June 27th - Surety of Victory

Prayer Requests
Dan, Dave, and Channing Preaching

Tyler Preaching Wednesday
Swift Cantrel Witnessing - esp. Linda
Lucas in Indonesia

Hannah Singing

4th of July Witnessing

Text – 2 Peter 3:1-15

I had planned to spend some more time in Second Peter 2, but I think for the most part we’ve covered the important parts of that chapter, and I know how tedious it can get when the teacher teaches on the same topic multiple weeks in a row, so we’ll just do a quick review and move onto the fun part, which is in chapter 3.

If there is one thing I dislike most about our modern Bible it is the chapter and verse break-ups, this is especially evident today as we look at one of the most misquoted verses in the Bible. As I researched this passage I couldn’t find a single person who looked at the thought of Second Peter 3, but only people that looked at single verses, which is utterly dumb.

It is important that we see Second Peter as one book and not as three chapters or sixty-one verses, because if there is any book in the New Testament that is so pointed at where it is going, it is Second Peter. Another book like it is Romans, which really is masterfully written to give you an exceptional theological lesson in chapters 1-11, then gives you a perfect application in chapters 12-16. First Corinthians is also a good example, that we see how utterly wrecked that church is in chapters 1-14, that they’re having sexual immorality problems, money problems, communion parties, cliques are forming, people are speaking in gibberish, everybody talks at once in the church services, and marriages are falling apart, and it all comes to a head in chapter 15 to show that the reason for all of the other problems was a denial of the resurrection of both Christ from the dead, and the believer after death.

Second Peter has a gorgeous progression to make four major points really well so that they are memorable for you. Does anyone remember what those four points are? How to know you’re a Christian, how to grow in knowledge by reading your Bible, the danger of listening to men instead of the Bible, and Christ’s return and the sureness of his victory.

We’re going to see that in Christ’s return is also a definite proof that God will save his saints, just as we saw last week that though God crushed Sodom and Gomorrah he saved Lot. One thing I forgot to mention last week requires approaching that topic again. First, when Sodom and Gomorrah are mentioned in books other than Genesis, what are they normally used to demonstrate? God’s ability to make a complete end, even extinction, of the wicked. But which was the sin that the Bible says they were partaking in which showed their complete depravity? Homosexuality. After praying about last week’s lesson I really think it’s important that I share one last point which we missed last week.

Romans 1:27 the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

I have to share that the life expectancy of a homosexual man is two-decades less than the life-expectancy of a heterosexual man. There is both a temporal and eternal penalty for this sin, there are many diseases and infections which are only spread through promiscuity, especially within the homosexual lifestyle. I want to make sure you see that this is not just a sin which God picked out at random to pick on, but there are many reasons for it. Who could possibly dislike the guys on Will & Grace? They seem so nice, and definitely have a lot of love, but we need to remember the dangers of this sin and realize that it is really a horrible sin against God and humanity, and we must not give approval to those who practice it.

But just as we saw that God was willing to spare Sodom and Gomorrah for the sake of the righteous, so are we going to see today that God has a patience which has a purpose, and unfortunately one which many mistake for inaction or nonexistence.

2 Peter 3:1-15 This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, "Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation." For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. And count the patience of our Lord as salvation…

In verse 1, Peter affirms that this is the second letter he has written, which is the first letter he wrote? First Peter…that’s a crazy coincidence that his first letter is called the first and his second letter is called the second! Does anybody know which is the third letter he wrote? I believe quite surely that he cowrote Hebrews with Paul, with Luke as the amanuensis. Which Gospel did Peter heavily influence? Definitely Mark and probably Luke as well.

The important part here is that Peter is pointing us back to his first letter, do you remember what the major theme is in First Peter? It’s the resurrection; added into that is a surety of Judgment Day, that this life is not all there is, but that we live a life of godliness looking forward to eternity.

1 Peter 1:13 Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Peter reminds us in verse 1 that he is speaking to believers, by using the term, “beloved”, which references Christ’s beloved and the brotherly bond within the church. This is hugely important as we look through his passage that it is to believers.

In the last days scoffers will arise, and the reason they will scoff is in verse 3 for their sinful desires. Let’s let Paul tell us which these desires are:

2 Timothy 3:1-5 Understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.

v.3 They will say, "Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation."

This is what is known as “uniformitarianism” or the belief that God does not intercede or cause massive changes to the world, that natural processes have been going on since the beginning, which here clearly references the future religion of Darwinism with the idea of the Big Bang. Paul gives a similar warning about avoid science falsely so called. In order to believe in uniformitarianism a person has to deny the Flood, which is exactly what Peter is going to say they will do.

v.4-7 For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

Peter’s favorite Old Testament event, without a doubt, is Noah’s flood. He references it three times making three major points with it. Here he is comparing the effective end of that world to the total end of this world, and the fact that the unbelievers will overlook that fact. Do you know how long Noah was building the ark? 120 years, it was over a century between when God said he would deluge the earth and when he actually did, and during that time no doubt Noah was ridiculed and God was blasphemed. I wonder if they had celebrations every year to make fun of Noah’s boat that he wasn’t using because there was no flood. But they mistook God’s patience for inaction.

v.8-9 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

God is willing to wait, he is outside of time, he has a plan and a purpose to accomplish before he will pour out his wrath. His patience is amazing and meant to lead us to repentance.

Romans 2:4-5 Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.

God is waiting for something very specific to happen before Christ returns to judge the world and for the whole world to be burned up in wrath. Before we look at what that is, let’s look at what God was waiting for before he deluged the world in Noah’s day. When we look at the genealogies in Genesis 4 and 5 we something interesting, that Cain’s genealogy is quite wicked, and Seth’s is quite godly. Cain killed his brother, then went out from God’s presence, Lamech was the first one to say, “If one wife is good, then two wives must be extra good.” On the other side we have Seth who led his family to follow God, he had a grandson named Enoch who walked so closely with God that he never died, Enoch had a son named Methusaleh, and Methusaleh had a grandson whose name was Noah who God found favor with. Without a doubt this is my favorite verse in the Bible, it doesn’t add much to our lesson today but I really want to read it:

Genesis 6:5,8 The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.

What is special about Methusaleh? He’s the oldest man who ever lived, how old did he live to? 969. What is special about when he died? It’s when the flood started. The Bible isn’t clear to exactly when the flood started, only an approximate time, but I wouldn’t be surprised that when Methusaleh breathed his last, the first raindrop fell. The Methodist church believes Methusaleh died in the flood, but it’s hugely important for Peter’s lesson that we see that he died and then the flood.

