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Weimar University

The Major Teachings of Scripture

Don Mackintosh

02 The Major Message of the Scripture

But now I want to look at the doctrine of salvation with you.

And we just looked in our scripture reading, we can look again at Revelation 1, which summarizes that doctrine of salvation very crisply in those several verses, verses 4-6.

So let's just dive in and look at those verses and then expand and expound on this doctrine of salvation.

Father in heaven, bless us as we read and study your Word today.

And concerning the doctrine of salvation, In Christ's name, Amen.

So after we decide that the Bible is our source of authority, the most important message of the Bible is the message of salvation, summarized in verse 4-6, John to the 7 churches, which are in Esa, grace to you and peace." Does that sound like something related to salvation?

By grace are you saved through faith, not of works, lest anyone should boast, right?

God pours His love into our hearts, He gives us peace as a result of this doctrine of salvation.

From whom who was, who is, who rather, who is and who was and is to come, and the sevenfold spirits before His throne.

From Jesus, the faithful witness, firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth.

To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins and His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to his God and Father.

To him be glory and dominion forever and ever.

Amen." Almost like the Lord's prayer there, but in this verse as we see, the focus is on who?

It's on Jesus and His grace, His death, His resurrection, what He did for us.

He freed us and He makes us kings and priests.

And in our special number today, our sister was reminding us of how important that is to remember that God is not against us, He's for us.

And of course, the center part of this doctrine of salvation is the cross, the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.

A deadly spiritual malady is on the church.

Its members are wounded by Satan, but they will not look to the cross of Christ as Israelites look to the brazen serpent that they may live.

The world has so many claims upon them that they have not time to look to the cross of Calvary long enough to see its glory and feel its power.

So the suggestion here is that people get too busy and they don't look at the doctrine of salvation and the heart of it is the cross of Christ.

So I think we might do well to look at that for a few moments this morning.

He who has had a vivid view of the cross will hate sin, love righteousness, and his doubts will vanish.

Looking at the cross will lead you to hate sin, love righteousness, and your doubts will vanish away.

3 things to consider about the cross this morning.

Its position, its purpose, and its power.

It's basically the center of the plan of salvation.

You know, Genesis 3.15 is the cross put in embryonic form, will bruise, shall bruise thy heel, but I'll cross thy head.

This idea that God himself would enter in and have to be bruised for us, reminds us of Isaiah 53.

But at the very beginning of the Bible, Genesis 22, take your son, your only son, sacrifice him.

Again, looking forward to the 1 and only Son who would be sacrificed for us.

Exodus, saved by the blood of the Lamb as they left Egypt on their exit from Egypt.

The only hope was the blood of the Lamb that then carried them all the way through that Exodus experience and through the sanctuary that reminds them of it.

So Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus by the way, the whole book of Leviticus, all the sacrifices, numbers.

Deuteronomy, you have the second giving of the law, or the second exodus.

He was cut off, Daniel 9 said, but not for himself.

So the prophecy of Daniel and in the book of Habakkuk, he has actually the post-resurrected Christ will always have the light coming from his hands, reminding that the power comes from those nail-pierced hands.

So he must, Matthew says, suffer many things and be killed.

So not only the prophets, but the Gospels talked about the fact that he would die on the cross.

Mark, the son of man, must suffer many things and be rejected.

Luke, the Son of Man, must suffer many things and be rejected, and be slain, and be raised the third day." Luke 24, he spoke of the things concerning himself.

And of course, John talks about, behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world, John 1.

All the way through a focus on the passion, not only in the book of John, but also in the book of Revelation, who says that he was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, Revelation 13a.

So Christ and the cross are pivotal in the prophets and also in the gospels.

The disciples, when therefore he had arisen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them.

They believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.

So one-third of Matthew and Mark, and one-fourth of Luke, and one-half of John, all are talking about the cross, and all are devoted to focusing on the last hours of Christ.

And this is why we've been told to spend a thoughtful hour a day thinking about the last scenes concerning Christ because of its pivotal nature.

The Apostle John had this to say, for I determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified.

He tried different approaches, but he said, wow, actually looking at the cross is the most effective of all.

