Mentoring Men for the Masters
104 King Arthur Drive, Wilmington, NC 28403

 

1. The Spread of Pornography - 2 Timothy 3:13 declares, “Evil men will grow worse and worse” in the end times.  This prophecy is being fulfilled now in the growth and profusion of Pornography.  A generation ago people still had a little shame about the use of Pornography.  Those who sought it had to seek for it under “the counter” of magazine shops or else visit posts in Times Square, New York or Las Vegas. 

 

1. Today, porn has arrived in our living rooms.

(1)   In the 1960’s came the “Sexual Revolution.  There was the “Playboy Mentality” championed by so called Pop Prophet Hugh Hefner.  Hefner made the “bunny girl image” a world-wide image.

(2)   In the 1970’s the profusion of porn increased.

(3)   In the 1980’s the world discovered the V. C. R. Video Rentals by which men could have their own private strip joint and view the most vulgar acts in the privacy of their own living rooms, without loss of reputation or fear of discovery.

(4)   Then in 1990 came the Internet.

(5)   2000 on - Finally, our Nation is DROWNING IN AN OCEANIC CESS POOL OF SEXUAL IMMORALITY.

 

2. What Is Porn Costing Us?

Where have we now arrived?  Pornography found it way into homes, newspapers, magazines, television, telephone chat lines, and of course the internet.  What is it costing? 

(1)    It is costing in terms of marriages - the spiraling divorce rate.

(2)    It is costing us in terms of children.  100% of pedophiles are porn users.

(3)    It is costing in terms of crime - a direct correlation between crime and porn, especially rape.

(4)    It is costing in terms of the church.  Studies show that even the “Promise Keepers” are involved heavily in porn. 

Summary:  The “Free Love” in the 1960’s had become pagan Hedonism by the 1990’s.  In the New Millennium we are awash in a world corrupted by sexual immorality and sexual perversion, fed by porn on every hand, comparable to the outrageous immorality which characterized pagan Rome and Greece. 

2. The Saints and Pornography - The Bible warns God’s people of the problem of pornography in Colossians.  In Col. 2:8 Paul warns “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy.”  The word “spoil” means “take captive,” and “philosophy” means the false teaching that one could sin in his body and it would not hurt his soul.  So Paul went on to command the Colossians that they had “died” to sin, including pornography, and their life was “hidden with Christ in God.”  Then he told them what to do with all kinds of sexual immorality, including pornography, which leads us to our third point. 

3. The Solution to Pornography - I am now speaking of how you can personally beat pornography - not how you can clean up the world.  That is God’s problem and He will purify the world one day by fire.  But right now we are dealing with your problem - your sin of using pornography or being tempted to do so.  So listen carefully to Paul’s solution:  “Since you have been raised with Christ, seek those things which are above…Set your mind on things above, not on things on earth.  FOR YOU DIED (when Christ died) and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ who is our life appears, then you shall appear with Him in glory.” (Col. 3:1-4).  Then carefully note what Paul says in the light of his above statements:  “THEREFORE MORTIFY (put to death) your earthly nature which are on the earth, FORNICATION (includes all forms of sexual immorality, including pornography)…Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them, but now you yourselves are to put off…”  Note the Key Word “MORTIFY.”  We get our word “morgue” from this.  MORTIFY means to “consider as dead, regard as impotent.” 

4. How Do I Mortify The Flesh, (Porn)? 

1. By identifying my position in Christ - when He died to all sin, I also died, when He arose, I arose.
2. By honestly confessing and forsaking my sin of pornography (Prov. 28:13).
3. By Internalizing the Word of God - Psalm 119:9,11.
4. By living my life as an open book.
5. By making myself accountable to a trusted friend - my wife, brother in Christ, Small Group Person (Prov. 27:17).
6. By making my will God’s will - 1 Thess. 4:3,7.
7. By seeking God’s means of escape when I am tempted - 1 Cor. 10:13.
8. If possible, enroll in Mentoring Men for the Master, whereby we teach you how to overcome porn in weekly classes and  “come alongside” during the week to encourage you to stay clean. The Mentoring Schools meet on Friday 5:45 - 7:00 AM or Saturday, 7 - 8:15AM at 6222 Gordon Rd. (Horizon Church) 

Conclusion:  “Pornography is a problem.  It is a social problem.  It is a moral problem.  It is a spiritual problem.  It may well by your problem.  If it is you cannot afford to ignore it.  If you are struggling with it and you need a friend I put myself forward as your friend to help you.  I am not interested in judging you, or disclosing your sin to others - I want to help you.  I want to pray for you.  I want to counsel you and perhaps place some materials in your hands that might help you. 

