Weekly Bible Study – August 31, 2015

Being a soldier for the Word of God. Part 4.

PLEASE READ FIRST

Scripture References, Word & Phrase descriptions: If available on the website you're viewing this on, a few links (i.e., those without an already written scripture quote or brief explanation) are hover pop-up active, meaning the scripture reference will just pop-up if you hover your cursor over it (don’t click on the link, just hover your cursor over it), they work best using the Firefox browser – pop-ups in Internet Explorer, Chrome & other browsers only appear for a few seconds at best. If you don’t have Firefox (or hover pop-ups aren’t available on the website you’re viewing this on), that’s OK, move your cursor off and on the link until it is read; or left click the link which will open the verse at the online bible; or you can always use your Bible to look up the verses.

Prepare yourself for learning the Word of God!

Before we begin, if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ (that is; you have believed [trusted] in Him for His promised gift of eternal life), it is important to prepare yourself to learn God's Word so take a moment to name, cite or acknowledge (confess) your sins privately to God (i.e.; with your thoughts directed only to God the Father).

1 John 1:9 says: "If we confess our sins, He (God) is faithful and just to forgive us our sins (known sins) and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness [unknown or forgotten sins]." NKJV (New King James Version) [italics added]

If you have never personally believed in the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior (that is, believed in Him for eternal life), the issue for you is not to name your sins; the issue for you is to have faith alone in Jesus Christ alone for eternal life:

John 6:47 says: "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me (Jesus Christ) has everlasting life." NKJV [italics added]

Notice again what Jesus said in John 6:47: "…he who believes in Me (Jesus Christ) has everlasting life." It doesn't say, "will have"; it says, "has." Therefore, the very moment you believe in Jesus Christ for His promise of everlasting life, you have it (it's really just that simple; nothing more and nothing less), and it can never be taken away from you (John 10:28-29). Furthermore, the gift (Ephesians 2:8c) of everlasting life (also called eternal life in scripture) is available to every human being; there are absolutely no exceptions.

John 3:14-18 says: "¹⁴ And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁶ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. ¹⁷ For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. ¹⁸ He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." NKJV

Let us now bow our hearts and take a moment to prepare for worship and learning God's Word. If there is any known sin in your life, this is the time to just cite it privately to God the Father with your thoughts directed towards Him. With your head bowed and your eyes closed, you have total privacy in your mind and soul:

Study to show yourself approved to God!

Grace Bible Church
Robert R. McLaughlin Bible Ministries

The Tree of Life is a weekly teaching summary:
God’s Word is Wednesday, Friday and Sunday mornings

STUDY TITLE:

Being a soldier for the Word of God. Part 4.



OPTION: If you would prefer to go directly to the Grace Bible Church website to read this study message, all verse reference links are active there (but not hover active) and Enlarged Text is also an available option – right click the above link then left click “Open Link in New Window” or “New Tab”

Terms & Abbreviations used:

PPOG = Predesigned Plan of God
Human Good = Evil + Good Deeds while not in fellowship with God
OSN = Old Sin Nature
TLJC = The Lord Jesus Christ
SSE = Spiritual Self Esteem
PVTD = Positive Volition Towards Doctrine
+H - The Happiness of God
NVTD = Negative Volition Towards Doctrine
Doctrine = Bible Truth

To look up other “terms”, go to:

Alphabetical Listing

BEGIN BIBLE STUDY
Unless otherwise noted, all scripture quotes and references
are from the NASB – New American Standard Bible

Being a soldier for the Word of God. Part 4.

There have always been warnings throughout human history concerning not to fall away from the ancient landmarks and biblical foundations such as in passages like:

DEU 19:14, Thou shalt not remove thy neighbour’s landmark, which they of old time have set in thine inheritance, which thou shalt inherit in the land that the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it.

JOB 24:2 Some remove the landmarks; they seize and devour flocks.

PRO 22:28 Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set.

PRO 23:10 Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless.

There has always been a danger of what some have not only called break-through, but in some cases new doctrines. The issue is as the apostle Paul said in 2CO 11:3, But I am afraid, lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds should be led astray from the simplicity and purity {of devotion} to Christ.

Remember that the strategical victory has already been won at the Cross by our Lord and savior while we, the Church, have been left behind to experience and enjoy the tactical victory of our Lord by mean of glorifying Him.

This is why we have passages such as EPH 2:8, For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast.

This is the strategical victory to be followed by the tactical victory found in:

EPH 2:10, For we are His workmanship [new creatures in Christ], created in Christ Jesus for [the purpose of producing good works], which [good works] God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

This is why our Lord said in REV 22:12, “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city.”

There’s a passage found in REV 3:14-22, that teaches us the importance of rebound or repent given to the early church:

Rev 3:14-15, And to the angel [the Greek says, the messenger, a reference to the pastor-teacher] of the church in Laodicea write: The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this: I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I would that you were cold or hot.

Cold or psuchros is used for the unbelievers in the Laodicean church. Of course I hope that you realize that in every local assembly there is the possibility and even probability that there are unbelievers in the midst.

Hot or zestos refers to believers who have lived in the PPOG and who have utilized grace and advanced to maturity. This is important to understand because the lord Jesus Christ [TLJC] is not saying this to mature believers, who are hot, or unbelievers who are cold. This passage is not addressed to the unbelievers at Laodicea or the believers who have PVTD.

The Lord Jesus Christ says, “I am not speaking to the cold or hot” in this verse. In other words, the solution for the cold unbeliever is to believe in Christ. The solution for the hot believer is the problem solving devices made available through his relationship with God. If they were cold, He could give them the Gospel. If they were hot, they would use the problem-solving devices to solve their problems and He would continue to give them advanced doctrine. But, because they are lukewarm, all He can do is warn them.

REV 3:16, “So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.”

This is the story of the sin unto death and one of the greatest tragedies that could ever occur to you as a believer. The sin unto death is God putting His official stamp of loser on the life of the believer and a guarantee of shame and embarrassment at the Judgment seat of Christ.

1JO 2:28, And now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming.

PHI 3:19, whose end is destruction, whose god is {their} appetite, and {whose} glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things.

2TI 2:15, Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth.

REV 16:15, “Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his garments, lest he walk about naked and men see his shame.”

We are never commanded to be baptized with the Spirit, 1CO 12:13.
We are never commanded to be indwelt by the Spirit, ROM 8:9.
We are never commanded to be sealed by the Spirit, 2CO 1:22.

However, we are commanded to be filled with the Spirit, EPH 5:18.
We are commanded to walk by means of the Spirit, GAL 5:16.
We are commanded not to grieve the Spirit, EPH 4:30.
We are commanded not to quench the Spirit, 1TH 5:19.

There are at least Seven Salvation Ministries of the Holy Spirit. God the Holy Spirit did at least seven things for each Church-age believer at salvation. These seven things done for the believer by the Spirit at salvation form the basis for unity among believers.