God forbid that I should boast about anything Except the what the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ because of that cross My interest in this world died long ago and the world's interest in me also is long dead when we look at the cross what it's saying is that we die to the world and then the world dies to us.

The person's so in love with Jesus, there's no way I'm going to tempt them.

There's no way I'm going to come near them, I can't touch them because they're focusing on the cross.

In the book Christ Object Lessons, page 362, All the blessings of this life and the life to come are stamped with what?

It is the great center of attraction, for on it Christ gave up his life for the human race.

The cross of Christ will be the song of the redeemed through all eternity.

In Christ glorified, they will behold Christ crucified.

Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, and hath redeemed us to God by His own precious blood." So that's what it said in Revelation 1, who washed us from our sins in His own blood, not someone else's blood.

The redeemed and the unfallen beings will find in the cross of Christ their science and song." If you want to study science in the future, it will all be about the cross.

And that will be the foundation of singing.

The angels ascribe honor and glory to Christ, for even they are not secure except by looking to the sufferings of the Son of God.

It is through the efficacy of the cross that the angels of heaven are guarded from apostasy.

So even those who never fell are guarded by looking at the cross.

How many think we should begin looking at the cross even more fully if this is true?

And that's the whole idea of the doctrine of salvation, looking to the dying Lamb who gives us life.

Without the cross there would be no more, they, that is the angels, would be no more secure against evil than were the angels before the fall of Satan.

Angelic perfection failed in heaven, human perfection failed at Edom, Eden the paradise of bliss.

All who wish for security in earth or heaven must look to the Lamb of God.

Don't think, you know what, I'm just going to get good enough that I'm just okay.

The death of Christ on the cross of Calvary is our only hope in this world, and it will be our theme in the world to come.

Oh, we do not comprehend the value of the atonement.

03 The Blessed Hope

Last night we had a message where we looked at the Ukraine and who's to blame for the Ukraine?

And some of us were convinced it was Biden, others were convinced it was Trump, Some thought it was NATO getting close, but we suggested that if we knew that Christ was coming near this and he could have come near this, and this is told us numerous times, intimated in scripture, but also in the spirit of prophecy, then maybe there's a little something we could do.

Pray and be rededicated to God and hasten His coming.

How many think that might solve all the wars if Christ comes again?

So today we're gonna talk about the second coming and hastening His coming.

But just to have an added word of prayer as we spend a few moments together in God's Word.

Father in Heaven, we're thankful today for the opportunity we have To open your word and freedom today We pray that your spirit would be with us and with those around the world even some of our students who have relatives in the Ukraine That are in harm's way We uplift Karina and her family who's there as well, and we thank you and we ask that you send the leftover angels to be here around us.

The Second Coming, We're in a little mini-series today that started at 8 o'clock looking at the Scriptures, and at 9 o'clock looking at salvation, and now at 11 o'clock looking at the Second Coming.

And these messages are kind of meant to help those of you that are giving Bible studies as you're using Revelation chapter 1 as a template to look at these doctrines as you're studying with people.

So they should be posted up on the website in a folder so you can use those.

And of course, we'll put the slides up as well.

Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21, all of these have passages, are passages that deal with the second coming and actually tell in advance things that were going to happen so that we're not caught unaware.

There'd be wars, there'd be rumors of wars, many of these different things.

Revelation, or the Apostle John was so interested in the Second Coming, he wrote a whole book, Revelation.

So you want more detail, you then look at the book of Revelation.

But this is a major focus in the New Testament.

1 in every 8 verses is dealing with the Second Coming.

And when things happen like we're hearing about, this does not catch us by surprise because God already foretold that there'd be wars and rumors of wars, and this is the beginning of sorrows, but he then intimates that the way to wrap it up is that this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world for a witness, and then Christ would come.

And perhaps 1 of the best ways to hasten His coming is to look at a book that pretty much exclusively focuses on His second coming, and that is 1 Thessalonians.

So look with me in 1 Thessalonians and we'll look at each chapter briefly and then focus in on the last.

So in 1 Thessalonians chapter 1, we have the chapter ending with this, Wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which he delivered, which delivered us from the wrath to come." And so in chapter 1, that chapter ends with a picture of waiting for his second coming.

But what does verse 1 through 9 talk about?

Verse 1 through 9 talks about having a personal prayer life that then reaches out to your family and around the world.

