Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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Introducing the 12 Foundation Stones
Introduction
Today we want to give you a little glimpse into the Activated 12 Foundation Stones course. We'll go over
what the course contains, as well as show you how you can benefit from these classes.
Going through this course is similar to launching out on a journey of discovery! When embarking on such
a journey, the goal is to reach a destination and to explore fascinating and exotic places and discover things of
wondrous value. Similarly, the goal here is to explore and discover the wonders of God and His Word that will
make you spiritually rich beyond anything of value in this world.
When embarking on a journey, you don't go in a straight line from the starting point to your destination;
you have to travel various roads that twist and turn. Yet you know you are pointed in the right direction and the end
result will be worth the effort it took to get there.—And if at times you lose sight of the goal, the compass in your
hand points you in the proper direction.
Likewise, in taking this course, you have in your hand the compass of the Word of God that is always
pointing "true North" to lead you to your destination!
¾ 2. The Wonderful Gift of the Holy Spirit! (Classes 2a and 2b—"The Holy
Spirit")
Do you want the same power that transformed a motley band of fishermen, tax collectors, and others in the
far away dusty land of Palestine into fiery men and women of faith who changed the world? Do you want to know
how that same power can work in your life too? God's got a lot in store for you! In our classes on the Holy Spirit,
we'll learn more about what it means to be filled with the Holy Spirit and how to experience the gifts and blessings
that are promised!
Testimony: How God can use a small deed to be His special touch of love
By Eva Mae Ramsey
In the mid-1960s, my husband's sister Muriel became very ill. My husband, our six-year-old
daughter, Linda, and I traveled to Tulsa to be present while Muriel underwent surgery for a diseased
kidney. As we neared Tulsa, a thought flashed into my mind out of nowhere. One red rose, a voice said.
Take one red rose to Muriel. My husband agreed to stop at a florist's shop. However, it was late and
everything was closed.
The next morning my husband went to the hospital to wait during the operation. I stayed with Linda
and my husband's elderly mother at her home. All I could think of was that red rose. I felt compelled to
search out that rose. So Linda and I walked uptown, and I bought one red rose.
When my husband returned, he said that Muriel had come through the surgery, and it was now
touch-and-go as to whether she'd recover. He also told me he'd ordered a big bouquet of gladiolas for
Muriel's room.
"That's lovely, honey," I said, "but she's got to have this red rose, too." When we went to the
hospital later, Muriel was still groggy and wasn't able to talk to us, but I put the rose, by itself, in a vase
where she could see it. Because of work commitments we had to return home without ever talking to
Muriel, but we did learn that she would recover.
Soon we got a letter. "Before I went to the hospital," Muriel wrote, "I prayed that if I was supposed
to live, God would send me a sign I specifically asked for, something that meant God was with me and
would give me the heart to go on. When I opened my eyes after the operation, there it was, the very thing
I'd prayed for—a red rose."
The combination
By Franz
Two years ago a friend had given us a suitcase. We had forgotten the lock combination and
therefore never used the lock. But while storing it, someone had accidentally locked the suitcase and the
combination was shut. What to do? We tried and tried all kinds of numbers and started to make a plan
how we would have to go through all the combinations, when someone piped up, "why don't you pray?"
So I asked the Lord to give me the number in prophecy. Lo and behold He did! I got a picture of the lady
who gave us the suitcase saying the number, and when I tried it, it worked!
¾ 11. Got Problems? God's Got Solutions! (Classes 11a and 11b—
"Overcoming Problems")
We all pass through difficult moments—times of loneliness, sickness, disappointment, accidents, loss,
failure, marital difficulties, financial hardship, discouragement, etc., etc.
A lot of people seem to think that as soon as they receive Jesus they'll be completely happy, all their
problems will be solved and they'll never have any more, and things will go smoothly. But receiving the Lord into
your life doesn't mean that you'll never have any more troubles. Troubles, difficulties, challenges, and problems are
common to all. What makes the difference is that Jesus will help you through your problems and hard times.
In our series of classes on this subject we are not going to offer you any easy answers. There will be no
wave of a magical wand that will solve all of your present difficulties and prevent any other problems ever coming
upon you again! What we will pass on to you are "Three Steps to Victory." We'll be looking at how you should
respond to the problems that come your way, whatever type of problems they are, and how you can find the
solutions.—Because God does have a solution to every problem!
Ending note
¾ What is the source of material used in the 12 Foundation Stones course?
The concepts in this course are based on the Bible and on contemporary Christian writings, in particular
those of David Brandt Berg, founder of our movement The Family, and the Get Activated! series by Aurora
Production. Anecdotes and reference material came from a variety of sources. Many of the true-life accounts come
from the experiences of those working with The Family. (More details about the authors quoted can be found in the
back of the Study Notes book under the heading "Who's Who.")
¾ To be born again
"You must be born again" in spirit: first, by believing the Words of God; then, recognizing your own need
of a Savior from your sins, by receiving the Spirit of Jesus Himself into your own heart personally in a definite,
individual decision.
This is what it means to be "born again" in the spirit and become a "new creation" in Christ, where "old
things have passed away; behold, all things have become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17). Jesus coming into your life
renews and purifies and regenerates your spirit.
2 Corinthians 5:17—Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away;
behold, all things have become new.
¾ Thoughts on salvation
Jesus came for love and lived in love and died for love that we might live and love forever!
As an old song tells us, "Out of His ivory palaces into this world of woe, only His great eternal love
made my Savior go!"—down to the earth to live here to save us! Jesus not only had to come down
amongst us, but He had to temporarily renounce His citizenship in Heaven to become one of us!
Philippians 2:6–7—Who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with
God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of
men.
He came as a meek and quiet, weak and helpless baby, and conformed Himself to our human
ways of life. He was human. He got tired; He got hungry; He got weary. He was subject to all these
things, even as we are, that He might better reach us with His love and communicate with us on the lowly
level of our own human understanding!
Hebrews 4:15—For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses,
but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.
And in the end, He suffered for us at a terrific price because of His love. He was spat upon, cursed,
and condemned as a criminal, despised in death! But as He hung on the cross in disgrace and shame
and agony, dying for the sins of the very ones who were crucifying Him, He was showing love to the
whole world! "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends" (John 15:13).
Jesus is the Friend who loved us enough to lay down His life that we might be saved!
¾ Salvation prayer
L If you haven’t already prayed to receive Jesus as your Savior, then pray as follows:
Dear Jesus, I believe You are the Son of God and that You died for me and arose from the grave. I need
Your love to cleanse me from my mistakes and wrongdoing. I need Your light to drive away all darkness. I need
Your peace to fill and satisfy my heart. I now open the door of my heart and I ask You, Jesus, to please come into
my life and give me Your free gift of eternal life. Thank You for suffering for all of the wrong I have done, and for
hearing my prayer and forgiving me. Thank You also for the promise of your Holy Spirit. Please fill me with Your
Spirit. Amen.
Section 2: "Now that you're saved…"
¾ Getting to know Jesus!
It's so wonderful to know Jesus personally, the Author of that wonderful Book, the Bible!—The very Son
of God Himself!
God sent Jesus to show us what He's like and what He looks like, you might say. It's too difficult for
people to grasp the idea of God; He's a spirit and they can't see Him, they can't feel Him, they don't know where He
is; He's everywhere, He's all powerful, all knowing and everywhere, in and around everything. That's just too big an
idea for people to grasp, so God had to show what He was like by sending His Son in the form of a man so we
could see Him and we would see what God is like because He's like Jesus in the Spirit.
Getting to know someone happens in stages. You hear about him, you are told what he's like and what he
is, and finally who he is, then you become acquainted when you're introduced and he receives you and you receive
him. Once you've met him, there is a period where you learn to know him personally, and later you can grow into a
really intimate relationship that is not dependent on what you've heard or learned about him from others. At that
stage, you don't use qualities or titles for his name, but you use his first name that his friends call him. You have a
personal relationship with him, and he's become your personal close friend.
It's that way with getting to know Jesus: We hear about Him, then we meet Him personally, but as time
goes on we grow to really know and love Him.
Salvation is forever!
Once you have received Jesus, He will never leave you! His love for each of us is infinite. The gift of
eternal salvation means He will be with us from now through all of eternity!
John 6:37—All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast
out.
John 10:28—And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of
My hand.
Romans 8:38–39—For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor
things present nor things to come, (39) nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate
us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
2 Timothy 2:13—If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.
It's a gift!
Jesus, God's gift of love to us, is just that—a gift—and we just have to receive Him humbly,
knowing that we can't possibly pay enough to buy our way into Heaven, to buy eternal life, to buy the
happiness that Jesus brings. Accepting salvation through His Word is a work of God's grace.
Ephesians 2:8—For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is
the gift of God.
You can't earn a gift or else it wouldn't be a gift!
Salvation is not a reward, it's not pay, it's not wages, it is a gift that you can't earn by faithfulness or
by any kind of works of your own. Your good works can't save you and your bad works can't damn you!
We're saved purely by faith in Jesus, the gift of God, by His grace. The worst sinner can go to Heaven by
faith and the best person can go to Hell because of unbelief! Heaven is full of sinners!—Saved by grace
through faith!
Prayer to be filled
If the students did not already pray to receive the Holy Spirit, you can lead them in prayer as follows:
Dear Jesus, please fill me to overflowing with Your Holy Spirit so that I can love You more, follow You
more closely, understand Your Word, and have greater power to tell others about Your love and salvation. Amen.
12 Foundation Stones
Introductory Notes 2
The Endtime
Bible Study on the Endtime
¾ Bible prophecy
The Bible is full of thousands of detailed prophecies, describing specific people, places, times, situations,
and events hundreds of years before they happened or came into being.
Many of these prophecies have already been fulfilled. We don't have time to go into examples here, but if
you'll look in Activated magazine #3, pages 8–9, you'll find a fascinating article, "Proof at Last," which details
some of the outstanding prophecies that Jesus fulfilled in His life on earth.
Many of the prophecies in the Bible are about the final period of world history just before Jesus returns to
put an end to all of today's injustices and to set up His Own kingdom of love and peace on earth. These last final
days of man's kingdoms on earth are known in the Bible as the "Time of the End," the "Latter Days," the "Last
Days," the "Endtime," etc.—the time in which you and I are now living!
We are going to study about the Endtime by looking at the words of Jesus in Matthew chapter 24.
This chapter begins with a prophecy by Jesus that was fulfilled roughly 40 years later:
Prophecy fulfilled: Destruction of the Temple (in 70 A.D.)
Matthew 24:1–2—Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him
the buildings of the temple. (2) And Jesus said to them, "Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you,
not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down."
As Jesus prophesied, the temple was thrown down—actually torn apart stone by stone.
The event is recorded in secular history. In 70 A.D. the armies of Roman emperor Vespasian marched into
Israel under General Titus and crushed a rebellion of the Jews, destroyed Jerusalem, and burned the temple. The
fire caused the gold leaf on the temple ceiling to melt. The melting gold flowed down the walls, settling into
crevices. The Romans then pried apart the stones to remove the gold, until literally "not one stone was left standing
upon another"!
Just as this prophecy by Jesus was fulfilled, the remainders of Jesus' predictions in Matthew 24 are now
being fulfilled before our eyes. (Note: The "Wailing Wall" in Jerusalem is not a remaining portion of the temple,
but rather part of the retaining wall of the temple mount.)
Wars
Matthew 24:6–7—And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these
things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. (7a) For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against
kingdom…
No period has witnessed an escalation in the number and intensity of wars as has the 20th century. (This
21st century is off to a similar start.) The century came to a close with a third of the world's 193 nations embroiled
in conflict.
Over 100 million people were killed in wars during the 20th century (International Red Cross).
Up until 1914, war had never been universal, but in both World War I and II, total war was waged.
9
The death toll in conflicts since the end of World War II topped 23 million before the end of the 20th
century.
There have been over 130 major wars since the end of World War II.
In 1999 there were 65 armed conflicts.
"Nation rising against nation, and kingdom against kingdom" could more accurately be translated as
"ethnic group rising against ethnic group"—a prophecy dreadfully fulfilled in former Yugoslavia, Rwanda,
Indonesia, Ethiopia, Somalia, Burma, and other trouble spots around the world.
Famines
Matthew 24:7b—And there will be famines…
18 million people die of starvation, malnutrition, and related causes every year (Johns Hopkins University
study).
More than 800 million people are chronically undernourished (UN statistics).
It is estimated that one-third of the world is well fed, one-third is underfed, and one-third is starving
(World Health Organization).
Of the millions who go hungry every day, it is estimated that only 10% are victims of disaster (World
Food Program).
For the price of one cruise missile, a school full of hungry children could eat lunch every day for 5 years.
Water shortages in parts of the world in the next 25 years will pose the single greatest threat to food
production and human health. 1.3 billion people worldwide have no access to clean water (World Bank).
Pestilences
Matthew 24:7b— and pestilences...
Pestilences or plagues: Drug-resistant strains of microbes are having a deadly impact on the fight against
tuberculosis, malaria, cholera, diarrhea, and pneumonia, which together kill more than 10 million people worldwide
each year (Pan American Health Organization).
At least 30 previously unknown diseases have appeared globally since 1973, including HIV/AIDS,
Hepatitis C, Ebola hemorrhagic fever and others. Twenty well-known infectious diseases such as tuberculosis,
malaria, and cholera have reemerged or spread since 1973, some reappearing in "deadlier, drug-resistant forms" (
U.S. National Intelligence Council).
Over 100 different kinds of cancer now kill over six million people every year. (World Health
Organization)
An estimated 800,000 people died because of smoking in 1999.
As of the end of 2002, over 42 million people are living with HIV / AIDS. 5 million new HIV infections
occurred in 2002, and 3.1 million people died of AIDS that year, bringing the total of AIDS-related deaths to 6.4
million. (UNAIDS)
In the 45 most affected countries, it is projected that, between 2000 and 2020, 68 million people will die
prematurely as a result of AIDS. The projected toll is greatest in sub-Saharan Africa where 55 million additional
deaths can be expected. (UN and other sources).
Earthquakes and natural disasters
Matthew 24:7b—…and earthquakes, in various places...
The quantity of earthquakes is increasing: There were only 21 earthquakes of major strength recorded
between the years 1000 and 1800. Between 1800 and 1900 there were 18 major earthquakes. In the next 50 years,
between 1900 and 1950, there were 33 major quakes. Between 1950 and 1991 there were 93 major earthquakes,
almost tripling the number of the previous half century, and claiming the lives of 1.3 million people around the
world (The World Almanac) .
In an average year about 18 "major" earthquakes (with magnitudes between 7.0 and 7.9) occur around the
world. On average, 10,000 people die in earthquakes annually. (U.S. Geological Survey).
2001 was a particularly deadly year for earthquakes, with 65 significant quakes worldwide blamed for
killing more than 21,000 people. (U.S. Geological Survey).
11,000 people were killed by floods, earthquakes, storms and other extreme weather in 2002. (Munich
Re).
The Red Cross and Crescent have reported "a huge increase in the number of people needing our
assistance due to floods and earthquakes. In recent years, it has risen from less than half a million to more than 5
1/2 million."
A world of violence
Matthew 24:37—But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
How were things in the "days of Noah"? The Bible tells us the earth was filled with violence:
Genesis 6:11—The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.
In the U.S., on average one person is murdered every 22 minutes; someone is raped every four minutes; a
robbery is committed every 26 seconds (FBI).
In the past 30 years, 1.2 million people have died by murder or suicide in the U.S. (Washington Post).
A survey of 900 fourth- through eighth-grade students in the U.S. found that almost half of the children
said their favorite electronic games involve violence.
The average child in the U.S. will witness at least 8,000 murders on TV by the time he or she leaves
elementary school, along with more than 100,000 assorted other acts of violence (American Psychological
Association).
"The introduction of television in the 1950s caused a subsequent doubling of the homicide rate; i.e., long-
term childhood exposure to television is a causal factor behind approximately one half of the homicides committed
in the U.S., or approximately 10,000 homicides annually" (Journal of the American Medical Association).
In England and Wales: One in five young men has committed a violent offence by the time they reach the
age of 25. The number of violent offences committed by girls aged 10 to 17 has doubled since 1981. Among under-
25s, 17% said they had at one stage carried a weapon, either in self-defense, or with intent to cause harm. Criminals
under 18 are now responsible for 28% of all violent crimes, 40% of burglaries, 11% of drug offences, and 33% of
criminal damage offences.
Across Europe there is a spreading epidemic of juvenile crime, evidence of a continent-wide youth
underclass growing up outside the law. According to news reports, in Germany juvenile crime rose 10% between
1998 and 1999. In Sweden the average age of male criminals has dropped over the past decade from 20 to 15.
More than 20 percent of Mexico City residents have been victims of crime in 1999 (The Autonomous
Metropolitan University).
Religious persecution
Matthew 24:9–10—Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations
for My name's sake. (10) And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another.
"This century [the 20th] is known as ‘the martyrs' century' because more people have lost their lives for
Christianity since 1900 than in all the previous centuries together" (mission agency Open Doors).
Nineteen European countries violate religious liberty, according to the 1998 report of the International
Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF). Subsequent annual reports describe an increase of intolerance and
repression of minority religions.
The average number of Christian martyrs per year worldwide is 163,000 (International Bulletin of
Missionary Research).
False religions
Matthew 24:11—Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.
In a five-year time span, the number of witches in England increased from 60,000 to 80,000 (Manchester
England Guardian Weekly).
There are about 2 million Americans who adhere to some form of paganism.
Love grown cold
Matthew 24:12—And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.
According to a Gallup social survey, 72% of the population in Britain think that the country is getting
more selfish.
Worldwide, over 46 million unborn children are aborted every year.
Despite a US$30 trillion global economy, 600 million children live on less than a dollar a day. Child
laborers number 250 million. And millions of people are targeted by military action that increasingly focuses on
civilians (UNICEF).
Sixteen percent of the world's population is consuming some 80 percent of its natural resources (World
Resources Institute).
Throughout the 1990s more than 100 million children died from illness and starvation. Those 100 million
deaths could have been prevented for the price of ten Stealth bombers, or what the world spends on its military in
two days.
The Gospel preached worldwide
Matthew 24:14—And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations,
and then the end will come.
There are Christians and Christian churches in every country of the world (The Almanac of the Christian
World).
Over 50 million Bibles are distributed every year, plus nearly 80 million New Testaments.
Four billion Gospel tracts are printed every year.
The Bible has been translated partially or entirely into more than 2,000 languages, making its message
available to about 98% of the world's population.
The Gospel is preached from over 2,100 Christian radio and television stations worldwide.
One-world government
1 John 2:18—The Antichrist is coming.
One of the final signs of the end is the rise of a one-world government headed by a Devil-possessed tyrant
known as the Antichrist or "the Beast." The 13th chapter of the book of Revelation says that the world is going to
actually worship Satan in the person of this bestial world leader.
Revelation 13:4—So they worshiped the dragon [the Devil] who gave authority to the beast [the
Antichrist]; and they worshiped the beast.
This man will come to power with a seven-year agreement, a "covenant," in which he will promise world
peace and religious freedom. He will also be instrumental in rescuing the world from its present worsening
economic crisis, which many predict will soon escalate into a full-scale global financial crash.
The stage is rapidly being set for the world to accept global leadership.
Famed British historian Arnold Toynbee (1889–1975) said, "The nations are ready to give the kingdoms
of the world to any one man who will offer us a solution to our world's problems."
The first president of the United Nations General Assembly, Paul-Henri Spaak, who was also a prime
minister of Belgium and one of the early planners of the European Common Market, as well as a secretary-general
of NATO, affirmed, "We do not want another committee, we have too many already. What we want is a man of
sufficient stature to hold the allegiance of all the people and to lift us up out of the economic morass into which we
are sinking. Send us such a man, and whether he be God or devil, we will receive him."
U.S. President George Bush (senior) popularized the term "New World Order" when he said in a speech
before the U.S. Congress during the Gulf War, "We stand today at a unique and extraordinary moment. … Out of
these troubled times a New World Order can emerge. … Today that New World Order is struggling to be born."
A savior turned sour
For a while, most of the world will hail the Beast as a political savior; he will have brought peace, restored
the world's economy, solved the Middle East crisis, etc. But suddenly, three and a half years after the enactment of
the seven-year covenant, he will repudiate it, and will forbid and abolish all traditional religious worship, declaring
that he himself is God and demanding that all the world worship him! (Daniel 9:27; 8:9–12; 11:21–24,28–31,36; 2
Thessalonians 2:3–4,8–9; Revelation 13:2–7).
He will also outlaw all religions, except the worship of himself and an image of himself that will somehow
be empowered to speak and "cause those who refuse to worship it to be killed" (Revelation 13:14–15).
Jesus warned:
Matthew 24:15, 21—Therefore when you see the "abomination of desolation," spoken of by Daniel the prophet,
standing in the holy place (whoever reads, let him understand), (21) For then there will be great tribulation, such
as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.
The "Mark of the Beast"
Revelation 13:16–18—He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on
[in] their right hand or on [in] their foreheads, (17) and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark
or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. (18) Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding
calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666.
During the Tribulation period—the second half of the Antichrist's seven-year reign—his government will
adopt a universal credit system, replacing the cash system presently used. He will require that everyone be issued a
credit number, referred to in the Bible as the "Mark of the Beast."
One theory is that this mark will be a microchip, containing your personal identification, medical and
financial records, etc., which will be implanted under the skin of the right hand or forehead.
The technology for such a chip and credit system already exists and according to news reports is presently
being tested in some American and European cities!
The Antichrist government can then use this new credit system to try to force everybody to worship the
Antichrist or face starvation, because no one will be able to buy or sell without it. But the followers of God will
refuse to worship him or receive his "mark."—And the Bible promises that the Lord will take care of them, even if
He has to supernaturally drop bread from the heavens to feed them! (Revelation 12:6,14).
This prophecy is truly remarkable. Given nearly 2,000 years ago, it predicts that a global economic system will one
day be instituted in which everyone will be forced to receive a number, without which they will not be able to buy
or sell. It is only since the advent of computers and electronic banking that this prophecy could be fulfilled.
Microchips used in plastic "smart cards" commonly used for banking, health, and identification purposes
cost only a few cents each, yet can contain a vast amount of personal data. A similar chip could be inserted under
the skin for instant identification.
One example: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says that implantation of the new
Microdot Identification Project is already underway in Washington, D.C., and several other test cities. The tiny
computer chips being used are no larger than the head of a pin, cost less than 25 cents each and are injected
approximately 1/4 inch under the skin, usually in the dead space between the tendons of the middle and index
fingers. They are activated by a small hand-held scanner and provide flawless identification of the person in whom
it is implanted (Medical Technology Services Newsletter, July 1994, article by Hugh Watson).
Introductory Notes 3
The Life of Jesus and Bible Basics
Section 1: The Basics
¾ Who Is Jesus?
Jesus Christ is the central character of the New Testament of the Bible. His coming was foretold
throughout the Old Testament.
Jesus was born around the year 4 B.C. and was executed by crucifixion in the year 30 A.D. Three days
after His death He rose again and 40 days later ascended into Heaven. Aside from a time in His childhood, He spent
His life in the lands we now know as Israel and Palestine.
The last three and a half years of His life was the period of His public ministry where He gathered a group
of disciples and traveled and preached. When Jesus began His life's work, He went about everywhere doing good—
helping people, loving children, healing heartaches, strengthening tired bodies, healing sickness and disease, and
bringing God's love to all whom He could. He not only preached His message, but He lived it among us as one of
us. He not only ministered to Man's spiritual needs, but He spent a great deal of time ministering to people's
physical and material needs, miraculously healing them when they were sick, giving sight to the blind, hearing to
the deaf, cleansing lepers, raising the dead. He fed the crowds when they were hungry, and did all He could to share
His life and His love!
He performed many miracles, but more important than those was His message, which was a revolutionary
departure from the established teachings of the Jewish religion. He taught that love was the ultimate principle and
that those who loved God and their fellow man were fulfilling God's requirements for man.
The most important thing about Jesus is that He was not just a great prophet and teacher but that He was
God in the form of man, and belief in Him assures the believer a place in Heaven. Jesus Christ is the Son of God,
the Messiah, who died for our sins, allowing us to enter the Kingdom of God if we accept Him as our Savior.
We recommend you watch the movie Jesus. It is a good portrayal of His life and teachings.
L (Note: Two good versions of movies about Jesus are the 1979 version with Brian Deacon, and the 2000 version with
Jeremy Sisto).
Abraham lived around 2000 B.C. and is the ancestor of both the Jews and the Arabs. At a time when
polytheism—the belief in multiple gods—was the norm, Abraham became a believer in the one and unseen God. At
the behest of God he left his native land in the area around ancient Ur (in what is now southern Iraq) and journeyed
to the land of Canaan (modern Israel and Palestine).
Moses lived around 1400 B.C. and led the Israelites out of their bondage as slaves in Egypt. Through him
God gave the Israelites the first five books of the Bible that contained the Law, a mixture of both civil and religious
ordinances, by which they were to be governed.
David was the greatest king of ancient Israel and lived around 1000 B.C. Although a man of force and
faults, the Bible says of him that he was a man after God's own heart. He wrote many of the songs of praise that
constitute the largest book of the Bible, the book of Psalms.
John the Baptist was the son of Zacharias and Elizabeth. Zacharias was a priest, and Elizabeth was the
cousin of Mary, mother of Jesus. John lived the life of a hermit in the desert, existing on locusts and wild honey,
until the Lord called him to start preaching. His message was one of repentance. At the height of his popularity he
baptized Jesus and proclaimed Him the Messiah. About a year after he had baptized Jesus he was imprisoned by
King Herod and was later executed.
Peter was one of Jesus' twelve closest disciples. Originally a fisherman, he became a trusted follower and
assumed a leadership role amongst the Christians after Jesus' ascension to Heaven. He was eventually martyred in
Rome in 64 A.D.
Paul was the greatest evangelist and teacher of the early Christians. He was not a personal disciple of
Jesus but was, in fact, a persecutor of the early Christians after Jesus' ascension. That changed when he was
temporarily blinded by a brilliant light out of which Jesus spoke to him. His sight was restored after a Christian
prayed for him and from that point on Paul became the most dynamic of the early Christians. Aside from tirelessly
traveling to preach the Gospel and establishing Christian communities in many cities in the eastern areas of the
Roman empire, he also wrote many letters of instruction, 14 of which remained extant and were incorporated into
the New Testament over 150 years later.
John the Beloved was, like Peter, a fisherman before becoming Jesus' disciple. Although of a seemingly
fiery nature, he also was known as the beloved disciple. His Gospel shows a deep understanding of Jesus' nature
and His essential message of love. In his old age, while a prisoner in exile, he received the famous Revelation that
is incorporated into the Bible as its final book.