But mark this down, if you ignore this sin, you ignore it at your peril.  Pornography is evil.  ‘For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:  To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.  Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids.  For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread: and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life.  Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?  Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned?  So he that goeth in to his neighbor’s wife; whosoever toucheth  her shall not be innocent.’ (Proverbs 6:23-29). There’s nothing soft about porn!”[1]

 Questions and Answers: 

1. What is pornography?
2. Have you ever heard of “The Porn Path?”
3. What is the purpose of pornography?
4. Does Jesus condemn pornography?  How?
5. How do some men rationalize pornography?
6. What is the devil’s biggest lie in support of pornography?
   1. Have you bought into that lie?
7. Does the Apostle Paul condemn pornography?
8. Does Paul give a cure for pornography?
9. How has pornography invaded the church?
   1. What does this tell us about the state of the church today?
10. Must one be born again to overcome pornography?
11. What is the chief source of pornography?
12. What practical steps can you take to make your home free of pornography?
13. True or False:  No one will  know I’m involved in pornography.
14. How does pornography hurt men, women, and children?
15. Why do we need the Holy Spirit to rescue us from pornography?
16. What is the ultimate fate of a practicing pornographer?
17. If involved in pornography, what should you do?
18. What will you do?

 

 The word “Saved” is a very significant word among evangelical believers.  But what does this word mean?  The word saved implies that we are in GRAVE danger until we are SAVED.  The question is “Saved from what?”  For if saved, we were saved from something very dangerous - even deadly - SIN.  However, many profess to be “Saved” with no reference to sin whatsoever:

 

1.      Some say “I am saved because I professed my faith, was baptized and joined the church.”

2.      Others say “I just kept praying until a good feeling came over me, and I was saved.”

3.      Some say, “I decided to turn over a new life” and got saved.

4.      Still some say “I just decided I would join the church with my friends and I got saved.”

5.      One man said, “I was saved years ago and joined the church but experienced “no change at all.”  “Did you repent when you got saved?”  “No, I just got saved - I never heard of repentance.”

 

Note that in all these common testimonies there is no mention of sin at all.  That raises the question, “Were any of these persons saved?  Are there millions of “so called” saved persons, who are not saved at all because they were not saved from their sins, and being saved from our sins is exactly what it means to be saved.

 

That raises the all-important question, What is the true Christian’s relation to sin?  Many Christians are troubled by the words in 1 John 3:9, “Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.” As translated this would mean a Saved or Christian person never commits one sin at all.  Yet not even Paul confessed to live a “sinless life,” (Phil. 3:13-14) and 1 John 3:9 does not teach such, when we correctly translate from the Greek. The words, “does not commit” is present tense or what is called linear tense, which means “Whosoever is born of God does not continue to practice sin, for his seed continues to remain in him, and he cannot continue in the habit of sin because he is born of God.” 

In 1 John 2:1 God commands that we “sin not,” but then says if you commit an act of sin  (not a practice of)  you have an advocate with God the Father.  “It’s one thing to have occasional sin in your life.  It’s another thing for sin to have dominion over you.  Sin does not rule over the life of a genuine Christian.  Those who are born of God cannot continue in the habit and practice of sin, because the seed of God lives in them.  What is this seed of God?  John uses the Greek word sperma, as in the sperm seed that creates life.  In other words, the seed of God creates a new life, a new and distinctive nature within the Christian - a nature that does not desire sin, but desires God’s righteousness and holiness. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Cor. 5:17).   So a Christian may commit an act of sin, but “Sin shall not have dominion over him” (Romans 6:14). 

When you come to Christ, you receive Him not only as Savior, but also as Lord.  You call someone “Lord” only if you serve and obey Him (Luke 6:46; Romans 10:9-10). 

Does that mean that a genuine Christian never sins?  No. A genuine Christian will not pursue sin, bask in sin, or luxuriate in it.  A genuine Christian, even though experiencing temptation as a normal part of life, will nevertheless look upon sin as a horror and a betrayal of the One who was nailed to the cross by sin. 

Some folks call themselves Christians, but they wallow in sin like a pig wallows in the mud.  “Ah, look at that wonderful mud puddle,” they say to themselves, pondering their sin. 

Yet there are others, genuine Christians, who are more like sheep than pigs.  A sheep may, on occasion, fall into a mud puddle.  But sheep do not wallow in mud.  If they fall in, they get up as fast as they can and are not satisfied until they have cleaned all the mud off their fleecy white wool… These two kinds of people are as different as a pig is from a sheep.”[1] 

Can a Christian sin and get by with it?  Not at all.  If he sins, God chastens him.  If God does not chasten him, that shows he is not a true believer.  “God loves us as His children.  All good and loving parents discipline their children, and God, our loving heavenly Father, is no exception… The book of Hebrews tells us, “For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.  If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?” (Hebrews 12:6-8).  “But if you be without chastening you are illegitimate and not sons.” 

IF YOU ARE LIVING A LIFESTYLE OF SIN AND NOT EXPERIENCING THE CHASTENING HAND OF GOD, YOU SHOULD ASK YOURSELF WHETHER YOU ARE TRULY A CHILD OF GOD.  And if you are now experiencing the chastening love of your heavenly Father, then I urge you to respond to that love, receive the benefit of that chastening, and renew your commitment to serve Him as your Lord and Savior.”[2] 

If a true believer keeps on sinning, even after being chastened, he can commit “the sin unto death.”[3]  This sin is so serious that we are commanded not even to pray for such a person.  1 John 5:16-17, “ There is sin leading to death. I do not say that he should pray about that.  All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not leading to death.”

 

IF YOU ARE A CHRISTIAN AND COMMIT WILLFUL SIN, YOU WILL EXPERIENCE SEVERAL FORMS OF LOVING DISCIPLINE FROM YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER:

 1.      David lost “the joy of God’s salvation” and the ability to witness to the lost (Psalm 51:12-13).  Are you experiencing the joy of your salvation or has sin bled the joy out of your life?

