Charles Plemons' Blog

Here are another ten. These come from the New King James Version, unless otherwise noted.

1. Head on a platter.

Matthew 14:10-11
10 So he sent and had John beheaded in prison. 11 And his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother.

2. Holier than thou.

Isaiah 65:5
5 Who say, ‘Keep to yourself,
Do not come near me,
For I am holier than you!’
These are smoke in My nostrils,
A fire that burns all the day.

3. How the mighty have fallen.

2 Samuel 2:19
19 “The beauty of Israel is slain on your high places!
How the mighty have fallen!

4. It is better to give than to receive.

Acts 20:35
35 I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

5. Lamb to the slaughter.

Isaiah 53:7
7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He opened not His mouth;
He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,
And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
So He opened not His mouth.

6. Let come what may.

Job 13:13
13 “Hold your peace with me, and let me speak,
Then let come on me what may!

7. Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.

John 8:7
7 So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.”

8. Letter of the law.

2 Corinthians 3:5-6
5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, 6 who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

9. Like a thief in the night.

1 Thessalonians 5:2
2 For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night.

10. Like mother, like daughter.

Ezekiel 16:44
44 “Indeed everyone who quotes proverbs will use this proverb against you: ‘Like mother, like daughter!’

Here are ten more common sayings that come from the Bible. All quoted from the New King James Version (NKJV) unless otherwise noted.

1. Born yesterday.

Job 8:9
9 For we were born yesterday, and know nothing,
Because our days on earth are a shadow.

2. By the skin of my teeth.

Job 19:20
20 My bone clings to my skin and to my flesh,
And I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.

3. Crafty tongue.

Job 15:5
5 For your iniquity teaches your mouth,
And you choose the tongue of the crafty.

4. Crying into your drink.

Psalm 102:9
9 For I have eaten ashes like bread,
And mingled my drink with weeping,

5. Drop in the bucket.

Isaiah 40:15
15 Behold, the nations are as a drop in a bucket,
And are counted as the small dust on the scales;
Look, He lifts up the isles as a very little thing.

6. Eat, drink, and be merry.

Ecclesiastes 8:15
15 So I commended enjoyment, because a man has nothing better under the sun than to eat, drink, and be merry; for this will remain with him in his labor all the days of his life which God gives him under the sun.

7. Empty or hollow words.

Job 35:13
13 Surely God will not listen to empty talk,
Nor will the Almighty regard it.

8. Fly in the ointment.

Ecclesiastes 10:1
1 Dead flies putrefy the perfumer’s ointment,
And cause it to give off a foul odor;
So does a little folly to one respected for wisdom and honor.

9. Gave up the ghost.

Acts 12:23 (KJV)
23And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost.

10. Go the extra mile.

Matthew 5:41
41 And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two.

As I ponder this morning, I think about the saying, “you can’t take it with you when you go”. The more I think about that, the more I disagree. There are some things we can take with us. When we stand before the Lord, we’ll have packed two bags. One bag is filled with the bad things we’ve done in this life, the other with the good. That bag of good things is the only gift, sacrifice if you will, we have to present to our Savior in thanks and praise for what He offers us. What is in your bags? I know my “bad” bag currently outweighs the good. I think we should all work harder to pack more things in the good bag, not that we can “earn” Heaven (Ephesians 2:8-9), but because it demonstrates the love and faith we have in Christ (James 2:20). By packing the “good” bag, we can avoid be ashamed before Him (1 John 2:28).

When standing before the Lord, we may have to answer these questions. I think about some of my answers and am not pleased. How about you?

• How many times could you have come to church and chose not to? (Hebrews 10:23-25)
• How many times have you taught someone about Christ? (Colossians 3:16)
• How well have you instructed your children about God? (Ephesians 6:4)
• How many people have you helped come to know Christ? (Matthew 28:18-20)
• How many times would someone think of you and think of the work of Jesus? (Matthew 5:16)
• How well have you studied and learned the Bible? (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

Many everyday sayings or adages of wisdom come directly from the Bible. Sometimes we know more Scripture than we thought! Here are some examples.

1. A leopard cannot change his spots.

Jeremiah 13:23
23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots?
Then may you also do good who are accustomed to do evil.

2. A little bird told me.

Ecclesiastes 10:20
20 Do not curse the king, even in your thought;
Do not curse the rich, even in your bedroom;
For a bird of the air may carry your voice,
And a bird in flight may tell the matter.

3. A little bit here, a little bit there.

Isaiah 28:10
10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept,
Line upon line, line upon line,
Here a little, there a little.”

4. Apple of my eye.

Deuteronomy 32:10
10 “He found him in a desert land
And in the wasteland, a howling wilderness;
He encircled him, He instructed him,
He kept him as the apple of His eye.

and also in

Psalm 17:8
8 Keep me as the apple of your eye;
hide me in the shadow of your wings

5. As good as gold.

Job 23:10
10 But He knows the way that I take;
When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold.

