Avoiding Hell?

How do I Avoid Hell?

The introductory text for our lesson is found in John 3:36, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” (ESV)

Avoiding Hell

How Does One Avoid Hell?

How do I avoid Hell?  We have had some lessons here that portray a very real and vivid of picture of what Hell is and what it is like.  Suffice it to say that Hell is a place we need to stay out of.  We need to avoid it.  It’s real, it’s awful, it’s dark, it’s hot, its scary, and it’s eternal.  What does eternal mean?  We are mortals caught up in an existence where there is a beginning and an end to everything we see.  We live a few decades on this earth and then our earthly bodies grow old and die.  At some point in our earthly existence we will wake up one morning and have fewer days ahead of us than we have behind us.  In Hell there is no end.  There will never be a time in Hell where we can say that there are fewer days ahead of us than we have behind.  We sing a song called Amazing Grace which has a verse that speaks about the everlasting joys of of Heaven.  ‘When we’ve been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun.  We’ve no less days to sing God’s grace then we first begun.‘  The same holds true of Hell with the exception that those who are there won’t be singing about God’s grace.  When they’ve been there ten thousand years, they have no less days to endure the torment of Hell than when they’d first begun.

The path to Hell is broad and easy.  Jesus taught in Matthew 7:13-14, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”  Jesus said the road to Hell is broad.  he says the entrance gate is wide.  And He said many more people will travel the wider road and enter the broader gate to Hell.

While we are in Matthew 7, we are going to look a little further.  For now, we are going to skip down to verse 21, but hold your place there because we are going to come back and look at the verses we skipped.  Starting in V21 of the same context, Jesus went on to say:

Matthew 7:21, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”  Jesus says the ONLY people who enter the kingdom of Heaven are those who do the will of God the Father.   When this life is over, there are only two destinations possible.  It’s either Heaven or Hell.

In John 5:28-29, Jesus taught, “for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice 29 and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.”  Each and every one of us has an appointment where a decision is going to be made.

In 2 Corinthians 5:10 we read, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. ”

There is one of two destinations ahead of each and every one of us.  There is going to be day of reckoning and everything we have done is going to be examined, and judged either good or evil.  Those who have done good are going to be resurrected to eternal life and those who have done evil are going to be resurrected to eternal condemnation.  Life or Death.  Paradise or Punishment.  Heaven or Hell.  One of two places.  Thus saith the Lord.

As we have seen so far, Jesus stated plainly that we have to do something in order to avoid Hell.   So the question “How Do I Avoid Hell” or better “What must I do to avoid Hell?” is the question we are going to answer today in this lesson.  But before we do, I want us to look back at the verses we skipped in Matthew 7.  Right after Jesus taught that the road to Hell was broad and the gate in was wide, He gave this warning, ”

Matthew 7:15-19, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 So every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ”

People are going to come and give bad information on how to avoid Hell.  They are going to come in sheep’s clothing, meaning they are going to look harmless and innocent on the outside.  But on the inside they are the bringers of death and destruction.  They do this by false teaching.  Look around you when you are driving up and down the streets.  What do you see?  All kinds of churches and they all teach something differently on how one is to avoid Hell.

Question:  How many ways or roads did Jesus mention in Matthew 7:13-14?  How many gates did He mention?  One?

Paul wrote by inspiration in Ephesians 4:4-5, “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5  one Lord, one faith, one baptism”  When we drive down the streets of this city, we see different variations of faith, many different ways, many different gates.

When we look inside at what they teach we see many different gospels.  Paul wrote in Galatians 1:6-8, “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.”

There’s only one Gospel that was received and anyone who preaches a different one is accursed.  He has not avoided Hell.  If we want to avoid Hell, we need to understand that there is One body, one faith, one way, one gate, one gospel.

The world says many bodies, many faiths, many ways, many gates, many gospels.  It’s confusing out there.  How can we know for sure?  Is there a way we can be absolutely sure that we are avoiding Hell?  We can’t come back and try again.  We don’t get any do-overs if we make a mistake and get on the wrong road.  How can we be sure we are on that one straight and narrow path?  How can we be sure we are entering that one narrow gate?  How can we be sure we are living by the one faith and obeying the one gospel?  How do we know that we are doing what we need to do to avoid Hell?  How can you be sure that I am not one of the false prophets Jesus warned about and that I am not preaching another gospel than the one received?  How can we be sure that the things I am preaching will not put you on the broad path leading to the wide gate, the gate to Hell?

We can avoid Hell by correctly handling the word of God.  In 2 Timothy 2:15, Paul wrote, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved,* a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.”

Found within the pages of the Bible are instructions on how to handle the word of God.  For example:

Jesus taught in Mark 7:6-8. “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; 7 in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ 8 You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”

Jesus says if we leave the commandment of God to hold to the teachings of men that our worship is for nothing.  We are wasting our time.  So from this single verse of scripture we can make the application that if it isn’t in the word of God, our worship is vain.  So that if we shun the teachings and traditions of men where they cannot be supported by the word of God, we can know we are on the straight way to the narrow gate.  We can avoid Hell by rejecting men and listening to God.

Which leads me to my next point.  Paul wrote this instruction to the church in Thessalonica in 1 Thess 5:21, “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.”  Paul says don’t take anybody’s word for it.  Prove it, put it to the test.  I am just a man.  I am just standing up here trying to be a mouthpiece for God.  Don’t take my word of any of this.  Check the things I say out against the word of God.  Look the verses up I show you.  Study them, study their context, test them, prove them, make sure I am preaching the word of God and not the commandment of men.  Many false prophets are gone out into the world.  Don’t set in your pews till you leave this earth and not check these things out for yourselves.  Don’t leave your Bibles on the bookshelf and listen to the preacher thinking he is going to give you good advice.

We avoid Hell by testing the things we are taught against what the word of God says and holding fast to the word of God.

Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 4:6, “I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written”  We can avoid Hell by not going beyond what the word of God says.