2.      David also lost the “peace of God” (Psalm 32)

3.      And physical and spiritual vitality.  “When I kept silent, my bones grew old Through my groaning all the day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was turned into the drought of summer. Selah.” (Psalm 32:3-4)

4.      Most of all, David lost his family.  “Sometimes, when people fall into grievous sins and will not return, God must use a heavier and more grievous rod of chastening.  He did this with King David when he committed the heinous, … sins of adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of Bathsheba’s husband.  Three of David’s children died because of that sin.  Does that mean that when a parent loses a child, it is proof of some sin in that parent’s life?  Of course not.  Tragedy comes into our lives for many reasons, and those reasons may not have anything to do with sin.  But we should examine ourselves and make sure we are not engaging in any grievous sin that might invite the hand of God’s most severe discipline in our lives.”[4]

5.      Sin often brings loss of prosperity.  Haggai 1:6,9, “You have sown much, and bring in little; You eat, but do not have enough; You drink, but you are not filled with drink; You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; And he who earns wages, Earns wages to put into a bag with holes.”

6.      Sin brings great loss to the church.  “... If you want to see what Jesus thinks of the Church, read the first few chapters of Revelation.  There He warns that the sin of certain members of the church will cause the light or “lampstand” of that church to be removed.”[5]

7.      Sin can cause great loss to an entire nation. We see this principle at work in Joshua 7, where Achan sinned at Ai.  This man of Israel had stolen bars of gold and silver, along with garments and other goods, which had been condemned by God, and he had hidden them in his tent.  He thought no one would ever discover his secret sin.  But when the soldiers of Israel went out to conquer the city, they were overwhelmed by a much smaller force.  Israel had been undermined by Achan’s sin, and hundreds died as a result.”[6]

8.      Sin can bring a loss of life.  Even the sin of a child of God can literally bring about premature death in this world.  Ex:  Members of the Church at Corinth died because they partook of the Lord’s Supper unworthily.  “For this cause many are weak and sickly among you and many sleep (have died) (1 Cor. 11:30).  Ananias and Sapphira died suddenly at the altar of the church when they lied about their giving (Acts 5:5,10).  Vance Haver: “If people were killed in churches today for lying, the churches would have to have a morgue in the basement.”  

Hebrews 12 suggests that a person who does not submit to his Father’s will will not live (Heb. 12:9).  In other words, God first “spanks” his rebellious children, and if they do not yield to His will, He may remove them from the world lest their disobedience lead others astray and bring further disgrace to His Name. 

Illus:  I once had a relatively young guy on my staff, highly gifted and hard worker, in our very important Media Outreach.  Suddenly he mysteriously died for no reason as far as I knew.  Later, I learned that he was living in adultery and died in the very act of relations with a harlot. Had this great sin been known, it would have done great harm to our outreach to the world.  His consecrated wife was shocked, but did not seem surprised at his death.    Throughout the Bible we hear God’s warning, “You have sinned against the Lord and be sure your sin will find you out (Numbers 32:23).

 Questions and Answers:

 1.      What Ever Happened to Sin?  is the title of a great book.  How would you answer this question?

2.      Have you ever realized that you were lost?

3.      Can one be saved without realizing he is a lost sinner and without repentance from sin?

4.      What well known plan of salvation makes no mention of repentance?

5.      Why is sin so serious in the life of a believer?

6.      What do you think of the Bumper Sticker that reads, “Just Forgiven.”

7.      Was sin more serious under the Old or New Covenant?  Cue:  “To whom much is given, much is required.” (Luke 12:48).

8.      If a person does not know he has been saved from sin, could he possibly be saved?

9.      Were you ever troubled when  the ungodly seem to be more blessed than the faithful?

10.  David was greatly troubled when he “saw the prosperity of the wicked”   David changed his mind.  How? (Psalm 73: 3, 13)

11.  Why doesn’t God chasten the ungodly in this life?  (Romans 2:5).

12.  How does the punishment of the righteous and the sinner differ as to the timing?

13.  Do you know of some one who is living “high and handsome” and thinking all is okay when he is headed to hell?

14.  What percentage of professing Christians call themselves saved but have no knowledge of being saved from sin?

15.  Wesley said he could not preach grace until he preached law?  What did he mean?

16.  Do you agree with this statement:  “The most serious deficiency in most preaching today is that the preacher urges the people to get saved but does not tell them why they need to be saved or how they are saved?

17.  Do you know you are saved because you repented and were saved from sin?

18.  God deals with sin in two places - Where?

19.  Anybody worried about committing the unpardonable sin?  If so, worry no more:

a.       If born again,

b.      Or if you are worried you committed this sin.

20.  If you do not know you were saved from sin, what should you do?

21.  Did you know Jesus has delayed His coming to give Sinners more time to repent?  What reference?

 

 The issue of Obama Health Care is the hottest issue in America today.  In fact this issue may determine the next President of the USA.  But in contrast God has a Spiritual “Health Care Plan We Can Believe In”, designed by God Himself, and which if followed would increase the health of millions and reduce the cost of Health Care billions of dollars until we could afford it. 