In fact, the prayer prescription in 1 Thessalonians Chapter 1 is what fuels any sense of revival you have.

So chapter 1 says, have an active prayer life that can actually reach the world.

We believe that our prayers today reach the world.

They actually can make a difference in the Ukraine.

In 1939, the Russians were about to attack Finland, and Finland had no help, and perhaps many countries had a sense of no help at that time, just before World War II, or just at World War II.

And so the king and the entire parliament and all the people knelt down and prayed for Finland and Russia did not invade.

And they attributed it to the prayers of all the people.

Throughout the New Testament we had people that are delivered from jail, delivered from sickness, delivered from various things through the power of prayer.

How many of you want to again recommit your life to prayer, not only for the Ukraine, but for others around the world.

That's the message of 1 Thessalonians chapter 1.

In chapter 2 says, what is our hope or our crown of rejoicing?

Are not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming for you are our glory and joy." How many of you long for all your family members to be in heaven with you?

And how many long for others that maybe are not in the fold that you're praying for right now?

It's not enough to pray alone, chapter 1.

We don't just have prayer, but we also care.

And in chapter 2, it talks about how to care for people in such a way that they might want to actually go to heaven with you.

How many of you ever met someone you're saying I'm not sure if you're going I want to go?

And maybe people you know say that about you or say that about me.

But how many of you want to have that caring spirit that makes it a joy to be around you and people would like to be with you for a long time like eternally and that's chapter 2.

Now chapter 3, and the Lord make you to increase and abound in love 1 toward another and toward all men, even as we do towards you, to the end that he may establish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with his saints.

So chapter 3 gives additional ways to have our lives come into harmony with the image of God that He wants to have stamped on our hearts and minds that we could be unblameable in holiness and increase and abound in that love we just heard about in our special number.

Chapter 4, the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first, then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in clouds to meet the Lord in the air, so shall we ever be with the Lord.

First Thessalonians was talking about the second coming, But people had begun to die.

There was going to be persecution and conflicts.

And so they said, look, even if you die, the dead in Christ will rise and be caught up to meet those in the air.

You don't even have to worry about death because he died and he rose again.

How many think that's a message of hope even today?

And some people are closer to potential death maybe than we are today in the Ukraine, but what a comfort this is, that there's not just 1 death, There's a second death and we can avoid the second and through the power of the resurrection can live eternally even if we should be laid to rest today.

I don't know about you, but I think that's good news, isn't it?

And then chapter 5, oh by the way, the characteristics in chapter 4, verse 16 and 17 we just read, because we are talking about the second coming, is number 1, it will be audible.

It's the noisiest text in scripture, right?

There's a voice of the archangel, there's the trump of God, and it's so loud that it raises the dead.

It's even more audible than the missiles or behind that woman we heard the report of today.

As lightning shines from the east to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be.

The dead in Christ and in the others, and you have your own guarding angel.

It's not going to be disorganized like some of the airlines I've flown on recently have been.

And it will be in the clouds, will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.

No, it's gonna be audible, it's gonna be visible, it's gonna be universal, and it most assuredly is coming soon.

Now focus now on the final chapter and the remaining moments here in Thessalonians, chapter 5.

And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly, and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body will be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

So, all of these things in chapter 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 are actually showing us how we can allow God to hasten His coming.

And how many of you think that's something important to allow Him to do?

So his plan is to sanctify you to be a holy, a saint, a most holy thing.

How many of you are kind of a little discouraged even hearing that?

Because you actually know yourself quite well.

He wants to sanctify, he wants to make you complete, he wants to make you whole, telos, holo telos, whole and complete, at the end, like at the end of a telescope, your whole spirit, your whole soul, your whole body.

He wants to preserve you, to take care of you, to guard you, to reserve you, to keep you so that you can be ready for that second coming.

And Revelation 14, 12 pictures that people.

Here they keep the commandments and have the faith of Jesus.

They have the gift of faith given by the Spirit that leads to the obedience of the faith, like it says in Romans chapter 1, to the end that we have patience as well.

They're things that God can do and will do if you let Him do them through you.

That's His promise that He will preserve you and keep you blameless.

That means unblameable, deserving of no censure, free from fault or defect.