John wrote in Revelation 22:18-19, “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.”  The Tree of life is our salvation.  The Holy City is heaven.  Those who tamper with the word of God, leaving things out, adding things to it will not be enjoying eternal life in heaven.  We can avoid Hell by not adding to or taking away from the things God has commanded.  We must know what the Bible teaches.  We must know what God commands through His word.  We must obey it, not leaving anything out which pertains to Christianity and not adding anything to what pertains to Christianity.  Anything less than God’s word is not enough.  Anything more than God’s word is too much.

We can avoid Hell by being Christians only.

Have you ever heard of a hyphenated Christian?  When someone asks you what kind of Christian you are what are they really asking?  Well, are you a baptist?  Are you a Methodist?  When we look in the New Testament, what kind of Christians do we see?  Do we we see Catholic Christians?  Do we see Presbyterian Christians?  Mormon Christians? Amish, Mennonite?  Or do we just see Christians.   We don’t read of any of these kinds of branded Christians because they weren’t around in the first century.  They came along afterwards.  The Christians we read of in the New Testament were just Christians.

The Christians in Corinth tried to become hyphenated Christians and Paul put a stop to it.

1 Corinthians 1:10-14, “I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. 11 For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. 12 What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas [Peter],” or “I follow Christ.” 13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?”

The Corinthian Christians were quarreling and dividing up into groups.  Some of them were following after the things Paul said.  Others were following after the things Peter said.  Still others were following the things Apollos taught.  They wanted to be Apollos Christians,  or Paul Christians or Peter Christians instead of being just Christians.  Paul said that when they did that, it divided Christ up among them meaning none of them had all of Christ.  Christianity is no different today.  When we follow after the teachings of men like Joseph Smith, John Wesley, John Calvin, Martin Luther and identify ourselves with these men or others like them instead of Christ only, then Jesus is divided up among them.  None of them have the whole of Jesus Christ.  A portion of Jesus Christ is shared with these men.   It was wrong for first century Christians to do that.  So, How can that be wrong then and right today?

Paul asked a rhetorical question, “Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?”  The answer to that question is a resounding “NO”!!!  It was wrong to divide Christ in the first century and it is just as wrong today.  The Bible, the word of God, properly applied does not make hyphenated Christians.  It makes ‘Christians only’ and ‘only Christians’  We can avoid Hell by being the same kind of Christians today that we read of in the pages of scripture.  We can avoid Hell by being ‘just Christians’.

When we use the word of God and only the word of God; and when we examine the faithful first century Christians written of in God’s word; if we believe what they believed, became Christians the same way they became Christians, obey what they obeyed, worship the same way they worshipped, and use their lives as our pattern for faithful living we will be today what they were then; ‘Christians only’ and ‘only Christians’.  We can avoid Hell in exactly the same way today that the new testament Christians living in the first century did.  If we do what they did, we will be what they were; new testament Christians living in the 21st century.

We can avoid Hell by being saved the same way the first century Christians were.  Adding nothing to, and leaving nothing out of the word of God; How were the first century Christians saved?  How did they avoid Hell?

On the day of Pentecost following the ascension of Christ about 3000 people were baptized, Acts 2:37-41, “Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, [They believed Peter and they were convicted in their hearts] and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” 40 And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” 41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.”  They were told to repent and be baptized or the remission of sins and to save themselves.  About 3000 of them did that very thing that day.  Now if that worked for them, why wouldn’t it work for us?  Those 3000 people avoided Hell when they repented and were baptized for the forgiveness of their sins.  We can avoid Hell by doing the very same thing.

But wait.  Is that all?  Are we finished?  Is our ticket punched to Heaven?  We can answer that by asking if the new Christians on Pentecost were finished.  Were they done?  Was their ticket punched to heaven?  There’s a whole lot of God’s word left.  We don’t want to leave anything out.  So what we have so far is Belief and conviction (they were cut to the heart.  They certainly had to believe in order to be convicted of their sins).  We have Repentance, which is a sorrow of heart that leads to a change in behavior.  They were told to save themselves and were then baptized for the remission of sins.  What did they do after that?

Acts 2:42-47, “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship (they were assembling together), to the breaking of bread (The Lord’s Supper) and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together (they were assembling together) and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need (Benevolence/Giving of themselves). 46 And day by day, attending the temple together (They were assembling and working together as a group, confessing Jesus to the Jews and evangelizing) and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved. ”

These brand new followers of Christ had believed, and were convicted of their sins, repented, had been baptized for the remission of their sins and were afterwards assembling together, working together and helping others by giving of themselves, confessing and teaching Jesus Christ in the temple, evangelizing and partaking of the Lord’s supper.  The were being saved.  They were avoiding Hell.  It’s all there.  Acts chapter 2 is one of the most complete accounts of how one becomes a Christian and is added to the body of Christ and then goes on to live faithfully that we have in all of scripture.  That is how they avoided Hell at the beginning of the Lord’s church.

And if it worked for them, will it not work for us?  They were being saved.  We can be saved by doing the same things they did.  We can avoid Hell the same way they did.  If we do what they did, we will be what they were.   Christians… saved and added to the Lord’s church.

They heard the gospel, they had faith, they were convicted in their hearts.  They asked what must we do?  They repented, they were baptized, they then went on to worship, giving of themselves and teaching others about Christ.     They were being added to the body of the saved, the church.  They were being saved.  These people now had hope where before they had none.

In Conclusion:  How do we avoid Hell?   The Answer is the same for us as it was for them.   And this is important because when we look out into the world today, we see many different explanations on how one gets to heaven.  Remember, Jesus said one road, one body, one gospel.  If we’ll set all of that aside and just do it like they did, we can be assured beyond any shadow of a doubt that we’ve got it right.  We can be sure that we are on the right path if we’re on the same one they were.  We can be sure we’re going thru the narrow gate if we enter the same gate they did.  We can be sure we’re obeying the right gospel when we obey the same one they did.  We can be sure that we are being saved when we are saved like they were.  We can be sure we’re avoiding Hell if we avoid it the same way they did.  We can walk this path with no doubts, no misgivings, no second thoughts.  The path they walked in the first century is the path that must be right and that cannot fail.  And that’s the path I want to be on.  I want to walk the path that cannot fail because I know I can’t come back and do it again.  We only have one life to live and we only have that life to find and walk the one path, and enter the one gate to heaven.  Because according to word of God, ALL THE OTHER GATES LEAD TO HELL.

