Bible teaching - 2006 archive

BIBLE TEACHING
archive

It is important to know the will of God and live your life accordingly. We hope these short Bible studies will help you do just that, as well as encouraging you to delve deeper into the richness of God’s word for yourself. Above all let the Holy Spirit lead you into all truth for He is your Teacher. As it says in John chapter 14 verse 26, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you”.

And verses 16 to 17 in 2 Timothy chapter 3 sum up perfectly why you should study God’s word. “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work”. Amen

Unless otherwise stated, the message was written by one of the ministry partners.

List of messages

The work of the Holy Spirit - the Helper

The Spirit of Truth

What Scripture says about the Holy Spirit - a summary of our brief series

The Holy Spirit and His purpose

The House of Gold - the Tabernacle in the wilderness (Part 11) A summation of our study

The House of Gold - the Tabernacle in the wilderness (Part 10) The Holy of holies

The House of Gold - the Tabernacle in the wilderness (Part 9) The three entrances

The House of Gold - the Tabernacle in the wilderness (Part 8) The golden altar of incense

The House of Gold - the Tabernacle in the wilderness (Part 7) The table of showbread

The House of Gold - the Tabernacle in the wilderness (Part 6) The candlestick and the furniture

The House of Gold - the Tabernacle in the wilderness (Part 5)

The House of Gold - the Tabernacle in the wilderness (Part 4) Altar of burnt offerings (study 2)

The House of Gold - the Tabernacle in the wilderness (Part 4) Altar of burnt offerings (study 1)

The House of Gold - the Tabernacle in the wilderness (Part 3)

The House of Gold - the Tabernacle in the wilderness (Part 2)

The House of Gold - the Tabernacle in the wilderness (Part 1)

The only way

The mind a battleground

Back to the top

What Scripture says about the Holy Spirit - a summary of our brief series - PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 2008

We have seen from the previous studies that it is God’s Holy Spirit who convicts us of sin, righteousness and judgment. We have also seen in Scripture that it is the Holy Spirit who teaches us all things and guides us into all truth. Therefore, to call Him just a ‘force’ is a denial of God’s presence on this Earth and this denial will stop us from coming to any knowledge of God’s truth.

Grieve not the Holy Spirit (see Ephesians chapter 4 verse 30)

Mathew Henry states, “We must not do that which is contrary to His Holy Spirit’s nature, and His will. We must not refuse to hearken to hearken to His commands, nor rebel against His government. Provoke not the blessed spirit of God to withdraw His presence, and gracious influences from you. By Him we are sealed unto the day of redemption. The body is to be redeemed from the power of the grave at the resurrection day. Then our full and complete happiness commences. All true believers are sealed to that day. God has distinguished them from others and the spirit of God in us is the seal. We should be undone should God take away His Holy Spirit from us.”

But praise God Jesus said lo I am with you until the end of the age. I will never leave you or forsake you Matt 28 v 20.

To all who receive Him, He gave the right to become children of God John 1 v 12.

Do not quench the spirit ( see 1 Thessalonians 5 v 19)

There is always something to give thanks for. Even when we face our darkest day there are still blessings to count and give thanks for. Remember, if we face the sun the shadow always falls behind us. But if we turn our backs on the sun all the shadow will be in front of us and we see darkness. In verses 19 and 20 Paul warns the Thessalonians not to despise spiritual gifts. I think Paul is really saying, ‘If a man has anything to say, don’t stop him saying it.’

Verses 21 and 22 describe the constant duty of the Christian. He must use Christ as a touchstone by which to test all things, and even when it is hard he must keep on doing the right things, and must always hold himself aloof from every kind of evil.

When a Christian lives up to Paul’s advice he will indeed shine like a light in a dark place. He will indeed have joy within himself and power to win others. Thank God for His gift of the Holy Spirit.

Back to the top

The Spirit of Truth - PUBLISHED - JULY 2008

Jesus said, “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore, I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.” John chapter 16 verses 12 to 15

Jesus knew the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of truth whose great work is to bring God’s truth to men. This is ‘revelation’. In addition, there is no better portion of scripture to explain the principles of revelation than the one outlined above.