1. Efficacious Grace - This is the enabling power of the Holy Spirit to the believer in Christ, or the work of the Holy Spirit which enables the believer to have an effective faith in Christ as Savior. 2CO 6:1-2

2. Regeneration - This is the second ministry of the Holy Spirit at salvation and it is often called being "born again," because that's the way it is described in JOH 3:1-18, in our Lord's discussion with Nicodemus.

3. The Baptism of the Spirit - At the moment we believe in Christ, God the Holy Spirit took each one of us and entered us into union with the person of Jesus Christ. (1CO 12:13; EPH 4:5; GAL 3:26-28; COL 2:12; ACT 1:5; ACT 11:15-17)

4. The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit - God the Holy Spirit indwells your body, 1CO 3:16; 1CO 6:19-20; 2CO 6:16, “Your body is a temple of the Spirit who is in you.”

5. The Filling of the Holy Spirit - Taught in EPH 5:18; GAL 5:16. We are filled with the Spirit at salvation when God the Holy Spirit takes us and enters us into the PPOG.

6. The Sealing Ministry of the Holy Spirit - Found in EPH 1:13-14; EPH 4:30.

7. The Sovereign Distribution of Spiritual Gifts to each Believer.

All three members of the Trinity are actually involved in the distribution of our spiritual gifts. God the Father was involved in the distribution of spiritual gifts as a witness to the strategic victory of Jesus Christ after His ascension. This began in the dispensation of the Hypostatic Union, HEB 2”4.

God the Son was involved in the initial distribution of spiritual gifts to the first generation of the body of Christ or royal family. After the first generation of the royal family, God the Holy Spirit is involved in all subsequent distribution of spiritual gifts, 1CO 12:11.

So, in REV 3:16, “So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.”


This is one of the greatest disgraces for a believer. There is no order of the morning star, no uniform of glory, no uniform of honor, no crowns, no official coat of arms and all those wonderful things involved in ruling during the Millennium, Just embarrassment and shrinking in shame at the bema seat judgment.

Now, in verse 17, we note that these people who are in this category may even have certain kinds of prosperity. They may have certain kinds of success and prosperity but their success and prosperity does not bring them happiness.

REV 3:17, Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked,

In this passage, they were not able to pass the prosperity test. They still have the prosperity as they are living in the cosmic system. The prosperity is still there! However, the prosperity that they have in the cosmic system is going to be a means of setting them up for divine discipline. They may think that they’re going to lose their prosperity or they will have absolutely no capacity to enjoy it. Prosperous people like non-prosperous people are very unhappy and unstable people.

Prosperity doesn’t change anything. It may change a few overt manifestations in life, It may change the lifestyle slightly because there is more utilization of monetary things etc...but prosperity and money cannot change the soul.


REV 3:17, Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,”

The moment that you say;
I am successful,
I am rich,
I am wealthy, you know that you have problems!

Once you get into the “I” syndrome there is the exclusion of the PPOG. You’re never going to have a truly successful and meaningful relationship with any human being when you have an attitude like this.

So here we have not some person who is out on the streets or down in a gutter somewhere. This is a person who is wealthy, successful and prosperous. This is the prosperity test.

REV 3:17, Because you say, I am rich, rich or plousios can mean many things; It can mean success, promotion, fame, approbation, social prosperity, sexual prosperity, business prosperity. There’s nothing wrong with prosperity but, all too frequently, there is something wrong with those who have prosperity.

Prosperity was designed to be a blessing but prosperity can never be a blessing for any believer minus capacity. So, in this passage we are talking about cosmic believers who will be embarrassed and shrink in shame at the Judgment Seat of Christ. They are wealthy, successful, prosperous and rich, while they are still in the cosmic system.

REV 3:17, “Because you say, ‘I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,”’

I have need of nothing. I don’t need doctrine! I don’t need a church! I don’t need a pastor! I don’t need the PPOG. And this is all the result of involvement in the cosmic system.

REV 3:17, “Because you say, ‘I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,’ and you do not know that you are wretched...”

That’s no capacity for prosperity, no happiness from prosperity, and poor, no power or strength in prosperity, and blind, no perception of truth, and naked, no uniform of honor in time and therefore no uniform of glory in eternity.

Remember the principle that grace precedes judgment and therefore the Lord offers them some advice on how to recover.

REV 3:18, I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire, that you may become rich, and white garments, that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes, that you may see.

Obviously the first step to recovery is to name and site your sins and then to begin to sort out your priorities and decide what is best for you in life. You need to decide what should have first place on your scale of values. The problems that believers face often come from wrong priorities as well as from the problem of ignorance.

REV 3:19, “Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; be zealous therefore, and repent.”

The word love is the pres-act-ind of the verb phileo, rather strange when you would expect agapao which is generally used for impersonal love.

The manifestation of his love for us now comes out in the next verb, the pres-act-ind of the verb elegcho which means to convince, to convict, to bring to light or to reality. So the word reprove is a good translation.

The present tense is a customary present which indicates that which occurs when a believer becomes involved in the cosmic system and ends up in carnality or becomes fleshly. Such a believer receives warning discipline. However, make sure again that you have in your notes the purpose of discipline which is to motivate you to rebound and recover, not to pay for your mistakes.

The active voice, God produces the action of the verb through the provision of warning discipline.

By involvement in the cosmic system you make a lot of bad decisions as a cosmic believer. These decisions are contrary to the will of God and to the plan of God for your life. These bad decisions are the source of your suffering and misery. Suffering and misery are generally because you have made bad decisions not because you are under divine discipline. In other words, we are under the law of volitional responsibility. We bring about our own suffering and our own self induced misery.

Most believers who think that they are being punished or disciplined by God do not realize that they are being punished by their own bad decisions.

ISA 3:9, For they have brought evil upon themselves.

How do they do that?

REV 3:19, As many as I love, I rebuke (i.e., warning discipline) and chasten (intensive discipline); be zealous therefore (the command to be motivated), and repent.


There are three different categories of divine discipline;
1. Warning discipline
2. Intensive discipline
3. Dying discipline

Warning discipline is found in such passages as REV 3:20, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with Me.”

That knock at the door is warning discipline. As a general rule, warning discipline is in itself less severe than the believer's self-induced misery. However, the combination of warning discipline and self-induced misery adds up to a significant shock. Because he has not yet degenerated into the later stages of negative volition, this believer is still sensitive to the truth.

He can still profit from this degree of discipline so that God does not have to proceed to the next stage of punitive suffering. He can still hear the knocking on the door as it were. God can catch his attention with relatively mild suffering. However, if the believer ignores or rejects divine warnings, he eventually requires in¬tensive discipline.

By habitual negative volition he has dulled his sensitivity to truth; warning discipline is no longer sufficient. God still has a marvelous plan for blessing this cosmic believer, but God’s plan can be executed only in the power of the filling of the Spirit.