In Acts 2, They heard the gospel of Christ.  Acts 2:37, “Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart”

Matthew 11:15, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”  That is a verb.  It means to ‘listen’.  It means to comprehend and to understand.  It means to pay attention to and to heed.  The Christians in Acts 2 listened to Peter.  They understood his words.  They paid attention.  We know this because of what happened next.

Have you heard the Gospel?  Have you listened to it?

They were convicted of their sins.  Acts 2:37, “…they were cut to the heart…”  They came to the realization that they had sinned.  Paul was convicted of his sin on the road to Damascus.  The Philippian jailer fell to his knees before Paul.  They realized that something was very wrong and that they were in danger.

Have you been convicted of your sins?  Have you ever been pricked in the heart.  Have you ever trembled or fallen to your knees?  Have you ever been sorry for your sins?

And upon this personal conviction they all asked the same thing.  What must we do?   They understood that something needed to be done.  They understood that if they wanted to avoid Hell, they had to do something.

Acts 2:37-38, “Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

Paul in Acts 9:6, “So he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?”

The Philippian Jailor in  Acts 16:29-30, “And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. 30 Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

God demands justice for sin.  All sin carries the death penalty.  Jesus, who did nothing wrong, paid that death penalty for us so that we could have hope.  Jesus Christ had to die before we could live.  Jesus Christ gave His life for you and me.  Our sins made it necessary for Jesus Christ to die on that cross if we want to live.  WE, YOU AND I are as guilty of the death of Christ as those who crucified Him in the first century.  We are as guilty as those who drove the spikes.  We are as guilty as Pilate, Herod and the Jewish high council.  We are as guilty as those who spit on Him.  We are as guilty as those who scourged Him and mocked Him, and beat Him and reviled Him.  WE, YOU AND I, are guilty and we do not deserve to live.  We deserve to die and be cast into the flames of the lake of fire forever and ever.

Have you ever looked inside yourself and realized that you are lost with no hope?  Have you ever asked, “What must I do?”  Have you ever looked inside yourself and been ashamed and honestly asked, “What are my options? Where do I go next?  What can I do?”  How can I have hope again?

Thankfully, there is hope.   Thankfully by the grace and love of God, we have a way of being declared “not Guilty”.  We can be forgiven.   Thankfully by the grace and love of God, we can avoid Hell.  John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  And then the introductory text of our lesson today, John 3:36, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”  So we see from these two verses that we have to believe in and obey the Son of God if we want to avoid Hell.  We saw the people in Acts 2 did to avoid Hell, let’s just see what the Son of God says we have to obey.  Since He is the one we must obey, we’ll just take a look at that and see if it’s the same thing they did in Acts 2 on Pentecost.

Jesus says we have to believe in Him in John 3:16.  We already covered that.  So what’s next?  Is that it?  Is there anything else Jesus says we must do?

Matthew 10:32-33,  “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. 33 But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.”

Luke 13:3-4, “I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. ”

Mark 16:16, “whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. ”

Revelation 2:10, “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.”

These are all things that the people in acts 2 were doing.  The things Jesus taught His disciples were teaching people the very same things Jesus taught them while He was on earth.  Everything we see in these verses were things the Christians in the first century were doing.  And when we walk the same straight path they walked, we can know we are on the right one.  When we enter the same narrow gate they entered we can be certain it is the right one.

1 Corinthians 2:9

But as it is written:

“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,

Nor have entered into the heart of man

The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

 

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Is Thy Heart Right with God?

Is Thy Heart Right with God?

The beloved hymn for which this article is en­titled was written by Elisha Albright Hoffman in 1899—one of many lovely hymns that he wrote. In examining the answer to this important question today, we will do so by noting the section of Psalm 119:129-136, which gives us some wonderful insight into what the heart of a child of God should be. Notice with me some proper characteristics for your consideration and application.

Is your heart submissive? “Thy testimonies are won­derful: therefore doth my soul keep them” (119:129). The psalmist submits to the testimonies of God. What does that mean? It means that I will obey without ques­tion (cf. Eve questioned with Satan about what God said concerning the tree of knowledge of good and evil and Naaman questioning the Jordan River). It means that I will obey whether I see any apparent connection of the action and the desired results (cf. no connection between blood on the doorposts and the salvation of the firstborn in Egypt and no connection between baptism and salva­tion). It means that I will obey no matter what the cost (cf. Abraham offering his son Isaac; Luke 9:23; Gal. 2:20).

Does your heart hunger and thirst after righteousness? “I opened my mouth, and panted: for I longed for thy commandments” (119:131). Jesus would say in the Ser­mon on the Mount, “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled” (Matt. 5:6). As such, the Bible describes God and His righteousness with such terms of necessity as food and water (cf. Isa. 55:1; John 4:14; 6:35; 7:37).

Does your heart love God? “Look thou upon me, and be merciful unto me, as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name” (119:132). When one questioned Jesus about the greatest commandment, Jesus did not bat an eye, but immediately quoted Deuteronomy 6:5, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” (Matt. 22:37). In fact, the book of Deuteronomy stresses the need for God’s children to love God (Deut. 10:12; 11:1).

Is your heart dependant upon God? “Order my steps in thy word” (119:133a). The psalmist earlier wrote, “My steps have held fast to thy paths, my feet have not slipped” (Ps. 17:5 ASV). He also underscored our dependency upon God when he wrote,

Keep back thy servant also from presumptu­ous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression. (Ps. 19:13)

Does your heart want to do right? “…and let not any iniquity have dominion over me” (119:133b). As servants of righteousness, we are seeking to please our Master by obeying his will: “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof” (Rom. 6:12).

