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THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST

SPREADING THE SOUL-SAVING MESSAGE OF JESUS

TOPICAL

Lesson 13: Blood of Christ

Introduction by narrator accompanied by a cappella singing:

THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST. Spreading the soul-saving message of Jesus. And now, Ben Bailey.

In Matthew 26:28, as Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper among His followers, when He took the fruit of the vine He said, “This is my blood of the new covenant that was shed for many for the forgiveness of sins.”

Every person who reads the words of Jesus and looks into the life of Jesus realizes the significance of the blood of Christ in the New Testament.

Today we ask you a very important question: How does a person contact the saving blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ?

We hope you'll get your Bible as we consider this question of paramount importance together.

When we think of the blood of Jesus, what is it that we think of? Often blood carries with it the idea that which comes out of our veins naturally, our arteries. We think of that red fluid substance that each of us needs to survive, and naturally when the Bible speaks about blood at times it no doubt is talking about that red substance- but there's more to it than just that in the Scripture.

Blood represents the life of an individual. Since our body is made up

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of blood and we can't survive without it, blood often became associated with life in the Bible.

As we think about the blood of Jesus, today we're really going to be asking three basic questions. What does the Bible mean when it says blood in Scripture? What is the significance of the blood of Christ- what makes it so important? How does a person come in contact with the soul saving blood of Jesus Christ?

Let's consider that first question. What does the Bible mean when it uses the word blood in relation to the sacrifice of Jesus? As we said, in the Scripture blood came to represent life. It came to represent sacrifice and that which made a covering or atonement for sin. Notice this passage Leviticus chapter 17. I want you to notice what the Scripture says in verse number 11. The Old Testament recorded “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I've given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.” Here we learn that that blood represented life and the losing of one's blood in the sacrifice represented atonement or a covering for sin. Instead of thinking maybe about the last time that you cut yourself or maybe had a nosebleed, of that red fluid substance- when we talk about blood as it related to covering man sins- we're talking about the life the sacrifice and the atonement of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

If life equals blood or blood equals life, then the absence of one's blood the losing of one's blood represents sacrifice or their death. Listen to Jesus’ words again Matthew 26:28. Jesus said, “This is my blood of the new covenant that was shed for many for the forgiveness of sins.” When Jesus began His suffering on Calvary, or in the Praetorium when He was beaten, when He was mocked, when He was spit upon, when they proper placed that crown of thorns on His head, when stripes were laid on His back, and His blood literally flowed from His body. That blood, or the absence of it, represented the ultimate sacrifice and covering for sin that was paid by the Lord for each and every one of us.

Now as we think about the meaning of blood, let's also realize that that blood is necessary for salvation. It was necessary in the Old Testament, and it's necessary for Christians today. Remember we’re talking about blood- we're talking about sacrifice and atonement. Listen to

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Hebrews chapter 9 or notice Hebrews 9:22. The Bible says ‘Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.’ How essential is blood in sacrifice and atonement? Without the shedding of blood the Bible says there is ‘no forgiveness of sins.’

If we don't contact the blood of Jesus, then friend I can't be forgiven of sin nor can anyone else. Now under the Old Testament we know that animal sacrifices were made. What about those animal sacrifices? Did they completely remedy the sin problem? Not according to the Scripture. The Bible says in Hebrews 10:3-4 that ‘the blood of bulls and goats could never take away sin.’ What makes Christ sacrifice different then? Jesus sacrifice transcends and is greater than all those because He willingly and freely gave Himself as a perfect offering. His pure blood was spilled on the ground, was shed on the ground at Calvary, for the salvation of mankind. He committed no sin, 1 Peter 2:22. He was tempted all points as we are yet without sin, Hebrews 4:15. He is that Lamb of God, John 1:29, who lived a perfect sinless, spotless life and as a result it is His sacrifice that for all time takes care of sin. Do you remember Hebrews 10:12 in contrasting the blood of bulls and goats? Then the Hebrew writer exalts the sacrifice of Jesus. ‘This man Jesus, after He'd offered one sacrifice for sins, forever sat down at the right hand of God.’ One for all time-that's the importance of the blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Now let's direct our attention to a second part in our study on the blood of Jesus, and it's not just that we want to realize that blood is more than just the red fluid substance. It is the totality of the sacrifice of Jesus- but what is the significance? Why is the blood of Jesus so essential to salvation? As we study our Bible and as we look to the Scripture, we find that blood is related to these items that are indeed essential and significant.

First the blood of Christ is that which brings forgiveness of sin. Each of us realize the importance of forgiveness. It's sin that separates a man from God, Isaiah 59:1-2. It is a personal problem that everybody of the age of accountability has to deal with. Romans 3:23, “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” We realize the importance of forgiveness, but we don't sometimes notice that blood is also significant in our forgiveness. Listen to Matthew 26:28 again. Jesus took that fruit of the vine, “This is my blood of the new covenant that was shed for many for the forgiveness of sins.” Why did Jesus have to die? Why did His blood, why was it shed on

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Calvary? Why did He offer Himself as a sacrifice? For the atonement blood and sacrifice and forgiveness are all uniquely related in the plan of God. Remember without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins- and so blood is necessary for forgiveness. It's Christ's blood that forgives sins; therefore we realize the importance and the essentiality of the blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

What else makes the blood of Christ essential and significant? The Bible teaches that redemption is possible by the blood of Christ. The word redemption, in the original language, means to buyback. It carries with it the idea that which was sold- maybe sold into slavery- and is now being brought back to the original owner or master. We realize that each of us at one time have been slaves of sin. Romans 6:17, ‘God be thanked though you were the slaves of sin at one time.’ We had sold ourselves into slavery to sin, and it is the blood of Christ that redeems us or buys us back to God. Listen to the words of Ephesians 1:7 “In whom we have redemption through His blood the forgiveness of sins.”

What price was paid to buy us back from the slavery of sin? The ultimate price! “God so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Jesus laid down the ultimate price, and He gave His life as a sacrifice so that men and women could be reunited and bought back to God and is in a relationship with Him as their children.

We've got forgiveness that is made by the blood of Jesus, we got redemption that occurs by the wonderful blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, but friend the Bible also teaches that justification comes by the blood of Jesus Christ.

Now the word justified is a very unique word sometimes this word is used to maybe to carry the idea forgiveness as well, but it's more than just that. It carries the idea of once again being pure. Sometimes we define it as saying justified means it's ‘just as if I'd never sinned’ and that really is up a pretty good and easy way to understand it. I want you to listen to what the Scripture says in Romans 5:9 about the justification that's possible by the blood of Jesus. The Bible says, “Much more then having now been justified by His blood we shall be saved from wrath through Him.” Where does that justification that ‘once again being clean and pure and holy in God's sight’

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come from? Men and women must contact the blood of Jesus, ‘having now been justified by His blood.’ It is the agent- that sacrifice, that atonement, that cover for sin- that Jesus freely gave. That's what makes man pure and clean and whole in God sight-because the Lord was pleased with the sacrifice of Jesus. His blood is absolutely essential to salvation.

Another thing that we want to realize about the blood of Christ is that that blood is what made peace with God. You see there had long time been enmity for a long time been enmity between man and God because of sin. Sin separated and severed from the Garden of Eden forward. Sins severed the wonderful relationship that God wanted man to have with Him. How is that peace between God and man going to be made?

We again learn that it occurs by the blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I want you to notice what Colossians 1:20 will say about the blood of Jesus. Listen to these words. Colossians 1:20 says of the Lord and His great sacrifice, “And by Him to reconcile all things to Himself by Him whether things on earth or things in heaven having made peace through the blood of His cross.” When the cross was stained with the blood of Jesus, when that sacrifice that a plea appeased the wrath of God was made, and friend peace occurred between man and God.

Each one of us wants peace in our lives. We don't want conflict. We don't want problems. We don't want fights. We want resolution, and we want peace. We can have the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, Philippians 4:6-9, by contacting the blood of Christ that brings peace.

If we don't contact His blood that Jesus blood, if we don't obey the gospel, if we don't realize that it's the only way to have peace- then we're going to be severed from God, and as Paul would describe without hope in this world. The peace of God only comes by the blood of Jesus Christ and His great sacrifice.

Now friend there is another great thing that the blood of Jesus does, and it's such a powerful attribute to His sacrifice. The blood of Jesus is actually that which destroyed the devil and his power. Remember we're talking about blood representing death and sacrifice and atonement.

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Listen to Hebrews 2:14 the Bible says of Jesus, “He through death overcame him who had the power of death,” that is the devil, “and released those who all their lifetime were subject to bondage.” How did Jesus defeat the devil? How did He destroy his power? How did He release men and women from the grip and the stranglehold that Satan and sin had on them? Through His death. Jesus overcame the devil and his ultimate power that he had through sin. Death is defeated. The devil is defeated. Sin, a remedy to sin, is given all of that occurred in the great sacrifice of Jesus. When we stand back and we think about the blood of Christ, friend it is that which heaven gave for mankind to be saved. How we desperately need that blood to each one of our souls, so that we can be right in the sight of God!

There's another powerful lesson that we learn about the blood of Jesus, and this is going to tie in directly with why and how we contact His blood and why that's so significant- friend the Bible teaches that it is the blood of Christ that cleanses man from sin. How does man's spirit man's soul get clean and pure in the sight of God? The Bible specifically says it is the blood of Christ. Notice 1 John 1:7. John says, “If,” here's the condition, “If we walk in the light as He is in the light we have fellowship one with another and the blood of His Son Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin.”

The cleansing a you know when we think about cleansing something them a cleaning, you think about maybe getting a stain off of something, maybe a cleaning agent to make something look really clean and sharp. You wash your car. You know you get soap and you cleanse dishes- whatever it may be. There some type of agent that makes that cleansing happen. It is the powerful blood of Jesus. I'm not talking about physically- but spiritually speaking- in the heart and mind of God that cleanses man's soul from sin. Remember ‘without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins now.’ Ultimately and in just a few moments that's going to lead us to the great question, how do we contact that cleansing blood of Jesus? If the blood of Jesus cleanses us from sin- I want to know how that happens. We're going to notice exactly how it happens from Scripture in just a few moments. Also realize this, because it is such a significant principle as it relates to the blood of Jesus, let's realize that the Bible says it is the blood of Christ that washes man from his sin.

I want to direct your attention to a passage in the opening words of

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the book of Revelation. Revelation 1 I want you to notice what the Bible says in verse number 5. The Scripture says “And from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead the ruler over the kings of the earth,” now watch this, “to Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood.” Again, the idea here is that of cleansing occurring a washing imagine. You've got a dirty piece of clothing or dirty rag, and you take that rag you mix it with water and soap and you wash it real good. The end product is that which is clean and that without the defect of the dirt and the mud and the grime that might've been on it.

Spiritually speaking, sin is that stain. Isaiah 64:6 God said all our righteousness is like filthy rags. Even when I've done everything that I've been asked to do, the best design that I can say of myself is ‘I'm an unprofitable. I've only done that which is my duty,’ Luke 17:10. But man does have the option God has made it available for him to be remedied to be cleansed of sin and to be made white and pure and holy in the sight of God. In fact in Revelation 7:14 John sees a great scene of all the redeemed of the ages, and they're standing on Mount Zion and the question is asked ‘who are these?’ “These are those who come out of the great tribulation, who had their robes washed in the blood of the lamb.” There again is that idea.

Now in the remainder of our time let's ask the question then, if the blood of Christ is so significant- how does a person contact the blood of Jesus Christ? Well if it is the blood of Christ that forgives sin- and we've noticed that it is- then friend at whatever point the Bible says we receive forgiveness, can't we know as well that's when we've contacted the blood of Jesus?

Notice Acts 2:38. Peter stood up with the 11. They proclaimed Jesus as the Lord and Savior the Messiah. They asked the great question, “Men and brethren what shall we do?” The answer was, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins.”

Now friend you've got to think about it for just a moment. If the blood of Christ forgives us of sin- then friend at whatever point in time in God's plan of salvation the Bible says man is forgiven of sin- is the point in time when we contact the blood of Jesus. The Bible says when we obey God's

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plan of salvation and are baptized, it is for the forgiveness of sins. That's when I contact the blood of Jesus.

What else do we know about when a person contacts the blood? Well think about this- if the blood of Christ is that which cleanses us and washes us of sin, then friend whenever the Bible says we are cleansed of sin that's the moment we can know we've contacted the blood of Jesus. Now remember Revelation 1:5; Jesus washes us in His own blood. 1 John 1:7, ‘if we walk the light as He is in the light we've got fellowship one with another.’ The blood of Jesus cleanses us of sin.

Now when does the Bible say those two things happen? I want you to notice Acts 22:16. Ananias comes to Saul, and says ‘Saul, Saul why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized and wash away your sins calling on the name of the Lord.’

Did you hear those words? The Bible said it is the blood that cleanses and it is the blood of Christ that washes us of sin. Right? Whenever the Bible says that happens, we can know we contacted the blood of Jesus. Ananias came and said, ‘Saul you need to get up and be baptized and wash away your sins.’ Baptism is the point at which the Bible says sins are washed away. The Bible says sins are washed away by the blood of Christ; therefore, I contact the blood of Christ at the point of baptism- the culminating act in which we obey God's plan of salvation and do what God says to become a Christian. It is indeed essential for salvation and ultimately pleases God.

Now we also ask the question, how does a person? When we think about contact the blood of Jesus, we think about this question as well the Bible teaches no doubt that it is the blood of Christ that saves. Romans 5:9, we have justification by His blood. If the Bible says the blood of Christ saves, then friend at whatever point the Bible says we are saved- we also know we've contacted the blood. Right? Romans 5:10 clearly teaches we're justified. Romans 5:9-10, ‘we're justified by the blood of Jesus.’

Well let's ask the question then, when does the Bible say a man is saved?

1 Peter 3:21 the Bible says this “Baptism does now also save us.”

Friend if the Bible says baptism saves, then I can know that's the

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point in time we've contacted- I've contacted- the blood of Christ. Listen to Jesus’ words in Mark 16:16. The Lord said, “He that believes and is baptized will be saved. He that does not believe shall be condemned.” If we've heard the word of God, we believe in Jesus, a man is willing to repent of his sins, confess Christ as Lord, and be baptized- Jesus said ‘that person who believes and is baptized will be saved.’ In the culminating act of God's plan of salvation, baptism is the point in time in which we contact the blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

There is another hallmark and blockbuster passage that teaches us about contacting the blood of Christ and that's found in Romans 6. I want to direct your attention to Romans 6:1. We learn specifically and explicitly when we contact the death of Christ. The Bible records beginning in verse 2, “Certainly not how shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” Now watch this, “Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus we're baptized into His death? Therefore we are buried with Him through baptism into death that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”

If it is the death and the sacrifice and the blood of Jesus that saves, then friend the Bible specifically tells me right here when we contact the blood of Jesus. We were buried with Him in baptism into His death. Friend there's no denying and no getting around the fact that baptism is the point at which we contact the death, the sacrifice, and the blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Now I know there are a lot of people who teach baptism is not essential. There a lot of people teach it's a good thing to do after you're saved. If the blood saves- and it does- and if it is baptism is the point in time in God's plan of salvation when I contact the blood and death of Jesus, then friend salvation does not occur before baptism. Salvation occurs when we obey the gospel. Are we saying there's something mystical or magical in that? That's not what we're saying friend. It's just simply what God has told us to do. There's no denying that. But denying that it's not essential is denying the plain teaching of Scripture. Jesus said in John 3:5 “Unless a man is born of water and the spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”

And so friend we ask you today, if it is the blood, the sacrifice, and

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the death of Jesus that saves- and you contact that blood at the point of baptism- friend have you obeyed God's plan of salvation? Have you contacted the blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ?

If not, we encourage you today to obey the gospel, become a Christian, and May God help each of us as we strive to live our lives in such a way that it brings honor and glory to the great sacrifice of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

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Study Questions for: “Topical Lesson 13: Blood of Christ”

1. According to Matthew 26:28, why was the blood shed?

2. According to Leviticus 17:11, what does the blood represent? What does the losing of blood represent?

3. According to Hebrews 9:22, without what there’s no forgiveness of sins?

4. What separates us from God according to Isaiah 59:1-2?

5. Who has sinned according to Romans 3:23?

6. How do we have redemption according to Ephesians 1:7?

7. According to Romans 5:9, how are we justified?

8. How has peace been made according to Colossians 1:20?

9. According to Hebrews 2:14, how did Jesus defeat the Devil?

10. According to 1 John 1:7, what cleanses us from sin? If what?

The Lord Jesus Christ said, "You shall know the truth, and the truth will make you free."

How wonderful it is to know that a person can know God's truth, and that each of us can be free from sin. But the question remains: How do you know? Are you sure that you know God's truth? How can you know, just as Jesus said, how can you know that you know the truth?

Today, we're going to look to the word of God to determine how a person can know he has that truth in his life, and that he's right with God.

Let's think about what does the Bible say about one knowing that he can know the truth, and how can I be sure? I want to be sure. When I stand before God's almighty throne, and God is on that throne, about to give judgment, I want to make sure that I'm right with God, and the Bible says I can know.

Well, how can I know that I know the truth? Friend, as we think about this idea today, please understand our goal is not to determine if we can know the truth. You can know the truth. The scripture clearly teaches that. Ephesians 5:17 Paul said, "Do not be ignorant, but understand the will of

the Lord." Ephesians 3:4 says, when Paul said, "You can understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ when you read." And so, we can read and we can know the truth.

As we began with Jesus said, "You can know the truth, and the truth will make you free." You can know the truth. Also realize our goal is not to determine whether our parents or our family or our friends knew the truth. We're not asking today, did your mama know the truth? Or did your daddy know the truth? Or did your uncle or some? We're asking do I know the truth?

Here's why this is so important. Romans 14:12 says, "So then each of us shall give an account of himself to God." I'm responsible for me. I can only determine whether I know the truth. I know my heart. I know whether I'm right or not in the sight of God as I read and study His word, and so this is a personal matter. But friend, realize this also: Our goal is not to debate what the truth is today. We're convinced, from the scripture, that God's word already is that truth. Psalm 118:116, the psalmist said, "The entirety of your word is truth." We believe, beyond a shadow of a doubt that this book, the Bible, is God's truth. Jesus prayed in John 17:17, to the Father, "Sanctify them by your truth. Your word is truth."

Our goal today is to discover from the scriptures how a person can be sure his life is in line with that truth.

Let’s begin by thinking about some things that, if I'm going to know the truth, first of all, there are some hindrances that I've got to get out of the way that may keep people from knowing that truth. Number one, as we think about hindrances that need to be removed before I can know the truth, the first hindrance is this: believing and practicing what other people tell you will hinder you from knowing the scripture.

Now, friend, I'm not saying that somebody can't point you in the right direction, that somebody couldn't show you a script- that's not what we're saying- but just blindly accepting what somebody says is from God without checking it for yourself, believing and practicing what men tell you without checking it in the Bible, that's a big hindrance that has affected millions of

people through the span of time. You see, throughout scripture God warns us not to put our faith in men and what they tell us. Exodus 23:2 God said in the long ago, "Do not follow a multitude to do evil." Matthew 7:13-14, Jesus taught us that ‘wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many there are who are going down that path.’ Just because somebody else believes it, just because somebody stands up, maybe behind a pulpit, maybe even holds a Bible and says, ‘This is what God wants you to do to be right with him,’ friend, we encourage you today, don't just believe that person. Check it for yourself in the Bible. Don't just take what somebody else has told you, whether it is a parent or whether it be a friend, whether it is some religious person- don't take what other people tell you to be the truth without first checking it for yourself.

Imagine the multitudes who have been led astray by false teachers today. Somebody stands up and says, ‘let me give you an example,’ somebody, maybe in a religious setting, stands up and says ‘to be saved, all you've got to do is say the sinners' prayer,’ and billions of people have blindly accepted that. Did you know that the sinners' prayer isn't even found one time in the Bible? Now, friend, that's amazing. They'll say something like, "Dear Lord Jesus, I now accept you as my savior. I ask you to come into my heart and save me. In Jesus' name, amen." Where's that at in the Bible? Friend, you can search your Bible from the first verse of Genesis one to the last verse of Revelation 22, and you won't find it one time. That kind of mentality, of not checking for yourself, has hindered a lot of people from knowing God's truth. Don't let believing and practicing what others tell you to do hinder you from knowing the truth.

Secondly, don't let human tradition and personal bias hinder you from knowing God's truth. I want to give you an example of this from Matthew chapter 15. There was a group of Jews in Jesus' day known as the Pharisees, and they were great at their tradition. They had a lot of bias and prejudice, and yet, Jesus clearly identified this was keeping them from knowing God's truth. Matthew 15:7 Jesus said, "Hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying these people draw near to me with their mouth, honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me." Why? "In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrine the commandments of men."