You're saying, how in the world is that going to happen?

01 The Scriptures: Can They be Trusted

Well, let's pray this morning and then we'll study a little bit together.

Father in heaven, we're thankful today for the opportunity we have to come and study your word.

We ask a blessing on our time together, and we come in Christ's name, amen.

So, the Bible, should we believe it, can we trust it?

This is the first of a eight-part series that, excuse me, harkens from Revelation chapter 1, or comes from Revelation chapter 1, and you might wanna turn in your Bible.

The revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave him to show his servants things which shortly must take place.

And he sat and signified it by his angel to his servant John who bore witness of the Word of God and to the testimony of Jesus to all things that he saw.

Blessed is he who reads those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things which are written in it for the time is near." So the focus in these first 4 verses is what?

This revelation of God to John called the Word of God, right?

And those who read, those who hear, those who keep these things that are written in it, have a special blessing.

So, the Word of God or the Scriptures are the first doctrine alluded to in this final book of the Bible, the book of Revelation.

All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

So all scripture or all the Bible is inspired.

Of course, Timothy was writing in the New Testament, speaking of the Old Testament, right?

And Jesus also spoke of the Old Testament scriptures.

Speaking to 2 very discouraged disciples on the road to Emmaus 1 day, he said to them after listening to their reasoning, "'O fools and slow of heart to believe in that "'all that the prophets have spoken.

"'Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things to enter into his glory?" So there was a prophecy that he would suffer, that he would die on the cross.

They seem to have missed that or not heard that.

And beginning at Moses, that would be Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, and all the prophets, all the major and minor prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.

So If you're trying to ask what books in the Bible are inspired, and you ask Jesus, he would have started with Moses, the prophets, and all the scriptures, the things concerning himself, right?

So this is how we know what we should be listening to.

Jesus himself tells us to look at Moses, the prophets, and all the scriptures.

So the prophets, the books of Moses, all the scriptures, Jesus in the Old Testament tells us exactly what the Bible is, what we should be listening to in terms of the words of Scripture.

He says, we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus and by our gathering together unto him, that you not be soon shaken in mind or troubled, neither by spirit nor by word nor by a letter as if as from us the day of Christ had already come so Paul and looking at now these New Testament letters and the other things coming up he says look there are some letters out there there are some words out there that are not from us.

And so we need to figure out what we should listen to in terms of the New Testament.

And interestingly enough, the last of the apostles to pass away was John.

And in his closing days, according to Eusebius here, who was writing in the third century, he cooperated and the collecting and forming of those writings we call the New Testament.

So you have the Apostle John, actually this summer when I was traveling over in Turkey, we went to Smyrna.

And John retired in Ephesus, and he sent a letter to Polycarp in Smyrna talking to him about what the, what to receive in terms of valid scripture.

So you have the last of the apostles, John was the 1 that put together the writings that we have in the New Testament.

So it's an apostle that's looking over, It's an eyewitness of the Lord that actually was deciding that.

It was the apostles themselves that decided what was in the Bible.

How many think that's important to remember?

Because if you are thinking that some group of men came together that were not inspired to pull together the writings of the New Testament, then you're dependent on man to tell you, you know, what the scriptures are, et cetera.

So this is why it's important to understand this.

None of the authors of the books of the New Testament made a direct quotation from any of the 15 books of the Apocrypha.

They were in everybody's Bible to begin with, actually, in the Dark Ages because they liked them as historical books.

But none of the New Testament authors are quoting from these.

And you see these books, the Apocrypha, Judith, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, some apocryphal parts from the Book of Daniel, Maccabees, et cetera.

So the Catholic Bibles have the scripture plus the apocrypha in them, the Protestant Bibles have the scripture but no apocrypha in them.

I could go through the stories of the apocrypha and you would begin to see that they're a little bit different than what you would find in the Bible.

In fact, some of them are downright hilarious.

In my classes when I'm teaching more in depth on this, we actually read the stories and look at some of them so that people can see the difference.

Well, Why did they, how did they get confused?

Well, first of all, when they were in the Bible, just as historical books, there was a heading that said they were historical books, but that was taken out.

And then the Catholics began to say they were authoritative.

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The Major Teachings of Scripture

02 The Major Message of the Scripture

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