I Am

By Robert Aldridge

This book is a condensed version of several of my Sunday school lessons. It takes an in-depth look at several biblical stories, i.e., Jonah and the whale, Noah and the flood, and the beautiful love story of Ruth and Naomi. Also, the book includes a detailed look at the Book of Daniel and the end time.

This books purpose is to be used as an aid in studying the KJV of the Bible and also to bring the reader to a better understanding of the Bible. It is my hope that this book will be beneficial to you in your spiritual relationship with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jun 13, 2017
• ISBN: 9781543415735

Book preview

Copyright © 2017 by Robert Aldridge.

Illustrated by Robert Aldridge.

Library of Congress Control Number:         2017905712

ISBN:                  Hardcover                978-1-5434-1575-9

                            Softcover                  978-1-5434-1574-2

                            eBook                       978-1-5434-1573-5

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the Holy Bible, King James Version (Authorized Version). First published in 1611. Quoted from the KJV Classic Reference Bible, Copyright © 1983 by The Zondervan Corporation.

Rev. date: 06/13/2017

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CONTENTS

My Lesson On The Bible Part I

Quick Review Of First Week’s Lesson

My Lesson On The Bible Part II

Jesus’ S Existence Before He Came To Earth

Crucifixion Of Jesus

Stations Of The Cross Bible Verses Also Known As A Way Of The Cross

What Does It Mean Jesus Is God’s Only Begotten Son?

I Am

The Cross

Peace, Faith, Love, Hope

Psalm 23 Study

The Ten Commandments

Man’s Law Vs. God’s Law

Things Are Not What They Seem

The Book Of Ruth

Genealogy: The Descent From Ruth To David To Jesus

Book Of Esther

Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things (Superheroes Of The Bible)

Noah And The Great Flood

1.   Noah

2.   Ark

3.   The Flood

4.   Sources

The Books Of Nehemiah And Ezra

Jonah And The Whale Lesson I

Jonah’s Scenic Route To Nineveh!!

Jonah And The Whale Lesson II

The Book Of Daniel: An Indepth Study Guide To The Kjv

Study Of Daniel Introduction

Study Of Daniel Chapter I

Book Of Daniel Chapter II

Study Of Daniel Chapter III

Study Of Daniel Chapter IV

The Study Of Daniel Chapter V

Study Of Daniel Chapter VI

Study Of Daniel Chapter VII

Study Of Daniel Chapter VIII

Study Of Daniel Chapter IX

Study Of Daniel Chapter X

Study Of Daniel Chapter XI – Part A

Study Of Daniel Chapter XI—Part B

Study Of Daniel Chapter XII

Addendum To Daniel

Belief In God And The Trinity

Judges — Samson

The Twelve Judges

The Vine

Apostle Paul

Timeline From His Birth To His Final Missionary Journey

Apostle Paul’s First Missionary Journey

Review On Paul And His First Journey

Paul’s Second Missionary Journey

Paul’s Third Missionary Journey

Paul’s Fourth Missionary Journey

Who Was Michael?

Authors Of The Books Of The Bible

How Is Being A Christian Like Being A Pumpkin?

Atheism

Sin

Who Were The 12 Disciples?

How Many Major And Minor Prophets Are There In The Bible?

Facts About The Bible

Christianity Symbols

Coins Of The Bible

Bible Questions

Answers To Bible Questions

Whisper Mine

Song Sung By Robert Aldridge Accompanied By Alexis Miller, Guitarist, Backup Singer

DEDICATION

I want to first thank God for providing me with the opportunity to witness for Him to others. It has not only provided me a way to witness to others, but has also helped me to grow spiritually in my own faith.

I feel the Lord, through the Holy Spirit, has guided and directed me to teach His word.

Second, I would like to thank the members of my Sunday School class for allowing me the privilege to teach the class on Sunday mornings. It is my hope, that you not only enjoy the class, but you will take away something from what I have either said or done, that will encourage you to have your own personal relationship with God.

