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"THE BIBLE IS THE ONLY BOOK THAT WE STUDY IN ORDER TO GET TO KNOW THE AUTHOR." [Bob George]

JESUS IS THE LIVING WORD.

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. 

I CHRIST'S TESTIMONY ABOUT THE WORD OF

GOD. WHAT CHRIST CLAIMED ABOUT THE WORD

A. ALL SCRIPTURE POINTS TO ME:

  John 5:39-41 You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life. "I do not accept praise from men,

TO WHOM DO ALL OF THE SCRIPTURES REFER? _______

B: MOSES WROTE ABOUT JESUS. To understand how all Scripture refers to Jesus, let's examine some illustrations. The context describes the Israelites,complaining to Moses about the lack of water in the desert, where he lead them by God's command:

Numbers 20:10-12 He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, "Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?" (11) Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank. (12) But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them."

(1) Why was God upset with Moses? He wasn't the one who was complaining. In fact, he obeyed God and struck the rock to produce water? ________________________________________

Numbers 20:8 "Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink."

(1) Did Moses obey God? ________

(2) How did God tell Moses to get water from the rock? _______.

(3) How did Moses get the water from the rock?_____________. Do I hear you saying picky, picky, picky? God is painting a picture of Jesus/ Jesus the rock of our salvation/ the springs of living water. Yes, He was struck for our sins. But who struck Him, His friends? You could ask what Scriptural authority I have to draw an association between this rock and the person of Jesus.

1 Cor. 10:2 -4 They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. (3) They all ate the same spiritual food (4) and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.

(1) How does the New Testament describe that rock? _________

1 Cor. 10:11 These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come.

(1) According to this passage, the things that happened to Israel, are _________ for us today.

John 5:45-47 "But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?"

(1) Why was Jesus able to say this to the religious leaders of His day? To Whom do all of the Scriptures refer? _______________.

(2) Whom did Moses write about? _________________.

C. ALL OF THE PROPHETS WROTE ABOUT JESUS

Luke 24:25-27 He said to them, "How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter His glory?" And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

(1) About whom, did all the Prophets write? ________

(2) Who is the entire word of God about? __________

II. WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT MAN AND HIS ABILITY TO UNDERSTAND THE WORD OF GOD.

A . Man is spiritually dead. Since, without the spirit, man's knowledge about life, is limited to what he can see, smell, hear, touch, and taste, how could he know about eternal, spiritual things without the word of God?

 John 20:31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

(1) WHAT KIND OF A MAN NEEDS LIFE? ______________

(2) WHY DID JOHN RECORD THE MIRACLES AND SAYINGS OF JESUS? _____________________________________________________.

(3) WHAT IS THE RESULT OF OUR BELIEVING THAT JESUS IS THE CHRIST? ___________________________________________________.

(4) TO BE ABLE TO READ THIS YOU MUST BE PHYSICALLY ALIVE, WHAT KIND OF LIFE MUST YOU BE LACKING? _______________

Ephes. 2:1-2 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.

(1) What does this verse say that we were when we followed the way of this world and it's spiritual leader? _____________________________________.

 John 3:5 Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

(1) The context for water birth is clearly physical birth and now Jesus declares that we must be born of the _______________.

A person who is spiritually dead must be born anew, or from above, spiritually, in order to worship our God who is a spirit being.

John 4:24 "God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."

(1) What is the only way that humans can worship God? in _______ and in ___________. John 17:17b Thy word is truth.

B. Man is a tri-part being, just like our heavenly model

 1 Thes.. 5:23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

(1) What three parts of the human being are mentioned in this verse? _______, ___________ and ____________.

James 2:26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

(1) What does God, through James, call the human without a spirit? _______________.

(2) Since this is the natural born condition of all men, what do

all men need? _____________.

 C: A SPIRITUALLY DEAD MAN CANNOT UNDERSTAND THE WORD OF GOD.

 1 Cor. 2:14 But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.

(1) The things of the Spirit of God are always in concert with the Word of God. What does God say they are to the natural man?

_____________________________________________________.

(2) What can't he do? He ______________ understand the things of the Spirit.

 1 Cor. 1:18 For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

(1) The word of the Cross would relate to the gospel of our salvation. That the living word (Jesus) would willingly submit to humiliation and death, for love for another, is ________________ to them that are perishing.

