*BY THE WORD
*Our mission is to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ absolutely free. We do not want donation. We only want you to know the truth.
BY WILLIE WONG
I deliberately disassociate with so-called Christian -- churches, missions, organizations, websites, publishers, universities, the Evangelical Monopoly -- because they merchandize the Word of God for money and shamelessly ask for donations. The Evangelical Monopoly is a group of so-called evangelicals who are bent on promoting the interests of their members in preaching and publishing. They exclude Christians in preaching and publishing. A famous evangelical publisher
told me clearly that they would not publish my book in competition with theirs.
Without the Word of the Lord, there cannot be Christianity. Because without the Word of the Lord, there is no Revelation. Without Revelation, there cannot be the rule of Faith and the Conduct for believers.
1Sa 3:21, “And the LORD appeared again at Shiloh, because the LORD revealed Himself to Samuel at
Shiloh by the Word of the LORD.”
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
21. appeared again] Manifested himself in visions. Cp. 1 Samuel 3:10; 1 Samuel 3:15; and the ancient prophetic title of Seer (1 Samuel 9:9).
by the word of the Lord] By the communication of prophetic messages to Samuel. The state of things described in 1 Samuel 3:1 was now reversed. The “word of Jehovah” was no longer “rare,” there were visions “published abroad.”
Ch. 1 Samuel 4:1. And the word of Samuel came to all Israel] Samuel communicated to all Israel the divine revelation which he had received. This clause should form the conclusion of ch. 3, not the commencement of ch. 4. In the latter position it would naturally mean that it was Samuel who summoned all Israel to the disastrous war against the Philistines. But he is never once mentioned in connexion with the war, and does not reappear on the scene for twenty years at least (1 Samuel 7:2-3), though in all probability his prophetic activity here recorded was in part contemporaneous with the Philistine oppression, during which his growing influence was marking him out as the future national deliverer.
The Sept. here differs considerably from the present Hebrew text. Omitting obvious repetitions, 1 Samuel 3:21 stands as follows: “And the Lord appeared again in Selom, for the Lord was revealed to Samuel. And Eli was very old, and his sons walked perversely, and their way was evil in the sight of the Lord.”
Psa 33:6, “By the Word of the LORD the Heavens were made, and by the breath of His mouth all their lights.”
Verse 6. - By the word of the Lord were the heavens made. God is to be praised, not only for his goodness, but also for his greatness, and especially for his greatness in creation (see Psalm 19:1-6). The heavens were made "by his word" in a double sense - by the Word, who is the Second Person of the Trinity (John 1:3; Hebrews 1:2, 10), and by a mere utterance, without the employment of any mechanical means, as we learn from Genesis 1:6-8. And all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. The "host of heaven" is here, undoubtedly, the host of heavenly bodies - the sun, moon, and stars - as in Genesis 2:1. These were made "by the breath of God's mouth;" i.e. by his simple utterance of the command - "Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven, to divide the day from the night" (Genesis 1:14; comp. Job 26:13). Psalm 33:6.”
Rom 10:17, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ.”
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(17) So then faith cometh.—Inference from the prophecy just quoted. Before men can believe, there must be something for them to believe. That something is the word of God, which we preach and they hear. It must be remembered that the word for “report” in Romans 10:16, and for “hearing” in Romans 10:17, is the same, but with a slight difference of meaning. In the first place, both the act of hearer and preacher are involved; in the second place, only the act of the hearer.
By the word of God.—We should read here, without doubt, “by the word of Christ”—i.e., by the gospel first delivered by Christ and propagated by His ministers.”
1Th 4:15, “For we say this to you by the Word of the
Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the
coming of the Lord will not precede those who have fallen asleep.”
The Apostles say many things to believers by the Word of the Lord. If they say anything by themselves, they would not mean anything.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(15) By the word of the Lord.—Literally, in. A most direct claim to plenary inspiration (see references). It does not mean “According to certain words which Christ spoke,” nor yet “By means of a revelation from the Lord to me,” but “By way of a divine revelation:” “I tell you this as a message straight from God.” In what way apostles and prophets became conscious of supernatural inspiration we cannot tell; but elsewhere also St. Paul speaks of possessing the consciousness sometimes and not at others. (See 1Corinthians 7:10; 1Corinthians 7:12; 1Corinthians 7:25; 1Corinthians 7:40.) He means this declaration here to hold good of the details, which are such as no one would invent and teach with such solemnity; at the same time it must be remembered, with regard to the details, that it is the very idiom of prophecy (which St. Paul here uses) to express by material imagery spiritual facts.