You know, when you think about these people, they had a lot of various traditions. You had to wash pitchers at a certain way. You had to wash up to the elbow. You had to clean things in the right customary way. They had all these laws and traditions they had made up, and if you didn't follow that, you weren't right in their sight. They were biased, and they let human tradition get in the way. Friend we beg you today, one of the things that will keep more people from knowing the truth is human tradition and personal bias.

Why do we do the things we do? Sometimes we say, ‘well, that's just the way we've always done it.’ Friend that won’t work on the judgment day. We want to make sure that, just because it's tradition, and just because that's what we like, we want to make sure it's what God says. You know, thousands of people may be doing things because that's just what they've always done. Why do we worship God this way? Why do I believe this way about salvation? Why do I live my life that way? If the answer is ‘that's what Mom and Dad did,’ or if the answer is ‘that's just what we've always done,’- friend that may hinder you from knowing the truth of God's word. We want to be sure that we do it because God wants us to do it.

Then, we also mention this as a hindrance as well: if I put my faith in the books and the writings of uninspired men that can blind me from knowing the truth.

There are two great questions that every honest seeker of truth ought to ask. The first is found in Jeremiah 37:17. An evil king said, "Is there any word from the Lord?" And Paul repeated those ideas in Romans 5:4 when he said, "What does the scripture say?" What does God's word say? Is there any guidance from God on this subject? We need not to put our faith. Too many people have got faith put in books of men, traditions, catechisms, manuals, and things likened to that. Well, why do we believe this way about salvation? Well, let me get out my, no, it won't work. Let me get out my manual, no, that's not going to be our judge on the final day. Those books are uninspired books of men, and friend, they're not truth. God's word is the only source of truth.

As we think about this idea, we really want to emphasize, if we're going to not be hindered by the books of men, we've got to realize, the Bible is the only safe and true roadmap that'll get us to heaven. Paul said, "I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ." Why? "It is the power of God unto salvation." Christians are encouraged in James 1:21 to ‘receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your soul.’ We're born again by the word of God, which lives and abides forever. 1 Peter 1:23, ‘Jesus is the way, the truth, and the light. Nobody comes to the Father except by him.’ The Bible is the only safe and true guide that'll get you to heaven. Books of men, while they may have some value, don't trust them alone. Trust the word of God as your only source. Please realize that the books of men cannot save your soul. Jesus said in Matthew 24:34, "Heaven and earth will pass away. My word, it'll never pass away."

When I stand before God, what's going to be my judge? John 12:48 Jesus said, "He who rejects me, does not receive my word, has that which judges him. The word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day." It's God's word that's going to be our final guide. If for my faith, I have to turn to books of men, then I probably need to re-examine that, and I need to ask myself, are these books of men that are uninspired hindering me from really knowing the truth?

There's a final thing that we want to mention as a hindrance to the truth today, and it's a big one. Friend, if we've got an unhealthy attachment to this old world and Satan's allurements, it's going to keep us from really knowing the truth. James said, in James 4:4 "Adulterers and adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever, therefore, desires to be a friend of the world makes himself God's enemy." God said, "Do not love the world or the things in the world," 1 John 2:15-17. If I'm so attached to this world or some practice in this world or some moral ideology in the world, that may keep me from really cutting ties and putting my trust, my whole hearted trust in God and His word.

Now, let's direct our attention to some things that can help us. We looked at some hindrances, things that'll get in the way from us knowing the truth, but what is it that will help me to know I know the truth?

Number one: you've got to have a good and honest heart. You've got to be willing to say, "Lord, what would you have me to do?" Paul is the great example of that. In Acts 9, Saul of Tarsus is living a life completely contrary to the will of God. He was there when they stoned Steven, holding their coats. He's been debating against teachers of the gospel. He's wreaking havoc on the church, dragging men and women to prison, but when confronted with the truth, how did Paul respond? "Lord, what would you have me to do?" Acts 9:4-6. I've got to have the humility of heart to say, just as Samuel said in 1 Samuel two and three, "Speak, Lord. Your servant hears." I need the attitude of Isaiah in Isaiah 6, where Isaiah said, "Here am I. Send me." I want that attitude and that spirit of, ‘I've got a good and honest heart, no matter what God asks me to do, I'm going to do that.’ That's really what Jesus' mother said in a very beautiful verse. In John 2:5 Mary said to the servants, as Jesus is about to perform the first miracle in Canaan of Galilee, Mary turns to the servants and says, "Whatever he, Jesus, says to you, do it." I've got to have that good and honest heart, that good soil that receives the word of God, takes root in it, and produces and bears fruit unto God. And so, do you have a good and honest heart? Are you really willing to say, "Lord, what do you want me to do?"

Secondly things that will help us to know the truth is to be ready to prove and test everything you hear. Now, this is directly connected in some way to not believing and practicing what others tell us to do. My friend, we want to emphasize that a big help to make sure you know God's truth is to test and to prove everything you hear, and did you know that the Bible actually commands that? 1 Thessalonians 5:21 the Bible says, "Prove all things. Hold fast to that which is good." How do we know it's good? If we proved it. How do you prove it? By the word of God.

Here's the practical application of what we're talking about. Somebody stands up and teaches something publicly on a religious subject, whether it's about God or about Jesus or about salvation-when we

hear that, we hear it with a readiness of mind. If it's God's word, I'm going to accept it. Friend, I'm going to prove it first. I'm reminded of the example of Acts 17:11. The Bible says that ‘the Bereans were more noble than those in Thessalonica,’ why? ‘They received the word with all readiness,’ and listen to this now, ‘and they searched the scriptures daily to see if these things were so.’

We beg you today- when you hear something taught and someone says this is God's word, this is what the Bible says, this is what you've got to do to be saved- check it for yourself. You cannot know the truth until you've checked it for yourself. You can buy into it. You can be duped into thinking that, but you cannot honestly say I am sure this is God's truth until you've seen it with your own eyes and been convicted of it. Again this is not a bad thing. Somebody who's teaching the Bible will never try to discredit and get mad about you checking what they say. In fact, again, the Bible tells us to check the teacher, right? 1 John 4:1 ‘test the spirits to see whether they're of God,’ why? ‘Many false prophets have gone out into the world.’

Let me give you some examples of things that are so plainly taught today, and yet are so clearly taught against in the Bible.

Let's say someone says the head of the church today is the Pope. The Pope is God's spokesman on earth today. A lot of people believe that. A lot of people have bought into that. Is that true? Have you checked that in the Bible? Where does the Bible say that the Pope is the Holy Father and that he is God's spokesman today?

My friend the Bible clearly teaches that's just not the case. Listen to this one verse, Matthew 23:9, Jesus said, "Call no man father." What? "Call no man father," and yet the people look up to that man and they say ‘holy father,’ and they call him that. Who's God's spokesman today? “God has in these last days, spoken to us by His son.” There's God's spokesman. Hebrews 1:1 says ‘Jesus is God's final spokesman today,’ and we've got the words of Jesus and the Holy Spirit in the Bible. Something just plain like

that is clearly taught against in scripture. Check it for yourself. Think about this as well.

Someone says, ‘you know, it's okay today, we live in a more liberated society, and it is okay today for women to preach and stand up and speak in a mixed assembly of both men and women.’ Really? Have you checked what the Bible says on that? Let's prove it. Let's test it. Let's check and see if it's okay for a woman today to stand up and preach in a mixed assembly. 1 Timothy 2, here's what the word of God says in verse number 11 and 12: Paul says, "Let a woman learn in all silence with all submission." Now, listen to this, "And I do no permit a woman to teach or to be in authority over a man." 1 Corinthians 14:34-35, "Let your women keep silent in the church."

We've taken a very popular doctrine, especially in our day and age today, where men will say it is perfectly fine for a woman to stand up in a mixed assembly and preach, and then we heard Paul say, by inspiration, "I do not permit a woman to teach or be in authority over a man." Paul later would say, in 1 Corinthians 14:37, "If any man thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge the things that I write to you." Paul's writing, he said, "These are the commands of God." You know, to make sure you know the truth; you've got to be committed to studying the scripture for yourself. Study and listen to these words. “Study to show yourself approved unto God,” 2 Timothy 2:15. "Search the scriptures daily," Acts 17:11.

Now, we say okay, that's good and well, but how do you really study the scriptures for yourself? Let me give you a pattern on how people did that in the Bible that's a great way for us today. Acts 17:11, the Bible says of the Bereans, "these were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness and searched the scriptures daily to see if these things were so."

How do you study for yourself? Friend, there's no doubt. You've got to have a readiness of mind. I've got to be open-minded enough that I'm willing, if it is God's truth, to accept it. You've got to have that readiness of

heart and readiness of mind that if God says it-I'm willing to do it. You can't be blind in accepting what people say without checking it, and we've got to realize there is an authority. There is a guide by which we're going to check everything, and that is the word of God. Are you willing to show by your actions that not only do I accept that as truth, but I'm going to accept it if I first see it in the word of God?

Let me give you a couple of other examples. Sometimes people will say the Bible teaches that baptism is just an outward sign and that you're already saved. People say baptism's not essential to salvation. You're saved before you're baptized. You're baptized sometime later, and baptism is not essential to salvation. How do you know the truth on that? Are you sure you know God's truth on that?

Friend, did you know that's not what the Bible teaches? Did you know that the Bible teaches baptism is essential to salvation? That baptism is a part of God's commands that you must do to be saved? Nowhere in the Bible does it say it's an outward sign of an inward grace. That's man's words, not God's. Listen to what the Bible does say. Jesus said, "He that believes and is baptized will be saved." Jesus did not say he that believes will be saved. He said, "He that believes and is baptized will be saved." John 3:5 Jesus said, "Unless a man is born of water and the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God."

Think back to Saul of Tarsus, that man with the good and honest heart who said, in Acts 9:4-6 "Lord, what would you have me to do?" He was told go in the city. ‘It'll be told you what you must do.’ Saul recounts his conversion, and we find out what was essential for him. Acts 22:16, a man by the name of Ananias brings the gospel to Saul, and he says, "Saul, Saul, why are you waiting?" Listen to this. "Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins." At what points are sins forgiven? Acts 2:38 says, "Repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins."

Someone says ‘okay, but the Bible never says baptism saves us.’ That's not true. Here's man's doctrine. Man's doctrine says baptism does not save. You know what the Bible says? 1 Peter 3:21 says “baptism does

now also save us.” Let's look at those. Here's how we illustrate. How do you know you know the truth? Man says baptism doesn't save. Okay, I'm going to get my Bible out and see what does the Bible say about that? “Baptism does now also save us.”

I can know the truth on that subject, but I've got to have a good, honest heart. I've got to maybe do away with some prejudice and bias. I've got to stop listening to uninspired teachings and books of men, and put my trust and hope in the word of God.

We began with the words of Jesus, such a beautiful statement, “You can know the truth, and the truth, it will make you free.” Our question to you today is- are you sure you know the truth? Are you committed to having that good and honest heart that says ‘whatever God's word says, I'm going to do it’? If so, are you willing to change your life and turn from the things that are wrong, and turn to God, known as repentance? Luke 13:3. Would you be willing to put your faith in Christ and really believe that he is the son of God? John 8:24. Would you confess his name before men? Romans 10:10. Would you do what they were told to do in the first century, arise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord?

Friend, our prayer and hope today is -get your Bible and check it for yourself. Read the scripture for yourself.

The only way I can know that I'm right or wrong in the sight of God is if I see it with my own eyes. If I study it, if I search it, I can know for a fact. I don't have to listen to anything else, if the Bible says it, it's true already. I believe it. I know it's true, and I can know that I'm right with God.

Our hope and prayer today is that you will know you know the truth by giving the word of God first place in your life.

Study Questions for: “Great Bible Lessons: Lesson 11”

1. According to Romans 14:12, what will each of us do?

2. According to Ephesians 5:17, what must we understand?

3. What does Psalm 118:116 say about God’s word?

4. In Jesus’ prayer in John 17:17, what did He say was truth?

5. In Exodus 23:2, what does God tell us not to follow?

6. In Matthew 7:13-14 what did Jesus teach us about the path of many?

7. What was wrong with what the people were doing in Matthew 15:7?

8. What great question is asked in Jeremiah 37:17 and Romans 5:4?

9. According to James 1:21, what should we receive with meekness?

10. According to 1 Peter 1:23, how can we get to the Lord?

“Be sober; be vigilant for your adversary, the Devil, walks about like a roaring lion seeking those whom he may devour.”

Satan is no doubt aggressively pursuing people today who he can tempt, destroy, and what an evil, ungodly adversary the Devil is.

Think about all the havoc that Satan has reeked on humanity since the very beginning. Go back to the Garden of Eden, and it was Satan who tempted Adam and Eve to eat that forbidden fruit and be separated from God. Think about the calamity that was brought into Job's life. Good, godly, upright man was tempted, persecuted, faced the death of his family, and a dreaded disease. Why did that all that occur? Satan tempted Job.

Friend as we think about the calamity and the havoc that he's wreaked in life, we see loved ones who are suffering because of sin and at the hand of Satan. It ought to make each one of us have a righteous anger. Be angry and sin not. Psalm 4:4, toward the Devil. What can I do today, then, to turn the tables on the Devil?

We welcome you to our study today of how to make the Devil mad. What would you do in your life if you wanted to make the Devil mad, and if

you did certain things that would anger Satan? What would those things be? We're going to talk about how to make the Devil mad, and what kind of Christian qualities are in your life will definitely get the Devil set on fire, and make him upset.

Let's then turn our attention to the discussion today of how to make the Devil mad. If I were going to do things in my life, and you were going to do things in your life that we would say would definitely not make Satan happy, what would those things be?

First, if you're a child of God, we want to encourage you to be more faithful than you've ever been before. Live more for Jesus every day. Have a sense of urgency to your faithfulness. Never stop putting one foot in front of another. Never give up. Being more faithful than we've ever been would surely not make the Devil happy. Jesus said, in Revelation 2:10, ‘be faithful unto death, and I'll give you the crown of life.’ By being motivated by God's love, it is the love of Christ that ought to compel us because we judge thus, that if one die for all, then all died, and He died for all that they who live no longer live with themselves, but live for Him who died for them, and rose again in view of God's marvelous love, the great sacrifice of Jesus. Be more faithful to God than you've ever been.

I love the words of Paul in Galatians 2:20. Paul said, “I've been crucified with Christ. No longer, I, who live, Christ lives in me. The life which I now live in the flesh, in this human body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” Can we say like Paul, I've truly been crucified with Christ? Have we put the past, have we put the old life behind us? Are we letting the world and its pleasures flea into the other part of our life, and not take a big part in it today? And then, are we really being a sacrifice for Christ every day? Romans 12:1-2 Paul said, ‘I beg you by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service, and do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is a good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.’ Have I really sacrificed self to God? Have I really conformed and transformed my mind as I ought to? Like Joshua, we need the attitude: “As

for me and my house, we're going to serve the Lord.” We want to daily follow the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, everywhere that he would lead us in this life. And so, to make the Devil mad, be more faithful than you've ever been before.

Friend, I will assure you the one thing that Satan hates, the one thing that gets his ire up more than anything else is fidelity, complete faithfulness, and dedication to God. That's what God wants. Mark 12:30 the Bible says Jesus was asked, ‘Lord, what's the greatest of all commandments?’ Here was His answer. “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, with all your strength.” This is the first, and great, commandment. The one thing God wants more than anything, and the one thing the Devil doesn't want, is for us to put the Lord first, and really be faithful in this life. Be faithful in working for God. 1 Corinthians 15:58, the Bible says “Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain.” The things that I do for God, those are the things that are really going to last in this life. And so, are we really serving others? Mark 10:45, ‘the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve.’ Are we doing what we can to help the poor, and the needy, and those who are hurting? “Do good unto all men, especially those of the household of faith,” Galatians 6:10. Are we out trying to do good in the name of Christ, and really help God's cause in this life? Am I working like I ought to be working? Am I faithful in attendance, as God wants me to be?

You see, the Bible teaches that God wants us to worship Him as His people. John 4:24, ‘God is a spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.’ Am I faithfully attending the worship services of the church? The Bible says in Hebrews 10:25 that ‘we are not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together as is the manner of some.’ I'll tell you what Satan wants you to do. Satan wants you to stay up late on Saturday night, and get really, really tired on Sunday morning. Satan wants you to say to yourself, ‘I've got a ballgame tonight that's going to keep me from going to church. I've got this event, I've got work that's going to keep me late, I'm too tired, or I don't feel well.’ Satan wants you to sit at home, and not go to Bible study because he's afraid if you go to Bible study, you might

learn something that'll help you be more faithful. He doesn't want you to go hear the preaching of the Gospel, sing songs that praise unto Him, because he knows that the doing of that may prick your heart, and you might become more faithful to God. And so, if I really want to be the type of person that'll make Satan angry, I want to be more faithful than I've ever been. I want to be more faithful in following the example of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. That's what I've been called to do. 1 Peter 2:21, ‘for this we are called because Christ also suffered and died, leaving us an example that we should follow in His footsteps.’

Satan doesn’t want you to stand where Jesus stood. He doesn’t want you to think like Jesus thought, Philippians 2:5. He doesn’t want you to step in the path of Jesus, 1 Peter 2:21. He surely doesn't want you to imitate Christ, 1 Corinthians11:1. If you want to make the Devil mad, you strive to make it your desire every day to be more faithful in following the example of Jesus. Be more faithful in encouraging and strengthening others- that'll help you to make the Devil mad. You see, the Bible says in Hebrews 3:12-13, “Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God, but exhort or encourage one another daily.” That's the idea and the mindset that Christians ought to have. I assure you, when somebody's hurting, when somebody's sick, when somebody's dealing with a problem in their life, Satan wants that person to sit at home alone. He doesn't want anybody to call. He doesn't want anybody to help. He doesn't want anybody to go over there. He wants that person to think I'm out here on an island by myself, and I can't do it. I'll just give up. You know what, when Christians encourage, when Christians do call, when Christians do drop by to visit, when we try to lift one another up, I'll assure you, that's not what Satan wants in this life. He wants that person to feel defeated, deflated, and feel like he doesn't have a friend left in the world.

As we think about things that we can do that would definitely make Satan mad, make the Devil mad, friend, not only will being more faithful than you've ever been infuriate the Devil, but giving more than you've ever given to the Lord will also make the Devil angry. Now friend, understand the way we're saying this. We're not begging you for your money. We're not asking you to send it in. That's not the intent of what we're saying. We're

talking about in your personal, practical life, at the local congregation, give more to God than you've ever given before. Luke 6:38, Jesus said this; ‘give, and it'll be given to you. Good measure pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will men put back into your bosom.’ You know what Satan wants you and me to do? I'll assure you, the Devil hates good givers. He wants you to be stingy. He wants you to say, ‘I don't have enough money.’ He wants you to not have the faith to reach out and help the Lord's calls-because, by doing that, people who are good givers are helping to spread the Gospel, or helping the needy, or encouraging the poor, or reaching out in their communities in the name of God, and God's getting, Christ is getting, the credit and the glory, and so Satan wants you to be stingy. He wants you to hold back. He doesn't want you to give to the cause of Christ like you ought to give.

When you think about the Bible teaching on giving, here's what it says. The Bible teaches that our giving ought to be regular in the cause of Christ. 1 Corinthians 16:1-2, on the first day of the week, Paul would say where to give every first day of the week as we have prospered, and as we've purposed in our heart. Just like Christians in the 1st Century, wouldn't it be great today to give regularly, weekly, to the cause of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ? Now friend, when we say give as you've purposed in your heart, that doesn't mean that you wait 'til the last minute and say, what have I got left in my wallet. We want to give to God's cause because God has given so much to us. We want to be good givers in the cause and the effort of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. In fact, what kind of giver is it? What kind of giver is it who God is really happy with? Well, let's notice from our Bible in 2 Corinthians 9:6-7. I want you to listen to the giver whom God is really, really excited about. The Bible says, Paul speaking, “This I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. He who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So that each one give as he purposes his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity, listen now, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

You know, when we talk about giving to the cause of Christ, of course the financial aspect of that no doubt applies. God has given so much to each one of us. James 1:17, ‘every good and perfect gift comes’ from where? ‘From the Father of Lights, with whom there is no shadow or variation of turning.’ God has given us everything we have. How wonderful it is that I can cheerfully, that I can, with happiness and a joy, give back to God. The devil doesn’t want you to do that. He wants you to be stingy. He wants you to say, ‘Man, it hurts to put this in. I wish I didn't have to do this. I don't have enough money to do it.’ He wants you to have that attitude. That's not the way God wants you to be. God loves a cheerful giver. When we talk about giving to God, we're talking about on the local congregational level.