Does your heart desire divine approval? “Make thy face to shine upon thy servant” (119:135a). The psalmist wrote earlier, “There be many that say, Who will shew us any good? Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us” (Ps. 4:6). Moses prayed for the Israelites, “The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace” (Num. 6:26). Paul closes his second epistle to the Thessalonians by stating: “Now the Lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means. The Lord be with you all” (2 Thess. 3:16).

Is your heart such that yearns to learn? “…and teach me thy statutes” (119:135b). This attitude is essential toward God’s word, as he earlier stated in this very psalm (119:12, 26). We should not be surprised that we find this same essential quality in the New Testament:

It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me. (John 6:45)

The great invitation of our Lord says, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me” (Matt. 11:29).

Does your heart care? “Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because they keep not thy law” (119:136). He later said, “I beheld the transgressors, and was grieved; because they kept not thy word” (119:158). Jeremiah was known as the weeping prophet for displaying this very attitude of heart:

Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people! (Jer. 9:1)

Is thy heart right with God?

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Liberal or Conservative or…

Neither Liberal, Conservative, Nor Contemporary

Many today in our beloved brotherhood, bemoan the fact that we currently live in a politically correct, biblically corrupt, “can’t-call-anything-what-it-actually-is” culture. This can be readily proven from practically every corner of our existence. For example, where once we had “used cars” we now have “pre-owned vehicles.” Where once we had middle-aged men “going bald,” we now have men who are “follically-unfruitful.” And where some of us may have once known overweight or obese people, they no longer exist, having been conveniently and non-confrontationally replaced by “gravitationally-challenged” folks instead. (And of course being considered “gravitationally-challenged” as opposed to being “overweight” immediately relieves one of taking any personal responsibility or the actions necessary in order to alleviate their self-destructive habits.)

Conservative liberal contemporary

Conservative, Liberal, contemporary, what?

Perhaps one of the most pervasive, persuasive, and soul-destroying examples of this perverted terminological (and “terminally illogical”) madness, comes in reference to the practice of homosexuality. While the ungodly world around us would seek to shame us into labeling it an “alternative lifestyle,” our God and Father unashamedly and eternally refers to it as a “very grievous,” “wicked,” “fornicational,” “flesh-defiling,” “ungodly,” “abomination;” the “inexcusable,” “vile passion,” of a “reprobate mind,” against God’s “natural order,” and “punishable by eternal fire” when God’s “wrath” is brought to bear (Please see for yourself, in: Genesis 18:20, 19:1-7; Jude 6-8; Leviticus 18:22-30, 20:13; Romans 1:18-28; I Corinthians 6:9-11; Galatians 5:19-20; Ephesians 5:3-7; Revelation 21:7-8; Psalm 119:89). “Alternative lifestyle?” I think not. “Eternal death sentence” is more like it according to God’s terminology.

Unfortunately, what some of those beloved brethren bothered by the onslaught of this pervasive perspective sometimes fail to perceive, is that the parasitical perversity of political correctness has also partially infiltrated and poisoned certain portions of the beleaguered body and bride of Christ when it comes to our worship practices and positions as well. This, by way of some very worldly-originated, totally unbiblical, but universally-accepted and utilized terminology, currently contaminating and contributing to many of the uncorrected corruptions wreaking havoc within the Lord’s church today. For a people who were once widely-known and highly-respected for the fact that they sought to “Speak where the bible speaks, and be silent where the bible is silent; calling bible things by bible names and doing bible things in bible ways,” oh how far we appear to have fallen when it comes to “political correctness” my beloved brethren!

Consider this. If a congregation utilizes female song leaders, prayer leaders, adult mixed bible class teachers or sermon preachers; if they allow and approve of the use of instruments in their musical praises and worship; and if they believe that certain portions of the New Testament pattern are no longer binding on us today, we generally label or refer to them as “liberal,” and/or their worship as “contemporary.” Conversely, if a congregation of God’s people today utilizes only male leadership in worship, sings acappella, and demands that every element preached and practiced must possess a “book, chapter, and verse” foundation because they believe every word of the bible to be divinely inspired and binding for all time (unless the word itself specifies otherwise), we generally label or refer to them as “ conservative. ”

But the word “liberal” only occurs once in Scripture and in a completely different context at that! It occurs that one time, in 2 Corinthians 9:13, wherein it is expressing an act and attitude of generosity financially, and certainly not an attitude of laxity (on any level), but especially doctrinally! And where do we even see the terms “ conservative ” or “contemporary” contained anywhere in Scripture? We don’t. They’re not. Neither one of them. Not even once. So why then, as a people claiming to “Speak where the bible speaks, and be silent where the bible is silent; calling bible things by bible names and doing bible things in bible ways,” do we use these three terms so frequently, in a fatalistic and ill-informed frenzy of political correctness?

For the love of God and the sake of the eternal souls His beloved Son died to save, we have got to stop pasteurizing, homogenizing, neutering, neutralizing, and watering and dumbing down the incredibly clear and concise terminology of God in an effort not to offend or upset those whom the bible clearly indicates are on the road to hell! We must be as straightforward in our terminology as the Scriptures are, so that they might have their hearts pricked; reconsider; repent and return to a submissive and obedient relationship with almighty God!