Also, I would like to give thanks to my wife, Sally Aldridge, for being patient with me and for all the support she has given me, and mostly for putting up with me and loving me as she does. I am so blessed.

Last, I would like to thank my sister, Janelle Murray, for all her assistance. She typed and after corrections, re-typed and was also another very patient person. She performed an enormous task and is greatly appreciated for her efforts.

Thanks to all.

Robert N. Aldridge

MY LESSON ON THE BIBLE

PART I

When asked to give this lesson today, I was told I could talk on any subject, and take as long as I needed. I was excited to accept the challenge, because I felt it would be a chance to witness for Jesus and also to reaffirm my faith and belief in God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, and the Bible, as the divine word of God.

First, I want to give you a brief review of my lesson plan and what I will be covering and etc. for the next couple of Sundays. I will be speaking on the Bible, and be expressing my views and sharing what I have gained through studying the Bible. At any time during the class, the entire study will be open for discussion. (Feel free to contribute to the discussion.)

I will be providing hand-outs for reference to scripture which I will be using to support some information used or quoted.

Also, I am providing a handout on just general information about the Bible. This will not be covered in class, due to the time element.

In the first lesson, I will be giving you a history or background on the Bible, and then the next couple of lessons, we will cover a more intense study of the Bible and also cover a lot of scripture from both the New Testament and the Old Testament.

It seems that in the past, we have had several views expressed on the Bible.

(1) Is the Bible the word of God?

(2) Should we believe everything in the Bible?

(3) Has the Old Testament become a study history, and no longer applies to us today?

(4) Is the Bible a book written by several men expressing their own views?

With this lesson, I hope I can shed some light on some of these questions, and at the same time explain why I am so passionate about the Bible.

All of my reference to scripture will be taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

The KJV is an English translation of the Bible from Hebrews (Old Testament) and Greek (New Testament), and was published in 1611 by the will and command of King James the First.

The KJV is also called the Authorized Version. It is called the Authorized Version because it has stood the test of time as the most reliable source of scripture. The first question then is, How reliable is this text?. If it’s been copied and re-copied, how many errors have crept into it? Has the Bible been corrupted, altered, refused or tampered with?

In (Revelations 22:18-19), If any man shall add to these things (or delete), God shall add unto him the plagues written in this book.

When you examine the latest manuscripts with the oldest manuscripts few discrepancies are reflected; and these are of an extremely minor nature, that in no way affects the substance of religious belief.

Therefore, the latest findings are a convincing and final justification of trusting the reliability and integrity of the printed message. We can say that what is written is the sacred scriptures.

The original manuscripts or books of the Bible were written in different ages, from Moses to John (1600 B.C. TO 100 A.D.), a period of more than 1600 hundred years, by about 40 men. Men who were specially prepared for the work by direct inspiration from the Divine source of all knowledge.

So, if God went to such great lengths to give us His word, surely He would also take steps to preserve that word UNCHANGED.

What we see in history is that God did exactly that, with the King James Authorized Version. He preserved its integrity for future generations.

In (II Peter 1:15), God saw to it that these unique writings were preserved for later generations. The words of the Lord are pure words: As silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this generation forever.

With that said, I want to introduce you to my personal Bible-

This is my pride and joy; one of my most prized possessions.

This is the "King James Authorized Version. This book is over 123 years old (1891), and I am convinced beyond a shadow of doubt, that it is God’s word, handed down to help guide me and others to eternal salvation.

I have a history with this book, and as I said before, this will be my source from which I take my scriptures.

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The word Bible is a word that comes from the Greek word biblia. It is a Greek plural noun meaning the books, or the little books, since they are a collection of books, rather than one book.

The word Bible came from a word, which began to be applied to the sacred writings as a whole, about 400 years after Christ.

The Bible is translated in over 1,157 different languages.

* It consists of two sections: the Old Testament, made up of 39 books, and the New Testament, made up of 27 books.

As we stated before, it is a collection of 66 books, written by as many as 40 authors, over a period of approximately 1,600 years.