We also want to realize that giving to God isn't just about our finances. Have you given to God more than ever before of yourself? 2 Corinthians 8:5 is a beautiful passage. Paul holds up the Macedonians as a great example of cheerfulness, and going beyond what they could in giving, and here's what he says about them. He says ‘they first gave themselves to the Lord.’ Giving means that I first give myself to the Lord. 1 Corinthians, 6:19-20, our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in us, and we have from God. You are not your own. You were bought at a price. Have I fully given self to God? Here's what the Devil wants you to do. The Devil wants you to be about 50 to 75% committed to God. He wants you to be about halfway there, and about halfway in the world. He wants you to have a commitment, but he really doesn't want you to be fully committed because if he's not got you fully committed, he may have you right where he wants you. Have you really given yourself to the Lord as you ought to?

I'll assure you there are so many benefits. There are so many benefits to being a giving person. Jesus mentioned one in Acts 20:35. Paul said, “And remember the words of our Lord Jesus where He said, ‘it's more blessed to give than it is to receive.’” What makes you feel better? Does it make you feel better to get a big present, or does it make you feel better to give a present and to watch it light up somebody's life? To look at the good that you can do with your gift will make you feel far more joy than ever receiving any gift. If we want to make the Devil mad, not only do we want to

be more faithful than ever, we want to be better givers than we've ever been before.

If I'm going to make the Devil mad, I want to be more evangelistic than I've ever been before. The Devil wants you to be ashamed of the Gospel, even though the Bible says, in Romans 1:16, ‘I'm not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ.’ The Devil wants you to think to yourself, ‘my neighbors don't want to hear the Gospel, my neighbors across the street, or next door to me, they're not living right, and they're not acting right, and they don't care to think about the Gospel.’ Jesus said, ‘Go, take the Gospel,’ Matthew 28:18-20. The Devil wants you to say to yourself, ‘they won't like me if I go to people and I talk to them about Jesus. They won't like me, and they won't be my friend.’ Jesus tells us the best thing you can do for somebody is take them the Gospel. ‘You're my friend if you do,’ Jesus said, ‘whatever I command you.’ Christians, we need to be more evangelistic than we've ever been before.

You know what one of the big problems that we face today is? We've given in to the world. We've given in to society. We've given in to the Devil because they didn't want us to say anything. If Christians stood up with one voice on issues of morality, on issues of right and wrong, on injustices to humanity and man, imagine the effect that would have on the world. Why don't we do that? The Devil's done a good job. He's made us think, you're afraid to do that. Somebody might persecute you. People won't like you. They won't want to be your friends. They'll think you're being mean, or unkind. Christians need to be more vocal, and more evangelistic than we've ever been before. ‘Go into all the world and preach the Gospel under every creature,’ Mark 6:15-16. As it relates to salvation, and teaching the good news of Jesus, friend, we ought to feel an indebtedness to do that. Because of all God's done for me, I want somebody to know about the Gospel.

Imagine if you could cure some dreaded disease today. You just imagine this scenario with me. Imagine that somehow or someway you'd found the cure to heart disease. You'd found the cure where people would never have a heart attack again. What would you do with that? Would you

put it in your back pocket and hide it? Would you sit on it? Would you put it in the back drawer, keep it real quiet? No, you'd tell everybody you could about that. You'd be at the heart hospital. You'd be trying to find everybody who was struggling with heart disease. You'd tell your neighbor in the store. You'd tell your friends. You'd shout it from the rooftop. You'd want everybody in the world to know that. How much more the power of the Gospel, which doesn't save people's physical life, but saves their soul! The Gospel is God's power to save. We have that, we know it, it's right here in the revealed Word of God. The Devil wants you to feel ashamed, and afraid, and be timid about that. And yet, we ought to feel a certain amount of indebtedness to preach the Gospel to the lost.

Friend, if I'm going to make the Devil mad, here's one thing you can surely do. The Devil doesn't want you to talk to God. He doesn't want you to read God's Word. He doesn't want God talking to you, but the Devil also doesn't want you talking to God. If I want to make the Devil mad, I need to pray more than I've ever prayed before. The Bible says, in 1 Peter 5:7 ‘cast all your cares upon Him, He cares for you.’ Jesus said, ‘men ought to pray always, and never lose heart,’ Luke 18:1. ‘The effect of fervent prayer of a righteous man overcomes much.’ The prayer has powerful results. Hebrews 4:16, God says, ‘come boldly to the throne of grace that we might find grace and mercy to help in time of need.’ Now, here's what the Devil wants you to think. Devil wants you to say, ‘God doesn’t care about little ole' me,’ and yet, the Bible says, ‘God cares for you,’ 1 Peter 5:7.The Devil wants you to say, ‘God's got too many other problems to worry about mine.’ God says,’ let me help you with those.’ Philippians 4:6-8, bring all our anxieties and cares to God. The Devil wants you to think God won't hear anyway, and yet, the Bible says, God knows what we need even before we ask it. The Devil wants you to say, ‘I'm just not worthy.’ Although none of us, because of our sin, can claim worthiness of ourself, God loved you so much he sent his son to die for you. God wants you to pray to him. The Devil wants you to think it won't do any good. Bible says “Cast all your cares upon him. He cares for you.” Listen to Hebrews 4:16. God says, “Let us come boldly to the throne of grace that we might find grace and mercy to help in time of need.” If you could approach the very throne of God and

obtain help, would you do it? Friend, that's what prayer does. Prayer takes us to the throne of God where we can find help to deal with the troubles in this life.

The Devil is going to do everything he can to discourage us. He's going to do everything he can to distract us. He's going to let the world get in the way; keep us so busy, and so active, that we just don't have time to pray. Yet, friend, you can't afford to let prayer slip in your life. If I want to make the Devil mad, I'll assure you approaching the throne of God in humility of spirit and prayer, asking for his help, seeking his favor, asking forgiveness of sin, dealing with the issues of life, oh, the Devil isn't going to like that at all.

And then, we mention a final thing. If a person wants to make the Devil mad, you need to obey the Gospel of Jesus Christ. When a person's in sin, the Devils' just so excited. That person is a child of his. He's living like the Devil wants. He don't have to spend much time, and effort, and energy, and he's got his hooks in him, and his claws in him, right where he wants him to be. He's in his trap, and he doesn't have to do anything with that fella. What about when somebody hears the preaching of the Gospel? Uh, oh, Devil listens up. What's going on over here? Somebody decides to submit their life to God, I'll assure you, and nothing makes the Devil angrier than for a person to give their life to Almighty God. 2 Corinthians 6 teaches us about the urgency of that. The Bible says ‘today is the accepted day.’ Now, is the day of salvation. The Devil wants you to think you've got all the time in the world. Not so.

Now's the accepted time. Today is the day of salvation. Devil says to you, ‘put that off, and do it tomorrow. You've got all these other things you need to do.’ Today is the day of salvation. Now is the accepted time. Isaiah 55:6, God says, ‘my ways are not your ways, that my thoughts are not your thoughts, as the Heavens are high above the earth, so great are my ways, greater than yours.’ We want to think about obedience to the Gospel, and really submitting our lives to God. Paul would say, Romans 6:17, ‘God be thanked, that though you were the slaves of sin, yet you obey from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered.’ You see, here's

what it's like before a person obeys the Gospel: He's trapped, he's enslaved, and he's ensnared by the Devil. The Devil has laid that trap, that trap is sin. That trap has caught all humanity at one time, all men have sinned, and yet, when you obey the Gospel, you've been freed from that trap. The door's been opened. The trap's been loose. You've been set free. You can now live to serve God in every way. I'll assure you the Devil doesn't want you to do that in your life, and, yet that's exactly what God wants you to do.

And so friend, we want to ask you today, have you obeyed the Gospel? Are you a Christian? If you're attentive to what God's Word says, and if your heart is really where it needs to be, and you want to know what God says to do to be saved, I'll assure you, the Devil is already starting to get a little upset. He doesn't want you to obey the Gospel, but that's the very thing God wants you to do.

The God of Heaven loves you and wants you to be saved. ‘God wants all men to be saved, and come to a knowledge the truth,’ 1 Timothy 2:4. Maybe you're saying to yourself, ‘well, what do I need to do to be saved?’ To be saved, you must believe Jesus is the Son of God. John 8:24, Jesus said, ‘unless you believe that I'm He, you'll surely die in your sin.’ The Devil doesn’t want you to believe it. He's going to try to give 1,001 reasons to convince you that Jesus is not the Son of God. But friend, when you look at the Bible and you examine the evidence, there's no getting around the fact that Jesus is divine, that He is God's Son.

Do you believe that? If so, do you believe it enough to make a commitment to change your life, turn from sin, and turn to God? Paul said in Marseille in Acts 17, ‘God now commands all men everywhere to repent.’ Why? ‘He's appointing the day in which He'll judge the world in righteousness.’ There's a judgment day coming, and I need, before that day, to repent and get it right. Are you willing to turn from sin, and turn to God? Would you acknowledge to the glory of God that Jesus is God's Son? Romans 10:10 says, ‘with the heart, one believes in the righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.’

Friend, would you, to become a Christian, be baptized in water to contact the blood of Jesus? On that first Gospel sermon when Peter stood up for the very first time to preach the Gospel, they were pricked in their heart. No doubt the Devil didn't want that to happen. They were pricked in their heart, they cried out, men and brethren, what shall we do. And here was the answer. Peter said, “repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

We hope and pray today that as you think about this lesson, how to make the Devil mad, that you will get your life right, in harmony with the will of God, that you'll live faithfully to him unto death, and I'll assure you, that will definitely not make the Devil happy.

Study Questions for: “Great Bible Lessons: Lesson 10”

1. According to Revelation 2:10, how long should we be faithful?

2. According to Galatians 2:20, how did Paul view his life?

3. How should we live according to Romans 12:1-2?

4. According to 1 Corinthians 15:58, what should we be steadfast in?

5. According to Mark 10:45, why did the son of man come?

6. What does Galatians 6:10 command us to do?

7. How should we worship according to John 4:24?

8. What should we do daily according to Hebrews 3:12-13?

9. What does Jesus say about giving according to Luke 6:38?

10. What does James 1:17 tell us?

The Disciples of Christ said, “Lord teach us to pray,” Luke 11:1.

Welcome to our study on the beautiful subject of prayer. We'll be thinking about some of the fundamentals of prayer; specifically: the how, the what, and the when of prayer.

1 Thessalonians 5:17 says, “Pray without ceasing.” As we think about the how, the who, and the what of prayer, we realize that Christians must know and must be convicted of the importance of prayer and need for it in their life. This is why Paul taught us to pray without ceasing. Never let there be a time in your life when you can't pray to God. And we can surely see that in the life of Jesus.

Do you remember Matthew 14:23? Jesus had been teaching the multitudes. Jesus sent the multitudes away. He went up by Himself on the mountain to pray. Jesus needed prayer in His life. Matthew 26:53, even in that great moment of struggle in the garden Jesus said, “Do you not think that I cannot now pray to my Father and receive 12 legions of angels to help?” Jesus understood the power and need of prayer.

If we can be convinced of a correct understanding of what prayer is and how it should be used, it'll help us to utilize that power in our own lives.

We begin by asking, what does the Bible say on the subject of prayer? Let's talk about some of the prerequisites that are necessary for one to pray as God wants him to. For example one must be taught how to pray scripturally. It's not the case that I can just get up and pray any old way that I want to, or say anything I want to, or do anything I want to in prayer. You've got to be to be taught from the Bible by God how to pray correctly. Luke 11:1 clearly teaches this. Jesus' disciples had heard John's disciples pray. John had taught his disciples, and so the Disciples of Christ came to Him. They said, “Lord teach us to pray as John also told his disciples to pray.”

Wouldn't you have loved to sat at the feet of Jesus and learn how to pray? Friend isn't that what we find in the Bible? We can hear Jesus pray. We can see what Jesus taught His disciples, and what God's taught us to pray. And I can learn how to pray the way God wants me to. In so doing, I will pray in a way that will honor and magnify Almighty God.

As part of the prerequisites to prayer, let's also realize I've got to pray, if I'm going to pray correctly, I need to pray with a firm belief and commitment in God's ability to help, Mark 11:24, Matthew 21:22. We know God knows what we need. We're taught to pray in faith with no doubt. We're to seek, we're to knock, we're to ask, and we're to be convicted that God can help us. This is why James said in James 1:5, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all liberally and without reproach it will be given to him, but let him ask in faith with no doubting.” Why? “He who doubts is like a wave of the sea tossed and driven by the wind.” If I'm going to pray correctly, I need to have a commitment, a firm conviction, God does hear. God does know, and because of my faith in God and the evidence of Him, I know God wants me to pray and wants to help in my time of need.

We're not talking about someone saying, ‘Well I hope God does this, or if I pray God might care,’ or the wishful thinking, or best guess or any doubt involved in that. We all pray in view of the Lord's will but when we pray, we need to pray with conviction and commitment that God wants to help us accomplish His will on this earth.

Then another prerequisite that is so important to prayer is we need to pray according to the will of God.

I want you to notice what the Scripture says in 1 John 5 about this idea. 1 John 5:15 specifically addresses the Christian praying in view of the will of God, and as God would want him to pray. Here's what that verse says, “and if we know He hears us whatever we ask, we know we have the petitions we've asked of Him if,” verse 14 says, “If we ask according to His will.” What's the will of God Taught to us in the Bible? It's what we as Christians have the mindset of doing. It's what Jesus said in Matthew 27:46 and Matthew 26:39, “Not my will but thine be done.” We hear Christians say sometimes, ‘if the things we pray for are according to Your will; we pray that Your will accomplish those; if not, we pray that You'll defeat us in the things that are not.’

Friend we want to have the mindset, ‘if this is your will.’ All that we pray is contingent upon ultimately the will of God being done first, and His ultimate plan being accomplished.

Then as another prerequisite, we want to have a humble attitude when we pray. Luke 14:11 the Bible says, “Whoever humbles himself he’ll be exalted, whoever exalts himself he’ll be humbled.”

Now let me ask you this question: do you ever see anybody in the Bible who prayed with a haughty, self-righteous, ungodly attitude? Well sure we do! You remember Luke 18? Listen to the story of the two men who went up to the temple to pray. One had a great attitude, and the other he felt like God needed him on his side. Listen to Luke 18:10. The Scripture records, “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector,” now watch this Pharisee, “The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God I thank you I'm not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I possess.’” Can you imagine a man praying like that? Imagine someone bowing their head and saying, ‘God thank you that you've made me better than everybody else. Thank you that you didn't make me like this tax collector, and by the way let me tell you why you need me: I pray, I fast, and I give, look at what I do. Thank you for not making like everybody else, and thank you that I am who I am.’

What a haughty self-righteous man! What about the tax collector? The story goes on to tell us, the tax collector wouldn't even look up to heaven. He beat his breast, and he said ‘God be merciful to me a sinner.’

Jesus in essence said, ‘which of those two do you think God heard? Not the one who was glad he was better nobody else and thought he was righteous, but the one who knew he wasn't and needed God.’

Friend let's not let pray with the haughty, self-righteous, pious attitude. We need to pray in humility of heart. We need to recognize, and you me, when we've done all those things commanded us say, ‘I am an unprofitable servant; I've only done that which was my duty to do,’ Luke 17:11.

Now we mention another prerequisite, another how to prayer and it's this, we need to make sure that we don't pray like the hypocrites. Matthew 6:5-7, Jesus condemned the hypocrites when He said, “They stand on the street corners, they pray these long prayers, they have to be wearing the right garments, they have to be in the right place, and have to make sure everybody's watching them.” Jesus said, “They go halfway around the world to make a disciple, then they make him twice as much the son of hell as themselves.”

What was wrong with those people? They wanted the glory; they wanted to be looked up as the spiritual elite. They wanted everybody to say, ‘Wow look at that man pray; He must be close to God.’ They weren't giving God the glory in their prayer. They were trying to receive glory from their prayer.

When we pray, we don't have to use the big words, not saying that's in and of itself wrong, but we don't have to do it for everybody to look at us. I don't have to pray a long prayer, so everybody can think ‘wow he really knows how to talk to God.’ I don't have to use big words, big religious words, so people can say ‘oh he's really smart in praying to God.’ Or we don't have to do it in the right place and say so people can look at us, and say ‘look at him he must be a spiritual person.’

If our mindset is to have people look at us when we pray, have people think highly of us when we pray, friend we've missed the whole purpose of what prayer is all about. Remember what Jesus said in contrast to those hypocrites? Jesus said, “And you when you pray, don't stand out on a street corner and do like they did instead,” He said, “go into your upper room when you're in your upper room, shut the door, go into your closet,” in essence, “as it were and when you pray, pray in secret to your

Father in secret. He blesses those who pray that way.”

Our prayers need to have a sense of humility and a sense of knowing that God hears based on who we really are. Like the tax collector, “God be merciful to me a sinner,” that's the attitude that we as Christians need to have.

Then as we think about a prerequisite to prayer, part of the ‘how’ we need to recognize prayer should always be offered in the name of Christ. John 14:13-14 Jesus said, “If you ask anything in my name, I will do it.” 1 Timothy 2:5-6, “There is one God one mediator between man and God the man Christ Jesus Himself.” Who is the mediator? Christ. Who do we pray through? Christ. Whose name and authority do we pray in? The name and the authority of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Christians don't close the prayer in Jesus' name because that's what we've done for a thousand years 2000 years. We do that because that's how God, that's how Christ has taught us to pray scripturally in the Bible, to honor Him; and to show Him as our mediator as our dependence is given upon Him in every way.

You know as we think about part of the ‘how’ of prayer, we also need to realize that scriptural prayer, prayer that honors God, is a prayer that is thought about, prayer that is given with the spirit and understanding. We often apply this to singing, but the verse also applies it to prayer. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 14:15, “I will pray with the spirit, and I'll pray with the understanding, I'll sing with the spirit, and I'll sing with the understanding.” What's that mean? If I'm going to pray with the spirit and sing with the spirit, my person is involved in that. My emotion, it’s heartfelt, my intellect is involved in that as well. So I'll pray with the spirit and with the understanding. That means that our prayers don't need to be just verbiage that we've always heard. So, we say it as well. It doesn't need be some wrote words that somebody said, and we kind of like those one time, and so, we work it into our prayer.

No matter what prayer needs come from the heart. Prayer needs to be thought about. When I pray, and this is a struggle that we all have at times, when we pray we need to stay focused. We need to really think about what we're saying. We need to communicate with God. We need to do our best not to let our mind and our heart wander in times like those. That's real prayer and singing with the spirit and with the understanding.

Let's also realize this, as part of the ‘how’ in praying correctly, I must pray, I must pray in such a way that not only honors and glorifies God, but to pray correctly I need to be right with God and with my brother. To have prayer be what God wants it to be, I've got to be in a relationship with God. Again we mention the verse in Psalm 66:18. “God heareth not the prayer of sinners.” John 9:31 and Psalm 66:18, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear.” Proverbs 28:9, “He turns His ear away from hearing the law the Lord doesn't hear that man's prayer.” “His face is set against those who do evil,” 1 Peter 3:12.

So for prayer to be what is designed to be, for it to be effective for God to hear it, I've got to be in a relationship with the Father. To talk to the Father, I've got to be a child of the Father. I've got to be a son or daughter of God.

Then as a Christian and as part of the requirements for prayer, not only do I have to make sure I'm in a right relationship with God, trying to walk in the light, trying to do what God wants me to; I need to also look at my relationship with my brothers and sisters in Christ. Not only must I love the Lord my God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength, I've got to love my neighbor as myself. How's my relationship with other Christians? Is there anybody who I've offended or sinned against that I've not made right? Let me show you the words of Jesus. Let me share with you the words of Christ as it related that this in Mark 11. Listen to what Jesus says in verse 25. Jesus said, “And whenever you stand pray if you have anything against anyone forgive him that your Father in heaven may also forgive your trespasses, but if you do not forgive neither will your Father in heaven forgive you your trespasses.”

If I stand to pray and I realize I've got a fault with somebody, somebody's got a fault with me, I need to be ready and willing to forgive, if that person is willing to repent. You know you see the example of somebody is at the altar, and they realize their brother has a fault with them. They leave their sacrifice at the altar. Make it right with your brother, and then come worship God. There's the idea of prayer is dependable on my relationship with God being right, and my relationship with others also be what God wants it to be.