The Christian way of Life is a supernatural way of life. As such it requires a supernatural dynamics for its execution (PHI 2:12-13). The filling of the Holy Spirit is the second of the ten problem-solving devices found in the Word of God, and solves the problem of our inability as a frail man to serve God, by empowering the believer for the fulfillment of the Christian way of life.

The filling of the Spirit may be defined as the Holy Spirit’s control of the believer’s soul. The Spirit’s control of the believer’s soul is the essence of Christian spirituality. The filling of the Spirit, as an experiential reality in life, must be distinguished from other ministries of the Holy Spirit, such as the baptism of the Spirit (1CO 12:13), regeneration (TIT 3:5-6), the indwelling of the Spirit (JOH 14:16-17), and the seal of the Spirit (EPH 1:13).

The filling of the Spirit also solves the problems with the believer's lifestyle -(e.g., legalism), as attempting to execute the spiritual life or Christian service in the energy of the flesh. The filling of the Holy Spirit involves access to the power of God for the Christian life.

The filling of the Spirit is essential for spiritual combat, and for the prevention of satanic influence of the soul (EPH 6:10-12).

The life of God in the soul is the only thing that can produce that kind of living, you see. If that weren’t true then unregenerated people could live like that. A Christian must do it in the power of the Holy Spirit.

The following link is to a good news message describing how one can receive eternal life:
Ticket to Heaven, it was written for anyone not absolutely certain about their eternal future.

Internet Church Service – August 30, 2015

NEW EMBEDDED VIDEO/AUDIO SERMON in HD:
The Greatness and Glory of the Word of God. Psalm 119. The Bet File, Part 2.

Sermon Message:

The Greatness and Glory of the Word of God. Psalm 119.
The Bet File, Part 2.

In HD - Video and Audio

Please join us as we fellowship in the Word of God, listen to
Christian Music, Pray in Christ’s Name and Praise the Lord
in our Hearts and Minds.

ALL ARE WELCOME

# # # # # # # #

from - Romans 8:38-39

Thank you for joining us for today’s worship service. Please enjoy the music before and after today’s video message (the video may also contain hymns).

TIP to enlarge the print hold down the “Ctrl” key on your key board, while it is being held down, move your mouse forward until the desired print size is just right for you. To return to normal screen size, reverse the process (some will see a % in the lower right corner of your screen, normal is 100%)

The lyrics have been provided so you can sing along with the artist in your mind and soul; imagine that the artist’s voice is your voice. I’m not a very good singer myself so I often get the lyrics for some of my favorites and sing along in my mind and soul, this way it’s as if I’m doing the singing to the Lord; try it. The embedded church service video may also contain music generated by the church itself.

Hymn #1

He Leadeth Me – Lyrics in Video
(Google puts the video commercials on most YouTube Christian videos. You can
usually skip the commercial if there is one. Also, most videos are now preset by
Google to automatically run the next related video that Google wants you to see;
you can just hit the pause on the video to stop it before it changes.)

Hymn #2

He Knows My Name – Lyrics in Video
(Google puts the video commercials on most YouTube Christian videos. You can
usually skip the commercial if there is one. Also, most videos are now preset by
Google to automatically run the next related video that Google wants you to see;
you can just hit the pause on the video to stop it before it changes.))

Preparing yourself for the study of God’s Word

Before we begin, if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ (that is— you have trusted in Him for eternal life), it is important to prepare yourself to take-in God’s Word so take a moment to name, cite or acknowledge your sins privately directly to God the Father. This will assure that you are in fellowship with God the Father and the Holy Spirit’s convicting ministry, also called the convincing ministry will then be able to teach you as the Holy Spirit is the real teacher and the pastor’s message is the vehicle the Holy Spirit uses to convince you what you are learning is true or not.

1 John 1:9 says—“If we confess [simply name, cite or acknowledge to God the Father] our sins [known sins], He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins [known sins] and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness [all unknown and forgotten sins].” NKJV (New King James Version)

If you have never personally believed in the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior (that is, believed in Him for eternal life), the issue for you is not to name your sins to God; the issue for you is to believe by faith alone in Jesus Christ alone for eternal life and you will be saved the very second you believe in Him:

John 6:47 says: “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me [Jesus Christ] has everlasting life.” NKJV

Notice again what John 6:47 says, “he who believes in Me [Jesus Christ] has everlasting life.” It doesn’t say, “will have”; it says, “has.” Therefore, the very moment you believe Jesus Christ’s promise of everlasting life, you have it (it’s really just that simple), and it can never be lost or taken away from you (John 10:28-29). Furthermore, the gift of everlasting life (also called eternal life in scripture) is available to every human being; there are absolutely no exceptions.

John 3:14-18 says: “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” NKJV

Let us now bow our hearts and take a moment to prepare for learning God’s Word, if there is any known sin in your life, this is the time to just cite it privately to God the Father with your thoughts directed towards Him. With your head bowed and your eyes closed, you have total privacy in your mind and soul:

Lectionary

The word of God is alive and active, sharper than any double-edged sword. It cuts all the way through, to where soul and spirit meet, to where joints and marrow come together. It judges the desires and thoughts of the heart. (Heb. 4:12) GNB-UK

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching the truth, rebuking error, correcting faults, and giving instruction for right living, so that the person who serves God may be fully qualified and equipped to do every kind of good deed. (2 Tim. 3:16-17) GNB-UK

Do your best to win full approval in God's sight, as a worker who is not ashamed of his work, one who correctly teaches the message of God's truth. (2 Tim. 2:15) GNB-UK

Opening Prayer
(Do your best to make it your own – below is a sample prayer)

Heavenly Father, we pray that we will all be richly edified by Your Word today and that You will make what we study today clear to us. We pray that all participants in this service as well as those who review it at a later date will be edified and blessed by today’s message. We pray this in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen

Our guest Pastor-Teacher is:

Robert McLaughlin - Grace Bible Church
and Robert McLaughlin Bible Ministries

Doctrinal Statement

This ministry is non-denominational and is dedicated to teaching the Word of God from the original languages and making it available at no charge throughout the world.

Sermon

The Greatness and Glory of the Word of God. Psalm 119.
The Bet File, Part 2.

To view the notes for the embedded sermon below click the above link and open in separate window and split the screens or print the notes to follow along with the sermon and add your own expanded notes to the print-out.

ALTERNATE VIEWING OPTION:
For those who don’t see the embedded video above; some social websites don’t allow
embedded videos; the alternate I suggest is the best site to view this church service.

Left click on the following link:
Internet Church Service – August 30, 2015

TO VIEW THE SERMON: If you don’t see the embedded video above; right click the link above, a small window will open then left click either “Open in New Window” or “Open in New Tab” and the church service notes page will open, it has three options in the upper right side of the page, right click the link titled “download mp3” and just like before, select either Open New Window or Open New Tab to open the MP3 player, this will leave the notes page open so you can move back to it, so go back to the notes page to follow along in the notes, the streaming audio should begin automatically in your default audio/video player (like, Windows Media Player).

