QUESTIONS & ANSWERS (94)

Victor M. Eskew

 

INTRODUCTION

 

A.     I saw a book the other day entitled:  Why Does Popcorn Pop? by Don Voorhees.

1.        The subtitle of the book is:  “…and 201 other Fascinating Facts about Food.”

2.       He dedicates the book to Eric and Dana, chocolate milk, pizza, and ice cream.

3.       The chapters range from “Surf and Turf” to “Eat Your Greens” to “Junk Food” to “Chop Suey.”

 

B.      Let’s look at three questions about popcorn.

1.        Who is the most successful person to have sold popcorn?  Orville Reddenbacher

2.       Which has more fat?  A tub of popcorn at the movies or a Big Mac?  Popcorn

3.       Why does popcorn pop?  The kernel has a food storage liner called an endosperm.  When the cooking temperature reaches 400 degrees, the kernel expands, the endosperm violently ruptures, and the kernel becomes several times its original size.

 

C.      We are talking about food in our Q&A lesson this morning.  It is not physical food, but spiritual food.  Jesus and His words are the manna from above that bring everlasting life (See John 6:47-51).

 

I.                   QUESTION #1:  Many are called, but few are chosen

 

A.     Question:  What did Jesus mean in Matthew 20:16, when He said, “For many are called, but few are chosen.”

 

B.      Answer:

1.        Matthew 20:16

 

So the last shall be first, and the first last:  for many be called, but few are chosen.

 

2.       Several points:

a.       God wants all men to be saved.

1)       1 Timothy 2:4

 

Who will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

 

2)      According to 2 Corinthians 5:14-15, Christ died for all.

b.      God calls lost men and women to come to Him by the gospel (2 Thess. 2:14).

 

Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

c.       Man has the option of heeding the call or rejecting the call (Acts 13:46).

1)       Paul and Barnabas were in the city of Antioch in Pisidia.

2)      They preached the gospel in the synagogue to the Jews first (Acts 13:14, 44).

3)      Instead of accepting the Word of God, the Jews rejected it.

 

Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you:  but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.

 

4)      These individuals were called, but they were not chosen.

5)      NOTE:  It has been said that God only chooses them that choose Him.

d.      Sadly, the gospel is rejected by most individuals.  Only a few will hear the message and accept it.  Thus, many are called, but few are chosen.

3.       If you have obeyed the gospel, and, if you have been added by the Lord to His church, then you are one of the called.

a.       You are one of the few.

b.      You need to count your blessings that the opportunity came your way and you took advantage of it.

c.       Please, don’t be part of the called, and then fall away.  What a shame that would be.

 

II.                QUESTION #2:  Forgiving others

 

A.     Stated:

1.        What does Matthew 6:14-15 mean?

2.       How do you go about forgiving someone that helped ruin your life?

 

B.      Answer:

1.        Let’s read Matthew 6:14-15.

 

For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:  but if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

 

2.       A study of forgiveness:

a.       In the context, the Lord teaches that the forgiveness of sins is conditioned on more things that just initial obedience to the gospel.  It is also conditioned upon our willingness to forgive others.

b.      We often teach that when another sins against us, we are to extend a “free blanket of forgiveness” unto them.

c.       Luke 17: 3 provides some supplemental information about this subject.

 

Take heed to yourselves:  If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him.

 

1)       Our forgiveness of another person is based upon the condition that the individual repents.

2)      NOTE:  If he does not repent, we do not have to forgive him.

3)      QUESTION:  Does God forgive men unconditionally? 

a)      Absolutely not!  If he forgave unconditionally, then all men would be saved.

b)     Two verses:

-          Acts 2:38

 

Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins…

 

-          I John 1:9

 

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

 

c)      We cannot be more forgiving than God is.  His forgiveness is conditional and so is ours.

d.      What about Jesus on the cross of Calvary?

1)       The first saying of Jesus on the cross was:  “Father, forgiven them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).

2)      Jesus was demonstrating a forgiving spirit toward these individuals. 