When an individual or group of God’s people chooses to follow the divinely inspired biblical pattern comprised of the commandments of God (See: II Timothy 3:12-4:4; 2 Peter 1:16-2:3; Acts 7:44; Hebrews 8:5; I Corinthians 14:37) such as: male leadership in the Lord’s church (1 Corinthians 14:33-37; 1 Timothy 2:8-15); singing without any mechanical instruments accompanying their songs of praise and worship at any and all times (Matthew 26:30; Mark 14:26; Acts 16:25; Romans 15:9; 1 Corinthians 14:15; Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16; Hebrews 2:12; and James 5:13); and always insisting that the doctrines being taught – whether they be about the one, true, New Testament church; the heinous sin of denominationalism; the essentiality of baptism exclusively for the forgiveness of sins and to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit; full and complete repentance and conversion; or any other biblical doctrine – are in exact accordance with what their God and Father commands through His holy word, then the bible has many far better and much more insightful terms by which these people should be referred to. Instead of the non-biblical term “ conservative, ” let us from now on, truly “speak where the bible speaks” and define and refer to these brethren and their worship with biblically-correct (instead of politically correct, corrupt, and inept) terms; terms like:

  • “Faithful” (Matthew 25:14-30; Acts 16:11-15; Ephesians 1:1; Colossians 1:2; etc).
  • “According to the Scriptures” (I Corinthians 15:3-4; James 2:8).
  • “According to the will of God” (I Peter 4:19).
  • “According to what is written” (2 Corinthians 4:13).
  • “According to the commandment of the everlasting God” (Romans 16:26).
  • “According to knowledge” (Romans 10:2).
  • “According to truth” (Romans 2:2).
  • “According to the Spirit” (Romans 8:1-5).
  • Worshipping in “spirit and truth” (John 4:23-24).

Conversely, for those who would advocate or approve of the adding to, or even the contradicting of, the divine pattern as presented and preached by the prophets and apostles (2 Peter 1:16-21) – those we most commonly (as opposed to scripturally) refer to with more worldly terminology like “liberal,” and “contemporary” – God’s word also has many far better and much more insightful and inspired terms by which these brethren and their worship must be referred to as well. Instead of today’s terms and labels like “liberal” and “contemporary,” let us from now on, truly “speak where the bible speaks” and define and refer to these brethren and their worship, with biblically-correct (instead of politically correct, corrupt, and totally inept) terms too; terms God used, terms like:

  • “Unauthorized” (Leviticus 10:1 – ESV)
  • “Vain worship” (Matthew 15:7-9; Mark 7:5-13)
  • “Empty deceit,” “tradition of men,” “false humility,” “doctrines and commandments of men” (Colossians 2:8-24).
  • “Damnable heresies” (2 Peter 2:1-3 – KJV).
  • “‘Depart from Me, I never knew you,’ to all who did not do ‘the will of My Father,” (Matthew 7:21-23).

You see, there is no such thing, biblically speaking of course, as a “liberal,” “ conservative, ” or “contemporary” Christian, congregation, bible class, or worship service.

  • They are simply either “faithful,” or they are “unfaithful.” That’s it.
  • They are simply either devoted and committed to doing things “according to the Scriptures” – that is to say, acting in accordance, obedience, and compliance with all the written will, truth, commandments, and pattern of the everlasting God – or they are not; instead, acting in accordance with the “doctrines and commandments of men,” and therefore conducting and participating in worship and devotion consisting of absolutely nothing but “false humility,” “damnable heresies,” and “empty deceit.”
  • They are either worshipping in and with the proper spirit of humility and submission, to and before, the sovereign God and Lord of the universe (as readily evidenced by their complete compliance with God’s truth); or, they are using unauthorized additions, corruptions, and substitutions, and therefore entertaining only themselves with their vain and useless worship. And they desperately need to know it!

The great and godly prophet Isaiah pronounced some pretty nasty “woes” on God’s Old Testament people; on those who called “evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter” (Isaiah 5:20). We cannot afford – for the sake of our beloved Savior who died to set men free from just such satanic deceptions and temptations; for the sake of our own beloved but apparently misguided and misled brethren; as well as for the sake of our own souls – to fall into the politically correct but biblically-corrupting trap of simply referring to such soul-devouring, obedience-marginalizing, and vain-worshipping sins and those who commit them, with just the watered-down but politically correct term “liberal,” which is so soft, toothless, and truthless, as to be totally powerless to lead the erring we love to repentance in Christ! That terminology (“liberal”) is an eternal-life and death, soul-threatening deception! We must put these positions and those who practice them in terms that will get the undivided attention of their perpetrators! This, in hopes of getting them to see the error of their ways; to recognize and come to a better knowledge of God’s truth; and to hopefully reflect, respond, and repent of those sins while they still have time!

Conversely, we cannot allow anyone from now on – and especially any of our beloved but brutally-deceived brethren – to either casually, carnally, arbitrarily, or just ignorantly earmark those of us and the congregations we work and worship in which continue to faithfully follow the “old paths” of divine writ, as “ conservative. ” We are not – not biblically speaking anyway. We are “faithful,” and worship “according to the scriptures,” in “spirit and truth,” as “it is written” (Ephesians 1:1; James 2:8; John 4:23-24; Matthew 4:1-11)! Those are bible terms for bible things!

And I assure you, that the next time someone seriously says to me something along the lines of, “Oh, you’re just from one of those old-fashioned, conservative congregations,” then with all the love of the Lord for their eternal soul’s condition I can possibly muster (Mark 10:21), I plan to look them straight in the eye and respond something to the effect of, “No, not at all. I’m blessed to be from one of those scripture-fashioned, faithful congregations which worship in spirit and truth like the Lord is looking for, and whose worship He honors and accepts. Why; aren’t you? And if not, why aren’t you?”

We must stop referring to the worship conducted by some people and congregations (doctrinally speaking) as either “ conservative ” or “liberal,” and start referring to it as what it actually, biblically is called: either “faithful,” “spirit and truth” worship “according to the scriptures,” or, “vain,” “unauthorized” worship according to the “damnable heresies” and “traditions and commandments of men.” It can’t be both. And the bible is the complete and final authority for defining the difference, in “book, chapter, and verse” form.

May we all, from this day forward, myself included, earnestly repent, and commit ourselves to “Speaking where the bible speaks; calling bible things by bible names; and doing bible things in bible ways,” “in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perchance will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will” (2 Timothy 2:25-26).

To God be all the glory; always and in all ways!

