The Christian Faith Podcast

Why the Standard Version? Two Examples

When there are already so many English-language versions of the New Testament, is there really a need for still another one? I would strongly say, Yes, because I just don’t feel there is a truly first-rate translation of the Scriptures available in English today.That is why I produced the Standard Version.And so, in this episode, in order to illustrate the need for the SV, I give examples of two verses in the New Testament where I feel the Standard Version improves over other translations.This is the first in a series of episodes I plan to produce in the coming days along these lines, entitled “Why the Standard Version?” These will cover a good deal of additional verses where I feel other translations miss what is actually being said.May the Lord bless the Standard Version for His sake!
To be notified when new episodes become available, please subscribe to my channel, or add yourself to my mailing list atTheStandardVersion.org/subscribe
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THE STANDARD VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT, 2025 EDITION...aims to be a highly accurate and very literal translation, while at the same time maintaining a high standard for how the text is phrased in the English language.
WATCH THE YOUTUBE VIDEO OF THIS EPISODE“Why the Standard Version? Two Examples”
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE STANDARD VERSIONVisit TheStandardVersion.org/
PURCHASE A PRINTED COPYThe SV New Testament is on Amazon.com
DOWNLOAD THE PDF VERSIONDownload the full Standard Version of the New Testament in PDF format.
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OTHER EPISODE SERIES OFTHE CHRISTIAN FAITH PODCAST
Pursuing Christ in Philippians 3The End of AmillenialismThe Letters to the Seven Churches“Spirit and Soul and Body”“The Eternal Gospel”What Is the Church?The Way of the ChurchThe Judgment Seat of Christ
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Recorded…in Chicago, Illinois on Tuesday, 23 December 2025

Pausing the Podcast for Now

I just wanted to send out a brief announcement to listeners as to why I have, for the time being, paused the release of new episodes of the Christian Faith Podcast. The reason is, at this point all of my time and effort needs to be focused on publishing the 2025 edition of the Standard Version of the New Testament, so right now I just don’t have the opportunity to post any new episodes of the podcast.So, if I do add anything in the coming weeks, it will most likely be related to the Standard Version; in particular, I hope to record some videos for YouTube in which I go through the translation of various New Testament verses to show why I felt a new edition of the New Testament is needed, and I may also post those via the podcast.As for when I’ll resume posting new episodes of the podcast itself, I am just not sure now, but am seeking the Lord regarding that.Of course, there are already over 150 episodes online that you can still listen to. And also, a number of these have been arranged into podcast series, such as “The Judgment Seat of Christ,” “The Letters to the Seven Churches,” and “Pursuing Christ in Philippians Three,” to make it easier for you to go through them in sequence.You can see all of the series titles on this page of our website:The Christian Faith Podcast: List of SeriesIn the meantime, may the Lord keep you in His way, and pursuing Him!In Christ, your brother,David Canfield
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PODCAST SERIES 
Pursuing Christ in Philippians 3The End of AmillenialismThe Letters to the Seven Churches“Spirit and Soul and Body”“The Eternal Gospel”What Is the Church?The Way of the ChurchThe Judgment Seat of Christ 
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Recorded…in Chicago, Illinois on Wednesday, 12 November 2025

Just What Is the “Outer Darkness?”

Many believers, even many Bible teachers, assume that being cast into the “outer darkness,” as mentioned in the Gospel of Matthew (e.g., 25:30), must be the same thing as being cast into the Lake of Fire (Rev. 20:15). And it is true that both refer to coming judgments that will take place at the end of this age.However, if we look carefully at what the New Testament shows us regarding this matter, allowing it to speak for itself, it becomes clear that these are actually two very different things. The former refers to a temporary discipline for some of the saved, while the latter is the eternal destiny of all the lost.So, we as the believers in Christ must be much more sober in our seeking after the Lord! May we be encouraged to run the Christian race (1 Cor. 9:24-27), and thus win the prize of reigning with Christ for the 1,000 years of His kingdom on the earth. Otherwise, if we are careless in our Christian life, we may be disciplined by the Lord when He returns, possibly even being cast into the outer darkness for a period of time, according to the warnings in the Gospel of Matthew.And that is what we consider in this episode, which is the final episode of our series on “The Judgment Seat of Christ” (2 Cor. 5:10).
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Bible Verses for this Episode
See Episode #151: “Just What Is the ‘Outer Darkness?’”
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RESOURCES
This Podcast Series: “The Judgment Seat of Christ”Previous Episode: #150: “The Talents, the Minas, & the Outer Darkness”Brief Note: Watchman Nee: “The Gift & the Reward”Brief Note:  “Seeking, or Struggling?”
Books
D.M. Panton, purchase The Judgment Seat of ChristD.M. Panton, download The Judgment Seat of ChristWitness Lee, A Brief Definition of the Kingdom of the HeavensWatchman Nee, The Salvation of the Soul
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Recorded…in Chicago, Illinois on Wednesday, 22 October 2025