The Bible is not just a book of dead history. It is alive with inspiring faith.

If you read Hebrews Chapter 11, it will highlight Faith, Hope, and Love, which is the central theme of scripture.

The Bible is the word of God given to us for spiritual truth, showing us the path to salvation.

In it, God makes known to man His character and will. It is given by Inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Although written by men, God directed them what to write. It was the mind of the Holy Spirit that inspired the pen of man.

When reading the Bible, we must read it with a humble, faithful, believing, and positive attitude.

Again I say, if the Bible is the inspired word of God, with books written by human authors, it was God’s Holy Spirit that inspired their words.

Their authority came from God. Inspiration is the way in which God gave His word to us, through authors. (II Peter 1:21) says These men wrote as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

And in (I Corinthians 2:13), it says, They wrote not in words of human wisdom, but in words taught by the Holy Ghost.

And again in (James 1:21) says, Receive with meekness the engraved word which is able to save your souls.

Inspiration overcame any tendency of the writers of the Bible to err, with the results that the words they wrote were precisely what God, the Divine author, intended us to have. We see this in (II Timothy 3:16).

Again, in (II Peter 1:21), we see, For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but Holy man of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

Other reference to Bible bring inspired:

(Luke 24:44-45)        (II Peter 3:16)        (I Timothy 5:18)

In (Psalms 119:89), it says, Your word, O Lord is eternal; It stands firm in the heavens.

God is at the opening of the Bible, God is at the middle of it, and God will be at the end of it.

In (Isaiah 55:13-16), it says As we seek our creator, His word will enable us to produce lasting good fruit in our lives.

(1) When we ask, Is the Bible truly God’s word? To answer this question, we see over and over again throughout scripture that what the prophets wrote was considered by even the Apostle Paul to be Holy scripture in (Romans 1:2).

They are Holy because God Himself was involved in their production.

Paul even spoke that he, himself received the gospel, through the revelation of Jesus Christ (Galatians 1:12).

Paul also reminded early Christians that the Holy scriptures are the Oracles of God in (Romans 3:2). They are divine utterance.

Again, Apostle Paul tells us in (II Timothy 3:16) that all scripture is inspired. (literally God-breathed).

(2) Paul describes scripture using the Greek term Theopneustos.

The first part of the word, Theo, means GOD. The second part is Pneustos meaning Breathed meaning it came directly from the mouth of God.

The inspiration of the Bible teaches that scripture is God-Breathed, that is, God personally superintended the writing process; guiding the human authors so that His complete message was recorded for us.

We saw this earlier in (II Timothy 3:16) and in (II Peter 3:16).

God-breathed means God to breath or breath upon. So God, in the person of the Holy Spirit, literally breathed the Holy words of scripture into the writers of each book, through supernatural means.

(3) The Divine writer is Holy; therefore, what He writes is Holy.

Because God is Sacred, the words He speaks are also Sacred, and the words God gave to mankind in the Bible are Holy and Sacred.

(4) In (Psalms 19:7-8) Just as God is perfect, so are His words perfect. Just as God is righteous and pure, so is His word righteous and pure.

Nearly 4,000 times passages in the Hebrew Bible are introduced by such expressions as The Lord spoke, Thus says the Lord, and etc.

Scripture is consistently portrayed as coming from the very Mouth of God, Himself as in (Matthew 4:4).

(5) If we are to understand matters of faith, and life, from God’s creation of all things from nothing to the significance of the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ, then believing in the Bible is crucial.

If the Bible is unreliable in what it teaches about these things, then we are left to speculate there is nothing of value to speak to the world.

We must trust that the Bible is inerrant in its whole extent.

We must believe the Bible to be inerrant because it comes from God Himself.

It is unthinkable to contemplate that God might be capable of error.

We trust the Bible because we trust God. To stray from scripture in faith or conduct is disloyalty to our Master.

The Bible is a reflection of its author. The Bible was written by God Himself.

The issue then is not simply Does the Bible have a mistake?, but Can God make a mistake?

