Bible Studies
The Origin of the Church
The moment before Jesus announced that He would build His church upon “this rock” He had asked His disciples whom they thought He was. Peter had answered and said “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”
The Organization of the Church
The fourth chapter of Ephesians could be considered the handbook for setting up and instituting a church. The mission of the church is presented step by step. God’s church is not only a common junction for Christians to meet for the purpose of joining in congregational worship and praise of our Creator, but it is also a training ground to prepare them for service to the lost of the world and to each other (Ephesians 4:12).
The Doctrines of the Church
The Definition of a Christian
(Romans 8:9 KJV) But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
The Definition of the Gospel
“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; Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel”
How the Holy Spirit Works
“ …Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.”
Heaven and the Kingdom of God
“And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.”
What is the Soul?
“And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”
Tithing
“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. ”
Repentance
The Bible says that all have sinned (Romans 3:23) and to be forgiven we need to repent. What does it mean to repent?
Conviction
Sin has separated us from God (Isaiah 59:2). The answer is to repent, but the problem is, for a person to repent they must be convicted in their hearts that they need to repent. One person learns that they are lost and a sinner but does nothing about it and another person learns the exact same thing and is moved to do something about it. What is the difference in the two people?
Baptism
Just why should a person be baptized? To answer this question we must understand the fundamentals of the gospel that Jesus Christ brought to this Earth (Luke 3:3). The message is – The baptism of repentance FOR the remission of sins. Baptism represents something very dramatic and sobering and at the same time something very wonderful. It represents the abhorrence of the sinful, self-life and at the same time the ability to change our lives by the power of the Holy Spirit, which is given to us at baptism.
Receiving the Holy Spirit
In order to enter into the Kingdom of God, one must possess God’s Holy Spirit. Man is mortal, subject to death. We are not born possessing eternal life, there is a process we must go through to receive God’s Holy Spirit. We must repent of our sins, be convicted of our need for salvation and be baptized.
The Process of Conversion
Once we have repented and received God’s Spirit, divine life has been begotten in our minds. One’s basic attitude must be changed or converted. This transformation is a tremendous undertaking. It requires a miracle! The receiving and indwelling of God’s Holy Spirit is the power needed to help renew one’s mind.
Born Again
Jesus came preaching the message of the Kingdom of God. It was not understood then, and it is still not understood. He taught we must be born again – born of the spirit to enter the Kingdom of God.
Faith
When you traveled to church today, did you cross a bridge? As you approached it, did you stop the car, get out and walk down under the bridge to check the understructure to make sure it was intact? Of course not. You drove right on across it without any thought of any calamity taking place. That is faith. You were so sure of the integrity of that bridge, you never hesitated to cross it. This is the kind of faith our Lord wants us to have concerning Him.
Passover
The first Passover was observed by the ancient Israelites just before their exodus from Egypt. They had been slaves in Egypt for nearly a century before God freed them through a series of plagues He caused to punish their Egyptian captors for refusing to let them go. The 10th and last plague was death for every firstborn in Egypt. But none of the Israelites were harmed.
Days of Unleavened Bread
Leaven is also a symbol for sin (I Corinthians 5:8). God commanded the ancient Israelites to put all leaven out of their homes and off their property and eat unleavened bread during this seven-day festival. And so the Feast of Unleavened Bread is to remind God’s people today that they are to strive to put SIN completely out of their lives!
Pentecost
The day of Pentecost is the day the Holy Spirit became available to all of mankind. To all who would repent of their sin (sin is the breaking of God’s law – 1 John 3:4) and would accept Jesus Christ as their personal savior.
Feast of Trumpets
For nearly 6,000 years, ever since the sin of Adam, God has allowed us humans to reap the consequences of going our own ways. Man now stands poised to destroy all life on this planet. And unless Jesus Christ returns to earth to restore the government of God and put an end to warfare, not a single human being would be left alive!
Atonement
The fifth annual Sabbath, the Day of Atonement, pictures the fifth step in God’s Master Plan–deposing Satan from his position as world ruler, and his removal to a place completely away from mankind. Satan will be “bound” for 1,000 years, no longer able to deceive the nations or influence mankind to sin (Revelation 20:1-3).
