From Steve Singleton... How is the Old Testament organized?

How is the Old Testament organized?

In modern English translations of the Old Testament, the 39 books fall into five main divisions: Books of Moses, History, Poetry, Major Prophets, and Minor Prophets. The number of books in each division turns out to be rather easy to remember: 5-12-5-5-12:

• Books of Moses “ Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy.
• History  “ Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther.
• Poetry “ Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon
• Major Prophets “ Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel
• Minor Prophets “ Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi

Memorize the books in each division, because it will greatly aid you when you are trying to look up a reference. (See resource available below under “Want to go deeper?”)

Want to go a little deeper? The Jews count 24 books, not 39, for they combine the books of Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, Ezra/Nehemiah and the Minor Prophets into one book each. The Jews call the Hebrew Scriptures the “TaNaKh,” an acrostic of the initial letters of terms designating its three parts: Torah (the Law of Moses), Nebiim (the Prophets), and Khethubim (the Writings). The first two of these correspond to what Jesus calls “The Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 7:12) or “Moses and the Prophets” (Luke 16:29, 31; 24:27). On at least one occasion, in referring to “The Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms” (Luke 24:44), Jesus may have lumped all of the writings in the third category under “Psalms,” the Writings’ largest book.

The Jewish division of books is as follows:

• The Law (of Moses) “ Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy
• The Prophets
  • The Former Prophets “ Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings
  • The Latter Prophets “ Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Twelve Minor Prophets
• The Writings “ Ruth, Psalms, Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Lamentations, Daniel, Esther, Ezra-Nehemiah, and Chronicles

Want to go deeper?  The following are recommended to help you learn the books of the Bible and know the content of each

Online resources:

Intro. to each book of the Bible  (from The NIV Study Bible)

Many thanks to brother Steve Singleton, for allowing me to post from his website, deeperstudy.com.

From Ben Fronczek... HEAVEN BOUND – THE CHRISTIAN’S HOPE

HEAVEN BOUND – THE CHRISTIAN’S HOPE

In my short life as a Christian, I seen some of my brothers and sisters in Christ suffer some pretty tuff ordeals in their own lives. Some were self-inflicted, some were not. Life becomes hard and sometimes we just feel like giving up and we get discouraged. Even going to church some wonder why bother. And so that’s why I want to share a special lesson with you today; one I’ve done before and one I’ll probably do again, because we need to be reminded why we are here.

I believe that’s why men like Peter and Paul thought it important to lift the eyes of those first century Christian Heavenward, to remind them of the eternal hope have. And that’s why I why I want to talk about Heaven this morning, because troublesome times are not something new…

Paul wrote to the Romans 8:18  ”I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed . “

To the Corinthians Paul wrote  

”Do not loose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, inwardly we are being renewed day by day.  For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far out weighs them all.”  I Cor. 4:16-17

To the Ephesians he wrote:  

” I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, The riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints.”       Ephesians 1:18

Sometimes you and I need to open our eyes to the hope we have in Jesus.

Farther Along      (click to listen to Dailey And Vinncent version on Youtube)

The eternal purpose and plan of God is for us to walk with Him in Heaven.

I like what angels had to say to the early disciples after Jesus ascended into heaven…   

Read Acts 1:9-11  

“After he (Jesus), said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. ¹¹ “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” 

Did you ever wonder what it will be like on that day, when Jesus returns?

Paul had much to say on the topic as he wrote to the Thessalonians.

I Thess. 413f     

‘Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. ¹⁴ For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. ¹⁵ According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For on that day, the Lord Himself will come down from Heaven a loud command (a shout, a victorious shout), and with the voice of the arch angel and with the trumpet call of God. And those who are dead in Christ and those who are dead shall be raised incorruptible.’   

Anyone and everyone that has died before you,  by just a moment, or by a year, or by centuries, will hear the sounding of that trumpet .

So when the trump is sounded, when the voice of the Arch angel is sounded, the Earth will cast forth her dead.  And every one that is alive at that moment, busy marrying, “and busy giving in marriage, busy cooking, and busy doing things that we must do in this world, will be changed.  In the twinkling of an eye – instantaneously!  (I Cor. 15:50-53)

 When the Roll is called up Yonder   (click on to listen to)

And, I Thess. 4 says that all, will be caught up to meet the LORD in the clouds,

The Bible also teaches that on that day:

The Heavens and earth will pass away with a great noise – a noise like you’ve never heard before!