Now let's speak a little more specifically about maybe a practical

plan. How does God want me to pray? What's a plan for prayer as found in the Scripture? We can be rest assured by knowing that God has taught us how to have a good practical plan, an everyday approach for prayer. Prayer according to the pattern of Jesus ought to be one of the first things we do when the foot hits the floor every morning. The Bible says of Jesus in Mark 1:35, “In the morning a great while before daylight He departed, went to a solitary place, and prayed.” Think about this. First thing in the morning, a great while before daylight. Jesus likely got up early. It was one of His first thoughts in the morning. Jesus got away from the rat race of life, and He took time to pray to God. Could you think of a better way to start your day than with prayer?

Secondly prayer ought to be made especially for parents. If you don't have this habit, you've got to work very difficult, very hard at it. Parents ought to teach their children to make a good habit out of prayer. Friend there's nothing wrong with having a good habit of prayer. Daniel had that. Daniel 6:10 listen to this, “As was his custom from early days from childhood, Daniel prayed three times that day with his window open toward Jerusalem.” Who taught Daniel that custom? Likely his parents. It was a habit. Daniel had a habit of praying three times every day. It was a part of his life like brushing his teeth, like eating cereal in the morning, whatever it may be, like combing your hair, or taking a shower. Daniel had a good habit of prayer.

A person needs to develop that kind of habit in his own life. Prayer to really follow the plan God wants it to be, it ought to be a private time between you and God. ‘Go into your upper room, when you're there close the door pray to your Father.’ It ought to be a time just between a man and God. A time when a man can get down on his hands and knees and communicate with the Father to pray in thanksgiving, to pray in adoration, to pray asking God for certain things, whatever it may be; we each need that time to communicate directly and personally with Almighty God.

You know, a biblical plan that we find is morning, noon, and evening. Listen to the words of Psalm 55. I want you to notice a plan that the psalmist set forth in Psalm 55:17. The psalmist said these words about his own plan for prayer. He said in Psalm 55:17, “Evening and morning and at noon I will pray and cry aloud and He shall hear my voice.” Evening, morning, and noon, there was a plan. He had a set time. He wanted to do that. As long as it's with the spirit and understanding, there's nothing wrong

with having a set pattern when we pray.

When we talk to God, Friend let's realize this, prayer really ought to be kind of a constant in our life. I'm not saying everything we do is a prayer. I'm not saying from the time you wake up to the time you go to bed you're always in prayer, but there ought never to be a time when we can't pray. Acts 2:42, “They continued steadfastly in the apostle's doctrine and fellowship breaking of bread and in prayers.” “Pray without ceasing,” 1 Thessalonians 5:17.

So in our life, let's make sure that there's never a point when we're too proud or haughty or to discourage to get down and ask God for His help, His Thanksgiving in times when we live our life.

Then we want to offer kind of maybe a prescribed method of prayer, prescribed way from Scripture of things that we specifically ought to mention in prayer. What should I pray for when I pray? Have you ever thought about that? What does the Bible say specifically that a Christian ought to pray for? Here are some of those things.

We ought to first pray for the lost. Jesus said, ‘pray the Lord of hosts that He'll send laborers into his harvest.’ When we pray, we want to pray for those who never obeyed the gospel. Do we really believe and realize that the majority of this earth's population is going down the path that's going to lead to eternal destruction? If so and if Jesus taught us to pray for the lost, friend that ought to be something that's a regular part of our prayer.

Secondly as we think about what to pray for, we ought to pray to overcome sin and Satan in our own life. “Men ought always to pray and never lose heart or get discouraged.” Jesus taught us in Matthew 6, ‘to pray that our trespasses would be forgiven as we forgive those who've sinned against us.’ Again the idea that we want to pray to overcome sin and overcome Satan, ‘Deliver us not or lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one,’ Matthew 6:6-12.

We also as Christians want to pray for forgiveness of sin. None of us are perfect. The Bible teaches us clearly that, “there is none righteous no not one,” Romans 3:1-10. As Christians when we pray, we need to have the attitude and the mindset that if we have unwittingly, unknowingly violated the will of God, if we're trying to walk in the light, and we have unknowingly

violated the will of God, and we need to pray that God will forgive us. And if we know specifically for sure that there's sin in our life, Peter taught Simon, “pray the evil thought of your heart might be forgiven you,” Acts 8:22-24. And repenting of those sins surely we need to have the attitude, ‘I'm going to pray to God and ask him for help in overcoming this.’

Then as Christians, the Bible teaches that prayer should be offered for those who are sick and those who are suffering. ‘If any among you sick let him call for the elders the church, let them pray over him.’ Prayer has the ability to help those who're suffering, to help those who are sick. ‘May the God of all comfort you in your trouble,’ Paul would say in 2 Corinthians 1:3.

As Christians we also want to pray for those who are living in error. It's sad, but there are at times those who do fall away from the truth. There are those who fall away from living faithfully as God wants them to do. I cannot replace prayer with going to talk to them, but both ought to work together in encouraging them and teaching them. I ought to pray for them as well. 1 John 5:16 clearly teaches we pray for those who are in error. And we want to pray that they'll come back to the truth and obey the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

But friend I'll assure you this is something that we all need to pray for. Don't we need to pray for wisdom? ‘If any of you lacks wisdom let him ask of God.’ Why? ‘Who gives to all liberally and without reproach.’ I need to pray for the ability. And here is what wisdom is, wisdom differs, is different from facts in that facts are the knowledge. Wisdom is the ability to take that knowledge and plug it into my life. Tomorrow I need the ability to understand how have the wisdom to know how to put God's truth, insert God's truth into my daily life. Friend surely we want to pray for the wisdom to know how to do that.

I want to pray for the necessities of life. Philippians 4:6-9, we're to pray for those needs. James 4:3-4, the things that we need we ought to ask for those things. I want to pray, and friends listen carefully, there's nothing wrong with praying before one eats. 1 Timothy 4:4-5, ‘our food is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.’ God said it's okay to eat it so that's why. Secondly it's set apart by prayer there's nothing wrong with praying before a person eats. In fact, the Scripture does teach that is something that the

child of God ought to do.

We want to mention specifically in the day and age especially in which we live, we want to mention one other thing. 1 Timothy 2:1-3 Paul said, “I desire therefore that men pray for kings all who are in authority that we might lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.” What ought we to pray for? We ought to pray for our world leaders. We ought to pray for our national leaders. We ought to pray for our elected leaders. We ought to pray for our government, and more than anything, we ought to pray that they'll start doing, if they're not, they'll start doing the will of God that this country can be one nation under God, and that God's will and the word of God will be that which we really guide our life and our country by.

So, these are things practically every day that a Christian ought to pray for.

Friend we hope that this lesson has been an encouragement to every one of us to really utilize the power of prayer.

Remember, “The effective fervent prayer of a righteous man overcomes much.” Let's use prayer, for prayer has powerful results.

Study Questions for: “Prayer: Lesson 3”

1. What did the disciples ask Christ for in Luke 11:1?

2. What should we ask God for according to James 1:5?

3. How should we ask God for things in prayer according to 1 John 5?

4. In Matthew 27:46 and Matthew 26:39, Jesus prayed for what?

5. What kind of attitude should we have according to Luke 14:11?

6. In Luke 18, which man approached God correctly? Why?

7. According to John 14:13-14, how should we ask for things in prayer?

8. Who is the mediator between man and God according to 1 Timothy 2:5-6?

9. According to Proverbs 28:9, who does God turn his ear away from?

10. What was the psalmist prayer plan in Psalm 55?

The word of God says, "It is appointed to man once to die and then the judgment." 2 Corinthians 5:10 says, ‘We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may give an account for the things done in the body whether good or evil.’ One day all of us will leave this life, and one day we all stand before the almighty throne of God. In view of that, I need and you need salvation from God.

Welcome to our study of the subject of salvation. Today we're going to be thinking about the fact that I need, that every individual needs salvation, and what it is we're saved to, and what it is we're saved from in eternity. The fact that heaven is going to be wonderful, and the fact that we're going to be saved to heaven, and the fact that hell is going to be horrible, and that we're saved from a sinner's hell.

We welcome you today to our study of this wonderful subject relating to salvation.

Let's then begin to think about our soul in view of eternity. Let's think about the fact that I need salvation from a sinner's hell and to the beautiful place we call heaven.

I want you to think with me in this first part of our lesson about how that nobody would ever in their right mind want to be lost in hell. You know,

when we think about hell, what's it going to be like? What is hell, what does the Bible teach about that subject of hell?

You know, we don't hear much today on the subject of hell and probably in most places it's been a long time since we heard a sermon on what hell is going to be like-but friend there's a value to that. As I think about what is hell, and as I think about the subject of hell, this motivates and this challenges a person to be saved in view of that. I don't want to go to hell. I want to live in such a way that I'm right in the sight of God, and it is a preventative to make sure that I remain true to God's teaching.

I want to invite you to open your Bible with me to Luke the 16th chapter, and let's think about a man who went to hell. Let's think about this man's journey through torment. Let's see just how horrible it was for this man and see what lessons we can learn that'll promote and prevent us from being lost for all eternity.

Open your Bible if you would to Luke 16:19. The Bible says, "There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate desiring to be fed with the crumbs which feel from the rich man's table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. So it was the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried." Now notice this, "And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom."

Friend, as you think about this man's journey to torment, what is torment going to be like, what's hell going to be like? Friend, it's a place of horrible, horrible torment. If you can imagine being in such agony, being in such pain and torment that you would almost hope to die, you would beg to die-and you would live forever. You know, as you think about the idea of torment think about maybe when you felt sick in your life. Think about maybe when you felt really, really bad. You were so sick and you felt so bad that you'd probably say to yourself, death would almost be better than this. If you've ever been in that kind of torment, whether it is mental or

whether it be emotional torment, you know how bad that is. Can you imagine living forever in a state where you would almost wish for death and yet living in that moment of time for all eternity, being in that kind of torment for the rest of your life. Can you imagine that?

Well look a little further as you think about the rich man and what he had to face. We also learn that hell is a place of fire. Notice in your Bible in Luke 16:24. The scripture says, "Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’" What's going to be so horrible, why do I need salvation from hell? For in hell it's going to be a place of unquenchable fire. Listen to the words of Jesus in Mark 9:44. Hell is a place, Jesus said, "where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched."

When you think about the rich man's words here, ‘have mercy on me, send Lazarus, I just need one drop of water, for I'm tormented in this flame.’ Have you ever had to deal with a burn? Everybody in their life at one point or another has maybe burned themselves. Maybe you were in the kitchen and you accidentally touched a hot pan and it burned you. Maybe you've played with fireworks and got burned, maybe in your work you somehow got burned, or maybe even worse, you were in some type of fire and you got burned by that fire. You know how bad a burn hurts and how it makes your skin boil up. When you pop it and touch it, it just hurts so much- the pain and the anguish. In fact I once heard a story of a preacher who went into a hospital and he was in the burn wing. He said you just cannot imagine how horrible that part of the hospital was. He said from the moment you walked through those double doors, the screams and the anguish and the pain of those people with those burns on their bodies as they're tending the wounds, as they're dressing them, as they're taking care of them- the agony and the pain that they're writhing in can't be rivaled with anything. Truly nothing hurts nearly as bad as a burn.

Now why do we say those things, why do we make you think about that? Friend, the Bible describes hell as a place of fire. 'The smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever,’ Revelation 14:11 says. ‘It's a place of

burning brimstone, of fire and brimstone,’ as described in Revelation chapter 20. Imagine now living in a place of eternal fire forever. Nobody'd want to do that.

Let's say, would you do this, you think about this, if you had a cigarette lighter would you light that lighter and hold your finger over it and burn yourself? Well of course not. If you were at the house and your oven was cranked up to 500 degrees, would you stick your hand in there and hold it in for a good while? No. Why? It'd burn you. You'd do whatever you could to prevent being burned. You're not going to burn yourself. You're not going to stick your hand in a hot oven. You're not going to jump in a fire. Why not? I don't want to be burned. I'm going to do whatever it takes to prevent that.

And yet now is the opportunity, now is the time, to prevent living forever in torment. Many people are living as though they have no fear of the eternal torment in the fire of hell.

What else do we know about this man's journey to hell? This is probably the worst thing. It's not necessarily the physical torment. It's not necessarily the pain and the torture of the fire. Friend, probably one of the worst things about hell is that there's going to be mental recognition in hell. Listen to Luke 16:25. "But Abraham said," now listen to this, "Son, remember that in your lifetime you received good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented."

What's going to be horrible about hell? Your memory will not be erased. You will remember in hell. God said to the rich man, ‘Son,’ Abraham said, ‘remember now you had it pretty good back on earth. You had all the fine things, all the luxuries; Lazarus not so.’ Now the roles are kind of reversed, aren't they? This man squandered his opportunity. He didn't use what he had to glorify God. He didn't help Lazarus. He wasn't a very good man, and he's going to remember that for all eternity.

Friend, what's going to be horrible about hell is the fact that I will remember. Think about this for a moment- can you imagine sitting in the halls of hell thinking about what you should have done, thinking about the

opportunities that you overlooked, thinking about the time that you almost changed your life and obeyed the gospel? You think about ‘I almost became a Christian. I almost gave up this sin,’ whatever it may be. ‘I almost.’ Almost is going to be one of those haunting words in hell. Don't let that be in your heart, and your life for all eternity. Instead of thinking ‘if I should have or would have or could have,’- make changes now because your memory and mind will not be erased in eternity. We will be able to remember some of those things.

Then of course the Bible teaches another horrible thing about hell is that hell is a place of eternal separation. Listen to Luke 16:26. This man's journey then goes further when the Bible tells us "And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us." What do we know about hell? It's a place of eternal separation. There is no crossing over. The rich man says ‘just send Abraham to get one drop of water to cool my tongue, I'm tormented in this flame.’ Son, remember you had it good on life. He's got it good now. He says ‘well let me go back and,’ no- no crossing over. There's a great gulf. The word gulf means a ‘wide, deep chasm that nobody could get across.’ You just can't get across it. No going back and forth. The idea is that of separation. There's no going back and forth. If one is lost, it's eternal. The separation will be eternal.

Friend, hell is going to be horrible because if I don't live right and obey the gospel and become a Christian no- it's too late on the other side. You're not going to buy anybody out of there, that's not taught in the Bible. You can't do enough good works to get somebody out of, that's not taught in the scripture. Now is the opportunity. This is my one chance to get right with God or I'm going to be separated for all eternity. Think about that- I'm going to be separated from God. I'm going to be separated from Jesus Christ. I'm going to be separated from all good, righteous, and holy people. I am going to not only be separated from God and all that's good, I'm going to be with, without the possibility of getting away, I'm going to be with the devil and his angels, and evil ungodly immoral people without the possibility of ever being separated from them either. Think about how horrible that would be on the other side.

When you think about this separation you also have to think about how good it's going to be to go to heaven.

I need salvation not only because I don't want to go to hell and be lost for eternity, but I need salvation because I want to be saved and I want to go to heaven.

I want you to think about the beauty and the splendor of that place called heaven. You know, Christians often sing the song “How Beautiful Heaven Must Be.” How true that is, we sing songs like the “Paradise Valley” and we think about how wonderful it's going to be. Friend, heaven really is a beautiful place of rest. I want you to look in the Bible in Hebrews chapter four, and I want you to notice, now let's think about some passages that relate to heaven. Hebrews 4:9 listen to what the word of God says about the beautiful rest of heaven. Scripture says, "There remains therefore a rest for the people of God." Think about how beautiful heaven's going to be. Think about how wonderful that place called heaven is and don't you want to go there? It's a place of rest.

You know, when you think about rest, imagine it this way. Let's say that you've gone out and you've worked harder than you have ever worked before. You have been involved in some type of strenuous manual labor from sunup to sundown, whatever that may be. You're tired, your body aches, and the one thing you want is rest for the old weary body. When you think about that, think about it in a spiritual sense. The soul and the spirit, which has fought with sin, which has struggled every day with the world, which has done battle against Satan, which is worn out and tired from all that- it's a place of rest for the spirit and the soul. There'll be no more sorrow, death, pain, or crying. All the sin, all those former things will have passed away. Don't you want to go to that beautiful place of rest where God himself is?

I need salvation, and I want to go to heaven because evil is going to be absent in heaven. I want you to notice next Revelation 21:4.The Bible says, "And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there'll be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the

former things have passed away." The things that bring us so much heartache in this life don't exist on the other side. There'll be no death. Won't it be wonderful that when you get to heaven you'll never hear the news, you'll never read the obituary in the paper, and you’ll never have somebody call you and say, did you hear so and so died? No more death. There'll be no more crying. I won't have to shed tears on the other side. There'll be no more sorrow. There'll be no more pain. You won't hurt. We won't have to deal with disease, sickness, cancer, heart attacks, and strokes. All those former things will have passed away. Isn't it a beautiful picture of God in Revelation 21:4? God is pictured as wiping away every tear from their eyes.

When I think about this I think about an illustration. When I was a young kid sometimes we would stay at my grandmother's house, and I remember specifically we would play. We'd sometimes get rambunctious and as kids do sometime- you'd fall down and scrape your knee or sometime you'd hurt your elbow or you'd get hurt sometime. You go to your grandmother crying maybe. I remember every time, grandmother would take us up, and she'd take that apron that people in that day and age wore, and she'd take that apron, bring us up in her arms and she'd just wipe away every tear and before you knew it you didn't even know why you were crying. You didn't even know what was wrong. All you knew was that you were in that place of safety and grandma had wiped away every tear.

Friend I want you to think about God like that. What's heaven going to be like? It's a place of safety. There isn't the heartache and the pain that we face now. God is going to bring us up and wipe away every tear from our eye. We won't feel the things that we feel in this life. Heaven's going to be wonderful because God is going to be there. When I was a young person and I used to hear things about heaven, and I used to read the Bible as it spoke about heaven, I would often think that the things that are going to make heaven great are the jewels and the diamonds and the pearly gate, and the river, all those physical touchable images that we think about. I don't really think now that's the main thing that's going to make heaven great.

What is the number one thing that makes heaven great? I think Jesus mentioned it in Matthew 6:9. Jesus said, "In this manner, therefore pray Our Father who is in heaven." What makes heaven great? If God is in heaven that's what'll make heaven great-the God of love, I John 4:8, and the God of light, John 8:12. If Jesus Christ, the great sacrifice is there, that'll make heaven, heaven. Being in the presence of God for all eternity is Heaven. Living with the saints of old, being with loved ones who've passed on- that's heaven. That's what makes it wonderful! It's not necessarily the jewels or the pearly gates or the river- no, all those images are wonderful things, don't get me wrong, but if God's there, that's what makes heaven heaven.

Don't you want to go to heaven? I'll assure you of this today, heaven, no matter what you face, no matter what you have to go through, no matter what things you have to give up… heaven will be worth it all.

There's a final Bible passage that I want you to think about with me that really illustrates how heaven is worth whatever you've got to face and whatever you've got to give up to go there… heaven's worth it.

Listen to what Paul said in Romans 8:18. "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." What'd Paul say? Heaven's going to be worth it all. The sufferings you face now and the difficulties that you incur will all be worth it. People may laugh at you. People may mock you. You may have to face difficulties and challenges in this life. You may have to give up, and you may have to suffer to be a Christian.

Heaven's going to be worth it. The glory that's one day going to be revealed in us- it doesn't even compare. Those things don't even compare to what heaven's going to be like. Paul could definitely say that, could he not? He'd done a lot of things that were not pleasing to God. When he changed his life he truly gave up, didn't he? He spent his life spreading the gospel. Paul was stoned at certain times in Lystra and other areas, Iconium, Acts 14. He was beaten. He was stranded out in the sea. He

faced shipwreck. He was put in prison. All that, Paul said, isn't even worthy to be compared with what we'll one day receive.

Friend, I hope today that you'll think seriously about why we need salvation. I hope that you'll think with a view toward eternity. Are you thinking seriously about your soul? Are you thinking about the judgment day? Remember, Hebrews 9:27 says, “It’s appointed to man once to die and then the judgment.”

There are two things, only two that you can be sure of. We will all one day leave this life, no getting around that, and we'll all one day stand before the judgment seat of God.

Now in view of that, we've got to think seriously about our soul. This life is not what's important. The things of this life, the stuff, the pleasures, the junk that often gets in the way of people putting God first-that's not what's important. What's important is my soul and yours. Are you really thinking about eternity?

