Why We Use the King James Bible, Lesson 11: This Book in the Home, the Church, and the Field

Welcome to Authorized Sword Ministries. This is Lesson 11, the last lesson in our series, Why We Use the King James Bible. Today's lesson is called This Book in the Home, the Church, and the Field.

We're so glad you're here.

We have talked about inspiration, preservation, history, manuscripts, and hard questions. Today we want to get the Book off the shelf and into life. A preserved Bible is meant to be used, not only defended.

Our Key Verse

"And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up."
— Deuteronomy 6:6-7 (KJV)

The words are to be in the heart, in the house, in the walk, at night, and in the morning. Men and women, fathers and mothers, grandparents and children, all have a part in this.

The next verses push it even further:

"And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates."
— Deuteronomy 6:8-9 (KJV)

In the Home

The first place this Book belongs is the home. Read it aloud. The King James was made to be heard. A chapter at the table, a psalm at bedtime, a verse on the wall, a child repeating John 3:16 — that is not old-fashioned. That is obedience.

Lois and Eunice, a grandmother and a mother, planted unfeigned faith in Timothy by the Scriptures. A father is told to bring his children up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. A woman can look well to the ways of her household and still keep the Word at the center, as Mary sat at Jesus' feet and chose that good part. If you live alone, you can still fill your house with this Book. Read it out loud. Pray it back to God. Write a verse on a card and carry it.

Hide it in your heart:

"Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee."
— Psalm 119:11 (KJV)

Memorize it. Start with short verses and build. The same English that seemed old at first becomes precious when it is already inside you in the night.

In the Church

Paul told Timothy:

"Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine."
— 1 Timothy 4:13 (KJV)

The public reading of Scripture, the exhortation, and the doctrine belong together. We want a church that reads the King James Bible aloud, preaches it plainly, and lets the people see the words in their own hands. The Bereans are still the right example:

"These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so."
— Acts 17:11 (KJV)

Bring your Bible. Open it. Follow along. Search daily whether the things that were preached are so. A preserved Bible in the pulpit is a great gift. A preserved Bible in the pew, actually used, is what changes a people.

In the Field

This Book is not only for the house and the meeting. It is for the field, the shop, the school, the hospital, the kitchen, and the faraway place where a missionary opens it and preaches Christ. Faith still comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17). The same English Bible that has been preached for four hundred years can still be carried, quoted, and believed anywhere the Lord sends His people.

You do not have to be a pastor to take this Book into the field. A quiet conversation, a verse written in a card, a psalm read beside a sickbed, a Gospel of John given to a neighbour — that is the Word at work. Be ready to give an answer, with meekness and fear.

A Simple Plan to Live With This Book

Here is a simple plan anyone can follow, building on Lesson 5:

1. Pray first. Ask the Lord to open your eyes.
2. Read a chapter a day, out loud if you can. The Gospel of John is a wonderful place to begin, and then keep going.
3. Keep one Bible as your own. Mark it. Date the verses God uses.
4. Memorize one verse a week. Say it in the morning and at night.
5. Read it with someone else at least once a week: a spouse, a child, a friend, or a brother or sister in the church.
6. Be a doer, not a hearer only.

The goal is not to win an argument about versions. The goal is to be a people in whose hearts, houses, churches, and daily walk the words of the Lord are living and doing their work.

A Simple Step for This Week

Choose a regular time and a regular place to read the King James Bible this week, and keep it for seven days. Read it aloud. Hide one verse in your heart. Then share that verse with one other person, in the home, in the church, or in the field.

A Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank You for giving us Your words, and for keeping them, and for putting them in our language. Write them in our hearts. Fill our houses with them. Let them be read, preached, and believed in the church. Carry them with us into the field. Make us doers of the Word, and let this Book be more to us than a cause to defend. Let it be the living Word we live by. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

Thank you for walking through Why We Use the King James Bible with us. Now take this Book, and use it.

This is Authorized Sword Ministries. God bless you.

Study Questions

1. According to Deuteronomy 6:6-7, where are God's words to be, and when are they to be talked of?
2. What do Deuteronomy 6:8-9 add about the hand, the eyes, the house, and the gates?
3. How can a father, a mother, a grandmother, and a person who lives alone each put this Book in the home?
4. Why is reading the King James Bible aloud such a help in the family?
5. What three things does 1 Timothy 4:13 tell us to give attendance to in the church?
6. What made the Bereans more noble, according to Acts 17:11?
7. What does it look like to take this Book "into the field"?
8. How does Romans 10:17 connect the public preaching of the Word with the salvation of souls?
9. Which part of the simple plan in this lesson do you most need to begin this week?
10. After this whole series, what will you do with the King James Bible, not only what will you believe about it?