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Bible Study- Lutz, Florida
Rightly
Dividing the Word of Truth
2
Timothy 2:15
This is good and acceptable in the
sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of
the truth. 1Timothy
2:3-4
Christmas 2012
Welcome back and may I
take the time to send
the warmest Christmas wishes to you and your families. May God shower his choicest blessings on you
and your loved one this Christmas and in the coming New Year!
*****
It
is customary for our Bible study group to take time off during the Christmas
holiday season to spend time with their family and friends.
I
usually end the year with a Bible lesson centered on a Christmas theme.
I
chose a Bible verse from the book of Isaiah this year.
Please
open your Bible to Isaiah chapter 9.
I
want to begin with this comment.
There
are only two camps in this “world” Believers and unbelievers.
There
is no middle ground or “fence-sitting,” when faith in God is the question.
From
Scripture we learn this very important Truth.
Hebrews 11
6: And without faith it is impossible
to please Him, for he who comes to God must (do what) believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek
Him.
This
is one of the absolutes in Scripture. It
is always true and forever constant!
Isaiah 9
2: The people who walk in darkness
Will see a great light;
Those who live in a dark land,
The light will shine on them.
O.k.
Bible students let’s break this down so we can understand it.
The people = the nation of
Israel
who walk in darkness = a general term;
meaning –profanity, idolatry, worldly lusts
The light will shine on them = the light is the promised
Messiah
Let’s
compare Scripture with Scripture.
Please
open your Bible to the book of John, chapter 1.
The book of John was written to a Jewish
audience to prove conclusively that Jesus is the Son of God. A few of John’s brethren believed that Jesus
was the promised Redeemer (Messiah) but the majority of the Jews did not.
John 1
1: In the beginning was the Word, (note the
capitalization; this is in reference to deity) and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2: He (Jesus Christ) was in the beginning with God.
3: All things (all means all) came into being through Him, and apart from
Him nothing came into being that has come into being.
4: In Him was life, and the life was
the (what’s
the next word) Light (capitalized)
of men.
5: The Light shines in the darkness
(same
word as we read in Isaiah chapter 2)…,
Now
when you enter a dark room and flip
the light switch what happens to the darkness?
The light drives it away. Darkness cannot tolerate the light.
The Light (Jesus Christ) dispels darkness, which stands for evil.
Jesus
Christ pierces the darkness of sin
and death and conquers them.
John 8
12: Then Jesus again spoke to them (the Pharisees) saying, “I am
the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in darkness, but
will have the Light of life.”
Let’s
return to John chapter 1 and take a closer look at verse 5.
I
want to draw your attention to something important.
John 1
5: The Light shines in the darkness, and
the darkness did not comprehend it (comprehend means: to lay hold of so as to make it one's own).
This
is the first “hint” in this gospel of the struggle between belief and unbelief.
Even
after all the miracles, signs, and wonders, which Jesus performed before
thousands of witnesses and Jewish religious leaders; the majority of these still
would not believe, which prompted Jesus to proclaim:
John 5
37: “And the Father who sent Me, He
has testified of Me. You have neither
heard His voice at any time nor seen His form.
38: “You do not have His word
abiding in you, for you do not believe Him whom He sent.”
Point
of Truth: people have a problem trusting God.
To be
quite frank they don’t believe God!
There
is a big difference between believing in God and believing in what God says.
Think
about that.
The
simplest definition of faith I know is this.
Faith is simply taking God at His word!
Mankind
is a stubborn lot and then there is the issue of free will also.
Which,
in my humble opinion, is one of the reasons God gifted mankind with the printed
Word; to help us along with our stubbornness.
But
how do we know for certain the Bible is actually of God?
We
can know the Bible is from God, because:
- It does not have mistakes or contradictions, when it’s Rightly Divided!
- When it has written about future events, (Prophecies) they have always come true, even though some prophecies were written hundreds of years earlier. There are over 600 prophecies that have come true and no prophecies that have been proven false
- The truth it contains has changed countless lives of many people
- It does not contradict with History, archaeology or true science
- It has survived through thousands of years, even with great opposition.
No
other spiritual book or any other book for that matter can claim all these
things.
In
addition, let’s not overlook the faithfulness of the Creator God!
Numbers 23
19: “God is not a man, that He
should (do
what) lie, Nor a son of man, that He
should repent; Has He said and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it
good?
And:
1 Corinthians 1
9: God is faithful, through whom you
were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Approximately
300 Messianic prophesies written
hundreds of years before Jesus’ birth which foretold a coming Messiah. These writings were circulated 430 years
before Jesus’ birth. They mention
specific names, dates, and locations.
