• Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on February 18th, 2012

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    Bible Study: Mark 16

    Bible Study: Mark 16

    As we get into the sixteenth chapter of Mark, it should be acknowledged that some have put a question mark or a doubt on the last portion of this chapter, beginning with verse nine to the end. The reason for the doubt or the questioning as to the accuracy or the authenticity of this portion of the chapter is because in two of the oldest manuscripts, this portion is deleted, that is, the manuscript known as the Sinaiticus and the other manuscript known as the Vaticanus.

    Back in the middle of the 1800’s a man by the name of Tishan Dors was down at the Saint Catherine’s monastery in the area of the Sinai and he discovered there in the monastery this ancient vellum that was actually being used more or less for kindling, and in examining it, realized that it was an old copy of the scriptures, perhaps one of the oldest copies existing as far as the amount of the text that was there.

    Upon the announcement of this discovery in the Vatican shortly afterwards, they pulled out this ancient manuscript from the Vatican which is known as the Vaticanus manuscript, the Codex Sinaiticus is called the Aleph, and they found that these manuscripts were quite similar. Not completely similar, there are differences in the two manuscripts themselves.

  • Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on February 17th, 2012

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    Bible Study: Mark 15

    Bible Study: Mark 15

    The power for capital punishment was actually taken away from the Jews by the Roman government just about the time of the birth of Christ. In fact, when Jesus was just a young boy in Nazareth, the Roman government took away the power of the Jews to inflict capital punishment. The Jews interpreted this as the end of their reign, end of the kingdom and some of the Jews actually went in public with sackcloth and ashes mourning over the fact that God had failed to keep His promise. For the promise through Jacob to Judah was the scepter shall not depart from Judah until Shiloh or the Messiah comes. And they interpreted the taking away of their power for capital punishment by the Roman government as the taking of the scepter, the power. And the Messiah had not come and thus, they were in the streets mourning over the failure of God’s promise. Little did they know that right then in Nazareth the Messiah was growing up, just waiting for God’s time for His revelation.

    So they had to take Jesus to Pilate in order to get the death sentence. On other occasions, such as in the book of Acts with the case of Stephen, they stoned Stephen when they became angry and the Roman government would just sort of turn their head and look the other way. They allowed them to create a ruckus and stone people if they do desired. But they legally could not in a court of law sentence a person to death. That is why they brought Jesus to Pilate because they wanted to get a death sentence. In order to bring charges before Pilate, they had to bring political charges. They could not say He is claiming to be the Messiah. The Roman government could care less. So they accused Him of claiming to be the king, they accused Him of encouraging people not to pay taxes to Caesar and they were trying to frame criminal civil charges against Him against the Roman government so that Pilate would hear the case.

  • Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on February 16th, 2012

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    Bible Study: Mark 13

    Bible Study: Mark 13

    As we mentioned this morning, Mark’s gospel is more or less an abbreviated version of the gospel and in the thirteenth chapter, we find this abbreviated version of what is often called the Olivet discourse that was prompted by the disciples’ questions concerning the signs of the destruction of the temple and the sign of the coming of the Lord and the end of the age. And so Jesus gave to His disciples signs that would indicate the time of the destruction of the temple, He gave to them signs of His coming again, and of the end of this age of Gentile rule that would precede the glorious kingdom age, the establishing of God’s kingdom upon the earth. So Mark tells us,

    As he went out of the temple, one of his disciples saith unto him, Master, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here (13:1)!

    Josephus probably gives us the best description of the temple. It is interesting that nothing really very much is made out of the greatness of the temple, its building. We do know that Jesus came to the temple. He, on two occasions, drove out those that were merchandising and making it sort of a bazaar, changing money and selling sacrificial animals within the temple precincts. He did call it His Father’s house. When they first were asking for a sign, He said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will build it again” (John 2:19). And they made fun of the fact that they had been forty-six years in the construction and You say You’re going to build it in three days. And so “He was talking,” we are told, “of the temple of His body” (John 2:21)

  • Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on February 15th, 2012

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    Bible Study: Mark 12

    Bible Study: Mark 12

    Let’s turn now in our Bibles to the gospel according to Mark, we’re in chapter twelve this evening. Jesus has just ran headlong into the religious leaders as He came into the temple and drove out the moneychangers and got rid of those who were commercializing the temple and so they came to Him and they asked Him who gave Him the authority to do those things and by what authority He did them and who gave Him the authority? And He answered with a proposition, I’ll answer your question if you’ll answer My question. John’s baptism, was it of God or was it of man? They reasoned among themselves, If we say it was of God, then He’ll say why didn’t you believe him and follow him? And if we say, Of man, then the people will turn against us because they’re convinced John was a prophet. They said we can’t answer you. He said, neither do I answer you. So as He is now still, this is still this confrontation with them, you’re still in the midst of this confrontation.