It will be like that on that day when the stars and the planets, and every thing that is out there, will begin to move away and disappear and be no more.    ’For before the beginning they did not exist, and at the end of time they will not exist any more’.

2 Peter 3:10 Tells us that this Earth which is so precious to us will be burned up and it will be no more,

So the Earth has cast you forth. We are not on it, we are somewhere out in space – and we will all have new bodies.  Babies have new bodies. Teenagers have a new bodies. Old men and women have a new body … as well as the sick and cripple and hurting.

In 1 Corinthians 15:50-53 Paul wrote  

“⁵⁰ I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. ⁵¹ Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— ⁵² in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. ⁵³ For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.”

Our new bodies will be an indestructible, imperishable, glorious, spiritual bodies. And like a babe, you begin to explore that new body; and you will be so happy with what God has given you!

And then maybe you’ll smile when you think about some of the old church songs you sang like   

  I’LL FLY AWAY   (Click on song to hear it)

And as you look you see all the people of the Earth with you,  you may say to yourself, “This must be all the people that ever lived”.

And you remember the verse in Matt 25:31f,  

“When the son of man shall come in His glory, and all the angels with Him, Before Him will be gathered all the nations of the Earth, and He shall separate them from one another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats”.

So there you will be in the greatest family reunion ever, for we are all related through Adam and Noah

And you see and hear those separating everyone into lines and you look to see what line you are in and you see that you are on His right hand, and are numbered among the sheep – the righteous. And you look and you are amazed, even baffled at the length of the line you are in. More people in it than you ever thought there would be. And you recognize it as a tribute to the majesty and glory of God, and a tribute to the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and it’s power to save.

You may say to yourself, “I did not think this many would go to heaven.” So many but then you remember Hebrews 2:10 where it says,  

“He will call many sons into glory”.

As you behold the great line that you are in, maybe you will also recall what Jesus said,  

“Let not your heart be troubled, you believe in God, believe in me also, for in my house there are many mansions”.

And you realize those mansion will not be empty.   And maybe you smile and start humming 

Mansion over the Hilltop  (cick on to listen)

Suddenly you are at Judgment, and you look up and you see the eyes of your Lord. You finally see Him face to face.

And He looks down and you see before Him a great book which is open.  And as you look down and see his hand on the page you notice the nail pierced hand, and it kind of takes you back a bit. Yes it was Jesus Himself. He who was nailed to the cross.

And then He speaks your name. But He speaks as if He knows you. He does not have an angel whisper your name in His ear. He speaks as though He had known you more than a day, or even a year. As He begins to Judge you He says, ‘I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat.  I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was naked and you clothed me.’

And He Judged you. ‘I wanted you to believe in me and you did.  I commanded you to turn from a sinful life style and you did your best. I commanded you to be Baptized in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit for the forgiveness of your sin and you obeyed.”

And He Judged you. ‘You used what talent I gave you. You forsook not the assembly, but gathered and encourage your brothers and sisters unto good works.  You remembered Me as you ate the bread and drank the fruit of the vine each week. He spoke of the gifts you gave week after week, year after year. He spoke of how you did your best to share the Gospel message to all those you came into contact with.’  And He judged you.

And the more He spoke, the more you were amazed at how well He really knew you. Just not your name, but He knew you! It was as if He knew the very hairs on your head and had them numbered. He knew all your successes and failures. And then He looks you in the eyes and said, “Enter into the Glory of your Lord”.

Suddenly you are passing through one of those 12 pearl gates, and you notice the gate is a single pearl. Finally in the city of God, the city you so longed to see. It is far more than you ever expected or dreamed it could be. You can see why Paul said that no human words could express what you saw. And you are thrilled and filled with ultimate joy!

First things first, you want to see God. As you travel, the great street you move on is beautiful, of pure gold, yet transparent like glass. And finally there in the center of the city you see Father God, no temple hiding Him. He’s just there.  Surrounding Him is a number angels and people. They are innumerable, in white.

And you feel so comfortable among them, and start to sing, and sing with great joy and peace and happiness. You sing songs of praise and it sounds so beautiful like you’ve never heard before.

 There is a Habitiation  (Acapella’s version on Youtube)

You really don’t know how long you were there in that worship service, it couldn’t be measured. It is a new dimension of eternity. There’s not clocks, no sun going down because the sun is gone and  there is no need for lamps, because the glory of God enlightens that city.

