Foundational Principles #3
FOUNDATIONAL PRINCIPLES # 3
October 21st and 22nd, 2000
Hebrews 5 & 6
Chapter 5
13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness.
14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
Chapter 6
1 ¶ Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God,
2 instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.
3 And God permitting, we will do so.
Review:
We talked about repentance from dead works, faith in God, and doctrine of baptisms last week. We said that Spirit-Filled Christianity is normal Christianity.
-We are going on this week and it is interesting that the message very much fits the drama.
-Remember where we are going with this whole series as we take the necessary steps to get there.
-We are headed towards freedom from the dark side. It begins with maturity and ends with authority. We need to take our authority over the devil.
-The whole idea is to apply this to where it fits in your life.
-Don’t just memorize and learn it but DO IT.
Today:
4. LAYING ON OF HANDS
-This seems like an odd thing to put in as a foundational principle.
-It obviously had a bigger place in the Bible and the early church than it has in our culture.
De 34:9 ¶ Now Joshua son of Nun was filled with the spirit {Or Spirit} of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him….
Le 4:15 The elders of the community are to lay their hands on the bull's head before the LORD, and the bull shall be slaughtered before the LORD.
Mark 16:18
“… they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well."
Ac 8:17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
Ac 8:18 When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money
Ac 8:19 and said, "Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit."
Ac 9:12 In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight."
Ac 9:17 Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord--Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here--has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit."
Ac 13:3 So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.
-You get the point. There is certainly something to laying on of hands.
-It was used to transfer guilt in the Old Testament.
-It was used to ordain people to ministry in the O.T. and N.T.
-It was used to minister healing by Jesus and His disciples.
-It was used to minister the Baptism in the Holy Spirit.
-It was used to impart spiritual gifts.
2Ti 1:6 ¶ For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.
(NIV)
-Why laying on of hands?
-He could have said the laying on of feet. Why are hands significant?
-That is simply the ways God chooses to work.
-Hands are seen as an extension of the people themselves.
-This isn’t something that just the preacher does but that everyone does. These signs follow believers!
-This is we do IN FAITH. You have to believe that God is working through you.
-We should be doing this in our families.
-Impart blessing. See yourself as an extension of the ministry of Jesus!
5.THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD
Heb 9:27 Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment,
(NIV)
Ec 12:7 and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
-We are having the drama this week and it focuses on what happens after someone dies.
-There is a fate that awaits both saint and sinner after death.
-First, the Bible dispels any idea that there is another chance. We are destined to die once.
-Reincarnation isn’t Biblical.
-You die once, then face judgement.
Ge 25:8 Then Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, an old man and full of years; and he was gathered to his people.
Ge 49:33 When Jacob had finished giving instructions to his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed, breathed his last and was gathered to his people.
Ephesians 3
14 ¶ For this reason I kneel before the Father,
15 from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name.
-I like that perspective on death. You are still part of the family of God and you are being gathered to not just gathered from something.
-Paul said to die is gain and it is better by far to die and be with Christ.
-Jesus said: "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies;
and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" (John 11)
-We need to conquer any fear of death. The Bible says Jesus set us free from the fear of death.
1 Corinthians 15 describes the changes we will undergo when we switch bodies:
· From corruptible to incorruptible
· From mortal to immortal
· From dishonor to honor
· From dead to alive
· From natural to supernatural
-There is coming a resurrection from the dead.
For the righteous:
1 Thessalonians 4
13 ¶ Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope.
14 We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.
15 According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.
16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord for ever.
18 Therefore encourage each other with these words.
-The best way to define death is with the word “SEPARATION”.
-You don’t cease to exist when you die…..you are separated from life.
John 17
3 Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
-Life is knowing God. It is relating to the author of life.
-Death is to be separated from that life.
Spiritual death-to be cut off from God
Physical death – to be separated from your body
Eternal death-to be separated from God eternally
2 Thessalonians 1
6 God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you
7 and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels.
8 He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
9 They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power
-That brings us to the next subject. We are all going to be raised from the dead….some to life and some to more death.
6. ETERNAL JUDGMENT
-We have to look at this because it is very Biblical. Jesus talked about hell.
-He warned us about not going there.
Daniel 12
2 Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.
3 Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.
-The word of judgement is “krisis”. It means separation then a decision.
-There are several types of judgments mentioned in the Bible.
1. JUDGMENT OF THE BELIEVER’S SINS
Joh 3:18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. {Or God's only begotten Son}
(NIV)
1Ti 5:24 The sins of some men are obvious, reaching the place of judgment ahead of them; the sins of others trail behind them.
(NIV)
-Our sins where placed on Jesus and we turned them loose.
2. JUDGMENT OF THE BELIEVER’S SELF
1 Corinthians 11
31 But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment.
32 When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.
-We ought to judge ourselves so that we are constantly repenting.
-Steve Foster said all pilots are taught this phrase:
“Straight and level flight is just a series of small corrections.”
3.JUDGMENT OF THE BELIEVER’S WORKS
2 Corinthians 5
10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due to him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
2 Corinthians
10 By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds.
11 ¶ For no-one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.
12 If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw,
13 his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work.
14 If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward.
15 If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.
-We all appear before Jesus to give an account for what we have done with our gifts and talents.
· The crown of life
· An imperishable crown
· Crown of exultation
· Crown of righteousness
· Crown of glory
4.Judgment of the Nations
Matthew 25
31 ¶ "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory.
32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
5. Judgment of the Wicked-The White Throne Judgment
Revelation 20
11 ¶ Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them.
12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.
13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done.
14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death.
15 If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
-Jesus died because He didn’t want anyone to go there.
-You can’t have a Biblical faith and deny hell.