We which are alive and remain.—Literally, We, (that is) the quick, those who are left over. There is not the least necessity for supposing from these words that St. Paul confidently expected the Advent before his death. Very likely he did, but it cannot be proved from this passage. Had the “we” stood alone, without the explanatory participles, it might have amounted to a proof, but not so now. His converts are strongly under the impression that they will be alive at the Coming, and that it will be the worse for the departed: therefore, St. Paul (becoming all things to all men) identifies himself with them—assumes that it will be as they expected—and proves the more vividly the fallacy of the Thessalonians’ fears. It would have been impossible, on the contrary, for St. Paul to have said “we which are dead” without definitely abandoning the hope of seeing the Return. Besides which, St. Paul is only picturing to imagination the scene of the Advent; and for any man it is far easier to imagine himself among the quick than among the dead at that moment.
Shall not prevent—i.e., “be before,” “get the start of.” If it were not for these words, we might have fancied that the Thessalonians had not been taught to believe in a resurrection at all; which would have been a strange departure from the usual apostolic gospel (1Corinthians 15:1, et seq.). We here learn what was the exact nature of the Thessalonians’ anxiety concerning the dead. They were full of excited hopes of the coming of that kingdom which had formed so prominent a part of the Apostles’ preaching there (Acts 17:7); and were afraid that the highest glories in that kingdom would be engrossed by those who were alive to receive them; and that the dead, not being to rise till afterwards, would have less blessed privileges. This would make them not only sorry for their dead friends, but also reluctant to die themselves. The negative in this clause is very emphatic in the Greek, and throws all its force upon the verb: “We shall certainly not get the start of them that sleep;” i.e., “if anything, we shall be behind them; they will rise first.”
Heb 1:3, “And He is the radiance of His glory and the
exact representation of His nature, and upholds all
things by the Word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right
hand of the Majesty on high.”
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
3. the brightness] The substitution of “effulgence” for “brightness” in the Revised Version is not, as it has been contemptuously called, “a piece of finery,” but is a rendering at once more accurate and more suggestive. It means “efflux of light”—“Light of (i.e. from) Light” (“effulgentia” not “repercussus”) Grotius. It implies not only resemblance—which is all that is involved in the vague and misleading word “brightness,” which might apply to a mere reflexion:—but also “origin” and “independent existence.” The glory of Christ is the glory of the Father just as the sun is only revealed by the rays which stream forth from it. So the “Wisdom of Solomon” (Hebrews 7:26)—which offers many resemblances to the Epistle to the Hebrews, and which some have even conjectured to be by the same author—speaks of wisdom as “the effulgence of the everlasting light.” The word is also found in Philo where it is applied to man. This passage, like many others in the Epistle, is quoted by St Clement of Rome (ad Cor. 36).
of his glory] God was believed in the Old Dispensation to reveal Himself by a cloud of glory called “the Shechinah,” and the Alexandrian Jews, in their anxious avoidance of all anthropomorphism and anthropopathy—i.e. of all expressions which attribute the human form and human passions to God—often substituted “the Glory” for the name of God. Similarly in 2 Peter 1:17 the Voice from God the Father is a Voice “from the magnificent glory.” Comp. Acts 7:55; Luke 2:9. St John says “God is Light,” and the indestructible purity and impalpable essence of Light make it the best of all created things to furnish an analogy for the supersensuous light and spiritual splendour of the Being of God. Hence St John also says of the Word “we beheld His glory” (John 1:14); and our Lord said to Philip “he who hath seen Me hath seen the Father” (John 14:9). Comp. Luke 9:29.
the express image] Rather, “the stamp” (charactçr). The R. V. renders this word by “very image” (after Tyndale), and in the margin by “impress.” I prefer the word “stamp” because the Greek “charactçr” like the English word “stamp,” may, according to its derivation, be used either for the impress or for the stamping-tool itself. This Epistle has so many resemblances to Philo that the word may have been suggested by a passage (Opp. i. 332) in which Philo compares man to a coin which has been stamped by the Logos with the being and type of God; and in that passage the word seems to bear this unusual sense of a “stamping-tool,” for it impresses a man with the mark of God. Similarly St Paul in the Epistle to the Colossians (Colossians 1:15)—which most resembles this Epistle in its Christology—called Christ “the image (eikôn) of the invisible God;” and Philo says, “But the word is the image (eikôn) of God, by Whom the whole world was created,” De Monarch, (Opp. ii. 225).