Then as you are looking at God, it is as if He were looking right at you. And as you see Him face to face, you notice something, there is pleasure on His face, as if He were glad to see you, and your heart jumps with joy. And you realize there is no longer an need to hope, and not longer a need for faith because  you are now living your hope, and your faith has become a reality. And now Love is the one thing remains welling up in you.

  Oh, they tell me of a Home  (cick on to listen)

God speaking through Isaiah wrote: 65:17-19  

“Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy.       I WILL REJOICE in Jerusalem and delight in her people; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more.”

When you see His face and His joy, and the joy of those in that gathering, in His presence, and you never want to move. But there’s more things to see and do. And so as if you knew the city, as if you were programmed with the mind and language that is called ‘Heaven’, you know where your mansion is and seek it out.

As you enter it you are amazed and astonished and the feeling of joy continues to encompass you for it is a mansion in every sense of the word…prepared just for you.

 When we all get to Heaven  (cick on to listen)

You later go out and begin to mingle with other people. You see David, and Moses, and Adam, and Job and Noah, and people you’ve known in the church since you became a Christian.  Everywhere you go you feel welcomed and comfortable, and accepted, and you continue to feel that joy.

Every question you ask is answered, everything you ever wondered is answered, and you begin to understand it all.

And suddenly you may try to remember some of the things from your past, something from your old life and the Earth and the trials you now face. But like the earth itself, those memories will be so dim. You will try to reflect on them and you will not be able to remember why you felt pain. You will try to remember, and then you won’t bother trying anymore.

It will be like that on that day, the day our Lord Jesus returns.  As surely as Jesus came to die for us, He will come again to gather His own and take them home.

We need to remember that this world is not our home. Jesus has one waiting for us in glory!

This world is not my Home   (cick on to listen)

Whether you are on the right hand of Jesus or the left when we meet Him in the air is totally up to you.  Those on His right will live with Him in glory.

Those on His left on the contrary, will be cast forth from God’s presence, into the lake of fire, or Hell. Each day we have to remember that this world is not our home.

Today’s encouragement is this: Yea life is tough sometimes. You may hurt physically or emotionally, but you have prize awaiting you. As Peter encouraged the first century Christian, I encourage you, he said,              ‘Make your calling and election sure’

   Don’t you Want TO Go to That Land (cick on to listen)

For more lessons click on the following link: http://granvillenychurchofchrist.org/?page_id=566

From Jim McGuiggan.... Baptism: Ignorance and Ignorance

Baptism: Ignorance and Ignorance

Must I have all the answers?

One of my weaknesses in earlier years as a Christian and as a student of scripture was that I felt I had to have all the answers to all the dilemmas. Take the case of those who truly have never heard the gospel of Christ but who live exemplary lives and walk well in the best light they have. What about them? I’m not interested at this point in developing my view on that question (that’ll keep for another time if it suits God) but it does generate serious and complex questions. What am I to say about them? That’s a good question and needs addressed but there’s a more pressing question I think: what is that to me since I have heard? The ignorance of those people makes not an ounce of difference to my case because I have heard the voice of God in the gospel of Christ and the ignorance of some lovely Christ-believers about baptism is nothing to me for I have heard the voice of God in scripture.

There is ignorance that is culpable

All ignorance is not the same ignorance. Not only are there differing degrees of ignorance there are differing kinds of ignorance. If the head of a nation or a corporation were to order her subordinates to do something they all know is dishonourable we would judge her dishonourable. And if she claimed she knew nothing about the deed because, in fact, she had given her subordinates express instructions to tell her nothing about it being carried out we would still think her dishonourable. In truth, in such a case we would judge her behaviour more dishonourable because she was sly in her dishonour. If she was brought in front of a tribunal it might be the case that she is telling the truth when she says she has no knowledge of a specific act or transaction within the overall enterprise. We would judge that ignorance culpable. She is in the dark because she wanted and even ordered the darkness and we would hold her responsible for her ignorance. The above is relatively simple and uncontroversial. Other questions would be generated by the situation I’ve imagined but we’d have no trouble in finding the claim of “ignorance” to be inexcusable.

There is ignorance that is not culpable

Then there is ignorance that is the sheer lack of knowledge. A mother feeds her child poisoned food that she bought in her usual shop and is inconsolable when the doctors can do nothing and the child dies. An appropriate person tells a man with critically important documents that they are to be delivered to a certain place at a certain time. It turns out to be the wrong place and the wrong time and an important business contract is lost. Rather than feel ill toward this mother or this messenger we feel sadness because their ignorance was not the result of negligence or carelessness. In fact, in these cases they both trusted appropriate people. They did not know the truth and they did not know that they did not know the truth. If these illustrations don’t suit you it won’t be difficult for you to set up your own true-to-life cases.