The resurrected Jesus was seen by over 500 people—1 Corinthians 15:3–7
According to the testimony of the apostle Paul, more than 500 people saw Jesus after His resurrection.
1 Corinthians 15:3–7—For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our
sins according to the Scriptures, (4) and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the
Scriptures, (5) and that He was seen by Cephas [Peter], then by the twelve [apostles]. (6) After that He was seen by
over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep
[died]. (7) After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles.
No. 3: To ensure that each of our children receives a godly upbringing in the best possible
environment we can provide.
Psalm 127:3—Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward.
Isaiah 54:13—All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children.
A life of faith
We live in a world that is increasingly secularized. The pursuit of material wealth has become the driving
force of most people's lives. In contrast, although we also have material needs, we don't want to spend the majority
of our time in seeking after them. The Lord has called us to devote ourselves to Him and others. We believe that as
long as we are working fulltime for Him, living a life based on faith and for the good of others, He will take care of
us.
Matthew 6:19–21—Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where
thieves break in and steal; (20) but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust
destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. (21) For where your treasure is, there your heart will be
also.
Matthew 6:31–33—Therefore do not worry, saying, "What shall we eat?" or "What shall we drink?" or "What
shall we wear?" … (32) For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. (33) But seek first the
kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
Family disciples are dedicated to full-time service for Jesus, sharing His message of hope, love and
redemption with the world. We consider it a blessing and a special calling to be able to serve God and our fellow
man in this way, and a worthy work for others to help support, knowing that they in turn will be richly blessed by
God.
12 Foundation Stones—Class 1A
Treasures New and Old
The Word of God, Part 1
Section 1: Bible Study on God's Word
¾ The Bible was given to man by God
The Bible is a collection of 66 books that are the written record of messages God gave to about 40 people
whom He chose as His spokesmen. Although the Bible was recorded by men, it was written by God.
2 Timothy 3:16—All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for
correction, for instruction in righteousness.
2 Peter 1:21—For prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by
the Holy Spirit.
Augustine's conversion
In 384 A.D. a young man from North Africa went to Milan, Italy, to take a position as teacher of
rhetoric. While there, he became very absorbed by and troubled about the meaning of life.
One day in the back yard of his home, while on the verge of almost complete despair, he heard the
voice of a child next door chanting, "Take and read, take and read."
Immediately he took the Scriptures and read that Jesus Christ was the way of complete
forgiveness of sins. Through reading the Word of God, this man's life was changed and he became St.
Augustine, bishop of Hippo, one of the great Christian theologians of all time.
The thief
In a meeting, converts were giving personal testimonies. One man arose, holding a New
Testament in his hand. "My story," said he, "is unlike other men. I was a pickpocket, and one day I saw a
man with a definite bulge in his hip pocket. A fat purse, thought I, and soon it was in my pocket. But when
I arrived home, behold, it was this book. In disgust I threw it aside, but afterward, out of curiosity, I opened
it and began to read. Before many days had passed I discovered Christ as my Savior and Lord."
Listening to this testimony, one of the volunteers from the Bible Society became interested. After
the meeting, he asked to see the New Testament. It was the one he had carried with him for years, the
one he had considered lost. Is not this evidence of the power of the Word to change and to transform
man's life? What has the Word done for you?
¾ All of these benefits will come when we read and absorb the Word
1 Peter 2:2—As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the Word, that you may grow thereby.
Matthew 4:4—It is written, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceeds from the mouth
of God."
Colossians 3:16—Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom.
2 Timothy 2:15—Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed,
rightly dividing the Word of truth.
As someone wrote: "We get no deeper into Christ than we allow Him to get into us."
¾ When to:
It is difficult to get too far in your reading if you don't spend at least 20 minutes at it. Can you set aside 20
minutes daily? Or would three times a week be easier to start with? Whatever you decide, try to make a definite
goal and then determine in your heart to see it through. It will be easier to follow through if you establish a definite
time slot as part of your regular daily routine. It doesn't matter what time of day, just whenever suits you best.
Some people find it easier to concentrate in the morning; others do better in the evening when the business of the
day has been completed.
See what works best for you. Regard your "Word time" as an appointment with Jesus. Don't be tempted to
cancel or postpone the appointment any more than you'd cancel an appointment with your employer.
¾ Where to:
Try to find a place to read where you will not be interrupted. If possible, use the same place every day, but
the most important is that you have a quiet place where you won't be distracted. You might want to take the
telephone off the hook (or turn off your cellular phone). In front of the TV is most likely not going to work!
¾ What to:
It's a good idea to make a plan of what to read over a period of time. But remain flexible. Ask the Lord
what Bible chapters or other Word-based material you should read. Having a goal can help you. Perhaps you'll
work your way through one of the Get Activated! books, while also reading through a book of the Bible. (There are
suggestions of what to read weekly in the Study Notes book.)
Even if you're following a set reading course, you shouldn't always just say, "Well, I already know what
I'm going to read. It's planned out for the next month." Each time before you sit down to read, you should pray for
the Lord's leading, because maybe the Lord wants to change it! Maybe you needed to read up on "faith" a week
ago, so you decided to read something on that subject. That's good. But maybe the Lord knows that you need to
read about something else even more this week. So you need to pray about it instead of automatically following
your previous plan.
¾ How to:
When you sit down to read, the first thing you should do is pray and ask the Lord to bring the Word alive
to you by His Holy Spirit. As David prayed,
Psalm 119:18—Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your law.
You can read all the Word you want, but if it doesn't come to life by the Spirit, it's not going to do
anything! Jesus said,
John 6:63—It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The Words that I speak to you are spirit, and
they are life.
And Paul told us:
2 Corinthiwans 3:6b—For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
Unless we read the Word in a prayerful and receptive attitude, looking to the Lord and His Holy Spirit for
guidance, it can be very difficult for us to understand some things. Ask the Lord to give you the spirit of wisdom:
Ephesians 1:17–18—…give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, (18) the eyes of
your understanding being enlightened…
You can read a Scripture maybe all your life without grasping its meaning, until the Holy Spirit speaks it to
you and applies it to your situation and brings it to life! The "voice of His Word," as it's called, is when He speaks
to you personally through the Word, or He gives it to you in an answer, He brings it to life, applies it to a situation,
and it becomes alive suddenly! It's no longer just mere words any more, or words that just run through your head,
but all of a sudden you get the point!
In the Study Notes book, we have included some sample prayers for reading the Word.
Humor: How not to read!
Sister Susan got out her Bible and decided she would let the Lord lead to the specific verse she
needed for the day. So with eyes closed she opened her Bible and put her finger on a verse. Opening her
eyes she read, "And Judas went out and hanged himself." She quickly sought a different verse, once
again closing her eyes, cracking open her Bible, and placing her finger on a specific spot. This time she
was disappointed to read, "Go and do likewise!" Undaunted she followed the same plan a third time, and
the verse was, "What you do, do quickly!"
When you are reading the Word, pray and ask the Lord to help you apply what you are studying and show you
specifically what He wants you to do. Ask the Lord to show you:
"How can I apply this Word in my life?"
"How can I use this knowledge to help others?"
When you read the Word and you feel the conviction of His Spirit, stop right then to think and pray and
meditate on what that instruction means for you personally. Don't delay taking the time to apply it to your life,
because if you delay, the conviction will wane, you will forget, and the Word you read will be of no effect in your
life. When the Lord is speaking to your heart, challenging you through His Word, that is the time to take action, to
make commitments. You need to think, meditate, consider how you can live the Word, and make a definite plan
right then as to what you'll do. Don't wait. Later will probably be never!
John 13:17—If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.
¾ Taking notes
"A short pencil is better than a long memory."
You might want to start writing key passages and verses into a special notebook that you can reread easily.
It will become sort of a spiritual diary. You can use it to write down things you want to remember that are
important to you in your walk with the Lord and your relationship with Him and others. Sometimes just writing
something down will help you to meditate on it and remember it.
There are different ways to organize a notebook like this. It can be chronological, like a diary, with
meaningful quotes and verses written down from day to day. Or you can start a page for each of the different topics
you're interested in, and then record helpful passages and verses you find on each one as time goes by.
¾ Memorizing
Bible memorization has always been a strength to God's people, even as King David testified:
Psalm 119:11—Your Word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You!
Moses made mention of the same:
Deuteronomy 11:18—Therefore you shall lay up these Words of Mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind
them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets (decorative bands worn on the forehead) between your
eyes.
The Scriptures we commit to memory will be a great blessing to us. In times of sickness and difficulty,
verses are a tremendous comfort and strength. Knowing specific passages and Scriptures also helps us in our
witness to others, as Peter advised,
1 Peter 3:15b—Always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you.
We will be looking further at the subject of memorizing in a later class.
Ending note
¾ Why memorize?
For your own spiritual strength and encouragement in the present—renewing your mind in Jesus
God speaks to you through His Word that you have learned
To help you share God's Word with others
A Bible may not be available during the dark days ahead
A weapon in your walk of faith
¾ God speaks to you through His Word that you have learned
The Lord speaks to us by bringing to mind the passages we have memorized.
John 14:26—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.
God knows His own Book better than anybody, and He can bring verses to your remembrance by His
Spirit when you need it. If you've faithfully read, studied, and memorized, He'll pop the verses up in your little
computer (mind) whenever you make the right connection in your programming. He's the best computer
programmer I know, and He's given you the best computer ever constructed!
One reason that memorizing is important is because it isn't always possible to read. Maybe you wake up in
the night and you can't turn on the light without disturbing someone. Or maybe you find yourself in a place or
difficult situation without your Bible handy. Or maybe you are too sick to read. The only Scriptures you'll have at
those times (which could well be the time when you need them most) are the Scriptures you have committed to
memory.
It is also easier to claim in prayer the promises that the Lord has made in His Word when we know these
promises by heart.
2 Peter 1:4—By which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you
may be partakers of the divine nature.
¾ What to memorize
Individual verses or short passages:
The Key Bible Verses booklet contains a comprehensive list of verses on a variety of topics, ideal for your
personal devotional use and for witnessing. Rather than memorizing all the verses on salvation and then moving on
to the next topic, it would most likely be best to begin with learning one or two key verses from each category so
that you will have a wider variety of Scriptures memorized. Then you can go back and memorize more verses in
that section at a later date.
You will also find three key verses in the Study Notes book for each class. If you memorize every verse in
the Study Notes book, by the end of this course you will know approximately 75 Scriptures!
Longer passages andb chapters:
The Psalms and certain portions of the Gospels like the Beatitudes in Matthew 5 are wonderful memory
projects. Psalms like number 23 (comfort) are all-time favorites.
(As we proceed through the course, you'll be finding out ideas of key chapters to memorize.)
¾ Reviewing
If you plan on memorizing a number of verses, you will need an organized system of review. If you don't
have a plan and method for regularly reviewing what you have memorized, you will eventually forget the verses.
You can write out your memory verses in a small, sturdy notebook.
If you carry it with you wherever you go, you can pull it out to review in spare moments while waiting,
traveling, etc.
If you are memorizing verses from a compiled booklet like the Key Bible Verses or from the Study Notes
book, you could highlight or somehow mark each verse as you memorize it and this will make it easier for you to
find the verses for review.
In a notebook, you can write down the references and first few words of each verse you memorize and
then use this for reviewing.
For example:
John 1:12 As many as
John 3:3 Except a man
John 3:16 For God so
John 3:36 He that believes
A seven-day calendar review system can help you retain what you learn.
After you have learned a verse, you should review it twice a day for the next seven days.
One convenient way to keep track of the verses you memorize is by writing them (or at least the reference)
in a small diary or calendar. Then each day, take this diary and review the verses, working back seven days.
In addition to this, you should work out a method of reviewing all of the verses you memorize. As your
"memory diary" fills up, you could work through the diary's contents week by week. This means, every day you
could review whatever you memorized during the previous 7 days, plus another seven days, and gradually work
through the year like this.
Scripture songs
The ease with which most of us remember commercial jingles is one of the proofs of how it is relatively
easy to memorize something that has been put to music. Listening to Scriptures that have been put to song is a very
easy way to memorize them. You may eventually find yourself humming or singing them to yourself without even
having consciously attempted to memorize them.
Concluding prayer
Thank You, Lord, for Your Word and its power. Please do help us all to be faithful to memorize Your
Word, so we can quote it for our own benefit and for the sake of others. Help us to meditate on Your Words as we
go about our daily lives. Please bring Your Words to our remembrance, when we're traveling or working or lying
on our beds at night, so that we never forget You, but keep Your Presence close. Amen.
12 Foundation Stones—Class 2A
Acts 1–4
The Holy Spirit, Part 1
Prayer:
Dear Jesus, we thank You for Your Word that You've given us a yardstick by which we can measure all
things, and a guidebook that we can know the way which You'd have us go. Enlighten our minds, Lord, through the
Word! If we want faith, faith comes by hearing the Word of God! Increase our faith today, through Your Word.
¾ Acts chapter 1
Q? The chapter begins with a reminder of what Jesus had told His followers to do before He ascended. What was
that?
A: To wait.
Acts 1:4–5—He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father.
Q? Did they obey? Did they wait?
A: Yes.
Q? Where?
A: In Jerusalem.
Q? Why?
A: Because Jesus had commanded them to. He had a promise to go with that instruction, like He does with
nearly all commandments; most promises have a condition!
Q? If they kept the commandment, what would happen? What is the key verse of the whole Book of Acts?
A: Acts 1:8—But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses
to Me … to the end of the earth.
Q? Why do you suppose He told them to wait in Jerusalem? Why didn't they wait someplace out in the country?
Why didn't they wait up in Samaria?
A: For one thing, that's where they were at the time. They were right outside the walls of Jerusalem when
He gave them this commandment—on the Mount of Olives. They were fasting and praying and waiting on the
Lord.
Acts 1:14—These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the
mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.
But the main reason He had them wait in Jerusalem was so they would be in the right place at the right
time for the mighty miracle which was about to happen
¾ Acts chapter 2
Now here is the reason and purpose God had them in Jerusalem.
Acts 2:1—Now when the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
They were united in mind and heart and spirit! If we're not going to be united in mind and heart and spirit,
we'll miss the blessing.
Q? Does anyone know what the Day of Pentecost was?
A: It was the 50th day after Passover, called the Feast of Weeks, or the Feast of the Harvest in the Old
Testament.
The Greek word pentekoste meant 50th, so it was the 50th day after Passover. Pentecost was an annual
Jewish feast day. What they'd been celebrating for so many thousands of years was now about to happen—the
fulfillment of the foreshadowing of this feast! Pentecost was the harvest feast.
Q? Do you think it just happened by accident that it was on the Day of Pentecost that the Lord poured
out His Spirit? Why did He have them meet in Jerusalem? Why did He have them stay there together in one
accord?—Just for the pouring out of the Spirit? Couldn't He have poured out His Spirit just as well on the
120 someplace else?
A: He had them there for a witness. The main purpose of the Day of Pentecost was not just the mighty
signs and wonders and the supernatural manifestations, which most people seem to think was the main purpose of
the power. The Holy Spirit manifestations were only a means to an end! The most important thing is the witness
that they were to the crowds of people who had come to Jerusalem for the feast.
Q? What was the most important thing that happened that day? It was not just the outpouring of the
Spirit, but it was what?
A: You'll find it in the 41st verse of the 2nd chapter.
Acts 2:41—Then those who gladly received his [Peter's] word were baptized; and that day about three thousand
souls were added to them.
Three thousand people received Jesus and were saved! That is the most important thing that happened on
the Day of Pentecost!—not the outpouring of the Spirit, believe it or not, although that was essential for it! The one
cannot do without the other.
The greatest, most important thing that happened that morning was not the outpouring of the power and a
lot of people talking in tongues! It was not all that prayer, but it was the end result—what they accomplished, as an
absolutely inalterable effect of that prayer and that praise and that outpouring and that power! That was the final
aim and goal of the whole affair, as far as God was concerned—souls saved! Acts 2:41 is the most important verse
in the 2nd chapter.
In verses 14 to 39 we have a wonderful sermon by Peter: It is an explanation to the hearers of what was
going on, so that they could understand. Through the preaching of the Gospel to the big crowd that the miracle
attracted, they had tremendous results! So why did they meet in Jerusalem? The Lord told them to, and now you
begin to see God's reason for it!
Q? Why do you suppose all these people mentioned in the 9th and 10th verses were there?
A: Because there was a big feast day and there were a lot of international visitors in town. Jews came from
all over the world for these famous feasts.
To give the Early Christian Church a real send-off and to get them really rolling, the Lord let them preach
a couple of sermons (Acts chapter 3) that got about another 8,000 souls saved!
Q? That wasn't all that happened on the Day of Pentecost; what else happened?
A: Look at verses 1–4. They "began to speak with other tongues."
Acts 2:1–4—Now when the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. (2) And
suddenly there came a sound from Heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they
were sitting. (3) Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. (4) And
they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Now look at verses 6–8. The people heard them speak in many languages.
Acts 2:6–8—And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone
heard them speak in his own language. (7) Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another,
"Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? (8) And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which
we were born?"
Some say, "They weren't really speaking in anything supernatural; these were all languages that they
knew!" Why were the people amazed and why did they all marvel if the disciples already knew those languages? It
was obviously a miracle, because the disciples were ignorant Galileans who didn't know how to speak these
languages, so their doing so made the people come running! That's why the great crowd came!
Jesus said in Acts 1:8, "Ye shall receive power … and ye shall be witnesses unto Me." The main thing is
not whether you receive tongues, as long as you receive power for witnessing!—That's the principal purpose! If
you get enough power to make you blast off your launch pad and get out and do something for Jesus, then it doesn't
matter whether you speak in tongues or you don't! Some people witness with power long before they ever speak in
tongues!
Jesus said the Holy Spirit was power for witnessing! When they got that power the first time, they
witnessed and they got the results that the Lord said it was for: 3,000 souls saved.
A look at "witnessing"
We've talked about how the primary purpose of the Holy Spirit is to enable us to witness. "Witness"
according to the dictionary means to testify. So how can we testify of our faith? There aren't too many of us that are
either ready or in a position to stand up in front of a crowd of 3,000, but that's not the only method of witnessing!
There are many ways we can share our faith with others, and the Lord does expect us to do this.
¾ Acts chapter 3
In Acts Chapter 3 and 4 we read more about the results of the disciples being filled with the Holy Spirit.
Acts 3:1—Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour.
Now look at verses 2–3.
Acts 3:2–3—And a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of
the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms from those who entered the temple; (3) who, seeing Peter and
John about to go into the temple, asked for alms.
Then came one of God's great setups: This lame man was sitting by the temple gate. Pentecost was the first
setup God designed to get the Word out to a lot of people. Now He picks another setup that is going to get the
message out to even more! He picks somebody that people had seen day after day at the gate of the temple.—
Everybody in town knew he was a lame man and a beggar.
Q? When Peter saw what was hapbpening, did he leave the temple and keep them wondering?
A: No. They were wondering what was going on and Peter was ready to tell them! He took advantage of
the opportunity to preach them a sermon, like he did on the Day of Pentecost.
Acts 3:12—So when Peter saw it, he responded to the people: "Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or
why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?"
We'll turn now to Chapter 4 to find out the results of this miracle.
¾ Acts chapter 4
Q? After the healing of the lame man, Peter had another wonderful opportunity for preaching the Word,
and what was the result? He preached them a pretty stiff sermon, and what happened?
A: Five thousand were saved.
Acts 4:4—However, many of those who heard the Word believed; and the number of the men came to be about
five thousand.
Q? Why could Peter preach such good sermons?--Because he had such a good education?
A: It was the work of the Holy Spirit!
Acts 4:13—Now when they [the religious leaders] saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they
were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.
Q? Did the religious council figure that they were "highly educated and learned men"?
A: No. They marveled because they saw that same power in Peter and John that Jesus had when He walked
the earth. They were bold, despite the fact they hadn't had any formal education. They just went ahead and
witnessed anyhow, and they had tremendous power! It was obvious they had been with Jesus: They had the
Master's power to do the Master's work!
The religious leaders that observed them couldn't understand how come they had so much courage and so
much nerve and so much boldness! "They perceived that they had been with Jesus." Peter and John knew what
Jesus taught, they knew how Jesus lived—they knew Jesus! They didn't have anything else but Jesus and boldness,
but they really got results.
We can see from this chapter that the first crisis of the Church was Peter and John being arrested.
Q? What type of a crisis was it? Internal or external?
A: It was an outside attack—persecution.
Q? What was the result of this crisis? Why did the Lord allow them to get tossed into jail? Why couldn't He have
spared them from that apparent defeat and that terrible shame and reproach?
Spend a few minutes discussing why the Lord might have allowed this to happen.
Q? Think a bit about Peter. This was the same man who some weeks earlier had denied Jesus. Now he is
determined to witness, no matter what the cost. He then spoke boldly before huge crowds of people. What brought
about such a transformation?
A: The Holy Spirit.
(For more on "Peter's Transformation," see Activated magazine #2.)
Q? Were they scared stiff now because they had been told not to speak in this Name any more, and not to preach
Christ?
A: No! They spoke the Word of God with boldness.
What is an "apostle"?
"Apostle" is a person sent by another; a messenger; an envoy. This word is generally used as
designating the body of disciples to whom Jesus primarily entrusted the organization of the believers and
the dissemination of the Gospel, "the twelve," as they are called (Matthew 10:1–5; Mark 3:14; 6:7; Luke
6:13; 9:1).
Do you get automatically filled with the Holy Spirit when you get saved?
It is a good idea to include asking for the power and infilling of the Holy Spirit in the salvation
prayer. However, being baptized with the Holy Spirit can be a separate experience which follows salvation
(Acts 19:1–7).
Ending note
¾ Prayer for greater measure of the Holy Spirit
Even if we have already received the Holy Spirit, sometimes if we're feeling a little dry or in spiritual need,
it is helpful to pray for a fresh infusion. A greater measure of the Holy Spirit can certainly benefit all of us.
Sample prayer:
Thank You, Lord, for the gift of the Holy Spirit. We ask You for a "renewing of the Holy Ghost!" (Tit.3:5).
Please give us all a greater measure of Your Holy Spirit, that Your mighty power can fill and inspire us! We can't
do all of the things you want us to by our own power or will, but we know You can work through us, as You have
done through your followers over the ages. You tell us "Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit!" (Zec.4:6).
Empower and inspire us. Please give each of us a greater measure of love, and greater power to witness. Amen!
12 Foundation Stones—Class 2B
Gifts and Benefits
The Holy Spirit, Part 2
Section 1: The Benefits of the Holy Spirit
Let's take a little time to see how the Holy Spirit can work in your daily life.
To consider: How has the Holy Spirit brought the Word to life for you?
¾ None of the gifts are essential as proofs of being filled with the Holy Spirit.
The most important gifts of the Spirit are mostly quiet: knowledge, wisdom, faith, discernment, and
prophecy. You can see miracles and healing and you can hear tongues. But it is these quieter gifts, some unseen,
that are usually the most important for your daily service to the Lord: the knowledge that God gives you, the
wisdom of how to use it, the discernment of spirits—not only evil spirits but good spirits, and your spirit—and faith
to believe it, plus the gift of prophecy (hearing from God)!
Those are things you often can't see, but they're actually the most important! The other gifts are also
important for you, but mostly for the sake of others, for outsiders, to help them believe.
¾ 1. Discernment
Discernment is defined as "keenness of insight or judgment"—the ability to perceive the spirit and intent
behind what others say or do. God's Word exhorts us to discern the difference between good and evil and to "test
the spirits."
1 John 4:1–6—Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many
false prophets have gone out into the world. (2) By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses
that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, (3) and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has
come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is
now already in the world. (4) You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you
is greater than he who is in the world. (5) They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the
world hears them. (6) We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this
we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
¾ 2. Knowledge
The spiritual gift of knowledge goes far beyond mental knowledge; it's getting a glimpse of the heart and
mind of God. You know things you wouldn't otherwise know.
1 Corinthians 2:9–16—But as it is written: "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of
man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him." (10) But God has revealed them to us through
His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. (11) For what man knows the things of a
man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.
(12) Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the
things that have been freely given to us by God. (13) These things we also speak, not in words which man's
wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. (14) But the natural
man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them,
because they are spiritually discerned. (15) But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly
judged by no one. (16) For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him? But we have the mind
of Christ.
¾ 3. Wisdom
James 1:5—If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and
it will be given to him.
Proverbs 4:7—Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding.
Proverbs 8:1, 5–7,11—Does not wisdom cry out, and understanding lift up her voice? (5) O you simple ones,
understand prudence, and you fools, be of an understanding heart. (6) Listen, for I will speak of excellent things,
and from the opening of my lips will come right things; (7) For my mouth will speak truth; wickedness is an
abomination to my lips (11) For wisdom is better than rubies, and all the things one may desire cannot be
compared with her.
What is wisdom?—How to use the knowledge of God! Wisdom is a wonderful gift! It's one thing to know
things, that's knowledge, and that's good, that's one of the gifts of the Spirit, but it's another thing to know how to
use that knowledge, and that's wisdom, another gift of the Spirit.
You may be very smart as far as facts and figures and history and even Bible knowledge, but if you don't
know how to use that knowledge to help someone else or help yourself or use it for a good purpose, what good is
it?
A lot also depends on what kind of knowledge you have, whether it's the knowledge of good or evil, and
then, of course, it's very important how you use that knowledge. If you give some people too much knowledge
without wisdom they invent horrific bombs with their knowledge, and spend billions of dollars on armaments while
millions are starving to death!
¾ 4. Faith
Hebrews 11:1,6—Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (6) But without
faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of
those who diligently seek Him.
You certainly need faith! The gift of faith is not very obvious. You can't see it; you can't tell what color it
is; you can't hear it. Sometimes you can see it on people's faces in a way, and you can certainly tell by the way they
act how much faith they've got.
Every born-again child of God is given a measure of faith. Our faith grows every time we read, absorb, and
act upon the Word of God. But to have especially great faith for certain things is a gift of the Holy Spirit.
Having the gift of faith will lead to the visible gifts of healing and miracles.
For more on faith, read Hebrews 11.
¾ 5. Prophecy
The gift of prophecy—that of receiving messages from the Lord—is perhaps the most important of all of
the gifts of the Spirit. Paul practically puts it at the top of the list in the 14th chapter. He said:
1 Corinthians 14:3—But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men.
1 Corinthians 14:5—I wish you all spoke with tongues, but even more that you prophesied; for he who
prophesies is greater than he who speaks with tongues, unless indeed he interprets, that the church [believers]
may receive edification.