So what was God waiting for to send the flood? The last righteous man on earth besides Noah to die. So now what is God waiting for to send Christ back to earth? The last of his elect to become a saint, to reach repentance. What would have happened if Christ had returned fifteen years ago? None of you would have even existed, let alone reached repentance! God knows exactly how many will believe and Christ will come back at the exact moment that the last of his saints reaches repentance.

He doesn’t want all people to reach repentance and he certainly is willing that some perish, because many do perish, and what God wills will come to fruition, else he wouldn’t be sovereign and omnipotent.

Romans 9:22-23 God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory…

v.10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

So we see a world prepared for destruction, when with a tremendously loud sound the sky will roll back, Christ will be seen, and he will wage war on his enemies. Let’s read my all time favorite verse:

Revelation 19:11 Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.

At that precise moment we will have his heavenly host of angels gather his saints from all corners of the globe and save them from the destruction to come, at which time it is described that Christ will trample out the winepress of his enemies and he will be covered head to toe in the blood of those who stand against him.

So then we are faced with what we will set our affections on, will it be things of this world, a nice house, a nice car, the body we are currently wearing? Peter tells us exactly where to set our affections.

v.11-13 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

If this world will pass away, then we ought to set our affections on the new heavens and new earth, on the Righteous and Resurrected Christ, growing in holiness and godliness and calling everyone to repentance. Here is what is neat for us that Noah couldn’t do anything about. What needed to happen for the flood to start? Noah needed the Ark, which he had, and every righteous person had to die. Methusaleh’s son, Lamech (not the same Lamech of Cain’s side) had died some five years earlier, and so only Noah and Methusaleh remained. Peter tells us not just to wait for every saint to reach repentance, but also to hasten that day, to hurry that day up. How do we do that? By preaching the gospel! If you witness to someone and they repent and they are the last saint, you could see the heavens opened! Then for all eternity you can bear the crown of calling the last saint to salvation.

v.14-15 Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. And count the patience of our Lord as salvation…

The Father knows what he is doing, and so we continue to grow in grace, being sanctified, living as exiles in this world seeking the welfare of the city we are sojourners in, calling everyone to repentance, and we’re not mad at God for failing to send Christ back, rather we rejoice in his great patience which will result in every single one of his saints reaching repentance, and then the end will come.

Matthew 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

Oswald J. Smith has a fantastic quote which says, “We speak of the second coming; half the world has never heard of the first.” Robert Moffat said on his missionary journeys to India, “I have sometimes seen in the morning sun the smoke of a thousand villages where no missionary has ever been.”

And finally, this prophecy and surety of return is not given for us to stand looking towards Heaven, it is to motivate us to action. William Varner, a professor at the Seminary where I want to pursue my doctorate, put it this way, “Prophecy is not given to form a calendar, but to form a character; a character of prayerfulness, watchfulness, honesty, and holiness.”

June 20th - Sodom and Gomorrah

Prayer Requests
Pastor Aaron Preaching
Camp Results and those who made professions
Dave in NOLA - Lucas in Indonesia
David in California

Text – 2 Peter 2:6-8



[Camp Discussion]

Since I anticipated a lot of students who would be in class that haven't been with us in the beginning chapters of Second Peter, we're going to look at the principles of Second Peter 2, but from a stand-alone topic, which is Sodom and Gomorrah. If ever there were a topic that should have a manuscript that your parents could read, it should be this one, but due to camp circumstances I did not prepare a manuscript, so we are recording this so the audio will be available to your parents.

1. Introduction
_a. Abraham
_b. Lot
_c. Separation
2. Sodom and Gomorrah
_a. Wicked (Genesis 18:20-21)
__i. Christ's Descension
__ii. Hebrews 4:14-15
_b. Homosexuality
__i. Romans 1:26-27
__ii. Revelation 21:8
__iii. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10
___1. Why do we focus on homosexuality as the biggest sin?
___2. Is it first or last? Is it written in red?
__iv. Average of 2,100 partners
__v. Oscar Wilde "Bring me a minister"
_c. Genesis 19:5
_d. Sodom and Gomorrah elsewhere in the Bible
__i. Quoted dozens of times throughout the Bible, almost always points to God's wrath and ability to crush a nation, instead of homosexuality
__ii. Jude 1:7 and 2 Peter 2 point it at homosexuality
3. Salvation
_a. Genesis 18, Abraham intercedes
_b. Genesis 19, Angels save Lot and his two daughters and wife
_c. Righteous Lot? 2 Peter 2:6-8
__i. Daughter issue (twice)
__ii. Distressed over the grievous sins
__iii. Obviously was sinful and made major mistakes
__iv. Covered under the covenant and called righteous
4. Condemnation
_a. Lot's wife
_b. Hebrews 12:1-2 (Look ahead to plough a straight line / run a straight race)
5. Application
_a. Hebrews 13:14
_b. Hate sin, show charity to the sinner
_c. Homosexuality is a horrendous sin, but not irredeemable
_d. God's wrath will awaken (this is the transition for next week)
_e. A complete end of enemies
_f. A miraculous salvation

June 13th - Righteous Indignation

Prayer Requests
Summit
Camp!

Nelly's Mom's Recovery
Lucas to Indonesia

World Cup Missionaries

Text – 2 Peter 2, Matthew 23



As we continue our look at false teachers I want to take a brief step outside of 2 Peter 2 to see how Jesus handled false teachers, because last week we saw that Peter got MAD at these greedy liars, and I want to ask you the question today, are we justified in getting mad?

Psalm 4:4 Be angry, and do not sin; ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent.

It is more than possible to be angry without sinning, if we look at Psalm 7 and about 89 other Psalms, we see that God is angry with the wicked everyday. But we need to ponder our motives and make sure we’re angry for the right reasons, and not just because we have been wronged, but because Christ and his church have been wronged.

Before we watch Matthew 23, let’s see how we’ve gotten to this point. We’re working our way through Second Peter, so let’s look at it.

Who wrote Second Peter? Peter.

Was this written early in his life or late? Late.

What are the four main purposes of this letter? To know how you’re a Christian, to know where to look to find out about God, to beware of false teachers, and to trust in Christ that he will ultimately win.

How do you know you’re a Christian? Your faith in the resurrected Christ is bearing fruit.