There is ignorance that makes us scratch our head

In between these two extremes there is ignorance that we have qualms about. There’s a wife that has some reason to think her husband’s business dealings are crooked but she doesn’t want to know any more in case she discovers her uneasiness is well grounded. There's the case where a man is conned by shrewd talkers into investing his money and losing every penny. When he tells his story we are filled with sympathy but then someone points out that he was driven by greed to the point where he ignored the obvious risks and we now wonder. Then there’s the man who needs immediate First Aid and dies because the people around him are ignorant as to how to help. These people could have at some point taken the many free courses on First Aid that they knew were offered but for one reason or another they just didn’t want to. Someone slays himself and his friend laments, “It’s all so obvious now. I just didn’t recognize the signals he was sending out.” Instead of gluing himself to the television and re-runs he could have read up on counseling skills. But where would this all end? Must we become walking encyclopedias in every area? Surely not, but is there the other extreme, where because we are lazy and self-serving we spurn easily available knowledge that would enable us to help those in need? Again, if these illustrations don’t make my point you make it for me by setting up situations that are true to life.

If an angel came

Truth remains true even if I am ignorant of it. Truth remains true even if for some good reason I am not held responsible for my ignorance of it. The food was poisoned even though the mother was completely ignorant of it. The signal light was faulty though there was no way for the train-driver to know it.

Even if a truth-telling angel came from God to say that under certain circumstances God would tolerate ignorance about the gospel or about the virgin birth or bodily resurrection or atoning death of Christ, how would that alter the gospel? Not an ounce!

And what would we who have been privileged to know the truth on these matters be required to believe? And to preach? And to live out? In our anxiety to allow for the ignorance of some people we’re saying silly things. Instead of doing that let God handle the ignorance question! It's not for us to settle all the arguments. Our business is to thank God for truth revealed and live it out in life and proclamation to all we come into contact with.

And listen, the cure for their ignorance (or ours) is not a gutless silence, or any other kind of silence!

Ignorance and God’s mercy

There’s a Jew in Alexandria, in Egypt, who has loved the Lord with a trusting heart from his childhood. He's a humble and kind man whose service to God fills him with joy but in the past five years he has been severely disabled due to an accident. He doesn’t get to Jerusalem now and he misses it terribly; but he loves the Lord and he is saved by faith. There’s nothing at all controversial about any of that.

In Jerusalem it’s around 9 a.m. on Pentecost morning and while our Alexandrian believer sits prayerful and thinking, hundreds of miles away Peter is proclaiming the truth about Jesus Christ to over three thousand Jews. Peter is now saying, “Therefore, let all the house of Israel know with assurance that God has made this same Jesus, the one you crucified, both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:36) and our North African Jew is blissfully ignorant. A multitude of his fellow-Jews, convicted of sin cry out, “Men and brethren what shall we do?” and Peter tells them to repent and be baptized in the name of that Jesus for the remission of their sins. And more than three thousand men and women eagerly do it. Our Jew in Alexandria is oblivious to it all and is quietly praising the name of the God of his fathers. What is his state before God now?

A little before nine, Jerusalem time, he was right with God. What happened to his relationship with God when Peter proclaimed the forgiveness of sins and the reception of the Holy Spirit through repentance and baptism in the name of the now glorified Christ? It’s 10 a.m. and is he now lost? Peter preached the gospel and a saved man automatically became lost? Whatever we say we believe, for fear of opening doors that should be kept closed, we know in our bones that our friend can’t be doomed. It’s true he hasn’t yet trusted in Christ and so been baptized and taken on the name of Jesus Christ. But his ignorance isn’t chosen and his heart has embraced and loved the truth he knows of God and he is a saved man. (And although he isn’t aware of it he is saved by the grace Yahweh has extended to him in Jesus Christ.)

Now, looked what has happened here. I sketched an imaginary situation and immediately questions are generated because the situation is complex. But what difference does it make to the people in Jerusalem under Peter’s preaching? What difference does the disabled Alexandrian’s ignorance make to the Jerusalem multitude? No one in the three thousand plus (Acts 2:41) jumped up and asked, “So what does this mean for my sick parents who couldn’t make it here today to hear this?” It’s only modern people that raise such questions. Peter must have known there were absent God-loving Jews but what had that to do with his Spirit-inspired message?