In prophecy you're talking in your own language, and you're relating divine inspired words that come
pouring through straight from the Lord or His angels or good spirits. It's so easy you don't have to work for it; it's a
gift, you just give it!
One person may prophesy very beautifully and fluently in language that's almost Biblical, while another
person prophesies haltingly, slowly, and rather roughly. It's a difference in the tools, in the instruments. The Lord is
the One who is giving it to both of them; it's all His inspiration. It's just that certain ones are gifted in different
ways, with different strengths, weaknesses, abilities, and inabilities.
Through the gift of prophecy you receive divine guidance, which is going to become even more essential
as the days of the near future grow darker.
Acts 2:17—And it shall come to pass in the Last Days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream
dreams.
As this is a big subject, we'll look at it in depth in later classes (4A and 4B).
A healing miracle!
(From Francisco and Margarita in Mexico)
Maria had already been in a coma for over 20 days when her sister contacted us and asked us to
pray for Maria. A heart attack when eight month's pregnant had caused Maria to lose the baby she was
carrying. Now doctors had all but given up hope for Maria to recover. Even if she came out of the coma,
one of her kidneys would need to be removed. Her sister was desperate.
When we went to the hospital to pray for Maria, most of her family was there. Everyone held hands
in a circle and prayed for Maria to come out of the coma and completely recover.
The next day, Maria woke up from the coma, and about a week later her doctors said she wouldn't
have to have the kidney removed after all. They said that Maria's turnabout couldn't be explained
medically, and that it must have been a miracle.
Now Maria is almost back to full health—yet another case of "with men it is impossible, but not with
God; for with God all things are possible" (Mark 10:27).
Miracle of protection!
(From Ben, USA)
There have been so many airplane crashes and near crashes in recent months that if you heard
about the cargo plane that ran off the end of a Miami airport runway and exploded, chances are you didn't
think much more about it. Neither did I, until my daughter phoned to say the crash was immediately in
front of the computer store owned and operated by good friends of ours, and that our friends were in the
store at the time!
We phoned them immediately, and visited them several days later. Earthmovers were still
scooping up fuel-tainted soil when we arrived. Before telling us their amazing story, our friends read us
the following excerpts from Psalm 91:
"He who dwells in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in Him will I trust. Surely He shall deliver
[me] from … the destruction that lays waste at noonday."
The plane crashed just after noon, they explained, and slid for hundreds of feet before stopping
just a few feet from their building. The plane pushed several cars up against the building, and a piece of
one of the plane's engines flew through the glass door of their shop, making an escape route for the
people inside. The three of them and their only customer at the time were able to squeeze through to
safety. Seconds later, a large blast filled in the space along the building through which they had just made
their escape.
When the fire was extinguished and they were allowed to return to the scene, they expected to find
their shop gutted. They were in for a surprise.
The neighboring store was a burnt-out shell, but the only damage to our friends' place was a
melted storefront sign and the broken glass door that had allowed them to get out. Just inside the door
was an outgoing shipment of computer monitors, undamaged and still stacked neatly. A few feet away,
next to the couch where my six-year-old had rested when we had visited our friends the evening before
the crash, was a box of pants labels which had been part of the plane's cargo.
Before we left, we helped one of our friends as he painted in large letters on his boarded-up shop
door: "Thank God we survived! Psalm 91." That same friend was later interviewed on several nationwide
talk shows, and each time he took the opportunity to thank the Lord publicly for His protection. What a
miracle!
¾ 8. Tongues
The gift of tongues is the ability to speak, pray, or praise God in one or more unlearned languages.
Acts 2:4—And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave
them utterance.
Sometimes these are earthly languages, but more often these tongues are heavenly languages which are
unintelligible to the speaker or anyone else except through the gift of interpretation.
1 Corinthians 14:2—For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands
him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries.
The difference between praying and praising in tongues, and receiving a message in tongues.
There is a difference between tongues of praise which do not have to be interpreted, and messages in
tongues which should be interpreted.
Tongues of praise:
1 Corinthians 4:5b—Each one's praise will come from God.
Hebrews 13:15—Therewfore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our
lips, giving thanks to His name.
Messages in tongues:
Acts 19:6—And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with
tongues and prophesied.
1 Corinthians 14:5—I wish you all spoke with tongues, but even more that you prophesied; for he who
prophesies is greater than he who speaks with tongues, unless indeed he interprets, that the church [believers]
may receive edification.
Most people who have the gift of tongues only pray or praise the Lord in tongues, which is wonderfully
edifying for your spirit—thrilling, exciting, a miracle, the most obvious of all the gifts of the Spirit and the
commonest, but the least useful for anybody but yourself!
Some people have the gift of receiving messages in tongues, which is a little more rare. The Lord gives the
interpretation to them or to someone else. We'll talk more about this when we discuss interpretation.
The gift of tongues is not essential, nor is it the initial evidence of the baptism of the Holy
Spirit.
Not everybody receives the gift of tongues when they're filled with the Spirit, and you don't have to
have the gift of tongues to prove that you were filled with the Spirit! There are eight other basic gifts; why
should everyone have to receive the gift of tongues?
Lots of people receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit without necessarily speaking in tongues—
although eventually, most people who have the Holy Spirit are apt to speak in tongues, too, because it's a
wonderful way of praying. It's one of the commonest gifts, although mostly just for your own benefit and
your own edification in the Spirit to be able to pray in tongues.
¾ 9. Interpretation of tongues
1 Corinthians 14:13–16—Therefore let him who speaks in a tongue pray that he may interpret. (14) For if I pray
in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. (15) What is the conclusion then? I will pray with
the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the
understanding. (16) Otherwise, if you bless with the spirit, how will he who occupies the place of the uninformed
say "Amen" at your giving of thanks, since he does not understand what you say?
Sometimes tongues are meant to be understood by the Lord alone, but other times they convey messages
that the Lord wants you and possibly others to understand and benefit from. The Lord can give you the
interpretation of the message in tongues if you ask Him and if it is something that you are meant to understand.
An interpretation is like a prophecy. The only difference between interpreting tongues and direct prophecy
is that with prophecy there's no intermediary message in tongues, you just get it straight from the Lord without the
secondary step of having to get it in tongues first and then interpret.
Not to be bought
Acts 8:18–21—And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy
Spirit was given, he offered them money, saying, "Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay
hands may receive the Holy Spirit." But Peter said to him, "Your money perish with you, because you
thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money! You have neither part nor portion in this
matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God.
¾ Patience!
If you ask for a gift, the Lord will answer, but He will choose which are the most important gifts for you in
your life and also the right timing to manifest those gifts. Have patience!
James 1:4—But let patiewnce have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
¾ Love!
You can have all the gifts of the Spirit and all the prophecy, tongues, teaching, and everything else, but it
isn't worth much unless you have love! Love is the most important thing! Look what Paul says in 1 Corinthians:
1 Corinthians 12:31–13:1—But earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way. (13:1)
Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a
clanging cymbal.
Closing Prayer
Thank You, Jesus, for how You reveal Your Word to us. It takes Your Spirit to open our eyes and show us
Your truth. Please help us to acknowledge You each time we read Your Word, and may Your Holy Spirit give us
an understanding of what You want to tell us. Help us to stay close to You now, Lord, as we go about our way, and
to carry Your Spirit with us. Amen.
12 Foundation Stones—Class 3A
Principles and Practice
Prayer, Part 1
Section 1: Prayer Principles
We want to start our study of prayer by looking at our relationship with the Lord. Prayer is not a ritual. The position
of your body doesn't matter very much. What counts is the position of your heart. When we talk about prayer we're
talking about your relationship and communication with the Lord and His relationship and communication with
you.
¾ Praise
The Lord gives a lot of instruction in His Word that you should come into His presence with thanksgiving
and enter His courts with praise. Thank and praise the Lord! Give Him the praise and honor that is His due.
Psalm 100:4—Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and
bless His name.
¾ Petition
After you've thanked the Lord for what He has already done for you and given you, then you can pray for
what you still need. He encourages us to ask:
John 16:24b—Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.
¾ Listening
Prayer is not a one-way street where you're just asking the Lord for things, but it's communication with the
Lord, conversing with the Lord. A lot of people have a conversation with the Lord and it's a one-way conversation.
They talk to Him and tell Him everything they want, but they never give Him time to say anything!—Except they
hope He'll say "yes" to whatever it is they're asking Him for. After they've given Him their long list, they then hope
that He okays it!
That isn't the way it should be! Your relationship with the Lord should also include you listening to Him.
Prayer is not just speaking your piece, but most of all letting God speak His piece, and waiting in quietness and
confidence until He answers. Take time to hear from God, and He'll take the time to straighten out your problems.
Mark 4:2–3—Then He … said to them in His teaching: "Listen!"
Mark 7:14b—He said to them, "Hear Me, everyone, and understand:"
¾ Praise Time
L Take some time to praise the Lord now.
We give You glory, Lord! You dwell in the praises of Your people; You inhabit the praises of Your
people! We love You, Jesus! You put our feet on the Rock! (Psalm 40:2). You've done so much for us! We exalt
Your name! Thank You for Your love! Thank You for Your care! Jesus, help us to praise You more, to give You
the glory that You deserve, the glory that's due Your name. Help us to honor You before the people, before each
other! Everything that we get accomplished, everything that we do is through Your grace and power, Jesus!
Hallelujah!
Please bless our relationship with You, that we would be closer to You. Help us to learn to acknowledge You in all
our ways, and to take time with You each day. We love You, dear Lord, and thank You for the wonderful gifts
You've given us. You're the best gift of all!
Transformed!
From Emma and Corrie, Russia:
When we went to visit a close friend, she wasn't there, but her best friend, Olga, was. When she
realized we were the Christians her friend had told her about, Olga began asking us different questions
about God and His ability to protect His children. She went on to tell us that her husband had started to
drink, and at times seemed almost psychotic. He would change from a gentle, loving husband, to a violent
monster. To add to her fears, she had found an unexplained weapon in their home. "I'm so desperate, I'm
willing to try anything," she said.
We told Olga about the power of prayer, and what it has done in our lives. Then we encouraged
her to be honest with her husband and tell him how she felt. We prayed with her, and assured her that the
Lord was able to change her husband and their situation.
When we bumped into Olga a couple of days later, she threw her arms around us, and hugged us.
She said she had taken our advice, told her husband how she felt, and listened to what he had to say. As
a result, he had stopped drinking and their relationship was much better already. She told her husband
that we had prayed with her, and they both credit the Lord with changing their lives. Now they want to
learn more about God, the Bible, and prayer.
¾ 5. Be specific
Key principle: Specific prayers get specific answers.
Jesus wants us to be definite in our requests. He asks us,
John 15:7—"What would you have Me do for you?"
Specific prayers get specific answers. Vague, aimless prayers usually indicate one of three things: Either
you're not very concerned, or you don't really know what you want Him to do, or you don't have faith that He can
do it. So be as clear and definite as you would if you were writing a check drawn on the Bank of Heaven. Fill it out
for the exact amount you want, make it payable to yourself or someone else who needs it, date it, sign it—and it's
yours!
We are definite in our business dealings with others—especially in any matter of importance that involves
a money transaction. How careful we are to have a perfect understanding. We say we are "making a deal" or
"closing a deal" with a person, and there comes a time when we sign our name on the dotted line and in a very
definite, careful manner, we close the deal. Just so, there must be a definiteness in closing a deal with God. There
must be a definite moment in which we, so to speak, sign our name on the dotted line under His promises, take Him
at His Word, and close the deal.
¾ 6. Be wholehearted
Key principle: It's not how long you pray or how much you pray, it's how much you believe.
It's true that God knows what you need before you even ask Him, but He still expects you to pray. It shows
that you are depending on Him, that you need Him. It's a positive declaration of your faith that He can answer your
prayers, and that pleases Him.
God wants you to show concern and pray about things.—And in serious matters, He expects you to be
serious about asking for His help. If you stir yourself, God will stir Himself!
Jeremiah 29:13—You will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
¾ 7. Exercise your faith
Key principle: When faith goes to market it always takes a basket.
What is faith? It's taking God at His Word. It's believing that what He has promised, He will do. With
faith, it doesn't matter whether reason or logic point in that direction; you just know it will be because God
promised it so, whether your human mind can figure it all out or not.
The greater your faith in the Lord's ability to answer, the greater answers to prayer you will receive. These
two contrasting examples demonstrate the point especially well: When two blind men besought Jesus to restore
their sight, He asked them if they believed He was able to do so. When they answered yes, He told them that it
would be done to them "according to their faith"—and He proceeded to heal them!
Matthew 9:27–30—When Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, "Son
of David, have mercy on us!" (28) And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him. And Jesus
said to them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" They said to Him, "Yes, Lord." (29) Then He touched
their eyes, saying, "According to your faith let it be to you." (30) And their eyes were opened.
But another time we read that He didn't do many miracles in one town because of the people's unbelief.
Matthew 13:58—Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.
So it's pretty clear that your measure of faith determines the measure of God's response.
How do you build your faith muscles? You nourish them with God's Word, and exercise them daily
through prayer.
The one who gets things from God will show his faith by his actions.
James 2:17–18,26—Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. (18) But someone will say, "You
have faith, and I have works." Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.
… (26) For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
What is a dead faith? It is a faith that is not working. It is a faith that is not operative. Real faith is not a
passive thing; it will act out what it believes.
A believing person puts faith into action. When he has asked God for something, he proceeds as if he
possesses. When he takes God at His Word on some promise, he proceeds exactly as if he already possesses the
thing which he desires (which by believing faith he really does), though the natural senses may deny every step of
the way that which faith has claimed as true.
An illustration of this thought is given in the Bible in the instance of the lepers who were told by Jesus to
go show themselves to the priest for cleansing; the Scripture says,
Luke 17:14—As they went, they were cleansed.
As they went, as they put their faith into action, God did it. If we put forth the effort of a believing will,
God honors that step and does it. Look at the case of the man with the withered hand.
Matthew 12:10,13—And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand. … (13) Then He said to the man,
"Stretch out your hand." And he stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the other.
The seat of faith is in the will. God certainly expects us to put our faith into action.
Favorite verses
Here are a few promises that have been favorites for many of us over the years:
John 15:7—If you abide in Me, and My Words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it
shall be done for you.
Mark 9:23—Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes."
Jeremiah 33:3—Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which
you do not know.
Ending note
There are other aspects of prayer that we haven't had much time to get into, such as delayed answers, types
of prayer, how to form good prayer habits, more on praise, listening to the Lord, and so on. These are subjects we
will be discussing in our next class.
12 Foundation Stones—Class 3B
Communicating with God
Prayer, Part 2
Section 1: Our Relationship with the Lord
¾ A good relationship
It takes time and effort to build a good relationship with someone. Let's look at some of the ways we can
apply the lessons we learn with people to our relationship with the Lord.
We need to invest time into building a relationship and give the person our attention.—We talked in the
last class about focusing on the Lord when we pray, even visualizing Him if we can.
We should talk to Jesus as we would to our dearest loved one. In a good marriage or relationship, one
person doesn't do all the talking! So we need to be sure to not only talk to Him, but most importantly, listen to Him.
A good relationship also needs lots of appreciation and thankfulness and not taking the other for granted.
We need to thank the Lord for what He gives us and does for us.
A good relationship is one where we can trust and confide in our partner, knowing he or she will listen and
keep on loving us unconditionally. Our partner will comfort us when we need it, and he or she will honestly point
out our shortcomings when we need help in facing things. But no matter how we fail or what mistakes we make, he
or she will keep loving us. That is how Jesus is with us.
To consider:
Who do you identify more with—Mary or Martha?
If you were Martha, how would you have reacted to Jesus' words?
To consider:
How do you usually pray? Do you have a set time or a set place or are you more spontaneous?
What occupies most of your time in prayer? Praise; pouring out your heart to the Lord about personal
situations or trials; asking the Lord for things you need; praying for others?
What do you find most distracting when you are praying? Have you found any ways to overcome this?
Thoughts on prayer
* Prayer is a connecting link between human need and divine resources.
* Seventeenth-century physicist Isaac Newton, considered by many as the father of modern
science and discoverer of gravitation, said: "All my discoveries have been made in answer to prayer."
* We should believe that nothing is too small to be named before God. What should we think of the
patient who told his doctor he was ill, but never went into particulars?
God's supply!
The Christian elementary school in Vacaville, California, had just been remodeled. That is, it had
been remodeled except for shingles (roof slates). Funds had run just that much short. And the need was
serious, for the rainy season was approaching.
The smaller children, in Kay Buzelli's room, had memorized the Words of Jesus, "With men this is
impossible; but with God all things are possible" (Matthew 19:26). And they believed those Words were
true. For days they had prayed for shingles. And earlier that September morning, in Bible class, little
Karen had prayed, "Dear Jesus, please be with us today. Help us to do something to show we love
others. And please, dear God, don't forget to take care of our school."
Then it happened. The freeway was only a stone's throw away. Suddenly there was a great
"boom" as a giant truck tire blew out. Seventeen frightened children looked up to see the big truck swerve
into the path of oncoming traffic. But those little people, believe it or not, did not race outside, or even to
the window to see what was happening. One of them said, "Let's pray that no one will get hurt." And
seventeen children gathered in one circle with their teacher and prayed—while the screeching, thumping,
bumping, crashing sounds of a serious accident continued.
Their prayer was answered even as they prayed. The big truck had turned over and dumped its
contents on the edge of the freeway. A smaller truck, in which a two-year-old boy was riding with his
father had turned over and landed in the creek beside the school. But there were no serious injuries. Even
the newspaper called it a miracle.
But wait! What had the big truck dumped on the edge of the freeway? Shingles! Shingles just the
right color needed for the school! Shingles strewn everywhere, it seemed! And nobody wanted to pick
them up!
A school board member was at the school at the time, and he negotiated with the insurance
adjuster to buy them all for a very small sum. The children picked them up and stacked them neatly. The
roof was finished before the rains, and the shingles left over were sold for a profit of $300!
Could anyone tell those Vacaville children that God doesn't answer prayer?
God's answers
The Lord's answers to prayer are infinitely perfect, and they will show that often when we were
asking for a stone that looked like bread, He was giving us bread that to our shortsightedness looked like
a stone (Matthew 7:7–11).
¾ Ways to pray
Prayer is not judged by the length of words. Sometimes you'll be praying for a desperate situation and
you'll want to go into details with the Lord. Other times your prayer can be very short.
The most important thing about your prayer is that you're concentrating on the Lord, whether you pray a
lengthy or short prayer!
When you use different ways of praying, such variety can help keep your inspiration for prayer high and
help you to concentrate.
Look at "Ways to Pray" in Prayer Power, a Get Activated! booklet, for more ideas. See pages 58–63.
ABC…
A little lad was keeping his sheep one Sunday morning. The bells were ringing for church and the
people were going over the field, when the little fellow began to think that he, too, would like to pray to
God. But what could he say? He had never learned a prayer. So he knelt down and commenced the
alphabet—A, B, C, and so on to Z.
A gentleman happening to pass on the other side of the hedge heard the lad's voice, and, looking
through the bushes, saw the little fellow kneeling with folded hands and closed eyes, saying, "A, B, C."
"What are you doing, my little man?"
"Please, sir, I was praying."
"But what are you saying your letters for?"
"Why, I didn't know any prayer, only I felt that I wanted God to take care of me and help me to care
for the sheep; so I thought if I said all I knew, He would put it together and spell all I want."
"Bless your heart, my little man, He will, He will, He will. When the heart speaks right, the lips can't
say wrong."
Section 3: Praise
¾ The importance of thanking and praising the Lord
We've talked a lot today about the petition aspect of prayer. Now we want to focus on praise and
thankfulness.
1 Thessalonians 5:18—In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Psalm 34:1—I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
Psalm 86:12—I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart, and I will glorify Your name forevermore.
Psalm 118:21—I will praise You, for You have answered me, and have become my salvation.
Psalm 105:1–2—Oh, give thanks to the Lord! Call upon His name; make known His deeds among the peoples!
(2) Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him; talk of all His wondrous works!
Any relationship is very one–sided if it involves a lot of taking but not much giving. The Lord certainly
doesn't mind our taking all that He has for us, but in return He looks for our thanks and appreciation. He wants us to
acknowledge that we are pleased with all the gifts that He has given us and how He takes care of us so well! He
delights in taking care of us, but part of His pleasure is receiving our gratitude.
The banquet
There was once a king in Spain called Alfonso XII. Now it came to the ears of this king that the
pages at his court forgot to ask God's blessing on their daily meals, and he determined to rebuke them.
He invited them to a banquet that they all attended. The table was spread with every kind of good thing,
and the boys ate with evident relish; but none of them remembered to ask God's blessing on the food.
During the feast a beggar entered, dirty and ill-clad. He seated himself at the royal table and ate
and drank to his heart's content. At first the pages were amazed, and they expected that the king would
order him away. But King Alfonso said never a word. When the beggar had finished, he rose and left
without a word of thanks. Then the boys could keep silence no longer. "What a despicably mean fellow!"
they cried.
But the king silenced them, and in clear, calm tones he said, "Boys, bolder and more audacious
than this beggar have you all been. Every day you sit down to a table supplied by the bounty of your
Heavenly Father, yet you ask not His blessing nor express to Him your gratitude."
The only excuse…
The only excuse for not praising the Lord is if you are out of breath:
Psalm 150:6—Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
(But of course you could still praise the Lord in your mind and heart!)
¾ "Forthtelling"
Many people think of "prophecy" as predicting the future, but this is not always the case. The word
"prophecy" is taken from a Greek word propheteia that means "the speaking forth of the mind and counsel of God."
Prophets do a lot of foretelling under the inspiration of God's Spirit. But a further meaning of prophecy is
to speak under divine inspiration, to forthtell the Words of God—to simply give God's Word, whatever it may be,
whenever it may be, at any time, at any place, to any people, whenever it is God's will.
Elijah was the main prophet, but there were at least 100 others:
1 Kings 18:1,3–4—And it came to pass after many days that the word of the Lord came to Elijah, in the third
year, saying, "Go, present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the earth." (3) And Ahab had called Obadiah,
who was in charge of his house. (Now Obadiah feared the Lord greatly. (4) For so it was, while Jezebel
massacred the prophets of the Lord, that Obadiah had taken one hundred prophets and hidden them, fifty to a
cave, and had fed them with bread and water.)
L To consider: Have you been going to the Lord for His instructions? Have you heard from the Lord since your last
class?
Example 1: Witnessing
We know from the Word that we're supposed witness (share our faith).
Mark 16:15—And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature."
But to whom are you supposed to witness? Where should you witness? Should you give out
literature? Should you try to talk to strangers on the street or should you knock on people's doors or
should you talk just to your colleagues and relatives? There is a whole range of ways to fulfill what Jesus
told us about witnessing. But to find God's specific plan for you, you might need to hear from the Lord
about it.
¾ How to tell the difference between a prophecy that is from God and one
that is not
To judge a prophecy, check these points:
Is it helpful?
Does it motivate you to do good? Does it encourage you to follow God's way? What are its fruits?
Matthew 7:20—Therefore by their fruits you will know them.
Galatians 5:22–23—But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
(23) gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
Does it bring peace and unity with your fellow-believers?
A godly prophecy usually flows with and confirms what God has already said. It brings unity and peace,
never confusion.
1 Corinthians 14:33—For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.
A false prophet will not lift up Jesus as the only begotten Son of God
1 John 4:1–2—Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many
false prophets have gone out into the world. (2) By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses
that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God.
False prophets claim greatness for themselves; some even claim to be the Messiah
Matthew 24:4–5,11—And Jesus answered and said to them: "Take heed that no one deceives you. (5) For many
will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,' and will deceive many. …(11) Then many false prophets will rise
up and deceive many."
A false prophet may perform "great signs," but not by the Lord's power.
Matthew 24:23–24—Then if anyone says to you, "Look, here is the Christ!" or "There!" do not believe it. (24)
For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the
elect.
¾ Review
Judging prophecy is the act of discerning if a prophecy was given by the Spirit of God.
Interpreting prophecy is the act of coming to an understanding of what a prophecy means.
How can you tell if a prophecy is truly inspired by God?—"The voice that tells me to do something good";
Jesus told us, judge by their fruits.
How to tell the difference between a prophecy from God and one that is not:
Is it in harmony with the Bible? Is it helpful? Does it bring peace and unity with your fellow-believers?
Does it bring humility and not pride? Does it encourage you? Does it bring faith to your heart? Does it provide
helpful instruction?
Warnings about false prophecy: A false prophet leads you away from God; a false prophet will not lift up
Jesus as the only begotten Son of God. False prophets claim greatness for themselves. A false prophet may perform
"great signs," but not by the Lord's power.
¾ Interpreting prophecy
There are many reasons to ask the Lord to speak to us in prophecy. Some of these include a need for
encouragement, direction, instruction, help in decision-making, insight into problems, finding the Lord's will in a
matter, etc.
Once the Lord has spoken on a matter, we must prayerfully look at what He has said and determine what
instruction or answer He is giving us. To do this, we must interpret the prophecy; we must find the meaning of what
He has said to us.
In order to fully benefit from the gift of prophecy, we must learn to properly interpret the prophecy, as it
doesn't help much to get a message from the Lord if you don't understand the meaning of what He's telling you!
Even prophets like Daniel and Ezekiel did not always understand what the Lord gave to them.
Daniel 12:8a—Although I heard, I did not understand.
Ezekiel 3:14–15—So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit;
but the hand of the Lord was strong upon me. (15) Then I came to the captives at Tel Abib, who dwelt by the River
Chebar; and I sat where they sat, and remained there astonished among them seven days.
The Story of Lazarus—and how the Lord's meaning is not always clear
It's a bit like when the Lord told His disciples that Lazarus' sickness was "not unto death." He later
said that Lazarus was sleeping, and eventually He told them "Lazarus is dead." This might have seemed
a bit contradictory to them. His disciples could have asked how Jesus could say the sickness was not
unto death, yet Lazarus was dead; in fact, he was in the grave for four days! Yet Jesus eventually raised
him from the dead, so even though the disciples didn't understand it at the time, they eventually did, after
Lazarus was raised up. They could have accused Jesus of giving false or inaccurate statements at the
time He made them, but because they had faith in the Words that He had spoken, they could trust what
He said even though they didn't understand it:
John 11:1–15—Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister
Martha. (2) It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair,
whose brother Lazarus was sick. (3) Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, "Lord, behold, he whom
You love is sick." (4) When Jesus heard that, He said, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of
God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it." (5) Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and
Lazarus. (6) So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was.
(7) Then after this He said to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again." (8) The disciples said to Him,
"Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and are You going there again?" (9) Jesus answered, "Are
there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the
light of this world. (10) "But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him." (11)
These things He said, and after that He said to them, "Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake
him up." (12) Then His disciples said, "Lord, if he sleeps he will get well." (13) However, Jesus spoke of
his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep. (14) Then Jesus said to them
plainly, "Lazarus is dead. (15) And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe.
Nevertheless let us go to him."
¾ Review
Keys to interpreting prophecy: the gifts of wisdom, understanding, and discernment. Seek the counsel of
others. Be guided by the Word. Be open to the Lord.
When you do not understand, wrap it up in a bundle of faith!
¾ The future is somewhat dependent on the choices that we and others make.
It is important to understand that our own decisions and choices, based often on the knowledge and
wisdom that He gives us (which, of course, are also "gifts of the Spirit"), are still very instrumental in our
determining God's will, even after specific prophecies may have been received.
¾ The Lord often leads us one step at a time on the path of His will.
The Lord apparently knows that it's best that we don't always know all the details of the future, at least not
very often. He usually hides the future from us and makes us take things one step at a time.
2 Corinthians 5:7—For we walk by faith, not by sight.
He likes to see us exercise our faith. We learn a lot from following step by step, going along on just the
little bit at a time that the Lord reveals to us. We follow Him from point "a" to point "b," and then from there we
have to make another decision, "Where do we go from here?" We desperately pray and ask the Lord and He shows
us a little more, how to get from point "b" to point "c," and we then go on and on to the next steps. But the Lord
doesn't usually show us the whole picture "a" to "z" in advance.
¾ Matters of misunderstanding
Something to keep in mind is that sometimes we think that a prophecy didn't come true either because we
don't remember correctly what the prophecy said, or we didn't interpret it properly. Sometimes, when encountering
a situation where things seemed to turn out differently than a prophecy said they would, if you'll go back and study
that prophecy, you'll see things in a different light. So before you presume that a prophecy "went wrong"
somehow, go back and re-read it, and you may find that what the Lord said was just what happened—you just
didn't understand it clearly the first time, or you didn't remember correctly what it said.
What if you feel incapable, discouraged, or that God can't speak to you?
If you feel discouraged and like you can't do it—that you can't be good enough to receive
something as wonderful as His messages from Heaven—all you have to do is ask the Lord to override all
of those feelings and replace them with a gift of faith.
You don't have to have "great faith." Just ask Him for the faith of a child who reaches up and
receives her father's gifts. She doesn't think about it and analyze the message, because she has childlike
faith and trusts that her father knows what he's doing and he knows what's best, and all she has to do is
trust.
The Lord delights in using men or women who don't think much of themselves and are little in their
own eyes.
1 Corinthians 1:26–29—For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the
flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to
put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which
are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the
things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence.
Don't worry if you feel incapable, because if that's how you feel, you will stay humble and more
dependent on the Lord.—And that's how He wants you to be!
¾ Review
Why a prophecy may not seem to come true: Prophecies can "fail." The future is somewhat dependent on
the choices that we and others make. The Lord often leads us one step at a time on the path of His will.
Other ways to find God's will, besides prophecy: (1) the written Word; (2) the "voice of the Word"; (3)
direct revelations such as dreams, visions, or impressions; (4) seeking counsel from faithful and wise fellow-
believers; (5) circumstances; (6) personal concern or conviction; (7) receiving specific, predetermined signs in
answer to your requests.
Why prophecy? It's not only for instruction, but also for encouragement.
12 FOUNDATION STONES—CLASS 5A
SUCCESS WITH PEOPLE
THE GOLDEN RULE, PART 1
¾ Matthew 22:37–40
We're going to start by looking briefly at what the Bible says about relationships with others. The
key verses are in Matthew 22:37–40:
Matthew 22:37–40—Jesus said to him, "‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul,
and with all your mind.' (38) This is the first and great commandment. (39) And the second is like it: ‘You shall
love your neighbor as yourself.' (40) On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."
¾ Introduction
The verses we've just read tell us that love is the most important thing in our relations with oth-
ers. The Golden Rule of God's love should reign over our actions and interactions.
Now we're going to talk about how to apply this in our daily lives. How can you put the Golden
Rule into action? How can you get along with practically anybody? We all struggle sometimes with ac-
quaintances, work colleagues, relatives, and even occasionally friends and those closest to us. We some-
times have a hard time getting along with people whom we like, just because we are all so different or
something comes up. … Then there are cantankerous personalities, and people who we simply don't get
along with. It's obvious that we're meant to get along with people, but how to do this?
We're going to take a little time to discuss practical ways of relating to others in a loving manner.
We can't cover everything in one class, but we're going to look at Ten Tips to help you in your interac-
tions with others. Of course these Ten Tips are not all there is to know, but as much as we'll have time
for today.
¾ Ask the Lord for the love you need and do your best to put it into
practice!
There are hundreds of things you can do throughout the day, little things that make someone's
life more beautiful because of your kindness. If you follow Jesus' golden rule to "do unto others as you
would have them do unto you," then you'll be kind and courteous.
When you pray and ask the Lord to help you be more loving, at the same time ask Him how you
can be more loving, and then start working on those practical areas.
That's like putting feet to your prayers. As you do your part, He'll put the love in your heart, and
soon it will become a loving habit to do those things.
You can't just ask the Lord for more love but then not work on it or do the practical things the
Lord shows you to do. Neither can you just try to work it up in the flesh, or it won't come across right.
It'll just be dead works, a superficial tradition without the Spirit. You've got to both ask the Lord for the
love you need and do your best to put it into practice!
¾ 1. Speak to people
Colossians 4:6—Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to
answer each one.
1 Peter 3:8—Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tender-
hearted, be courteous;
Courtesy, kind words, loving and considerate language are all part of showing love, and part of
our sample of the Lord's Love.
Give a warm greeting instead of an indifferent glance. A smile and cheerful words show a person
that you're interested in them.
Take a moment to answer a question with consideration and sincerity, instead of in pressured
haste and busy rush, making others feel belittled or in the way.
Slow down. Sure we're all busy, but we're not so busy that we can't take a little time to acknowl-
edge each person we meet. Be sure when you first meet someone each day to greet them.
A tip for married couples: Hug and kiss when waking, when leaving your room for the day, when
returning home after a day out, before sleeping, etc.
Humor: "Please!"
Jessica was trying to teach her two-year-old son how to say "Please" and "Thank you." She gave him a
biscuit and asked, "What do you say?"
"Please," replied Mark.
"No, what do you say after you've been given something?"
"More please," came the reply.
Your life is bound to affect others! "No man is an island!" Everybody's influencing somebody—
even when you seem to be all alone! Sometimes just a word or a glance or a smile can make a difference.
You're either going to pull people up to your level or drag them down to yours—one or the other!
Loving-kindness
A class of eight-year-old boys was asked to explain the meaning of loving-kindness; one youngster
replied, "If I were hungry and someone gave me a piece of bread and butter ... that would be kindness, but
if they put lots of jam on it ... that would be loving-kindness."
¾ 5. Communicate
Hebrews 13:16—But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.
Proverbs 10:11a—The mouth of the righteous is a well of life..
Proverbs 15:23—A man has joy by the answer of his mouth, and a word spoken in due season, how good it is!
Obviously, for people to feel our love and care for them, we need to communicate with them.
That means giving and taking in conversation. We need to take the time to listen, but we should not only
listen in silence: We also need to convey our own thoughts and feelings.
¾ 6. Be concerned
Galatians 6:2—Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
Romans 12:15—Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.
There isn't any point in paying attention to the other person unless you honestly care about him,
unless you are willing to share his pain and help him solve his problems. To be concerned about the other
person is the basic foundation for all deep and lasting human relationships.
Empathy
A vital quality for getting along with people is empathy. Empathy comes from the German word
einfulung, which means to feel into or to feel with. Empathy is viewing life through another's eyes, feeling
as another feels, hearing a story through the perceptions of the other person. Christians are called to em-
pathy by bearing one another's burdens and by rejoicing with others in their joys and weeping with others
in their pain.
Prophecy helps!
Ask the Lord to give you prophecies for people you know. If you're having difficulties getting
along with someone, ask the Lord to give you something about that person that will help you understand
them and empathize with them.
Understanding
It was a cold winter morning. The shopping center parking lot was ridged with piles of fresh snow. I
parked my car and headed for the sidewalk, the only exit that had been freed from the drifts of snow. But
there was a car left directly in front of the shoveled pathway! I had to trudge around the vehicle, wading
into snow up to my knees, to get onto the walk. "How thoughtless can people be!" These words rang
through my mind along with a few others. But as I turned to stamp the snow off my trousers, there, strug-
gling along the walk, was a lady with crutches extending from both arms, her legs encased in braces.
Slowly, ever so slowly, she inched her way along the slippery pathway, got to the car blocking the walk, tus-
sled herself into the front seat, and drove away. I stood for a moment, ashamed that I had felt the way I
had. In seconds I had changed. I saw the woman and her plight. Suddenly I understood!
The absolutely indispensable ingredient to getting along with others is understanding! Differences,
displeasures, wrath, frustration, conflict, and separation start where understanding stops.
Encouragement motivates!
Aleida Huissen, 78, of Rotterdam, Netherlands, has been smoking for 50 years. And for 50 years she
has been trying to give up her harmful habit. But she has not been successful—that is, until recently. She
has now given up cigarettes, cigars, and pipes. The secret? Leo Jansen, 79, proposed marriage last year, but
refused to go through with the wedding until Aleida gave up smoking. Says Aleida now: "Will power never
was enough to get me off the tobacco habit. Love did it."
Learning to listen
I know of no quicker way to insult a person or to hurt his feelings than to brush him off or turn away
when he's trying to tell you something. How many times have you been right in the middle of a good story
only to have one of your listeners turn away or interrupt you and start talking about a brand new subject?
Learning to listen to the other person with everything you've got means putting aside your own in-
terests, your own pleasures, and your own preoccupations, at lest temporarily. For those few moments of
time it means that you must concentrate 100% on what the other person is saying. You must focus all your
attention on him. You must listen to him with all the intensity and awareness that you can command.
¾ 9. Avoid arguments
2 Timothy 2:24—And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient.
James 1:19–20—So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; (20)
for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
God's Hand
In a prayer meeting a man prayed with great fervor. The burden of his prayer had to do with a family
that had suddenly been bereft of the father and husband. "O God," pleaded the intercessor, "do send some-
one to that grief-stricken family to touch them for You!" Suddenly the man lapsed into silence. Quietly he
withdrew from the group. Before the prayer meeting concluded, he returned. Asked why he concluded his
prayer so abruptly, and why he withdrew without explanation, he said, "As I prayed that God would touch
that sorrowing family, He seemed to say to me, `You are My hand! You go and touch them for Me!'"
(end)
12 Foundation Stones—Class 5B
Love Is the Answer
The Golden Rule, Part 2
Section 1: Bible Study on the Law of Love
There is a lot in the Bible about human relationships and having love toward others. That's the whole
purpose for living, to love God and others—the whole purpose for everything is love. And if you love God you'll
love others too, because loving others is one way you show love for the Lord.
¾ The supernatural love of God empowers you to love people you don't even
like!
Luke 6:32–36—But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who
love them. (33) And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do
the same. (34) And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even
sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back. (35) But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing
in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful
and evil. (36) Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.
How can you love someone you don't like?—And does the Lord even expect you to do this? One notable
aspect of the story of the Good Samaritan is how the Samaritan went out of his way to help someone who was more
or less of an enemy nationality.
The answer is that empowered by the supernatural love of God, you can love anyone, even those you don't
like, even someone who has done you wrong or harmed you in some way. Ask Jesus for His love.—He will
respond to your fervent request. (We'll talk more about the "strength to love" later in this class.)
¾ Living the Law of Love is simply living what Jesus said is the law, the great
commandment—to love.
Galatians 5:14—For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
This Law of Love that Jesus proclaimed—loving God first, and loving others as yourself—fulfills all the
other Biblical law. It means that we are free from all the old Biblical law. For example, if you love the Lord with all
your heart, soul, and mind, then you won't put other gods before Him or take His Name in vain. If you love your
neighbor as yourself, you won't kill him, steal from him, lie to him, or covet what he has. And the reason you won't
do these things is because of love. You don't need the Biblical law to keep you from doing these things; you simply
refrain from doing them because to do them would be unloving. This freedom from the Biblical law, based on the
Lord's instruction to govern ourselves by loving God above all and our neighbors as ourselves, is the whole concept
of the Law of Love in a nutshell.
¾ When we see someone with a need, it is our duty, in love, to help supply that
need.
If we don't help, how can God's love dwell in us?
1 John 3:17–18—But whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from
him, how does the love of God abide in him? (18) My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in
deed and in truth.
When you help a child, or an overworked, sick, lonely or needy person, you are giving yourself to them in
love; you are fulfilling Jesus' Law of Love. If you were sick or hungry, if you needed help with your children, if
you needed some friendship, if you needed a coat or a pair of shoes or something to eat, wouldn't you want
someone to give you the help you needed? (Matthew 7:12).
The essence of the Law of Love is having enough love to do to others what you would want them to do to
you; to have enough love to help those in need, whatever the need, just as you would want them to help you in your
need; to put the needs of others above your own, even when it's a sacrifice for you to do so. That's love.
¾ Try to remember this important principle of the Law of Love as you go about
your day.
If you see someone who needs help, pitch in to help for a few minutes. That's love. If you love your
neighbor as yourself, you'll put yourself in his place, and wonder how you would feel if you were there, and wonder
what you would want and need to have fulfilled. This is what the Law of Love is all about—giving love, in deed
and in truth, to those in need.
Giving love to others isn't always a matter of going out of your way to do some outstanding action like
feeding the homeless, but it also means being a sharing person with those around you. Being generous and being
giving needs to be a part of our everyday lives.
¾ Love in action
If we have real love, we won't face a needy situation without doing something about it. We won't just pass
by the poor man on the road to Jericho! We will take action like the Samaritan did.
Many people today, when faced with suffering of the needy or the poor, say, "Oh, I'm so sorry, how sad!"
But compassion must be put into action! That's the difference between pity and compassion: Pity just feels sorry;
compassion does something about it!
Love can seldom be proven without tangible manifestation in action. The need for real love is a spiritual
need, but it must be manifested physically in works.
Galatians 5:6—Faith working through love.
James 2:18—But someone will say, "You have faith, and I have works." Show me your faith without your works,
and I will show you my faith by my works.
In other words, if in the faith of God you really love people, they cannot understand it or believe it unless
you really show them by some visible, tangible work or action that puts your words into action and puts your faith
into effect and makes it fact and not fiction, a sample not just a sermon!
¾ Compassion is loving deeds, not only loving words
James 2:15–17—If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, (16) and one of you says to them,
"Depart in peace, be warmed and filled," but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what
does it profit? (17) Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
What is compassion?—It is loving to the point of really helping. To be compassionate means to really care
and truly be concerned, not to just say, "I love you" and then walk off and forget it. It's not saying, "Be warmed and
filled," but not giving them what they need (James 2:16). But the compassionate are those who try to put feet to
their prayers and kind deeds to their kind words and try to do good as well as speak good.
¾ Whether or not you have something material to share, you can still help
others
We consider that the sharing of our time, our love, and our life with others, is the greatest of all sharing.
Jesus Himself did not usually have anything material to share with His disciples, only His love and His life, which
He gave for them and for us, that we too might have life and love forever.
1 John 3:16—By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our
lives for the brethren.
John 15:13—Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends.
James 1:27—Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their
trouble.
Giving of yourself
A story is told about two brothers, soldiers in the trenches during World War 1. One was lying
wounded in action in no-man's land, a deadly, dangerous area between the opposing forces. When the
older brother in the trench heard of the plight of his brother in the field, he said to his officer, "I've got to go
get him!"
His officer said, "It's impossible! You'll be killed the minute you stick your head out of this trench.
You know the enemy always starts shooting the minute you go over the top!" But the older brother tore
himself loose from the officer's grip, scrambled out of the trench, and plunged into no-man's land to find
his kid brother, despite the withering fire of the enemy.
There he found him, mortally wounded, and whispering, "I knew you'd come! I knew you'd come!"
The older brother, himself now wounded, barely managed to drag his younger brother back to the Allied
lines, both of them falling into the trench dying.
With tears streaming down his face, his officer said to the older brother, "Why did you do it? I told
you, you'd both be killed!"
But the older brother replied with a final smile, "I had to do it! You see—he expected it of me, and I
couldn't fail him!"
The highland boy who averted a disaster at the cost of his life.
In the north of Scotland, the main railway line crosses a gully which is bridged by a viaduct. One
night a fearful storm raged, and the little creek under the viaduct became a raging torrent.
A young shepherd, a Highland boy, sheltered his sheep as best he could for the night, and in the
morning, long before dawn, he set out to see how they fared. As he made his way up the hillside he
noticed, to his dismay, that the central column of the viaduct was gone, and the bridge was broken. He
knew the train was due and, if not warned, would be dashed to pieces and many lives lost. He made his
way up as best he could, wondering if he would be in time. As soon as he reached the rails he heard the
pound of the mighty engine. He stood and beckoned wildly, but the engine driver, making up time, drove
on. The train drew nearer, and still he stood, beckoning it to stop. At last it came to where he stood, and
he flung himself in front of the engine.
The driver applied the brakes and managed to stop the train in its own length. The stop was
sudden and the passengers, awakened, came to see what was the matter. The driver said, `It has been a
close shave this time. We might all have been lost. Come and I'll show you the one who saved us tonight.'
A little way along they saw the mangled remains of the shepherd boy who gave his life for them,
dying that they might live (1Thessalonians 5:10; Titus 2:13–14).
Testimony: On call!
From Vicky, Italy
The phone rang, and I picked it up. "Hi, I love you!" a man's voice at the other end of the line said
in a very sweet way. I tried to place the voice or think who might be phoning me with such a message, but
quickly realized it was a wrong number.
I wanted to take the opportunity to tell whoever it was about the Lord, so I answered, "Thank you. I
love you, too. And do you know what? Jesus loves you even more!"
Needless to say, the person on the other end was surprised at my answer. Now it was his turn to
try to find out who I was! His questions gave me a chance to explain how I had met Jesus and dedicated
my life to Him, and also a little about The Family's work here.
Before long, my anonymous caller was telling me all about himself. He had been an alcoholic until
five months earlier, when he saw that his drinking problem was about to destroy him and he managed to
quit. Still, he felt empty inside, he said.
At that point in the conversation, he explained that he was calling long distance and his phone card
was about to run out. "Quick, give me your phone number, please, so I can call you back. I would love to
stay in touch with you."
That day he went through four phone cards, talking with me. The next day he went through two
more, and so on. He had so many questions about life and the times we live in! All those calls were
getting quite expensive, of course, so finally he decided that it would be better if we discussed those
things by mail.
Nothing ever happens by accident, and I'm sure Jesus wanted this dear man to know that he was
loved in a special way—which surely he must be, to have been led to get to know Jesus through such
unexpected and unorthodox means. I sure am glad I didn't lightly dismiss that first call as a wrong number
and hang up. It was a good reminder that we need to be "on call" for Him and others at all times!
Loving Hands
The Rev. Ira Gillett, missionary in the former Portuguese East Africa, tells the story of a group of
natives who had made a long journey and walked past a government hospital to come to the mission
hospital for treatment. When asked why they had walked the extra distance to reach the mission hospital
when the same medicines were available at the government institution, they replied, "The medicines may
be the same, but the hands are different!"
Blossoming flowers
A young woman who was a great lover of flowers had set out a rare vine at the base of a stone
wall. It grew vigorously but it did not blossom. Day after day she cultivated it and watered it and tried in
every way to coax it into bloom.
One morning as she stood disappointed before it, her invalid neighbor, whose back lot adjoined
her own, called over and said, "You cannot imagine how much I have been enjoying the blooms of that
vine you planted." The owner looked and on the other side of the wall was a mass of bloom. The vine had
crept through the crevices and flowered luxuriantly on the other side.
There is a lesson for every Christian here. So often we think our efforts thrown away because we
do not see their fruit. We need to learn that in God's service our prayers, our toil, our crosses are never in
vain. Somewhere they bear their fruit and some heart will receive their blessing and their joy.
If you feel your efforts don't count for much, know this—you can make a difference!
I was walking down a deserted beach at sunset. As I ambled along, I noticed a local man in the
distance. Coming closer, I saw that he kept leaning down, picking something up and throwing it into the
water. Time and again he kept hurling things into the ocean.
As I approached even closer, I saw that the man was picking up starfish that had been washed up
on the beach and, one at a time, he was throwing them back into the water.
I was puzzled. I approached the man and said, "Good evening, friend. I was wondering what you
are doing."
"I'm throwing these starfish back into the ocean. You see, it's low tide right now and all of these
starfish have been washed up onto the shore. If I don't throw them back into the sea, they'll die."
"I understand," I replied, "but there must be thousands of starfish on this beach! You can't possibly
get to all of them. There are simply too many. And don't you realize this is probably happening on
hundreds of beaches all up and down the coast. Can't you see that you can't possibly make a difference?"
The man smiled, bent down and picked up yet another starfish, and as he threw it back into the
sea, he replied, "Made a difference to that one!"
In the next class we'll be looking at fulfilled prophecies about Jesus, which is an amazing study all in itself. In later
classes we'll look at prophecies concerning the time we are now living in.
Jeremiah was known as the "Weeping Prophet," concerned mostly about the Jews—their history, their fall, and
their future and the restoration when they would return to Israel, which has since happened.
Ezekiel also prophesied mostly about the Jews, but he had many more prophecies regarding the distant
future, particularly about the Antichrist and the Battle of Armageddon, even clear up to the Heavenly City.
Daniel was a Prophet of the Endtime, the future! They all prophesied about the Endtime, but he especially
prophesied about the distant future—very little about the current history of Israel at his time or even shortly after,
mostly about the prophecies of the distant future. He was told to shut up the book until the Time of the End,
because it wouldn't be revealed what it meant until the very End.
Daniel 12:4—But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall
run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.
In a later class we will study some of Daniel's prophecies.
Outline of Major Prophets
Isaiah. A book rich in Messianic prophecies, and other prophecies of the future, mingled with woes
pronounced upon sinful nations.
Jeremiah. Jeremiah lived from the time of King Josiah to the captivity in Babylon. The main theme of the
book is the backsliding, bondage, and restoration of the Jews. Jeremiah received the call to prophesy while very
young. It was his mission to predict doom upon his nation for its many sins. For this the priests and the people
hated him. Jeremiah warned the Jews not to fight Babylon, but to surrender, and God would temper their
punishment.
Lamentations. Also written by Jeremiah. A dirge over the desolation of Jerusalem.
Ezekiel lived during the exile (in Babylon). The book is divided into two sections: The first denounces the
sins and abominations of Jerusalem and the second looks to the future with the hope that the city will be restored
after it has been cleansed. The latter also contains prophecies about the coming Kingdom of Heaven and of Jesus.
Daniel. Prophecies of the future: some have been fulfilled, some are specific prophecies of the Endtime
which were only meant to be understood in the Last Days.
Minor prophets
Then come the twelve Minor Prophets. The final book in the series is Malachi, the last book of the Old
Testament.
Outline of Minor Prophets
Hosea. Lived at the same time as Isaiah and Micah. The central thought: The apostasy of Israel
characterized as spiritual adultery. The book is filled with striking pictures describing the sins of the people. Hosea
was even instructed by the Lord to marry a harlot as a picture of God's unfailing love for His errant bride! He urges
a return to God.
Joel. A prophet of Judah, he wrote this book during a plague of locusts, a time of great distress for the
people. This book contains discussion of repentance and its blessings, and predictions of the Holy Spirit.
Amos was a herdsman prophet who denounced selfishness and sin. The book contains a series of five
visions and predicts the ultimate universal rule of the Lord. Amos proclaimed that God was the ruler of the whole
world.
Obadiah. Leading topic—the doom of Edom and final deliverance of Israel. The shortest book in the Old
Testament, it has only one chapter.
Jonah. The story of the "reluctant missionary" to the great city of Nineveh who was taught by bitter
experience the lesson of obedience and the depth of divine mercy. This is the man who was "swallowed by the
great fish" or whale.
Micah. This book gives a dark picture of the moral condition of Israel and Judah, and foretells the
establishment of the Kingdom of the Lord in which righteousness shall prevail.
Nahum. The destruction of Nineveh, capital of Assyria. Also contains a classic rebuke against warfare and
militarism.
Habakkuk. Written in the Chaldean period. This book is concerned with the problem of unpunished evil in
the world. It was revealed to Habakkuk that the Chaldean (Babylonian) armies were to be God's means of
punishing the wicked and that evil would destroy itself. The book concludes with a poem of thanksgiving and great
faith.
Zephaniah. This book is filled with God's threatenings to the rebellious, but ends with a vision of the future
glory of God's people.
Haggai. A colleague of Zechariah. He reproves the Jewish people for slackness in building the second
temple; but promises a return of God's glory when the building should be completed.
Zechariah. Contemporary of Haggai. He helped to arouse the Jews to rebuild the temple. He had a series of
eight visions, and saw the ultimate triumph of God's kingdom. Zechariah gives very specific predictions about the
coming of Jesus the Messiah: His death to remove sin, Christ as King and Priest, His Triumphal Entry into
Jerusalem, being betrayed for 30 pieces of silver, His hands pierced at the crucifixion, and more.
Malachi. He gives a graphic picture of the closing period of Old Testament history. He shows the necessity
of reforms before the coming of the Messiah. The final message to a disobedient people.
¾ Compiling the Bible and its division into chapters and verses
The Bible originally was not divided into chapters and verses; in fact, in the original manuscripts or scrolls
they didn't write in the vowels nor even divide the words. There were no spaces between the words, no punctuation,
and it just all ran together.
Scribes wrote and copied the Scriptures. It was a very important, highly technical task, and they were
checked and checked and re-checked by others to make sure they got every jot and tittle!
Do you know where that expression comes from, "jot and tittle"? It is part of the Hebrew alphabet. Jot
comes from the Hebrew "Jod," which is nothing but a little tiny apostrophe, but it's actually a Hebrew letter sort of
like a "Y." And the tittle comes from the next smallest Hebrew character.
Can you imagine what it would look like if you didn't put spaces between your words or any punctuation
or vowels? Scholars learnt the text by heart and knew what it said.
frgdslvdthwrldththgvhsnlybgttnsn
(For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.)
The Bible was not divided into chapters and verses until the 1200's. It certainly is handy to have it divided
into chapters and verses so you can find something. In the days of the apostles and the Old Testament, all they
could say was, "Well, it's in David" or "It's in Isaiah" or "It's in this or that!"—And you had to hunt for it.
The Bible, or portions of it, have been translated into approximately 2,233 languages, making its message
available to about 98% of the world's population. The history of how the Bible was put together, and how it was
translated into English and other languages is fascinating, but we don't have time to get more into it now.
Nelson Glueck, the renowned Jewish archaeologist (1900–1971), wrote: "It may be stated categorically
that no archaeological discovery has ever controverted a biblical reference."
Dr. W. F. Albright (1891–1971), leading Biblical archeologist and scholar, author of more than 800
publications, wrote: "Discovery after discovery has established the accuracy of innumerable details, and has
brought increased recognition to the value of the Bible as a source of history."
Ancient kings
An obelisk (stone pillar with pyramidical top) found in Calah, on the banks of the Tigris River, was
set up by Shalmaneser II. It mentions by name a king of Syria and king of Israel who are also mentioned
in the Bible.
Details:
The place of Calah, now called Nimrud, lies about twenty miles south of Nineveh, on the west bank
of the Tigris River. According to Gen.10:11, it was first built by Nimrud:
Genesis 10:11—From that land he [Nimrud] went to Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah.
Austin Henry Layard, during his excavations between 1847 and 1851, found that the remains of
the ancient city walls measured 7,000 by 5,500 feet. Within these walls he found the remains of the
palaces of three kings: Ashur-nasir-pal (885–860 B.C.), Shalmaneser III (860–825 B.C.), and Esarhaddon
(680–669 B.C.), along with many wall sculptures.
The most interesting of these sculptures was a series that record the victories of Tiglath-pileser III,
the Pul of 2 Kings.15:19. These figures show, in graphic style, the evacuation of a city, military operations
connected with a siege, and the harsh treatment meted out to prisoners.
The most important of all discoveries was the Black Obelisk which had been set up by
Shalmaneser III in the central building. It is a large, imposing monument of black marble, six feet, six
inches high; and tapering at the top. It has twenty small bas-reliefs, five on each side, showing the
officials from five different countries bringing tribute to the king. Above, below, and between the reliefs are
210 lines of cuneiform inscription which tell the story of the monarch's achievements in war and peace
during the first thirty-one years of his reign.
Among other individuals it mentions "Hazael of Damascus and Jehu of Israel."
2 Kings 19:15–17—Then the Lord said to him: "Go, return on your way to the Wilderness of
Damascus; and when you arrive, anoint Hazael as king over Syria. Also you shall anoint Jehu the son of
Nimshi as king over Israel. And Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel Meholah you shall anoint as prophet in
your place."
On the obelisk Shalmaneser says:
In the eighteenth year of my reign I crossed the Euphrates for the sixteenth time. Hazael of
Damascus put his trust in his large army, and mustered his troops in great numbers, making Mount Senir
(sa-ni-ru), facing the Lebanon, as his fortress. I fought with him and inflicted defeat upon him, killing with
the sword 16,000 of his experienced soldiers. I took away from him 1121 chariots, 470 riding horses as
well as his camp. He disappeared to save his life, but I followed him in Damascus, his royal residence.
There I cut down his gardens outside the city and took my departure. I marched as far as Mount Hauran
destroying, tearing down and burning innumerable towns, carrying booty away from them that was
beyond counting. I then marched as far as the mountains of Ba'lira'si, by the sea-side, and erected there
a stela* with my image as King. At that time I received the tribute of the inhabitants of Tyre, Sideon, and
of Jehu, son of Omri. (*stela or stele: an ancient stone slab or pillar, usually engraved, inscribed, or
painted, and set upright.)
Then, later, comes the section that is of even greater interest to the Bible student. It reads:
The tribute of Jehu, son of Omri: I received from him silver, gold, a golden bowl, a golden vase with
pointed bottom, golden goblets, pictures of gold, bars of lead, staffs for the hand of the king, and javelins,
I received.
Jehu is shown kneeling, with tribute, in front of Shalmaneser. The Assyrian monarch is
accompanied by two attendants (one holding a sunshade above him), and stands proudly, with the
symbols of Ashur and Ishtar in the area above. King Jehu of Israel wears a short, rounded beard, a soft
leather cap, and a sleeveless jacket, which marks him as a prisoner. Following him come Israelites
dressed in long garments and carrying precious metals and other tribute. This is the only sculptured relief
we have of any Israelite king.
¾ Born of a virgin
Nearly 750 years before Christ's birth, the Old Testament prophet Isaiah prophesied:
Isaiah 7:14—Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son,
and shall call His name Immanuel.
Fulfillment: Mary was a virgin engaged to be married to Joseph, a carpenter of Nazareth, when the angel
appeared to her saying,
Luke 1:35—"The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore,
also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God."
Immanuel means "God with us," and that's who Jesus is when we receive Him; God is with us!
¾ Born in Bethlehem
Micah, prophesying in the eighth century B.C., predicted:
Micah 5:2—But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you
shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.
Fulfillment: The Gospel says Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea.
Matthew 2:1—Now after Jesus waWs born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king …
¾ His betrayal
In 450 B.C., Zechariah also prophesied:
Zechariah 11:12–13—Then I said to them, "If it is agreeable to you, give me my wages; and if not, refrain." So
they weighed out for my wages thirty pieces of silver. (13) And the Lord said to me, "Throw it to the potter"— that
princely price they set on me. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord for the
potter.
Fulfillment:
Matthew 26:14–15—Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests (15) and said, "What
are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you?" And they counted out to him thirty pieces of silver.
Matthew 27:3–7—Then Judas, His betrayer, seeing that He had been condemned, was remorseful and brought
back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders. (5) Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the
temple and departed, and went and hanged himself. (6) But the chief priests took the silver pieces and said, "It is
not lawful to put them into the treasury, because they are the price of blood." (7) And they consulted together and
bought with them the potter's field, to bury strangers in.
¾ His crucifixion
About 1000 B.C., King David prophesied:
Psalm 22:16–18—For dogs have surrounded Me; the congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced
My hands and My feet; (17) I can count all My bones. They look and stare at Me. (18) They divide My garments
among them, and for My clothing they cast lots.
(See also Zechariah 12:10; 13:6.)
Fulfillment: That was written by King David, who died a natural death (recorded in 1 Kings Chapter 1), so
he wasn't talking about himself. But being a prophet, he predicted the type of death that Christ would die! It says in
the New Testament:
John 19:23–24—Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus [pierced His hands and feet], took His
garments and made four parts, to each soldier a paWrt, and also the tunic. Now the tunic was without seam,
woven from the top in one piece. (24) They said therefore among themselves, "Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it,
whose it shall be."
Crucifixion was not practiced by the Jews of David's time (they used stoning), but David predicted this
type of death for the Messiah, a method of execution unknown to the Jews of his time—foretold 1000 years before
it happened!
¾ His burial
Isaiah 53:9—And they made His grave with the wicked— but with the rich at His death.
Fulfillment: Jesus died as a criminal ("with the wicked") in the eyes of the world, as there were
Matthew 27:38—Two robbers were crucified with Him.
And after His death—
Matthew 27:57–60—A rich man named Joseph went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. …When Joseph
had taken the body, he … laid it in his new tomb.
—a grave with the rich!
¾ His resurrection
Psalm 16:10—For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.
The Hebrew word here sheol is sometimes translated "hell" (the place of eternal punishment) and other
times "grave" or the "unseen state." King David, who gave the prophecy, died and was buried and his flesh saw
corruption, but Jesus was raised from the grave and Hell three days after His death.
Acts 2:31—His soul was not left in Hades [the underworld of the dead], nor did His flesh see corruption.
As the angel said to the mourners who came to Jesus' tomb,
Luke 24:6,5—He is not here, but is risen! … Why do you seek the living among the dead?
Jesus is alive! The Scriptures show that He walked the earth for 40 days after His resurrection and was
seen by hundreds of followers!
Acts 1:3—To whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by
them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.
1 Corinthians 15:4–6—He was buried ... He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, (5) ... He was
seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. (6) After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the
greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep.
He then ascended up to Heaven where He sits at the right hand of the throne of God, and from which He
shall soon return to take over the earth and rule it for a thousand years!
Mark 16:19—So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into Heaven, and sat down at the
right hand of God.
Now, of course, one of the arguments used against these prophecies is, "Well, the Church had almost total
control of the old manuscripts from which the Bible is translated and they just doctored up the Old Testament
prophecies so that they'd look like Jesus fulfilled them." This argument fell apart in 1947, when an Arab shepherd
boy in Palestine stumbled across a cave containing ancient scrolls of the Old Testament, all dated before 68 A.D.,
and some as early as 200 B.C.! The scrolls agreed in almost every respect with the traditional Hebrew texts used in
the translation of our Bible, containing the same prophecies word for word. (For more on this, see the section
"Dead Sea Scrolls" in the previous class.)
The other argument is that the New Testament was doctored up a little in order to make it appear that Jesus
fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies. If that's so, how do you explain the following three prophecies and the now
historical events they describe?
Summary of the prophecy, given by Daniel around 530 B.C., and its fulfillment:
1. There would be a decree to rebuild Jerusalem.
2. Jerusalem and the Temple would be rebuilt.
3. Then an "anointed one" (Messiah) would arrive.
4. But the Messiah would be "cut off" (an idiom for rejected or killed; see Isaiah 53:8).
5. Then Jerusalem and the Temple would be destroyed again.
All of these historically recorded events later happened, in the same order in which they are described in Daniel
9:24–26:
1. The neo-Babylonian empire was conquered by the Persian empire about 2539 years ago. The Persians ruled a
vast empire that included the Jewish homeland (Israel). The Persian king Cyrus gave permission to the captive Jews
in Babylon to return to Jerusalem and to rebuild the Temple. Then, about 2453 years ago (about 453 B.C.), the
Persian king Artaxerxes gave permission to the Jews to rebuild Jerusalem, which was still in ruins after having been
destroyed earlier by the Babylonians.
2. The Jews rebuilt the Temple and the city of Jerusalem.
3. Then, about 2000 years ago, Jesus entered Jerusalem as the Messiah that was promised by the Old
Testament prophets.
4. But, many of the people rejected Jesus as the Messiah and He was crucified and killed.
5. Then, about 40 years after Jesus was crucified, the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple. (The
Temple has not been rebuilt since then).
69 "weeks" or 69 x 7 = 483 years from the commandment to build Jerusalem until the "cutting off" of the Messiah
The prophecy of Daniel predicted that from the time of this commandment unto the Messiah the Prince
shall be—how long?—"seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks"—or 7 + 62 = 69 weeks.
The word that's translated "weeks" here in the Bible is the Hebrew word shabua which means "seven."
Therefore a little better, more literal translation would be "69 sevens," instead of "69 weeks." Taken literally, 69
"shabuas," or 69 sevens, would be 69 x 7, which equals 483.
In the book of Genesis, a week was symbolically used to represent Jacob's seven-year service for his wife
Rachel. His uncle told him,
Genesis 29:27—Fulfill her week, and we will give you this one also for the service which you will serve with me
still another seven years.
Daniel's prophecy continues with undeniable proof that this Messiah had to be Jesus...
¾ Moses
Moses lived around 1400 B.C. He led the Israelites out of their bondage as slaves in Egypt. Through Him,
God gave the Israelites the first five books of the Bible that contained the Law, a mixture of both civil and religious
ordinances, by which they were to be governed.
A mistake: When Moses was 40 years old, he got in a hurry to deliver the children of Israel and killed an
Egyptian. He had to flee for his life, and lived 40 years in the wilderness with the sheep and his father-in-law. It
was only after 40 years of patiently and humbly tending sheep in the wilderness, with time to listen to the Voice of
God instead of his own impulses, that he was ready for the slow, laborious, patient work of the Exodus to deliver
the Israelites from Egypt—slow, but sure!
Exodus 2:11–12,15—Now it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out to his brethren
and looked at their burdens. And he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren. (12) So he looked
this way and that way, and when he saw no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. (15) When
Pharaoh heard of this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the
land of Midian.
¾ King David
David was the greatest king of ancient Israel and lived around 1000 B.C. Although a man of force and
faults who sinned greatly, the Bible says of him that he was a man after God's own heart (1 Samuel 3:14). He wrote
many of the songs of praise that constitute the largest book of the Bible, the Book of Psalms.
A mistake:
Read all of 2 Samuel chapters 11 and 12 (up to verse 25), or read the explanation below:
David fell in love with Bathsheba, a beautiful woman, who lived within the shadow of the walls of the
palace. Her husband Uriah, a heroic general, was battling in David's army. David saw Bathsheba taking a bath. He
stood up on the roof, breathing in the night air and taking a look at Bathsheba every now and then. The king fell in
love with Bathsheba. He eventually invited her to the palace where he made love to her and she conceived.
David then recalled her husband Uriah home from the battlefront with the feint of having him report how
the war went. Once he had heard the report, he told Uriah to go spend the night with his wife. He refused to do so.
He said, "My lord Joab and the men of Israel are sleeping in tents and on the ground. How can I go down and enjoy
my wife and my own home?" So instead, he slept out by David's gate.
This made David really angry, as he wanted Uriah to sleep with his wife so it would appear that he had
fathered the child. So he arranged with his top general Joab to have Uriah placed in the frontline of the battle and
then have his escort withdraw, so he would be killed—which he was! He sent Uriah to his death!
As God's punishment, the son born to David and Bathsheba got sick and died. But God allowed David to
marry Bathsheba, who became the queen. Then after they were married, their next child, Solomon, later became the
next king—one of the forerunners of Christ Himself!
It's a strange thing how the Lord let this happen. Perhaps, if Bathsheba was the one that God wanted for the
job (of being the mother of the next king), God could have done it some other way—without David committing
murder! But sad to say, that's the way it happened! The way David went about this was a very great sin in the sight
of the Lord!
The incident of David's sin brought Nathan the prophet to David's side. The prophet poured out upon him
such a scathing denunciation that David cried out: "I have sinned against the Lord!" (2 Samuel 12:13.) And so he
had!
David greatly repented. However, the Lord pronounced certain judgments upon him that would happen,
even in spite of his repentance: Their first child would die, the sword would never depart from his house, the
kingdom would be taken from his heirs, and it would be divided!
Psalm 51 is David's prayer of repentance on this occasion. King David is a great inspiration and comfort to
many of us, because if such a big sinner could be forgiven such big sins and the Lord still turned around and called
him a man after His own heart, then you know how great the love and mercy of the Lord is! Despite David's sins,
the Lord forgave him because he loved the Lord. He knew he was a sinner and he confessed it and he repented.
¾ Paul
Paul was the greatest evangelist and teacher of the early Christians. He was not one of those who
personally followed Jesus while He was on earth, but was, in fact, a persecutor of the early Christians after Jesus'
ascension. That changed when, while on a mission to arrest some Christians, he was temporarily blinded by a
brilliant light out of which Jesus spoke to him. After being blind for three days, his sight was restored after a
Christian prayed for him, and from that point on Paul became the dynamic leader of the early Christians. Aside
from tirelessly traveling to preach the Gospel and establishing Christian communities in many cities in the eastern
areas of the Roman empire, he also wrote many letters of instruction, 14 of which were incorporated into the New
Testament over 150 years later.
The Apostle Paul did not consider himself to have "attained."
Philippians 3:13–14—Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those
things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the
prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
A mistake:
Besides having been a vicious persecutor of the Christians before he got saved, Paul later curtailed his own
ministry by stubbornly going back to Jerusalem and trying to appease the religionists of his time. After being
warned not to by the Spirit, Paul returned to the temple at Jerusalem and was arrested. He spent most of his
remaining life in bonds until his final execution in Rome.
It certainly seems that it was a mistake when he went back to the temple. He went in spite of every warning
that God's prophets gave him not to go.
Acts 20:16—For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so that he would not have to spend time in Asia; for he
was hurrying to be at Jerusalem, if possible, on the Day of Pentecost.
Acts 20:22–23—[He told his friends:] "And see, now I go bound in the Spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the
things that will happen to me there, (23) except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and
tribulations await me."
Paul obviously disobeyed the checks of the Lord! God tried to stop him from going to Jerusalem. He even
got to one place where a prophet took his belt and tied his hands together and said, "If you go to Jerusalem, this is
what's going to happen to you!" God was warning him not to go, yet he went anyway.
Acts 21:10–12— And as we stayed many days, a certain prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. (11)
When he had come to us, he took Paul's belt, bound his own hands and feet, and said, "Thus says the Holy Spirit,
‘So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt, and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.'"
(12) Now when we heard these things, both we and those from that place pleaded with him not to go up to
Jerusalem.
In spite of all the warnings God gave Paul not to go he went anyway, and it didn't do anything but cause
him trouble.
The Lord used him anyway. He wrote a lot of letters and he got to witness to Caesar's household, and
perhaps it was of the Lord in order to get him to go to Rome. Maybe that's why the Lord let it happen, but it
certainly didn't do the Jews any good and it certainly didn't bring about any peace with the Temple or the religious
leaders. So it was just a matter of God using Paul's mistake for His glory; it didn't vindicate or justify Paul in what
he did.
The Lord did use him, but how much more might he have accomplished if he had not been imprisoned.
Compare this with the time he did act more wisely (for example, his preaching in Athens, see Acts 17:16–34).
The Lord is not going to expect more of you than you're able to bear.
He's not going to ask more of you than what you are capable of, and what He asks of you He will give you
the strength for.—And even when you fail, as long as you ask His forgiveness, He will forgive you and help you up
and help you try again.
1 Corinthians 10:13—No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful,
who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of
escape, that you may be able to bear it.
Philippians 4:13—I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Proverbs 24:16—For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again.
Daniel 11:34a—Now when they fall, they shall be aided with a little help.
Isaiah 41:10—Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will
help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.
The Lord has shown us that anyone who accepts Him, and wants to serve Him, He accepts.
Jesus walked those dusty roads and talked to the simple fishermen and the tax collectors, prostitutes and
drunks, as well as the influential and the educated, in order to show them that God loved them all and they could all
love God, they could all love each other and serve each other and serve the world with the Gospel.
He came to try to make it as easy as He could!
—And that's why the religious leaders of His day wanted to crucify Him, because they taught the people
that you couldn't get close to God without them and without following all of their religious laws.
But that's not what Jesus preached! The only standards and requirements He has given us are contained in
the Law of Love: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart … and your neighbor as yourself"
(Matthew 22:37,39).
Conclusion
All the Bible knowledge without love in action will be nothing. Knowing the Bible backwards and
forwards is not going to help us if we're not living it and applying it. Lord help us all to apply what we read, to be
doers of the Word, not hearers only.—And Lord help us all never to be discouraged by our limitations or failures,
remembering the sample of God's people of years gone by, and how they, too, fell and made mistakes, yet because
of their love for the Lord He could keep on using them. Help us to follow that example, of love and dedication of
the heart.
THE YEAR OF THE CRUCIFIXION
In 630 B.C., Daniel predicted there would be 483 years (69 “sevens” ) from the decree
to rebuild Jerusalem until the Messiah would be “cut off” (rejected or killed). History tells
us that there were precisely 483 years between these two events!
Daniel 9:25—Know therefore and
understand, that from the going forth of the HISTORICAL FULFILMENT
command to restore and build Jerusalem until
Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks
and sixty-two weeks; the street shall be built 453 Artaxerxes Longimanus, king of the Persians, gives decree
again, and the wall, even in troublesome times. commanding the Jews to “restore and build Jerusalem”
B.C.
WHY THE 69 WEEKS = 483 YEARS
483 years between the two
“Week” was translated from the
events:
Hebrew word shabua which means
“seven.”
453 years B.C.
+ 30 years A.D.
Because 1 “week” = 7 years
———————
Therefore:
483 years
69 “sevens” means
69 x 7 years = 483 years
(Yes/No)
Have you been taking time to praise the Lord each day?
Have you told anyone about Jesus or given out any tracts?
Which book of the Bible tells the history of how the Early Church was anointed by the Holy Spirit to preach the
Gospel? __________________________________________________________________________________________
Give an example of one verse that is a “promise” that you can claim when praying. __________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
What is the key verse that tells us that the gift of prophecy will be poured out in the last days? ______________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Jesus said we could judge a prophet by his ____________. (The answer is in Matthew 7:20.)
What two commandments did Jesus say are most important? __________________________________________
Halfway-Through Self-Assessment
¾ Daniel chapter 2
Daniel Chapter 2 is the briefest and most concise overall picture of the history and future of the world in
the entire Bible. The prophetic dream in this chapter describes five of the seven great empires of man from ancient
Babylon to the final World Empire of the Antichrist, which is destroyed by the Kingdom of God. This dream was
originally given to Nebuchadnezzar and was interpreted for him by Daniel during his reign.
Daniel 2:1—Now in the second year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; and his spirit was
so troubled that his sleep left him.
The second year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign was approximately 603 B.C.
¾ The Dream
Daniel 2:2–5—Then the king gave the command to call the magicians, the astrologers, the sorcerers, and the
Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king. (3) And the king said to them, "I
have had a dream, and my spirit is anxious to know the dream." (4) Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in
Aramaic, "O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will give the interpretation." (5) The king
answered and said to the Chaldeans, "My decision is firm: if you do not make known the dream to me, and its
interpretation, you shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made an ash heap."
The king knew that it was a very important dream.
Daniel 2:6–13—"However, if you tell the dream and its interpretation, you shall receive from me gifts, rewards,
and great honor. Therefore tell me the dream and its interpretation." (7) They answered again and said, "Let the
king tell his servants the dream, and we will give its interpretation." (8) The king answered and said, "I know for
certain that you would gain time, because you see that my decision is firm: (9) if you do not make known the
dream to me, there is only one decree for you! For you have agreed to speak lying and corrupt words before me
till the time has changed. Therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can give me its interpretation."
(10) The Chaldeans answered the king, and said, "There is not a man on earth who can tell the king's matter;
therefore no king, lord, or ruler has ever asked such things of any magician, astrologer, or Chaldean. (11) It is a
difficult thing that the king requests, and there is no other who can tell it to the king except the gods, whose
dwelling is not with flesh." (12) For this reason the king was angry and very furious, and gave a command to
destroy all the wise men of Babylon. (13) So the decree went out, and they began killing the wise men; and they
sought Daniel and his companions, to kill them.
God's prophet Daniel was a captive in Babylon at the time this decree was made and was serving with
some fellow Jews as one of the king's wise men.
Daniel 2:14–15—Then with counsel and wisdom Daniel answered Arioch, the captain of the king's guard, who
had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon; (15) he answered and said to Arioch the king's captain, "Why is the
decree from the king so urgent?" Then Arioch made the decision known to Daniel.
Daniel 2:16–18—Then Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would give him time, and that he would
shew the king the interpretation. (17) Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah,
Mishael, and Azariah, his companions: (18) That they would desire mercies of the God of Heaven concerning this
secret; that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
Imagine how Daniel must have prayed and cried out desperately to God! He didn't know what to do; he
didn't know the answer! How in the world could he possibly tell the king his dream, how could he interpret it, when
he didn't even know the dream?—He prayed!
Daniel 2:19—Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. So Daniel blessed the God of Heaven.
Daniel 2:20–23—Daniel answered and said: "Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and
might are His. (21) And He changes the times and the seasons; he removes kings and raises up kings; he gives
wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. (22) He reveals deep and secret things; he
knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with Him. (23) I thank You and praise You, O God of my fathers;
You have given me wisdom and might, and have now made known to me what we asked of You, for You have made
known to us the king's demand."
Daniel 2:24–28—Therefore Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of
Babylon. He went and said thus to him: "Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon; take me before the king, and I
will tell the king the interpretation." (25) Then Arioch brought Daniel before the king, and said thus to him, "I
have found a man of the captives of Judah, who will make known to the king the interpretation." (26) The king
answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, "Are you able to make known to me the dream which
I have seen, and its interpretation?" (27) Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, "The secret which
the king has demanded, the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, and the soothsayers cannot declare to the
king. (28) But there is a God in Heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar
what will be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head upon your bed, were these."
God alone is the One Who could reveal the king's dream and its interpretation to His prophet.
Daniel was faithful to give God all the credit and all the glory!
Daniel 2:29–30—As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass
hereafter: and he that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass. (30) But as for me, this
secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but for their sakes that shall make
known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart.
¾ The Image
L Use the (ideally enlarged) Teacher's Aid "Image of Daniel 2" (found in the Study Notes book) to help explain the
following.
Daniel 2:31—You, O king, were watching; and behold, a great image! This great image, whose splendor was
excellent, stood before you; and its form was awesome.
Here now begins the description of one of the most amazingly prophetic dreams ever given to man! In this
astonishing vision, each of the different parts of this "great and awesome" image symbolizes a different empire.
Daniel 2:32–33—This image's head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze,
(33) its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay.
Looking closer, we see that each major section of this image's body is made of a different metal:
"Head of gold"—we'll look at the interpretation in verse 38.
"Chest and arms of silver"—we'll find the interpretation in verse 39.
"Belly and thighs of bronze"—interpretation comes in verse 39. [Bronze is translated as "brass" in the King
James Version.]
"Legs of iron"— interpretation in verse 40.
"Feet part of iron and part of clay"— interpretation in verses 41–43.
Daniel 2:34—You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron
and clay, and broke them in pieces.
"The Stone"—interpretation in verse 44.
This stone was not part of the image but was "cut out of a mountain." We'll look at this more in verses 44
and 45. This great stone struck the image upon its feet. The reason it struck the image on the feet and not on the
head, was because God wanted to show at what point in history the kingdoms of man would be destroyed!—In the
days of the feet.
Daniel 2:35—Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like
chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the
stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
In the days of these ten toes, the stone will strike the image and the image will be turned to powder, "like
chaff." That will be the world's last big dust storm, when God crushes the image and blows it all away! (See
interpretation in verses 44 and 45.)
Historical Notes
(Based on information from the Microsoft Encarta encyclopedia.)
Media, an ancient country of Asia, corresponds to the northeastern section of present-day Iran.
The inhabitants, who were known as Medes, and their neighbors, the Persians, spoke Indo-Iranian
languages that were closely related to Old Persian.
Beginning about 835 B.C. the Median tribes became subject intermittently to the kings of Assyria.
In 625 Median king Cyaxares (625–585 B.C.) drove the Scythians out of Media and imposed his
rule over the Persians. He attacked the Assyrians next and captured (614 B.C.) the city of Ashur. In 612,
in alliance with the newly independent kingdom of Babylonia, he captured the city of Nineveh and
overthrew the Assyrian Empire. He chose as his capital the city of Ecbatana (present-day Hamadan,
Iran).
In about 550 B.C., the Persians, under Cyrus the Great, revolted against a later Median king
Astyages (r. about 584-c. 550 B.C.). Joined by a portion of the Median army under a chief named
Harpagus, they took Ecbatana and deposed the Median king. From that time Media was politically
subservient to Persia; the Persians, however, regarded the Medes as equals, and thenceforth the two
peoples were considered as one.
More on Medo-Persia
Medo-Persia is specifically named in a later chapter, the "Mene Mene" handwriting on the wall
vision of Daniel 5:18–31, as being the kingdom that conquered Babylon.—See Daniel 5:18–31.
Notice also the remarkable symbolism in the image: The dual kingdom of Medo-Persia is depicted
here by two arms. Persia was the stronger of the two, just as in the body one arm is usually stronger than
the other!
Historical notes
Alexander the Great (356–323 B.C.), king of Macedonia, is known as the conqueror of the Persian
Empire. He began his war against Persia in the spring of 334 B.C.. During the next ten years, his
conquests extended Greek influence as well as the Greek civilization and language throughout a
Macedonian empire that ranged as far east as northern India and as far south and west as Egypt.
Alexander's army defeated the Persians under the leadership of King Darius in the Battle of
Guagamela on October 1, 331 B.C. Darius fled and was later slain by two of his own generals. Babylon
surrendered after Gaugamela.
Alexander arrived in Babylon in the spring of 323 B.C. In June he contracted a fever and died.
Following the death of Alexander, the Macedonian generals began to partition his vast empire among
themselves. The disagreements arising from this division resulted in a series of wars from 322 to 275
B.C., many of which took place in Greece.
The symbolism of the Greek Empire as a belly was appropriate for a few reasons. The Greeks were
known for being uninhibited about sex, and made nude statues of the human body that left the sexual
organs uncovered.—It was therefore fitting that they were also symbolized by the thighs and sexual parts
in the image.
The Greeks were also interested in philosophy, religion, and spiritual things.
¾ The feet and toes = strong and weak governments of the Endtime
Daniel 2:41— Whereas you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be
divided; yet the strength of the iron shall be in it, just as you saw the iron mixed with ceramic clay.
The iron which continues from the legs down into the feet and toes of the image is sort of a continuation of
the Roman Empire. After its fall, Rome was broken up into the "iron" and "clay" countries of the feet and toes.
These represent the basic types of governments the world has known since the fall of Rome: Strong and weak
governments; dictatorships and democracies.
"The kingdom shall be divided." Since the fall of Rome there has been division amongst the nations, with
no one power completely dominant, though some—like Napoleon and Hitler—have tried. At times, equally
powerful "empires" have existed simultaneously, such as the British, French, Spanish, etc., but no one nation has
ruled over all of the world's people since the Romans.
Daniel 2:42—And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly
strong and partly fragile.
"The kingdom shall be partly strong"—iron—"and partly fragile"—clay.
Daniel 2:43—As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men; but they will not
adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay.
They "will not adhere one to another." This is seen in the political alliances of the nations in today's world.
However, the soon-to-arise empire of the Devil-possessed dictator known as the Antichrist (which we will
cover in detail in a later class), will for a very brief period, unite all of these iron and clay nations, ruling the world
in some kind of One World Order. Many Bible teachers have said that "the Kingdom," the Antichrist World
Empire, will be a revival of the old Roman Empire. The nations represented by the 10 toes will be united under the
Antichrist, and although the kingdom will be a mixture of iron and clay, he is going to unite them all with his iron
hand.
The stone that "struck the image" (Daniel 2:34) is Jesus, and this "great mountain" that "filled the whole earth"
(Daniel 2:35) is none other than the Millennial Kingdom of God, Christ's Kingdom on Earth!
Micah 4:1–3—Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be
established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and peoples shall flow to it. (2) Many
nations shall come and say, "Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of
Jacob; he will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths." For out of Zion the law shall go forth, and the
word of the Lord from Jerusalem. (3) He shall judge between many peoples, and rebuke strong nations afar off;
they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks; nation shall not lift up sword
against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
Christ will set up His Kingdom on Earth, in the Millennium at the end of the Battle of Armageddon
(Revelation 19:11–21).
Revelation 19:11, 19–21—Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was
called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. (19) And I saw the beast, the kings of
the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His
army. (20) Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by
which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were
cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone. (21) And the rest were killed with the sword which
proceeded from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse. And all the birds were filled with their flesh.
This stone smashes the image by force and destroys it and leaves nothing of it! It says the wind carried
away the image (man's governments) "as chaff."
Isaiah 17:13—The nations will rush like the rushing of many waters; but God will rebuke them and they will flee
far away, and be chased like the chaff of the mountains before the wind, like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.
Notice the return of Jesus was not in the legs (Rome), but on the feet, "in the days of these kings" at the
very end of man's governments.
"These kings": Other passages mention there being 10 kingdoms (nations) that align themselves with the
Antichrist to form the core of his empire. We will look at that subject in later classes.
God's Kingdom will then "fill the whole earth."
¾ The Lord not only listens, but talks to us too—a faithful Counselor
Proverbs 8:17—I love those who love Me, and those who seek Me diligently will find Me.
Psalm 85:8a—I will hear what God the Lord will speak, for He will speak peace to His people and to His saints.
We have a dear Friend who is always ready to listen to what we have to say—and not only listen; He is
eager to speak to us in return.
The Pencil
By Mrs. Theo Hill
It was a cold midwinter day in South Carolina, but I was busy—and warm—inside the house I had
lived in alone for the past 15 years. I needed some wrapping paper, so I pulled down the folding stairs
and started climbing to the attic. I was 81 at the time, and the moment the frigid attic air hit me, I knew I
should have put on a coat. Oh well, I'd hurry.
To keep the warm air downstairs, I shut the door to the attic storage room behind me. I heard a
click. I knew immediately that I was locked in. The door had no knob; I'd taken it off to replace one
downstairs. And there was no one else in the house.
The cold penetrated my bones. I wrapped myself in a blanket to stop my shaking and looked out
the attic window. No neighbors in sight. Anyway, the window was stuck shut from years of disuse.
An hour passed ... then another. "Dear Lord, please send my children to help me." I knew this
prayer was unrealistic. None of my four children was due to visit.
At my feet sat a yellowed and dusty pile of my son Billy's school papers. On top of them lay an old
pencil. I picked it up, thinking of the hours it had spent in Billy's hand.
Once again I prayed for help. Immediately, as clear as any words I've ever heard, a question came
to me, "What is that in thy hand?"
I looked at the pencil, my glance falling not on the leaded end, but on the metal end that had once
held an eraser. It was now flattened, no doubt by my Billy's biting down as he sought to unlock a math
problem.
I went to the door and inserted the end of the pencil into the keyhole. The lock turned. The door
opened.
¾ He comforts us
Isaiah 30:19b—You shall weep no more. He will be very gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when He
hears it, He will answer you.
Psalm 119:50—This is my comfort in my affliction, for Your word has given me life.
Isaiah 40:1—"Comfort, yes, comfort My people!" says your God.
Isaiah 66:13a—As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you.
Matthew 9:22—But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, "Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith
has made you well." And the woman was made well from that hour.
2 Corinthians 1:4—Who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any
trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
John 14:1—Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.
Trust Him!
A man slid down a rope into a well. He supposed the rope to be of ample length, but to his dismay
he reached the end of it without touching the bottom of the well with his feet. He tried in vain to climb up
the rope, and dared not let go for fear of being dashed to pieces. He held on as long as he could, and
when utterly exhausted let the rope slip from his grasp. He fell—just three inches!
Without a knock!
The following story was told by Olga Kristensen, who spent forty years in China as a missionary:
"Toward the end of my stay I had nearly 80 refugees at the mission station besides the women
living there. One night we heard bandits approaching. There were shots at the end of the street. We all
knew that without intervention, murder and disaster were on the way. I went into my closet and prayed to
God for a verse to calm myself and the others with me. My tortured soul then found a verse I had often
read before, but which now had a real meaning for me—"When you lie down, you will not be afraid; yes,
you will lie down and your sleep will be sweet. Do not be afraid of sudden terror, nor of trouble from the
wicked when it comes" (Proverbs 3:24–26).
Could I have a better message? I brought it to all the others and told them to go to rest. When I
was going to bed I was tempted to lie down with my clothes on, but after a little struggle I undressed and
lying down, slept soundly. The next morning the dead were lying outside our premises. There had been
fighting and murder, but no one had even gone so far as to knock on our door."
¾ He wants us to be happy
2 Chronicles 9:7—Happy are your men and happy are these your servants, who stand continually before you
and hear your wisdom!
Nehemiah 8:10b—The joy of the Lord is your strength.
John 10:10b—I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
John 16:24—Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.
Psalm 144:15—Happy are the people who are in such a state; happy are the people whose God is the Lord!
Psalm 19:8a—The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart.
Luke 10:20b—Rejoice because your names are written in Heaven.
John 15:10–11—If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's
commandments and abide in His love. (11) These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and
that your joy may be full.
Psalm 100:1–2—Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands! (2) Serve the Lord with gladness; come before
His presence with singing.
The oyster
An oyster on the ocean floor opened wide its shell to let the water pass over it. As the water
flushed through, its gills picked out food, sending it to its stomach. Suddenly a large fish nearby stirred up
a cloud of sand and silt with a flip of its tail. Sand! Oh, how the oyster disliked sand. It was so rough and
made life so unpleasant and uncomfortable and was such a bother whenever any got inside its shell.
Quickly the oyster slammed its shell shut, but it was too late. One hard gritty grain of sand had gotten in
and lodged itself between his inner flesh and his shell.
My, how that piece of sand bothered the oyster! But almost immediately, special glands God had
given him for coating the inside of his shell began working to coat the irritating grain of sand with a lovely
smooth and shiny covering. Year after year the oyster added a few more layers of the coating onto the
tiny grain of sand until at last, it had produced a beautiful lustrous pearl of great value.
Sometimes the problems we have are a bit like that grain of sand. They bother us and we wonder
why we have the irritation and inconvenience they can be. But the grace of God begins to work a wonder
with our problems and weaknesses, if we let Him. We become more humble and yielded, more desperate
in prayer, closer to the Lord, wiser, and better able to resist the problems. Like blessings in disguise, the
Lord soon takes the rough pieces of sand in our life and turns them into precious pearls of strength and
power and they become a hope and inspiration to many.
¾ Salvation is simple
Jesus came to try to make salvation as easy as He possibly could! He showed the people that they didn't
have to follow the religious laws and rules and regulations and the Ten Commandments and all the rest. All they
had to do was simply confess that they were sinners and needed salvation and ask Jesus to give it to them.
The whole idea is so simple and so childlike that Jesus said you must become as a little child to enter His
spiritual Kingdom of love, joy, and happiness here and now in this life—as well as a beautiful, wonderful, and
thrilling eternity in His heavenly Kingdom in the next life. He said,
Matthew 18:3—Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no
means enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
John 3:3—Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot
see the Kingdom of God."
Letting go
A traveler upon a lonely road was set upon by bandits who robbed him of everything he had. They
then led him into the depths of the forest. There, in the darkness, they tied a rope to the limb of a great
tree, and bade him catch hold of the end of it. Swinging him out into the blackness of surrounding space,
they told him he was hanging over the brink of a high precipice. The moment he let go he would be
dashed to pieces on the rocks below. And then they left him.
He was filled with horror at the awful doom impending. He clutched despairingly to the end of the
swaying rope. But each dreadful moment only made his fate more sure. His strength steadily failed. At
least he could hold on no longer. The end had come. His clenched fingers relaxed their grip. He fell—six
inches, to the solid earth at his feet!
It had only been a ruse of the robbers to gain time in escaping. And when he let go it was not to
death, but to the safety which had been waiting him through all his time of terror.
Clutching will not save you. It is only the devil's trick to keep you from being saved. Let go! That is
God's plan to save you. "And will I not fall to my death?" some ask. No! Underneath is Jesus!
¾ Salvation cannot be earned through works; it is a gift
We can't work for our salvation. It is by grace, a gift of God, and cannot be earned.
Ephesians 2:8–9— For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of
God, (9) not of works, lest anyone should boast.
Titus 3:5a—Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us.
Galatians 2:16—Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we
have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by
the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.
2 Timothy 1:9—Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according
to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.
Romans 3:28—Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.
Romans 11:6—And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of
works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.
Jesus died because we're all sinners and it is impossible for us to be perfect, it is impossible for us to
perfectly keep laws like the Laws of Moses. Only Jesus was perfect and that's why He could pay the price of our
sins and God could forgive us, because He took our punishment for us. He gives us salvation as a gift, because we
could never earn it, we could never be perfect. We always make mistakes and commit sins.
God has offered pardon to the guilty. It doesn't matter how bad you are, how wicked you are, or what
you've done.—It doesn't matter to God! If you'll just confess your sins to Him, ask Him to forgive you and take
Jesus into your heart, He'll save you.
¾ Even if you could keep the Mosaic Law, it wouldn't save you
The Mosaic Law was a legal code that God gave Moses. It was a strict code of justice and retribution:
Exodus 24:12—Then the Lord said to Moses, "Come up to Me on the mountain and be there; and I will give you
tablets of stone, and the law and commandments which I have written, that you may teach them."
Exodus 21:23–25—But if any harm follows, then you shall give life for life, (24) eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand
for hand, foot for foot, (25) burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.
Hebrew 10:28—Anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three
witnesses.
The Ten Commandments were not merely "helpful moral guidelines," but strict laws carrying the death
penalty
Galatians 4:21—Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law?
Deuteronomy 27:26—Cursed is the one who does not confirm all the words of this law.
Galatians 3:19—What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed
[Jesus] should come to whom the promise was made; and it was appointed through angels by the hand of a
mediator.
Galatians 3:23—But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would
afterward be revealed.
What is more, the ten commandments were only the beginning; Moses' law contained hundreds of other
commandments!
Punishment was very severe in those days. There were 23 crimes for which you could be put to death. God
was trying to show His people that He really meant business, that He really didn't want them to misbehave. You
could get stoned to death even for cursing your father or mother. You could get stoned to death for all kinds of
things. That was a very terrible way to die, but the reason for it was as a deterrent of crime and disobedience and
sin.
¾ The Old Law was merely a copy, a shadow, of the real thing
Colossians 2:16–17—So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or
sabbaths, (17) which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.
Hebrews 8:5—Who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he
was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, "See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you
on the mountain."
Hebrews 9:8–9—The Holy Spirit indicating this, that the way into the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest
while the first tabernacle was still standing. (9) It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and
sacrifices are offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience.
Hebrews 10:1—For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things,
can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect.
I John 2:8—Again, a new commandment I write to you, which thing is true in Him and in you, because the
darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining.
¾ Jesus' death ended the Mosaic Law and ushered in the era of grace
The Mosaic Law was impossible to keep
This showed man he was a sinner in need of grace. The old law was unprofitable and eventually to be
replaced.
John 7:19—Did not Moses give you the law, yet none of you keeps the law? Why do you seek to kill Me?
Acts 15:10—Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our
fathers nor we were able to bear?
Romans 3:19—Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every
mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.
Romans 8:3—For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own
Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh.
The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath
Jesus came and showed us that salvation and true righteousness are not by works, but by grace!—That "the
Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath."—There is the example of when the disciples picked corn on
the Sabbath day, and another time He healed on the Sabbath (Mark 2:27).
¾ Eternally His
John 3:36 should end all your worries: He who believes in the Son has everlasting life.
He doesn't keep popping in and out of your heart. He is there all the time. He says,
Matthew 28:20—"Teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always,
even to the end of the age."
Hebrews 13:5—Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He
Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."
John 10:28—And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of
My hand.
Not by feelings
Dr. Thomas was a young man Mr. Poole had been talking to night after night, endeavoring to win
him to Christ. Nothing he said seemed to cut through the mental fog that blocked the way to a clear
understanding of salvation. Finally realizing that the young man's difficulty was his own inability to "feel"
saved, Mr. Poole took a coin, handed it to Dr. Thomas, and asked him to put it in his shirt pocket.
"Do you feel you've got it?" Mr. Poole asked.
"No," replied the young doctor, "I know I have."
"So," Mr. Poole continued, "we know we have Christ when we accept Him and believe His Word,
without feeling it."
Dr. Thomas testified later, "When I awoke the next morning my soul was overflowing with joy, and
since then I have never doubted that it was on that Saturday night I was born again—converted to God."
Justification
A simple way to remember the word "justified" that always stuck with me since I was a boy was
when the preacher illustrated how when we're justified by Jesus' blood, it's just-if-I'd never sinned! He
cleansed us from all our sins. "The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin"—past, present, future.
(1John 1:7) Just-if-I'd never sinned, justified. Really it means it makes you just, righteous, saved!
¾ Review quiz
(Answers with supporting references are below.)
Questions
1. "Salvation" means that when we receive Jesus, we are guaranteed what?
2. How many people in the world are sinners?
3. We deserve punishment for our sins, but when Jesus died, what was He taking upon Himself?
4. What is the ONLY way we can get saved?
5. Can we get saved by our own good works?
6. If we are a pretty good person, isn't that enough to get us to Heaven?
7. How do we know that salvation is by grace?
8. What does "by grace" mean?
9. What was the Mosaic Law?
10. What was the penalty for breaking most of the Ten Commandments?
11. Were there only ten commandments?
12. Was it God's plan that the Mosaic Law was to be maintained for eternity?
13. Did anyone ever get saved by only keeping the Mosaic Law?
14. Is it possible to keep the Mosaic Law in its entirety?
15. What does this show?
16. What did Jesus' death on the cross do to the old law?
17. Do believers in Jesus need to keep every jot and tittle of the old Mosaic Law?
18. Does that mean that a believer can do anything he chooses?
19. Which is greater: Grace or Law?
20. How long does salvation last?
21. What happens when you sin? Can you lose your salvation?
22. Can you lose Jesus out of your life?
23. What sins does Jesus forgive you for when you repent? s
¾ What is Communion?
1 Corinthians 11:23–26—For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on
the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; (24) and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said,
"Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me." (25) In the same manner He
also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it,
in remembrance of Me." (26) For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death
till He comes.
What is Communion? It's a witness to others that you believe what His Word says. The bread symbolizes
the body of Jesus. The wine symbolizes His blood.
¾ The meaning of the bread: 1) Jesus' body was broken for our healing and
2) one loaf symbolizes unity
Jesus' body was broken for us for the healing of our bodies. When we partake of the bread we can claim
healing.
Isaiah 53:5—But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement
for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.
The bread doesn't heal any more than the wine saves your soul, but partaking of it is a manifestation of
your faith. It's a witness. The bread represents His body that was broken for us, and if we eat it by faith we can
claim healing by faith.
There's nothing wrong with chewing it, swallowing it, eating it like you would food. He said, "Take, eat, this My
body."
It's best to use one piece or loaf of bread (at Communion) as this demonstrates our unity. One piece represents His
Body that was broken, and when we all eat of it, it is going to become a part of each of us. In other words, we're all
becoming part of the One.
¾ The meaning of the wine: the blood, shed for our salvation and forgiveness
of sins
After the same manner Jesus took the cup. The wine symbolizes Jesus' blood, shed for the remission of our
sins, for the salvation of our souls.
Matthew 26:28—For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
I John 1:7—But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood
of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
Don't ever forget the resurrection when we're speaking of the death. The death was for a resurrection, and if it
hadn't been for the resurrection, all the rest of it wouldn't have been enough.
1 Corinthians 15:W14—And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.
—But thank God He is risen!
¾ The most important point to grasp from this class is that Jesus has prepared a
wonderful place for us in the life beyond
Jesus told us:
John 14:2–3—In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare
a place for you. (3) And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that
where I am, there you may be also.
When we are called from this life, when we are brought to the threshold and we are called across, we leave
the things of this life behind—our flesh, our material belongings. We shed these things as one sheds a garment. But
our spirit, that which is truly "me" and truly "you," steps across the veil and lives on forever. Our experience and
knowledge—and mainly the things that we have learned of the spirit, the matters of love, of kindness, and of
truth—these things remain with us and benefit us throughout eternity. Therefore this class, and the one following, is
also a challenge. Will we learn the lessons we need to learn in this life and apply them?
In God's wonderful kingdom of love, all is love. There we will have and experience all of those things that
we seek. No matter what our limitations here, there we will have peace of heart and mind and contentment of spirit;
there we will have no fear; there our needs will be filled abundantly; there we can be creative; there we can find
true love, and fill the empty spaces in our lives, our hearts, our minds, and our spirits.
Jesus is the door to Heaven, and by coming into it through Him, your life in this world, and in the world
beyond, will be much greater than anything you ever imagined! You've received Jesus, so you are going to live
with Him in His loving, exciting, wonderful, fulfilling, peaceful kingdom—forever!
But don't get too impatient!
The Lord will bring us to Heaven in His own time:
Psalm 31:15a—My times are in Your hand.
Psalm 48:14—For this is God, our God forever and ever; He will be our guide even to death.
We're studying about Heaven because that's where we're going to eventually go!—But in the meantime,
the Lord has a lot for us to do, including bringing as many other people with us as we can.
¾ Nothing to fear
Fear of death is one of the greatest fears that grips people, but the Bible tells us that Jesus can set us free
from those fears. He conquered death! There is nothing to fear, only a joyful and patient waiting to meet our Savior
face-to-face.
Hebrews 2:15—And release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
1 Corinthians 15:55–57—O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory? (56) The sting of death
is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. (57) But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord
Jesus Christ.
Revelation 22:3–4—And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and
His servants shall serve Him. (4) They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads.
¾ No more tears
Revelation 21:4—And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow,
nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.
Isn't that beautiful? If you'll read carefully, you'll see that it doesn't say there aren't going to be any tears! I
think a lot of people, when they get to Heaven and face the Lord, are going to be ashamed and cry and weep over
their sins and their failures.
But isn't the Lord wonderful and loving and merciful? He says He's going to wipe away all those tears, and
there will be no more pain, no more death, no more sorrow!—Only eternal, wonderful happiness!
It's going to be so wonderful that you're going to forget about all your troubles of the past.
Isaiah 35:10—And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing, with everlasting joy on
their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
¾ Our inheritance
Revelation 21:5–7—Then He who sat on the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new. … (6b) I will give of the
fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. (7) He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be
his God and he shall be My son."
In this wonderful Heavenly City, His overcomers shall "inherit all things!"
1 John 5:4–5—For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the
world—our faith. (5) Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
The Lord loves faith and He loves His faithful children and He is going to reward them greatly! They'll
inherit all things, anything they ever wanted or ever desired!—For it is God's delight to give us the desires of our
own hearts, if we love Him and delight ourselves in Him! He says,
Psalm 37:4—Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.
Luke 12:32—Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
¾ Many mansions
From the measurements we read in Revelation 21, the Heavenly City is an immense size! The tremendous
capacity of this marvelous, final, great, Heavenly City that Jesus has gone to prepare for us is simply amazing!
Remember what Jesus said in John 14:2:
John 14:2a—In My Father's House are many mansions.
Just think, one of these days you're going to live in a beautiful place that isn't going to cost you
anything!—No upkeep, no expenses, absolutely nothing except what it's already cost Jesus!—And it will be
commensurate with your works on Earth, what you already paid for it down here. There are some things that you're
working for right now that you're not going to receive till you get there, but you'll find that whatever you've paid
here is not worthy to be compared with the glory to be revealed there!
Whatever place Jesus has gone to prepare for you will be fantastic! I'm sure that when you see what He has
for you there, you'll be amazed!
Read Revelation 22
Ending note
Prayer
Dear Jesus, we thank You that we will be able to spend all eternity with You and with our loved ones who
have received You, that we will never be apart. We will never be alone, and with each passing day we will grow to
know You more and more, and see You more clearly and understand You more deeply. Amen.
12 Foundation Stones—Class 9B
Now and Forever
Heaven, Part 2
Section 1: What Will You Be Like in Heaven?
You can hardly appreciate Heaven and what it will be like unless you know what you're going to be like!
Of course, we don't know all the details, as it is somewhat a mystery, but here are some verses and ideas on the
subject.
Recognizable
1 Corinthians 15:49—And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the
heavenly man.
Even as we have looked on Earth, we will resemble that same image in Heaven. We will bear the same
looks and general appearance—here called "image"—as we have here on Earth, but much more glorious.
Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15 that it's going to be like the difference between sowing a seed, and then what
comes up out of the seed. He says it's going to be new and different, and yet we'll recognize each other; we'll "know
even as also we are known" (1 Corinthians 13:12).
Powers of movement
When Jesus was resurrected, He was not only able to do all the normal natural things we humans do, but
when His disciples were in a locked room with the doors all barred, all of a sudden He came walking right through
the door without unlocking it! Jesus could appear or disappear; He could walk right through walls or locked doors.
John 20:19—Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the
disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, "Peace be
with you."
John 20:26—And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors
being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, "Peace to you!"
In your new body, you'll be able to walk through walls, doors, and appear and disappear just like Jesus did.
Perhaps we'll even fly!
Isaiah 60:8—Who are these who fly like a cloud, and like doves to their roosts?
For more on this subject, be sure to read 1 Corinthians 15, if you haven't already.
Daniel 8:13a—Then I heard a holy one speaking; and another holy one said to that certain one who was
speaking.
Daniel 8:15—Then it happened, when I, Daniel, had seen the vision and was seeking the meaning, that suddenly
there stood before me one having the appearance of a man.
Daniel 9:21–23—Yes, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the
beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, reached me about the time of the evening offering. (22) And he informed
me, and talked with me, and said, "O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you skill to understand. (23) At the
beginning of your supplications the command went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are greatly beloved;
therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision:"
Daniel 12:5–7—Then I, Daniel, looked; and there stood two others, one on this riverbank and the other on that
riverbank. (6) And one said to the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, "How long shall
the fulfillment of these wonders be?" (7) Then I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the
river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever, that it shall
be for a time, times, and half a time; and when the power of the holy people has been completely shattered, all
these things shall be finished.
Ezekiel 40:1–4—In the twenty-fifth year of our captivity, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the
month, in the fourteenth year after the city was captured, on the very same day the hand of the Lord was upon me;
and He took me there. (2) In the visions of God He took me into the land of Israel and set me on a very high
mountain; on it toward the south was something like the structure of a city. (3) He took me there, and behold,
there was a man whose appearance was like the appearance of bronze. He had a line of flax and a measuring rod
in his hand, and he stood in the gateway. (4) And the man said to me, "Son of man, look with your eyes and hear
with your ears, and fix your mind on everything I show you; for you were brought here so that I might show them
to you. Declare to the house of Israel everything you see."
Zechariah 1:9—Then I said, "My lord, what are these?" So the angel who talked with me said to me, "I will show
you what they are."
Zechariah 2:3—And there was the angel who talked with me, going out; and another angel was coming out to
meet him.
Matthew 1:20—But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a
dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived
in her is of the Holy Spirit."
Matthew 2:13—Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream,
saying, "Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for
Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him."
Luke 1:11–13—Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense.
(12) And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. (13) But the angel said to him, "Do
not be afraid, Zacharias."
Revelation 1:1—The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants— things which must
shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John.
¾ Heavenly communication
Isaiah 30:21—Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, "This is the way, walk in it," whenever you turn
to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left.
Zephaniah 3:9—For then I will restore to the peoples a pure language, that they all may call on the name of the
Lord, to serve Him with one accord.
Communication in the spirit world may be different than in this physical world, and perhaps includes
thought transference. This helps to explain how we receive messages from those beyond, as they usually
communicate directly in our thoughts.
¾ The saved of all ages can communicate with those still in this life
The privilege of helping those still in this life is not limited to personalities from the Bible. The saved of all
ages who have passed on to the spirit world can communicate with us. Our loved ones who have passed on, and
those unknown to us personally, may on occasion deliver messages from Heaven.
One example of this is the founder of our movement, David Berg, who departed this life in 1994. It makes
sense that those who devote their lives to sharing the good news of Jesus' love will want to continue doing so when
they pass on beyond, so the Lord gives them opportunities to communicate with us.
Dying Grace
You don't have to worry about death and fear it and wonder about what's going to happen when
you die. When it comes the Lord will give you dying grace and dying will probably be the easiest thing you
ever did. The hard thing is to live!—Right?
It's like what Dwight L. Moody told the old ladies when they asked him, "Doctor Moody, have you
got dying grace?"—Two self-righteous Holiness sisters who figured, of course, they had dying grace
already!
He shocked them by saying, "No, sisters, I'm sorry, I don't have dying grace!"
"You mean, you, the great D.L. Moody, the great evangelist, you don't have dying grace yet?"
He said, "No sisters—I'm not dying yet!"
¾ Our lives are in the Lord's hands. He'll bring us Home when it is time.
As much as we're looking forward to Heaven, we should never consider taking matters into our own hands.
God knows when and how we're supposed to die. If you love the Lord, God has appointed a time and a place for
you to die when your job is done.
Psalm 48:14—For this is God, our God forever and ever; He will be our guide even to death.
We do not consider suicide an acceptable act in the eyes of God. Anyone who commits suicide is robbing
God of the life that He has given them to serve others! God knows when and how you're supposed to die, and we
should each wait for God to make the decision and have His way, whatever it is, and not die at our own hand.
Life is a precious thing, given to us by God, and though He has given man the freedom of choice, He
means for you to leave with Him the choice of when your physical body dies and you return to His arms. God has
His Own timetable for each person on Earth, and when your time is up, He'll call you Home.
This present life on Earth is for a reason. There are lessons to be learned to prepare us for Heaven, and it's
wisest and best for each of us to live our lives on Earth through to the end in order to be prepared and learn what we
need to learn before our arrival in Heaven!
Although Heaven has wonderful beauties and glories, including freedom from the pain and suffering that
exists in our earthly life, those who end their lives prematurely will have to face the consequences of their action
once they get to the other side. They will have to learn the lessons that the Lord wants them to learn from their
wrong decision. They will still have to face the sorrow, pain, and suffering which they have caused their friends,
relatives, and loved ones.
Self-destruction is no victory. It could come under the classification of the Scripture about respecting the
"temple of God" which you are:
1 Corinthians 3:16–17b—Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in
you? (17b) … For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.
The worst disrespect of all would be to destroy your own body. We need to wait for God to make the
decision of when our life on Earth should be over. We have no right to destroy the God-given life which He's given
us to live for Him and others!
Rewards in Heaven
Matthew 6:19–21—Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on Earth, where moth and rust destroy
and where thieves break in and steal; (20) but lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where neither
moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. (21) For where your treasure is, there
your heart will be also.
Matthew 25:31–40—When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him,
then He will sit on the throne of His glory. (32) All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will
separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. (33) And He will set the
sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. (34) Then the King will say to those on His right hand,
‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
(35) for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and
you took Me in; (36) I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and
you came to Me.' (37) Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry
and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? (38) When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or
naked and clothe You? (39) Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' (40) And the
King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of
these My brethren, you did it to Me.'
Psalm 62:12—Also to You, O Lord, belongs mercy; for You render to each one according to his
work.
Jeremiah 17:10—I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to
his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.
Revelation 22:12—And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every
one according to his work.
2 Corinthians 5:10—For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may
receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
¾ Making a difference
In the last class we talked about Heaven. We know it's a wonderful place, and today we're going to talk
about how we can offer more people the opportunity of experiencing it! But we're not just going to talk about
making a difference in eternity.—Let's also look at here and now. So many people struggle through life, battling
loneliness, dissatisfaction, health problems, financial problems, frustrations, you name it—so many problems!
When someone receives the Lord, their problems don't all magically disappear, as you've probably experienced
yourself. But the difference is that now they have Jesus to walk with them along the path of life. They have the
source of joy, of love, to help them through their lives. Don't we want other people to know Jesus as we know
Him?—That's what "witnessing" is about. Witnessing is sharing the love of Jesus with another human being,
testifying of your belief in Jesus. The goal is that the person you testify to will also accept Jesus as their Savior.
¾ If we don't offer them a chance for salvation, they will suffer, and so will we!
Mark 8:38—For whoever is ashamed of Me and My Words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the
Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.
1 Corinthians 9:16—For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for necessity is laid upon me; yes,
woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!
Ezekiel 3:17–19—Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore hear a word from
My mouth, and give them warning from Me: (18) When I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,' and you give
him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life, that same wicked man shall
die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. (19) Yet, if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn
from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul.
How Norway, Iceland and Greenland heard the message: Olaf I (968–1000 A.D.), King of Norway,
participated in numerous Viking raids along the Baltic and North Sea coasts and in the British Isles.
During his last campaign in England (994) he was converted to Christianity. The following year he
returned to Norway, where he set out to Christianize the country. His efforts also contributed to the
conversion of Iceland, Greenland, and the Faeroe Islands to Christianity.
The story continues: Leif Ericson (circa 975–1020), was the Icelandic explorer thought to have
been one of the first Europeans to set foot on North American soil. He voyaged from Greenland to
Norway shortly before 1000. There, according to one tradition, King Olaf I was responsible for converting
him to Christianity and later sent him back to Greenland to win its Viking settlers over to the Christian
faith. One of his converts was his mother, Thjódhild, who is said to have built Greenland's first Christian
church at Brattahlid.
The abolition of slavery: Christians played important roles in many humanitarian and reform movements
during the 19th century. In England, evangelical Protestants were leaders of the agitation that led to the
abolition by Parliament of slavery in British dominions. In turn, at the Congress of Vienna in 1814, Great
Britain exerted its influence to induce other foreign powers to adopt a similar policy abolishing the slave
trade, and eventually nearly all the states of Europe passed laws or entered into treaties prohibiting the
traffic. In the U.S., evangelical Protestants also actively campaigned against slavery.
One of the outstanding leaders against slavery was William Wilberforce (1759–1833), British
statesman and reformer. He converted to Christianity in 1784. Wilberforce became the chief spokesman
in the House of Commons for the movement to abolish the slave trade. In 1807 Wilberforce secured
enactment of legislation prohibiting the trade. He joined the struggle for the complete abolition of slavery
and in 1823 was a founder of the Anti-Slavery Society. The Emancipation Bill abolishing slavery became
law one month after his death.
Each of these examples has one key point in common: What happened was the result of the conversion
of one person.
¾ How to witness
Most likely you've already been witnessing. Maybe you gave a tract to someone. Maybe you told someone
else about these classes. Maybe you have been acting differently and someone you're close to asked you "why" and
you told them about your faith. Or maybe you've been telling someone about what you've been learning or reading.
There are many ways to witness. In this class we'd like to help you learn in more detail some of the ways
of witnessing successfully, including how to explain salvation, how to answer questions, how to lead someone in
prayer, and how to witness in a way that will appeal to the hearer. The Bible says:
Proverbs 11:30—The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.
Before we look at the main lessons in this class, there are a few points to take into consideration.
¾ Be flexible
A witnessing method, or a certain subject of conversation, may be very successful on one occasion but
inappropriate on another. For example, the elderly and the terminally ill are probably thinking about what awaits
them at death, so the promise of eternal life in Heaven will probably inspire them more than anything else to
receive Jesus. Most teenagers, on the other hand, feel they have their whole lives ahead of them and are far more
concerned about coping with the present, so the promise of a Friend who truly understands and will love them
unconditionally may be just the thing to win them.
Be prepared to alter your way of witnessing depending on the needs, interests, and the circumstances of
those you are talking with.
¾ Use wisdom
Not every witnessing "method" is appropriate under all circumstances. For instance, in some countries
public distribution of Christian literature is against the law.
The Lord expects us to exercise wisdom in how and when and to whom we witness. "Behold, I send you
out as sheep in the midst of wolves," Jesus told His disciples. "Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as
doves" (Matthew 10:16). The Lord doesn't mean for us to cause ourselves unnecessary trouble by giving the
message to people who we know won't receive it and possibly even persecute us for it. The whole purpose of
witnessing is to win others with the Lord's love, not antagonize or offend. In some non-Christian countries, unwise
witnessing can lead to serious persecution.
In some countries or cultures where people are fairly ignorant about Jesus or the Bible, you need to go
slower in order for them to understand. In those situations it can take time and a lot of patience to win people to
Jesus. Some people have to be convinced of your sample—the way you live and how loving and concerned you are
for others—before they're ready to accept what you have to say.
Ask the Lord for His wisdom in knowing how, when, and where to witness and to whom!
¾ A matter of timing
There's also the issue of how quickly or slowly to bring up Jesus, and how far to take it the first time.
When it comes to your family and friends, a lot of your witnessing can easily be incorporated into your
conversations with them on other topics. You don't have to come home and start preaching constantly at them right
off the bat.—In fact, it will likely turn them off to what you have to say if you do. In those circumstances start off
gently, and sometimes slowly. Bring Godly principles and mentions of Him and His Word into your discussions as
the opportunity arises. Your friends and family will be watching to see what good your newfound faith is doing
you. Seeing you changed for the better, a sample of happiness, kindness, and love, will be a far greater testimony to
them than any sermon. Soon enough, an opportune time should come up where you can explain Jesus' love and His
gift of salvation to your friend or loved one who has not yet received Him.
¾ Be available
Your best ability is availability when it comes to preaching the Gospel! You can be a witness at school, at
work, in your neighborhood or city, or on some foreign shore. If you're willing to be what Jesus wants you to be
and to do what He asks you to do, He can make you a mighty witness, whatever your age and experience.
¾ Personal witnessing
Many soul-winners have found that the most effective way of winning souls is through personal
conversations. You talk with someone and listen to that person as an individual, and therefore can adapt your
witness to their individual needs.
There are other more public methods of witnessing. We'll talk about some of the most useful in our next
class (including literature distribution and so on), but for now, we'll concentrate on personal witnessing.
¾ We're going to look at seven steps, which covers from the start—finding
someone to witness to—all the way through to establishing them in the faith.
1. Find someone to witness to!
2. Ask questions
3. Listen!
4. Give them God's answers
5. Get a decision
6. Take care of those you lead to the Lord
7. Pray for people
¾ 2. Ask Questions
You need to show concern about them and interest in them, and the way you do that is by asking them
questions about themselves and their lives.—And you will find there's nothing most people like to talk about more
about than themselves!
In other words, show you're interested in them. Ask them about their background. If you understand them
better, you're much better able to witness to them and know what they need the most.—How are you going to find
out who the person is, what he is, what he does, what his religion is, or anything about him at all unless you ask
questions?
Proverbs 18:13—He who answers a matter before he hears it, it is folly and shame to him.
One of the best ways to start witnessing is just exactly the same way you get acquainted with anybody or
any stranger: "Hi, how are you? Nice day, isn't it?" Talk about the weather or anything, everybody's interested in
the weather. You can talk about issues of concern. Get into some interesting subject. And of course the most
interesting subject to everybody is guess what? (Themselves.) The Lord can inspire you to use situations around
you to help you initiate a conversation with someone.
Remember that conversation is give and take. Although you want to ask questions to get to know them,
don't interrogate them! You should also enter into the conversation and tell about yourself.
L The class "The Golden Rule, Part 1—Success with People" also had good tips about communication.
¾ 3. Listen
Get them to speak their heart; listen to them
Proverbs 20:5—Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out.
Matthew 12:34b—For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
James 1:19a—So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak.
In witnessing, you're not the one who's supposed to do the talking at first. It's best to get them to talk first
to see where they're at, where they stand, who they are, what they are, where they are, as well as where they're
from, etc.. Then you'll know how to talk to them eventually. So ask questions, then listen to their answers until
finally something is said that opens the door for you to witness.
A lot of witnessers talk too much, quote too much Scripture, and all that, without listening to the person
they're witnessing to. You have to show interest and concern in the person and their problems. Ask them questions,
and listen to their answers. That may be the best thing you could do for them to start with—be somebody they can
talk to, and pour out their hearts to.
Even if you have to listen for a long time, keep trying to turn them in the right direction when you see what
they need. Try to guide the conversation if you can by asking more questions: "Oh, is that so? What about this or
what about that and what did you do then? Well, did you ever do so-and-so?"
When you are witnessing, you are soul doctors
What does a doctor do? You come in, you've got problems. Does he immediately start writing out the
prescription for you? You, as the spiritual doctor, know the prescription, you know the remedy, but they're going to
think you're kind of crazy if you start giving them the remedy without even finding out what's wrong with them!
How are you going to know what the prescription is—the prescription Scripture—unless you find out what their
problem or their illness or their ailment is?
So get them to talk, listen to what they have to say, and that way you'll find out what's wrong with them,
what their problems are, what their background is.
Almost everybody will talk if you show them a little human interest, a little love, a little concern, and ask
them questions.
¾ 4. Give Them God's Answers
Give them God's answers to their problems
Once they've said their piece and given all their problems and proposed answers which they themselves
don't even believe and know don't work, you start giving them God's answers: "Well, do you know what it says
here in the Bible? Do you know what God said about it? Do you know what it really means? Do you know what
you really need to do?" etc.
Then is your time to start giving them God's answers: Telling them in your own words, and also showing
them Scriptures (which we'll talk about more in a minute).
The main answer, of course, is accepting the Lord. So after you listen to their answers, say, "Yes, but you
know the Bible says so-and-so."—"Well, Jesus said that what you need to do is so-and-so, to be born again," and so
on.
Give your own personal testimony—tell what the Lord has done for you!
Your own personal testimony is just about the most effective thing you can tell them. Because then they've
either got to say, "You're a liar and I don't believe you!," or, "It must be true, because you say so."
The Apostle Paul was a great witness, and almost every single time he started his witness before kings and
judges or whoever it was, he invariably started with his own personal testimony: "This is what happened to me!"
When it was a new crowd, new people, new situation, he always said, "Well, this is what happened to me."—You
can read examples in Acts 22:3–21 and Acts 26: 1–20.
In the story of Jesus witnessing to the woman at the well in John chapter 4, she was so thrilled about her
experience with this stranger named Jesus that she called the townspeople to meet Him:
John 4:28–29—The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, (29) "Come,
see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?"
As a result of her personal testimony, many were saved:
John 4:39—And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who
testified.
Sometimes people will not listen to anything else.—They may refuse to listen to all your preaching.—You
could even prophesy and they wouldn't listen! You could do all the teaching that you think they might need and
they'll still never listen!—But when you start telling them your life story—"This is the way it happened to me and
this is my testimony, this is my personal experience"—instantly you have their attention, they're fascinated!—
People are interested in people! Everybody loves a story, and life stories are a much more effective witness than
getting into theological arguments and preaching sermons on doctrine.
The moment they confess that it's possible for it to happen to you, then they have to confess that it's
possible for it to happen to others! If it's happened once, it's most likely to happen again, and it can happen to them!
Illustrate your points with stories
Mark 4:2—He [Jesus] taught them many things by parables.
Everybody loves a story! Jesus Himself knew that it is just human nature to want to hear stories about real
experiences, so He often told parables to illustrate His messages. His stories and vivid examples were usually
simple, but very powerful and effective in bringing spiritual principles down to earth, showing people how they
could apply them in their everyday lives. Are stories effective?—Obviously, yes! Just look at Jesus' example!
Matthew 13:34—All these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables; and without a parable He did not
speak to them.
The more you can paint a word-picture and help others to visualize the truth you are trying to tell them
with a story which illustrates the point, the better they will understand it.
The famous preacher, Spurgeon, once said that illustrations are like windows, letting the light stream in!
By grace
A fellow who had been a Catholic priest, yet had never really known the Lord, was in the hospital.
An old lady came by and quoted him the verses Ephesians 2:8–9. She just kept talking to him and quoting
those same verses over and over to him, "For by grace you have been saved" and so on. He said it just
burned itself into his mind until he couldn't get rid of it! And it finally woke him up to the fact that he didn't
have to work his way to Heaven!—And as a result, he was saved!
"For God so loved the world"—the world includes you, let me put your name in here.
"that He gave His only begotten Son"—that's Jesus.
"that whoever believes in Him,"—do you believe?
"should not perish, but have everlasting life."—then you are going to live forever in Heaven!
¾ Lift Up Jesus
Acts 5:42—And daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the
Christ.
Acts 13:38—Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man [Jesus] is preached to you the
forgiveness of sins.
Acts 20:21—Testifying to Jews, and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus
Christ.
1 Corinthians 1:23—But we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks
foolishness.
2 Corinthians 4:5—For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants
for Jesus' sake.
1 Timothy 1:15—This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to
save sinners, of whom I am chief.
John 12:32—And I, [Jesus] if I am lifted up ... will draw all peoples unto Myself.
1Corinthians 2:2—I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ.
¾ 5. Get a Decision
Help them realize their need for Jesus, but that they can't be too bad for Him!
Luke 5:31–32—Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. (32) I [Jesus] have not
come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.
It's helpful for people to realize that they're "sinners" in order for them to realize that they need a Savior.—
Just like people need to realize they're sick before they will accept the doctor's advice and prescription. Unlike a
physical illness, however, sometimes it's hard for people to realize that their hearts or spirits are "sick" and in need.
Or, they may realize that they have problems, but place the blame for their problems on others, or on
circumstances.
Well, it's not essential for someone to admit they've "sinned" or done wrong in order to receive Jesus and
His salvation. It's enough if they admit that they can't solve their problems on their own and need help. But
admitting that they've made mistakes sure helps them to realize why they need Jesus! Most people are aware that
they aren't all that great. Many try to be good and do good, but find it difficult. Many want to be kind, generous and
caring, but find it difficult.
In your witnessing, without being accusatory or pointing fingers, bring out how nearly all of us have failed
to live up to our expectations for ourselves. Not only that, but we've all done things that are wrong, sinful, that have
hurt others, and that would be worthy of punishment if God so saw fit. But rather than giving us our due
punishment, God chose to forgive us if we accept that forgiveness. That's why Jesus came to Earth—to take our
punishment, to suffer for our sins, so that we didn't have to!
Bring them to a decision
1 Kings 18:21a—How long will you falter between two opinions?
Matthew 22:42a—Saying, "What do you think about the Christ?"
2 Timothy 4:2—Preach the Word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all
longsuffering and teaching.
Try to bring the person to whom you witness to a decision. The ideal decision, of course, is to get them to
ask Jesus into their heart then and there. Some, however, will not be ready for this. In that case, try to get them to at
least promise to think about it and consider it further; if possible try to arrange to talk more with them—and the
sooner the better. "Strike while the iron is hot," as the old saying goes.
Your goal is not necessarily to fully persuade them that everything you have said is true, and that
everything Jesus has to offer will come to pass in their life if they receive Him. Rather, try to persuade them to just
try Him!
They don't have to be as convinced as you are about Jesus' power in order to take the step of receiving
Him. Some people need to see things for themselves. They do have to have a little bit of faith, even just to ask Jesus
to come into their lives; yet even the smallest step toward Him will be honored, and every sincere prayer answered.
Of course, there is more to being a Christian than saying a simple prayer and wanting to receive what Jesus
has to give. Yet every journey starts with a single step, and unless that first step is made, the rest of the path will
surely not be traveled.
1) The unsure: If, after all your witnessing, they still claim that they don't believe in God or the Bible, you can
suggest to them, "Why don't you say, ‘God, if there is a God out there somewhere, show me, reveal Yourself!'"—
Even if they don't believe the Bible and they're not convinced about Jesus, if they really want to know, God's Word
says if they seek Him they'll find Him! He says,
Matthew 5:6—Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.
2) Maybe already saved: With someone who thinks he has already accepted Jesus but doesn't know for
sure, you can say, "If you're not sure, why don't we just make sure right now? Let's pray." And then let him follow
you in a salvation prayer.
3) For someone who isn't so convinced they need Jesus: You can ask them something along these lines:
"Do you want to get everything straightened out in your life and make everything right and have everything go
well, and have a peaceful and good life? Jesus is the Spirit of goodness and light and love, and He'll bring solutions
to all of your problems, if you just ask Him to come into your heart!" Here's an appropriate prayer for someone like
this:
Dear Jesus, I need help and I've heard You can help me! There is so much happening in my life that is
beyond my control. I've heard You're the good Spirit of love and light and power. Please come into my heart and
life and sort things out for me.
4) Someone who is too shy to pray: If someone is uncomfortable praying with you, you could give them a
written prayer to read silently, or suggest they pray alone later on.
If they didn't pray with you—perhaps because you didn't have the opportunity to go so far in your witness, or
because they were not ready to make the decision—keep praying for them, that the seeds that have been sown in
their hearts through your witness will eventually bear fruit.
2. Ask Questions
Show concern by asking them questions about themselves and their lives.
Use current events, happenings and trends to arouse their interest.
Witness in a quiet place when possible.
3. Listen!
Encourage them to speak their heart; listen to them and hear them out.
When you are witnessing, you are soul doctors. Listen and find out what their problems are.
5. Get a Decision
They should realize their need for Jesus.
Bring them to a decision.
It has to be their decision—you can't force them to decide.
Pray with them to receive the Lord.
For those who are unsure, you can pray for them or with them, with a different approach.
¾ Controversial questions
Answer sincere questions honestly and show those who are really interested the truth. If they want to
know, God will show them. But beware of those who ask questions, not because they want the answer, but because
they're only trying to trap you, like the self-righteous Pharisees whose minds were already made up and didn't want
to be confused with the facts, and rather tried to trap Jesus with His own words.
Luke 11:53–54—And as He said these things to them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to assail Him
vehemently, and to cross-examine Him about many things, (54) lying in wait for Him, and seeking to catch Him in
something He might say, that they might accuse Him.
2 Timothy 2:23—But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife.
Titus 3:9—But avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are
unprofitable and useless.
Bible or dinner?
In the islands of New Guinea, a chieftain sat peacefully reading the Bible, when he was interrupted
by a French trader. "Bah," he said in French. "Why are you reading the Bible? I suppose the missionaries
have got hold of you, you poor fool. Throw it away! The Bible never did anyone any good."
Replied the chieftain, calmly, "If it weren't for this Bible, you'd be in my kettle by now!"
¾ The miracle of music
Somebody once wrote, "Music is the speech of angels." The witness contained in a song is a powerful way
to get across the message. We have many witnessing songs that you can learn to sing and play and they will
wonderfully augment your witness. What inspires people about our music is that it's happy music and makes them
happy. It's good music and makes them want to be good. It's friendly music and makes them want to be friendly. It's
godly music and makes them want to be godly. It's saving music and makes them want to be saved. It's enjoyable
music and makes them want to join in. It has good fruit and makes them want to do good and be good!
Psalm 40:3—He has put a new song in my mouth—praise to our God; many will see it and fear, and will trust in
the Lord.
Acts 16:25—But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were
listening to them.
¾ Be a sample of love
Your personal example is an important aspect of your witness that will help to win others.
Philippians 2:15–16a—That you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst
of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, (16a) holding fast the Word
of life.
1 Timothy 4:12b—But be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity.
2 Corinthians 3:2—You are our epistle [letter] written in our hearts, known and read by all men.
Titus 2:7–8—In all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works; in doctrine showing integrity,
reverence, incorruptibility, (8) sound speech that cannot be condemned, that one who is an opponent may be
ashamed, having nothing evil to say of you.
John 13:35—By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.
Your greatest witness is love, for the only love of God they can see is the love they see in you. If you don't
show them love they can see and feel, they're going to have a hard time believing that there is Someone up There
whom they don't know and that He really loves them.
You should always drop a little love into the hearts of those you pass by, even if only with a word, a smile,
or a look of sympathy, so they will know that God has loved them that day!
¾ Don't forget that part of your sample is the joy of the Lord!
Portray the Lord as He is—a happy God, who loves and rejoices in love and happiness. A joyful
countenance helps to win others.
¾ Familiarity
Matthew 13:57—A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house.
Sometimes witnessing to those whom you are closest to can be the most difficult of all! If by any chance
you have difficulties witnessing to your family or close friends, don't feel that this means that witnessing to
strangers would be harder. You might find it the opposite!
As we talked about in our last class, when it comes to witnessing to your family and friends, a lot of your
witnessing can be incorporated into your conversations with them on other topics. You don't have to start preaching
constantly at them.
You may find that your greatest witness to those who know you well is not the words you speak but your
sample. As you let Jesus work in your life, you should find that some aspects of your character and behavior are
changing. Perhaps you don't get so anxious or angry when things are difficult, or you are more cheerful or more
considerate. Those who are around you daily will notice these changes and will wonder what's happened to you.
Their curiosity may open the door for you to explain the source of the changes.
¾ Be happy
God is not a sad God!—He's a happy God, Who wants you to be happy too. The Bible says,
Psalm 144:15—Happy are the people who are in such a state; happy are the people whose God is the Lord!
Even though we all face difficulties and problems from time to time, we have so much to be happy about!
We have solutions, because we know the great solution-giver: Jesus!
¾ Types of problems
We could divide our troubles or difficulties into three groups: 1) physical problems, 2) difficulties caused
by our own mistakes or by intentional or unintentional actions of others, and 3) spiritual attacks from the outside.
1. Physical problems
Most of us face some physical weaknesses or limitations or sickness at some time or other, or maybe we
are short of money or have some other material lack.
Philippians 4:12—I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have
learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.
The apostle Paul wrote this, so he obviously experienced physical difficulties.
2. Human weaknesses
Romans 7:18–19—For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me,
but how to perform what is good I do not find. (19) For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will
not to do, that I practice.
Hebrews 12:1b—Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with
endurance the race that is set before us.
The Lord made each of us differently, and has allowed each of us our own particular imperfections—plain
old human weaknesses, frailties and lacks like selfishness, pride, laziness and envy—"every weight and the sin
which so easily ensnares us," against which we must daily battle. Battling these keeps us in shape spiritually,
fighting and relying on the Lord!
We can also suffer problems because of the actions of others, whether intentional or unintentional. Maybe
a scheduled bus doesn't show up and you're late for an important interview. Maybe someone has borrowed some
item but failed to return it. The examples are endless.
3. Spiritual attacks
Then there are the attacks from the outside. The Devil tries to defeat you personally, to hinder you, and
discourage you. You're already saved, the Lord's possession forever, but the Devil fears you and knows that he's
going to lose others from his clutches because of you and your witness. So what does he do about it?—He tries to
hinder and stop you, and discouragement is one of his favorite tools. Thank God we know the answer: Faith! We'll
be talking more about how to defeat the Devil's devices later in the class but for now, remember we are already
victors:
1 Corinthians 15:57—Thanks be to God, Who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
¾ Closer to Jesus
Psalm 55:22—Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be
moved.
Remember that whatever troubles you face, the ultimate result can be a closer and better relationship with
the Lord. When you're in trouble and call out for help, He answers!—And His presence will be so precious and real
to you when you let Him encourage, guide and lead you. No matter what you go through, He is there to help,
comfort and bring meaning to it all.
Hebrews 13:5—Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He
Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."
If possible, share a personal anecdote on how the Lord's presence seemed even closer during a time of
trial.
Summary:
Step 1: Identify the problem
Step 2: Find the solution
Step 3: Move on!
Sometimes the problems we face are not caused by other people or by our own sins, but they are part of the
spiritual warfare that is going on unseen by human eyes.
Ephesians 6:11–12—Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the
Devil. (12) For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the
rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly (spiritual) places.
That's why the Lord promises:
Isaiah 59:19b—When the Enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him.
Luke 10:19—Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the
Enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
He also cautions us:
Ephesians 4:27—Nor give place to the Devil.
1 Peter 5:8–9a—Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the Devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking
whom he may devour. (9a) Resist him, steadfast in the faith.
L For more on this subject, see the chapter in Obstacles Are for Overcoming, "Spiritual Warfare" (pages 39–43).
Songs
As we saw earlier, we all have times of trial and need, and when those times come the Lord is more than
able to help us.—So one of the first things to do when facing a problem of any kind is to ask the Lord for His help!
Ask, believing that He can and will help you!
2 Samuel 22:7—In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried out to my God; He heard my voice from His
temple, and my cry entered His ears.
Psalm 34:4—I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.
Psalm 50:15—Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.
Hebrews 4:16—Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to
help in time of need.
¾ It can be a struggle…
If you have a tough struggle getting the victory, it may be because the Lord is testing you to find out how
much you want it, and how much you're willing to fight for it before He's going to reward you with it. But if you do
your part, the Lord will certainly do His, and you will win!—So don't give up!
1 Timothy 6:12—Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have
confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
Ephesians 6:10–11—Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. (11) Put on the
whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
Galatians 6:9—And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose
heart.
¾ Keep trying!
Having prayed for the Lord to help you overcome a certain problem doesn't mean you will now
automatically do all the right things—especially if you've had a certain habit or attitude for any length of time.
When you realize that you are wrong about something and you repent and the Lord delivers you, you start out again
with a clean slate. But because your thought patterns have gone in a certain direction so long or you have some sort
of negative habits, you have to learn to do things differently, and even to think differently in many areas.
It may take some falling and getting up again before you can walk very far without stumbling. In this
sense, you may have to pay for your sins by continuing to fight them for a while. But if you keep persevering, the
Lord will reward your determination—sometimes so quickly, it's truly miraculous—and you'll find you're hindered
less and less by those old habits cropping up.
Proverbs 24:16a—For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again.
Proverbs 4:18—But the path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day.
"Go to the ant!"
"Go to the ant, … consider her ways and be wise" (Proverbs 6:6).
One king used to relate to his friends an anecdote of his early life. "I once was forced to take
shelter from my enemies in a ruined building, where I sat alone many hours," he said. "Desiring to divert
my mind from my hopeless condition, I fixed my eyes on an ant that was carrying a grain of corn larger
than itself up a high wall. I numbered the efforts it made to accomplish this object. The grain fell 69 times
to the ground; but the insect persevered, and the 70th time it reached the top! This sight gave me courage
at the moment, and I never forgot the lesson."
¾ Be positive
Philippians 4:8—Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are
just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any
virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.
We all go through experiences sometimes where we think negative thoughts instead of listening to the
Lord. If your thoughts are not according to His Word, or cause you to be discontent or bitter, dissatisfied or
unhappy or critical of yourself or others—these things are not of the Lord, and you must rebuke the Enemy in Jesus'
name when he tempts you with these kinds of negative thoughts.
I John 4:1—Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false
prophets have gone out into the world.
Romans 12:9b—Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.
A lot of people feel bad because they think an unloving or sinful thought. But as the saying goes, "Even
though you can't keep the birds from flying over your head, you can keep them from making a nest in your hair!"
Thinking the thought is not sin; it is the dwelling on it and letting it fester in your mind that is. Resist all such
negative thoughts and think positively!
When a room is dark, you don't go around trying to chase the darkness out of the room.—You let the light
in and the light chases out the dark! Fill your mind with the Light of God's Word and the darkness will flee. The
way to get rid of temptations and negative thoughts is to think of good things, Godly things. Read your Bible, pray,
think about Jesus, and then you don't even have time to think the other thoughts.—Which is why Isaiah says,
Isaiah 26:3—You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.
If you watch your thoughts and watch your words and fill your heart and mind with the Lord and His
Word, you will be well protected and fortified and surrounded by God's angels of protection, and you will be freed
from the Enemy's critical and confusing static and negative accusations and doubts.
A positive outlook
Among the students at a well-known college there was a young man who had to get about on
crutches. He had an unusual talent for friendliness and optimism and so won the deep respect of his
classmates. One day a student asked him what had caused his deformity. "Infantile paralysis," he replied
briefly, not wishing to elaborate on his difficulties.
"With a misfortune like that, how can you face the world so cheerfully?" inquired his classmate.
"Oh," replied the young man, smiling, "the disease never touched my heart."
Get your eyes on Jesus. Think about the Lord! Jesus is your best friend and He is the One who can help
you get the victory, whether over your personal problems or whatever obstacles you face.
Hebrews 12:1–3—Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside
every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
(2) looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the
cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (3) For consider Him who
endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.
Peter walks on the water—and almost sinks when he takes his eyes off the Lord!
Matthew 14:28–32—And Peter answered Him and said, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come
to You on the water." So He said, "Come." And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on
the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to
sink he cried out, saying, "Lord, save me!" And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him,
and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" And when they got into the boat, the wind
ceased.
L See Obstacles Are for Overcoming page 23, "Beauty for Ashes" for more on the Romans 8:28 principle.
It came to pass
In a testimony meeting in the South, an old Christian got up and said that she was always
encouraged by the words, "And it came to pass."
"When I am upset by troubles, I go to the Bible, and I never get far before I read ‘It came to pass.'
And I say, ‘Bless the Lord it didn't come to stay—it came to pass!'"
¾ Lifestyle
The purpose of this class is to help you evaluate your lifestyle according to God's standards. Let's start by
looking at something that Jesus said on this subject:
Matthew 6:19–21—Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where
thieves break in and steal; (20) but lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where neither moth nor rust
destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. (21) For where your treasure is, there your heart will be
also.
Matthew 6:25–34—Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will
drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? (26)
Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds
them. Are you not of more value than they?(27) Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?(28) So
why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; (29)
and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. (30) Now if God so
clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe
you, O you of little faith? (31) Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?' or ‘What shall we drink?' or
‘What shall we wear?' (32) For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you
need all these things. (33) But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be
added to you. (34) Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things.
Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
¾ The Lord wants us to discern between what is of Him and what is not
Romans 12:9b—Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.
Job 34:4—Let us choose justice for ourselves; let us know among ourselves what is good.
Isaiah 7:15—Know to refuse the evil and choose the good.
1 Peter 3:11—Let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it.
The most important thing to gain from this class is the principle of discerning or identifying which are
God's ways and which are the world's so that you can make the right choices in your day-to-day life. There are
many examples of contrasting values and we're going to look at just a few that illustrate this important principle.
Section 2: Spiritual Riches vs. Material Wealth
Is money the most important thing?
Does having enough money to obtain the latest gadgets, the fastest car, the most fashionable clothes, the
biggest house, the most advanced computer, or the widest-screen TV bring happiness?
Ecclesiastes 5:10—He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver; nor he who loves abundance, with
increase. This also is vanity.
Ecclesiastes 5:12—The sleWp of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eats little or much; but the abundance of
the rich will not permit him to sleep.
Bigger barns
Luke 12:16–21—Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: "The ground of a certain rich man
yielded plentifully. (17) And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to
store my crops?' (18) So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will
store all my crops and my goods. (19) And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for
many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry."' (20) But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your
soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?' (21) So is he who
lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God."
The rich man in this parable wanted to build bigger buildings, which was not so bad in itself if he
had wanted to do it for the right reasons, but his purpose was to increase his goods for himself, not to
share with others. The reason his heart was in the barns was because the barns were in his heart.
Riches can be a gift from the Lord for which we should thank Him
Deuteronomy 8:11–18—Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His
commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today, (12) lest—when you have
eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them; (13) and when your herds and your
flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; (14) when
your heart is lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from
the house of bondage; (15) who led you through that great and terrible wilderness, in which were fiery
serpents and scorpions and thirsty land where there was no water; who brought water for you out of the
flinty rock; (16) who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers did not know, that He might
humble you and that He might test you, to do you good in the end; (17) then you say in your heart, ‘My
power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.' (18) And you shall remember the Lord your
God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore
to your fathers, as it is this day.
Examples of giving
Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity help countless thousands of deprived and needy people
throughout the globe. Following are some examples as told by Mother Teresa of those who have
contributed to her work:
The other day, two friends of mine came to see me. They brought a large amount of money to use
for feeding the poor. I asked them, "Where did you get all that money?" They answered, "We were
married two days ago, but before that we decided not to have a large wedding banquet. As a witness of
our love for each other, we wanted to bring this money to Mother Teresa."
Not so long ago a very wealthy lady came to see me. She sat down and told me, "I would like to
share in your work." I said, "That is fine." The poor woman had a weakness that she confessed to me. "I
love elegant saris." (A sari is the usual garment worn by women in India.) Indeed, she had on a very
expensive sari that probably cost around eight hundred rupees. Mine cost only eight rupees. Hers cost
one hundred times more. It occurred to me to say to her, "I would start with the saris. The next time you
go buy one, instead of paying eight hundred rupees, buy one that costs five hundred. Then with the extra
three hundred rupees, buy saris for the poor." The woman now wears 100-rupee saris, and she would
wear even cheaper ones except I asked her not to buy them. She has confessed to me that this has
changed her life. She now knows what it means to share.
The other day I received fifteen dollars from a man who has been paralyzed for twenty years. The
paralysis only allows him the use of his right hand. The only company he tolerates is tobacco. He told me,
"I have stopped smoking for a week. I'm sending you the money I've saved from cigarettes."
Points to consider
What are examples of how money can be used to help others?
The Lord promises to bless us when we give to others. Have you seen examples of this in your own life?
How do you think God's economic standard ("give and it shall be given to you") compares with the
worldly commercial system?
Can you think of practical ways to adjust your budgeting so that you can give more to others?
Following the dictates of fashion can be harmful to health, plus a waste of money and time
There's nothing wrong with looking nice, but today things are getting out of hand. Some people go to
extremes to adjust their looks, just so they can be what they think is more beautiful. It's gotten so far out of hand
these days that in some places it's even fashionable to use plastic surgery or dyes to snip it, tuck it, inflate it, deflate
it, color it—you name it!
When someone gets so immersed and obsessed with fashion and fads, it can grow and grow until that's all
they can think about.
Psalm 1:1—Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of the scornful.
In contrast, God's beauty is simplicity
Real beauty is more than skin deep:
1 Peter 3:4—Rather let it [beauty] be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle
and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.
Psalm 90:17a—And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us.
Proverbs 31:30—Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be
praised.
Points to consider
What do you think is taken to an extreme as far as diets, clothing, etc?
How can you make the right choices as far as clothing and style? Some questions you may want to ask
yourself include: Is this style appropriate in my culture? Can I afford this? Are advertisements sweeping me up or
do I genuinely need this item? Can you think of other guidelines?
Section 4: God's Guidance vs. Media Manipulation
Music, TV, films, books—how does the Lord see them? Let's look first at music.
The wonders of music
The Lord loves music. He created it for our listening pleasure as well as a vehicle for His message. He also
created certain kinds of music for fun and enjoyment—tunes that strike a chord in our hearts to thrill us and
energize us to dance and jump for joy. David of old "danced before the Lord with all his might" (2 Samuel
6:14a).—And then there are melodies that comfort us in time of trial, Heavenly notes that float into our hearts to
heal and soothe, just as David played music:
1 Samuel 16:23— [He] would take a harp and play it with his hand. Then Saul would become refreshed and
well.
Music plays an important role in our lives. It touches emotions that sometimes even words cannot express.
It's a beautiful expression of the heart and has a special communication with the precious inner feelings the Lord
has placed within each one of us. It can be a very emotional experience, both good and bad.
Some music can bring warmth and calmness, clarity of thought and inspiration.—Other music can bring on
confusion, aggression and depression.
***
Addressing a United Nations-sponsored conference on education in Melbourne, Ms. Diane
Tilmann, an American educational psychologist, cited recent United States statistics on television viewing
habits which found that the average 11-year-old had watched 10,000 murders on television.
Points to consider
What influences you more: Television programs, music, the Internet, or magazines and newspapers?
Give examples of when you noticed a positive or negative change in your mood after watching a movie.
Which music do you like to listen to because it influences you in a good way and cheers you up when
you're down?
Points to consider
Consider the principle, "love, humility, and prayer solve all problems." How could that be applied to solve
the conflicts that are currently raging?
The story of Nebuchadnezzar: "Those who walk in pride He is able to put down."
See Daniel chapter 4.
Big heads
A proud man asked a farmer: "Why don't you hold up your head in the world? I bow my head
before neither God nor man!"
Answered the wise farmer: "Do you see that field of grain? Only the heads of grain which are
empty stand upright. The well-filled ones bow their heads!"
God creates out of nothing. Therefore, until a man is nothing, God can make nothing out of him
(Martin Luther).
Points to consider
Consider the differences in Jesus' example of leadership compared with many world leaders today.
Consider how these principles might apply on a more everyday level such as in the workplace, in the
schoolroom, in the home.
"Foolishness to God"
Turning to foolishness can be a result of rejecting the Lord.
Jeremiah 8:9—The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken. Behold, they have rejected the word of
the Lord; so what wisdom do they have?
Psalm 14:1—The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, they have done abominable
works, there is none who does good.
In time we will see clearly what was God's wisdom and what was not!
Ecclesiastes 12:10–14—The Preacher sought to find acceptable words; and what was written was upright—
words of truth. (11) The words of the wise are like goads, and the words of scholars are like well-driven nails,
given by one Shepherd. (12) And further, my son, be admonished by these. Of making many books there is no end,
and much study is wearisome to the flesh. (13) Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: fear God and keep
His commandments, for this is man's all. (14) For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret
thing, whether good or evil
Ending note
¾ Evaluation
We've looked briefly at a variety of subjects. You can see that God's ways of looking at things around us
are often different from the viewpoints held by much of society. If we are prayerful and consider the guidelines
given in the Word, we can learn to discern between that which pleases God and is therefore good for us, and that
which isn't.
How do you apply this principle in your life? Take a little time over the coming week to pray about and
evaluate some area of your life—perhaps what you do for recreation, what music you listen to, what budget you
have for clothing, and so on. On the basis of what you've seen in His Word, how do you measure up? Is there
anything you need to change?
12 Foundation Stones—Class 12B
What Is His Will?
Going God's Way, Part 2
Section 1: God's Will for You
What's important?
It was reported that eleven millionaires went down on the RMS Titanic. Major A. H. Peuchen left
$300,000 in money, jewelry, and securities in a box in his cabin. "The money seemed a mockery at that
time," he later said. "I picked up three oranges instead."
In His care
A young lady stood talking to an evangelist on the subject of consecration. "I dare not give myself
wholly to the Lord," she said, "for fear He will send me out to China."
The man of God said: "If some cold, snowy morning a little bird should come, half frozen, pecking
at your window, and should let you take it in and feed it, thereby putting itself entirely in your power, what
would you do? Would you grip it in your hand and crush it? Or would you give it shelter, warmth, food,
and care?"
A new light came into the girl's eyes. "Ah, I see, I see!" And her face shone as she went away.
Later she again met the clergyman and recalled to him the incident. With a countenance all aglow with
joy, she said, "And, do you know, I am going to China!"
¾ 1. The Word
2 Timothy 2:15—Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed,
rightly dividing the word of truth.
2 Timothy 3:16—All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for
correction, for instruction in righteousness.
The first place we look for the will of God is in the Word of God. This is the known, sure, absolute,
revealed will of God. You don't have to have any doubts about it. This is it! If God never tells you another thing
than what He has already written, if you just operate according to the Bible, you'll get along great!
¾ 3. Revelations
What do you think would be the next surest indication of the will of God?—A direct revelation: a
prophecy, dream or vision.
The Lord sometimes reveals His will through prophecy and revelations.
Ezekiel 3:10—Moreover He said to me: "Son of man, receive into your heart all My words that I speak to you,
and hear with your ears."
1 Corinthians 14:31—For you can all prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all may be encouraged.
God sometimes reveals His will through dreams:
Job 33:15, 26—In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls upon men, while slumbering on their
beds ... (26) he shall pray to God, and He will delight in him, he shall see His face with joy, for He restores to man
his righteousness.
Acts 2:17—And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream
dreams.
Caution regarding determining God's will only by dreams:
Ecclesiastes 5:3—For a dream comes through much activity, and a fool's voice is known by his many words.
God sometimes reveals His will through visions. A vision is when God flashes a picture in your mind's
eye:
Numbers 12:6—Hear now My words: if there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, make Myself known to him in
a vision; I speak to him in a dream.
Hosea 12:10—I have also spoken by the prophets, and have multiplied visions; I have given symbols through the
witness of the prophets.
However you receive your revelation—whether through a prophecy, a dream or a vision—you have to
measure your revelation against the Word. Be sure that direct revelation does not contradict the Word of God.
In these last days the Lord is using prophecy more than ever to help us not only determine His will and
guidance but also to provide feeding instruction. Prophecy is an enormous subject on its own and so we have
covered it in detail in an earlier class. In this class we are pointing it out as only one of three ways of receiving
direct revelation. This should be taken in relationship to this particular class. Prophecy should not just be relegated
to a minor role in your lives but rather given the prominence that the Lord is emphasizing today.
¾ 6. Personal desires
Psalm 37:4—Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.
Proverbs 16:1—The preparations of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.
At times when you feel a strong desire or longing to do something, go somewhere, or see someone, it may
be that God put that feeling in your heart. When you are pleasing the Lord, He often puts the desire within your
heart to do the thing that will make both you and Him happy. He is willing to fulfill your particular wishes as a part
of His plan for you.
When our desires, wants and wishes are good for us, then He usually gives them to us. Or when our
dreams, goals, ambitions, and aspirations will bring us and others happiness, He usually lets us fulfill them.
However, if our personal desires aren't a part of the Lord's plan for us, and He knows that something won't be good
for us, then it's wise to listen to Him and follow Him, because He knows best. He can see the past, the present, and
the future. He's the only One who's all-knowing, all powerful, all seeing, and ever present to help us in our times of
need, and in our times of decision making.
If you have a special dream or desire that you want to fulfill in your life, if you're following God, your
wishes may very well be within His will. Why not ask Him?—He'll show you what to do! He'll show you what's
best!
¾ 7. "Fleeces"
Sometimes to find God's will you can ask for a specific sign or indication. This we call a fleece, a term
taken from the story of Gideon in the Old Testament.
Gideon was one of the more notable leaders of the children of Israel in the period following their conquest
of Canaan. When God called him to fulfill a certain mission, he argued with the angel God sent, because he didn't
think he was the right man for the job. He eventually consented, but in order to be sure that it was God that was
speaking to him, he asked God for a sign.
Judges 6:36–40—So Gideon said to God, "If You will save Israel by my hand as You have said—(37) look, I
shall put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground,
then I shall know that You will save Israel by my hand, as You have said." (38) And it was so. When he rose early
the next morning and squeezed the fleece together, he wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowlful of water. (39)
Then Gideon said to God, "Do not be angry with me, but let me speak just once more: Let me test, I pray, just
once more with the fleece; let it now be dry only on the fleece, but on all the ground let there be dew." (40) And
God did so that night. It was dry on the fleece only, but there was dew on all the ground.
The Lord doesn't always give signs like He did for Gideon, but sometimes He uses them to give us a
needed boost. You can't always expect such a confirmation, nor can you rely on "fleeces" alone, as they aren't
always a sure an indicator of God's will. However, if you have tried all of the other ways to find God's will and
believe He is leading you in a certain direction, "fleeces" can be helpful as a confirmation.
If you ask God for a sign, you need to ask in faith, being willing to act upon whatever the outcome is.
Asking God for a sign or "putting out a fleece" is equivalent to making a contract, an agreement between you and
the Lord, and you need to fulfill your part of the bargain.
¾ You don't find God's will by just sitting around doing nothing.
If, after trying all these ways, you still can't find the will of God, go ahead and do something. You will
soon find out whether it is His will or not. Pray for God to lead you, and start. A boat has to be in motion before the
rudder can take effect.
¾ You should also bear in mind that sometimes God's will and plans are
conditional.
For instance, perhaps you have prayed and feel that it is God's plan for you to start a Bible study group and
include a certain friend. You offer him a New Testament to help him in his search for truth. But if your friend
refuses the book and doesn't want to read it, the Lord may show you an alternative route for starting the Bible
study. In this case the overall plan the Lord gave you is still applicable, but because of your friend's choice, the
details change.
Matthew 10:13—If the household is worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace
return to you.
L There is more counsel in the Making Great Decisions book. You can also fin several relevant Bible studies in
Discovering Truth—Bible Basics: "How to Find the Will of God" (pages 85–95) and "Giving" (pages 80–84).
¾ Let's do it!
May God help us all to not only find His will, but to do it!
John 13:17—If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.
12 Foundation Stones - Class 13
Completing the Course
Introduction
Perhaps you also remember the four qualities that we discussed would be needed for this journey:
Vision—Vision to see what others can't see.
Faith—Faith to believe what others don't believe.
Initiative—Initiative to be willing to start the journey, to put your faith into action!
Courage—Courage to see it through to the end.
Congratulations on making it to the completion of this particular journey! It shows you had the vision,
faith, initiative, and courage that were needed!
Now we'd like to take a few minutes to look back at some of the "places we visited" and what we learned
en route. We're going to do this with a review of the classes and a questionnaire.
"Examine Yourself"
This questionnaire is between you and the Lord! We are passing this out so you can have a way of
evaluating how much of the material we've covered in this course you have understood, remembered and put into
action. Have you reached the targets?
This "self-evaluation examination paper" is for you to keep. But please also send it to us so that we will
know you’ve completed it.
1 Corinthians 11:28a—Let a man examine himself.
2 Corinthians 13:5a—Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves.
Once we receive this paper back from you, we’ll be sending you the 12 Foundation Stones diploma!
Ephesians 3:16–19—That He [the Lord] would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened
with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being
rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and
depth and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness
of God.
Conclusion
¾ What's next!
When we began this course, we explained that the classes are foundation stones. Each foundation stone
goes into detail on areas of faith and Biblical or practical knowledge that you can build the house of your Christian
life upon. Each class should bring change in your life, and inspire you to bring change to others. Remember that
these foundation stones are to help you build a life that reaches out to others.
The Lord has entrusted you with the riches of His Words:
Romans 11:33a—Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
Now you have a responsibility to put those riches to good use, and to share what you have learned with
others.
2 Timothy 2:2—And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men
who will be able to teach others also.
We've come to the end of this course, but not to the end of the road! What is the Lord leading you to do
next? How can you put what you've learned into action? Do you want to learn more? These are questions to ask
yourself and we'd be happy to hear from you about them.
“Examine Yourself”
This questionnaire is between you and the Lord! We are passing this out so you can have a way
of evaluating how much of the material we’ve covered in this course you have understood, remem-
bered, and put into action. Have you reached the targets?
This “self-evaluation examination paper” is for you to keep. Nobody else is going to look at
the answers. It’s to help you evaluate your own relationship with the Lord, and the answers are
between you and Him!
1 Corinthians 11:28a—Let a man examine himself.
2 Corinthians 13:5a—Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves.
3. Have you read through at least one of the Gospels? (Matthew, Mark, Luke or John) Y N
Examine Yourself
7. Do you understand that the main purpose for the Holy Spirit is to empower us to share our faith with others? Y N
11. Have you asked the Lord for any specific requests?Y N
Examine Yourself
15. Have you asked the Lord for the gift of prophecy? Y N
17. The last time you were faced with a difficult decision, did you ask the Lord about it? Y N
Examine Yourself
19. Have you found any improvement in your relationships with your friends, family, and colleagues? Y N
21. Have you gone out of your way to help someone else at least once in the past month? Y N
23. Do you know, by and large, the order of the books of the Bible? Y N
25. When you read the Bible, do you look for ways to apply what you’re reading to your life? Y N
Examine Yourself
27. Do you believe that God can reveal the future to His prophets? Y N
Examine Yourself
31. Do you enjoy taking a little time with Jesus, talking and/or singing to Him, and letting Him speak to you? Y N
33. Do you understand that your salvation is a gift of God, not something that you worked for?Y N
35. Have you ever told anyone how they can be saved and go to Heaven?Y N
Examine Yourself
37. Are you aware that we are surrounded by a “cloud of witnesses” who help, guide and encourage us? Y N
41. Do you have any tracts or literature with you right now? Y N
Examine Yourself
45. Have you found ways to help others with the lessons you’ve learned? Y N
(Class 12A) Going God’s Way, Part 1: What Are the Stan-
dards?
Summary: God’s ways are often different to those of society. We looked at some examples of differ-
ent standards, comparing God’s ways as described in the Word, and the world’s. The aim was to help
us all evaluate our habits, modes of recreation and way of living according to God’s standards.
Target: Understand God’s ways!
Key verse: Colossians 3:2—Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.
46. Do the music you prefer to listen to, and the TV programs and movies that you watch, encourage you and leave you
feeling uplifted? Y N
Examine Yourself