Where do we look to find out about God? The Bible.

Anywhere else? Dreams? Visions? No.

What are the two major distinctives of a false prophet? Greed and sexual deviancy.

Something new, do we have the authority to name names and call a false teacher out? Yes. Some want to play the Matthew 18 card on calling out false teachers, but that passage on church discipline is totally about when you are personally wronged, you don’t have to know someone to declare them to be an antichrist, as evidenced by John calling out Diotrephes:

3 John 1:9-10 I have written something to the church, but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority. So if I come, I will bring up what he is doing, talking wicked nonsense against us. And not content with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers, and also stops those who want to and puts them out of the church.

A false teacher I failed to mention last week is Jesse Duplantis, this man is without a doubt one of the most wicked false prophets operating today. He isn’t the most popular because he’s quite flamboyant and weird and so far people are avoiding him, but he is blatant in his lies about God. For example, he preaches on Adam naming the animals in Genesis 2 and says God didn’t know what the animals were and needed Adam to tell him. He also claims to have gone to Heaven like the Apostle Paul; where Paul was all humble about it and says he can’t describe what he saw, Jesse is blatant and describes what he supposedly saw with impossible details. It is astonishing that people will believe stuff like this, because it is radically opposite what the Bible teaches.

But which comes first? The false prophet or the people who will listen to a false prophet? A little of both; Paul says the wickedness of people comes first and they heap to themselves false prophets who will tickle their ears. However, we also see false teachers arising apart from a church and trying to pull people away from the truth.

Matthew 24:24 For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.

So how do we respond to these false prophets? Should we give them hugs and overlook their blasphemies and just assume they are Christians? I got into a huge argument this week with someone who thinks Joel Osteen is just a really confused Christian, but a Christian none-the-less. Joel Osteen is an antichrist, he is not only on the broad road to destruction, he is a tour guide on that path.

Others include the false prophet Mohammed (who had a six-year old wife), Oprah, Ghandi, Pope Benedict, and a thousand others who are murdering souls.

So we get mad, like Peter, and as we’re going to see now, like Christ. A little bit of context first: the main false prophets of Jesus’ day were the Pharisees, these guys took the law, which is meant to point us to a Saviour, and twisted it to make it seem like they could go to Heaven by it. The Bible says to keep the Word at the forefront of your mind.

Deuteronomy 6:6-9 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

Instead of keeping the commandments of God at the forefront of their minds, they tie it to their head. It’s pharisaical in the most literal sense of the word, that they display their own righteousness in the most blatant of ways, utterly missing the true intent of what the Bible means.

Watch Matthew 23 from the Matthew Visual Bible

Matthew 23 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, "The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so practice and observe whatever they tell you— but not what they do. For they preach, but do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others. But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. The greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

"But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.

"Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.' You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred? And you say, 'If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.' You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by him who dwells in it. And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it.

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, saying, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.' Thus you witness against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell? Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of innocent Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.

"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not! See, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'"

It sort of kills the whole girly boy Jesus persona, doesn’t it? We’re talking about eternal souls and the glory of Christ here, we need to get mad when it is warranted. Check out one of God’s most cutting questions to self-righteous Job:

Job 40:7-8 Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me. Will you even put me in the wrong? Will you condemn me that you may be in the right?

Will we condemn God to justify ourselves? Will we lie about him for earthly riches? We must not, for what does it profit a person to gain the whole world and lose their soul?

(Skipped for Time) Let’s look at one of Peter’s case-studies:

2 Peter 2:15 Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing,

Balaam was a sorcerer turned prophet; the king of Moab came to him to pay him to curse Israel. Balaam hired himself out but God wouldn’t let Balaam to curse Israel. Balaam was told not to go, but went anyways; his greed overlooked the direct command of God. Balaam didn’t really gain anything of lasting substance, and ultimately died in battle as an enemy of God:

Joshua 13:22 Balaam also, the son of Beor, the one who practiced divination, was killed with the sword by the people of Israel among the rest of their slain.

So these false prophets are assured of destruction, and they lead many astray. Paul really points at this well when he’s talking about the fruits of repentance, naming that anger against sin and justice against sinners is one of those fruits.

2 Corinthians 7:10-11 Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done. At every point you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter.

Two of the fruits of our salvation are a desire to see justice done, and to be angry over sin. Peter doesn’t explicitly list these in his grouping of fruits, although I think you can make the argument that these fit quite comfortably under virtue.

One of the places this manifests itself most clearly, which is definitely keeping with Peter’s intent, is in doctrinal purity and standing against those who presume to speak for God but tell lies about him and claim to receive extrabiblical information. These are the people who say, “God told me…” or “God is leading me to…”, and we get angry about their false teaching because that is NOT how God works today according to 2 Peter 1, where he has left us his perfect will through the Bible.

Jesus cleansed the temple, Paul stood in front of kings and the Caesar, James preached from the top of the temple when told to recant his beliefs, Peter and John were beaten for preaching Christ and afterwards they went and preached Christ some more. In history we see John Knox standing up to Mary Queen of Scots and making her cry, we see beautiful counsels like the one at Dort which condemned the heresy of Free Will, we see the fight for the Southern Baptist Convention to bring it back to biblical authority. The SBC is literally the only denomination to have died theologically and then later to see a resurgence in conservative and biblical principles.

And which doctrines do we stand up for? Do we pretend that there are essentials and non-essentials, or do we stand on biblical authority. Jesus was mad in Mark for people using the temple complex as a short-cut, something minor was worth him standing for. John Calvin had a group come to him called the Libertines, these were people who believed that since Christ paid for all of their sins, they should sin all the more so that grace would further abound. Their lack of holiness showed their lack of conversion. They came to Calvin wanting to take communion. He positioned himself between them and the table and told them in order to get to the bread and wine they would have to kill him.

Every doctrine is essential and worth fighting over. Jesus played no stupid games of “Let’s just agree to disagree.” He instead requires people to seek the truth or perish in their sins.

John 8:24 I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.

(Skipped for Time) So lastly let’s look briefly at verses 5-9 in Second Peter and whether or not this whole ordeal of false teachers is inside of or outside of Christ’s ultimate plan, whether or not we will all die in our sins or if he is able to save.

2 Peter 2:5-9 if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment,

Peter gives two awesome examples of the world going astray after wickedness, following ungodliness, and shows that in these debacles he saved exactly whom he intended to save.

