Search
Scripture: 1 Tim. 3:16
I. The mystery of God:
А. The universe is a mystery, an unsolvable puzzle.
B. The reason the universe is a puzzle is that its Creator is mysterious.
C. The Creator of the universe is God. God is hidden, so God is mysterious.
D. God’s being hidden does not disprove His existence. Actually, God’s being hidden serves only to prove His existence. The greater a person is, the more he is hidden. The more common a person is, the more he is seen. You see the average people on the street every day, but you hardly ever see a head of state personally. God is hidden because He is the Head of the universe.
II. God’s manifestation:
А. Anything that is in existence can be hidden, but not forever. With existence comes manifestation.
B. An important person often manifests himself in a different form. Although he is semi-hidden or hidden in a different form, he nevertheless is manifested through it.
C. God was manifested in such a semi-hidden way in a person called Jesus of Nazareth. When men looked upon Jesus, they saw Him as a man and as God. If you say that He is a man, He is not just a man. If you say that He is God, He also appears as a man. He is God incarnated, and He is God’s manifestation.
III. The purpose of God’s manifestation:
А. God wants to be one with man.
B. God created man so that man might become His container to contain God Himself.
C. Man without God as the content is an empty and meaningless vessel.
D. God “manifested in the flesh” (1 Tim. 3:6) means that God put on the flesh so that through that one body He might eventually be able to put Himself into thousands upon thousands of bodies. Through this process God can be one with man.
E. Man has sinned and is separated from God. Before God can become one with man, He must accomplish redemption for man.
F. He accomplished redemption by His death and resurrection. His death abolished man’s sins, and His resurrection imparts His life into man.
G. When man receives His life, he is one with Him.
IV. What to do with this God:
А. Confess that you and your life are empty, without a center and without reality.
B. Confess that God is the reality and the meaning of your living.
C. Confess that God was incarnated in the flesh and that He died and resurrected to accomplish redemption for us.
D. Receive Jesus, the One who was God manifested in the flesh, as your Savior.
Scripture: Titus 3:5
I. Man’s defilement:
А. Man was defiled due to the fall of Adam. This was not merely an outward defilement but also an inward defilement of life and nature.
B. Such a defilement of life and nature was caused by the injection of Satan’s life and nature into man.
II. Man became old:
А. Because man’s life and nature were defiled by Satan, man became old.
B. Because man became old, he experiences corruption, weakness, sickness, and death.
III. The washing of regeneration:
А. Since man’s life and nature were defiled and corrupted, God’s salvation is not to change the life that man has but to regenerate man. God regenerates man so that man may have God’s life in addition to his own life.
B. Once God’s life gets into us, it causes us to be separated from our old life and nature. Such a separation is a kind of washing, which washes away our defiled life. So regeneration is a washing.
C. The washing of regeneration is mainly for washing away our defiled life, not our defiled behavior.
IV. The renewing of the Holy Spirit:
А. When God saves us, He not only regenerates us so that we may receive His life, but He also puts the Holy Spirit within us so that we may receive His Spirit.
B. The Holy Spirit is within us to renew us from our old, created, and corrupted life. God’s life is washing away our defiled life, and the Holy Spirit is renewing that same defiled and corrupted life into a new life.
C. The renewing of the Holy Spirit is not merely to change a man’s living in an outward way. It is to renew his old nature into a new nature.
V. How to receive the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit:
А. Confess that your created life is filthy and that your nature has become old.
B. Abhor your own life and nature.
C. Repent and turn to God.
D. Receive the crucified and resurrected Christ as your Savior.
Scripture: Heb. 2:9
I. The end man deserves:
А. The end man deserves is death.
B. Man’s death sentence came from sin.
C. Since man lives in sin, his end will be death.
II. Jesus tasted death on behalf of man:
А. Man’s death has its source in his sin. When Jesus tasted death on behalf of man, He bore man’s sin.
B. That Jesus bore man’s sin meant that He received the punishment for sin. That punishment was death.
C. Describe how Jesus tasted death for man, how He was forsaken by God, and how His heart melted like wax. He suffered the burning of the fire of God’s wrath. These experiences are tastes of death.