6. As old as the hills.

Job 15:7
7 “Are you the first man who was born?
Or were you made before the hills?

7. At wit’s end.

Psalm 107:27
27 They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man,
And are at their wits’ end.

8. Bite the dust.

Psalm 72:9
9 Those who dwell in the wilderness will bow before Him,
And His enemies will lick the dust.

9. Blessed are the peacemakers.

Matthew 5:9
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
For they shall be called sons of God.

10. Blind leading the blind.

Matthew 15:14
14 Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch.”

My family and I have been attending Vacation Bible School at Mt. Pleasant Church of Christ this week. Tonight’s guest speaker for the adult class was Shelton Peeler, minister at Scottsville Church of Christ. He had numerous good and thought-provoking points in his lesson this evening, and one of them I found particularly moving. He opened a songbook and read to us the lyrics of “You Never Mentioned Him to Me”. The first verse and chorus are below.

When in the better land before the bar we stand,
How deeply grieved our souls will be;
If any lost one there should cry in deep despair,
“You never mentioned Him to me.”

CHORUS
You never mentioned Him to me,
You helped me not the way to see;
You met me day by day and knew I was astray,
Yet never mentioned Him to me.”

The point was this (refer to Matthew 25:31-46). Imagine yourself at the day of judgment on the right side of God prepared to enter into His presence for eternity. Across on His left side, you see someone you knew in this life, a friend, a loved one, someone you knew day in and day out. Imagine the horror if that person had the ability to say to you, “you never mentioned Jesus to me!”

Now, we don’t know what we will be able to do or say on judgment day; this may not even be a possible scenario. However, I feel it well illustrates the point. Are there people you interact with day-to-day to whom you haven’t mentioned Jesus? Can those around you see Jesus in your actions? Do you talk about the meaning of Christ in your life? Do you invite those around you to come and study with you and your church and learn more of His will? What a tremendous opportunity we have every day to encourage others to seek Christ; how sad it is every chance we take for granted.

I found this portion of the lesson very poignant. I teach an adult Bible class every Sunday morning to all who will come. I preach from time to time as our church has need. I think these are good things, and I speak from the heart to my friends and family at church; however, what about all those dear to me who are not there on Sundays? I’ve known I should be doing more, but tonight’s lesson really helped drive that home.

I also know some friends and family read my blog from time to time. This is one more chance for me to say, “Let me tell you about my God.” I welcome the opportunity to speak more of Christ, answer questions, and do what I can to help you know of His love for every one of us. Romans 3:23 illustrates the need each of us has for our Savior. In 2 Peter 3:9, we see God is willing to forgive every single person who will come to repentance. There is no one who cannot find Christ through learning and obeying His holy Word.

When I was a teenager, the Lutheran church put a NIV translation of the Bible in my hands, and I grew up with it. Years later, I received a New Kings James Version (NKJV) and started using it. Not long after, I heard that there were some problems with the NIV, and a couple were pointed out. I accepted that and put it in the back of my mind. Now, I’ve done some research and found that a lot more is wrong with the NIV than I even knew! I have found that some scholars are saying over 64,000 words are missing from the NIV! If that weren’t enough, some verses do not exist in the NIV at all.

Verses Missing from the NIV

• Matthew 17:21; 18:11; 23:14
• Mark 7:16; 9:44; 9:46; 11:26; 15:28
• Luke 17:36; 23:17
• John 5:4
• Acts 8:37; 15:34; 24:7; 28:29
• Romans 16:24
• 1 John 5:7 (truncated)

Don’t believe me? Go to an online Bible resource like BibleGateway and look them up. Compare the NIV text with the NKJV, KJV, ASV, or NASB. Supporters of the NIV say these missing texts do not matter or that what they teach appear elsewhere. Do you want to rely on a Bible that is, without question, omitting portions? Revelation 22:18-19 gives you something to think about.

Also consider the NIV translation of John 3:16.

16″For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Now look at the NKJV of John 3:16.

16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Note that the word is “should”, not “shall” (this matches in the KJV, ASV, ESV, 21CKJV, and so on). Changing this one word can lead to some serious errors in Christian thought, such as “belief only” salvation (disproved in Matthew 7:19; John 15:8; John 15:10; John 15:14; Titus 1:16; Titus 2:7; Titus 3:8; 1 Peter 2:15; 1 Timothy 4:12; 1Timothy 6:18-19) or the thought that once a Christian you cannot loose salvation (disproved in Galatians 5:4; Hebrews 3:12-13; Hebrews 4:1; Hebrews 4:11; Hebrews 6:4-8; 2 Peter 2:20-21).

If you regularly use the NIV, I urge you to do some research on your own. Find out more about it. The Word of God is too important; don’t ignore these concerns without finding out for yourself!