Tuesday 122424
Don’t let me or my writings influence or scare you in any way, instead, allow me to be used as a vessel to open the Word, just a little bit, and hopefully, together we are going to read and study His Word, and let God teach us what He wants us to hear.
So, our study consists of two ground rules:
1st we ONLY read and follow what is found in the Holy Bible.
2nd we ONLY learn from a study by what effort we put into that study.
The verses we are going to study tonight:
Hebrews 1:1; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; Ephesians 6:17; John 3:18, 11:35, 38-45, 46; Mark 9:23-24; Matthew 19:26, 17:19-20; Titus 1:15-16.
So, let’s begin …
The book of Hebrews is without an author claiming the book as his writing.
Hebrews 1:1 ‘…Many years ago, God spoke to our ancestors by his prophets. He spoke many times and in many different ways…’ EASY (Easy English Bible)
In the past, God spoke to the Israelites. He spoke to them through His prophets, which were Israelites.
Our focus this entire study has been on how we are to attain the FAITH needed, so we would be able to one day walk in Jesus’ presence.
We’ve spent time noting several key verses that we’ve found in the Bible.
2 Timothey 3
vs16 ‘…All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching the truth, rebuking error, correcting faults, and giving instruction for right living…’
vs17 ‘…so that the person who serves God may be fully qualified and equipped to do every kind of good deed…’ GNT (Good News Translation)
All Scripture not some, not only Paul’s writings, not just the Old Testament, not just the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John … rather, ALL Scripture.
What does it mean to be inspired? Google gives the meaning for ‘to be inspired’ as: to fill someone with confidence and desire to do something.
God has inspired us with ALL the Scripture that we have been given. We can be confident when we teach this Scripture on to others. It is in this confidence that we serve God.
When God arms us with His protection, it is by us arming ourselves with the armor that He has provided for us.
Ephesians 6:17 ‘…And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God…’ KJV (King James Version)
This ‘Word of God’ is the same in Ephesians 6 as ‘All Scripture’ is in 2 Timothy 3.
John 3:18 ‘…The one who believes in Him is not judged; the one who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God…’ NASB (New American Standard Bible)
Tonight’s study … is it obvious to you yet.
Tonight, we MUST put our focus on this cruelest of sins, and that is UNBELIEF.
This study of ours has been focusing on this tragedy of a sin that can affect each one of us. And hopefully, by this constant reminder of how important it is for us to BELIEVE, the thought of unbelief is easily defeated.
The shortest verse in the Bible is found in John 11:35 ‘…Jesus wept…’ NASB (New American Standard Bible)
The shortest verse is united with one of the more powerful passages found in the Bible. It is the story of Lazarus in the tomb.
John 11
vs38 ‘…So Jesus, again being deeply moved within, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone was lying against it…’
vs39 ‘…Jesus said, Remove the stone. Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to Him, Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days…’
vs40 ‘…Jesus said to her, Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God…’
vs41 ‘…So they removed the stone. And Jesus raised His eyes, and said, Father, I thank You that You have heard Me…’
vs42 ‘…But I knew that You always hear Me; nevertheless, because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me…’
vs43 ‘…And when He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, Lazarus, come out…’
vs44 ‘…Out came the man who had died, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, Unbind him, and let him go…’
vs45 ‘…Therefore many of the Jews who came to Mary, and saw what He had done, believed in Him…’ NASB (New American Standard Bible)
That very day, after witnessing a miracle performed by Jesus, rather than believing, in their UNBELIEF …
vs46 ‘…But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them the things which Jesus had done…’ NASB (New American Standard Bible)
Unbelief is a moral problem.
The Bible says that unbelief is a moral problem of desire, and that people don’t want to believe the Christian message is true.
Just how true is that statement?
Unbelief can be exposed.
Jesus rebukes those who express unbelief to expose it so that believers can see it for what it is and fight it. Some symptoms of unbelief include doubt, skepticism, self-pity, and self-indulgence.
Unbelief can be helped.
Jesus says that if someone can believe, all things are possible for them.
Mark 9
vs23 ‘…And Jesus said to him, If you can. All things are possible for one who believes…’
vs24 ‘…Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, I believe; help my unbelief…’ ESV (English Standard Version)
Matthew 19:26 ‘…Jesus looked at them and said, With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible…’ NIV (New International Version)
Matthew 17
vs19 ‘…Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked him, Why couldn’t we drive the demon out…’
vs20 ‘…It was because you do not have enough faith, answered Jesus. I assure you that if you have faith as big as a mustard seed, you can say to this hill, Go from here to there and it will go. You could do anything…’ GNT (Good News Translation)
Titus 1
vs15 ‘…Everything is pure to those who are themselves pure; but nothing is pure to those who are defiled and unbelieving, for their minds and consciences have been defiled…’
vs16 ‘…They claim that they know God, but their actions deny it. They are hateful and disobedient, not fit to do anything good…’ GNT (Good News Translation)
The Old Testament is a perfect example of UNBELIEF.
This world that we live in today is more UNBELIEF than there is believing in the correct things.
We should be believing what the Bible teaches us rather than listening to a large majority of the sermons voiced every Sunday morning.
The end of this world as we know it is close to completion … there is not much time left to make up your mind.
I sit in a room with the lights off and try to listen to the quietness around me, I do this so I can clear my mind of what is going on just outside my door.
Jesus is there for us. He is there to strengthen us when we need His help. All we need to do is ask Him for His help and He will be there by our side.
As the clocks tick, tock, tick, tock …
… the end is right around the corner.
At any moment, the sound of the trump could be heard, and it will be time for us to leave.
Keep yourselves ready and be prepared for when He calls us to join Him.
I love every one of you. Jesus loves each one of us more than I could ever think of loving another human being.
Read His Word and prepare you and your loved ones for His return.
Return your voice to Jesus and pray to Him. Return your voices to Him. This will complete the relationship between you and Him.
It is going to be that relationship that will allow Jesus to know you by name, so that He can call on you.
Jesus, I pray that those ears and eyes, either listening or seeing this message today would be opened to the very fullest and allow Your love to come inside their lives and comfort them. Teach us Jesus. Protect us. We love You. Amen
InHIM. ><)))o>