1 Cor. 1:23-24 but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block, and to Gentiles foolishness, 24 but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

(1) The reference to the Gentiles, understood in the context of that day, would be to men without spiritual insight. Christ crucified is ____________ to the uncalled ones.

D. ALL SCRIPTURE IS TRUTH:

John 17:17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.

(1) The word of God is ___________________!

Matthew 5:17-18 "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished."

III THE WORD OF GOD WAS WRITTEN BY AT LEAST 45 SPIRIT-GUIDED MEN, OVER MORE THAN 2000 YEARS, AND CONFIRMED BY JESUS CHRIST

2 Tim 3:16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,

2 Peter 1:21 For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

 Matthew 24:35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

(1) The Word of God is __________________. Is it likely that God would preserve error? 

1 Peter 1:24-25 For, "All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever." And this is the word that was preached to you.

(1) What did these men preach? ________________________.

What the "Word that was preached to you "is, is the beginning of the New Testament.

(2) Based on Peters testimony, can we conclude that the word of God is accurate and true? _____________.

IV. CHRIST CONFIRMED THE OLD TESTAMENT EVENTS.

Sceptics mock events, like the Red Sea crossing, where God held back the waters, and the slaves of Egypt crossed on dry land. Critics mock the Word when it deals with the flood of Noah. They loudly claim that science doesn't support such a notion. Science is the examination of observable data. Is the flood observable? Data certainly does suggest a lot of unanswered questions. Scientists like the author of Earth in Collision, unearthed a tremendous volley of open ended facts-facts that he attempts to answer by a theory of inter-orbitual planets, colliding. His thesis would be well answered by accepting the biblical truth about the Noetic flood.

A. Concerning the Flood: Let's look at these statements by Jesus.

Matthew 24:37-39 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.

 Luke 17:26-27 "Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.

(1) DID JESUS (who was there) BELIEVE IN NOAH'S FLOOD? __________________________.

2 Peter 2:5 if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others;

(1) DID PETER (Jesus' student) CONFIRM THAT CHRIST TAUGHT THAT NOAH'S' FLOOD WAS A FACT?___________

WHAT IS YOUR BELIEF? ____________________.

 B. Concerning Jonah and the Fish.

Matthew 12:39-41 He answered, "A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here.

WHALERS HAVE TAKEN MEN ALIVE/ SEVERAL DAYS IN THE BELLY OF A WHALE/ DURING MODERN TIMES.

Luke 11:29-30,32 As the crowds increased, Jesus said,"This is a wicked generation. It asks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah. For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation. The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here.

 (1) DID JESUS STATE THAT THE STORY OF JONAH AND THE FISH IS TRUE? ______________

(2) IF WE SAY IT ISN'T TRUE, WHAT ARE WE CALLING JESUS? A ____________________________.

SOME USE THIS STORY OF JONAH (OR SOME OTHER MIRACLE) AS A STRAW DOG, AS A REASON, FOR NOT BELIEVING THE WORD OF GOD AND ACCEPTING THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS, THE GIFT OF GOD FOR OUR SALVATION. IF YOU WON'T BELIEVE IN THE RESURRECTION, WHO CARES IF YOU BELIEVE IN JONAH?

C. Concerning the Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah: (Jesus is speaking)

Luke 17:28-30 "It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. "It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed.

IS IT ANY DIFFERENT? AREN'T PEOPLE DOING THESE THINGS TODAY?

(1) WAS THERE AN ACTUAL SODOM AND GOMORRAH? _____________

(2) HOW DO YOU KNOW FOR SURE? __________________.

 D. Concerning the Creation:

 Matthew 19:4 "Haven't you read," he replied, "that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,'

(1) DID JESUS BELIEVE IN EVOLUTION? _______

(2) IF NOT, HOW WOULD YOUEXPLAIN JESUS' STATEMENTS ABOUT ADAM & EVE? ___________

Genesis 1:26-27 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. (NOTE THE PLURAL "OUR")

(1) IF ONE HOLDS TO THEISTIC EVOLUTION AND WE EVOLVED FROM A MONKEY, WHAT MUST THAT PERSON CONCLUDE THAT GOD LOOKS LIKE? ________

_____________________________________________________.

2 Peter 3:5 But they deliberately forget that long ago by God's word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water.