 

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Thrive in the Light

Living and Walking in the Light

One of the great blessings we have is the continuing cleansing of the blood of Jesus in our daily lives. We were washed in His blood when we were baptized (Acts 22:16), but we continue to be cleansed by His blood as we continue to walk in the light. “But if we walk (Greek tense indicates continual action—“are walking”) in the light as He is in the light, we have (are having) fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses (is cleansing) from all sin” (1 John 1:7).

In the Light.

Live and Walk in the Light

Paul described the lives of those who are children of light in his first letter to the Thessalonians. He showed that they are different from those who are children of darkness (1 Thess. 5:4-10).

Sons of light do not sleep (1 Thess. 5:6). Obviously he is not describing physical sleep or the sleep of death. He contrasts this sleep with watching and being sober.

Sons of light watch (5:6). It was in Gethsemane that He urged the disciples to sense the dangers confronting them. In the upper room they all had affirmed their willingness to die for Him (Matt. 26:35), but they were all about to forsake Him in fear (Matt. 26:56). His words to them in the garden were, “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation” (Matt. 26:41). Those who walk in the light must watch!

Sons of light are sober (5:6). That Christians are to be serious minded is affirmed often in the Bible using a Greek word which affirms this vital quality for every Christian. However, the Greek word used in this passage is nephos, which means “to be free from the influence of intoxicants.” The impact of intoxicants is to dull the senses, lower inhibitions and is devastating to one’s ability to watch.

Sons of light neither get drunk or are drunk (5:7). There are many verses in the Bible which condemn drunkenness (including this one in the phrase “are drunk”), but this passage shows that God also forbids the process of getting drunk. Those who are walking in the light must be aware that the Bible shows that Christians must avoid getting drunk.

Sons of light arm themselves with faith, love and hope (5:8). Bible students will recall these three qualities in Paul’s letter to Corinth, ”And now abides faith, hope and love” (1 Cor. 13:13). These same qualities are mentioned here as those who are continually cleansed by His blood. We must never forget that all of these are specifically tied to having the Bible in our lives.

Sons of light will live together with Him (5:10). How else could it be? We become sons of God by the blood, we walk in light and are being cleansed by blood and heaven awaits those who live in the light. Thank God for His light!

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God’s Directions

Where are the Directions?

The introductory text for our lesson is found in John 12:48:

“He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.”

directions

Where are the directions?

Those were words that Jesus spoke during His ministry on Earth.  He said there is coming a day when everyone who ever lived is going to face a judgment.  He also stated that the words He had spoken were going to do the judging at that time.  Jesus spoke those words roughly 1985 years ago give or take.  This is not the only place Jesus made mention of a day of judgment.

In John 5:28-29, we have a record of Jesus teaching, “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.”  So from these two verses of scripture we have a day of judgment, we have an hour in the future when this is going to begin, we have a resurrection with only two possible outcomes, one of life and one of damnation.  How long does this life and this damnation last?

Jesus tells us in Matthew 25:46, “And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.”   Damnation is everlasting.  The word everlasting comes from the Greek word ai)w/nio$ aionios (ahee-o’-nee-os).  It means ‘eternal, for ever’.  And on the other side we have the resurrection of life which Jesus said is “Eternal life“.  So we have Eternal punishment and we have eternal life.  And one of these two destinies are going to be received by each and every person who ever lived and the words Jesus spoke are going be the deciding factor in that decision.

So… Where did Jesus get these words?  Were these words of His own choosing or did He get the words that would judge all mankind from someone else?  One verse after our introductory text, Jesus goes on to tell us where He got the words. in John 12:49, “For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.”  So we see from all of this Jesus Christ, acting under the authority of God the Father gave mankind the words that would be used to judge us all in the last day?

Jesus spent about 3 1/2 years on His earthly ministry.  His primary companions on His earthly ministry were the 12 men who came to be known as the Apostles.  These men spent all that time with Jesus and during that time He taught and prepared them for the duty of evangelizing after He returned to Heaven.  In Matthew 28:18-20 we have a record of what Jesus commanded them just before He returned to Heaven: “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”

What if these men forgot something?  What if they left something out?  Jesus assures them in John 14:26, “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”  Nothing is going to be left out.  The Holy Ghost is going to make sure of that.  Jesus told His disciples that the Holy Ghost was going to come down from Heaven and He was going to teach them and help them to remember everything He taught them.  Nothing is going to be left out.  Nobody was going to forget anything important.

So now we have a picture of all three members of the Godhead working together to make sure the words that are going to be used to judge us would be available to the first century Christians.  God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost.  God the Father gave the commandment to Jesus who then gave it to His disciples and then returned to Heaven after His death on the cross and then the Holy Ghost came down and made sure the word was remembered by the men that Jesus taught.  God the Father is the originator of the words that would judge us.  Jesus Christ is the Executor of the words.  The Bible refers to Him in John 1:1 as the Word of God: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”  Skipping down to verse 14 we read, “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us”  Jesus is God the Son.  He came to bring the words of God the Father directly to the disciples and to offer Himself as a sacrifice for man’s sin.  God the Father was the originator, God the Word, in the form of Jesus Christ came and executed God’s plan and gave the words He received from God the Father to the disciples.  Then after Jesus returned to Heaven, God the Holy Ghost communicated, taught and brought to remembrance the words Jesus taught directly to His disciples.

Is the Holy Ghost God?  In Acts 5 we read of the account of the deaths of Ananias and Saphira.  They sold a piece of land and when they gave the money from the sale to the church they kept some of it back for themselves.  Where they messed up was that when they gave the money to the disciples, they told them that the amount they gave was the total amount from the sale.  They lied about it.  And it cost them their lives.  Significant to this lesson is what Peter said to Ananias right before his death.  In

In Acts 5:3-4, we read, “But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land. Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.”  In verse 3 Peter accused him of lying to the Holy Ghost.  In verse 4, Peter said, you lied to God.  When Ananias and Saphira lied to the Holy Ghost, they lied to God.  The Holy Ghost therefore is God.

