full Notes" study bible. I just ordered a 3x magnifier today!... as the notes are pretty small.
This is a site that gives some good information on this bible:

Must be pretty expensive?

 

[Nancy]

Must be pretty expensive?

The second one down is not bad, it is pre-owned but, still cheaper than the new ones" It's the same one I have

net bible full notes for sale | eBay

Get the best deals for net bible full notes at eBay.com. We have a great online selection at the lowest prices with Fast & Free shipping on many items!

www.ebay.com

 

[Nancy]

Thank you for the link @Nancy, what book are you studying?
I will look this Bible up, always hungry for more of God's word.
May our Lord richly bless you and family in all spheres of your lives.
Shalom
J.

John! And, it has been awhile since I have read this awesome book! Still hard to spend too much time as the note print is small, waiting for a magnifier to come in the mail.
May we always remain hungry for His word that truly does fill.
God bless you and yours!

 

[Bible Highlighter]

P

Pride


The devout observed three prayer times daily--9 a.m., 12 midday and 3 p.m. Prayer was held to be specially efficacious if it was offered in the Temple and so at these hours many went up to the Temple courts to pray. Jesus told of two men who went.

(i) There was a Pharisee. He did not really go to pray to God. He prayed with himself. True prayer is always offered to God and to God alone. A certain American cynically described a preacher's prayer as "the most eloquent prayer ever offered to a Boston audience." The Pharisee was really giving himself a testimonial before God.

The Jewish law prescribed only one absolutely obligatory fast--that on the day of Atonement. But those who wished to gain special merit fasted also on Mondays and Thursdays. It is noteworthy that these were the market days when Jerusalem was full of country people. Those who fasted whitened their faces and appeared in dishevelled clothes, and those days gave their piety the biggest possible audience. The Levites were to receive a tithe of all a man's produce (Num_18:21; Deu_14:22). But this Pharisee tithed everything, even things which there was no obligation to tithe.

His whole attitude was not untypical of the worst in Pharisaism. There is a recorded prayer of a certain Rabbi which runs like this, "I thank, Thee, O Lord my God, that thou hast put my part with those who sit in the Academy, and not with those who sit at the street-corners. For I rise early, and they rise early; I rise early to the words of the law, and they to vain things. I labour, and they labour; I labour and receive a reward, and they labour and receive no reward. I run, and they run; I run to the life of the world to come, and they to the pit of destruction." It is on record that Rabbi Simeon ben Jocai once said, "If there are only two righteous men in the world, I and my son are these two; if there is only one, I am he!"

The Pharisee did not really go to pray; he went to inform God how good he was.

(ii) There was a tax-collector. He stood afar off, and would not even lift his eyes to God. The King James and Revised Standard Versions do not even do justice to his humility for he actually prayed, "O God, be merciful to me--the sinner," as if he was not merely a sinner, but the sinner par excellence. "And," said Jesus, "it was that heart-broken, self-despising prayer which won him acceptance before God."

This parable unmistakably tells us certain things about prayer.

(i) No man who is proud can pray. The gate of heaven is so low that none can enter it save upon his knees. All that a man can say is,

"None other Lamb, none other Name,
None other Hope in heaven or earth or sea,
None other Hiding-place from guilt and shame,
None beside Thee."


(ii) No man who despises his fellow-men can pray. In prayer we do not lift ourselves above our fellow-men. We remember that we are one of a great army of sinning, suffering, sorrowing humanity, all kneeling before the throne of God's mercy.

(iii) True prayer comes from setting our lives beside the life of God. No doubt all that the Pharisee said was true. He did fast; he did meticulously give tithes; he was not as other men are; still less was he like that tax-collector. But the question is not, "Am I as good as my fellow-men?" The question is, "Am I as good as God?" Once I made a journey by train to England. As we passed through the Yorkshire moors I saw a little whitewashed cottage and it seemed to me to shine with an almost radiant whiteness. Some days later I made the journey back to Scotland. The snow had fallen and was lying deep all around. We came again to the little white cottage, but this time its whiteness seemed drab and soiled and almost grey in comparison with the virgin whiteness of the driven snow.

It all depends what we compare ourselves with. And when we set our lives beside the life of Jesus and beside the holiness of God, all that is left to say is, "God be merciful to me--the sinner."
DSB

J.

Is this your own writing or somebody else’s?
If it is another person’s work, it is good to give them the credit (if it is).

I generally try to speak with people my own thoughts and not relay the thoughts of others (unless they say it better than I can in some instances). Too many times it is easy to let another’s thoughts rule our own thinking. But I believe we should let the Bible speak for itself and we should learn to get a handle on God’s Word on our own with God before venturing off into commentaries and relying on them as if they are some kind of crutch or as if they are on equal footing with God’s Word (When they are not).

I have no real interest in reading long commentaries from others (if indeed again this is a commentary and not your own writing). I prefer to discuss the Word of God one on one personally.

It is true that the Pharisee was boasting in himself. This is wrong. Any or all good a believer does is the good works that the Lord does through the believer. So the Pharisee did not give praise to God for any good works he was doing. One of the purposes of good works is to glorify our Father in Heaven (Matthew 5:16). Jesus said there is none good, but God. This is true. The only good we can do is by God working through us.

However, one problem I have with this commentary (whether it be your own or another person’s commentary) is that it says that he was praying to himself and not God. But that’s not what the parable is saying (although I am sure one can misread it that way). He was merely praying to God and he had himself in mind when praying to God. It does not mean he was not actually praying to God.

The problem is that the Pharisee…

#1. Trusted in himself and thought he was righteous because Jesus said this of those he thought this way (See: Luke 18:9).
This runs contrary to the Bible’s teaching on how God does the good works through us ultimately (John 15:5, Philippians 2:13, etcetera).

#2. Despised others because of those who thought this way (When Jesus calls us to love even our enemies) (See again Luke 18:9).