The Parables of the Talents & the Minas (2)

Officers are required for the administration of a kingdom, and so God has deliberately interposed a prolonged period between His two advents, that our Lord might be enabled to so test his servants, in His absence, as to discover which are fitted for positions of responsibility and trust at His return.— D. M. Panton, The Judgment Seat of Christ, page 35, re. the Parable of the MinasThe Lord gives us two parables in the New Testament regarding how He has gifted His believers for their service to Him, and how He will call us to account, when He returns, for the use we made of our gift. To fully understand what the Lord is showing us in these two parables, we really need to consider them together.The Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25 deals with the especially gifted believers, while the Parable of the Minas in Luke 19 shows how all the believers have received at least some gift from the Lord by which He desires us to “do business” for Him until He comes. (Luke 19:13; see Episode #149: “The Parables of the Talents & of the Minas”.) If we are faithful to the Lord in our service on behalf of Christ and His kingdom until He returns, we will receive a tremendous reward from Him then (Matt. 25:19-23, Luke 19:15-12), whether our gift for service is great or small.But considered together, these parables also show us another important lesson: we should not be discouraged in our service to the Lord if we feel we have only received a small gift for that service. The Lord does not expect us to make a profit according to what He has not given us, but only according to what He has given us. So, we must not “despise the day of small things” (Zech. 4:10), but rather, be “faithful in the least” (Luke 16:10); in this way our service to the Lord will grow and develop, and we will indeed be rewarded by Him at His return.===========
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===========Bible Verses for this EpisodeSee Episode #150: “The Talents, the Minas, & the Outer Darkness”===========RESOURCESThis Podcast Series: “The Judgment Seat of Christ”Episode #149: “The Parables of the Talents & the Minas” (1)BooksJames McKendrick, Seen and HeardD.M. Panton, purchase The Judgment Seat of ChristD.M. Panton, download The Judgment Seat of ChristWitness Lee, A Brief Definition of the Kingdom of the HeavensWatchman Nee, The Salvation of the Soul
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Recorded…in Chicago, Illinois on Wednesday, 8 October 2025

The Parables of the Talents & the Minas (1)

The poorest, the most unlettered, the most obscure have the “very little” which yet can coin enormous future wealth.— D.M. Panton, “The Judgment Seat of Christ,” page 31
In the statement above, Mr. Panton is drawing a lesson from the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25: If we as the believers in Christ are faithful to the Lord as His servants in this age with the “very little” He has committed  to us today, we will receive an incalculable reward when He returns and exercises His judgment to begin the next age, His 1,000 year reign upon the earth.
This is one of the two parables in the Gospels where the Lord illustrates how He has gifted His believers for their service to Him in the church age, and how He will either reward or discipline us, based on our service to Him, when He returns.
The other is the Parable of the Minas in Luke 19. Regarding the lesson of that parable, Mr. Panton states,
Officers are required for the administration of a kingdom, and so God has deliberately interposed a prolonged period between His two advents, that our Lord might be enabled to so test his servants, in His absence, as to discover which are fitted for positions of responsibility and trust at His return.— page 35
How sober is this matter of the Lord’s coming reward, or discipline, of His believers, based upon our service to Him, as revealed in these two parables!
And that is what we consider in this episode of the podcast.
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Bible Verses for this EpisodeSee Episode #149: “The Parables of the Talents and of the Minas”
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RESOURCESThis Podcast Series: “The Judgment Seat of Christ”Episode #143: “What Is the Kingdom of the Heavens?”Note: “D.M. Panton: How the Lord Is Testing Us”
BooksD.M. Panton, purchase The Judgment Seat of ChristD.M. Panton, download The Judgment Seat of ChristWitness Lee, A Brief Definition of the Kingdom of the HeavensWatchman Nee, The Salvation of the Soul
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Recorded…in Chicago, Illinois on Wednesday, 2 October 2025