If you need to leave the service, when you come back, to move the MP3 player forward, press and hold the left click down on the player progress bar where you see the little arrow under the time on progress bar and move your mouse forward

OPTIONAL: On-line Bible – NASB95

If you wish to use it, right click the link and in the drop-down box, left click the "Open Link in New Window"; when the new window opens, reduce the window size of both the on-line bible and the slideshow and configure them to be side-by-side. Also, the window opens to John 3:16, click the word “more” below the verse, you will then see two online bible columns, Use the column on the left as it is set for the NASB95, at the top of the column where you see John 3:16 in the search box, type the book and verse when the Pastor asks you to go to a particular Bible verse, e.g., 1ti 5:21 [for 1 Timothy], or eph 3:10 [for Ephesians], etc., then click “Enter” on your key board. You can use the “right column” if you wish for a different bible version but you’ll need to type in the verse you want each time as I directed you for the column on the left side.

Hymn #3

His Eye Is On The Sparrow – Lyrics in Video
(Google puts the video commercials on most YouTube Christian videos. You can
usually skip the commercial if there is one. Also, most videos are now preset by
Google to automatically run the next related video that Google wants you to see;
you can just hit the pause on the video to stop it before it changes.)

CLOSING PRAYER:
(Again, below is a sample prayer, do your best to make it your own)

Heavenly Father, we pray that the Holy Spirit will make what I’ve learned today clear to me, for I pray this in my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ’s name. Amen

If you have any questions that are pertinent about today’s message, please don’t hesitate to ask, you are welcome to ask them via a private message or by a reply in this post. However, sometimes questions can be real short but require a much longer answer in order to give an adequate answer. If I don’t think that the question is able to be answered quickly I’ll reply back telling you that I’ll research it and get to you with the answer (it may even be a few days as I’m a little slower than I used to be). Please don’t let what I’ve just said make you hesitate to ask questions.

I want to thank all of you who have attended this Internet Church Service as well as those who will view it at a later time or date.

The following link is to a good news message describing how one can instantly receive eternal life: Ticket to Heaven, it was written for anyone not absolutely certain about their eternal future.

Weekly Bible Study – August 24, 2015

Being a soldier for the Word of God. Part 3.

PLEASE READ FIRST

Scripture References, Word & Phrase descriptions: If available on the website you're viewing this on, a few links (i.e., those without an already written scripture quote or brief explanation) are hover pop-up active, meaning the scripture reference will just pop-up if you hover your cursor over it (don’t click on the link, just hover your cursor over it), they work best using the Firefox browser – pop-ups in Internet Explorer, Chrome & other browsers only appear for a few seconds at best. If you don’t have Firefox (or hover pop-ups aren’t available on the website you’re viewing this on), that’s OK, move your cursor off and on the link until it is read; or left click the link which will open the verse at the online bible; or you can always use your Bible to look up the verses.

Prepare yourself for learning the Word of God!

Before we begin, if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ (that is; you have believed [trusted] in Him for His promised gift of eternal life), it is important to prepare yourself to learn God's Word so take a moment to name, cite or acknowledge (confess) your sins privately to God (i.e.; with your thoughts directed only to God the Father).

1 John 1:9 says: "If we confess our sins, He (God) is faithful and just to forgive us our sins (known sins) and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness [unknown or forgotten sins]." NKJV (New King James Version) [italics added]

If you have never personally believed in the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior (that is, believed in Him for eternal life), the issue for you is not to name your sins; the issue for you is to have faith alone in Jesus Christ alone for eternal life:

John 6:47 says: "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me (Jesus Christ) has everlasting life." NKJV [italics added]

Notice again what Jesus said in John 6:47: "…he who believes in Me (Jesus Christ) has everlasting life." It doesn't say, "will have"; it says, "has." Therefore, the very moment you believe in Jesus Christ for His promise of everlasting life, you have it (it's really just that simple; nothing more and nothing less), and it can never be taken away from you (John 10:28-29). Furthermore, the gift (Ephesians 2:8c) of everlasting life (also called eternal life in scripture) is available to every human being; there are absolutely no exceptions.

John 3:14-18 says: "¹⁴ And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁶ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. ¹⁷ For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. ¹⁸ He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." NKJV

Let us now bow our hearts and take a moment to prepare for worship and learning God's Word. If there is any known sin in your life, this is the time to just cite it privately to God the Father with your thoughts directed towards Him. With your head bowed and your eyes closed, you have total privacy in your mind and soul:

Study to show yourself approved to God!

Grace Bible Church
Robert R. McLaughlin Bible Ministries

The Tree of Life is a weekly teaching summary:
God’s Word is Wednesday, Friday and Sunday mornings

STUDY TITLE:

Being a soldier for the Word of God. Part 3.



OPTION: If you would prefer to go directly to the Grace Bible Church website to read this study message, all verse reference links are active there (but not hover active) and Enlarged Text is also an available option – right click the above link then left click “Open Link in New Window” or “New Tab”

Terms & Abbreviations used:

PPOG = Predesigned Plan of God
Human Good = Evil + Good Deeds while not in fellowship with God
OSN = Old Sin Nature
TLJC = The Lord Jesus Christ
SSE = Spiritual Self Esteem
PVTD = Positive Volition Towards Doctrine
+H - The Happiness of God
NVTD = Negative Volition Towards Doctrine
Doctrine = Bible Truth

To look up other “terms”, go to:

Alphabetical Listing

BEGIN BIBLE STUDY
Unless otherwise noted, all scripture quotes and references
are from the NASB – New American Standard Bible

Being a soldier for the Word of God. Part 3.

There are Nine Similarities of being a soldier and the Art of War:

1. The principle of objective = plan.
2. The principle of offensive = victory.
3. The principle of mass = power.
4. The principle of economy of force = execution.
5. The principle of movement = momentum.
6. The principle of surprise = attack.
7. The principle of security = support.
8. The principle of simplicity = accuracy.
9. The principle of cooperation = teamwork.

We have been noting some of the similarities of being a soldier as far as what the Word of God teaches. One of the principles that we need to note is that there are many believers who will sit through Bible class but will not metabolize the lesson, or if they do, they will fail to apply it at the appropriate time. It’s interesting that a soldier is known by his discipline, his armor, and his weapons so the Christian soldier must be disciplined; have his armor on and know how to use his weapons (EPH 6:10-17).

Satan can transform himself into an angel of light; he puts out false colors which comes with an overt banner or standard of truth. He and the false ministers that he promotes can make use of scripture especially for the purpose of deception.

Paul said in 2CO 11:3-4, But I am afraid, lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds should be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preach¬ed, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully.