Hebrews 11:3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

OR OBSERVABLE

(1) BY _________ WE UNDERSTAND THAT THE UNIVERSE WAS FORMED AT GOD'S COMMAND. JESUS IS NOT THE BIG BANG HERE IS WHERE THE RUBBER MEETS THE ROAD: IF JESUS CHRIST IS GOD AND HE SAID THESE EVENTS OCCURRED - THESE EVENTS OCCURRED. IF HE IS NOT GOD, WHETHER OR NOT THESE EVENTS OCCURRED IS TOTALLY IRRELEVANT TO OUR LIVES. THE REAL QUESTION IS ALWAYS; IS JESUS CHRIST GOD?

V. CHRIST CONFIRMED THE AUTHORITY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT:

A. God has spoken through His Son:

Hebrews 1:1-2 In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways,but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, (NOT PROPHET) whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.

(1)HOW DID GOD SPEAK TO US IN THE PAST? __________

(2) WHOM DID THE WRITER OF HEBREWS SAY GOD SPEAKS THROUGH NOW? ____________.___

Luke 21:33 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

JOHN 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

 (1) DOES THE WORD OF CHRIST HAVE ETERNAL SIGNIFICANCE?______________________________________.

(2) WHO IS THE WORD OF GOD? ______________________.

(3) DOES THIS PASSAGE SPEAK OF THE WORD OF GOD AS JUST SOME PRINT? OR AS LIVING AND ACTIVE? ___________.

B. UNDERSTANDING OF CHRIST'S WORDS IS GIVEN TO THE APOSTLES:

 John 16:12-15 "I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.

(1) WHAT DOES THE SPIRIT GUIDE YOU WITH? ____________________

(2) WHO'S WORD (truth) WILL THE HOLY SPIRIT QUOTE?___________

John 14:25-26 "All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

(1) HOW MUCH OF WHAT CHRIST SAID, DID THE HOLY SPIRIT, REMIND THE APOSTLES OF? _____________________

C . PAUL WAS NOT TAUGHT WITH THE OTHER APOSTLES, YET HE WAS THE AUTHOR OF MOST OF THE EPISTLES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT.

Gal 1:12 I did not receive it (The Gospel) from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.

(1) Who taught Paul the Gospel? ________________________________

D. BUT WE COULD ONLY ACCEPT THE VALIDITY OF HIS STATEMENT BECAUSE OF WHAT PETER SAYS

2 Peter 3:15 Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. 2 Peter 3:16 He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.

(1) WHAT DOES PETER EQUATE PAUL'S WRITING TO? _____________________________________________________.

E. THE APOSTLES WERE TO SPEAK ABOUT THE GOSPEL OF JESUS

JOHN 15:26 -27 "When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me. (27)And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.

(1) WHAT WERE THE APOSTLES TO TESTIFY TO? _______

 Gal 1:11-12 I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.

(1) WHAT WAS PAUL'S TESTIMONY ABOUT THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST? __________________________________.

THE VALIDITY OF THE WORD OF GOD DEPENDS UPON THE PERSON OF JESUS CHRIST. IF HIS CLAIM TO BE GOD IS FALSE, THEN WE HAVE NO COMPELLING REASON TO BELIEVE WHAT HE SAYS. SINCE HE IS GOD, WE KNOW ON HIS AUTHORITY THAT THE WORD OF GOD IS TRUTH. THEREFORE....

VI. EVERYTHING GOD WANTED US TO KNOW ABOUT GOD IS REVEALED IN THE WORD.

John 1:18 No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known

(1) WHAT COULD WE NEED TO KNOW ABOUT GOD THAT IS NOT REVEALED IN HIS WORD? _____________

(2). EVERYTHING GOD WANTED US TO KNOW ABOUT MAN IS REVEALED IN THE WORD. CAN YOU NAME SOMETHING THAT ISN'T CLEARLY DEALT WITH.? _____________________________________________________.

(3)CAN YOU NAME SOME THINGS THAT WE KNOW ABOUT MAN, NOT RECORDED IN THE WORD OF GOD? _____________________________________________________.

VII. GOD'S TRUTH ABOUT MAN

A. Jesus Christ Created Man:

 Col 1:16 For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.

