Bible Lesson 22

May God bless each and everyone of you as you read this lesson and apply it to your minds and your hearts. As always I am required to make the most of the time I have with you each lesson because of space limitations, so let?s get right into the lesson. Our text for today will come from Psalms 119, which is the longest Psalm in the Bible. I hope you all will study the entire Psalm because it deals with one theme, the Word of God.

I want to highlight one verse of this powerful Psalm as a springboard to our lesson today. The verse is verse 89 which says simply “For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven”. What a wonderful blessing for the Children of God to have His Word which we know as the Bible, that has been validated over and over again, throughout the Bible; but nowhere better than in this little verse.

This could well be the rock that Luther found, and where he stood that day to defy the cultural church of his day, and their self-serving heresy that, instead of calling God?s Children to a place of certainty and peace they were instead, revising what God has said to make it seem that it was all about man and what makes him feel good, in spite of his sin. I ran across a “so called” Church that had ascribed it?s way to that same kind of heresy the other day; and decided that we needed to answer their heresy with the truth of God.

Apparently what this group believed was, that the Word of God, in stead of being God?s absolute law, that it was given so that every person could use it and change it to satisfy his own needs.

The site that I?m referring to proclaimed that there may not be a hell at all, and that even if there is a hell, not many people will be there, since God is loving. There were other claims that were equally weird and which clearly contradicts the Word of God; however they all pointed to the fact that nobody should worry about how they live, because there will not be eternal punishment for those who do not obey the precepts of Almighty God. They gave no scripture to back up their heretical claims; but I suppose there are many today who would never take the time or make the effort to read the Bible and study it to see what God has said.

Jesus makes it crystal clear in Matthew 7:13-14, that there will be many that will go to hell, and only a few who will make the effort to know God through His only begotten Son Jesus Christ, and go to heaven.

There will be so many people in hell that hell has enlarged itself to accommodate the vast numbers that have neglected to gain the knowledge of God. (Isaiah 5:11-16). Christ preached that men should, if necessary to keep out of sin, take drastic measures, or go to extreme lengths.(Mark:9:43-48).

Second Peter chapter two and verses 1- 4, reminds us that, God did not spare the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell. God created the angels on a higher plane than man, so if God sent them to hell, He certainly would have no problem keeping His word to send us there. I know that many, when they hear preachers tell these lies about what the Bible has to say on certain subjects, fall over themselves to follow after that easy-believeism. I pray that none of you will ever be led astray by that kind of teachings.

Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, preached here on the earth, more about hell than He did about heaven. Jesus also constantly taught that the Bible was the Word of God: for instance, in His great High Priestly Prayer, In the Gospel of John chapter 17, and verse 17, Jesus asked the Father to Sanctify those who believed and obeyed; and He said “Thy Word is truth”.

Jesus in his preaching referred to the Old Testament on numerous occasions. Jesus assured the Apostle John, in Revelation chapter one and verse 18, that He held the keys to death and hell. Psalms 9:17 speaks to us concerning hell and says, “the wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God”.

God spoke to the religious leaders of Jerusalem, through the prophet Isaiah, concerning the very thing that we are learning here today; and God warned them about becoming complacent about the reality of hell and the fact that it was real, and waited on those who would not obey God, See Isaiah 28:14-18. Dear friends, do not bet your eternity upon something that is clearly not biblical.

God has said that His Word is absolute truth, that there is a hell to be sought and a hell to be shunned, that every Word of His Bible is the truth and that nothing can ever change it or set it aside. Our verse from Psalms 119:89 today makes it plain that God?s Word is settled in heaven. First Peter 1:25 tells us that the Word of the Lord endureth for ever.

With all that the Word of God says about judgment, and eternal punishment, and separation from God, can anyone imagine why we have so many who absolutely refuse to seriously study the Bible for themselves. We are a sloppy people, lazy in some ways, careless and even mindless to an extent; and as proof of what I just said, look around you, at Churches filled with people who have no idea about an organized theology, unwilling to open the Word of God and ask for God?s enlightenment. People who are crazy about movies, sports, material things, fads of all kinds; but who are so careless about their eternal lives.

Are we going to end up with a society that looks a lot like the buildings in our major cities, spots where pseudo-artists spray paint, or tattoo, or just spoil any place that they can find? Are we going to end up with the keystone of families, our future wives and mothers , who cannot talk without using fowl four-letter words, and who drink, smoke and use drugs? Are we going to end up as the destroyers of our family oriented, society; as we tolerate and overlook and accept and finally revel in the lifestyle that God says is an abomination to him? (Romans 1:21-32; Leviticus 20:13; Genesis 2:24; 1st Cor.6:9).

The church of our day could be doing what God created the Church to do, and that is not baby-sit our children, or play sports, or have garage sales, or any of that; but to teach it?s members to live in such a way as to glorify God and be a presence in their communities, which would cause the whole culture to be better, rather than to smile as it slides into hell in a hand basket. In closing let me restate for you, the Bible is God?s Word and God says in Psalms 119:89, that His Word is settled in Heaven. His Word speak volumes, about the certainty of heaven and hell. Heaven for those who trust and obey the Word and hell for those who are careless and tend to fly by the seat of their pants. Let me close by referring you to Psalms 19:7-11;13-14; and assuring you on the authority of God?s Word, that there is a hell and all that fail to know God through Jesus Christ will spend their eternity there.

Until next time,

may God bless and keep you

This is Bro. Bob