This is the so-called love crowd who say put aside your doctrinal differences and let’s love each other.

2CO 11:13-15, For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their deeds.

In Eph 6, among all the armor, that Christians should take upon themselves, we read of no back-piece; so if they turn their back, they are unprotected.

Here’s another interesting principle that a lot of people think is wrong which is not: A soldier is greatly encouraged in all his encounters and sharp conflicts with the enemy by considering the reward and honor he shall receive if he holds out and gets the victory. So, the Christian soldier is motivated with much intensity and encouraged by the consideration of the eternal rewards he shall receive in the end. This was one of the things that made Moses despise the glory of Egypt, and refuse to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He saw Him who was invisible, and had an eye toward the reward.

In the military sense, strategy is defined as the science and art of military command to meet the enemy in combat under advantageous conditions. In other words, in any war, there must be a plan and method designed to defeat the enemy. God’s strategy is found in the divine power and divine assets which he has prepared for us in eternity past. This includes His plan, which we call the PPOG, and His method which is to use His power which we call divine omnipotence.

Paul told the Corinthians in 2CO 6:7 that one of the signs that he was a servant of God was the fact that he operated In the word of truth, in the power of God; by the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left. So the strategy of God for our spiritual warfare is found in the PPOG and His method is operating in divine power.

Then there is what we call tactics. Tactics refers to a device for accomplishing an end or a method of employing forces in combat. We could call tactics the ability to put strategy into operation. So be sure you understand this vocabulary before we go on. Strategy refers to His method and His plan. Tactics refers to putting into operation that method and plan. And God’s strategy is found in the PPOG. God’s tactics are in the mechanics of the divine power which He has made available to every Church-age believer.

Our Lord Jesus Christ won the strategic victory over Satan in the angelic conflict during His first advent and His saving work on the Cross. The tactical victory for this conflict is now assigned to each Church-age believer. As royal family of God, you are assigned the responsibility of tactical victory. You are to put into operation the method and the plan that the Lord Jesus Christ has made available to you for victory in spiritual warfare.

Our Lord made a very important statement in JOH 16:32, “Behold, an hour is coming, and has {already} come, for you to be scattered, each to his own {home,} and to leave Me alone; and {yet} I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.”

JOH 16:33, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”

So, for the believer the art of war being the art of life is not a bad statement. Actually the art of war is a bibliography of the works of Sun Tzu. Sun Tzu is a Chinese general who lived approximately around 500 B.C.

A collection of essays on the art of war is attributed to Sun Tzu. And the most fundamental of Sun Tzu’s principles for the conduct of war is that all warfare is based on deception. That’s why the Bible prepares us for deception in many passages. In fact, the opposite of deception is actually loyalty, something that is very hard to find.

As Paul said in 2TI 1:15, You are aware of the fact that all who are in Asia turned away from me,

What God provides in grace must not compromise His perfect essence. Love is the motivation of grace, but justice is the function of grace. Love isn’t a mechanic of grace. Therefore, God’s justice must be free to give blessing to sinful man without violating divine integrity. Whatever you receive in blessing, divine justice must OK it first. Justice must approve everything that comes from God to man. God’s motivation is love; His decision is sovereignty, but neither love nor sovereignty can go any further than justice will take them. In other words, justice has the final say in whether you will be blessed or cursed in this life.

So, how can God avoid compromising His perfect righteousness and still have a relationship with us? The missing link is our adjustment to the justice of God. You cannot adjust to any of the other characteristics of God. You can only adjust to the justice of God. Once you adjust to the justice of God, everything else in your life will fall into place. Now, remember that after salvation the object of faith changes.

Before salvation the object of faith is the Living Word, the Lord Jesus Christ. After salvation the object of faith is the written Word, Bible doctrine. In both cases the justice of God gives the stamp of approval because the object of faith is perfectly righteous! Before salvation, the object of faith is the Lord Jesus Christ, and He is perfectly righteous. After salvation, the object of faith becomes the mind of Christ or Bible doctrine, which is also perfectly right or perfect righteousness.

Therefore, in both cases the justice of God approves and the essence of God comes through for the believer without compromising the integrity of God. Now, one of the most important illustrations of the justice of God approving the perfect righteousness of God in action for the believer is 1JO 1:9 which tells us how to be filled with the Spirit.

1JO 1:9, If we confess our sins [known sins], He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins [known sins] and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness [all your unknown and forgotten sins].

For an individual to be forgiven and filled with Spirit simply by naming and citing their sin is a total act of God and has nothing to do with mankind. Now, the satanic deception behind this principle is incredible. Let me tell you why.

First of all, 1JO 4:4b, Because greater is He [God the Holy Spirit] who is in you than he [Satan] who is in the world. You actually have within your body the availability of a greater power than Satan. Therefore, he wants to blind you from this power. Satan knows that if Church-age believers discover this power, he has no chance to defeat them. This is why our Lord said in MAT 16:18, Upon this rock I will build My Church; and the gates of Hell shall not overpower it.

Here’s where the deception comes in. Whenever a believer adds to confession of sin or to homologeo, he is adding to the perfect righteous Word of God or the perfect righteousness of God. God has only one way of forgiving sins...His way! His way is simply to name and cite it! Not feel sorry for them, not weeping at the altar, not making vows, not doing penance, but name it and cite it! Why just name it and cite it? Because the justice of God will not approve or accept any human activity at all.

In fact, justice cannot approve of man’s works or actions because they must be perfect, and that is impossible for man. This is why the Bible says in ROM 7:21, I find then a principle of doctrine that evil is present in me, the one who wishes or desires to do good.

I can’t do good, therefore, before I can be brought back into fellowship with God, I must satisfy His justice! His justice can only be satisfied by the perfect work of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, not by any effort we make. Therefore, restoration to fellowship is based upon the believer being rightly related to the justice of God by directing his faith toward the work of Christ on the Cross.

So, when a believer confesses a sin, the justice of God is free to forgive that sin because the justice of God was propitiated at the Cross. Only justice and no other part of God’s essence can forgive sin. Remember that faith is the only performance that the justice of God will accept. The justice of God will only accept faith because faith depends totally on the merit of the object. The object of faith at salvation is the Lord Jesus Christ and His work. So the justice of God sees your faith trusting in the one who is perfectly righteous and the justice of God is completely satisfied.

Faith is the only system of perception that justice will approve of because faith depends on the merit of the object. For the justice of God to approve the action of faith then the object of faith must be perfectly righteous. The object of faith at salvation is the work accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross or what the Bible calls believing in Christ. The object of faith after salvation is the Word of God or the doctrines of the Christian faith.

Before salvation, the object of faith is the Lord Jesus Christ and He is perfectly righteous. After salvation, the object of faith becomes the mind of Christ or Bible doctrine which is also perfectly right or perfect righteousness. Now, rebound is simply technical nomenclature for the believer's restoration to fellowship and recovery of the filling of the Holy Spirit. This technique is necessary because the believer continues to have an old sin nature after salvation.