(1) WHO CREATED MAN? __________

B. Jesus Christ knows man:

John 2:23-25 Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name. But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men. He did not need man's testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man.

(1) WHO KNOWS SOMETHING BETTER THAN THE ONE WHO CREATED IT? _______

(2) IS JESUS CHRIST THE CREATOR? ___________?

DOES JESUS KNOW WHAT IS IN A MAN ______?

V111. WHAT DOES MAN SAY ABOUT MAN?

A. I don't need God to discover who I am.

Romans 1:28 Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, He gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. 

(1) For a person willing to give up the knowledge of God, what kind of a mind does God Leave them with? __________________________.

James 2:26a. As the body without the Spirit is dead . . .

(1) What does God compare the man without the Spirit to? A _______ man.

(2) What can a dead man know? _______________________.

John 14:26 But the counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have said to you.

(1) When a person is in communication with the Spirit of God, what can he know? ________________________

A man without the Spirit of God,can only know what he can learn from his five senses. I Cor 2:9-10 However, as it is written, "no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him"--but God revealed it to us by His Spirit. The Spirit searched all things, even the deep things of God.

B. Can I solve my own problems.

 JESUS CHRIST SAYS: There is nothing outside the man which going into him can defile him: but the things which proceed out of the heart of man are what defile a man. Mark 7:15

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23

SIGMUND FREUD DECLARES: Man is not responsible for his own actions, but is merely a victim of the faults of others. He is the product of his own environment. His problems are caused, not by personal sin, but by other people who have wronged him or by mental or emotional sickness, thus fully eliminating personal responsibility.

 THE WORD OF GOD TEACHES: Romans 3:10-11 As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one."

(1) Does Scripture indicate that man is a victim of someone else or is he alone responsible? _____________________________. 

JESUS CHRIST, THE LIVING WORD, TELLS US THAT MAN IS NOT HIS OWN GOD, RATHER IS RESPONSIBLE TO THE TRUE GOD.

 Matthew 22:37 Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'

(1) Who does Jesus tell us to love? _______________________. 

John 3:3 In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."

(1) What must a man be, to enter the Kingdom of God?

_____________________________________________________.

 John 3:6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.

 (1) What kind of new birth do we need? ____________________.

CARL ROGERS, SPEAKING IN HUMAN WISDOM SAYS THIS: Man is essentially good and has all the necessary resources within himself for solving his problems and producing fulfillment and happiness. Man is his own god. Roger's ultimate goal for the counselee is human autonomy.

B.F. SKINNER ON MAN, FROM HIS LIMITED RESOURCES OF THE FIVE SENSES, ADVANCES THIS PREMISE: Man is only an animal with no soul or spirit. He is made up of only biological and behavioral responses which must be trained in a positive way. There is no God. Vocabulary such as "God" or "Spirit" is merely spook language.

 NOTICE THAT SECULAR PSYCHOLOGY IS CONTRARY TO GOD.. CAN WE HOPE TO FIND HELP USING THE WRONG OWNERS' MANUAL.. YOU WOULD EXPERIENCE THE SAME SUCCESS AS USING A MACINTOSH-MANUAL TO RUN AN IBM COMPUTER.

IX. THE ROLL OF GOD'S WORD IN OUR LIVES. BOB GEORGE LIKENS IT TO A RADAR. THE WORD GUIDES US THROUGH THE UNSEEN HAZARDS OF THIS WORLD.

2 Tim 3:16-17 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

(1) HOW MUCH OF GOD'S WORD IS USEFUL? ___________

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF GOD'S WORD IN OUR LIVES? _____________________________________________________

(2) THAT THE MAN OF GOD MAY BE ___________ _________ FOR EVERY GOOD WORK.

Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

(1) WHAT DOES THE STATEMENT MEAN THAT THE WORD OF GOD IS LIVING AND ACTIVE? ____________ ___________________________________________________

X. CONCLUSION: ARE YOU WILLING TO TRUST THE WORD OF GOD TO TEACH YOU TRUTH ABOUT BOTH GOD AND MAN?

John 8:31-32 --- "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. (32) Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

John 8:36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

GAL 1:8-9 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! [9] As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!

God sent Jesus the living Word, that you and I might know His will for our living. If you have questions about this, comments or comments please Email them to Greg at deans@interpath.com