Genesis 6:5 The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

Before the flood things were TERRIBLE, we don’t have specifics, but we know that everything done was only evil. Today we are exactly the same except for a tiny small remnant of believers who are able to do good through the power of the Holy Spirit. We are like Noah in my favorite verse,

Genesis 6:8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.

And though God put an end to the ungodly, he brought Noah and his family through the flood. He saved exactly whom he intended to save. Peter really loves the Noah story, he mentions it three times and really uses it to make his points well.

We will be saved through baptism into death just as Noah was saved through the flood; just as the flood came upon everyone, so does death come to everyone, but since Noah was in the ark and we are in the Ark of Jesus Christ, we will arrive safely on the other side while the ungodly utterly perish.

Then check out Sodom and Gomorrah, we’re going to spend a whole lot of time on this next week, but just to make the point that Peter is making, both of those cities were totally destroyed, yet Lot who lived there was saved because God wanted him saved.

God is able to rescue us in the midst of the same things that put an end to the unrighteous, even the wickedness of false prophets. So your application is to make your calling and election sure, to make sure you are saved in Christ, then live out a Christlike life which is permeated with love of righteousness and anger over wickedness, which is charitable and humble and watchful and active, loving justice and mercy, seeking the godly repentance that leads to life, both in yourself and in those whom you minister to.

March 8th - Love Demonstrated I

Prayer Requests
Pastor Aaron Romans 8
Channing Preaching
E-Team
Jerrold Stouder Preaching/Job
FCA @ Awtrey
Dare2Share efforts
Missy & Ted Job
Peter's Health

Text – 1 Thessalonians 5:8-15

We’re going to look at pretty much a list of commands today. The Bible is ingeniously written, using parables, poems, narratives (stories), principles and sermons to teach us many points without having to be a list. Such as, “Do do this, don’t do that, do not speed, do drive safely, do not cheat on your homework, do study hard for tests…” It would get tedious quickly, so the Bible gives us principles rather than instructions for the most part and that is how it is authoritative on every thing it talks about.

The Bible isn’t a science book, but when it talks about science, it is authoritative and correct. It isn’t a history book, but when it talks about history it is flawless. It isn’t just a list of morals, but the morals it describes are impeccable.

There are very, very few absolute truths.

For example, what color is the sky? The sky is clear, the refraction of light makes it look blue.

Can 2+2=5?

Is Alcohol always bad?

The only absolute in the universe is God. He is the Truth, his name is True. He is good, he is God, and we are not. Everything he created started out good, but through sin everything has the potential to be used for bad.

So instead of following a list of rules, God gives us guidelines to follow, he is equally concerned with our motives as with our actions.

For example, what is the 6th Commandment? Thou shalt not murder…yet what does Genesis 9:6 say?

Genesis 9:6 Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.

The motive changes whether it is sinful or good. So God doesn’t give us hard and fast rules to live by, but an example in his perfect sinless Son. Just like looking in a mirror to determine how you look, so is looking into the law the way we know if we are righteous or not.

And are we? No, we’ve broken all 10 of the 10 Commandments, in spirit if not in flesh, and were utterly lost, sold into sin, when Jesus Christ died for us and we have obtained salvation, being justified by faith. So how then should we live?

1 Thessalonians 5:8-15 Since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone.

v. 8 Since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.

What’s a breastplate? It is a piece of body armor that covers your upper torso, it protects all of your vital organs. The Bible uses various organs to describe our emotions, one of the reasons these are so named is where God has put our feelings, for example, has anybody ever had “butterflies in your stomach”? Did you really have butterflies, or did it just feel that way? But the feeling is in the stomach, right? The Bible describes this part of our body as our compassion. Similarly, our heart is the center of our emotions.

In protecting these two parts with the breastplate of faith and love, we are able to continue living for God, belonging to the day, remaining serious in our sanctification and ministry.

Say someone comes along and says, “We’ve proved evolution, absolutely, definitively, therefore the Bible is false.” Because the Bible cannot stand with evolution, they are entirely contradictory, either the Bible is right or evolution is right, because God is a God of completion, man caused death, and evolution is contradictory to the Bible in so many ways there is no way to reconcile the two. So, somebody comes along and says, “We’ve proved evolution, absolutely, definitively, therefore the Bible is false.” If you don’t have faith in God and the Bible, then you might think, “Oh no! I’m believing in vain, if I can’t trust the Bible, who can I trust?” But if you trust the Bible, then you can say, “Yeah, they’ve tried that before and it’s always been a bust, evolution is false, the Bible is true, God created the world complete a little over 6000 years ago.” Then you ask, “So what’s your proof?” And they’ll come back with something stupid like, “We’ve found a tooth in Africa that comes from our earliest ancestor and it dated to 9 Million years ago…” And you look at the tooth, and say, “Obviously this is your tooth, see, the one you’re missing, yep it’s this one.” Faith will make all the difference in how you are approached by things like that, always have the presupposition that the Bible is true, and it will always turn out to be correct, no matter how much someone thinks they’ve disproved it. Love will put your faith into action and you will become effective for every good thing that is in you for the sake of Christ.

Here's the Video we talked about


For our helmet we put on the hope of salvation. The helmet covers your head, the place of the intellect. God wants you to know that you are saved, the Bible is replete with tests for determining if you’re actually saved. If you’re not absolutely sure you’re going to Heaven, then you are probably not, so please see me after class or give me a call or shoot me an e-mail or ask your parents or Dave Snyder, because God wants you to know. The helmet of the hope of salvation will allow us to intellectually fight for the faith and defend ourselves and the church from attack.

Hebrews 13:6 We can confidently say, "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?"

Something Paul does a lot is mirror the beginning of his letters with the end, he does it here.

1 Thessalonians 1:2-3 We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

The directions to come relate to how they are to be imitators of Christ, which was how Paul started the Epistle, but first he reminds us of the Gospel, which he had given also in chapter 1.

This is what we have faith in, what drives our lives, and where our hope comes from:

v. 9-11 For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

The wrath that we stored up didn’t just go away, but Christ absorbed it on Calvary’s cross, therefore we are reconciled in his death and saved in his life. So now we are confident that whether we are alive or dead, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.

The natural response to this is to tell people about it, and to encourage them and build them up to likewise tell more people about it. So then Paul jumps into some basic rules.

v. 12 We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves.