What we need to take from this is that God was in charge of the whole thing from start to finish and was active in every aspect of it.   All of the participation in the communication of God’s instructions to  man were carried out by God.  Nothing was left out.

The giving of the word of God was a matter of divine accomplishment throughout the process.  In 2 Peter 1:3, Peter wrote, “According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue”  Nothing was left out.  The Christians in the first century had everything that pertained to life and Godliness by divine accomplishment through and through.

The Title of this lesson is “Where are the directions”.  The people living in the first century had the directions.  They had all the directions.  The directions came from God, the plan was set into place by God, and the directions were given to man by God.  God originated it.  God executed it.  God communicated it.  Nothing was left out.

So, how did the directions which came directly from God, get from the first century Christians to 21st century Christians?

Easy.  They wrote them down.  They recorded those words in the only way that was available in the first century.  Through written language.  So we know they had all the directions then how do we know they got them all written down?  Nothing was left out of what they needed then.  Is anything essential left out of what was recorded?

Paul wrote a couple of letters to Timothy that we know about.  In one of them he wrote something that is very significant to this subject.  In 2 Timothy 3:16-17, Paul wrote these words, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.”

Let’s look at the key elements of that verse…

“All scripture“…  Not some of it, not part of it, but all of it.

“is given by inspiration of God”  This literally means ‘God breathed‘.   Scripture doesn’t come from the mind of man.  What was recorded by the writers of the New Testament came from God.  Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 14:37, “If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.”  In Galatians 1:11-12, Paul wrote, “But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.”   The same God that delivered the instructions to the first century Christians also made sure it was written down and recorded correctly.  God was in charge.  God was making sure it was being recorded per His specifications.

Back to the text: “and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect”.  Perfect, meaning complete.    Nothing left out;  Nothing missing;  Nothing lacking;  Complete; “that the man of God may be perfect“.  Nothing essential has been left out.

“throughly furnished”   Fully equipped; Fitted; Thoroughly furnished.  Nothing left out.

“ unto all good works…   All…good works.  None left out.

So now we know that the first century Christians had everything they needed for a life of Godliness.  And we see that what was recorded as scripture had the same divine stamp of completion and perfection, how do we know that what we hold in our hands today is the same thing that was received by God in the first century?  How do we know nothing has been changed?  How do we know nothing has been left out?  How can we be sure we have everything we need today?

There are a number of ways we can go about answering that question.  First, let’s look at history and how God preserved the old testament law.  It was written by Moses roughly 1400 years before Christ.  After Alexander the Great conquered the known world, the Greeks began assimilating all of the nations they conquered into the Greek culture.  This was a process known as Hellenizing.  The Greek language became the common tongue of the known world.  As a result of this, the OT scriptures written in ancient Hebrew were translated into the Greek language.  This Greek translation of the Law of Moses was known as the Septuagint.  Jesus Christ even quoted from it during His earthly ministry.   What we need to understand from this is that throughout the history of the Israelite nation, God preserved the Law of Moses.

God brought it through the judges of Israel.  He preserved it through the kings of Israel, both good and bad and through all their wars.  What is significant is that there were times when Israel all but abandoned God, yet His word was preserved.  When King Hezekiah restored temple worship roughly 700 years before Christ, he used the law of Moses as the guide.

When the Babylonians finished destroying Jerusalem, there was barely anything left.  The temple was ransacked and destroyed.   When the captives were allowed to return to Jerusalem, Ezra used the law of Moses to restore temple worship after the temple was rebuilt.   Babylon fell to the Median Empire, which fell to the Persian Empire, which fell to the Greek Empire which fell to the Roman Empire.  Throughout all of the wars that accompanied these hostile takeovers, God preserved the Old Testament scriptures.  When a 12 year old Jesus Christ was questioning the temple scholars in Jerusalem about the law of Moses, it was the same law of Moses that was delivered 1400 years before that.  God preserved His word throughout the history of the Israelite nation.

Then, in the first century AD, the new covenant comes along.   Now is God going to be any less protective of the new covenant than He was the old?  Well, let’s look at some facts.

There are presently 5,686 Greek manuscripts in existence today for the New Testament.   In addition, there are over 19,000 copies in the Syriac, Latin, Coptic, and Aramaic languages.  The total supporting New Testament manuscript base is over 24,000.  Because of the vast number of manuscripts, we can do an extensive amount of cross checking for accuracy.   The internal consistency of the New Testament documents we have at present is about 99.5% textually pure.  And the few differences that do exist are insignificant to the message of the gospel.  In other words, there are no doctrinal conflicts.

If the critics of the Bible dismiss the New Testament as reliable information, then they must also dismiss the reliability of the writings of Plato, Aristotle, Caesar, Homer, and other ancient authors.  This is because the New Testament documents are better-preserved and more numerous than any other ancient writings.   If we acknowledge the historicity and writings of those other individuals, then we must also retain the historicity and writings of the New Testament authors; after all, the evidence for the New Testament’s reliability is far greater than the others.  The Christian has substantially superior criteria for affirming the New Testament documents than he does for any other ancient writing.  It is good evidence on which to base our trust in the reliability of the New Testament.

Now, in addition to this, the early church writers who lived in the first couple of centuries following Christ quoted a lot of scripture in their writings.  Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Papias, Barnabas, Ignatius, Polycarp, Clement of Rome, Mathetes, Hermas, Tatian, Theophilus, just to name a few.  They quoted from scripture so extensively in their writings that even if every single manuscript and copy of the Bible were suddenly destroyed, the entire New Testament, with the exception of only a handful of verses, could be restored from their writings.

Some critics might try and say that we don’t have the originals so we can’t know for sure.  We don’t have any of the original autographs of Plato, Aristotle, Caesar, Homer, and other ancient authors either.  Plato wrote his stuff in 427-347 B.C.  The earliest record of any manuscripts of his writings comes from 900 AD.  That’s about a 1200 year difference.  Caesar: roughly a thousand years between his writings and the earliest known manuscript.  Aristotle: about 1400 years.   The list goes on and on.