1JO 1:9 says that this adjustment to the justice of God occurs through our naming, citing, or confessing our sins. Because the believer’s sin was judged on the Cross, this adjustment to the justice of God is also instantaneous. It is possible by simply naming your sins. Please note once again that human works and emotion are excluded from this technique.

How you feel makes no difference because judgment already has been accomplished, the justice of God has already judged the sin and the righteousness of God is already satisfied. In the Church-age, like other dispensations, confessing of sin is needed for forgiveness and restoration to fellowship! David set the pattern in PSA 32:5.

PSA 32:5, “I acknowledge my sin to You, and my iniquity I did not hide. I said, ‘I will confess my transgression to the Lord.’ And You forgave the iniquity of my sin.”

PRO 1:23, “Turn to my reproof, behold, I will pour out my Spirit on you; I will make my words known to you.”

JER 3:13, “Only acknowledge your iniquity, that you have transgressed against the Lord your God and you have not obeyed My voice, declares the Lord.”

There are also descriptions found in the New Testament for being restored into fellowship. For example;

Self-judgment. 1CO 11:30-31, For this reason many among you are weak [warning discipline] and sick [intensive discipline], and a number sleep [dying discipline]. But if we judge ourselves correctly, we should not be judged.

HEB 12:1, “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.”

Lift up the hands that hang down, HEB 12:12, Therefore, strengthen the hands that hang down and the knees that are feeble.

The restoring of your strength is the filling of the Holy Spirit. Be subject to the Father of your human spirits, HEB 12:9, “Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live?”

Make straight paths, HEB 12:13, this relates rebound to using the other problem-solving devices as well. HEB 12:13, And make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint [divine discipline], but rather be healed.

Legalistic individuals want you to feel sorry for your sin or to change your ways! They always want you to change. They want to super-impose their ideas on you. Legalism ignores that the fact that under the principal of grace, God does all the work and there is no work accomplished by man. God the Father judged our sins at the Cross while Christ was bearing them. Therefore, feeling sorry or developing an attitude toward repentance is not necessary since our attitude and emotions are not the issue in confession. It all depends on your volition choosing to do things God’s way instead of your own way. The important thing in confession of sin is following instructions.

Remember this principle; following instructions is very difficult when it's a non-meritorious act. To have to follow instructions where your merit and your ability is not being challenged is very difficult. There is also the possession of localities or cites which will attain the national or spiritual objective. This is what the children of Israel did in the promise land. This is analogous to using rebound to reenter the Pre-designed Plan of God (PPOG) which is the only place where divine omnipotence is available. The locality which you must possess to be victorious in the spiritual battles of life is the location of the PPOG. You must be in the PPOG for victory in spiritual warfare. In the PPOG, divine omnipotence is delegated under three categories:


1) The omnipotence of God the Father is reflected in the unique assets of every Church-age believer. And there are many which we have noted in the past.

2) The omnipotence of God the Son is reflected in the original divine plan. And just as God the Father had a predesigned plan for His Son so does God the Father have a predesigned plan for you.

3) The omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit is delegated to every believer to live in the PPOG in this Church-age.

So, the power of God is only delegated or made available inside the PPOG. And outside of the divine plan or the PPOG, we are either operating under the power of Satan, under the human power of someone else, or under our own human abilities. So in the Christian way of life the principle of the objective is the fulfillment of the PPOG through the attainment of spiritual growth inside the PPOG. That is the ground which we must stand upon and the place of delegated divine power. And just like in war, it is very difficult at times to accomplish certain localities and places, it is also difficult for the believer to stay in the PPOG at certain times.

Solomon says in ECC 10:5-7, There is an evil I have seen under the sun, like an error which goes forth from the ruler--folly is set in many exalted places while rich men sit in humble places. I have seen slaves {riding} on horses and princes walking like slaves on the land.

This is a picture of someone in authority who is incompetent who places others in authority who are equally incompetent. And the incompetence of those in authority lord it over those who ought to be really in charge. Here’s the point that Solomon is making, and it’s unfortunate as we stay with our context, fools are not limited to places of low esteem. Sometimes they become mayors and governors and congressman and senators and presidents! Sometimes they even become pastors! Solomon says this is life, get use to it!

In ECC 10:8 Solomon says, He who digs a pit may fall into it, and a serpent may bite him who breaks through a wall. Most commentators say that this is the most difficult section to understand in the book of Ecclesiastes! I don't believe that it is and I've worked very hard to try to come up with some principles that will correlate with our passage as well as be applicable to our lives! These are called proverbs or we would call ancient sayings! The first of these maxims is found in the first half of verse 8, He who digs a pit may fall into it, This proverb or maxim has to do with someone setting traps for others and becoming a victim to their own deceitful schemes! Then Solomon says and a serpent may bite him who breaks through a wall. ¬In the ancient world snakes lived in the crannies or the cracks of old walls and so you would have to very careful if you broke through a wall! And staying with the context, if a person set about to dethrone a fool who is in a position of authority, it’s like pulling down a wall and getting bit by a serpent as you try to destroy the one in authority! We have no right to attack authority even if authority is wrong!

Then we have a third maxim or proverb in verse 9, He who quarries stones may be hurt by them, In pulling out the stones of an old wall, you might let one of them fall on your foot. Solomon is saying that the person with wisdom understands the quarrying of stones! On the other hand, fools dig up things about others for the purpose of hurting them and meanwhile they are the ones who inevitably get hurt!

The fourth maxim or proverb and he who splits logs may be endangered by them. In spitting the logs, you might cut yourself! This verse teaches that the removal of stones from a building may fall upon our head as well as the splitting of wood may be a work of personal danger.

Now, here is the main verse which commentators and scholars say is the most difficult in the book!

ECC 10:10, If the axe is dull and he does not sharpen {its} edge, then he must exert more strength. Wisdom has the advantage of giving success.

The phrase "if the axe is dull" refers to the tools that someone uses who must exert more strength because his tools are dull. Wisdom teaches the individual to keep his tools sharp! It is no good to work with tools that are dull!

The principle is the fact that with a little labor you can sharpen your spiritual tools so that you do not have to exert so much human strength in solving your problems! In the spiritual application, the fool on the throne is the god of this world, Satan, who has a throne on this earth according to REV 2:13, which at the time was situated in modern Turkey. Your strength is nothing compared to the assets of the tyrant.

This is why we are told in EPH 6:11, Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. Don’t try to resist the devil unless you put on the armor of God! So, if your spiritual tools are dull, you will have to exert a lot of human strength and you will not be strong enough to resist the enemy!

If the axe is dull and he does not sharpen {its} edge, then he must exert more strength.