 What is this plan?  It is clearly stated in 1 Cor. 6:19-20 and Romans 12:1:  “Do you not know that your BODY IS THE TEMPLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT which is in you and whom you have from God and you are not your own?  For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body …, which are God’s.” “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your BODIES a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”  Note the key words in this Plan are “Body” and “Holy Spirit,” “Temple” and “Glorify.” Thus when God looks at our Bodies, He doesn’t see us as a mere physical body, but as the Temple where God the Holy Spirit lives and the TOOL by which we can serve and glorify Him.

 Therefore, the way you and I see our bodies determines the way we live.

 

1. If we see them as a Temple, we will make worship our way of life, or our very life style.  The tendency of millions is to check in for two hours each Sunday at the church to worship and then check out for a week to live for self. But God commands that our whole life be one of worship. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” (Romans 12:1)  Illus:  I read of a Baptist who attended the worship service of his Quaker friend’s Church; for a time everyone was quiet and the Baptist whispered to his friend and asked “When does the service begin?”  The Quaker replied, “The service begins when the worship is over.”
2. If we see our Bodies as Tools, whereby we serve and glorify God, we will invest our body in service to the Lord and others.  “Ye are not your own, but bought with a price (the precious Blood of the Son of God: therefore, glorify God in your body.” (1 Cor. 6:20).

 Question:  How would our lives change if we view them as

1.      A TEMPLE, where the Holy Spirit dwells, and

2.      A TOOL which  we use to glorify Jesus Christ.  Consider the following aspects of our lives:

a.       The Food You Eat.  The food of millions is a nutritional nightmare:  grease is bubbling, salt glistening, sugared drink to slosh the stuff down.  Yet we pray, “Lord, please bless this food to the nourishment of our bodies.”  Doing this is like the 5^th grader who after taking a geography test prayed, “O Lord, please make Detroit the Capital of North Carolina.”

b.      Gym -   Are we exercising our bodies to keep them trim or letting them go to pot as we slouch on the couch, eat chocolate coated donuts, and watch TV.

c.       Rest - 38,000 persons died in the USA last year from drowsiness. 

d.      Water - are you drinking 8 glasses each day or substituting soft drinks.

e.       Obesity - the second cause of death in the USA.  Ex:  Jerry Falwell was 100 pounds over weight when he died.

f.        Abortion - Roe vs. Wade legalizes the taking of life in the womb on the theory that the woman’s body is her own and she has the right to choose whether to let her baby die or live.  What does God say?  “Your body is not your own, for it was bought with a price.”  Just think of the Astronomical Price God paid to redeem us and the terrible sin of killing His precious creation in the womb.  “A nation which kills its babies has lost its soul.” (Mother Teresa).

g.       Movies - What do your eyes see?  Illus from my life:  Sitting in movie on campus of Duke I saw nudity and vulgarity on steroids, the Holy Spirit convicted me to get up and leave, never to return except for a few decent movies.

h.       Tongue - Are you glorifying God in you in your talk.  “Let not one corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but only those words which build up the hearers.” (Ephes. 4:29).

i.         Gossip - “Where there are many words, sin is not absent,” but he who restrains his lips is wise.” (Prov. 10:19).

j.        Feet - We are to be shoed with the “preparation of the gospel of peace.” (Ephes. 6:15).  When did you last go soul-winning?

k.      Alcohol - “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging, and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise” (Prov. 20:1). Three out of ten social drinkers end up as alcoholics.  The moderate drinking church members keep the liquor stores in business.

l.         Tobacco - One cigarette takes 12 minutes off your life span.  Smoking is ultimate suicide.  Cancer from smoking is one of the biggest killers in America still.  Illus:  Every week I live if feel compelled to say to those I see smoking, “PLEASE DON’T KILL yourself,” and everyone I approach even thank me and admit they are crazy to keep smoking, yet they persist.

m.     Longevity - Research shows that those who go to church every Sunday live 7 years longer than non-church attendees. Tobacco, alcohol, AIDS  kill millions.

n.       Sex Relations - the ultimate misuse of the physical body before their time is adultery, fornication, pornography, sexual perversion.  “Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ:  Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them the members of a harlot?  God forbid.  What:  know ye not that he which is joined to a harlot is one body?  For two, saith God, shall be one flesh.” (1 Cor. 6:15-16).

o.      Expenditures - Billions spent by individuals and government because of abuse of body.

 

Questions and Answers:

 

1.      Before the lesson today, did you think of your body as the “Temple” of the Holy Spirit, where God lives? As a “tool” to glorify Him?

2.      How does the realization that your body is the Temple where the Holy Spirit lives affect:

a.       What you see.

b.      The music you hear - the movies you see.

c.       Where you go on Sunday, etc.

3.      Do you agree with this statement, “The greatest incentive for living a holy life is knowing your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit?”

4.      If our nation followed “God’s Health Plan” would it solve our Obesity problem?

5.      Would it solve overeating?

6.      Would it reduce the consumption of alcohol?  Tobacco?

7.      Would it reduce the numbers of people who needed government health care?

8.      The 4 keys to good health are: God, Genes, Grub, and Gym.  Do you hold these 4 keys?

9.      Officials from the headquarters of the YMCA came from Conn. To Memphis to interview me since I won the first 500 mile plaque for jogging 500 miles, and they asked, “Why do you jog?”  Guess what I told them?