Feast of Tabernacles
GOD is not in competition with Satan! He is not trying to save the whole world now! Long ago Jesus Christ announced that His message, the good news of the Kingdom of God, would be preached in this age merely as a witness to all nations–not to convert them (Matthew 24:14). When God sets His hand to save the world, He will save it!
Last Great Day
Why have countless millions died without ever having had an opportunity to understand the purpose of life and to be saved? Even today the vast majority of people have not heard Christ’s true Gospel of the coming Kingdom of God.
Beyond the Ten Commandments
Beyond the foundational Ten Commandments, God gave us other commandments that help us become more like Christ. By carefully reading and studying the Word of God, one can quite easily find these instructions for living the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6).
The Sabbath
When we look into the reason for the Sabbath, we find that it was in God’s original plan to have a day of rest (Genesis 2:2-3). God walked and talked with Adam and Eve in the garden giving them instructions on how to keep the seventh day holy. He instructed them in the way to keep eternal life.
The Law
By identifying sin, the law informs the sinner that he is lost and leads him to the redemption offered by Christ. Redemption gives the recipient freedom from the death sentence of the law and also the gift of faith to obey the law in his life. To live a spiritual life in Christ is the main purpose of God’s Law, to teach us what things are righteous and to identify those things that are wrong so we can do those things which are right.
Prayer
“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. ”
Fasting
Fasting is probably the most unused tool the Christian has. The Christian has a tool box full of valuable tools, prayer is one tool, another tool is Bible study, another is fellowship with people of like mind. The Sabbath day and all the feast days are tools the Christian uses to fine- tune his relationship with God.
Marriage / Divorce
From the beginning of Creation God made them male and female and instituted the rite of marriage. For the purpose of marriage a man shall leave his parents and be joined to his wife. Not his partner, but his wife. A marriage is one man and one woman. Marriage is a union of a man and a woman as designed by God
Christian Decisions in a Secular World
“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
Child Rearing
“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”
Living The Sabbatarian Way In a Sunday Keeping World
In the life of today’s Christian believer, there will be many events in which the Christian Way will be at odds with the world’s way. It is an inescapable fact that this world is not designed for the Christian. God-fearing people are not the only inhabitants. Christian people are sojourners in a world influenced by Satan and populated with his blind fol lowers, yet charged with the Great Commission to live in it and be a guiding light to bring the repentant sinner to Christ.
Jesus, the God of the Old Testament
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
Healing
Resurrection
The only hope Christ ever gave for the possibility of living again was by a resurrection from the dead. Death in the Bible is referred to as the most hated enemy of mankind, therefore understanding what the resurrection is and how man kind can live again is critical knowledge that man needs to have. The first place we must begin is by a definition of the word “resurrection.” Just what does it mean to be resurrected?
The Millennium
The word “millennium” means a period of one thousand years. It might even surprise some to find out that the term millennium or The Millennium is not found in most Bibles, however, there are several verses that mention a time period of one thousand years and many more verses that can only apply to this time period. The first verse to mention this specific time period is Revelation 20:1-3:
The Covenants of the Bible
According to Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language the definition of the word “covenant” is a mutual consent or agreement of two or more persons, to do or to forbear some act or thing; a contract or stipulation. The Key Verse recounts the first covenant mentioned in the Bible. God set the terms of the agreement. He told Adam and Eve they could eat freely of every tree in the Garden except one.
The Spirit Realm
“God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”
Hell
When Peter spoke these words he was quoting Psalm 16:10 in the Old Testament. It reads “For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell (sheol) neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.” So, in the OT sheol is used and in the NT hades is used, undeniable proof that both mean the grave and can be used interchangeably. How do we know? Because Christ did not go to a place of burning torment when He died but was in the heart of the earth 3 days and 3 nights (Matthew 12:40).
State of the Dead
“Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither
thou goest.”
Lazarus and the Rich Man
How many times, in a discussion of the non-existence of“Hell,” have you been presented with the story of Lazarus and the Rich Man? This can be one of the most difficult passages to understand by those who think the dead go immediately to their place of reward, Heaven or Hell. It is not as big a mystery to those who can comprehend the true state of the dead. Perhaps some “precept upon precept” study will make it clearer.
The Conclusion of the Whole Matter
“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.”
Loss of Salvation
“But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.”