What do we know?

 Isaiah 40: 21-23 

 

The Bible askes us some question. 

Isaiah 40: 1 

Have ye not known?  (Known what?) 

Have ye not heard?     (Heard what?) 

Hath it not been told you from the beginning? 

Have ye not understood from the foundation of the word?                  (Told what? Understood what?) 

 

The book of Psalm doesn’t ask but tells us. 

Psalm 44:1 

We have heard with our ears!     (Heard what?) 

Our Fathers have told us!            (Told us what?) 

 

The Apostle Paul Explains Some of this from Mars Hill in Acts. 

Acts 17:24 

God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; verse 25, Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needs any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; Verse 30, And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now cammandeth all men every where to repent: 

 

This is what we have known and heard and have been told and understand. 

 

Romans 10:9, 10 

  That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.  verse 10, for with the heart man beleiveth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 

Ezekiel explains how salvation works

 We have read in the Bible where Jesus says that we must be born again.

John 3:3 “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 

The Bible says that all have sinned.

Romans 3:23  “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”

And also that the wages of sin is death.

Romans 6:23  “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Notice in this verse that the Bible says the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

So God’s word says that if we call upon the name of the Lord we can be saved.

Romans 10:13  “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

So, as God’s word says we can confess the name of Jesus and believe in our heart that God raised Him from the dead thus we can be saved.

Romans 10:9,10 “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 

For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

And then the Bible says that we become new.

2 Corinthians 5:17  “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

Here is how all this works.  The word of God explains this in Ezekiel chapter 36.

Ezekiel explains That God will take out our stony heart of sin and give us a fleshly heart that loves Him.

Ezekiel 36:26  “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.”

Then Ezekiel explains that God will put His spirit in us so that we can walk in His statutes.  We will be able to walk in righteousness.

Ezekiel 36:27  “And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.”

Ezekiel explains that then we can go to heaven to be with Him.

Ezekiel 36:28  “And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.”

Jesus says in God’s word that he is coming back to take us to our new home.

John 14:3  “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”

Fear Not - Hebrews 13: 5, 6

I) Fear Not Man
A) God will never leave us Hebrews 13:5
“Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”
1) God will go with you to fight for us. Deuteronomy 20:4
“For the LORD your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.”
2) Put your trust in God. Psalm 56:4
“In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.”
3) The Lord is on our side. Psalm 118:6
“The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?”
B) We are established and sealed by the Lord.
2 Corinthians 1:21-24
“Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts. Moreover I call God for a record upon my soul, that to spare you I came not as yet unto Corinth. Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy: for by faith ye stand.”
II) Fear not for we are strengthened.
A) Strengthened by the hand of the Lord. Ezra 7:28
“And hath extended mercy unto me before the king, and his counsellors, and before all the king's mighty princes. And I was strengthened as the hand of the LORD my God was upon me, and I gathered together out of Israel chief men to go up with me.”
B) We receive Power, love, and a sound mind.
2 Timothy 1:7
“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”
1) Be not ashamed. 2 Timothy 1:8
“Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;”
III) Fear not and work for the Lord.
A) Fear not and work God is with you. Haggai 2:4,5
"Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the LORD; and be strong, O Joshua, son of Josedech, the high priest; and be strong, all ye people of the land, saith the LORD, and work: for I am with you, saith the LORD of hosts: According to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, so my spirit remaineth among you: fear ye not.”
B) Fear not and confess Jesus. Luke 12:6-8
“Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows. Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God:”

Keep your focus on Jesus in 2018

All through Christmas we have been focused on the reason for Christmas and that is Jesus. Christmas is over and we are looking at the new year.

Let's keep our focus on the Lord. Having your eyes on the Lord. Your eyes of understanding. Ephesians 1:17-19 "That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,"

The wise men had their eyes on Jesus as they followed the star. Matthew 2:1,2 "Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him."

Paul's traveling brothers had their focus on Jesus. Colossians 4:14, Philemon verse 24, & 1 Timothy 1:2 "Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas, greet you. - Marcus, Aristarchus, Demas, Lucas, my fellowlabourers. - Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord."