Have you really thought about how horrible hell's going to be? Can you imagine, just think seriously in your own mind, if I die outside of Christ, and I go to hell. Have I really thought about what that's going to be like? Friend, we're saying this because God doesn't want anybody to go there. We don't want anybody to go there. We love your eternal soul, and we want you to be saved. You've got to think seriously. The reality is, I will die, and I will be judged. The reality is, if I haven't obeyed the gospel and lived right, or I live and die in sin, I will be lost in hell. Hell is a place of torment, fire, and a place of mental recognition. It’s a place of separation and a place where you'll be with the devil and his angels for all eternity.

Are you thinking seriously about your soul in view of heaven, a beautiful place of rest? Heaven is a place where God is, a place where evil and all the things of this life do not haunt us, and a place where you can spend eternity with loved ones who've gone on before you, who are also saved.

Now friend, if you're thinking about these things seriously today, the question you need to be asking is, am I right with God? Have I obeyed the gospel of Jesus Christ? Am I a Christian and have I obeyed God's will? Now here's what we'd ask you to consider. Some people think they are a Christian, think they've obeyed the gospel, and they've not really been taught the truth on salvation.

What does the Bible say you've got to do to be saved? Friend, you must hear the word of God to be saved. “Faith comes be hearing, hearing by the word of God.” Are you willing to listen to what God and God alone says in the Bible? If you are, do you believe that Jesus is the savior of the world? Jesus said, “Unless you believe that I am He, you will surely die in your sins,” John 8:24. Would you be willing to repent and turn to God? Luke 13:3 and 13:5, Jesus said, "Unless you repent you will all likewise perish." Are you willing to change your way of thinking and change your way of acting? Would you turn from sin and turn to God? Would you confess in the name of Jesus before men? Romans 10:10 says, "With the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." And friend would you, to have every sin washed away, to become a Christian, be baptized in water for the forgiveness of your sins?

Here's what the Bible teaches. Jesus said in Mark 16:16, "He that believes and is baptized will be saved." Peter said in Acts 2:38, “Repent and be baptized for the remission of your sins.” Saul was told, "Arise and be baptized and wash away your sins," Acts 22:16. Baptism is that which puts us into Christ, Galatians 3:27. Peter so clearly said, “Baptism does now also save us.”

More than anything we want you to be saved. We want people to go to heaven and to miss out on hell.

We urge you today; we're begging you, if you've never obeyed the gospel, if you are not a Christian or you've got sin in your life, please make that right.

More than anything we want to see you one day in heaven with all the saved.

Study Questions for:

“Salvation: Lesson 3”

1. According to 2 Corinthians 5:10, what will we all do?

2. In Luke 16:24, why did the rich man want relief?

3. What does Jesus say about hell in Mark 9:44?

4. What does Revelation 14 say about hell?

5. According to Luke 16:25, is there mental recognition in hell?

6. According to Luke 16:26, is there eternal separation in hell?

7. According to Hebrews 4:9, what will the people of Heaven receive?

8. According to Revelation 21:4, what will Heaven be like?

9. What will be absent in Heaven according to Revelation 21:4?

10. According to Hebrews 9:27, what will we all experience?

In Revelation 21:2 the Bible says, “Then I, John, saw that New Jerusalem that holy city coming down out of heaven from God.”

What is that new city going to be like? Are you going to view that holy city coming down out of heaven from God? Stay tuned as we think about what it is going to take to view that holy city.

More than anything in the world, Christians desire to go to heaven. Paul said in Philippians 1:21, “For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain.” The attitude of Paul should be the attitude of every child of God in striving to go to heaven. Yet, sadly sometimes it's not. Sadly we let other things get in the way of really viewing that holy city that is ultimately seen in the beautiful picture of heaven.

Today we want to think about, what it’s going to take for each one of us to make it to that beautiful place called heaven. What do I need to do to make sure I view God's holy city coming down out of heaven?

There are indeed some requirements that are necessary to view that heavenly city, and the first of those is: I must make sure that I live for Christ day unto day, week unto week, year unto year for that holy city to be mine.

Think about Jesus words in Mark 13:35. Jesus said, “What I say unto you I say unto all, Watch and be ready.” I've got to make sure that I stay ready, that I stay watchful, that I do the things that I'm supposed to do every day as a Christian, so that I can inherit that beautiful place called heaven.

The Scriptures teach us in Matthew 25 that we've got to be busy and working in the kingdom. In fact in Matthew 20:1 Jesus said that the kingdom is a vineyard. When you think about a vineyard, what is a vineyard? A vineyard is simply a place of work, where spiritual fruit or fruit is produced. And spiritually speaking, the church is a vineyard in that we produce spiritual fruit unto God, and we work diligently in His cause.

As we think about giving God our all every day, you can't find a more powerful example than the examples we see in the New Testament. Great men like Paul; they crucified themselves. They followed Christ every day, Galatians 2:20. The greatest example is that of Jesus, who said, “You've got to deny yourself, take up your cross daily, and follow me.” I've got to strive every day to walk in that newness of life, Romans 6:4, so that I can be faithful unto God each and every day.

To view that holy city not only must I make it my aim to live for Jesus every day, I’ve got to stay busy in the kingdom. There's a certain amount of joy that comes from staying busy. And no doubt, staying busy keeps us out of trouble. The Bible says in Mark 10:45 that, “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve.” Jesus came to this earth to serve, and often He would say to us go and do likewise. As a child of God, I've got to work the works of God while it's day. Now is the opportunity. Now is the time. I need to stay busy in the kingdom of Almighty God. Proverbs 16:3 the Bible tells us there that as we think about the right things, we can keep our mind where it ought to be in serving God. Our heart and our mind need to be focused on the right things, so that we don't let Satan enter in into our life and our action.

Another requirement to entering and viewing that holy city is: I want to make sure that I worship God every opportunity available and never ever forsake the assembly of the saints. Do you remember the words of Hebrews 10:25? The Bible says, “Not forsaking the assembly of the saints

as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much more as you see the Day approaching.” God expects me, He expects you, He encourages us to worship Him at every opportunity available. We want to give our best to God. We want to come before Him with singing and with praises unto Him. As the Scripture clearly teaches us, we want to worship God in spirit and in truth on every opportunity available.

Another requirement that is so important for the child of God is, we want to make sure is to grow and study as a Christian. The Bible says, “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior,” 2 Peter 3:18. The Scripture teaches us, ‘as newborn babes desire the pure milk of the word that you may grow thereby.’ We find great examples of people in the Bible who took opportunities to grow.

One of those is the scribe Ezra. In Ezra chapter 7 verse 10 the Bible says, “Ezra had is prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord to do it and to teach it statutes and judgments in all Israel.” What made Ezra, the scribe, such a great servant of God? He made it his aim to grow, to study, and to encourage others to do the same thing. This is why Jesus would say in Matthew 5:6, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness.”

Do we realize the spiritual value in growing and studying the Bible? When we say study the Bible, and it is not just for factual purposes alone, studying the Bible has the ability and the power to keep us on the straight and narrow. Do you remember Psalm 119:10-12? The Scripture says, “Your word I've hidden in my heart.” Why? “That I might not sin against you.” The Bible has power. There's no doubt the word of God is living and powerful, Hebrews 4:12. It has the power to help keep sin in check and out of our life and out of our mind like we ought to. And so that's why Paul would say, “Study to show yourself approved unto God.” This is why Christians are encouraged to, “Give heed to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build us up and give us an inheritance among all those who are sanctified,” Acts 20:32.

Part of viewing that holy city means I've got to study. I've got to prepare. I've got a do my best to grow as a Christian while I'm here.

Now think practically about your own life. Are we really growing like we ought to? Are you studying your Bible like you ought to study your Bible? Are we really praying? And are we really looking for opportunities to do good as we ought to, or sometimes do we kind of grow stagnant? Do we kind of get stuck in a rut? Have we at times even lost our first love, Revelation 2:4? If so, let's be encouraged to view that holy city. Let's grow and study like we should.

There's another principle necessary to view that holy city and it is this: I've got to be willing every day to trust God 100%. One of my favorite passages in the Scripture is found in the book of Hebrews. It's Hebrews 13:5-6. Notice what the writer says beginning in Hebrews 13:5 the Scripture records, “Let your conduct be without covetousness, be content with such things as you have for He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we may boldly say, ‘The Lord is my helper. I will not fear. What can man do to me?’”

In giving the great commission Jesus said, “Lo I'm with you always even to the end of the age.” The Lord has said, “I'll never leave you nor forsake you.” This is why we can say God's my helper; I will not fear. What can men do to me? If God is for us who can be against us?” If I trust God, if I take Him at His word, if I do what He says, if I follow His teaching and if I live life with a view toward that holy city in trusting God, how wonderful that'll be! “Trust in the Lord with all your heart,” that's the encouragement Solomon gives us in Proverbs 3:5.

In viewing that holy city, there's another thing that I've got to strive to do every day of my life. I want to spread the good news about that place. Heaven is such a wonderful place. It’s a place with so many things that won't be there that are there today that are here today. The sin, the sorrow, the heart ache, the crying all that won't exist in heaven. If we really believe heaven's going to be like that, if we really believe God's going to be there, Christ is going to be there, it's a place of joy and happiness, don't you want to tell others about that place? This is why, “we proclaim the praises of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light,” 1 Peter 2:9. This is why according to Acts 8:4; Christians went everywhere preaching the word. This is why even when they were beaten for speaking in the name of Jesus, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus daily in the temple

and from house to house, Acts 5:42. This is why Christ went about doing good. Luke 19:10, “He came to seek and the save the lost.” He commanded us, ‘Go into all nations teaching them about God's plan of salvation and baptizing them in the name of the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit.’ Let's think about ourselves and our life and really see are we staying on the road to get to heaven?

We also need to be reminded that on that journey toward that holy city, that heavenly city, there are going to be some roadblocks that from time to time try to get in the way that we're going to have to remove. Let's think about some of those roadblocks that Christians may have to face on that journey to the heavenly city.

The first is the block of temptation. The roadblock of temptation is going to strive to get in the way of every one of us. The Scripture teaches in Romans 6:23 that, “The wages of sin is death.” Sin is going to strive to get a block in my life and a block in the way of your life on that beautiful journey to heaven. You find that throughout various people in the New Testament. Balaam is a prime example. Balaam, for the love of greed and money, let it get in the way of him going to heaven. Jude proclaims that he let money and greed keep him from being what God wanted him to be, Jude verses 7-9. You've got people like Judas. Judas sold the Lord out for 30 pieces of silver. Satan found a way into his heart; kept him off the road to that holy city. Paul said of Demas, “Demas has forsaken me having loved this present world,” in the book of 2 Timothy Paul said that about Demas. “Hymenaeus, and Alexander,” Paul said, “Have shipwrecked the faith,” 1 Timothy 1:18-20. What about Simon the sorcerer? Who when he saw the Holy Spirit could be passed down, he tried to offer them money for that gift?

Friend realize that there are going to be temptations in my life and is and yours. And I've got a do everything I can to remove those roadblocks out of the way, so that I can go to heaven. You see the way of the transgressor, the way of sin, it's the hardest way ever, Proverbs 13:15. It is not a way you want to walk down. We want to make sure that we put God and His teachings above all else.

But then there's another block roadblock that we've got to be careful about and that is the roadblock of worldliness. At times worldliness tries to

get into our life and to really keep us from staying faithful unto the Lord. We've got to realize that worldliness can do a lot of harm to the cause of God and the cause of Christ. Do you remember people in the Bible who let the world get in the way?

God told Lot and his family to flee the city of Sodom and Gomorrah. In fact God told them, “When you leave don't even look back.” And yet these words are ever etched in eternity, Luke 17:32, “Remember Lot's wife.” What did Lot's wife do? She had to have that one last look. That one last glimpse of the former life, turning back to, she turned to a pillar of salt. Worldliness cost her a great deal. You think of people like Ananias and Sapphira, who although they, while they had it that was theirs, the Bible tells us they could of done what they wanted to with it. Yet out of greed and worldliness, they tried to lie to God and lie to the Holy Spirit. Both of them dropped dead on the spot for doing that. Probably the greatest example of all is that of Solomon. He was given wisdom by God, from on high, the wisest man to ever live upon the earth. And yet, Solomon let his wives, let worldliness, let pleasure tempt him into doing things that were contrary to the will of God. In fact in 1 Kings 11, he's even building places of worship to false gods and his wives are tempting him to do ungodly things. His heart departed from God, partly because of worldliness and things of this world. This is why John would say, “Do not love the world or the things that are in the world for all that is in the world lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. It's not of the Father, it's of the evil one the world and all that's in it is passing away. He who does the will of God, that's the one who will endure forever.”

Do you remember Jesus words in Matthew 6? As Jesus spoke about the danger of trying to live both for God and in the world, Jesus taught it was an impossibility. For in Matthew 6:24 Jesus said, “You cannot serve God and earthly treasures or mammon.” You can't have the best of both. You can't say, ‘I will be 100% a Christian, and I'm going to live it up in this old world and have everything the world offers and just live a worldly materialistic life.’ Can't do that! It's either God or the world. We may be in the world, but we're not of the world.

Now there's another item that we want to mention that sometimes becomes a roadblock for Christians, and this is one that I think Satan uses by way of discouragement to really keep us from being what we ought to be. Sometimes just plain old apathy keeps us from really viewing that holy city as we ought to. Having the attitude that you know, ‘I don't care; it doesn't really matter, it is not amount anything anyway.’ Just a general apathetic attitude toward God and Christianity, is something that Christians have to work on.

We want to make sure that we stay passionate about God and His cause. Do you remember an example of apathy in the Bible? I want you to think about Revelation 3. The church in Laodicea, they're going to be remembered for all time for having this attitude. The Bible says they were neither hot nor cold. Jesus said, “Because you're not hot nor cold, I'm going to vomit you out of my mouth, because you're lukewarm.” Can you imagine being so apathetic and lukewarm that you make Jesus sick to His stomach? That's the way the church in Laodicea was. They weren't hot; they weren't cold. They weren't useful in any way. So Jesus said that's the attitude that makes me want to vomit. When we think about things that often block the way to viewing that holy city, apathy can do a lot of harm to the cause of Christ and the Christian.

Well then let's think about, what is it that's going to motivate us? What incentives, what kind of encouragements and motivations does the child of God have to going to that holy city?

We mention this first, and I hope this motivates each and every one of us; the beauty of that holy city ought to motivate each one of us to go to that place. I want you to listen to the description in Revelation 21:1-4 the Bible says, “Now I saw,” John says, “now I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, also there was no more sea then I, John, saw the holy city new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, ‘Behold the tabernacle of God is with men. He will dwell with them.’ They shall be His people God Himself will be with them and be their God and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes there should be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying there shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed

away.” Look at that beautiful city, that beautiful dwelling coming down from God; God dwelling in the middle of it. It is a place where all these things are there for Christians, and all the things that don't exist. Don't you want to go to a place like that?

Sometimes it is those absences, for lack of a better word, that make us want to go to that beautiful place. What's not going to be in heaven? No more death! Don't you want to go to a place where you never have to think about death again? The sorrow that death brings, the heart ache of hearing the loss of someone you love, heaven won't have any death. Death will be defeated on the other side, in heaven. But not only death, there'll be no more sorrow. Because of the fact that death has been done away with, because sin will not exist, sorrow won't exist. Can you imagine living in a place where you don't have to have that emotion of sadness and sorrow and the heart ache that comes from sin and death and trials and temptation? What a wonderful place heaven's going to be!

In view of that the Bible says, “There'll be no more crying.” Never having to shed another tear, never having to have that emotion that brings you to tears, how wonderful heaven's going to be! No more pain! Pain is a natural part of this life. God, it no doubt exist up to help man in this life as well to realize and focus on the things are important, but how wonderful it will be never to feel pain again, never to hurt, never to wake up and your bones hurt, and your muscles ache, and to feel the sickness that comes at times. What a wonderful place that's going to be!

Another absence that we know won't be in heaven is sin. There'll be no more sin, if God's there and He is, Matthew 6:9, “And if God is of pure eyes and behold evil and cannot look upon it.” Friend I'll assure you sin will not exist in heaven. Can you imagine living in a place where the temptation, where the ability to sin, no longer exist? Almost because of the way we think now, because of the temptation on every hand, it's almost beyond our even comprehending that today. That's how the Bible describes that beautiful place.

Another incentive to making it to that beautiful place called heaven is for us to realize who's going to be in heaven, who's going to be the inhabitants of that city. Of course first we know that God is.

God is going to be in heaven. We pray, “Our Father who is in heaven.” And God's going to be there and He is truly that which makes heaven so wonderful. God is love. If God is the source of all love, all light, all warmth, and happiness, and friend that being God, Him being the inhabitant of heaven, makes that such a wonderful place. Jesus Himself is going to be in heaven. Hebrews 1:4 says, “He's at the right hand of the Father right now.”

Can you imagine being in the presence of God? In the presence of Jesus, the one who made that great sacrifice, who gave Himself so willingly so that you can have the hope of heaven, the one by whose blood we're redeemed, Colossians 1:14? Can't you imagine living with God and Christ forever?

The Bible teaches that Saints of old are going to be there. We're surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses who are encouraging us to run the race with endurance. They're around the throne of God, in Revelation 4 and 5. Don't you want to be with the saints of old, loved ones who've gone on before us? 2 Samuel 12:23 David said of his young son who passed, “He cannot come to me, I must go to him.” We can be reunited with those who have been faithful to the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

One of the great incentives to go to that holy city is the duration of it. How long's that city going to last? That place we know of as heaven, what's its duration? The Bible teaches it is eternal. Matthew 25:46, the righteous will go away into everlasting life. Revelation 11:14-15, God's kingdom is that eternal kingdom that will never ever pass away. This is why we're living in hope of eternal life, Titus 1:2. We have the assurance that we can live with God in a place where time won't exist and where there will never be a passing away of that wonderful place.

We ask you today, are you living your life and are you on the road that leads to that beautiful city that heavenly that holy city where God Himself dwells? If not, you can do something about that today. Are you a child of God? Are you a Christian? Have you obeyed the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ?

Friend if you're not on that road to that beautiful city, we encourage you to do so today. Will you hear the message of salvation about Christ, that there is a way, there is a truth, there is a life, and it’s found in Christ? That you can call His name Jesus; He'll save His people from their sins, Matthew 1:19-21.

Do you believe that God sent His Son to save the world from sin, John 3:16? Would you be willing to repent of the things in your life that are contrary to the will of God, Luke 13:3? Would you confess Christ as Lord and Savior with your mouth, Romans 10:10? And would you to have every sin washed away, be baptized in water for the forgiveness of your sins, Acts 2:38? And would you rise out of those waters to walk in newness of life?

Friend our hope and our prayer today is that you'll live in such a way that that holy city can be your city for all eternity.

Study Questions for: “Motivational Lesson 8”

1. What does Jesus tell us to do in Mark 13:35?

2. What did Jesus compare the kingdom to in Matthew 20:1?

3. According to Mark 10:45, what did Jesus come to this Earth to do?

4. According to Hebrews 10:25, what should we not give up?

5. According to 2 Peter 3:18, what should we grow in?

6. What should we hunger and thirst after according to Matthew 5:6?

7. According to Psalm 119:10-12, why should we have the word of the Lord in our heart?

8. Hebrews 13:5 tells us to be what with the things we have?

9. Who should we trust in according to Proverbs 3:5?

10. According to Luke 19:10, why did Jesus come?

The apostle Paul said, "If any man thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things which I write to you, these are the commandments of God." 1 Corinthians 14:37.

Welcome to our study of the inspiration of God's word.

When we talk about the Bible, are we talking about a book from men that was just passed down by oral history? Are we talking about a Bible, a book, from God inspired by Him and written to help man get to heaven?

These are indeed very important questions that each of us must look to the Scripture to determine.

Today, we think about the inspiration of the Bible.

Is the Bible really from God? Is it of divine origin? Can we know for a fact that this book is God's message to mankind today?

The Psalmist said in the long-ago, in Psalm 119:160, "The entirety of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous judgments endures forever."

The Bible does make the claim that it is, every word of it, is from God and of divine origin.

As we think about this subject, we begin by asking, "Why is inspiration so important? Why is this a subject that we need to discuss?"

Well, a lot of times, people will think about the Bible as a good book, a book full of good moral or religious stories or suggestions- but not necessarily a book of which we must give utmost importance to our soul.

Think of the words of Jesus, in John 6:68, as he spoke with his disciples and as he taught them about God's truth. Jesus there taught John 6:68, "To whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."

Jesus has those words of eternal life. The Bible tells us in John 12:48 Jesus said, "If you don't receive my words, if you reject me, and don't receive my word, you'll have that which judges you - the word that I've spoken will judge you in the last day."