of his person] Rather, “of His substance” or “essence.” The word hypostasis, substantia (literally that which “stands under”) is, in philosophical accuracy, the imaginary substratum which remains when a thing is regarded apart from all its accidents. The word “person” of our A. V. is rather the equivalent to prosôpon. Hypostasis only came to be used in this sense some centuries later. Perhaps “Being” or “Essence,” though it corresponds more strictly to the Greek ousia, is the nearest representative which we can find to hypostasis, now that “substance,” once the most abstract and philosophical of words, has come (in ordinary language) to mean what is solid and concrete. It is only too possible that the word “substance” conveys to many minds the very opposite conception to that which was intended and which alone corresponds to the truth. Athanasius says, “Hypostasis is essence” (οὐσία); and the Nicene Council seems to draw no real distinction between the two words. In fact the Western Church admitted that, in the Eastern sense, we might speak of three hypostaseis of the Trinity; and in the Western sense, of one hypostasis, because in this sense the word meant Essence. For the use of the word in the LXX. see Ps. 38:6, 88:48. It is curiously applied in Wis 16:21. In the technical language of theology these two clauses represent the Son as co-eternal and co-substantial with the Father.
upholding all things] He is not only the Creative Word, but the Sustaining Providence. He is, as Philo says, “the chain-band of all things,” but He is also their guiding force. “In Him all things subsist” (Colossians 1:17). Philo calls the Logos “the pilot and steersman of everything.”
by the word of his power] Rather, “by the utterance (rhemati) of His power.” It is better to keep “word” for Logos, and “utterance” for rhema. We find
“strength” (κράτος) and “force” (ἰσχύς) attributed to Christ in Ephesians 6:10, as “power” (δύναμις) here.
when he had by himself purged our sins] Rather, “after making purification of sins.” The “by Himself” is omitted by some of the best MSS. (א, A, B), and the “our” by many. But the notion of Christ’s independent action (Php 2:7) is involved in the middle voice of the verb. On the purification of our sins by Christ (in which there is perhaps a slight reference to the “Day of Atonement,” called in the LXX. “the Day of Purification,” Exodus 29:36), see Hebrews 9:12, Hebrews 10:12; 1 Peter 2:24; 2 Peter 1:9 (comp. Job 7:21, LXX.).
sat down] His glorification was directly consequent on His voluntary humiliation (see Hebrews 8:1, Hebrews 10:12, Hebrews 12:2; Psalm 109:1), and here the whole description is brought to its destined climax.
on the right hand] As the place of honour comp. Hebrews 8:1; Psalm 110:1; Ephesians 1:20. The controversy as to whether “the right hand of God” means “everywhere”—which was called the “Ubiquitarian controversy”—is wholly destitute of meaning, and has long fallen into deserved oblivion.
of the Majesty] In Hebrews 10:12 he says “at the right hand of God.” But he was evidently fond of sonorous amplifications, which belong to the dignity of his style; and also fond of Alexandrian modes of expression. The LXX. sometimes went so far as to substitute for “God” the phrase “the place” where God stood (see Exodus 24:10, LXX.).
on high] Literally, “in high places;” like “Glory to God in the highest,” Luke 2:14 (comp. Job 16:19); and “in heavenly places,” Ephesians 1:20 (comp. Psalm 93:4; Psalm 112:5). The description of Christ in these verses differed from the current Messianic conception of the Jews in two respects. 1. He was divine and omnipotent. 2. He was to die for our sins.”
Heb 11:3, “By faith we understand that the world has been created by the Word of God so that what is seen has not been made out of things that are visible.”
Verse 3. - By faith we perceive that the worlds have been framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen (or, that which is seen) have (or, has) not been made of things which do appear. "By the word of God" has reference to "and God said," of Genesis 1, which chapter enunciates the primary article of all definite religions faith, viz. the existence and operation of God, as the unseen Author of the visible universe. Even without a revelation to declare this, faith's office is to apprehend it from observation of the phenomena themselves; as is intimated in Romans 1:20, where even to the Greek "the invisible things of God from the creation of the world" are said to be "clearly seen, being understood [νοούμενα: cf νοοῦμεν in the passage before us] by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead." The drift of both passages is the same, viz. this, and no more - that faith recognizes an unseen power and Godhead behind, and accounting for, the seen universe. Commentators, who - taking μὴ ἐκ φαινομένων as equivalent to ἐκ μὴ φαινομένων, and hence seeking to explain what is meant by "non-apparent things" - perceive here a reference either to the formless void (Genesis 1:2) out of which the present creation was evolved, or to the Platonic conception of eternal ideas in the Divine mind, read into the text what is not there. Hebrews 11:3.”