10.  What should I have told them in the light of the lesson today?

11.  Is it possible for a lost person to glorify God in his or her body?

12.  If not, why not?

13.  Did the apostle Paul glorify God in his body?  Cite the reference.

14.  Do you believe a person is worthless in the kingdom of God if he does not discipline his body?

15.  Are there some changes you must make if you would honor and treat your body as the Temple of the Holy Spirit and a Tool with which to glorify Him?

16.  Name specific ways you are glorifying God in your body at this very moment.

17.  List some ways you plan to change in order to glorify Jesus?

18.  If someone ask you, “Should I go to the movies?” “Should I skip Prayer Meeting?”, etc. how would you answer?

19.  If every Christian followed God’s Health Plan, would it save enough money that the government could fund Health Care for all the rest?

 Food Fun:

 

1. The Agriculture Department says the average American eats 1148 pounds of food a year.  Of course, a lot of it goes to waist.
2. Health Rule:  Eat like a king for breakfast, a prince for lunch, a pauper for dinner.
3. Recipe from Hippie Cook Book:  Cut up lettuce, cucumbers, green peppers, and tomatoes.  Add a little marijuana and let the salad toss itself.
4. An apple a day keeps the doctor away, an onion a day keeps everybody away.
5. When asked if you have had enough to eat, the educated answer would be, “My gastronomic satiety admonishes me that I have reached a state of deglutition consistent with dietetic superfluity.”

           

 

 

 If the Bible is not the very Word of God, the Bible itself lies because it emphatically claims to be just that.  In the Old Testament alone the words “God said,” or “the Word of the Lord came” occur nearly 4000 times  (700 in the first 5 books).  Thirteen hundred years later, the apostle wrote these words about the Bible, “All Scripture is God-breathed…” (2 Tim. 3:16).  The Apostle Peter wrote “knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Peter 1:20-21).  Jesus Himself made the ultimate statement to His Father about the Bible, “Your Word is truth.” (John 17:17)[1]

 My father taught me “A man is no better than his word.”  Neither is God, and “He is perfectly willing to lay His reputation on the line behind the veracity of His Word, but we should have solid and verifiable reasons to believe the Bible is really God’s Word.”[2]  There are 7 irrefutable reasons as I see it. 

1. THE BIBLE IS HISTORICALLY VERIFIABLE - The trustworthiness of any historical account is based on the evidence for that account.  Example:  We believe Julius Caesar lived - only 10 manuscripts exist of him.  We believe Plato existed - only 7 manuscripts exists; we believe George Washington lived and was our first president - we have copies of his first and second inaugural, crossing the Delaware, etc. but much less than we have of the Bible.

 Consider this - there are over 4105 full and partial manuscripts of the New Testament.  This is 40 times the number of manuscripts of other great historical figures.  What about the Old Testament?  The oldest manuscript we had of the Old Testament prior to 1947 were dated AD 900.  But the Dead Sea Scrolls discovered in 1947, contain fragments of almost every book in the Old Testament, dated 150 years before Christ, and these books read almost word for word  as did the manuscripts  dated AD 900.  “No other book from the ancient world has as much manuscript support or is as closely tied to the original even as the Bible.” [3] 

2. THE BIBLE IS MIRACULOUSLY INDESTRUCIBLE  - “Throughout the ages, the Bible has been the major object of Satan’s assaults.  Celsus tried to destroy it with his brilliance, but he failed.  Prophyry tried to demolish it with the hammer of philosophy, but he failed.  Diocletian tried to stamp it out with imperial power, proclaiming by edict, Extincto Nomine Christianorium, meaning “the name of the Christians has been extinguished, but he failed.  Voltaire said (about 1775), “Fifty years from now the world will hear no more of the Bible.”  His office later became a center for the distribution of Bibles.  

There are more copies of the Bible by far than any book of antiquity (4105 Ancient Greek manuscripts of the New Testament and some 15,000 to 30,000 Latin versions of the Holy Scriptures).  It is impossible for God’s Book to die.  Why?  Because standing behind the Book is its perfect Author, who promised 2700 years ago, “The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, but the Word of God shall stand forever.” (Isaiah 40:8; 1 Peter 1:24).[4] 

3. THE BIBLE IS ARCHEOLOGICALLY AUTHENTICATED.  There are hundreds of example of how archeologically has confirmed the Bible.  I will give one of the most obvious - the falling down of the walls of Jericho.  For years liberal critics rejected the story, insisting that walls don’t just fall down, and the Israelites could not have marched around it 7 times in one day because it was so large.  “Then Professor John Garstang, a British archaeologist, excavated the site of ancient Jericho and discovered that the walls of the city had fallen so completely that the attackers were able to climb up and over the ruins into the city.  Why was that so unusual?  Because the evidence showed the walls had collapsed outward.  But in this case just the opposite occurred - just as the book of Joshua records.”[5]  One liberal scholar said, whose name I cannot recall, “I finally have to believe the walls of Jericho did fall down, “to which I replied, “I am sure God was greatly encouraged.” 