III. The results of Jesus tasting death:
А. Man’s sins were forgiven.
B. Man has been freed from the suffering of death.
C. Those who believe in Him do not perish and will be resurrected if they die.
IV. How to receive the effects of Jesus’ substitutional death:
Develop this point.
Scripture: Heb. 7:25
I. Jesus is God coming as man:
А. Jesus is God coming as man to become man’s Savior.
B. Because His power is the power of God, there is no limit to His power.
II. Jesus’ redemption is eternal:
А. Because He is God coming as man, and God is eternal, His redemptive work on the cross is eternal.
B. Eternal means limitless and measureless. His redemptive work has an eternal, measureless effect.
III. Jesus is living forever:
А. Jesus not only died to accomplish redemption, but He also resurrected.
B. Jesus not only resurrected, but now He is living forever.
IV. Jesus is always interceding:
А. Jesus died and resurrected not only to become man’s Savior but also to become his Intercessor before God.
B. Just as His redemptive work is eternal, so also is His intercession for man.
V. Jesus is able to save to the uttermost:
А. Jesus is God coming as man, whose redemption is eternal; He is living forever and always interceding. Thus, because He is fully qualified, He is able to save men to the uttermost.
B. To the uttermost (Heb. 7:25) means that He is able to save men not only for all time and eternity but also to the uttermost in extent.
VI. How to receive the salvation of Jesus:
Develop this point.
Scripture: Heb. 9:12
I. The need for redemption:
А. Man is sinful before God.
B. God is righteous and so is His law. The law has a righteous requirement because of man’s sins.
C. When man’s sin confronts God’s righteousness, there is a need for redemption.
II. The meaning of redemption:
А. Redemption resolves man’s sins before God according to the requirement of God’s righteousness.
B. Because of God’s righteousness, sinful men must die. So in order to redeem them, there must be another death. Only another death can satisfy the requirement of God’s righteousness, and only such a death can redeem men from their sins.
III. The type of redemption:
А. In the time of the Old Testament, before redemption was accomplished, God set up a type of redemption.
B. Redemption was typified by the offering of goats and calves. Goats and calves were killed, and blood was shed to accomplish atonement for man’s sins.
C. The death and shed blood of goats and calves were only a shadow, not the reality; although the offering made atonement for sins, it could not redeem men from their sins.
IV. The accomplishment of redemption:
А. Redemption was accomplished on the cross. The Lord Jesus bore man’s sins on the cross and suffered the punishment for sins. Thus, He fulfilled the requirement of God’s righteousness and accomplished redemption for man.
B. The redemption of the Lord Jesus is not a symbol but a reality. The blood of goats and calves in the Old Testament time was only a symbol, but the redemption of Christ on the cross is a real accomplished fact.
V. The nature of redemption:
А. Redemption is eternal.
B. Eternal (Heb. 9:12) not only refers to time, but in nature it also denotes a completion, something accomplished once for all.
B. So Christ’s redemption, being eternal, is applicable and available to all men at any time.
VI. How to partake of Christ’s redemption:
Develop this point.
Scripture: Heb. 9:22
I. The requirement of God’s righteousness: death.
II. The significance of shedding of blood: death.
III. The meaning of shedding of blood: God’s righteous requirement is satisfied.
IV. The result of shedding of blood: men’s sins are forgiven.
V. The shedding of Jesus’ blood:
А. In the Old Testament all the sacrifices were killed and their blood was shed. This was a symbol of the blood-shedding of Jesus.
B. The shedding of Jesus’ blood signifies His death for us. The meaning of His shed blood is that God’s righteous requirement is satisfied. Thus, the effect of His blood being shed is that our sins are forgiven.
C. Without the shed blood of Jesus, God’s righteous requirement could never have been satisfied, and man’s sins could never have been forgiven. But the shed blood of Jesus has satisfied God’s righteous requirement so that man’s sins can be forgiven.