Jas 1:18, “In the exercise of His will He gave us birth by the Word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.”
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
18. Of his own will begat he us] The construction of the Greek is participial, willing he begat us, and is parallel to that of Colossians 2:18, which, rightly rendered, runs “let no man willing, i.e. by the exercise of his will, deprive you.…” The word implies the rejection of the thought either of a destiny constraining the Divine Will, or of chance and, as it were, random impulses, and the reference of our higher spiritual birth to His deliberate Will. Here again we have a parallelism with St John “born … not of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:13), and with St Peter (1 Peter 1:23).
The word for “begat” is the same as the second “bringeth forth” in James 1:15, and is obviously used here, with the general sense of “engendering” or “begetting,” to emphasise the contrast between the process which ends in death and that which issues in a higher life. Here also, though the birth was not monstrous, it was out of the common course of Nature, and therefore the unusual word was rightly employed again.
with the word of truth] So our Lord makes Truth, the “word which is truth,” the instrument of the consecration or sanctification of His people (John 17:17-19). The “word of truth” cannot have here the higher personal sense which the Word or Logos has in John 1:1, but it is something more than the written Word of the Old Testament Scriptures, or even the spoken word of preachers. It is the whole message from God to man, of which the written or spoken word is but one of the channels, and which to those who receive it rightly is the beginning of a higher life. Comp. Matthew 13:19; Mark 4:14.
a kind of firstfruits of his creatures]. The meaning of the term is traced back to the Jewish ritual of Leviticus 23:10; Deuteronomy 26:2. The sheaf of the firstfruits was offered as part of the Passover celebration. On their entry into Canaan the Israelites were to offer the firstfruits of the land (Deuteronomy 26:2). In each case the consecration of the part was a symbol and earnest of that of the whole. So St James speaks of the “brethren” who have been born to a higher life, not only as better than others, but as the pledge of a fuller harvest. So St Paul speaks of Christ being “the firstfruits of them that sleep” (1 Corinthians 15:20), of a convert being “the firstfruits of Achaia” (1 Corinthians 16:15). St John agrees, as usual, more closely with St James, and describes “the redeemed from the earth” of Revelation 14:4 as “the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.” Christians are called and made what they are by the grace of God, that they may shew of what elevation humanity is capable. Comp. Romans 11:16.”
2Pe 3:5, “For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the Word of God the Heavens existed
long ago and the earth was formed out of water and
by water.”
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
4. For this they willingly are ignorant of] More accurately, For this is hid from them by their own will. The English phrase “they ignore” exactly expresses the state of mind of which the Apostle speaks. The ignorance of the scoffers was self-chosen. They closed their eyes to the truth that the law of continuity on which they laid stress was not without exception. There had been a great catastrophe in the past. There might yet be a great catastrophe in the future.
that by the word of God the heavens were of old] The history of the creative work in Genesis 1 furnishes the first example that the order of the universe was not one of unbroken continuity of evolution. In “the word of God” we may see a reference either (1) to the continually recurring formula “God said” in Genesis 1:3; Genesis 1:6; Genesis 1:9, or (2) to the thought that it was by the Eternal Word that the work of Creation was accomplished, as in John 1:3; Hebrews 1:2; and we have no sufficient data for deciding between the two. Hebrews 11:3 (“the worlds were framed by the word of God”) is exactly parallel to St Peter’s language, and is open to the same diversity of interpretation. In any case the words are a protest against the old Epicurean view of a concourse of atoms, and its modern counterpart, the theory of a perpetual evolution.
and the earth standing out of the water and in the water] More accurately, and the earth formed out of water and by means of water. The words carry us back, as before, to the cosmogony of Genesis 1. The earth was brought out of chaos into its present kosmos, by the water being gathered into one place and the dry land appearing (Genesis 1:9). It was kept together by the separation of the waters above the firmament from those that were below the firmament (Genesis 1:6). The Apostle speaks naturally from the standpoint of the physical science of his time and country, and we need not care to reconcile either his words or those of Genesis 1 with the conclusions of modern meteorological science. The equivalent fact in the language of that science would be that the permanence of the existing order of the world is secured by the circulation of water, rising in evaporation, and falling in the form of rain, between the higher and lower regions of the atmosphere, and that there must have been a time when this circulation began to supervene on a previous state of things that depended on different conditions.”