The Unforgiving Servant & the Foolish Virgins

Few Christians today appreciate just how sober and serious a matter it is to be a follower of Christ. So, in this episode we continue our consideration of how the Lord will deal with us, His believers, at His judgment seat (2 Cor. 5:10).In the previous episodes in this series we’ve considered, first, how this matter is presented in the New Testament in plain words, and then, how it is seen in the type of the Children of Israel. (See the series, “The Judgment Seat of Christ.”) So, in this episode we now go on to consider how it is presented in the parables the Lord gave along these lines, looking at two parables in particular.In the first, the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant (Matt. 18:21-35) we see how the Lord may deliver us, His believers, to "the tormentors" for a period of time when He returns if we do not graciously forgive our fellow believers as He has been gracious to forgive us.In the second, the Parable of the Prudent and Foolish Virgins (Matt. 25:1-13), we see how we may forfeit the chance to enter into the Lord's wedding feast when He returns. This will happen if we do not take the opportunity in this age to "buy the oil" for our "vessels," that is, to gain the operation of the Spirit in our soul (cf. Rom. 9:23), in addition to the oil we already have as the believers in Christ in the "lamp" of our human spirit (cf. Prov. 20:27, John 3:6). Because we have had our sins forgiven, we will not be damned for eternity, but we will miss the wedding feast, which will still be a terrible loss.May the Lord use these parables to help all of us, His children, become so much more serious and sober in our seeking after Him!
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Bible Verses for this EpisodeSee Episode #148: “The Unforgiving Servant and the Foolish Virgins”
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RESOURCES
This Podcast Series: “The Judgment Seat of Christ”
BooksD.M. Panton, purchase The Judgment Seat of ChristD.M. Panton, download The Judgment Seat of ChristWitness Lee, A Brief Definition of the Kingdom of the HeavensWatchman Nee, The Salvation of the Soul
===========Recorded…in Chicago, Illinois on Wednesday, 17 September 2025

Rewarded According to Our Works (3)

Now these things happened to them as a pattern for us, and they were written for our admonition, unto whom the ends of the ages have come.— 1 Corinthians 10:11The history of the Children of Israel in their journey from Egypt to the Good Land is, beyond any question, a type of our spiritual journey, as the believers in Christ, from our living in the world until we win the prize of entering into the “sabbath rest” (Heb. 4:9) of reigning with Christ in the 1,000 years of His kingdom on the earth.But, according to the apostle, in both 1 Corinthians 10 and Hebrews 3-4, this type is actually a very sober warning for the followers of Christ today. It shows us that, just as so many left Egypt with Moses in the Old Testament, yet failed to enter into the Good Land, so today there are many believers who have indeed received the free gift of salvation in Christ, but who will nonetheless fail to win the prize of reigning in the kingdom with Him.May this picture stir so many of the Lord’s children today to rise up and follow Him in a much more serious way!
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===========Bible Verses for this EpisodeSee Episode #147: “Rewarded According to Our Works” (3) 
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RESOURCES
This Podcast Series: “The Judgment Seat of Christ”A Brief Note: “The Unforgiving Servant (6): How Will He, and Others, Be Punished?”
BooksD.M. Panton, purchase The Judgment Seat of ChristD.M. Panton, download The Judgment Seat of ChristWitness Lee, A Brief Definition of the Kingdom of the HeavensWatchman Nee, The Salvation of the Soul
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Recorded…in Chicago, Illinois on Friday, 12 September 2025

Rewarded According to Our Works (2)