Think about when your eyes of understanding were opened. And when your eyes of understanding of the meaning of Christmas. When you called upon the name of the Lord and was saved. Or have you done what the Bible says in John 1:12 "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:"

How easy it is to lose our focus on Jesus.

The wise men lost their focus when they got to Jerusalem. They relied upon their own understanding that a king was born so they went to where they thought a king would be. Proverbs 3:5 "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding." They were following God and his star, then they looked to man, and after being set back on track they were back following the star again, which they could have stayed following. Matthew 2:9 "When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was."

Demas took his focus off Jesus. 2 Timothy 4:10 "For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia."

But Timothy kept his focus on Jesus. 1 Timothy 6:20 "O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called:"

How do we keep our focus on Jesus?

  1. Hide his word in your heart. Psalm 119:11 "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee."

  2. Gird up the loins of your mind. 1 Peter 1:13 "Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;"

  3. Think on Good things. Philippians 4:8,9 "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you."

  4. It takes sacrifice. Romans 12:1 "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service."

Why in the world would anyone want to read the King James Bible?

The King James Bible is written in a poetical format. For memorizing verses, being poetical is a big help for a person’s mind. God’s word in history has undergone 7 trials from 1300 to 1599. These 7 trials are listed here noting that the first 5 trials were met with death and persecution. John Wycliffe translated the original writing of the Bible content into the 1st English Bible. Persecuted for his faith, he died in 1384. John Huss deemed that the translation of John Wycliffe was indeed accurate. Huss was burned at the stake for his faith in 1415. William Tyndale, a master of language, translated the New Testament into English. He was burned at the stake for his faith in 1536. His was the first Bible to be copied with a printing press. Miles Coverdale assisted William Tyndale in printing the Bible, and carried on Tyndale’s work after Tyndale was imprisoned. Coverdale was exiled multiple times for his beliefs. John Rogers, under the pseudonym "Thomas Matthew", finished Tyndale’s work and printed the entire bible in English. He was executed for his belief in 1555. The Great Bible was the first English Bible to be authorized by King Henry VIII. The Geneva Bible was the first mass printed English Bible for the people. The King James Bible was authorized by the King of England (James) in 1604. At this time, 47 scholars divided into 6 groups to confirm the accuracy of the previous translations. Each group studied a section of the Bible. These 6 groups came together to take a seventh and final look at the translation. With all in agreement that the translations were accurate, they published the King James Bible of 1611. No other translation has been created that uses this historical biblical lineage of the King James Bible. Who am I to say these great men, who lost their lives translating God’s Word, were inaccurate? The Scripture says in Psalms 12:6 ‘The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.’

The day of the Zombie!

There is a day of the Zombies coming. As a believer in Jesus Christ, I shall not see the day the zombies walk the earth. In all reality there is coming a 5 month period of time that God will remove death from the earth. There will be creatures released during the time of the tribulation and they will be commanded to torment humanity and as you read these verses God orders them not to kill people, but only torment them. As seen in verse 6, the people will seek to die and will not be able to. Let's think about this. Seeking death? I could think of a few ways to seek death; jump off a high bridge, stand in front of a train, strap a bomb to me and set it off. Look at what is written in the word of God. They will seek death, and shall not find it. Hmmm, they will desire to die, but this death will flee from them. Analysis, if someone seeks death and stands in front of a train, but death flees from them, then what do you have? One undead mess. Revelation 9:5, 6 "And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man. 6 And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them."

Life After Death. What if?

Psalm 23:4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. The afterlife, Over Jordan, Heaven... What is it like? What if...What if someone doesn't believe in Jesus? The Bible gives us a few personal accounts of what... of what... Hell is like. The Bible refers to man as a Worm; Job 25:6 How much less man, that is a worm? and the son of man, which is a worm? Psalm 22:6 But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people. Isaiah 41:14 Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the LORD, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. And the Bible makes a reference to people in Hell; Mark 9:44 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. Jesus gives us a personal account of someone who dies and wakes up in Hell. Luke 16:23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. Luke 16:24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. Luke 16:28 For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. The account that Jesus is referring to is not someone in the future, but someone who has died and has entered into the afterlife. Jesus is the way to heaven. John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. John 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: If we do not trust in Jesus then he will say to us; Mat 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: