OceanSide church of Christ

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QUESTIONS & ANSWERS (67)

Victor M. Eskew

 

INTRODUCTION

 

A.    In the roles we occupy in life, we ask a lot of questions.  Take for instance, the role of a mother.  She often asks:

1.      Who did it?

2.      Why did you do that?

3.      Didn’t I tell you?

4.      Where’s your brother/sister?

5.      Do you want me to tell your father what you are doing?

 

B.      Fortunately, when it comes to Bible questions, we do not ask the same ones over and over and over like a mom has to.

 

C.     Today is Q&A Sunday.  Let’s look at several questions that have been given to us.

 

I.                   QUESTION #1:  I John 4:18

 

A.    Stated:  Please explain I John 4:18

 

B.      Answer:

1.      I John 4:18

 

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear:  because fear hath torment.  He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

 

2.      In this verse, John provides the remedy for fear when facing the judgment.  We say this because of the verse that precedes this verse (I John 4:17).

 

Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment:  because as he is, so are we in this world.

 

a.      “Perfect love casteth out fear.”

1)      Perfect

a)      Strong (5046):  complete

b)      Thayer:  wanting nothing necessary to completeness

2)      What “perfect love” is not.

a)      It is not simply a feeling of warmth for Jesus.

b)      It is not a personal assessment made with no standard of measurement.

c)      It is not absolute perfection of the individual.

3)      Perfect love involves two main elements:

a)      Dwelling in God (I John 4:16b)

 

…God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.

 

b)      Doing God’s will (I John 5:3)

 

For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments:  and his commandments are not grievous.

 

c)      When we are dwelling in God and when we are keeping His commandments, then we are as He is in the world. 

b.      If we have perfect love, then we have nothing to fear of God in the judgment. 

1)      We have pleased the Father.

2)      Our names are in the book of life.

3)      We will hear the words:  “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.

c.       The opposite is also true according to John.  “He that feareth is not made perfect in love.”  If you fear the judgment, it is either because you do not dwell in God or it is because you are nor keeping His commands.

3.      QUESTION:  Do you fear the judgment?

 

II.                QUESTION #2:  Thankful in Tragedy

 

A.    Stated:  How can I be thankful in the middle of tragedy?

 

B.      Answer:

1.      The conflict:

a.      When we think of being in tragedy, we think of all the negatives that go along with it:  sadness, confusion, pain, and perhaps anger.

b.      Because thanksgiving is a positive response toward God, we believe that we cannot have positive actions and negative emotions happening at the same time.  Not so!

2.      In the midst of tragedy, we can react positively with thanksgiving.

a.      We can give thanks that God is with us.

b.      We can give thanks for the development the tragedy will provide our Christian lives.

c.       We can give thanks for those who rally around us to support us.

d.      We can give thanks for the lessons that we will learn through this tragedy.

e.       We can give thanks that perhaps we are suffering like those gone by, even like our Lord Jesus Christ.

f.        We can give thanks for the open doors of opportunity our tragedy provides for us.

3.      NOTE:  We are not thankful for the tragedy itself.  But, that tragedy brings many other things into our lives for which we can be grateful.

4.      Two verses exhort us to give thanks always.

a.      Ephesians 5:20

 

Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

b.      I Thessalonians 5:18

 

In everything give thanks:  for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

 

III.             QUESTION #3:  Paul’s Conscience

 

A.    Stated:  Did Paul do wrong things without his conscience bothering him?

 

B.      Answer:

1.      Some of Paul’s actions:

a.      Paul consented unto Stephen’s death (Acts 8:1).

b.      Paul breathed out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord

(Acts 9:1)

c.       Paul persecuted the church of God and wasted it (Gal. 1:13).

d.      Paul admits to being a blasphemer, a persecutor and one who was injurious to the cause of Christ (I Tim. 1:13).

2.      Question:  Are the things Paul did in this list wrong?  Absolutely.

a.      He consented to the murder of an innocent person.

b.      He threatened and harmed good Christian people.

c.       He blasphemed, that is, spoke out against the Lord’s cause.

3.      Now, let’s read Acts 23:1.

 

And Paul, earnestly beholding the council, said, Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God unto this day.

 

a.      Notice that Paul said that He always had a clear conscience before God unto that very day when he stood before the Jewish council.

b.      He had a good conscience when he was persecuting, tormenting, and killing Christians. 

c.       So, the answer to our question is:  “Yes.”  Paul did wrong things without his conscience ever bothering him.

4.      Why was this the case?

a.      The definition of conscience:  “a feeling that originates in the mind that either approves or condemns our actions based on the training we have received.”

b.      Early in his life, Paul was trained in the Jew’s religion.

1)      Two verses:

a)      Acts 22:3

 

I am verily a man which man a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day.

 

b)      Philippians 3:5-6

 

Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; as touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.

 

c.       While Paul was persecuting Christians, his religious training in the Jewish religion was guiding him.

a.      Jesus was a fraud.

b.      The kingdom had not been established.

c.       Christianity was opposed to Judaism.

d.      Jewish Christians were in rebellion to God.

e.       The church was the enemy of the chosen people of God.

d.      With this thinking in his mind, his conscience never bothered him as he persecuted and killed Christians.  He believed he was doing the will of God.

5.      LESSON:  Our conscience should NEVER be our guide unless we know that it has been properly trained in the Word of God. 

a.      Notice that in such cases, the Word of God is our standard.

b.      We are either approved or condemned based upon what is written in the divine text.

 

 

 

CONCLUSION

 

A.    We have examined three questions.

1.      One had reference to a specific verse in the Bible that addressed perfect love and fear.

2.      One dealt with tragedy and thanksgiving.

3.      Our last question had to do with the conscience and proper training.

 

B.      In the religious realm, there is only one full-proof standard, the Word of God.

1.      Feelings should not guide us.

2.      Our conscience should not guide us.

3.      The creeds of men should not guide us.

4.      Traditions of men should not guide us.

5.      The majority should not guide us.

 

C.     None of these things will judge us in the last day.  Only the law of God will opened as the standard of judgment.  And, if we have abided therein, we will have nothing to fear on that day.