And when it says Wisdom has the advantage of giving success it means that wisdom or doctrine will give an individual the tools to handle the attacks of the tyrant on the throne! The point is that whatever the goal of the individual is, he cannot work effectively with dull and unsharpened tools. We may put a lot of effort into something but without the right tools it's like a dull axe fighting with knotty wood. For the believer, the dull tool may be his prayer life! The dull tool may be his understanding of doctrine! The dull tool may be his lack of the filling of the Spirit! Most believers have been ignoring the spiritual exercise needed for the sharpness of their spiritual tools of prayer, perception, metabolization and application of Bible doctrine, and the filling of the Spirit!

Here’s another principle concerning wisdom, wisdom thinks ahead before the fact. The illustration that Solomon uses is a serpent biting before being charmed! If the serpent bites before being charmed, there’s no profit for the charmer. That’s not too difficult to figure out, in the Eastern world there were those snake charmers. You can imagine a snake charmer getting ready to play his flute for the snake and while he is talking to this would be customer, whose about to shell out a few shekels to watch it happen, the snake crawls out of the basket and bites him on the leg.

It’s very doubtful that he’s going to pay his money to watch the charmer bring the snake back out of the basket once he’s been bitten by the snake! That’s another of saying...think ahead, the damage is already done and charming won’t work! Or wisdom says Don’t think about seeking counsel after you’re in the ditch, seek counsel before you fall! There’s a way to defuse a snake! Snakes need not bite us. We may need the wisdom of a friend or an associate to help us to know how to handle the would-be venom of the snake! The Bible teaches that we all must deal with serpents, not literal serpents but figurative serpents referring to people in our lives who are just as devious as serpents.

David even warned us about this in Psa 58.

PSA 58:3-6, The wicked are estranged [or go astray] from the womb; These who speak lies go astray from birth. They have venom like the venom of a serpent; Like a deaf cobra that stops up its ear, So that it does not hear the voice of charmers, {Or} a skillful caster of spells. O God, shatter their teeth in their mouth; Break out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord.

Solomon says if the serpent bites be¬cause it is not charmed, there is no advantage to the charmer! In this passage, the foolish ruler can be represented by the serpent and the wise charmer is to extract the venom of his foolishness and anger. So, the serpent stands for fools who are wicked rulers because the wicked spiritual rulers are also called serpents by our Lord in MAT 23:33.

In MAT 23:33, our Lord said to the religious leaders of His day, You serpents, you generation of vipers, how shall you escape the sentence of hell? What a perfect description of false religious teachers and those under the influence of their false religious teaching! What does wisdom teach as an advantage for rendering ineffective the serpent's sting? Apparently it is prayer to ¬God for His protection against the dangerous venom of the vindictive beast. In fact, the very word translated charmed (lachash) is used for prayer in ISA 26:16, O Lord, they sought Thee in distress; They could only whisper a prayer [lachash].

This is not only prayer in a general way that we are to use but prayer as a safeguard against the wicked devices of evil people while they are trying to sting us.

ECC 10:11, If the serpent bites before being charmed, there is no profit for the charmer.

The serpent biting represents the babbler saying things that they shouldn't say! He is all tongue. This is why the tongue is described as a restless evil, full deadly poison in JAM 3:8, But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison.

One of the signs of apostasy in a nation is the presence and the acceptance of the sins of the tongue, like gossip, maligning, judging, the breaking of confidences etc! In fact, in Micah chapter seven the prophet tells us why!

MIC 7:2-6, The godly person [the spiritual person] has perished from the land, And there is no upright person among men. All of them lie in wait for bloodshed [they kill each other even with their tongue]; Each of them hunts the other with a net. Concerning evil, both hands do it well. The prince asks, also the judge, for a bribe, And a great man [those in positions of leadership and authority] speaks the desire of his soul; So they weave it together. The best of them is like a briar, The most upright like a thorn hedge. The day when you post a watchman, Your punishment will come. Then their confusion will occur. Do not trust in a neighbor; Do not have confidence in a friend. From her who lies in your bosom Guard your lips. For son treats father contemptuously, Daughter rises up against her mother, Daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; A man's enemies are the men of his own household.

That’s a very sad state to be in but that’s what the serpent biting is all about! Its influence is so painful that it is hardly safe to trust in a friend or to put confidence in someone who is close to you! And this passage says that sometimes it’s wise to even guard your lips from the one you embrace in verse 5. To entrust a secret with someone and then to have them violate that trust by repeating it to someone else is like being bitten by a serpent. We are told in the Bible that itching ears are bad! And if itching ears are bad (2TI 4:3), itching lips are worse and even more hurtful to the individual that is being slandered. We should all learn to prize the friend who can keep a secret as a precious jewel.

You walk in integrity, you will not stumble! You decide that you are going to live honestly and that you will conduct honest business, you will not stumble into dishonesty. He will shield you! He will protect you! And your business might even become limited! There are some folks who won’t do business with you because you’re like that, and that’s fine, they lose! You win! You gain because you're living in the realm of honesty and they’re not!

PRO 2:7-10, He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; {He is} a shield to those who walk in integrity, Guarding the paths of justice, And He preserves the way of His godly ones. Then you will discern righteousness and justice And equity {and} every good course. For wisdom will enter your heart, And knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;

This is what happens when you move toward the pursuit of diligence, God honors that kind of determination.

Some people have the idea that all they have to do is ask God and He will give them wisdom! But it’s more than just asking! Wisdom is something that you have to work for! Digging for silver is hard work! You have to find wisdom. PRO 3:13, How blessed is the man who finds wisdom, And the man who gains understanding. Then once you find it, you’ve got to keep it, look at PRO 3:21, My son, let them not depart from your sight; Keep sound wisdom and discretion. Wisdom is something you must acquire and then once you do, you must not forsake it!

PRO 4:5-9, Acquire wisdom! Acquire understanding! Do not forget, nor turn away from the words of my mouth. Do not forsake her, and she will guard you; Love her, and she will watch over you. The beginning of wisdom {is:} Acquire wisdom; And with all your acquiring, get understanding. Prize her, and she will exalt you; She will honor you if you embrace her. She will place on your head a garland of grace; She will present you with a crown of beauty.

You need to buy it as PRO 23:23, Buy truth, and do not sell it, Get wisdom and instruction and understanding.

PRO 24:14, Know {that} wisdom is thus for your soul; If you find {it,} then there will be a future, And your hope will not be cut off.

Searching for wisdom is like digging for silver and digging for silver is hard work! Messing around trying to find hidden treasure is labor!

The following link is to a good news message describing how one can receive eternal life:
Ticket to Heaven, it was written for anyone not absolutely certain about their eternal future.

Internet Church Service – August 23, 2015

NEW EMBEDDED VIDEO/AUDIO SERMON in HD:
The Greatness and Glory of the Word of God. Psalm 119. The Bet File, Part 1.