Revelation, in a spiritual sense, is a progressive process. In 1 Corinthians 13 the Apostle Paul writes, “Now we know in part, then we shall know in full.” In the same way, Jesus could have shared much with His disciples. However, He held it back because they were not ready to receive it at that time.

A man can only absorb so much at any given moment. The amount he absorbs depends upon his capacity to receive. We do not set out to teach quantum physics to a primary school child. First, he has to learn the basics before moving on to the more advanced stages of the subject. God’s revelation to man is like that - it is a developing revelation.

In 2 Peter chapter 1 verses 5 to 11 we read about fruitful growth in faith - how we can grow and mature in the mind of Christ. It is important to realise that God will teach men what they are able and fit to learn. However, it comes with certain consequences.

Some parts of the Old Testament scripture can cause us to worry about its meaning. When those passages of scripture were written, it was all of God’s truth that man could grasp. To illustrate this point, note that there are many passages where men, women, children and animals are wiped out when Israel took an enemy city. Behind these passages is the great thought that Israel must not risk the taint of any idolatry (the worship of other gods). Rather than risk the taint of it, those who do not worship the true God were destroyed by Israel who believed. The purity of the Jewish faith must be safeguarded at all costs. At that stage, the purity was preserved by destroying the idolaters.

When Jesus came, men saw the way to preserve that purity was to lead idolaters to God. The Jews of the Old Testament had grasped a great truth but they had only grasped one side of it. Revelation has to be that way because God can only reveal as much as man can understand.

It is proof that there is no end to God’s revelation. One of the mistakes we as Christian’s can make is to identify revelation solely with the Bible. While it is true that all God’s revelation will be in accordance with His word, we cannot say that since the start of the second century AD when the last book of the Bible was written, that God has ceased to speak. His Holy Spirit is always active, always providing revelation to men. Moreover, His supreme unsurpassable revelation is found in Jesus Christ. Today God is still leading us into a greater realisation of what Jesus means. He is still speaking to us.

We will see that clearly, as we look at the next principle of revelation this passage in the book of John contains. It is quite wrong to think of God’s revelation as being theological. The theologians and preachers are not the only people inspired by the whole truth.

When a scientist discovers a new drug to treat man’s ills; when a surgeon discovers a new technique to treat a physical problem and ease the pain of the patient; they are examples of God’s revelation to man. When man’s thinking reached its limits, God stepped in. It would be odd to think of God’s revelation of truth solely in terms of theology. All truth is from God and its revelation is the work of the Holy Spirit.

This leads us on to another principle of revelation. It is the taking of the things of Jesus and the revealing of their significance to us. The greatness of Jesus is His inexhaustibleness to His creation. No man has ever grasped all that Christ came to say; no man has fully worked out the significance of His teaching; no man can comprehend what this means for eternal life, for our belief, for the individual, for the world, for society and for our nation. Revelation is a continual outpouring of the meaning and significance of Christ.

There we have the crux of the matter. Revelation comes to us, not from any book or creed. Rather it comes from a living person. The closer we live to Jesus the better we know Him, the more we become like Him and the more He can tell us.

To enjoy this revelation we must submit to Him, except His Lordship over our lives. Submission and knowledge go hand in hand. It is only to the man of God that God can reveal His truth. Although it sometimes happens that God will choose an angel, a man, or even a donkey (see Numbers chapter 22) to be His chosen vessel without them realising it.

God is truth and the Holy Spirit’s work is to reveal that truth. This is another principle of revelation - that which is revealed is from God. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John chapter 14 verse 6. God is the messenger, the giver of all truth. It is not revealed by Man’s efforts, neither is it created by a process of Man’s thinking.

It is something already in existence, waiting to be discovered and understood by those who would seek it. This revelation is a gift from God. Are we seeking the truth, listening to what it says, asking the Holy Spirit to lead us into it and living our lives according to what we learn?

Back to the top

The work of the Holy Spirit - the Helper - PUBLISHED FEBRUARY 2008

The disciples grew sorrowful on hearing Jesus’ words recorded in John chapter 16 verses 5 to 11. All they could see was Jesus departure and that left them confused. Nevertheless, as He explained, He had to leave them so that the Holy Spirit, the comforter, could come to guide and help them.