4. THE BIBLE IS SCIENTIFICALLY CORRECT.  The Bible is not a science book, but since it is all true, when it speaks of scientific matters, it is reliable.  Example:  Before 1492 and when Columbus discovered America, many believed the world was flat.  “Columbus had to overcome this popular opinion in order to finance the voyage that led to his discovery of America.  Columbus was convinced as he sailed from Spain that he not only would not “sail over the edge” but that he would eventually find his way back to Spain.  He wrote in his diary: “For the execution of the voyage to the Indies I did not make use of intelligence, mathematics or maps.  It is simply the fulfillment of what Isaiah had prophesied.  What prophecy from Isaiah was Columbus referring to?  “He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers.  He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in.” (Isaiah 40:22) Columbus was convinced that the world was a circle, not flat, and that there was no danger at all of “sailing off the sea.”  It never occurred to him that Scripture would be scientifically unreliable.”[6]  Another example:  George Washington died from “blood bleeding.”  “The blood loss came from a common cure for many illnesses in the day - attaching leeches to the skin of the patient to “bleed” the illness out of the body.  Usually the opposite effect happened:  the patient would die from losing blood, the greatest source of energy and infection fighting power his body had.  If only doctors had taken this verse seriously from a medical standpoint: “For the life of a creature is in the blood.”(Lev. 17:11) 

5. THE BIBLE IS PROPHETICALLY ACCURATE.  Any rational and honest person would believe in the veracity of the Bible because of its staggering accuracy in foretelling events which have already come to pass.  Thirty percent of the Bible consist of prophecy, and not one of its prophecies has ever been shown to be false.  Ex:  We think of the Psalms as the “Psalm of David,” written about 1000 years before the birth of Christ, and yet there are some 25 prophecies of detailed events concerning Christ in the Psalms such as: 

Prophecy:                                                       Fulfillment: 

            Incarnation - Psalm 2:1-12                                John 1:14

            Creation - Psalm 8:3-8                         John 1:3; Col. 1:16

            Death, Resurrection - Psalm 16:8-11                1 Cor. 15:3

            Betrayal - Psalm 41:9                                       Luke 22:3

            Millennial Reign - Psalm 132ff               Rev. 20:1-6

            Ascension - Psalm 110:1-7                               Acts 1:11  

6. THE BIBLE IS UNIFORM IN ITS MESSAGE. The Bible is actually 66 books, written over a period of 1500 years by 40 different authors, living on 3 continents (Asia, Europe, and Africa), writing in three different languages (Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic) on many controversial subjects, and yet concentrating on one theme, human redemption, and being in perfect agreement in their theological conclusions.  A scarlet thread runs from Genesis to Revelation, revealing that redemption is only through blood sacrifice - lambs in the Old Testament and the Lamb of God in the New Testament.[7] 

7. THE BIBLE IS PERSOANLLY TRANSFORMING -  The Bible, if true, must go beyond accuracy.  Something can be true and factual but have no personal significance.  But the Bible has proven to bring about personal, spiritual, physical, emotional and eternal change in innumerable persons, whole nations, and civilizations.  Example: 

1. St. Augustine, the foremost thinker of the church from AD400-1500, was an immoral, corrupt heretic until he heard the words of Romans 13:14, “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.”  He believed these words and was gloriously converted.  His “Confessions” are perhaps the greatest testimony on the power of the gospel to transform a life in history.
2. The Apostle Paul was a mean, self-centered, self-righteous “murderer of the saints,” and “religious terrorist,”  until he met the risen Christ on the Road to Damascus, and he, the “Master Destroyer of the church” became the “Master Missionary” to preach Christ to the ends of the earth.
3. Martin Luther, A Catholic Monk, was walking in darkness and spiritual bondage, until he confronted the Word of God in Habakkuk 2:4, quoted also in Romans 1:17; Gal. 3:11; and Hebrews 10:38, “The Just Shall Live by Faith.”  It is alleged that Luther heard these words from God Himself as he was ascending the “Scala Santa” in the Church of Rome, believing that every step he ascended worthily would reduce his years in purgatory for 14 years.  I climbed these steps myself years ago and saw with my own eyes about a dozen of the “faithful” still climbing these steps.  On and on I could cite great transformations which have occurred in history, but in the interest of time, I will mention just a few I have witnessed in my ministry: 

(1)    Dr. Carl Bates, pastor of FBC, Charlotte, was desperate and suicidal in a motel.  He tore a page out of the Gideon Bible with which to wipe his razor before he cut his throat, when Romans 6:23 caught his eye, “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”  Immediately convicted that he was facing physical and spiritual death, he fell on his knees, repented, trusted Jesus and became a great preacher, pastor, and seminary professor.

(2)    John Pace,  a red neck engineer, believed all preachers preached for money and none of them got his mind “out of the corn field,” he told me, until he heard me preach on a third grade level.  He was immediately overcome  by the simplicity and glory of the gospel, and for months attended our church, saying to me as he would leave, “Thank you, you  are the only guy who ever got my mind out of the corn field.”  Finally, a brother by the name of George Farrington, led him to Christ, and he became so happy in the Lord that I named his right foot “glory” and his left “Hal,” for when he walked he was just praising the Lord every moment of his life.