3)      If all of them were forgiven, then Peter really messed up on Pentecost. 

a)      He accused them of killing the Christ (Acts 2:23).

 

Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain.

 

b)     If they were forgiven by Jesus on Calvary, why did Peter bring the issue up?

c)      Peter also told them to repent and be baptized in order to obtain the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38).

d)     Why would they need to do this if they had been forgiven by Jesus?

3.       If I were counseling a person who made this statement, we would discuss the last part of the question:  “…that helped ruin your life.”

a.       The word “ruined” is a strong word.  It means “to reduce to a fallen, wrecked, or decayed condition.”

b.      Most people’s lives are never ruined by another.

1)       They are made extremely difficult.

2)      They are made less profitable.

3)      They are less happy and enjoyable than they could have been.

4)      But, it is difficult to ruin the life of another.

c.       Many individuals move forward and have good lives.

1)       They have a job and a home.

2)      They have precious children.

3)      They find happiness in other relationships.

4)      They find true joy if they have found Jesus Christ.

d.      Sometimes a person’s life is better when the troubler is out of it than it would have been had the individual stayed.

 

III.              QUESTION #3:  1 Corinthians 3:16-17

 

A.     Stated:

1.        One individual asked what 1 Corinthians 3:16 means.

2.       Another asked what 1 Corinthians 3:17 means.

 

B.      Answer:

1.        1 Corinthians 3:16-17

 

Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?  If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

 

2.       This discussion goes all the way back to the opening verses of the chapter.

a.       Paul was addressing the envying, strife, and division that existed in the church (1 Cor. 3:3).

b.      They were divided over those who had taught them and baptized them into Christ (1 Cor. 3:4).

 

For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?

 

c.       Paul wanted them to know that the ministers were just servants of God (1 Cor. 3:5) and that it was God who was providing the increase (1 Cor. 3:6).

 

So then neither is he that planeth anything, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.

 

d.      He reminded them that they are building “God’s building,” the temple, in 1 Cor. 3:9-17.

1)       Twice in verses 16 and 17, he reminds them they are God’s temple.

a)      “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God…”

b)     “…which temple ye are.”

c)      NOTE:  This figure reflects back to the physical temple in Jerusalem.   The difference is that it is a living temple, that is, composed of the Christians who are living stones in the temple (See 1 Pet. 2:5, 9)

2)      The temple is of utmost importance.

a)      It contained the presence of God.  “…and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you.”

b)     It is a holy temple.  It has been purified and set aside for a holy purpose for God Almighty.

c)      Christians minister in this temple offering up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God and showing forth the praise of Him that called us out of darkness into His marvelous light.

e.       The strife and division that existed in the church at Corinth was destroying the holiness and the purpose of the temple of God. 

1)       This was a serious matter.

2)      Those who engaged in such activity would be destroyed by God.  “If any man defileth the temple of God, him shall God destroy.”

f.        LESSON:  God views the church as His temple, His building.  It is supposed to be treated with the utmost respect and awe.  Every Christian needs to take heed how he/she is treating the temple of God.  Sin, disrespect, half-hearted service all bring harm to God’s temple.  God will hold those who harm His temple in any way accountable.

 

CONCLUSION

 

A.     Three questions have been considered in this lesson.

1.        One revolved around our treatment of God’s temple, the church.

2.       One centered upon our forgiveness of others.  If they repent, we are to forgive willingly and constantly.

3.       One focused upon the called.  These are the ones who heard the call of the gospel and obey it. 

 

B.      The word “church” means “the called out ones.”

1.        God adds the saved to the body (Acts 2:47).

2.       Those who obey the gospel are baptized into one body (1 Cor. 12:13).

3.       The Lord sets the members in the body as it pleases Him (1 Cor. 12:18).

4.      God delivers us out of the power of darkness and translates us into the kingdom of His dear Son (Col. 1:13).

 

C.      Are you in the body of Christ?

If you are a living stone in the temple, are you harming that temple in any way?