While Jesus was in the body, He was confined by the limitations of time and place. However, there were no Earthly limitations on the Holy Spirit.

The coming of the Spirit would fulfill the promise in Matthew chapter 28 verse 20, “...lo I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Wherever He goes in the world, He reaches out to Man. To those who are Christ’s He brings unbroken eternal fellowship. For the Christian preacher He brings, by God’s grace, effective and powerful speaking no matter where the gospel is preached.

So in that verse in Matthew chapter 28 verse 20 we have an almost perfect summary of the Holy Spirit’s work.

The Holy Spirit will convict men of sin

The Jews who condoned the crucifixion of Christ did not consider themselves to be sinning. Rather they thought that they were serving God. However, when Peter preached the crucifixion (see Acts chapter 2 verse 37), their hearts were pierced. They realised it was their sin that had allowed it to happen.

This begs several questions, “Where does this conviction of sin come from? What is it that humbles a man in the face of the cross? Why does Christ’s crucifixion over 2,000 years ago still pierce people’s hearts today?“ It is the work of the Holy Spirit to do this! We cannot know our need of a Saviour without a sense of sin. Likewise, we cannot be convicted of sin without the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit will convince men of righteousness

This is a hard statement to understand. However, its meaning becomes clear when we see that it is the righteousness of Christ’s of which we will be convinced.

To the Romans He was a problem because He caused uproar among the people in this far-flung part of their empire. To His accusers He as an evil heretic. He was tried by men, found guilty, condemned as a criminal, and suffered a most barbaric execution.

But what changed? What caused men to see God in this crucified figure as both the centurion and the Apostle Paul did (see Matthew chapter 27 verse 54 and Acts chapter 9 verses 1 to 9)? It is an amazing thing that men put their trust in a crucified Jewish criminal and are convinced of His righteousness. That is the work of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit convinces men of judgment

Who is it that confronts men with the certainty of judgment? It is the Holy Spirit. He convinces us that we unredeemed men shall stand before the judgment seat of God.

In conclusion

We can now see that it is the Holy Spirit that convicts us of sin; that convinces us of Christ’s righteousness; that shows us the judgment to come; that gives us the certainty of salvation through the finished work of Jesus on the cross.

How wonderful that through the leading of the Holy Spirit, the truth of these things becomes a reality in our lives and we can respond to them.

Back to the top

The Holy Spirit and His purpose - PUBLISHED DECEMBER 2007

This month we start a new teaching series looking at aspects of the Holy Spirit and His work or perhaps a better word would be purpose. The Holy Spirit is our one true teacher. May He teach us something new of Himself through this series.

“These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.” (See John chapter 14 verses 25 and 26).

In this passage packed with truth Jesus speaks of the Holy Spirit. The first thing we notice is that the Holy Spirit will teach us all things. We must always be prepared to learn because the Holy Spirit desires to lead us deeper into God ‘s truth. There is never a time when a Christian can say that he knows the whole truth. Neither is there an excuse for the Christian to shut his mind to the things of faith. For the one who feels that he has nothing more to learn is the one who has not even begun to grasp the Holy Spirit’s teachings.

The Holy Spirit will always bring to mind the sayings of Jesus; and will constantly bring us back to the things Jesus said. We have an obligation to think about what scripture teaches but our conclusions must be tested against Jesus’ words. It is not so much the truth we must discover because Jesus told us the truth. What we must discover is the meaning of the truth, to understand the things Jesus said. And the Holy Spirit will save us from our arrogance and error of thought.

In matters of conduct the Holy Spirit will keep us on the right track. When we are tempted to sin, when we are on the verge of doing it, into our mind comes a saying of Jesus, a portion of scripture, a picture of Jesus, a wise word, or the teaching we received in our youth. At the moment of danger these things flash into our minds. In the moment of testing the Holy Spirit brings to mind the things we should never forget. That is the work of the Holy Spirit.

We see that man wants God but unfortunately they want God their way. This explains why there are so many religions and sects (even in our denominations). Those who tread this false path are either devoid of the Holy Spirit’s teaching or have perverted it.

Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (See John chapter 14 verse 6). We need to receive the Holy Spirit to find His way. Again it says in John chapter 1 verse 12, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name.” Without the Holy Spirit this is impossible.

Back to the top

The House of God says ‘Welcome’: A summation of our study on the Tabernacle in the wilderness - (Part 11 and final study in this series on the Tabernacle) - PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 2007

We are sinners, enemies of God, far from Him. Our debt of sin demands that we remain outside in our misery, in our darkness, in our eternal night, but God provided an open door and we entered through it.

It is a wide door but a narrow way. The Lord Jesus is the door and He is the only way.

At the altar, we beheld God’s love for us, His perfect love that caused His Son to be slain on the cross to pay our debt of sin. Here we found reconciliation and peace with our Lord.

Then we came to the laver, the washing of the word. From there we entered into the House of Gold - the outer sanctuary. It surpassed all our expectations. It showed us the riches of Christ in the candlestick, the table of showbread and the golden altar of incense.

Passing through the veil, we came into the heavenly light surrounding the throne of God. This is our home. God desires that lost sinners share it with Him. Is this a dream? No! It is reality. Now we see by faith, but soon we will see it in all its majesty.

We do not deserve this but God has provided it for us through His love and grace. How wonderful is His Son who has accomplished all this. There is none who can be compared to Him. He who testifies to these things says in Revelation chapter 22 verse 12, “And behold, I am coming quickly...”

When the Lord has returned to claim those that are His, the eternal song of praise from those who have been redeemed will sound throughout the halls of heaven - such a mighty choir with perfected voices, accompanied by perfect music.

“To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” (See Revelation chapter 1 verses 5 and 6.)

Will you be there too? Will you be with those of us who’ll spend eternity in the House of Gold? What a tremendous journey to take. Therefore, the message from the House of God is all are welcome.

The layout of the Tabernacle in the wilderness

Back to the top

The holy of holies – the inner sanctuary (Part 10 in this series on the Tabernacle) - PUBLISHED JULY 2007

Finally, we reach the holy of holies, which lay beyond the veil, and is described in Exodus chapter 25 verses 10 to 22. As we look around this perfect space, symbolized by its measurement of 10 x 10 x 10 cubits (which is approximately one and a half feet or 50 centimetres), we see the ark, the mercy seat, the cherubim and the throne of God.

The ark

This was a wooden box covered inside and out with pure gold. As we will read later on this was a type of Christ. On the ark lay a large, golden plate. This plate is the mercy seat, which measured two and a half by one and a half cubits. At either end of the seat stood the cherubim, made out of gold, which were bowed over it. Here God dwelt in a dazzling, unapproachable light, which was surrounded by dark clouds. This was so that no man would see God, for no man could see God and live (see Exodus chapter 33 verse 20.) But thanks be to God that we do not live under the law but under grace (see Romans chapter 6 verse 14), because all those who are Christ’s can look upon the glory of the Lord with uncovered faces (see 2 Corinthians chapter 3 verse 18. See also 1 Corinthians chapter 13 verse 12.)

What was in the ark?

The items contained in the ark provide more evidence that the ark was a type of Christ. For example, it held the law, the Ten Commandments, which were contained in Jesus heart as we read in Psalm chapter 40 verse 8.

Then there was the golden pot, which contained the manna. In John chapter 6, we read that Jesus is the true manna (verse 35). He is the food for our spiritual pilgrimage.

Finally, there was the almond rod of Aaron, which budded (see Numbers chapter 17.) The almond tree flowers early in the year and speaks of new life after the deathly barrenness of the winter. The staff, therefore, speaks of the victorious resurrection of Christ, our living high priest. It also speaks of our resurrection in Christ (see John chapter 10 verse 10 and Romans chapter 6 verses 5 to 6.)

The mercy seat

The mercy seat covered the ark. Made of pure gold it was the temporary seat of Almighty God. Here He dwelt in the midst of a sinful people who, seen through the perfection of God, should have been destroyed forever. However, because of His mercy, He refrained and accepted blood sprinkled by the high priest in this place, which spoke of the perfect sacrifice – our Lord upon the cross. The shedding of the blood turned the throne of judgment into the throne of grace (see Romans chapter 3 verse 25.)

The cherubim