This one is pretty straight forward, love your pastors, and esteem them for their work towards eternity. Truly there is no more important job than that of shepherd of Christ’s flock, he is the Good Shepherd, who laid down his life for his sheep, we ought to be imitators of him.

1 Timothy 5:17 Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching.

Respect them even in their admonishing of you, admonishing means correcting. In this, you should be reading your Bible so that you know if they are teaching sound doctrine, and so you can tell that they are being biblical.

Proverbs 27:5-6 Better is open rebuke than hidden love. Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy.

When we correct you, it’s not out of malice or to make you feel bad, it’s to lead you in the truth. Speaking of shepherds, a real literal shepherd carries a staff, one of the reasons for this is to poke the sheep to get them to go where they need to go. Sheep are stupid, as the shepherd is driving them to water or pasture, they will sometimes get on pretty worn trails, where other sheep have been, and those sheep have to use the bathroom.

A sheep gets thirsty, sees liquid, and drinks it. It’s the shepherds job to hit it with his staff so it keeps going so that it gets to the good water. The same with your pastors, you might think you find happiness in varying things, like video games, or television, or in popularity, it’s their job to point you at Christ and say, “There is something infinitely better and it’s my job to get you there.” It’s not that they don’t like you, it’s that they love you that sometimes there is admonition and rebuke, if you realize that they have your best interest at heart then it will be easy to love them.

But remember there are wolves in sheep’s clothing, so constantly be testing what you hear against the truth of scripture. The worst thing that can happen to a congregation is when the wolf puts on shepherds clothing.

Matthew 7:15 Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

November 16th - Noah's Sons and History

Prayer Requests
Jim Jones (not the cult leader) passed away this week, his ministry will be sorely missed
Pastor Aaron preaching on Romans 6
Allen Hardage's Restaurant
Preaching at KSU
Melissa - In a Cult
Disciple Now
National Revival

Last Week
Paul got mad at the Jews, why? They were blaspheming the name of Christ.
What's another term for Jew? Semite.
Where does that name come from? Noah's son.

Correction from Last Week
The Lamech who had two wives was not Noah's father, there are two Lamechs. Lamech means Peasant, this might give us a look into the pre-flood culture, that there were two Lamech's at the same time, they might have been stripped of their personal humanness to be called by their social caste. Maybe...don't build a church on that idea though.

Names in the Bible
In the Bible names usually mean things. Jesus means God Saves, Saul means Big and Paul means Small. Adam means man and it came from Adamah which means ground.

Adam is an individual man, where-as mankind is Ish. Man and woman are sort of an attempt to show the Hebrew variations of man and woman, it misses something neat though. Man is Ish, Adam said he'd call woman Ishah, because she was taken out of man. Ishah isn't just Ish with an ah added, Ishah is close to Hebrew for soft, which is Isha...the length you hold the last vowel makes a big difference in which word you're saying. Adam made a play on words. Some of have also said that the ah on the end makes the word softer...that's how Hebrew works though, add an -ah and it usually becomes feminine.

We're going to be looking at a lot of names today, and we're going to be staying almost exclusively in Genesis 4 and 5.

Noah was from Seth's lineage, we're going to be looking at Cain's lineage today. I used to think this was a mistake in the Bible, or at least superfluous, because it tells us all of this stuff about Cain's family, which was wiped out in the flood, but of course there are no mistakes in the Bible and all of this is absolutely trustworthy, I'll show you why.

Genesis 4:19 And Lamech took two wives. The name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah.

Lamech was the first to say, "If one wife is good, two wives must be extra good." He was the first to break the marriage covenant. He also killed someone, this story may mirror John the Baptist's story when Herod had him killed for John telling Herod that he couldn't marry two women. Again, don't build a church on this.

Lamech means Peasant
Adah means Dawn or Brightness
Zillah means Shadow

Usually in the Bible, the name given first is the first born or first wed or predominant person. Using that logic, Adah was probably Lamech's first wife, and a legal wife. Which makes Zillah the adulteress. Keep that in mind.

Genesis 4:20 Adah bore Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock.

Jabal means Shepherd

Remember that the Semites became the shepherds? Jabal's daughter must have married Shem.

Genesis 4:21 His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe.

Jubal means literally a trumpet, but figuratively a Musicician.

Remember the Japhethite's became your artsy people. Jubal's daughter must have married Japheth.

Jabal and Jubal were born to Adah, the legal wife, they were not born from a sinful union. That is not the same for their half-brother.

Genesis 4:22 Zillah also bore Tubal-cain; he was the forger of all instruments of bronze and iron. The sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.

Tubal-cain means Follower of the Striker, or figuratively Blacksmith
Naamah means Demon

Every word in the Bible is there for a reason. At first I couldn't figure out why Naamah was in the Bible, but look at what happened later. Ham either married Tubal-cain's daughter or possibly he married Naamah. Either way, Ham's sin, along with Lamech's sin, led to Canaan's curse to be a slave to the Semite's and Japhethites.

Two Things to Learn
1. Sin is serious; it not only affects you, it affects generations to come. Lamech's sin directly effected his (at least) Five-Time great grandson Canaan.

2. What God has given is good; music and livestock/agriculture are good, but what man makes is not so good. One example is the automobile. Our ability to drive long distances has done terrible damage to community, we now get to hang out only with people we like, where-as before the car, you'd just go to your closest church, you'd have to be aquainted with your neighbors. Now we don't, we only hang out with people we like and that has wrecked our empathy.

Reader's Note - We talked briefly about the social group called the Emo's, and how important it is to befriend them because they are in need of empathy, and this is the Christlike thing to do.

So lets look at some things. (This table was impossible to put on this website)

Sons of Noah
Shem - Israel & Palestine / Shepherds / Religious & Spiritual
Ham - Africa & Asia / Slaves / Inventors
Japheth - Europe / Musicians / Artsy & Philosophical

Abraham's Wives
Sarah - Semite - Isaac - Israel
Hagar - Hamite - Ishmael - Islam
Ketureh - Japhethite - Lots of Sons - Everybody Else

Remember the promise made to Abraham before he had children.

Genesis 17:4-7 Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you.

Salvation was promised to the descendents of Abraham. It was God's plan all along to save from the Semites, Hamites, and Japhethites.

Galatians 3:29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.

Jews were expecting salvation only for them, but that was nearsighted.