(3)    Janey Spencer, the best secretary on earth I believe for 19 years, a professed Christian and Southern Baptists, who joined the church and was baptized because “she loved God and wanted to be baptized with her friends.”  She sought to serve the Lord for some 30 years before she discovered she was lost and headed for hell.  She cried out to me in a prayer meeting, “Dr. Bennett, I’m lost, I’m lost, for I never trusted Jesus but went to the Father, by passing the cross, and never knew this until you came and told us we must repent and trust Jesus, not just believe in our heads.”  She fell on her knees and cried out for God to forgive and save her that day and became one of the most radiant Christians I ever knew.

(4)    Rodeo Outlaw, Arizona

(5)    Orthodox Jewish Ophthalmologist -Houston, Texas

(6)    C. S. Lewis

(7)    Campbell Morgan

(8)    Vance Havner

(9)    Billy Graham

 

 Questions and Answers 

1. The Bible is a book of 69 books, 39, 27, or 66?  Which?
2. The Bible consists of 1,189 chapters, 1246, 1442?  Which?
3. What was the only Old Testament book not in the Dead Sea Scrolls?  Why was it left out?
4. The Bible was written in three languages: Which?
   1. Hebrew, Greek, Arabic
   2. Latin, King James English, Greek
   3. Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic
5. The authors of the Bible lived in:  Which?
   1. Europe, Asia, Asia Minor
   2. Europe, Africa, Crete
   3. Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia. 
6. The Bible is non-contradictory.  Does this mean there are no apparent contradictions or problems of understanding parts of the Bible?
7. Have all these problems been answered by anybody?
8. Can you name a book which answers more than 800 problem questions?  (The Big Book of Bible Difficulties by Dr. Norman Geisler,.)
9. Does this book explain how the sun could stand still, etc?
10. Have you ever read a passage of the Bible you did not understand after much prayer, study and reflection?  What did you do?
11. What did perhaps the greatest expositor in the last hundred years say he did when he came to a passage he could not understand?  (Campbell Morgan)
12. Even though you may not understand a passage today does God promise he will reveal the meaning later?  Read Phil. 3:15.
13. Are there mysteries we should not expect to understand?  Deut. 29:29
14. Why does God reveal the meaning of His Word?  Deut. 29:29b
15. My mentor Dr. Lee Eddleman said to me, “Bill, I am not impressed when someone tells me he believes the Bible is infallible,” and then he told me why?  Guess what he said?
16. What did the 5-Point Calvinist say to me?
17. Utterly Personal Questions concerning each of us and the Bible?
    1. Do you really believe your Bible is the very Word of God?
    2. Do you really believe the Bible is God talking to you personally?
    3. Do you believe that makes the Bible your most valuable earthly possession?
    4. Then what are you doing with your Bible?
18. What should you be doing?

 

DAMNABLE ERRORS TO AVOID IN INTERPRETING THE BIBLE: 

1.      1 Tim. 6:10 - Money a great evil

2.      Exod. 20:14 - Thou shalt commit adultery

3.      Ephes. 4:8 - Thou shalt steal

4.      Rev. 8:1 - No women in heaven

5.      Matt. 3:1 - John is a Baptist

6.      Matt. 24:36 - Setting date of Second Coming

7.      2 Peter 1:16-21 - God spoke in a vision

8.      Rev. 22:18-19 - Taking away or adding a Word

 

 

 There is no more intriguing and beneficial study in my judgment than the History of Satan.  In a day when many people deny the existence of Satan and others do not realize that he is much more than a “Pitchfork and a Pointy Tail,” the truth about Satan is especially needed.  So please note with me seven Great Stages in the Life of Satan: 

1.      Satan:  Pop Culture Image of Satan.  It happens every Halloween.  If you live in a community where there are children, you get trick or treaters dressed as witches, super heroes, demons and devils.  The latter are outfitted with horns, a pointy tail, a pitchfork, and even red skin at times.  This is pop culture’s most prevalent visual image. 

2.      Satan:  His Original State -  A glorious heavenly being of indescribable beauty, wisdom, music, etc.  Let God speak in His Word:  Ezek. 28:12-15, “Son of man, take up a lamentation for the king of Tyre, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “You were the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.  You were in Eden, the garden of God; 
Every precious stone was your covering: The sardius, topaz, and diamond, Beryl, onyx, and jasper, Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created. “You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; You were on the holy mountain of God;  You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones.  You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created,  Till iniquity was found in you.” 

a.       Model of perfection

b.      Full of wisdom

c.       Full of beauty

d.      Adored in Garden of Eden

e.       Anointed as guarded cherub

f.        Ordained by God

g.       Walked among fiery stones

h.       Blameless in his ways.

 

Isaiah 14 -

a.       Wonderful music flowed from Satan.

b.      Blessed with perfect beauty

c.       Like the arch-angel

d.      Wisdom whether to love or not love God

e.       The angel was not only magnificent, but very important.  He walked on the holy mountain with God. 