If the Bible contains factual errors, then God is not omniscient and is capable of making errors Himself.

If the Bible contains misinformation, then God is not truthful, but instead is a liar.

If the Bible contains contradictions, then God is the author of confusion.

In other words, if Bibical inerrancy is not true, then God is not God.

THE BIBLE’S MESSAGE MUST BE TAKEN AS A WHOLE!!

It is not a mixture of doctrine that we are free to select from.

The issue reflects on the character of God and is foundational to our understanding of everything the Bible teaches.

THE BIBLE STANDS OR FALLS AS A WHOLE!!

It is either trustworthy or it is not. If the Bible is the word of God, then to dismiss it is to dismiss God Himself.

The Bible is the only book that gives life, comfort, and hope, and it is the only book that will endure until the end of time. (Matthew 5:18)

(Luke 21:33) tells us, Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will by no means pass away.

If we look at both (Matthew 4:4) and (Deuteronomy 8:3), the Bible says, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

Millions die every year having bet their eternal souls that the Bible is not true, hoping against hope that it is nothing but a book of mythology, and that God does not exist. It is a risky gamble, and the stakes are very high.

In (John 8:47), Christ said: He who is of God hears Gods words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.

Even those who were actually there during the ministry of Jesus Christ had difficulty believing He was the Messiah, the Son of God. It took real faith to accept that fact, and many did not have faith (John 8:30, 42-46).

At the end of the day, it is really a matter of FAITH.

A person must first have an open mind and be willing to accept the words of Jesus Christ.

God does not ask us to stop using our minds or accept what the Bible says blindly, but to study the word.

There will be difficult passages in the Bible, as well as sincere disagreements over interpretations.

I would urge you to read the Bible with an open mind; let it speak for itself, and that you find God’s word is truth as (John 17:17) teaches.

Do I love the Bible passionately? YES, I DO.

Do I believe it’s the divine inspired word of God? YES, I DO.

Do I know and understand everything about the Bible? NO, I DON’T.

Our goal is to approach scripture reverently and prayerfully, and when we find we do not understand we pray harder, study more, and if the answer still eludes us—we humbly acknowledge our own limitations in the face of the perfect word of God. In (II Timothy 2:7), the Bible says, Consider what I say, and the Lord give thee understanding in all things.

QUICK REVIEW OF FIRST WEEK’S LESSON

Last week we got a brief history on the Bible, and how it came to be written in the King James Version, in 1611, by the will of King James First of England.

We looked briefly at how reliable the text in the Bible proved to be.

I brought my own personalized version of the King James Authorized Version of the Bible.

We also looked into some differences between the King James Version and the NIV Version.

Getting into today’s lesson—if you remember I closed with the statement that, at the end of the day, it all came down to FAITH!!

Faith makes us certain of realities we do not see! Faith is believing in, hoping for, and embracing evidence of unseen things. Even in (Luke 18:8), Jesus asked "When the Son of Man comes, will He find FAITH on the earth?"

Faith comes through hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of God, the Bible. Again in (Luke 17:5), it talks about having faith as small as a mustard seed.

Faith in the Bible is crucial because, the Bible tells how to have a relationship with Jesus Christ.

The Bible tells us who Jesus is and how He died for all of mankind’s sins, and provided us a way to salvation. We would not know this except through the Bible. We must have a relationship with Jesus Christ, because in order to obtain salvation and eternal life, we must go through Jesus Christ. Jesus said, No man enters into the Kingdom of Heaven, except through me. The Bible makes this known to us.

MY LESSON ON THE BIBLE

PART II

What is the Bible?

In this lesson, we hope to answer this question and also learn some very interesting facts about the Bible. Our main focus being on the Old Testament.

The Bible is the story of God’s creation and interaction with the world and the human race. It is a collection of 66 books, written by about 40 different authors over 1500 years, but encompassing the entirety of human history from creation to the end of the world and beyond.

Most importantly, the Bible is a unified whole, due to the fact that ultimately, it has one author—God himself. The Bible is God-Breathed (2 Timothy 3:16).