To claim that genuinely ignorant and godly people are exempt from having to believe or be baptized into Christ because they don’t know they’re called to and therefore can’t—that’s one thing. To shape our message so as to keep them ignorant or to shape our message to excuse those who know but won’t humbly submit to God in the matter is something else. Those people that reject God’s call are in trouble and those who help them to continue their refusal are in trouble as well (compare Matthew 5:19 and Luke 7:29-30).

It doesn’t matter how popular or eloquent the preacher or how thriving the church that does it, don’t permit anyone to keep you from submitting your heart and mind to Christ in this matter. Think noble things of God because he will work out the whole matter of "what if?" You know you can trust him to do that, don’t you? Well, commit yourself in trust to him and if you haven’t already done so, have yourself baptized into the Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ as he and his apostolic servants have called us to do.

©2004 Jim McGuiggan. All materials are free to be copied and used as long as money is not being made.

Many thanks to brother Ed Healy, for allowing me to post from his website, theabidingword.com.

From Mark Copeland... Sound Doctrine For Young Women ( Titus 2:4-5)

                         "THE EPISTLE TO TITUS"

                 Sound Doctrine For Young Women (2:4-5)

INTRODUCTION

1. Our text continues to describe "things which are proper for sound
   doctrine" - Tit 2:1
   a. Doctrine that is spiritually healthy, wholesome
   b. In this case, exhortations related to godly conduct

2. We have already considered...
   a. Conduct becoming older men and older women - Tit 2:2-4
   b. Examples to inspire older men and women to bear fruit in their old
      age

[We now turn our attention to...]

I. CONDUCT BECOMING YOUNG WOMEN

   A. TO LOVE THEIR HUSBANDS AND CHILDREN...
      1. To love their husbands (philandros), to love their children
         (philoteknos)
      2. To have an affectionate love for both husband and children
      3. This should be natural, but sin can lead one to become unloving
         - Ro 1:31
      4. Note that this is something the older women can train them - Ti 2:4 (ASV, ESV, NIV)
      -- Where such love is lacking in younger women, it can be
         relearned!

   B. DISCRETE AND CHASTE...
      1. Discreet (sophron)
         a. Also required of older men (where it is translated as
            'temperate') - Tit 2:2
         b. Discreet, sober, temperate, of a sound mind
         c. Self-disciplined in one's freedom, self-restrained in all
            passions and desires - TCWD
      2. Chaste (hagnos)
         a. Pure from carnality, chaste, modest - Thayer
         b. Pure in heart, and in life - Barnes
         c. In body, in affection, words and actions, having their love
            pure and single to their own husbands, keeping their
            marriage bed undefiled - Gill
         d. This conduct would be just as important for single women
            - cf. 1Co 7:34
      -- Young women, married or single, should be discreet and chaste
         in their behavior

   C. HOMEMAKERS...
      1. Homemakers (oikouros)
      2. A keeper at home, one who looks after domestic affairs with
         prudence and care - TCWD
      3. Attentive to their domestic concerns, or to their duties in
         their families - Barnes
      4. A virtuous woman might be engaged in economic affairs outside
         the home, but not to the neglect of her family - cf. Pr 31:
         10-31 (note esp. 16,24,31)
      -- Her duty is first to home and family, though may work outside
         the home if capable

   D. GOOD...
      1. Good (agathos)
      2. Other translations have "kind" (ASV, ESV, NASB, NIV, NRSV)
      3. In respect to operation or influence on others, i.e., useful,
         beneficial, profitable - TCWD
      -- As a young woman carries out her duties, she is to do so with
         goodness and kindness

   E. OBEDIENT TO THEIR HUSBANDS...
      1. Obedient (hupotasso)
      2. To subject oneself, place oneself in submission - TCWD
      3. Wives are to be in submission to their husbands - Ep 5:22; Co 3:18; 1Pe 3:1,5
      4. Although there is an ontological spiritual equality between men
         and women (Ga 3:28; 1Pe 3:7), there remain physical,
         positional and functional differences. There are designated
         functions for a husband and a wife which man cannot change
         because God has ordained them. Any endeavor to effect change
         will bring frustration, vanity, and emptiness. - TCWD
      -- Submission is a virtue enjoined on all Christians (Ep 5:21;
         1Pe 5:5); wives can demonstrate how it should be done

[Such is the conduct that is becoming of young women.  Many today scoff
at such notions.  But for those willing to obey, they can be used by God
to accomplish great things.  Consider some...]