So let’s apply this same test to the New Testament scripture.  We have fragments of the gospel of John dating back to 125 AD.  We have a whole bunch of manuscript fragments dating back as far as 200 AD or earlier.  That’s a minor difference compared to the centuries between the writings of other historical figures.  If we are going to discount the validity of the scriptures based on the lack of the original autographs, then if we are going to be consistent, we have to reject all of the writings of all of the ancient historical authors who aren’t even in the same ball park in a comparison of the time between the original writing and the latest extant manuscript.

Conclusion:   God preserved the old law through feast, famine, captivity, poverty, wars and millennia of time.  We still have them today 2000 years after Christ walked the earth.   God has likewise preserved the New Testament through the feasts, famines, wars, crusades, plagues and dark ages of 2 millennia. God has been no less diligent with the preservation of the New Testament than He was with the Law of Moses.  When we hold our Bibles today, we can be 100% confident that we are holding in our hands an accurate and complete record of the word of God.

Nothing was left out in the first century.  Nothing is left out in the 21st century.  2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.”

How can we know it is inspired?  How can we know it came from God?  God had ways of authenticating Himself.  He did this through signs, wonders and miracles.  Jesus healed the sick, made the blind see, made cripples walk and raised the dead.  But these signs and wonders were done for the ones standing there as much as anyone else.  What about those of us who never got to see the signs, wonders and miracles which served to authenticate the words of the speakers?  Do we just take it on faith that these authors were really inspired and were really writing the truth?  How can we be sure in our faith that the word of God really came from God?

God is an eternal being. As such He is not constrained to time as we are.  God possesses the ability to look ahead in time and tell us what is going to happen in the future.  Man cannot do that.  Now let’s be clear, there are all kinds of so-called prophets who have claimed to be able to do this.  And no doubt there are some who get it right from time to time.  Call it an informed prediction or call it blind luck, they’ll get one right here and there.  But only God can look down the corridors of time and see what is going to happen with 100% accuracy.  Let’s take a look at a few that are just too compelling to ignore.  There are prophecies in the Bible that just cannot be simply explained away or ignored.

Open with me to Psalm 22 in your Bibles please and let’s take a look at one of these prophecies.  King David was undergoing some trials in life which he wrote about.  Just for the record, King David lived about 900 years before Christ walked the Earth.

Psalm 22 starts with the words, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”  Those words sound familiar don’t they?  We’ve all heard those before.  Those were the words Jesus cried from the cross right before He died.   Almost this entire Psalm is a Messianic foretelling of the crucifixion of Christ but in particular let’s focus on verses 13-18, which read, ”

13 They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion.

14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.

15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.

16 For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.

17 I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me.

18 They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.

When Jesus Christ was crucified, they spike him to the cross through the hands and feet.  They stripped him naked and cast lots for his garments.  The horrific imagery of suffering in David’s Psalm are the symptoms of a crucifixion.  People who are crucified cannot exhale with the weight of their bodies hanging on their outstretched arms.  In order to breath, the victim has to pull himself up with his arms and push up with their feet and hold themselves up long enough to catch a few breaths of air and then collapse back again into a position where it is impossible to get enough breath to live.  This goes on until the victim is too weak to sustain this and dies of exhaustion asphyxiation.  That’s why their legs of the two thieves crucified with Jesus were broken.  They wanted to speed things along so by breaking their legs, the victims were no longer able to use their legs to pick themselves up for those breaths of air.  Death came quickly after that.  All of the suffering conditions David wrote of in that passage were symptoms of a crucifixion.

Now I ask you.  How could David have chosen the words “they pierced my hands and my feet.” and “They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.”   without a little divine assistance?  How would a man who lived 900 years before Christ was pierced through the hands and the feet and had His clothing distributed by casting lots on them know to write these words?  The answer..  He couldn’t have.

How about Isaiah 53:3-12

3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.

8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.

9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.

10 Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

Isaiah wrote those words about 700 years before all of the things he said in this prophecy happened to Jesus Christ.  How could he know that all on his own?  And to make it even more compelling, if the Christian religion were some kind of a hoax, then the architects of that hoax began planning it thousands of years before it ever happened.  And to dream up a hoax that ended with the death of their champion?  How could Isaiah have known Jesus was going to do that?  How did David know that Jesus would have his hands and feet pierced?

There are roughly 400 messianic prophecies that provide details of Jesus that no one could have possibly known without divine knowledge.  Isaiah 7:14, “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”  Just a lucky guess or a hoax 700 years in the making?

The Bible is full of this kind of stuff.  The scriptures as we have them could not exist without the direction of someone who was able to foresee the future with unerring accuracy.  No man is capable of such a feat.  No group of men are capable of such a feat.   There’s too much time involved and only an eternal God who can see ahead for centuries could explain what we have in scripture.  God has left His fingerprints all over the Bible for anyone who wishes to see it.

Where are the Directions?

God made sure the Christians had them in first century.  They had them all.  Nothing was left out.

God made sure those directions were written down.  All of them.  Nothing we need was left out.

God made sure those directions were preserved for all who would come after.  All of them.  Nothing we need was left out.

God planned it, executed it, confirmed it, recorded it and preserved it.  He has had his hand in this from the beginning and all throughout the centuries.  When it comes to the directions, God’s got this covered.  And as such, we can put our trust in it.  We can live our lives by it.  We can be absolutely sure and absolutely confident that the directions we have in the word of God today are the directions we need.  We can live our lives according to the word of God with absolute assurance and confidence that the words that are going to judge us in the last day are the same words we have in our possession right now.  The scriptures we have today came from the mind of God, were delivered by God, communicated by God, authenticated by God, written down by God and preserved by God to this very day.

So it is with supreme confidence that I stand before you today and quote James 1:21, “Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.”

John 17:17, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.“

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