Sermon Message:

The Greatness and Glory of the Word of God. Psalm 119.
The Bet File, Part 1.

In HD - Video and Audio

Please join us as we fellowship in the Word of God, listen to
Christian Music, Pray in Christ’s Name and Praise the Lord
in our Hearts and Minds.

ALL ARE WELCOME

# # # # # # # #

from - Romans 8:38-39

Thank you for joining us for today’s worship service. Please enjoy the music before and after today’s video message (the video may also contain hymns).

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The lyrics have been provided so you can sing along with the artist in your mind and soul; imagine that the artist’s voice is your voice. I’m not a very good singer myself so I often get the lyrics for some of my favorites and sing along in my mind and soul, this way it’s as if I’m doing the singing to the Lord; try it. The embedded church service video may also contain music generated by the church itself.

Hymn #1

Great Is Thy Faithfulness – Lyrics in Video
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Hymn #2

Hallelujah! What a Savior ~ (Man of Sorrows) – Lyrics in Video
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Preparing yourself for the study of God’s Word

Before we begin, if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ (that is— you have trusted in Him for eternal life), it is important to prepare yourself to take-in God’s Word so take a moment to name, cite or acknowledge your sins privately directly to God the Father. This will assure that you are in fellowship with God the Father and the Holy Spirit’s convicting ministry, also called the convincing ministry will then be able to teach you as the Holy Spirit is the real teacher and the pastor’s message is the vehicle the Holy Spirit uses to convince you what you are learning is true or not.

1 John 1:9 says—“If we confess [simply name, cite or acknowledge to God the Father] our sins [known sins], He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins [known sins] and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness [all unknown and forgotten sins].” NKJV (New King James Version)

If you have never personally believed in the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior (that is, believed in Him for eternal life), the issue for you is not to name your sins to God; the issue for you is to believe by faith alone in Jesus Christ alone for eternal life and you will be saved the very second you believe in Him:

John 6:47 says: “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me [Jesus Christ] has everlasting life.” NKJV

Notice again what John 6:47 says, “he who believes in Me [Jesus Christ] has everlasting life.” It doesn’t say, “will have”; it says, “has.” Therefore, the very moment you believe Jesus Christ’s promise of everlasting life, you have it (it’s really just that simple), and it can never be lost or taken away from you (John 10:28-29). Furthermore, the gift of everlasting life (also called eternal life in scripture) is available to every human being; there are absolutely no exceptions.

John 3:14-18 says: “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” NKJV

Let us now bow our hearts and take a moment to prepare for learning God’s Word, if there is any known sin in your life, this is the time to just cite it privately to God the Father with your thoughts directed towards Him. With your head bowed and your eyes closed, you have total privacy in your mind and soul:

Lectionary

The word of God is alive and active, sharper than any double-edged sword. It cuts all the way through, to where soul and spirit meet, to where joints and marrow come together. It judges the desires and thoughts of the heart. (Heb. 4:12) GNB-UK

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching the truth, rebuking error, correcting faults, and giving instruction for right living, so that the person who serves God may be fully qualified and equipped to do every kind of good deed. (2 Tim. 3:16-17) GNB-UK

Do your best to win full approval in God's sight, as a worker who is not ashamed of his work, one who correctly teaches the message of God's truth. (2 Tim. 2:15) GNB-UK

Opening Prayer
(Do your best to make it your own – below is a sample prayer)

Heavenly Father, we pray that we will all be richly edified by Your Word today and that You will make what we study today clear to us. We pray that all participants in this service as well as those who review it at a later date will be edified and blessed by today’s message. We pray this in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen

Our guest Pastor-Teacher is:

Robert McLaughlin - Grace Bible Church
and Robert McLaughlin Bible Ministries

Doctrinal Statement

This ministry is non-denominational and is dedicated to teaching the Word of God from the original languages and making it available at no charge throughout the world.

Sermon

The Greatness and Glory of the Word of God. Psalm 119.
The Bet File, Part 1.

To view the notes for the embedded sermon below click the above link and open in separate window and split the screens or print the notes to follow along with the sermon and add your own expanded notes to the print-out.

ALTERNATE VIEWING OPTION:
For those who don’t see the embedded video above; some social websites don’t allow
embedded videos; the alternate I suggest is the best site to view this church service.

Left click on the following link:
Internet Church Service – August 23, 2015

TO VIEW THE SERMON: If you don’t see the embedded video above; right click the link above, a small window will open then left click either “Open in New Window” or “Open in New Tab” and the church service notes page will open, it has three options in the upper right side of the page, right click the link titled “download mp3” and just like before, select either Open New Window or Open New Tab to open the MP3 player, this will leave the notes page open so you can move back to it, so go back to the notes page to follow along in the notes, the streaming audio should begin automatically in your default audio/video player (like, Windows Media Player).

If you need to leave the service, when you come back, to move the MP3 player forward, press and hold the left click down on the player progress bar where you see the little arrow under the time on progress bar and move your mouse forward

OPTIONAL: On-line Bible – NASB95

If you wish to use it, right click the link and in the drop-down box, left click the "Open Link in New Window"; when the new window opens, reduce the window size of both the on-line bible and the slideshow and configure them to be side-by-side. Also, the window opens to John 3:16, click the word “more” below the verse, you will then see two online bible columns, Use the column on the left as it is set for the NASB95, at the top of the column where you see John 3:16 in the search box, type the book and verse when the Pastor asks you to go to a particular Bible verse, e.g., 1ti 5:21 [for 1 Timothy], or eph 3:10 [for Ephesians], etc., then click “Enter” on your key board. You can use the “right column” if you wish for a different bible version but you’ll need to type in the verse you want each time as I directed you for the column on the left side.

Hymn #3

He Is Lord – Lyrics in Video
(Google puts the video commercials on most YouTube Christian videos. You can
usually skip the commercial if there is one. Also, most videos are now preset by
Google to automatically run the next related video that Google wants you to see;
you can just hit the pause on the video to stop it before it changes.)

CLOSING PRAYER:
(Again, below is a sample prayer, do your best to make it your own)

Heavenly Father, we pray that the Holy Spirit will make what I’ve learned today clear to me, for I pray this in my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ’s name. Amen

If you have any questions that are pertinent about today’s message, please don’t hesitate to ask, you are welcome to ask them via a private message or by a reply in this post. However, sometimes questions can be real short but require a much longer answer in order to give an adequate answer. If I don’t think that the question is able to be answered quickly I’ll reply back telling you that I’ll research it and get to you with the answer (it may even be a few days as I’m a little slower than I used to be). Please don’t let what I’ve just said make you hesitate to ask questions.

I want to thank all of you who have attended this Internet Church Service as well as those who will view it at a later time or date.

The following link is to a good news message describing how one can instantly receive eternal life: Ticket to Heaven, it was written for anyone not absolutely certain about their eternal future.