And so, this is the words of eternal life. The Bible is the message I'm going to be judged by. It is not just a book of good moral suggestions. It's God's final message of salvation to mankind.

Why else do we need to study the Bible?

We need to look at Bible inspiration and study the Bible because there's so much evolution and humanism that's being taught in our schools and throughout our media worldwide. The Bible says that God created man Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."

The psalmist said, in Psalm 19:1, that that the heavens declare the glory of God, the firmament shows His handiwork. We need to realize that we must honor our creator in the days of our youth, Ecclesiastes 12:1.

Are humanism and evolution the path we need to go down? Is the Bible and its message of how we came to being and what our purpose is the path we need to follow? Those are questions, that if we can understand inspiration, we'll have the answers to.

Also, we need to study Bible inspiration because there's so much religious skepticism and confusion about the Bible.

I hear religious people talk and sometimes their message is rather confusing on the Bible. They'll say the Bible says this and history says this, and we combine the two and we get a real message. Wait a minute now, is the Bible alone God's inspired word? Are we to pick and choose what we like and what we don't like and take certain passages out and use certain passages? Or is all of it inspired by God?

The apostle Paul said to Timothy, in 2 Timothy 3:16, "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God." When we think about religious matters, we need to look to the Bible and ask, "Is there any word from the Lord?" Jeremiah 37 verse 17. "What does the Scripture say?" Romans 4:3.

Then of course, we want to look to Bible inspiration because there is so much sin, ungodliness, and immorality in our world and the Bible has the answer to that.

John 17:17 Jesus said, "Sanctify them by your truth, your word is truth."

What about subjects that are so confusing or subjects that are hot morality topic topics today? Who has the answer on both?

When it comes to marriage and divorce, God's word has the answer on that. When it comes to subjects like homosexuality or subjects like abortion, God's word has the answer on those moral subjects. If I can be convinced, if I can understand this book really is from God, it's 100% inspired by God, I want to give my heart to thinking about what God says on these very important moral subjects.

For a few moments let's turn our attention to what the Lord, Jesus Christ, taught on the subject of inspiration.

What did Jesus teach and believe about inspiration himself? Did he view it as the word of God? Did He view it just as moral suggestions? Or is it the final binding truth from the Almighty?

Here's what Jesus taught: Jesus, first of all, believed the Scriptures were absolutely of divine origin. Notice Matthew 22:43, He said to them, "How then does David in the spirit call him Lord?" Notice those words "David in the spirit called Jesus, the Messiah, Lord" quoting from the

Psalms. He emphasizes the fact that David was being inspired by God and that what the psalmist said was of divine origin by the Holy Spirit.

Friend, when we look at Jesus' view of Scripture, he viewed it as from God, as absolute truth, and as binding on men and women today.

You know when we think about Jesus' view of the Scriptures and inspiration, Jesus believed that they were full and complete. They were indestructible as God's message to mankind.

Let me give you another illustration, look in Matthew 5:17-18, Jesus said, "Do not think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass away from the law all to all is fulfilled." Jesus said I didn't come to the Jews. He says I didn't come to destroy your law. I am the fulfillment; I'm the climax of, that law. I am the Messiah. Then He said not one jot or one taught tittle will be destroyed, will be broken, until all is fulfilled.

Jesus believed that the Scriptures were full and complete. He was the fulfillment of everything God had planned throughout time and history.

You know, as we think about Jesus and His view of Scripture, there's a beautiful passage which illustrates the belief Jesus had in the fullness and in the truth of Scripture. John 10:35, Jesus clearly taught the Scriptures were infallible. They were without error.

Notice the words of Jesus. Jesus said if He called them gods, to whom the word of God came, and notice this parenthetical statement, (and the Scripture cannot be broken). Jesus is just quoting an Old Testament passage used ad hominem to show that the Scriptures even they were using them at to show certain things in that the Scriptures were from God. Notice that little statement "and the Scriptures cannot be broken".

What's Jesus saying? They're infallible. They're perfect. They're from God. They're absolute truth. John 17:17, Jesus said, "Sanctify them by your truth, your word is truth."

You know when we think about Jesus and His view of Scripture, Jesus believed it was the final authority from God.

Let me give you an illustration. In Matthew 4, Jesus is there being tempted by the devil and the devil uses or tries to use Scripture against Him. Three times Jesus counters the devil's temptation by saying, "It is written, it is written, and it is written.”

What did Jesus do? Jesus went to the word of God as the final answer, the final authority, and as the sum of God's truth on those subjects.

Friend, that's our view, that's the way we want to view Scripture today. It is God's final message, as absolute authority.

Do you remember what Jesus said? Matthew 28:18, "All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth."

Now friend, as we think about Jesus' view of Scripture, not only did he believe it was from God, that it could not be broken, that it was the final authority, Jesus also put His stamp of approval on the fact that it was historically accurate.

You know sometimes people question some of the stories, some of the historical stories of the Bible. For example: Jonah. They might say, well Jonah, now that's a great story, great message, good. They might view it is a fable, but not really swallowed by a big fish and those things never happened. Maybe they question things like Noah. A great our global flood, a man building a boat, his family staying on that for a prolonged period of time, and they replenishing the earth. Good idea, good message, not really historically accurate.

How did Jesus feel about those two incidents? Well notice what Jesus did say about each of those. For example, in Matthew 12:42 Jesus said this, "The Queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, first she came to from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon and indeed a greater than Solomon is here." Jesus goes on that context not only to mention Solomon, but to mention Jonah as well. Just as the Son of Man is going to be in the earth, just as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the earth. Solomon and Jonah, both, are confirmed as true stories, true messages from God, as historically accurate. Well, what about Noah? Notice another usage of Jesus when He mentions Noah. For

example, in Matthew 24:37 Jesus said this, "But as the days of Noah were, so also will the son of the coming of the Son of Man be." What do we know about Noah? Jesus likened His coming to the days of Noah. Did Jesus believe Noah and Jonah and Solomon were all true events? He absolutely did! He put His stamp of approval, verification, on the fact that the Bible was historically accurate and from God.

When we think about things, like even things like creation, some things that go back to our origin, that deal with the science and the truth of creation, there's a lot of people who question whether or not God created the world and the way He did. Was man created in the beginning, or did man evolve over a long process?

Friend, Jesus, also by implication, taught that the Scriptures concerning their origin and their scientific truth were from God.

Notice these words that Jesus uses. Matthew 19:2 Jesus says this, "And great multitudes followed him, and he healed them there. The Pharisees also came to him, testing him, and saying to him, 'Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?' And Jesus answered and said to them, 'Have you not read, notice this, have you not read he who made them at the beginning made them male and female and said for this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh'."

What was Jesus’ view of Genesis 1 and Genesis2, the origin of man and the foundation of the home? Jesus believed that it happened at the beginning - "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Jesus recognized the truthfulness of the fact that Genesis 2:7 says, "And the Lord God breathed into man the breath of life and man became a living being and that from the rib of Adam, God made Eve and the two were to become one flesh."

At the beginning, Jesus said, God made them male and female; showing He taught and He believed that the Scriptures all the way back to the beginning were inspired of God and accurate. Not only did Jesus teach that, Jesus taught that the Scriptures were indeed factually inerrant, that is they do not contain the errors that so many claim they contain today.

For example, when Jesus prayed to the father, in John 17:17, Jesus said, "Sanctify them by your truth,” now notice this, “your word is truth." You know there's a question asked by Pilate in John 18:36-38, "What is truth?" Jesus had already answered that. Jesus clearly believed and taught God's word was truth.

Now I want to give you another example, another illustration, from Jesus’ life. Matthew 22:29 Jesus said basically the same thing as He said in His prayer to the father. Notice these words, Jesus answered and said to them, "You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God." Now, the context is, the Sadducees who didn't believe in the resurrection tried to put Jesus in a quandary, trying to put Him between a rock and a hard place. They've got this man who had a wife or this woman had seven husbands and, in the resurrection, they want to know of Jesus whose wife will she be? Jesus, of course, says in heaven there's neither marrying nor giving in marriage- but then He points this out to them and says, ‘you're wrong.’ You're greatly mistaken. Here's why: you don't know the Scriptures nor the power of God.

What was Jesus teaching? The Scriptures aren't full of errors; they contain the truth-and you miss this truth and that's what makes your doctrine not in accord with the teaching of Almighty God.

But you know, as we think about more of Jesus' teaching on inspiration, we also realize that Jesus believed the Scriptures would provide absolute spiritual clarity or insight - that is that they contain everything to help man know what he needs to know to please God, get to heaven, and know truth.

Do you remember Luke 24:45? Two men are walking down the road to Emmaus; Jesus begins to discuss Scripture what them, and the Bible tells us that as He opened the Scriptures to them. They realized their truth and their hearts burned within them knowing and recognizing that truth. Jesus simply taught the Scripture to those two men and that Scripture caused them to have a burning within their heart; realizing what truth was and the importance of it in their life.

He taught it provided spiritual clarity and then it was everything men and women need to get to heaven.

I want you to think about an example from the story of the rich man and Lazarus, Luke 16:31. Notice these words: Jesus said, "But he said to him, to the rich man, if they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one were to rise from the dead." The question the rich man asked is, "I've got five brothers, this is a place of torment, I don't want them to come to this place, please send somebody back from the dead and warn them about this; and Jesus said, "No, if they won't hear Moses and the prophets, they won't hear one though he were to rise from the dead."

What was Jesus teaching? Moses and the prophets, they were all sufficient to warn people about the impending destruction and doom of those who don't obey God. And so, Jesus not only believed they were truth; He believed it was everything man needed to know about heaven and hell, salvation, life, how to please God, and how to get the most out of a relationship with the Almighty.

As we think about Bible inspiration, not only do we understand Jesus' view of inspiration, that He recognized that was from God and everything man needed, but we also realize that the very nature of who God is will confirm Bible inspiration.

Let me illustrate it this way: is it the case that our God, the God of the Bible, is a God of truth and that what He says is true? Well, indeed so and the Scripture confirms this. Notice Romans 3:4 the Bible says these words, "Certainly not! Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar. As it is written: 'that you may be justified in your words, and may overcome we you are judged.'" Paul affirmed, God is true, whether men like it or not. God's true that every man who opposes that be the one who is a liar.

I want to know about God. He's truth. Now think about this: if God is true and if the Scriptures are breathed out by God, remember 2 Timothy 3:16 and 17, "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God." That word 'inspiration' is a compound word in the Greek language. It's the word "theopneustos" and that is the word "pneustos" literally means to exhale or to breathe out and the word "theos" means God. And so, that compound word literally means God exhaled, He breathed out, and on His breath were the words of Scripture.

And so, think about this with me: if God is true and if the words of the Bible are breathed out by that God, then friend Scripture is true. It is absolutely 100% founded on the character and nature of Almighty God.

Now let's just back up and think about each of these ideas again for just a moment. In the Bible, we indeed are taught that God himself is a God of truth. Let me direct your attention to Jeremiah 10:10. The Scripture says of Almighty God in Jeremiah 10:10 these words, "But the Lord is the true God; He is the living God and the everlasting King. At His wrath the earth will tremble and the nations will not be able to endure His indignation."

The Lord, He is the true God of all the gods that the Gentiles may have had. He is the one true God, the God of truth, but not only is He the real God, the true God, the Bible also affirms, unlike men, our God does not lie. He is incapable of that. Titus 1:2 says, We're living "in hope of eternal life which God who cannot lie." Not only is it something He won't do, it's impossible for God to be God and lie. So God cannot lie.

Let me give you an illustration again from the Old Testament: Numbers 23:19 says this of God the Bible records, "God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a Son of Man that he should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?" Even the most upright men sometimes have to deal with fallibility. All of us have to deal with sin and fallibility, not God. God is not a man that He can lie. That's the very nature of God. He is absolute truth.

And so the first idea that God is true founded upon Scripture, seen in nature, everything that we look at, God's reliable and trustworthy. Well, is it true then that the Scriptures are from God? The same God that we learn about in the Bible indeed tells us that it is true. 2 Peter 1:19 the Bible says, "knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit."

God confirms that the men, who spoke and wrote the Bible, were under His direction in every way. And 1 Peter 4:11 says, "If any man speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God."

Now God is true, the Bible is breathed out by God, therefore the Bible is absolute truth. Psalm 119:160 again says listen to this beautiful passage,

"the entirety of God's word is truth."

When we look from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21, what do we know about the Bible? The entirety of it is absolutely true and inspired from God.

Friend, as we think today about some introductory matters related to inspiration, we want to walk away knowing that both Jesus taught and the very nature of God demands that the Bible is His word.

I don't want approach the Bible with a halfhearted, lackadaisical, attitude of it just being another good book among other religious books. That's not the mindset we approach the Bible with.

I want to approach the Bible with the mindset of Saul of Tarsus, "Lord what would you have me to do?" Acts 9:4-6.

I want to approach the Bible with the mindset of the words Jesus mother used when she spoke to the servants in John 2:5, "Whatever he says to you, do it." That's our attitude, that's our heart.

This book is from God. I want to study it. I want to know it. I want to live my life by it. I want to let it be the guide and the direction in every area of life.

Now friend, we also want to consider and want you to consider that this book is the only book that can tell you how to get to heaven. Jesus said in John 14:6, "I'm the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father except by me."

Do you know for sure today that you're going to heaven? If not, here's what the Bible teaches: you can believe Jesus is God's son, John 8:24, having believed that, you can turn from sin and repent, Luke 13:3, confessing Jesus as God's son, Romans 10:10, and being immersed in water for the forgiveness of sins, you can become a Christian, Mark 16:16.

May God help each of us to study his word and truly believe it is inspired of God.

Study Questions for:

“Inspiration & Uses of the Bible Lesson 1: Introduction”

1. According to 1 Corinthians 14:37, what are the commandments of God?

2. According to Psalms 119:160, what is truth?

3. What will judge you according to John 12:48?

4. According to Ecclesiastes 12:1, when must we remember to honor our creator?

5. Where does scripture come from according to 2 Timothy 3:16?

6. According to John 17:17, what is truth?

7. In Matthew 4 what does Jesus use to counter the devil’s temptation?

8. According to Romans 3:4 is God a God of truth?

9. According to Jeremiah 10:10, who is true, living, and everlasting?

10. What did Jesus’ mother tell the servants in John 2:5?

The Scripture says that "Holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit," 2 Peter 1:19 -21.

Welcome to our study of the truth about inspiration and authority.

Today is a second part in our study of the inspiration of Scripture. In our last lesson we noted why inspiration is important. We looked at some Bible passages that dealt with that. We noted that the nature of God demands the Scripture be true. We looked at Jesus' view, Himself, of the Scriptures and how he noted they were indeed from God.

Today, we put a third aspect with that. Not only did Jesus teach about inspiration, not only does God and His very nature demand inspiration, but the Holy Spirit also is a key ingredient in the inspiration of Scripture.

As we began with 2 Peter 1:19-21 the Scripture says, "Holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit." What does it mean that holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit? The word 'moved' in this verse literally means to be borne or carried along.

I'll give an illustration: the Greek word for 'moved' in 2 Peter 1:19-21 is the same word that is used in Acts 27:15-17. I want you to listen to what the apostle Paul had to say about his journey, how that the ship was moved, and how there is a similar comparison to that word. Acts 27:15 says this, "So when the ship was caught, and could not head into the wind, we let her drive. And running under the shelter of an island called Claudia, we secured the skiff with difficulty. When they had taken it on board, they used cables to undergird the ship, fearing lest they should run aground on Syrtis Sands, they struck sail and were driven." We let her drive. It was driven. That's the idea of the word of 2 Peter 1:19-21.

Now, think about this for just a moment: notice how the ship was moved, what the roles of the sailors were, and how this relates to the role of inspiration of the Scriptures.

For example, these experienced sailors could not navigate the ship because the wind was so strong. That ship was being driven, directed, and carried about, by the wind. The Bible says, "We let her drive." We just basically let the boat go and the wind did with it what it wanted although we played a part in directing that in some sense a very minimal part was that of the sailors. Now this is similar to the spirit being the directing force and the human author's just simply God's tool as the Bible was written. This word is a very strong one. It indicates that the spirits complete guidance, the superintendence, overseeing, of the human authors. Just as the sailors were active on the ship, though the wind not the sailors, controlled the ship's movement; so human authors were active in maybe taking a pen, sitting down with paper, but it was the Holy Spirit who oversaw and superintended that process.

And so as we think about this idea of the Bible saying in 2 Peter 1:21, that the Holy Spirit over saw, that he gave the guidance to the word of God. You can see this idea clearly in Jesus' promise to His disciples: "Holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit." The Holy Spirit guided that process and Jesus clearly taught this would be the case.

Listen to John 14.I want you notice what Jesus said about this in verse 26. Jesus said to His disciples, "But the helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said."

What did Jesus promise His disciples? The Holy Spirit's going to take care of this. He's going to teach you all things. That would be new information they may not be aware of or new information they needed to reveal.

A second aspect of that: the Holy Spirit was going to bring to their remembrance things that had happened. New information and things they had seen but maybe weren't sure of, maybe had some needed to know the full information on- God made sure the Holy Spirit over-saw that process and the end result -they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

Listen to John 15:26 and the promise again Jesus makes about the Holy Spirit. Jesus said in verse 26, "But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me." Now, you've got this promise, John 15, and of course that occurs in Acts 2, when Peter stood up with the 11 and the Holy Spirit worked through the man and they continued with that work as they wrote the New Testament. The promise was made "He'll testify of Me." Who? Peter? The Holy Spirit! He is the one overseeing, guiding that process and the end result is the word of God not the word of men.

Now, one of the most encouraging passages in these chapters, John 14, 15, and 16, is the words of Jesus in John 16:13.

Listen to the promise Jesus makes here. Jesus said to His disciples, "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth, for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and he will tell you things to come."

As we think about this process, when the Spirit of truth comes, He'll guide you into all truth. He'll not speak on His own authority-whatever He hears from the Father, He'll speak that. He'll relate it to you.

And so the process of inspiration was the complete guidance and control of the Holy Spirit and the end result is - we have all truth, not from men, from the throne of God itself. Now that's the work of the Holy Spirit in the inspiration of God's inspired word.

But you know as we think about this book, the Bible, I want us to take just a moment and notice also both the Old Testament and the New Testament claim and teaching about inspiration.

There's a wonderful passage in 2 Samuel 23. I think this is one of the greatest to explain and really show how even the writers of the Old Testament understood they were under the guidance and control of the Holy Spirit.

Listen to David's words in 2 Samuel 23:2-3 the Scripture says, "The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me, and His word was on my tongue. The God of Israel said The Rock of Israel spoke to me: 'He who rules over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God.' "

How did David feel as he wrote the Psalms, as he wrote some of historical books, as these things work together and inspiration? "The Spirit of God spoke by me." David recognized he was only an instrument. He was only a tool in the hand of God and this is kind of the whole idea of inspiration. "His word was on my tongue", that's the idea in the New Testament and Old of inspiration. The word of God was on their tongue, the Rock of Israel said, that's the idea.

When David spoke, whose words was it? It was the God of heaven speaking through David. God's word was the product in the end.

Indeed, there are many Old Testament passages that are quoted in the New Testament that are actually said to have the Holy Spirit as their author, even though maybe a human prophet like David or someone else may of spoke those words in the Old Testament.

Let me give you just a couple of illustrations to show that. One is found in Mark 12:36. This is a very familiar passage to many. Listen to these words, "Then Jesus answered and said, while he taught in the

Temple, how is it that the Scriptures say that the Christ is the Son of David,” verse 35, now verse 36, “for David himself said,” notice this, “by the Holy Spirit: The Lord said to my Lord, sit at My right hand, till I make your enemies your foot stool." And so here you've got a passage where Christ is quoting from David in the Psalms and Jesus said, "As David said by the Holy Spirit." David may have said that, who was the guiding force, who was directing what was said? The Holy Spirit was.

Now another passage, in Acts 1 that also shows what men said or what prophets may have said in the Old Testament was actually the word and the will of God.

Notice Acts 1:16 the Scripture records the Bible saying, "and said, Men and brethren, the Scripture had to be fulfilled,” watch this, “which the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas." Again quoting from the book of Psalms in the Old Testament, but I don't want you to miss that little phrase: "the Holy Spirit said as it spoke by the mouth of David." Yes, David's mouth was used, but who did the speaking there? The Holy Spirit! It's His word, His teaching, and His voice that came through, even though there was a human instrument that was used there.

Now let me give you just a host of these, in the Old Testament, to illustrate what we're saying.