II. EXAMPLES TO INSPIRE YOUNG WOMEN

   A. HANNAH...
      1. Whose name means "gracious, merciful; that he gives"
         - Hitchcock
      2. Her trials and prayers were rewarded by God giving her a son,
         Samuel - 1Sa 1:1-20
      3. Who was willing to dedicate her son to the Lord - 1Sa 1:
         21-28; 2:18,19
      4. Who offered a prayer of thanksgiving, that is similar to the
         song of Mary - 1 Sa 2:1-10
      5. And was later blessed with three more sons, and two daughters
         - 1 Sa 2:20-21
      -- A woman of faith who dedicated family in service to the Lord

   B. ESTHER...
      1. A beautiful orphan girl, raised by her cousin Mordecai - Est 2:7
      2. Who became wife of Ahasuerus, king of Persia - Es 2:8-17
      3. Who risked her life to save the Jews from extinction - Est 4:13-16
      -- A beautiful and gracious woman, used in God's providence to
         save a nation

   C. MARY...
      1. The young virgin who became the mother of our Lord - Lk 1:
         26-38; Mt 1:18-25
      2. Who came to understand who her son's true family was - cf. Lk2:48-51; Mt 12:46-50
      2. Who followed her son to His crucifixion - Jn 19:25
      3. Who was later together with His apostles - Ac 1:13-14
      -- A chaste and discreet woman, who reminds us that all our
         children belong to God

   D. PRISCILLA...
      1. The wife of Aquila - Ac 18:1-3
      2. Who joined her husband in teaching Apollos - Ac 18:26
      3. Fellow workers with Paul, and who risked their own lives - Ro 16:3-4
      4. In whose home churches met - Ro 16:5; 1Co 16:19
      -- A wife who used her home to further the cause of the gospel of
         Christ

   E. MODERN DAY EXAMPLES...
      1. Women who love their husbands and their children, providing
         homes for them
      2. Those who do not let their families become a hindrance, but as
         a way to serve the Lord
      3. Chaste and discreet girls, even teenagers, who take a stand for
         decency and morality
      4. Women who demonstrate the beauty and value of submission and
         service
      -- Who will God use today?  Any young woman who dares to follow
         the Lord!

CONCLUSION

1. Some might think that Paul's words in our text...
   a. Are chauvinist and outdated
   b. Would prevent women from attaining their full potential

2. Yet time and experience has shown it to be sound doctrine...
   a. Doctrine that is spiritually healthy, wholesome for young women
   b. That which is most beneficial in developing truly healthy families

Are the young women willing to heed such sound doctrine, "that the
word of God may not be blasphemed"...?

Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2011

From Gary... HOLY HOTLINES

The world can be a nasty place. When life becomes difficult, it is not unusual to have one of the above problems.  Fortunately, God has the remedy and all you have to do is read.  So, read the following...

1 Peter Chapter 5

 7 casting all your worries on him, because he cares for you. 

Isaiah, Chapter 41

  10 Don’t you be afraid, for I am with you.
Don’t be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you.
Yes, I will help you.
Yes, I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness.

1 Corinthians, Chapter 10

   13  No temptation has taken you except what is common to man. God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able, but will with the temptation also make the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. 

Romans, Chapter 10

  17 So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.  18 But I say, didn’t they hear? Yes, most certainly, 
“Their sound went out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.”

Isaiah, Chapter 53

  5 But he was pierced for our transgressions.
He was crushed for our iniquities.
The punishment that brought our peace was on him;
and by his wounds we are healed.

Psalm 34

 18 Yahweh is near to those who have a broken heart,
and saves those who have a crushed spirit.

 Deuteronomy, Chapter 31

8 Yahweh himself is who goes before you. He will be with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you. Don’t be afraid. Don’t be discouraged.”

Very practical stuff!!!  But just a sign isn't enough, you have to read it.  And when you do, read it out loud!!! If you never have read these passages before, they might come as a surprise for you.  I can imagine the cartoon character "Robin" exclaiming: 'Holy Hotlines',Batman"!!! However, life is more than a mere cartoon; it is reality!!! The thing is- all of the above are true and worth reading again and again!!! 

PS. You might want to print this out and post it somewhere- you never know when it might come in handy!!!