According to the Bible, the goal which is set before a person is twofold: when we are yet sinners, our goal is salvation; after we are saved and become believers, our goal is reward. For salvation is provided for sinners, whereas reward is provided for believers. The perishing should receive salvation, and the saved should win reward.— Watchman Nee, Aids to Revelation, page 41In this episode we continue our consideration of the very serious and sober matter of how we as the Lord’s believers may be either rewarded or disciplined by Christ when we stand before Him at His judgment seat (2 Cor. 5:10, Rom. 14:10-12, Rev. 20:4-6).===========
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Bible Verses for this Episode
See Episode #146: “Rewarded According to Our Works” (2) 
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RESOURCESThis Podcast Series: “The Judgment Seat of Christ”Previous Series: “Spirit and Soul and Body”
This Podcast Series: “The Judgment Seat of Christ”Previous Series: “Spirit and Soul and Body”
A Brief Note: “Suffering Loss to Gain Our Soul” (1)A Brief Note: “Suffering Loss to Gain Our Soul” (2)A Brief Note: “Suffering Loss to Gain Our Soul” (3)A Brief Note: “Suffering Loss to Gain Our Soul” (4)
BooksD.M. Panton, purchase The Judgment Seat of ChristD.M. Panton, download The Judgment Seat of ChristWitness Lee, A Brief Definition of the Kingdom of the HeavensWatchman Nee, The Salvation of the Soul
 
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Recorded…in Chicago, Illinois on Thursday, 4 September 2025

Rewarded According to Our Works (1)

For the Son of Man shall come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He shall repay each one according to what he has practiced.— Matthew 16:27The Lord spoke this word to His disciples (16:24). Yet, it seems few Christians today have an adequate realization that we will one day stand before the judgment seat of Christ, to give an account to Him for how we lived our Christian life (2 Cor. 5:10; 1 Cor. 3:11-15). While our eternal destiny is secured the moment we believe in Christ, we will not know our “millennial destiny,” i.e., whether or not we will reign with Christ during His 1,000 year kingdom on the earth, until we see Him there (Rev. 20:4-6; cf. 1 Cor. 9:24-27).So, in this episode we begin to consider the very serious and sober matter of how we as the Lord’s believers may be either rewarded or disciplined by Christ when we stand before Him at His judgment seat.
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Bible Verses for this EpisodeSee Episode #145: “Rewarded According to Our Works” (1)
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RESOURCES
This podcast series: “The Judgment Seat of Christ”Previous series: “Spirit and Soul and Body”A Brief Note: “The Virtues of Jesus & Our Salvation”
BooksD.M. Panton, purchase The Judgment Seat of ChristD.M. Panton, download The Judgment Seat of ChristWitness Lee, A Brief Definition of the Kingdom of the HeavensWatchman Nee, The Salvation of the Soul
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Recorded…in Chicago, Illinois on Friday, 15 August 2025
 

“He Is a Rewarder!”

The day is soon coming when we, as the believers in Christ, must all appear before His judgment seat:For we must all be manifested before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done through the body, according to what he has practiced, whether good or worthless.— 2 Corinthians 5:10For the Bible warns us very directly concerning God that “He is a rewarder” (Heb. 11:6), and that He will indeed repay each one according to his work (Rev. 22:12).Thus, on the one hand, as His believers we can surely rejoice in the fact that He freely forgives all our sins the moment we receive Him as our Savior, and thus we are eternally saved (Eph. 2:8, Col. 2:13, John 5:24).On the other hand, however, we must also be clear that not everything in the Christian life is a free gift. So, in this episode of the podcast we consider how, at the very least, we will receive or not receive a reward from God according to our works when we stand before His judgment seat (e.g., Matt. 16:27, Gal. 6:7, Rev. 2:23).
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Bible Verses for this Episode
See Episode #144: “He Is a Rewarder!” • The Judgment Seat of Christ (3)
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RESOURCES
This podcast series: “The Judgment Seat of Christ”A Brief Note: “The Unforgiving Servant (6): How Will He, and Others, be Punished?”
BooksD.M. Panton, purchase The Judgment Seat of ChristWitness Lee, A Brief Definition of the Kingdom of the HeavensWatchman Nee, The Salvation of the Soul
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Recorded…in Chicago, Illinois on Thursday, 31 July 2025