Introduction: Do you sometimes have a difficult time measuring
danger? When the Internet first began, I made sure that all sorts of
contact information for me was available because I thought the
Internet was the future of information sharing. Now, I realize that I
should be careful about having too much information on the Internet
because criminals can use it against me. Think about Facebook. It is
a tremendous tool to increase intimacy with your friends from the
past. They can “join” your life even if they are thousands of miles
away. Facebook does not give us this great gift for free. Instead,
it sells information about us to people who are not our friends. Have
you seen this before? Something that seems so friendly and benign has
an ulterior motive? Our lesson is about that this week. Let’s plunge
in to our study of the Bible and learn more!
- Satan
- Read Revelation 12:7-9. Is Satan real?
- What, according to these verses, is his work? (To
lead “the whole world astray.”) - Read Revelation 20:1-3. What has happened to Satan here?
(God’s angel stops Satan from his work of deception.) - What do these verses in Revelation 12 and 20 tell us
about Satan and his work? (Satan is real, his work is
to deceive us, and that work is ongoing.) - Read Genesis 3:1-3. Is this really a snake that is talking
to Eve? (Did you notice that both Revelation 12:9 and
Revelation 20:2 refer to Satan as “that ancient serpent.”
Satan is assuming the appearance of a beautiful snake to
try to lead Eve into sin.) - Why would Satan take this approach? Why not come to
Eve and say, “I’m the opposition party. God has not
trusted you with the truth or let you be like Him
knowing good and evil. Why don’t you join my side,
the side of knowledge, truth and justice?” (Satan’s
failure to take this approach shows us that part of
Satan’s deception is masking both his identity and
the nature of his work.) - Read 2 Corinthians 11:13-15. What are we told here about
Satan’s masking activities? (He wants us to believe he is
an “angel of light.”) - What point does this establish about “end time”
deceptions? (Satan started his deceptive work here by
masking his identity. We should expect that he will
continue.) - Do you know people who do not believe that Satan
exists? - Spirit Guides
- A few days ago, I listed to a prominent Christian medical
doctor. He had a patient who died. After the patient had
been dead for 40 minutes, the Holy Spirit inspired the
doctor to try to raise him to life. He prayed and shocked
the dead person, who revived and two days later regained
consciousness. The patient reported that he had gone to
hell, and that experience caused him to convert to
Christianity. What should we think about this story? I do
not doubt the honesty of this doctor. - Read Ecclesiastes 9:5-6. Does this settle the matter in
your mind? That the “dead know nothing?” - Let’s explore Solomon’s total message. Read Ecclesiastes
9:1-2. Is this consistent with the rest of the Bible –
that the righteous and the wicked share a “common
destiny?” - Read Ecclesiastes 9:3-4. Does the Bible in other places
teach that the dead have no hope? That a “live dog” is
better off than a righteous person who has died? - Read Ecclesiastes 9:7-9. Does the Bible in other places
teach us that our lives are meaningless – and being
meaningless is God’s intention for us? (If you are a long
time reader of these lessons, you know that I think no
serious Bible student would cite this chapter for proof of
the state of the dead. Solomon is depressed, and the
Bible records his depression to give hope to those who
also suffer from this disease. If we believed Solomon
intended this as truth about life and death, we would
conclude that our life here is meaningless, we should just
have a good time now because whether we are good or bad
our reward is the same. None of this is otherwise taught
in the Bible.) - Read Genesis 3:2-5. What fundamental lie does Satan tell
Eve? (He denies that the penalty for sin is death. God, on
the other hand, tells Eve that death is the result of sin.
Unlike Solomon’s depressed statements, this is a theme of
the Bible: death follows sin. If sinners live forever as
spirits or forever burn in hell, then Satan was right and
God was wrong.) - Read Ezekiel 18:19-23. What does this say happens to a
“soul” who sins? What does this say is the result of right
living? (This contradicts Solomon regarding whether our
decisions make a difference when it comes to our eternal
destiny. It also says that souls who sin die, they do not
live forever.) - Read 1 Timothy 6:12-16. Who, alone, is immortal? (God!
Satan, fallen angels and the souls of sinners are destined
for death, not immortality. We are offered “eternal life”
when we confess that Jesus is Lord.) - Read 1 John 5:10-12. What do the righteous have that those
who refuse to accept Jesus are denied? (Life. This is the
“testimony God has given about His Son.” This is not a
statement arising out of depression. Those who accept
Jesus have life. Those who do not are denied life. If you
are a serious Bible student you should stop citing
Ecclesiastes 9 and cite this text instead.) - Let’s get back to our Christian doctor. How do we explain
his report? Is it possible that he raised this fellow from
the dead? (Yes, the Bible provides several examples of
this in both the Old and New Testaments. See, 1 Kings
17:19-22; 2 Kings 4:32-35; Acts 9:40-41; Acts 20:9-12.) - Is it possible that the dead man went to hell? (The
texts we read reveal that death is the end for the
wicked death. They do not have a continued life as a
spirit or otherwise. Consider this from a lawyer’s
point of view. Lawyers judge the reliability of
testimony based on the ability of the witness to
perceive what happened. The doctor is only relating
what he was told by a fellow who was in a coma for
two days and whose brain was deprived of oxygen. That
is not reliable testimony. It certainly should not
cause us to disbelieve the plain teachings of the
Bible.) - Evolution
- In recent lessons we have studied the deception that the
theory of evolution poses to God’s creation account. How
do we explain scientific evidence that both the heavens
and earth are very old? - Read Genesis 1:1 Do the heavens and earth have a
beginning? (Yes.) - Read Genesis 1:2-3. Does this description say that the
earth was created during the creation week? (Just the
opposite. It suggests that the earth pre-existed the
creation week. It was already “formless and empty,” had a
“surface of the deep” and involved darkness and water.) - Read 2 Peter 3:5. What does this suggest about timing?
(Peter says that God spoke the heavens into existence.
However, the way this is written seems to say that the
earth was formed after the heavens.) - Read Genesis 1:4-5 and Genesis 1:14-19. When did God
create “signs to mark seasons and days and years?” (He did
it on the fourth day of creation.) - What does that tell us about time and the first three
days of creation? (It allows for the possibility that
the first three “days” were not measured the same way
they were after the fourth day of creation.) - Read 2 Peter 3:8. What does this say about God’s timing?
(A “day” for God is longer than our traditional day.) - Read Genesis 2:4 in the King James Version of the Bible?
How does it use the term “day?” (It reflects that the
Hebrew word (yom) for day is used here. The NIV translates
“yom” as “when.” What this shows is that even the creation
account uses “yom” (day) to mean something other than a 24
hour period.) - If it were true that at least some of the “days” of
creation were not 24 hour periods, would that undermine
the importance of the Sabbath? (No! Even the Sabbath is
used in a context other than 24 hour days. See Leviticus
25:2-4. God’s point is to memorialize His creation on our
seventh day. This is independent of how many hours were in
each creation day. While I am still studying this issue,
my concern is creating unnecessary conflicts between the
Bible and science. We must not undermine the Bible and
God’s claim as our Creator based on things we do not
understand.) - Friend, will you keep your eyes open against deception?
Will you measure everything you understand by the Word of
God? Why not, right now, make that an essential part of
your life? - Next week: America and Babylon.