Every one of these prophecies was fulfilled
in the life of Jesus Christ.
Coincidence;
I think not.
Supernatural;
Most definitely!
And
yet the majority of the world continues to walk in darkness and UNBELIEF.
The
world and its offerings has become their god.
The
Bible warns against this lifestyle.
1 John 2
15: Do not love
the world nor the things in the world.
If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father (note the
capitalization –this is deity) is not in
him.
16: For all that is
in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the
boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.
17: (Take note :) The world is passing away, and also its
lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.
“The
world” would also include man’s speculations, lies, and falsehoods raised up
against the knowledge of God (2 Corinthians 10:5).
Instead
of the Creator God, unbelievers devote their lives to human wisdom, human
thought, and human ideologies; theory, philosophy, and science.
Mankind’s
vain attempts to explain Jesus away or to eliminate Him entirely are not new. The Apostle Paul addressed this issue when he
wrote his letter to the Romans
(Romans
1:18-23).
Man should remember these words of wisdom…
Proverbs 16
18: Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before stumbling.
*****
O Holy Night
An
angel of the Lord appeared to shepherds who were watching their flock on the
night of Jesus’ birth. The angel heralded
Jesus’ birth.
Luke 2
10: …”Do not be
afraid; for behold I bring you good news (Greek word is Euaggelizo – means “to proclaim.”) of great joy which will be for all people;
11: for today in
the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
12: “This will be a
sign for you (the
Jews always demanded a sign before they would believe): you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
Hark! The herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King;
Peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!”
“Glory to the newborn King;
Peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!”
The
angel of the Lord “heralded” the
birth of Jesus Christ.
That
is to say the angel “proclaimed” (Greek word = kerusso) Jesus’ birth and also its
spiritual implication.
Note:
the angel didn’t stop to discuss or debate Jesus’ birth with man.
The
angel “proclaimed” the message and
left (Luke 2:15).
Hang
onto that thought as we turn to Acts chapter 17.
Here
we find the Apostle Paul waiting for his two companions, Silas and Timothy, in
the city of Athens, Greece. While Paul
was waiting, “his spirit was provoked
within him as he was observing the city full of idols…” (Acts 17:1)
It
has been said there were more idols in the city of Athens then there were
people!
They
even had had a statue there dedicated to an “unknown god;” just in case…
Acts 17
17: So he (Paul) was reasoning in the synagogue with the
Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and in the market place every day with those
who happened to be present.
18: And also some
of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were saying, “What would this idle
babbler wish to say?” Others, “He seems
to be a proclaimer
(kerusso) of strange deities,” – because
he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection.
God
chose the word “kerusso” (proclaim) to show in the great message (Jesus’ death,
burial, and resurrection) how He absolutely passes by the intellect of man, and
sets aside all his possible reasoning, ability, philosophy, and wisdom – in
this amazing way: “by the proclaiming!”
I want you to picture this setting in your mind.
Here
comes a small and weak Jew (the Apostle Paul) upon the assembly of the earth’s
wise at Mars Hill in Athens: proclaiming (kerusso) Jesus crucified, dead,
buried, and resurrected.”
It
is foolishness to these “wise,” “educated,” and stoic philosophers.
Yet
“certain men” – including one Mars Hill philosopher, and one prominent woman,
and others with them, believe the proclamation, and will spend eternity with
God.
(Acts
17:34)
Paul,
also a herald, he does not stop to argue – he has a message; the message is
left. Man is set aside!
Therefore,
he does not pay attention to Jews who would say to him,
“We
have wonderful forms of religion; we have a great temple!”
No,
he proclaims, “a Messiah crucified” and walks on.
And
he does not lend an ear to the “naysayers.”
“The
educated” who call out to him, “We have a new philosophy to discuss.”
No;
he proclaims “a crucified, dead, buried, and risen Son of God”,
and moves on.
Those
who are ordained to eternal life will believe.
Those
who are offended or stirred to anger still have options.
Against
the backdrop of man’s conceit, we have the wisdom of God.
The Wisdom of God
1 Corinthians 1
18: For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
19: For it is written,
“I WILL DESTROY THE WISDOM OF THE WISE,
AND THE CLEVERNESS OF THE CLEVER I WILL SET ASIDE.”
20: Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
21: For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.
22: For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom;
23: but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness,
24: but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
25: Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
There
is no middle ground – you can’t be a fence sitter.
Choose
wisely.
The
manger was filled
The
tomb was empty
Jesus
Christ is coming back –
Words
of Truth
©
Copyright 2011
GJ
Heitzman’s Ministry
All
Rights Reserved
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