3.      Satan:  His Fall from Heaven.  Isaiah explains the motives behind Satan’s disobedience before God kicked him out of heaven.  Isaiah 14:12-15, ““ How you are fallen from heaven,   O Lucifer, son of the morning!    How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations!  For you have said in your heart: ‘ I will ascend into heaven,   I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;   I will also sit on the mount of the congregation  On the farthest sides of the north;  I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,  I will be like the Most High.’  Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol,  To the lowest depths of the Pit.” 

a.       I will ascend into heaven

b.      Exalt my throne above the stars

c.       I will sit alone on the mountain of the congregation,

d.      Will ascend to heights of the clouds

e.       I WILL BE LIKE THE MOST HIGH.    God’s punishment:  “Thou shalt be brought to hell, to the sides of the pit.” (Isaiah 14:17)

 A similar description of this fall is found in Ezek. 28:16-17, “In the abundance of your trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned; so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God, and the guardian cherub drove you out from the midst of the stones of fire. 

Your heart was proud because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor.  I cast you to the ground; I exposed you before kings, to feast their eyes on you.”[1] 

4.      Satan:  Our Deadly Adversary:

a.       Zech. 3:1-2

b.      Jesus - John 10:10

c.       1 Peter 5:8

d.      Ephes. 6:12

e.       2 Cor. 11:4  

5.      Satan - Defeated in Life of Obedient Believer in The Present.

a.       1 John 3:8

b.      1 John 4:4b

c.       Rev. 12:11

d.      Ephes. 6:12ff

e.       Defeated only by the right word  to answer his accusations (Matthew 4:4; Deut. 8:3; 6:16, 13).

f.        James 4:7  Luther, “I often laugh at Satan, and there is nothing which makes him so angry as when I attack him to his face, and tell him that through God (His Word) I am more than a match for him.

g.       Luther’s famous hymn was written to proclaim victory over Satan and it says “ONE LITTLE WORD WILL FELL HIM” (dethrone) What did he mean? 

6.      Satan’s Ultimate Doom in The Future

a.       First prophesized by God Himself speaking to the devil (Gen. 3:15

b.      Col. 2;15

c.       Cast into the bottomless pit 1000 years (Rev. 20:2)

d.      Confined to the lake of fire for all eternity (Rev. 20:10). 

7.      TWO GREAT ERRORS TO AVOID REGARDING SATAN

a.       To disbelieve his existence

b.      To believe he has the power and will exert it to defeat you.  In his renowned book, The Screwtape Letters, C. S. Lewis says, “There are ERRORS into which our race can fall about the devil:  One is to disbelieve he exists, two, to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in him.”      

Questions and Answers: 

1.      Before the lesson today, what was your concept of Satan?

2.      Do you really believe there is a personal devil?

3.      Why do you believe this?

4.      Has the devil ever assaulted you?  If so, how?

5.      Was Jesus assaulted by the devil and did He conquer him?  How?

6.      If Jesus conquered the devil by quoting the Word verbatim, do you believe we must use the same weapon of the word as it is written in the Bible to defeat him?

7.      What would you say to a good Christian brother, who really loves Jesus and feels called to a special ministry, if he said to you, “Bill, the devil has been giving me and my wife a fit in recent days?”

8.      Evangelist Billy Sunday used to look down and point down as he preached and hung over the banister in the pulpit and preach to Satan in hell.  Was he Scriptural?

9.      Simon Peter wrote, “Be sober and vigilant for your adversary the devil is walking about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour?”  (1 Peter 5:8). 

a.       Was this statement by Peter autobiographical?

b.      Is Satan always like a roaring lion or “an angel of light”? (2 Cor. 11:14).

10.  Is it true that “The devil goes on every vacation, but he never takes one himself.”

11.  Flip Wilson used to say, “The devil made me do it.”  Does the devil make us do anything?

12.  I visited a young lady who killed her baby.  When I asked her why, she replied, “O I guess the old devil had me do it?”  Did he?

13.  Is this a good statement:  “When the devil reminds you of your past, remind him of his future?”

14.  Can you quote a verse of Scripture to Satan to show his horrible future?

15.  The King James Version never uses  the word “demon,” but the word “devils.”  Example: James 2:19, “The devils believe and tremble.”  The word translated “devils” is the Greek word daimonia, which means “demons.”

a.       Why is it wrong to use the word devils in the plural?

b.      Why did the King James translators use the word “devils” when there is only one devil?  Because they believed that “demons” were little devils.  Were they correct?

16.  Why does the devil need “demons” as helpers?

17.  Are the “demons” to the devil what the Holy Spirit is to Jesus?

18.  Do you know a friend whom the devil is beating up?

19.  If so, what should you say to him?

20.  Before this lesson, were you permitting the devil to overcome you?

21.  If so, will you begin to internalize God’s Word so you will have the weapon to defeat Him?

22.  What happens if you marry a child of the devil?

 

Joke:  What did the man in church say to the devil when he came at him with a pitchfork? 

Painfully Personal:

 1.      If you are saved and the devil tells you are not, would be able to answer him with a definite  Scripture?

2.      How would you answer him, if he said, it is God’s will for me to marry my 25 year old secretary and ditch my 50 year old wife, and mother of my children?

3.      Satan, “You’re too busy to pray and internalize the Word and God will understand.” Your reply.

4.      Satan, “Pornography does not hurt anyone.”  What would you say?

 

 DID YOU KNOW THAT ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT MINISTRIES OF MMM IS TO SHOW MEN HOW TO DEFEAT THE DEVIL?

 
      

 1] James L. Garlow with Keith Wall, Heaven and the Afterlife, Minneapolis, Minnesota; Bethany House Publishers, 2009, p. 112.