    And he began to speak unto them (12:1)

    That is, the religious leaders, the scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, “He began to speak to them”

    by parables. A certain man planted a vineyard, set a hedge about it, digged a place for the winefat [or vat actually, in modern English], and he built a tower, he let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country (12:1).

  • Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on February 14th, 2012

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    Bible Study: Mark 11

    Bible Study: Mark 11

    Bethany is on the mount of Olives but it is on the slope toward the Judaean wilderness. Actually it doesn’t face Jerusalem but does face out towards the Judaean wilderness. But it is there on the side of the mount of Olives. And as Jesus is coming, He instructs His disciples concerning this colt that is tied and again, demonstrating His supernatural knowledge, telling them of the circumstances of the loosing of the colt and bringing it to Jesus.

    We do remember that up until this point, Jesus has avoided public recognition of Himself as the Messiah. Whenever a movement would start towards acclaiming Him as the Messiah, He would quash that movement, either by just leaving the midst of them or by saying difficult things that would cause them to just sort of scratch their heads and walk away. On many of the special miraculous works that He did, He told the people just go your way and don’t tell anybody. Keep it quiet. For He was seeking to discourage any premature movement towards presenting Him to the nation as the Messiah. And that was very important because in God’s timing, God had set a day for the coming of the Messiah to Israel. And He had to come right on God’s appointed day. Any premature attempt to acclaim Him as Messiah would have been wrong.

  • Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on February 13th, 2012

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    Bible Study: Mark 10

    Bible Study: Mark 10

    Jesus seems to be coming directly from the mount of transfiguration where Moses and Elijah appeared to Him and they talked to Him about His death in Jerusalem. As He leaves the mount of transfiguration, He begins a journey through the length of the country. He is there at the uppermost part of the nation, the area of Caesarea Philippi but He journeys down through the Upper Galilee, comes back to Capernaum, but just sort of stopping through. And thus, He leaves Capernaum and we catch up with ourselves here on the tenth chapter.

    And he arose from there [that is, Capernaum], and he came unto the coasts [or the borders] of Judaea by the farther side of the Jordan (10:1):

    He isn’t coming down through Judaea now but is staying on the other side of the Jordan river, a little out of the reach of the jurisdiction of the Pharisees and scribes there on the other side of the Jordan river.

  • Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on February 12th, 2012

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    Bible Study: Mark 9

    Bible Study: Mark 9

    Shall we turn to Mark’s gospel chapter nine as we continue our journey through the Bible. Jesus is in the area of Caesarea Philippi which is the very northernmost part of the nation of Israel. Caesarea Philippi was right at the base of Mount Herman. It is there that Jesus asked His disciples who men said that He was, and they gave to Him the various opinions that were being shared. Jesus said, “Who do you say that I am? And Peter answered and said, You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:15,16).

    We read in Mark 8:31 that He then began to teach them that the Son of man must suffer many things and be rejected of the elders and of the chief priests and scribes, and be killed. And after three days, rise again. And He spake that saying openly and Peter took Him and began to rebuke Him. Jesus has just talked about His death. Remember that the disciples are expecting Him to set up His kingdom. They are convinced You are the Messiah. And according to the Jewish tradition, the Messiah was to establish the kingdom of God here on earth. He was to reign over the earth in power, in glory, the whole world was to become a subject of His. Psalm 2, “Ask of me, and I will give you the heathen for thine inheritance, the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession” (Psalm 2:8). And throughout the Old Testament, the prophecies concerning the Messiah.

  • Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on February 11th, 2012

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    Bible Study: Mark 8

    Bible Study: Mark 8

    People are always interested in numbers. And it seems like we’re always counting heads because we want to say we had so many attend and we had so many come forward and we baptized so many. There are churches even that have boards on the front in which they have number in church today, number last Sunday, number a year ago, and they post all of these statistics and we seem to be interested in statistics. But I love it in the Bible where it just says multitudes. “Multitude being very great,”

    and having nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples unto him, and he said unto them, I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with me for three days, and have had nothing to eat (8:1,2):

    There was such an intense interest in the teaching of Jesus, in the work of Jesus in their midst, that they have been in this deserted area and we read, He went across to a desert place, read that “deserted place” because around the sea of Galilee, there really isn’t a desert place. It is beautiful, it is lush, it is very pretty. And so there are deserted areas even to the present time. And the area that Jesus went is quite deserted, except for a water park that they put in a few years ago, but that’s not in keeping with the New Testament, you somehow don’t associate the sea of Galilee with water slides and all, and about the area where He fed the five thousand and so forth, they do have a water park now but, at that time was quite deserted. And so they have been there, He said, with them for three days and had not eaten. They probably just slept there at night. And in the morning, Jesus with the morning light, would begin teaching again. He would begin working in their midst once more. And so intense was the interest that they were there for three days. Great multitude of people, we read there were four thousand men, beside the women and children. Mark doesn’t tell us that, he just said four thousand, but Matthew adds “beside the women and children” (Matthew 15:38). And so Jesus said, “I have compassion.” Why? “Because they’ve been with me for these three days and have had nothing to eat.”

  • Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on February 10th, 2012

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    Bible Study: Mark 7

    Bible Study: Mark 7

    Washing your hands before you eat was even more important in those days I suppose than it is now because you ate with your hands. They didn’t have utensils, knives and forks and spoons, but they just ate with their hands. And as a general rule, you had the round flat bread and you just pull off part of the bread and you dip it in the sauces and if you had a roast, you just pull off the meat and eat it and of course, your hands would get greasy, and so quite often, you would wash them several times during a meal. But most generally, at the end of the meal, you take your final piece of bread and with it, you’d wipe the grease off of your fingers and all, and on to the bread and then you’d toss the bread to the little puppies under the table. And they always waited for that final piece of bread that you’d use to wipe your hands, that was their napkin, they didn’t have napkins in those days, and so that final piece of bread served as a napkin for them.

    The issue isn’t just washing your hands. The issue is washing your hands in the ritualistic way and according to the ritual of washing your hands. You had to have a measured amount of water. You could not wash your hands in a basin but you had to wash them in running water. And thus, you needed help, you needed someone to pour the water over your hands as you wash them. And the measured amount would be poured over your hand but you’d have to hold your hands out and pretty straight up as you rub them up and down as they pour the water over them, careful that the water didn’t run up your arm. You wanted it to drip straight down. And then, having washed them up and down, then you would wash them with them pointing down and again, the water just dripping off on to the floor or the ground, but they had to be in running water and there was a whole ritual attached to it.

  • Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on February 9th, 2012

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    Bible Study: Mark 6

    Bible Study: Mark 6

    And as we said this morning, don’t think in terms of twelve, think in terms of multitudes for there were many disciples following Jesus. Of those disciples, and the disciples included men and women, and of the disciples, He chose twelve of them to be called apostles. Later on, we read in the book of Acts when there was sort of the reorganization of the church or probably just the organization of the church, it was nothing to “re” about, they just organized; Peter, as they were waiting for the Holy Spirit, stood up and said, You know, it’s necessary that we get someone to take the place of Judas Iscariot. And so they said, Let us choose someone who has accompanied with us from the beginning. Someone who’s been a part, a disciple from the beginning, who also can bear witness to the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. And they chose two and then they cast lots to see which of the two would be the Lord’s choice. But there were many who had companied from the beginning. So when it says, His disciples, that’s all inclusive of the broader group, more than just the twelve apostles. So they came to His hometown of Nazareth and we read,

    When the sabbath day was come, he began to teach in the synagogue: and many hearing him were astonished, saying, From whence hath this man these things? and what wisdom is this which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands (6:2)

  • Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on February 8th, 2012

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    Bible Study: Mark 5

    Bible Study: Mark 5

    The Bible and Mark’s gospel especially emphasizes the power of Jesus over unclean spirits or evil spirits, or as is often called, people who were possessed with devils. The Greek word is “demonized.” What the source of demons really is a matter of speculation and argument. Many people believe and probably is the correct answer that the demons are angels who kept not their first state but joined in the rebellion of Satan against God. The Bible tells us concerning this creature, Satan, who had a high position among the angels, he was a high ranking angel, he was of the cherubim class. We know that the cherubim are those angels that are about the throne of God. And he was called by Ezekiel the anointed cherub that ruled. And it would appear that when Satan rebelled against God, according to Revelation chapter twelve, that in his rebellion, he drew a third part of the stars which is another word for the angels. You remember it talks about when God laid the foundation of the earth and the morning stars, that is the angels, sang together. And so he drew a third part of the stars with him. And thus, there is the speculation that when Satan rebelled against God, a third of the angels joined in his rebellion.

    We know that there are angels that kept not their first state who are reserved in chains awaiting the day of judgment, and so it is the common belief that these demons are actually the fallen angels, unembodied spirits that seek to inhabit a body in order that they might destroy. And never are they there for good purposes but only for evil purposes. And the word, as I say, the Bible never says that anybody was possessed or demon-possessed, the word is “demonized” in the Greek and it does speak of the capacity of these demons to control the motor functions of the body. They seem to insert themselves somewhere between the conscious mind and the motor functions of the body and are able to take over and speak through people, they are able to control motor functions and as they do, the people apparently are endowed many times with supernatural strengths and supernatural capacities.

  • Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on February 7th, 2012

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    Bible Study: Mark 4

    Bible Study: Mark 4

    Here in the fourth chapter of Mark, Jesus begins teaching in parables. Now there is a difference of opinion in the use of parables. Dr. G. Campbell Morgan makes quite a strong case for the reverting of Jesus to parables in teaching in order to continue to hold their attention, giving them truths, letting the truth come by use of the parable as more or less an illustration. We know that in many of the parables, the Pharisees recognized that this parable was directed against them. You really use parables to make your talk more interesting. If you see that you’re beginning to lose the attention of the congregation, and it’s easy to tell from up here. People start going, you know that you’re losing it. And so if you are wise, you will start to tell a story. Once upon a time, and everybody, you know, what? They had accused Jesus of doing His work through the power of Satan. They really weren’t listening anymore to His direct teaching. And thus, according to G. Campbell Morgan’s opinion, Jesus began to tell stories in order that He might continue to give them truth and yet in sort of a subtle way, holding their attention with the story, and then allowing them to see but yet they did not perceive. Keeping their attention so they would hear, and yet they would not understand.

    It is hard to believe that God would deliberately hide the truth from men if He wants all men to be saved. God is not willing, we know, that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. And so it would be difficult to believe that God deliberately hid the truth from people. But He put it in such an attractive way that they were drawn to listen, though in listening, they didn’t always see or perceive what was being said many times until afterwards and then, the punchline, and it gets you. And suddenly you see the truth that has been illuminated by the parable. I find that Gail Irwin is a master at the craft of telling stories. He has a capacity of putting sufficient humor in it that you are just rolling in laughter. And while he has you just in fits of laughter, then he puts the knife in. He makes the point and you find yourself bleeding to death while you’re laughing. But if you observe his method, great at storytelling but then the point comes home very vividly and very powerfully.

  • Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on February 6th, 2012

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    Bible Study: Mark 3

    Bible Study: Mark 3

    Shall we turn to Mark’s gospel chapter three. As we continue our study and our journey through the Word of God, as we get into the third chapter, we find the story of,

    Jesus entering into the synagogue in Capernaum; where there was a man there on the sabbath day with a withered hand (3:1).

    Now the Greek language would indicate that this was not a condition from birth but his hand had become withered and probably as the result of a stroke. Whatever the cause, he was unable to use the hand. And they, that is the scribes who were there in the synagogue, not to worship but to see that traditions were observed, that nothing was done out of order or out of traditions, the scribes were watching Jesus to see if He would violate their traditional observance of the sabbath day and according to their traditions, not according to the law but according to their interpretation, where the law said, Thou shalt not do any servile work on the sabbath day, they had interpreted servile work, one of the works, as that of healing. And thus, they had considered that healing someone on the sabbath day was a violation of the law. Now they did say that you could do whatever was necessary to save a person’s life. You could take emergency means such as tying a tourniquet on a person who’s bleeding to death, but you could do nothing towards the healing process until the sabbath day was over. That was strictly traditional, not in the law at all, but in their interpretation of the law.

  • Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on February 5th, 2012

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    Bible Study: Mark 2

    Bible Study: Mark 2

    In the second chapter, in the beginning of the third chapter, Mark gives us little episodes from the life of Christ and in these, he is in each case showing us the animosity that is beginning to develop between Jesus and the religious leaders of that day. And we find how they are beginning to find fault with Him, how they’re beginning to watch Him carefully, criticizing Him, how that they are beginning to look for reasons and ways by which they might accuse Him. It culminates in chapter three, verse six, where we read, “And the Pharisees went forth, and immediately took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.” And so we see now this building of the criticism and animosity against Jesus.

    It is bad to develop a critical spirit. Once you develop a critical spirit, then you find that you are able to find fault with anything and everything. It’s sad when a person puts himself on the place of judgment where he feels that he has the right to judge the actions, the activities, the thoughts, the intents, the motives of other people. I have found that this can happen individually and it can happen actually to a church, that you can develop this critical spirit, begin to find fault with the pastor and once a church has found fault with the pastor and gets rid of him, they find fault with every other pastor that comes. I would never go to a church to pastor that have found fault with the previous pastor and wanted to get rid of him because I knew it would only be a matter of time until they found fault with me and want to get rid of me. If that’s the mold you’re in, it’s tragic because it colors the way you look at things, because you’re always looking with an analytical, critical mind. Looking to what is wrong, finding fault.

  • Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on February 4th, 2012

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    Bible Study: Mark 1

    Bible Study: Mark 1

    John Mark was a nephew of Barnabas. He was a young man, a young boy, actually, during the public ministry of Jesus. Thought to be around twelve years old at the time of the crucifixion. John Mark gives to us an interesting insight concerning when Jesus was arrested in the garden of Gethsemane. How that they grabbed a young boy there in the garden, who wriggled free and fled from the garden, and it is believed that John is giving there a personal testimony of what happened to him. He went with Paul and Barnabas on the first missionary journey. However, he left them and did not continue the first journey with them. When Paul and Barnabas were ready to head out on the second missionary journey, Barnabas wanted to take his nephew Mark again, but Paul objected and there came a dispute between Paul and Barnabas over the issue of taking Mark and so the dispute was so great that they decided to part company. Paul would take Silas and go out and Barnabas would take Mark and go out. And thus, there were two missionary teams instead of one.

    There is room for disagreement within the body of Christ and God oftentimes uses such things to expand His work, as He did there in the case of Paul and Barnabas, creating two missionary teams instead of one, doubling the foreign effort. But those disputes or differences that arise never remain. And so when Paul was in Rome, Mark was with him and ministered to him. And later in writing to Timothy, Paul requested that Mark come for he was, Paul said, of great comfort to me.

  • Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on November 24th, 2010

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    Bible Study: Mark 14

    Bible Study: Mark 14

    Mark’s gospel chapter fourteen. Mark seeks to give us a day-by-day type of schedule of the events of Jesus and this last week of His life. So we have Mark telling us of the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem and we know that that took place on Sunday which we commonly call Palm Sunday. And so in the eleventh chapter, he tells us of this triumphant entry into Jerusalem. And then in verse twelve of chapter eleven, he says, And on the morrow, or the next day which would be Monday when they were coming back to Jerusalem from Bethany, that He saw the barren fig tree, cursed it, came to the temple and cleansed the temple, drove out the moneychangers and those that were selling doves and all. And then verse twenty of chapter eleven, And on the morrow, that would be Tuesday, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree, it was dried up from the roots. Then Jesus talked to them about faith, and He had His confrontation with the religious rulers. And as they were leaving the temple area after the confrontation and the disciples were pointing out to Jesus the great stones and the buildings, it was then when they got over to the Mount of Olives that He predicted the destruction of the temple.

    In the fourteenth chapter he tells us now,

    After two days was the feast of the passover, and of unleavened bread: and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take him by craft, and put him to death. But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar among the people (14:1,2).