For example Psalm 95:7, the text will say, a ‘Psalm of David’ and we will say, the psalmist said Psalm 95:7.Hebrews 3:7 quotes the exact words of Psalm 95:7 which the writer made tribute to David and says this, "The Holy Spirit said." Now don't miss this, "psalmist said", Psalm 95:7, Hebrews 3:7, "Holy Spirit said. Psalm 45:6, again the writing of David, "the psalmist said", Hebrews 1:8, "God said."

Are you following the equivalent there? "What the psalmist said." New Testament says, "The Holy Spirit said". "What the psalmist said", New Testament says "God said". Although David may have written that, the Holy Spirit and God are the real author of those words.

Couple of other illustrations: Isaiah 7:14, great passage about how that the Messiah would be born of a woman, born of a virgin. Matthew, in Matthew 1:22 and 23 quotes the words of Isaiah 7:14 written by the prophet Isaiah. He said, "The Lord spoke by the prophet" and then he quotes Isaiah 7:14. Isaiah wrote it in the book of Isaiah and yet the Bible says, "The Lord spoke by the prophet."

Another illustration: Hosea 11:1, "I will send my son to Egypt"; Hosea writes that passage, a very prophet passage, relating to the birth and the persecution of Jesus. We've got Hosea, the prophet, in Hosea 11:1, writing this verse. Matthew 2:1 says this, "the Lord spoke by the prophets." Again God the Lord was the author, the driving force behind the words in the Old Testament.

Here's another illustration that I think shows this in a very beautiful way. Job 5:13 we have one of Job's friends, Eliphaz, speaking certain words. Now those words, those exact words that Eliphaz spoke in that narrative between himself and Job, are quoted, are mentioned in 1 Corinthians 3:9. The Bible says they are "God's words". People who spoke in the Bible, people who spoke on behalf of God, how were their words viewed? Not their words, God's word.

Again, Psalm 41:9, "David said"; Acts 1:16 verse 16, "the Holy Spirit spoke by the mouth of David". Psalm 2:1-2, "David said" and yet in Acts 4:24-25 "God, by the mouth of David said.” Isaiah said, Isaiah 6:9-10, and yet "the Holy Spirit through Isaiah said to our fathers", Acts 28:25.

Now that we've seen what the Old Testament teaches about inspiration and how some of the writers of the New Testament attribute that to God, let's take just a moment and really focus in on the New Testament and some teaching in it about the inspiration of Scripture.

Now remember Jesus promised His followers that the work of the Holy Spirit would be to provide an accurate recounting of the events of his life, John 14:26, "When the Spirit, the Helper, comes He will teach you all things and He will remind you of things that happened'. Because the Holy Spirit, not men, not history writers, not Josephus, or anybody else, because

the Holy Spirit over-saw this process, we can have full confidence in the words of the New Testament.

In fact the Holy Spirit, from beginning to end, over-saw, guided, and superintended, the process.

Let's take a moment to really look into detail at this doctrine in the New Testament. 2 Timothy 3, I want you notice the words of verse 16. This is a great passage about inspiration and it really helps us to understand the process itself. The Bible said, "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness."

Now when Paul said "all Scripture is inspired of God", what did he mean by that? Well, inspiration in that text is a very unique word. It is a compound word from two original Greek words: the word theos for God and the word pnuestos which literally means to breathe. But not just to breathe, it is the word for exhale, and so you've got a compound word, God exhaled. That's the idea when the Bible says the Scriptures are inspired of God it literally means that the Scriptures were exhaled out by God and, when God breathed out, on His breath were the very words of Scripture.

Now let's think about this: what's meant by Scripture? "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God", are we talking about Scripture in the sense of just the Old Testament? Are we talking about just the New Testament or is it a combination of both? Friend the latter is the truth on the matter. We can know that phrase Scripture refers to both the Old Testament and the New.

Romans 15:4, "The things that were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might find hope."

Now that text no doubt is using the word Scripture for the things written aforetime, things written under the Old Testament, not necessarily New Testament writings, and yet the apostle Paul had already described, that a specific New Testament book as Scripture in his first letter to Timothy.

I want to direct your attention to 1 Timothy 5. I want you to notice how Paul uses the word Scripture to refer to New Testament books just as much as Old. 1Timothy 5:18 the Bible says, "For the Scripture says, 'you shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain'." First quotation and the second, "And the laborer is worthy of his wages". Now as you think about this, word here for Scripture, you've got two Old Testament passages being quoted, you've got two usages occurring here. The first in 1Timothy 5:18 is a quote from Deuteronomy 25:4, the Scripture says then he quotes Deuteronomy 25:4, "You shall not muzzle the ox while it treads out the grain." Meaning if you're working in a field and the ox is working there with you, don't keep it from eating. It's working. It has a right to eat, a quotation from the Old Testament as Scripture.

Now what about that second passage, "the laborer is worthy of his wages"? That's not an Old Testament passage. Where does that come from? Luke10:7, quoting from the teaching of Jesus, Paul not only attributes Deuteronomy 25:4 as Scripture, he also notes that the teachings of Luke, books of the New Testament, were also considered Scripture. And so when we hear that word "all Scripture", we're not just talking about Old Testament, Paul taught us, Jesus taught us, that referred to the New Testament teaching as well.

Now there's another passage that also teaches this and shows that the epistles would be included in Scripture as well. The apostle Peter uses this same Greek word for Scripture to describe the writings of Paul. 2 Peter 3:16, there's some things that certain people are untaught and unlearned as they twist the Scriptures as they do to our beloved brother Paul he will say in some of his writings. And so Paul's writings, which Paul having written at least half the New Testament, then the human scribe behind half the New Testament, his words were considered Scripture as well.

And so is the New Testament a part of that? Absolutely! By the time of the writing of 2 Timothy 3:16, that part of the New Testament was also considered Scripture.

What do we know about the Bible as a whole, in its teaching, on inspiration, and the New Testament?

Let me offer two or three passages that really help us to understand God's view of the Scripture, which is what ought to be our view of Scripture in totality.

The first is found in 1 Corinthians 2:13. Now I want you to notice: How does God want us to view the scriptures? Paul says, "These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual." How do I view the Bible?

Listen very carefully, this book is not in words which man's wisdom teaches, these are not men's ideas, these are not the writings of wise men and their recording of human rights. That's not what it is. "Not in words which man's wisdom teaches, but", don't miss this, "which the Holy Spirit teaches."

Who is the author? Whose words are these? Whose teachings are these? These are the teaching of the Holy Spirit of God straight from the throne of God itself.

Another passage that helps us with this is 1 Corinthians 14:37. The apostle Paul said, "If anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge the things which I write to you”, listen, "they are the commandments of the Lord." Who's a person really in tune with God's Spirit and the teaching God in the Bible? Paul says that's a person, first of all, who recognizes what I write, that's not my commandments, these are the commandments of God.

Friend, listen very carefully, this book that we refer to as the Bible, these are not David's, these are not Solomon's, these are not Luke's, these are not Matthew's, these are not Paul, or John's words- these are the commandments of the Lord for each one of us to live by- so that we can have the hope of heaven.

Now, one last passage that is so important in our understanding about inspiration: I want you to notice Paul's words to the church in Thessalonica as he speaks about the word of truth. Notice 1 Thessalonians 2:13. Paul said, "For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us you welcomed it not as the word of men but as it is in truth the word of God which also effectively works in you who believe."

Paul commended these people. He said ‘Here's what's great about what you did- when you heard the word of God from us,’- Paul said’ you did the right thing. You didn't receive it as the word of men; you received it in truth, as it is the word of God.’

When I open my Bible and I read its pages, I am reading the words of the very God of heaven who spoke the world and this Bible into existence. It's His words, the words of truth that I'm going to be accountable to in the last day.

These lessons are designed to help us see. Let's do away with confusion. Let's not listen to the doubters and the critics. Let's turn to the Bible. Let's see: Is this book really from God?

The answer is a resounding yes.

Now the application is: Am I willing to study? Am I willing to read it? Am I willing to obey the word of God?

Jesus said it's not everybody that looks up into heaven and says "Lord, Lord", that's going there but he who does the will of our father in heaven.

Friend, we encourage you today: take this book as the word of God. Do what it says so that you can have a home in Heaven.

Study Questions for:

“Inspiration & Uses of the Bible: Lesson 2”

1. According to 2 Peter 1:19-21, what were the holy men of God moved by?

2. According to John 14:26, who will God send in His name to teach?

3. What does Jesus promise us the Spirit of Truth will do in John 16:13?

4. What was on David’s tongue in 2 Samuel 23:2-3?

5. Who spoke to David in 2 Samuel 23:2-3?

6. In Acts 1:16, who does it say spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas?

7. Who spoke by the prophet in Matthew 1:22-23?

8. According to 2 Timothy 3:16, how much of the scriptures are given by inspiration of God?

9. According to 2 Timothy 3:16, what are the scriptures profitable for?

10. According to Romans 15:4, why were the things written in the Old Testament?

The Bible says “All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for proof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work,” 2 Timothy 3:16-17.

We welcome you today to our study of the inspiration of scriptures. How good it is to know and have our faith built upon the word of God, which came from the very mouth of almighty God.

Let's turn our attention to the study of the inspiration of the Bible. Why is it important? Why do we need to think about the inspiration of scripture today? Well friend, this is a subject that we desperately need to study because there's so many people who just think of the Bible as a good book of good stories that has some practical application in certain parts of life. The Bible is more than just a book of good stories. The Bible is the good book. It is the word from God. John 6:68, Simon said in response to Jesus' statement, ‘Do you want to go away also?’ Simon said, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.’ The Bible is the book. God's book that has the plan for salvation. The Bible is more than a book of good stories; it's going to be our judge one day. John 12:48 Jesus said, “He who

rejects me doesn't receive my words. He has that which judges him. The word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.” It is not just a good book of moral stories. The Bible is God's word. It is one day going to judge our life at the end of time.

The Bible is also important for us to understand the inspiration of scripture because of the confusion that is being taught in society on very important matters-matters about God and creation. There's so much that's being taught in schools and universities as it relates to how we got here and why we're here. And yet all along, God revealed that to us in the Bible.

The world wants to say many millions or billions of years ago there was some great explosion and out of that nothingness man came over eons of time. If I believe the Bible's inspired, I know that's not true. The Bible says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 2:7 says, “The Lord God created man out of dust of the ground, breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being.” The heavens declare the handiwork of God. The elements show His power and His glory. Friend, unlike what we're told in society, if we can be convinced that the Bible is God's word- we can understand we are the special creation by the miraculous hand and power of all mighty God.

Why else is studying inspiration so important? It's so important because there's so much religious skepticism about the Bible. There are a lot of people who believe the Bible, but they don't believe it fully. They'll say ‘only the words in red are inspired, or only these books, or this book and not that book, and can we really trust all the Bible?’ Friend, the Bible says the entirety of God's word is truth, Psalm 119:116. The Bible says that it is the divine will of all mighty God, from beginning to end, it is truth, John 17:17. The Bible says the law of the Lord is perfect, Psalm 19:7. We can do away with all the skepticism that exists today by showing that the Bible is the word of God.

Let's look at God's claim. Then let's look at the evidence to see, can we know for sure what the Bible claim? Can that claim be backed up by evidence?

The Bible claims to be the very word from the mouth of the God who created us. I want to draw your attention again to 2 Timothy 3:16-17. Listen to the all-inclusive nature of it. “All scripture,” -not some, not just the words in red, not a few verses or this book or that book- “all scripture is given by inspiration of God.” That word inspiration is a compound word in the Greek language, which means it's a conjoining of two words into one. It is the two words ‘theos’ for God, and the word ‘pneustos’ which means breathe. Literally it means to exhale.

So when the Bible says all scripture's given by inspiration, what's that mean? God exhaled, and on His very breathe, were the words of the Bible. The Bible claims to be words from the mouth of Almighty God. 2 Peter1:19-21 the Bible says, “Holy men of God spoke as they were moved or guided by the Holy Spirit.” The Bible's claim is that when Paul, or John, or Mark picked up pen, the force behind that was the Holy Spirit of God. God is the source of the writings of the Bible. 1 Corinthians 14:37 Paul said, “If any man thinks himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge the things that I write to you, these are the commands of God.” What's the Bible's claim about inspiration? Paul said, here's the claim; “What I'm writing isn't from me. It's God's commands.” When men wrote, they wrote down the words, and the teachings, and the commands of God. As we referenced earlier, Psalm 119:160, the Bible says the entirety of God's worth is truth from beginning to end. The Bible's claim is that it is fully and completely inspired.

Now let's elaborate on that idea of inspiration just a little more. When we say the Bible's inspired, what exactly do we mean with that idea further? The Bible means that it's full and complete. We say the Bible is inspired, that means it is everything we need to get to heaven. 2 Peter 1:3 the Bible says that ‘according to His divine power, God has given to us all things for life and godliness.’ The Bible claims that it is everything I need to live a godly life, and to have the best life. John 16:13, Jesus promised his disciples who would receive the Holy Spirit, that ‘when He, the spirit of truth has come, He'll guide you into all truth.’ It's all we need on religious matters. I don't need any other books. I'm not looking for a Latter-day

prophecy. I don't need a prophet today to tell me what to do. The Bible is everything we need to get to heaven.

Secondly when we talk about inspiration- that is that it is verbal- the Bible is given to us in words, not in pictures, not in a movie. God gave us the Bible in words. How did that work? 2 Samuel 23:2 is a great illustration of that. David said “His word,” God's word, “was on my tongue.” When David spoke, when Jesus spoke, when John, or Paul or Luke spoke, the word on their tongue was God's word. It is verbally in words inspired by almighty God.

Then a third aspect of inspiration is when we say the Bible is inspired, we're also recognizing that the Bible is perfect, or infallible. If God is what the Bible teaches us, that He's perfect, He's true, He's right, He has no fault, if God is who he claims he is, and He is- then friend the Bible His product, will also be infallible. John 17:17, ‘sanctify them by your truth.’ Listen now, ‘your word is truth.’ God's word is true, infallible. It does not contain errors. James 1:25 puts it this way, “It is the perfect law of liberty.” We're not talking about a book of mistakes. We're not talking about a book that has claims that it cannot back up. There've been a lot of critics who've looked at the Bible and throughout the test of time; the evidence in the Bible has stood those criticisms.

Then a fourth aspect of inspiration, not only is it complete, not only is it complete in words, not only is it infallible, but the Bible is also authoritative. It is the final voice from God that matters with all things concerning religion. Jesus taught us this very clearly. Matthew 28:18 Jesus said, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.” Paul said, ‘this is the commands of God,’ 1 Corinthians 14:37. On that great day, Revelation 20:12-15, when we stand before God, books will be opened- I'll assure you, one of those is the word of God, John 12:48.

Let's consider then the evidence. That’s the claim; we've seen why it's important. We've looked at the claim the Bible makes. What evidence is there that the Bible actually is inspired that holds up this claim?

One of the great proofs of the Bible's inspiration is its uniqueness. I want you to think about this with me. The Bible is one of the most unique books ever written. It contains 66 books, or letters, inside of it. Those letters were written by 40 different writers- 66 letters, written by 40 different human scribes- that encompasses a time span of about 1500 years from the oldest book in the Old Testament, to the last word in the New Testament. You've got a period of 1500 years. Many of those writers were from different countries. They spoke different languages. They had different jobs or trades that they were involved in. Here's what's amazing about that: They all say the exact same thing. Moses does not contradict John. Mark does not contradict Jeremiah. On all matters, there is exacting unity and harmony.

Let's think about that a little further. What's the big deal in that? Let me illustrate it this way. Let’s say that we were going to look at just one topic over a period of 1500 years. We were going to put together a volume on that. If, say 40 writers today, over 1500 years, were to put together one volume on one subject, what are the chances of them all being in complete harmony? Let's just say medicine, for example. If we were going to put together what people believed 1500 years ago compared to what they believe today about medicine, does it say the same thing? No, there are a lot of things that have changed. You could say that on any subject. Were you to take 40 people today and ask them to write on one subject, you wouldn't have the harmony that you have with the Bible.

Friend, to have those letters written by different men, different countries, different languages, over a 1500 year period, and they all say the same thing, that's amazing in and of itself. Why did nobody ever disagree? How's it the case that they didn't take issue with one another? This helps us to see the overriding force behind the Bible wasn't Jeremiah, wasn't Moses, wasn't Isaiah, it wasn't John, and it wasn't Mark- It was God. Each of these men were directed under the power and the control of God as they were inspired to write these books. One of the first and most amazing proofs is the uniqueness of God's divine word.

Another proof that I think really shows the inspiration of the scripture is the prophecy found in the Bible. It is a great proof of inspiration. When we say prophecy, I want to kind of define that a little bit. We're talking about the ability to foretell future events with such minute and exacting accuracy that the only way you could know those is if you had divine help- unlike fortune tellers, palm readers, astrologists, or psychics today. We're not talking about somebody somewhere doing something. No, this is exacting minute detail that you couldn't have known unless you were either there, or you're God. To know it in the future, the only indication is that was God who gave that.

Now let's give some examples of that. In Jeremiah 25:9-12, and in Jeremiah 29:10-12, God promised to Israel that they were going to go away into Babylonian captivity, under the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, and that after 70 years they would be released. Now Jeremiah's written prior to this, several years prior to this. Did this come to fruition? It absolutely did. According to history, Nebuchadnezzar took God's people captive- Babylon took them captive. Nebuchadnezzar was the man in charge, and it lasted exactly 70 years.

Now friend, how did Jeremiah know that was going to take place? Jeremiah's written well before that. How'd Jeremiah know that was going to take place? How did he know Babylon would do it? How did he know Nebuchadnezzar would be the king or the leader? And how in the world did he know that it would last 70 years? No way he could've known, unless God told him. That's the point. God inspired these men. Prophecy proves beyond a shadow of a doubt, that these things are true.

Let me give you another example. Isaiah 7:14. Isaiah prophesies that a virgin shall bring forth a son, and you will call his name Emmanuel. Now here's what's amazing about this. Isaiah is writing 750 years before Christ. A virgin? Wait a minute, it don't work that way. It takes two people, man and a woman, to bring a child into the earth. Everybody knows that. So not only is it in the future, but it defies natural laws. So a virgin is going to bring forth a son, call his name Emmanuel, God with us, what's that all about? We open our Bible to Matthew 1: 20-21. 750 years in the future, fast

forward, and we hear these words; ‘You shall call his name Jesus,’ Matthew 1:20-21. Jesus is born of the virgin Mary. He is called Emmanuel just as Isaiah said he would in Isaiah 7:14.

Now friend, you can look at the evidence. Dead Sea scrolls confirm the date of that as well. You've got a prophecy out there 750 years. Not just a prophecy, but a prophecy that defies natural laws. How did Isaiah know that was going to happen? How'd he know he was going to do it without the help of a man? Jesus is the exact fulfillment of that. There's no way Isaiah knew that would happen unless God told him. That's the whole point. Prophecy proves Jesus and God are true. The Bible is true.

Let me give you a couple more examples. The cross is often prophesied about. For example, you can read in Psalm 22 the mention of Jesus being nailed to a cross. We have the dogs surrounding the cross, and of Jesus being given something to drink on the cross- his clothes being divided on the cross. Numerous minute details and then you turn to Zechariah 12 and 13, and it is prophesied that Jesus will be betrayed, that the betrayer would receive 30 pieces of silver, and that they would buy a potter's field with it. Now you think about those events for a moment. Psalm 22, thousand years before, Zechariah, hundreds of years before, how could they know He would come thirsty on the cross? How could they know that they would scoff and mock at him? Think about the minute detail, not 29, not 31, 30 pieces of silver would be given to the traitor of Christ! And that then he would take that, throw it into the house of God, and they would buy a potter's field with it? How could he know all that? Well say, one time maybe it's lucky. Friend, there are hundreds of prophecies in the Bible. Not just one. Not just a few. Every one of them God gets right.

What does all that evidence tell us? That these men weren't making it up on their own. These men didn't have the ability to know that. There was a force bigger than them. There was something guiding and directing these men. That's the only way. The only way they could know that is if there was something greater than them telling them that- that is God. Prophecies prove positive. God is the author and architect of the Bible, and He was the one who inspired these men to write these things.