VI. How to partake of Jesus’ blood:
Develop this point.
Scripture: Heb. 9:14
I. The function of the conscience:
А. God is the Ruler of the universe, so He is also the Ruler of man.
B. God rules man by means of man’s conscience. So in function the conscience represents God to rule man.
C. Whatever is condemned by the conscience is also condemned by God.
II. The function of the blood:
А. God’s righteousness causes God to condemn man; however, Christ bore man’s sins and died for man, thus satisfying God’s righteous requirement.
B. In the sight of God the blood of Jesus cleansed man from sin, thereby abolishing God’s condemnation of man.
III. The purifying of the conscience by the blood:
А. As Jesus’ blood has cleansed man from sin in God’s sight and has abolished God’s condemnation of man, so it has also taken away the condemnation of man’s conscience.
B. By Jesus’ blood taking away the condemnation of man’s conscience, man’s conscience is purified so that there is no longer the feeling of shortcoming in the conscience.
C. The purifying of the conscience with its feeling causes man’s conscience to be at peace before God.
IV. The result:
As the blood of the Lord Jesus cleanses man’s conscience, it not only gives peace to man’s conscience but also enables man to serve God.
V. How to partake of this cleansing:
Develop this point.
Scripture: Heb. 9:27
I. It is reserved for men to die once:
А. Men deserve death.
B. Death came from sin.
C. No one can escape death. Give some examples to describe how man cannot escape death.
II. After death comes judgment:
А. Death is not the end but a beginning. Man’s life is short, and this short life is ended by death. But after death there is eternity. This eternity is ushered in by death.
B. Whatever man does in this age will be judged in eternity. Many commit crimes and escape the punishment of the law and the shame of public opinion. Many think that they will be safe from punishment once they die. But what man does cannot be resolved by his death. Actually, death is not the end of all things. Everything will be judged in the coming eternity.
III. The results of judgment:
А. There is not one who has never committed a sin in this age, so in eternity no one can escape God’s righteous judgment and condemnation.
B. The result of condemnation is perdition.
C. Perdition means to go to hell.
IV. The way to escape:
Give a strong conclusion on how to escape death and judgment.
Scripture: Heb. 10:20
I. The path of man’s living:
А. The path of man’s living is a path that is far away from God.
B. This path is a path of committing sins.
C. This path is also a path of going into death.
II. God’s saving way:
А. The Lord Jesus bore man’s sins and died for man.
B. The Lord resurrected and imparted His life into man.
III. A new and living way:
А. God’s saving way is a way that God has prepared for man. This way is through the Lord’s crucifixion, the shedding of His blood, and through His resurrection. This way enables man to come near to God.
B. This way was never open before, so it is a new way; and this way is in Christ’s resurrection life, so it is also a living way.
C. This way does not have the hindrance of sin; rather, it has the power of life, drawing us close to God.
D. This way not only brings man near to God but also allows man to be one with God. Not only can man enjoy all the blessings that God bestows upon him, but he can also enjoy God Himself.
IV. How to partake of this way:
Develop this point.
Scripture: Heb. 11:6
I. God is:
А. The creation of the universe proves that God is.
B. The order of the universe proves that God is.
C. Man’s physical body and mentality prove that God is.
II. God is hidden:
А. Although God exists, He is hidden.
B. Because God is Spirit, He is hidden to materialistic man. As a result, the materialistic man cannot see or touch the Spirit.
C. God’s honor, greatness, and holiness cause Him to hide Himself from man who is low and filthy.
III. You must believe that God is:
А. You must believe because God is hidden.
B. You must believe because God is Spirit and cannot be seen by man’s naked eye.
C. You must believe because God is honorable and holy, and we are low and filthy. Thus, for man to touch God, there is no way other than the way of believing.
IV. The results of believing in God:
А. By believing in God, you receive His life.
B. Believing in God causes you to have the sensation of being enlightened within.
C. Through your believing, you become well pleasing to God.
V. How to believe:
А. Confess that you are a sinner before God.
B. Repent and come forward to God, believing that He is.