Zec 4:6, “Then he said to me, “This is the Word of the LORD to Zerubbabel, saying, ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the LORD of armies.”
Verse 6. - This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel. The Lord's message unto Zerubbabel is the purport of the vision, viz. that his work will be accomplished through the grace of God alone. Not by might. Septuagint, "not by great might;" but the Vulgate, "not by an army." The word is almost synonymous with the following, translated power; and the two together mean that the effect is to be produced, not by any human means, however potent. Doubtless Zerubbabel was dispirited when he thought how much there was to do, how feeble the means at his disposal (Nehemiah 4:2), and how formidable the opposition; and nothing could better reassure him than the promise of Divine aid. But by my Spirit. The angel does not say expressly what is to be done; but the purpose that filled the minds of Zechariah and Zerubbabel applied the word. The operations of the Spirit are manifold, and his aid alone could bring these mighty things to pass. The oil is a figure of the grace of the Holy Spirit; and as the lamps are not supplied by human hands, but directly from the olives, so the good work now undertaken shall be supported by Divine means (see on ver. 14). Zechariah 4:6.”
Mar 7:13, “thereby invalidating the Word of God by
your tradition which you have handed down; and you do many things such as that.”
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(13) Making the word of God of none effect.—Again the Greek word is somewhat more technical, making null and void, cancelling, as in Galatians 3:17.
Through your tradition.—Here the structure of the sentence points to the “tradition” as being the instrument with which the Law was made null and void. In Matthew 15:6 the meaning is slightly different (see Note there).
Many such like things.—Assuming the words “washing of cups and pots,” in Mark 7:8, to be genuine, there is an emphatic scorn expressed in this iteration of the same formula.”
Mar 16:20,”Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed His Word by the miracles that accompanied it.”
They went forth - The apostles.
Everywhere - In all parts of the world. See the account in the Acts and the Epistles.
The Lord worked with them - By miracles; by removing obstacles; by supporting them; and by giving the gospel success and making it effectual to saving men.
Confirming the word - Showing it to be the word of God or a revelation from heaven.By signs following - By attending miracles. By raising the dead, healing the sick, etc., as signs that God was with them, and had sent them forth to preach.
Amen - Truly, verily. So be it. This word here, however, is of no authority. There is no reason to think that it was added by Mark.
Mark is more concise than either of the other evangelists. In most instances he coincides with Matthew, though he has added some circumstances which Matthew had omitted. There is no evidence, however, that he copied from Matthew. The last chapter in Mark contains some things omitted in Matthew. and some things of fearful import. We learn from it that the gospel is to be preached to all mankind. Every person is to be offered eternal life, and he rejects it at his peril. The condition of the person who will not believe is fearfully awful. The Son of God has solemnly declared that he shall be damned. He will judge the world, and there is none that can deliver out of his hand. No excuse will be allowed for not believing. Unless a man has faith he must be lost for ever. This is the solemn assurance of the Bible; and in view of this awful declaration of the merciful Redeemer, how sad is the condition of him who has no confidence in Jesus, and who has never looked to him for eternal life! And how important that without delay he should make his peace with God, and possess that faith which is connected with everlasting salvation!”
What the Church needs to day is not mega evangelist with theatrics, nor Christmas play with jazz. Not powerful commercials. Not high degree of organization. Not display of famous and celebrated individuals, but the Lord who works with them and confirms the Word of God by accompanied miracles.
The world is so wrong and boldly against the truth to make sports the supreme goal. For this reason, two rules need to be made. 1. Any black athlete can not play in a White team or Non-White team in any sport. 2. Any nation who fails in economy and insolvent does not qualify to play in any sport .
Why many advocate a borderless world? Because their countries are so bad, corrupt, poor, and violent that they suffer shortages of even basic necessities. They are beset and infected with natural disasters and man-made disasters. For that reason millions of unlawful and useless migrants using Mexico as a free conduit to invade America. There are already 54 million illegal aliens already residing in America, mostly on welfare. Sadly, most administrations and the Congress have not fulfilled their responsibilities.