The Synoptic Gospels
Matthew - Jesus the King - To the Semites
Mark - Jesus the Servant - To the Hamites
Luke - Jesus the Physician - To the Japhethites

Matthew -
- To the Jews
- As a Baby kings were afraid of Jesus
- Lord of the Sabbath
- Sermon on the Mount - Showed his authority

Mark -
- To the Gentiles
- Jesus -
- - Feeding
- - Healing
- - Cleansing
- - Submissive to God

Luke -
- To the Gentiles
- The Science of Jesus
- Authority over
- - Nature
- - Death
- - Sin

Who is John written to? Everbody!
What's John's two purposes? Jesus is God; Love One Another

Who visited Jesus?
1. Shepherds - Semites
2. Wise Men - From where? Asia. Hamites
3. Greeks - John 12. Japhethites

To at least continue in the theme of 1 Thessalonians, lets read 2:17-20 with our last remaining minutes.

1 Thessalonians 2:17-20 But since we were torn away from you, brothers, for a short time, in person not in heart, we endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire to see you face to face, because we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, again and again—but Satan hindered us. For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? For you are our glory and joy.

Paul, Silas, and Timothy were torn away from the church, and Paul's anger at the Jews was compounded by his experience in Corinth.

Even though they were separated in body, they were still with them in heart.

Charles Spurgeon said this, A good character is the best tombstone. Those who loved you and were helped by you will remember you when forget-me-nots have withered. Carve your names on hearts, not on marble.

I was shocked when reading this passage that Paul was boasting and glorying in this church. We are supposed to boast only in Christ...but who is the church? The body of Christ. I boast on this class all the time, especially since I've heard from several of your parents that you're sharing your faith and inviting friends to church. I'm very proud of you for doing that.

Follow Up
- Hand out some Gospel tracts this week.
- Next week will be mostly for D-Now follow-up, if we have time we'll look at a little bit at the vine of Christ and the branches of the church.
- I've strayed far from 1 Thessalonians, but I think these lessons are important to fully understand who the church is, who the Jews are, and who Israel is. I don't know how much time we'll have next week, but in preparation, please read John 15 and Romans 9-11, and reread 1 Thessalonians 2:14-20.

November 9th - Paul's Indictment Against the Jews

Prayer Requests
-Pastor Barry Barnett in Wisconsin who is facing prison time for spanking his son.
-Pastor Aaron preaching on Romans 5-6
-Jessica's Dog
-Disciple Now
-Leon's Back

Text - 1 Thessalonians 2:14-16

When was 1 Thessalonians written? AD51
Where was it written from? Corinth
Who made up the church at Thessalonica? Gentiles, probably no Jews; they were either run out of town or killed.

Acts 18:5-8 When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with the word, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus. And when they opposed and reviled him, he shook out his garments and said to them, "Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles." And he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God. His house was next door to the synagogue. Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized.

Paul quoted or alluded to eight different Old Testament Books in this brief event, he wanted to let the Jews he was speaking to know that he was abandoning them in accordance with scripture. He was MAD, I don't think that can be stressed enough...he was so mad that this anger showed up in his letter to Thessalonica at the same time.

He shook the dust from his garments, which was a Jewish custom of saying, "Not only am I through with you and your synagogue, I don't even want the dust from your synagogue to touch me."

The big passage he was quoting was from Ezekiel.

Ezekiel 33:1-6 The word of the LORD came to me: "Son of man, speak to your people and say to them, If I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, and make him their watchman, and if he sees the sword coming upon the land and blows the trumpet and warns the people, then if anyone who hears the sound of the trumpet does not take warning, and the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet and did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But if he had taken warning, he would have saved his life. But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any one of them, that person is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.

This is called a sin of omission, when you commanded to do somehting, and you don't. In this case, it is preaching the truth if you know the truth, otherwise, if you know the truth, and don't preach it, then God will require an account for why you didn't preach. Paul did preach, and they didn't listen, and according to this passage, his duty was fulfilled and he was clean of the blood of the Jews. He began preaching to the Gentiles, which was his primary calling.

Galatians 1:15-17 But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone; nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.

Jesus Christ is ingenious in this, that he sent the smartest Rabbi that ever lived not to the Jews whom he could have done a little good with, but to the Gentiles so they would understand the Old Testament in relation to the New Covenant as explained by a Rabbi who had been studying it his whole life.

So Paul went next door, right next door, according to Acts.

Then what happened? Crispus got saved, the highest Jew in Corinth, the person Paul had likely been seeking to convert since arriving in Corinth. This was probably God's way of saying, "See Paul, I'm in control, if you're obedient, then I will take care of my church, because, after all, I'm the one building the church using you as a tool."

First Thessalonians 2:14-16 was written at the same time as the preaching we just heard about in Corinth, and the anger expressed there carries over into Paul's letter.

1 Thessalonians 2:14-16 For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea. For you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews, who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out, and displease God and oppose all mankind by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles that they might be saved—so as always to fill up the measure of their sins. But God’s wrath has come upon them at last!

Now, first of all, who are these Jews? Another name for Jews is Semites, and that name comes from the very first chapters of the Bible.

- Adam
- Seth - Yes, Seth married his sister...before the Gene pool was corrupted by sin there was nothing wrong with this and it was not socially weird at the time.
- Enosh
- Kenan
- Mahalalel
- Jarod
- Enoch - Extra righteous and was raptured...and no, I did not know Enoch, I'm not quite that old.
- Methusaleh - The oldest man ever to live, most likely died in the flood.
- Lamech - Not the Lamech who had two wives.
- Noah - Righteous in God's eyes, had three sons whom had three wives. More than likely if we search Genesis 4 we could find out a lot about the wives, but I didn't have time when preparing this lesson. (See the next lesson)

Noah had three sons.
Shem
- Shem's descendents are known as the Semites, they are Jews and Samarians
- These are your spiritual people in history.

Ham
- Ham's descendents are known as Hamites, they were the most prolific inhabitors and make up the regions of Africa, Southern Asia, America (Native Americans), and Canaan.
- They are known mostly for their inventions and servant attitudes, including being slaves to both the Semites and Japhethites.

Japheth
- Japheth's descendents are known as Japhethites, and they are those that inhabited Europe and Northern Asia.
- They are known for being Artsy and Philosophical.

Every people group today can be traced back to these peoples, as was prophecized in Genesis.

Genesis 9:19, 25-27 These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the people of the whole earth were dispersed. "Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers." He also said, "Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem; and let Canaan be his servant. May God enlarge Japheth, and let him dwell in the tents of Shem, and let Canaan be his servant."