Now let me mention another proof. Prophecy not only shows the Bible is the divine word of God, but I also want to show some evidence maybe from astrology and science and things of that nature that will show the Bible is the word of God. For example, I want you to listen to the words of Psalm 89:37. Listen to what Psalm 89:37 says about the moon being a witness. David writes, “It shall be established forever like the moon, even like that faithful witness in the sky.” Now in this passage, God refers to the seed of David as being like the moon in faithfulness. But isn't it interesting that the Psalmist would refer here to the moon as a witness? Why is the moon a witness? What does a witness do? When you think about a witness, does a witness not testify or tell what he's seen or heard? The moon is a witness of the sun's light on earth. The moon itself contains no natural source of light. The light that the moon gives off is a reflection, a witness of the sun's light. Now friend, how did the Psalmist know that? How was David able to figure all that out? Did he go up and look at it? Did he get his telescope out and look at it? Did he have the scientific knowledge then to discover that? Not hardly. The only way David knew that the sun was a witness, is because God told him.

Let me give you another illustration to show the scientific accuracy of the Bible. In the book of Job we find something about the earth's suspension. Listen to Job 26:7. It says “He, God, stretches out the north over empty space.” Now watch this, “He hangs the earth on nothing.” Friend, the writers of the Bible just don't make the mistakes and the scientific blunders that people have throughout the years. In Job 26:7, how did Job know that God hung the earth upon nothing? You look at history, and throughout history, men have had different ideas about how the earth was supported. Some people have thought that the earth was supported on the shoulders of the Greek god, Atlas. One of the most interesting and odd ideas, is that the earth is being held on the back of four elephants who are standing on the back of a turtle.

Now friend, you think about that for a moment. While not all the men in the Bible did believe some of these far-fetched views, here's what we note-The ancient Greeks and Romans were the most advanced people in their time. Yet- they believed that the earth was held up by poles, or by the

Greek god, Atlas. How did Isaiah, how did Job know these things? Some said that it floated on water and if you went too far you'd go out there and perish. We know today that gravity holds the earth up and that the earth is actually suspended in space by nothing. How did Job know that with certainty? Did he go there? Did he see? Not hardly. The only answer is that Job knew that because that's what God told him.

Here's another passage. Isaiah 40:22, we find that not only is the Bible accurate in the suspension of the earth, but the Bible is also accurate in the shape of the earth. The Bible says of God, “It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.” You know it's only been just a few centuries ago that scientists had figured out that the earth's not flat. A lot of people, Columbus Day, others, they thought the earth was flat and if you go too far you're going to go out there and fall off. How did Job, how did Isaiah know that the earth was round? Friend, the only way is God told him. That's the whole point of the things we're saying. Look at the uniqueness of the Bible, prophecy, scientific information, and all of it comes back to confirm the Bible's claim of inspiration is supported by the evidence. No man can know these things unless God told him. That's the exact point that we're trying to drive home today.

Now, what's the application of that? If the Bible is true, then friend I want to make sure and study it.

“Study to show yourself improved under God. A workman who does not need to be ashamed rightly dividing the word of truth.” If this is the word from the mouth of God, then I want to study that word and I want to know it.

If this is God's word, I want to do what it says. Lord, what would you have me to do? Acts 9:4-6, and then if this is the word of God, I want to love it. I want to share it with other folks. I want people to know this is God's message today.

This is the only way to be safe. There is no other hope outside of the message of the Bible. I want to live my life by it, I want to love it, I want to

study it every day, and I want to make sure my life is in harmony with the will of God.

We hope that today's lesson has encouraged you in the inspiration of the scripture, and motivated each one of us to be better students of the Bible and live in such a way that we bring God glory in our lives.

Study Questions for: “Great Bible Lessons: Lesson 12”

1. According to 2 Timothy 3:16-17, where does scripture come from?

2. What is the scripture good for according to 2 Timothy 3:16-17?

3. How does Simon answer Jesus in John 6:68?

4. According to John 12:48, what will judge us?

5. According to 2 Peter 1:3, has God given us all things to get to heaven?

6. According to John 16:13, what will the Holy Spirit do?

7. According to John 17:17, what is truth?

8. What does James 1:25 say of God’s law?

9. According to Matthew 28:18, who has all authority?

10. What does Acts 9:46 tell us the Lord wants us to do?

To the church in Ephesus, as it related to their worship, the apostle Paul said,

“Speaking to one another in Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making

melody in your hearts to the Lord,” Ephesians 5:19.

Welcome to our study of fundamentals of the faith. Today we think about the

fundamental subject as it relates to worship and Christian singing. What does God want

in singing? What does God want in music? Does God want of a large band? Does He

want lights and a show and fog and smoke and all that stuff? Is God looking for an

organ or piano or somebody who plays a guitar? What about singing as we read in the

Bible? And more importantly, what does the Scripture say? Romans 4:3.

Today, we're going to be thinking about the fundamental subject of singing and

whether or not God asked for mechanical instruments of music in the New Testament.

Friend from the outset, we want to recognize that our authority in worship today is from

the words of the New Testament. The New Testament clearly teaches we must do that

which God has asked us to do and that which is authorized in the New Testament.

Jesus said in Matthew 28:18, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on

earth.” From the outset, we asked the question: who is it that has all authority as it

relates to worship and as it relates to singing today? The answer is: Jesus Christ.

Whatever Christ wants us to do, that's what we must do. We must follow His words and

His guidance because He, not me and you, not somebody in some other part of the

world, not some religious leader somewhere, Christ has all authority. He is the head of

the church, Ephesians 1:22-23. That head has not been decapitated. He is reining from

heaven itself, Psalm 119:89 and Hebrews 1:3-4.

As we think about following Christ's teaching and following His authority in

worship, there was a great statement made that I hope you'll think about with me from

John 2:5. Jesus' mother, when she realizes Jesus is going to perform the miracle of

turning the water to wine, she looks at the servants. She says, “Whatever He, Jesus

says, to you do it.” As we think about worship, as we think about living for Christ, could you find a better motto than that? “Whatever,” if He has all authority and He's head of the church, whatever Jesus says to us, we want to do that. Colossians 3:17 says, “Whatever you do in word or in deed, do all in the name the Lord Jesus giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” In word, what I speak. Indeed, in my actions. Everything I do must be done in the name of which means by the authority of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

There's a passage I want to remind you of, as we think about Bible authority that is so important. And I want you notice this one with me. It comes from 1 Corinthians 4. Paul has been teaching the church in Corinth to put their trust in God and to follow his word. God will eventually give the increase. Notice 1 Corinthians 4:6, Paul uses this to kind of illustrate we say and says, “Now these things brethren I figuratively transferred to myself and Apollos for your sake,” and here's the lesson, “though that you may learn in us,” don't miss this “not to think beyond what's written.”

As we think today about a subject that may be new, maybe an idea you've not heard, maybe is even idea that you have some questions about, here's all that we ask: let's let Jesus be the final authority. Let's take Christ at His word. Let's put our faith in Him. Remember 1 Corinthians 4:6, “Don't think beyond what's written.” Somebody says, ‘well the Bible doesn't say not to.’ No, I don't think beyond what's written. If God has defined how He wants us to worship, within the pages of this book, let's stay within the pages of God's revealed will. That's the safe way. Revelation 22:18-19 the Scripture says, “We’re not to add to nor take away from the word of God.” If God asked us what to do, that's what He wants us to do. He doesn't want us to go beyond that. He doesn't want us to take away from what He said. He doesn't want us to add to or put our ideas in it. Proverbs 30:6 the writer said, “Do not add to God's word lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar.”

Now as we think today about this idea of Bible authority, it's also essential for us to realize that God's law in the New Testament is our authority today. In the Bible there are two major divisions. There is the Old Testament, which is Genesis through Malachi, and then there is the New Testament, which is Matthew through Revelation. Which law are Christians going to be judged by today? As I read the Bible, Colossians 2:14 and Ephesians 2:14, clearly teaches that the Old Testament law, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, was nailed to the cross. And that that wall was broken down between Jew and Gentile. Thus the old law, Romans 7:1-4, which said, ‘do not murder, do not commit adultery, and do not covet.’ Romans 7:1-4, Christians are dead, the Bible says, to that law. That law was written to the people of Israel. It is a law that I cannot break, nor can I keep, because it's not written nor does it apply to me.

For example, I'm a citizen of the United States of America. Can I break or keep the laws of Canada right here living in the United States? Nope, those laws don't apply to me. I'm not a citizen of Canada, and their laws have no effect or bearing on me while I'm right here in the United States. Friend, the same is true for Christianity. I'm not living in Old Testament Israel's time. I'm not under that law. I'm not following the teaching of

Moses. But here's what the Bible does say, the Bible clearly teaches our authority is the New Testament. Do you remember John 12:48? Listen again to the words of Christ. Jesus said, “He who rejects me and does not receive my words has that which judges him.” What is it? “The word that I've spoken will judge him in the last day.” Beginning with the words of Christ and following that through the New Testament to the very last revealed word in the book of Revelation, that's the law Christians are under today. It's the perfect law of liberty, James 1:25. As we think about following God's law just in basic principle, let's realize that God has always expected His people to do what He says without adding to without taking away. God just simply wants us to obey His will.

Now let me give you a couple of examples of that, just in general, from the Bible. The principle that God wants us to follow His law regardless of who He’s speaking to, is seen throughout the ages. Leviticus 10 might be an example. I want you to notice what happens in this context. Leviticus 10:1-2, we learn the basic principle of following exactly what God says. The Bible says beginning in verse 1, “Then Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer put fire in it, put incense on it and offered profane fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them.” The Bible says, “So fire went out from the presence of the Lord and they and the Lord devoured them and they died before the Lord that day.” What exactly happened in this context? They offered a strange, or some versions will say an unauthorized fire, which God had not commanded them. Well God had asked for it, but they thought we might do it anyway. How would, how did God feel about that? You'll recognize very well God was not happy with that. Fire rained down from heaven and devoured those two men. Why? They did something God had not commanded, that which was not asked for, that which was not authorized. The basic principle I learn is, God wants men and women, under the law they're living under, to do what He says.

Let me give you another example. You read in 2 Samuel 6 the events that go on there with David bringing the ark back. In 2 Samuel 6 you've got two men, Uzzah and Ahio, driving the ark. They're bringing that ark back on a new cart. And as they reach a place called Nachon's Threshing Floor, the ark hits what we might think of as a pothole in essence, a bump in the road. The ark looks like it's going to tip over and so Uzzah, because he loves God, and he recognizes the importance of the Ark, he reaches out to stabilize it. The moment he touches that Ark, he drops dead. Trying to do the right thing it looks like, trying to protect the Ark. He drops dead right there. David doesn't know why. The people really aren't sure why. He begins to get a little angry. What's going on here? Why did this happen? We thought this is what God wanted us to do. And then we get the rest of the story, which again illustrates that God wants men and women to follow exactly what he says. You'll notice from 1 Chronicles 15, there is an update on why these events happened to Uzzah. Listen to the Scripture in 1 Chronicles 15:13, concerning the event where Uzzah touched the ark. David said, “For because you did not do it the first time the Lord our God broke out against us, because we did not consult Him about the proper order. So the priests and the Levites sanctified themselves to bring up the ark of the Lord God of Israel and the children of the Levites bore the Ark of God on their shoulders. By its poles,” listen now, “as Moses had commanded according to the word of the Lord.” What went wrong in 2 Samuel 6? There

wasn't to be a new cart. Uzzah and Ahio had no right to bring that back. God had told His people way back in the book of Numbers, ‘there are rings on the side of the ark, and you run poles through that you don't ever touch it, you run poles through it.’ Then the Levites were to bear the ark by those poles placed on for the Levites shoulders, a one on each side. David said, and these are the words. I want you to listen real carefully to, ‘God's wrath broke out against us, listen now, ‘because we did not consult Him about the proper order.’

Things always go south, as it relates to Bible authority, when we stop consulting God, and put men's ideas, men's feelings, what some religious leader somewhere says, is the best thing we ought to do. We spent a great deal of time talking about Bible authority because it's such a fundamental idea to understanding how to receive God's message, and how it is God wants us to respect His authority. God wants me in the New Testament, just simply to do what He says. Don't add to. Don't take away. Don't say, ‘well it seems like we ought to do this or this would make a lot of people happier.’ Just do what He says. John 2, ‘What Jesus says to you, do it,’ John 2:5.

Let's think for a few moments about what the New Testament does say concerning singing. As we think about how does the New Testament, what does Jesus say, what do His disciples teach, the Holy Spirit teach, in the New Testament about singing? Acts 16:25, we learn what Paul and Silas were doing. The Bible says, “But at midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God and the prisoners were listening to them.” What were these Christians doing? They were singing hymns to God, very simple, very plain. That's what we find in their example. Another passage, Romans 15:9. We have these words recorded about singing in the New Testament. The Scripture says in verse 9, “and that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy, as it is written for this reason, I'll confess to you among the Gentiles and sing to your name.” So Paul and Silas were singing. Here God says they're to sing to your name in the Scriptures. So far, we see singing.

Then we come to 1 Corinthians 14:15 and we learn a great lesson about singing here. The Bible says, “I will sing with the spirit and I'll sing with the understanding.” How am I to do that? What am I to do? First of all, I'm to sing. How do I do that? With the, that's my interbeing, that's my emotion, that's heartfelt generated by love, motivated by appreciation for God with thankfulness. I'll sing with the spirit and with understanding. Am I to just mouth some words that I have no clue what they mean? Of course not! I'm to sing with the spirit and with the understanding. Now two passages especially that we want to direct your attention to. Look in Ephesians 5:19? What else do we know about singing as it relates to the corporate worship in the assembly of the saints? Look in Ephesians 5:19. The Bible says, “We're to be speaking to one another in Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.” Well what specifically are we to do? Speak to one another. We're to teach and admonish one another. We're to sing and make melody where? Not on a piano, not on organ, not on a guitar, not a big rock band, not with smoke and lights and fog, that's not what God asked for. ‘Sing and make melody in your heart,’ goes hand-in-hand with 1 Corinthians 14:15. I'll sing with the spirit. And I'll sing with the understanding. What is it God wants

me to use to make melody? The heart. Do I use the voice to speak? There's no doubt you do. But our heart, it's not some wrote words that we say, that we have no clue we just utter, we don't know what they mean; true singing is motivated from the heart. We sing and make melody out of appreciation from our heart to God, who's asked us to do that.

You'll notice speaking, singing, making melody in your heart, no mention anywhere so far of mechanical instruments of music. Look in Colossians 3. And I want you to notice what Paul says to the church in Colossae here. Colossians 3:16, the apostle Paul says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” What does Paul tell the church in Colossae to do? To teach, to admonish one another. Well Paul, how do you want us to do that? Psalms, hymns, spiritual songs, singing, and making melody in your heart, teaching one another and doing that again unto the Lord. We're to teach, sing, speak Psalms, hymns, spiritual songs; those are the content of what we may use. We may sing one of the Psalms found in the Old Testament, hymns that some have written based on Scripture, spiritual related songs all of those will be acceptable to God and their content. But, we do that again by teaching, with the voice by admonishing. And we speak one unto another, the reciprocal idea of all singing together is surely found in these words.

Another passage that we find in the New Testament, and we want to emphasize these, Hebrews 2:12. The Bible records these words, God is seen as saying, “I will declare your name to my brethren,” listen now, “in the midst of the assembly, and I will sing praise to you.” James 5:13, “if anyone's happy let him sing psalms.” Matthew 26:30, Jesus and His disciples sang a hymn and went out. Now we ask you this, if we have thought about the verses in the New Testament related to singing for Christians in the church, here on earth, here's what we've seen: sing, speak to one, another teach one another, admonish one another, sing and make melody in your heart. All over and over again, the idea is that of singing. It's not playing. It's not picking. It's not blowing on some kind of instrument, a flute or playing on a harp. You don't find that in the Bible. God's asked me and you to use our voice, to use the heart to make melody unto Him that which is supreme to anything that man himself might make.

This is a very important part of worship. John 4:24, Jesus said, “God is spirit and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth.” If I'm to worship God in spirit and based on truth, can I worship God with a mechanical instrument of music? When that's not what God asked me to do for the law I'm living under in the New Testament day and age? Friend as we think about, why it is the case that Christians do not use instrumental music today, we want to again remind you of these principles. Why don't we use mechanical instruments of music today? There's no authority for it God has told us what to use and there's no guidance in the New Testament ever given on using mechanical instruments of music. Colossians 3:17, we do all by the authority of Christ. What has Christ authorized us to do? We don't add to nor do we take away from the words found in the New Testament. Can you use a mechanical instrument without

adding something to the teaching of the New Testament? They're not found in there. They're not mentioned specifically in Scripture. Thus, you would have to be adding to do that. Let me mention this as well, even many, by many we mean a good host, even many denominational leaders recognize that instruments of music mechanical instruments of music, were not authorized by Almighty God.

Now let me give you just a few that would say this. For example, those would be and going all the way back in in history. Pope Vitalianus himself was the first to introduce them, but even then they weren't accepted for over 1200 years. Thomas Aquinas wrote, as he spoke to the Roman Catholic Church, he wrote ‘the church does not use musical instruments such as the harp or the lyre when praising God in case she should seem to fall back into Judaism, for musical instruments usually move the soul more to pleasure than to create moral goodness.’ As far back as the year 416, the Council of Carthage addressed the issue of instruments of music and declared on the Lords Day let all instruments of music be silenced. You can look at leaders like a Charles Spurgeon, you can look at leaders like those who established many religious groups today, John Wesley, Martin Luther, and many of those will say instruments of music weren't authorized by God himself.

As we think about this let's realize that instruments, they don't teach and they don't admonish with words as we are taught. As we learn today, that's not something God has authorized in the Scripture. Now friend, while we do think about using our voices in song to God and that being which God is authorized us to use. Since that is the case, let me mention a few things that are so important to do that effectively and to do that in a way that God is pleased with it.

If singing is what God's authorized, I have to participate in singing. You can't sit there like the proverbial lump on the log. You can't sit there and just listen to let everybody else do the singing. This is a command of God, for his people. If I'm going to worship God correctly, I must sing. I've got to use my voice and with everyone else, bring praise to God. Sing to one another, speak to one another, those are not suggestions or good ideas. That's something we've all got to do to be pleasing to God. If we're going to worship in song correctly, sing out. But some will say, ‘I don't that I don't have the best voice.’ We may not be opera singer, but friend that's not necessarily what God's looking for. If I'm to make melody in my heart, not only does my voice play a part, but I've got to think through that and be using my mind as well. That goes up as a sweet smelling savor unto the Lord, according to Hebrews 13:7-18. If I'm going to sing in a way that is pleasing to God, as we just mentioned, we've got to think about and meditate on the words of the song. ‘Sing with the spirit and the understanding.’ You know, when we sing songs, beautiful songs, like “The Old Rugged Cross,” what are you thinking about? Lunch? What are you thinking about? What you're going to do that evening? No! I want to be thinking about what Jesus did for me. When I sing songs like, “How Beautiful Heaven Must Be,” I want to think about the beauty of that place in and how that motivates me to want to go there, and how thankful to God I am for a plan of salvation that that makes it possible.

Then we mention this, to really be effectively singing, we encourage you to sing as though this is your chance to teach somebody. Colossians 3:16, ‘teaching and admonishing one another.’ Do you realize, when you're singing other people are listening as well as they sing? We have the opportunity, through that song, through that medium, to teach and admonish one another. As they hear the words of that song, as we blend our voices together, as the unison of that great message goes up in praise to God, the words cannot be overlooked. How powerful they are! What a great opportunity that is to teach and encourage others.

Today a fundamental message and a fundamental lesson is, in the New Testament God wants us to sing one to another. I understand that under the old law God had used instruments. And you find that in the Old Testament. But friend, listen carefully, we've seen clearly work that law's been nailed to the cross. We’re going to be judged by the words of Christ. We’re living in the New Testament age. And God's told us, ‘sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, sing and make melody in your heart to the Lord.’

Maybe you were raised using a mechanical instrument, maybe that's what you've done all your life, maybe that just seems natural in some ways, friend we just simply ask you today, does the New Testament authorize that practice? Is that something God has asked us specifically to do? And if not, the words of Jesus' mother Mary, “Whatever Jesus says to you,” we've got to be willing to “do that.”

Our encouragement and our hope today is that each of us will turn our attention to the word of God, be guided by it, and that we'll truly worship God in spirit and truth as He's commanded.

Study Questions for: “Fundamentals of the Faith: Music”

1. Where should we make melodies according to Ephesians 5:19?

2. According to Ephesians 5:19, how should we speak to one another?

3. Who has the authority according to Matthew 28:18?

4. Who is the head of the church according to Ephesians 1:22-23?

5. What did Jesus’ mother tell the servants to do in John 2:5?

6. How should we do things in word or deed according to Colossians 3:17?

7. Should we think beyond what is written according to 1 Corinthians 4:6?

8. What must we NOT do according to Revelation 22:18-19?

9. According to John 12:48, what will judge us?

10. According to James 5:13, what should we do if we are happy?