What happened was Ham started to sink back into the old sinful ways of pre-flood, and they couldn't have that. So Noah cursed Ham, and not only Ham, but his grandson Canaan to show that this curse was genetic and not just against Ham. God ordained slavery and has used it to teach us valuable lessons in history.

How many races are there? ONE, there are many ethnicities, but only one race, all men are created in the image of God and none are to be esteemed above others.

Does God love any people group because of the color of their skin? NO!

In fact, Simon Peter was fairly certain that Jesus had only come to the Jews, then he saw a Samarian saved, and so he figured Christ came only for the Semites, but he was called to preach to some Gentiles, Greeks who were of the Japheth line. Before he preached this, Philip got an Ethiopian Eunich saved, which is a Hamite.

Acts 10:34-44 So Peter opened his mouth and said: "Truly I understand that God is no respector of persons, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ ( he is Lord of all), you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name." While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word.

God saves from each of these people groups, but we see just how in control God is from start to finish of History. For example, Abraham first married Sarah, a Semite, then he married Hagar from Egypt, a Hamite, and finally he married Ketureh, who tradition tells us was a Japhethite.

Who helped Jesus carry his cross? Simon of Cyrene. Cyrene is in North Africa, Simon was a Hamite, this fits perfectly into the prophecy of Genesis 9 that Hamites will serve Semites (Jesus) and Japhethites (Roman Soldiers). A beautiful redemption story in this, is that while Simon carried the cross, there was never an indictment against him for it, and later he likely became a deacon in the church at Antioch, and his father Rufus became a respected member of the church at Rome.

So that's who the Jew's are, Semites. (We'll talk a bit more about this next week, I realized afterwards that I missed a lot of neat and useful things)

Remember, Paul was a Jew. So to jump back into First Thessalonians, the word of God is at work in believers, imitating the church at Judea. Being called imitators of Judea is a compliment, it means that Thessalonica was seeing people saved and being faithful. But, also this was a reminder that persecution was not just limited to Thessalonica, but that Judea had been thoroughly persecuted by non-Messianic Jews.

Jews killed Jesus, but remember that this was a plan of God. We ought not hate Jewish people because of what their ancestors did, but we also must not overlook their sins of continuing to blaspheme the name of Jesus Christ. We know this was a plan of God because we are told so in Acts 2, but we can also see God's hand at work at the trial of Jesus, when there is a murderous thief on stage named Barabbas with Jesus. His name is not a coincidence at all, Barabbas means "Son of Fathers" or to interpret a little, the sons of men stood against Bartheo, the "Son of God". The Son of God was holy, righteous, and pure, the sons of men are unholy, wicked, and defiled. The crowd chose themselves over God, as every people group would have done; this Sunday School class, given the chance in 1st Century Jerusalem, would have cried out for the crucifixion of Christ and the release of ourselves, it is our nature, and yet Christ died for us anyways.

The Jews have gotten the brunt of the blame because they were the ones who were actually there and actually did it.

Paul indicted them on killing Jesus and the prophets. Included in this indictment was John the Baptist, James the Lesser, and who else? Stephen. Who killed Stephen? Paul was instrumental in his murder and yet Paul was so angry he didn't realize he was indicting himself in this letter with the Jews. I think he realized this soon enough and we'll look at why shortly.

They displeased God and opposed mankind by hindering the preaching of the Gospel.

1 Timothy 2:1-7 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

God desires all men to be saved, and yet the Jews were standing against this. (This passage also has good context with the election, don't forget to pray for Obama and his cabinet for wisdom and salvation; and George Bush in his last days in the White House, give him the boldness and wisdom to set-up godly stumbling blocks to oppose Obama's godless actions)

The Jews sinned and sinned and sinned and sinned some more; and the wrath of God has come upon them at last, according to Paul. This is manifested most frighteningly in their being cut-off from salvation.

Now, running out of time, when was First Thessalonians written? AD 51, when was Romans written? AD 60. So 9 years later Paul had changed his tune slightly;

Romans 9:1-3 I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit—that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.

If Paul could have given up his salvation so that Israel would have been saved, he would have done it. That is true love! I believe Paul wrote Hebrews as a last ditch effort to see Jews saved, he didn't sign it because if he had, then they wouldn't have read it because it was from someone they considered totally apostate and their enemy.

We're out of time, we will jump back into this next week and probably go through chapter 3 verse 5.

August 24th - Creation vs. Evolution

For Next Week, we will study evangelism. If at all possible, invite an unsaved friend to come to class!



Prayer Requests-
- Pastor Aaron
- McIntosh's moving
- Praise Report from KSU outreach

Recap - Week 1 - How to get to Heaven

You are saved by grace through faith, not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, so that no man may boast. - Ephesians 2:8-9

Justice is when you get what you deserve, which in this case is Hell for transgressing God's laws.
Mercy is when you don't get what you deserve, which would be if God gave you a reprieve from Hell but wouldn't let you into Heaven.
Grace is when you get what you don't deserve, not only did Christ pay your fine on the cross, he gave you his righteousness so that you can go to Heaven.

We are saved entirely by Christ's gracious payment on the cross and resurrection, this gift is received through faith, so that God gets all the credit and is the one that gets to boast.

Recap - Week 2 - Why the Bible

"This book will keep me from sin,
and sin will keep me from this book."

"A Bible that is falling apart almost always belongs to a person who isn't."

There are over 200 English translations of the Bible, and almost of all of them say the same thing about how to get to Heaven. The reason there are so many is for a lot of reasons. One is translation style, ensuring that certain aspects are emphasized, others are merely for monetary gain, the Bible is the all time best seller and publishers have a lot to gain in having a version. The worst reason is to force presuppositions into the text. Lets look at some different translations.

Good
English Standard Version (ESV) - Essentially literal, maintains poetic language of KJV, a beautiful and faithful translation of the Bible. Canyon prefers this Bible.
Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB) - Preferred by Pastor Aaron and many others, very good Bible.
New American Standard Bible (NASB) - As literal as possible, literalness makes it blocky sometimes. Dave Snyder's preferred Bible.
New International Version (NIV) - Translated to remove ambiguity and improve readability. Is looked down upon by many but is a faithful and useful translation.
New King James Version (NKJV) - Attempted to make KJV more readable, but ran into some copyright issues. Still a good translation and easy to read.

Mediocre
King James Version (KJV) - Excellent translation of the Bible, preferred version for over 350 years, but readability is suffering and the English language has changed so much as to make the KJV very difficult to read. Impeccable translation, but not recommended due to difficulty of reading.
Today's New International Version (TNIV) - Gender inclusivity (neutrality) is teetering dangerously on modifying the Bible. Many good aspects, but with fatal flaws.
New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) and New American Bible (NAB) - Catholic Bibles, well translated in most points, but containing the Apocrypha (extra books). These Bibles will work if nothing else is available.

Bad
New World Translation (NWT) - Jehovah's Witness Bible, specifically edited to remove divinity of Christ.
Contempory English Version (CEV) - Dangerously plays down the sinfulness of sin. This Bible is becoming more and more popular amongst liberal churches.
Amplified Bible (AMP) - More of a running commentary than a translation, the authors force their presuppositions upon the reader and attempt to speak for the Bible.
The Message - A paraphrase of the Bible with damning presuppositions. Very liberal and strays far from biblical intent.

It is important to remember that the Bible is perfect in the original Greek and Hebrew, it is
Infallible - It is true yesterday, today, and forever.
Inerrant - There are no errors or contradictions. If someone shows you a contradiction, contact me or Dave Snyder or Google it, and I guarantee there will be an easy answer, no matter how difficult the "contradiction" seems to be.
Timeless - The Bible is as relevant today as it was when it was written as it will be 'till the end of time.

Most translations have minor translation errors, most of these do not change the meaning of the Bible. Reading at least two good translations will alleviate this issue. Overall the Bible can be trusted.

An example of a translation error is the King James Version, Genesis 1:21 which reads And God created great whales... The word for whales does not mean whales in any way shape or form. The word translated whales is tanniyn which means dragons. The King James Translators in 1611 had never seen a dragon and probably didn't believe they existed outside of the imagination, so they probably chose a large animal that was created on the 5th day, which is the whale. In the 1800's skeletons of dragons were discovered all over the world, their name has since been changed to dinosaur. The Bible speaks of giant reptiles in the sea in the 21st verse.

Elsewhere that dinosaurs are mentioned are Job 40:15-24, the author describes a Brontosaurus,
Behold, Behemoth,
which I made as I made you;
he eats grass like an ox.
Behold, his strength in his loins,
and his power in the muscles of his belly.
He makes his tail stiff like a cedar;
the sinews of his thighs are knit together.
His bones are tubes of bronze,
his limbs like bars of iron.

"He is the first of the works of God;
let him who made him bring near his sword!
For the mountains yield food for him
where all the wild beasts play.
Under the lotus plants he lies,
in the shelter of the reeds and in the marsh.
For his shade the lotus trees cover him;
the willows of the brook surround him.
Behold, if the river is turbulent he is not frightened;
he is confident though Jordan rushes against his mouth.
Can one take him by his eyes,
or pierce his nose with a snare?

And while we don't know what killed the dinosaurs, Isaiah tells us in his 27th chapter, verse 1, In that day the LORD with his hard and great and strong sword will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the twisting serpent, and he will slay the dragon that is in the sea. God killed the dinosaurs, probably to demonstrate his power over these massive animals which men had a hard time killing.

Evolution is a religion with the end goal of saying there is no God, that men are evolving to become gods or as close as they feel is possible. They probably will try to teach you this in school, and we want you to be ready.

Below is a comparison chart:

Creation Proven Man caused death Evidence points to design - Genesis 1:1 Purpose Getting Worse Chicken 6,600-10,000 years old Admit we know very little Life begits life

Evolution Disproven Death caused man Evidence forced to fit model 2 Peter 2:5-6 Accident Getting Better Egg 16 Billion years old Think they know a lot Abiogenesis disproved

1 big problem for both Creation and Evolution, there are stars at least 78 billion light years away according to the Hubble Telescope. Neither belief is old enough to account for this distance, however Einstein's Theory of Relativity says that speed is not as constant as we think it is, and therefore we don't have to worry about this since it is a problem for both beliefs, neither side can claim it.

It is estimated that there are enough stars for each person on Earth (7 Billion people) to own 11 Trillion stars personally. God knows all of the names of all of the stars (Psalm 147:4) and measures the width of the universe with the span of his hand. (Isaiah 40:12)

Evidence of Creation -
Complexity - Your eye contains 137 million light sensitive cells in the size of a postage stamp. It takes in a crystal clear image, focuses faster than you can think, determines distance automatically, has built in moisturizers and windshield wipers. Its complexity and perfection in design warrants a Creator in the same way a camera proves a camera maker.

Laws - The Laws of Gravity, ThermoDynamics, and Sin and Death (Romans 8:2), among many others, are so reliable that scientists never fear that gravity might change and ruin their experiments. These laws point to a Law-Giver.

7 Day Week - The year is based on rotation around the sun, the day is based on rotation on an axis, the lunar calendar is based on the moon's rotation, seasons are based on the tilt of the earth, but the 7-day week has no natural purpose. God created the Universe in 6 days and rested on the 7th, and now ~10,000 years later we still recognize a 7-day week.

Irreducible Complexity - Your heart is one of the most incredible pumps ever created, it pumps 2,000 gallons of blood a day continuously for decades with no external maintenance. But without blood it is useless, and blood without lungs to put oxygen in is useless, and oxegenated pumped blood is useless without arteries and arteries are worthless without veins. All of these are worthless without a body, and a body is worthless without a brain. Each of these must be in place to have a working circulatory system, and therefore could not have evolved, but must have been created whole.

Wall in History - History is fairly clear until ~2200 BC when everything gets fuzzy. The Bible tells us that just before this there was a great flood. We see evidence of this flood in rock layers, oil deposits, fossils, and a panoply of flood stories from all over the world.

Conclusion
Both Creation and Evolution are religions. One comes from God, the other comes from men. There is no doubt from a scientific basis that a world-wide flood occured, and that dinosaurs are in the Bible and other places in history.

Follow-up
Dinosaur Cave Paintings and Pottery
Creation Science Evangelism
Answers in Genesis
The Dying Religion of Evolution, by Canyon Shearer

If you run into a teacher who believes in Evolution, please consider standing up to him or her and simply tell them that your Bible Study Teacher says that evolution is a dying religion. Feel free to have them call me.

Don't forget to invite a friend to class next week, 8/31!

Canyon
928-606-6906