For this Bible study, I would like to go back a little bit and look at some of the things that we already know and see if the Bible is indeed teaching these things, because you know, as we know, we are living in the day when God is opening up a lot of verses that pertain to the end of the world. Things that we thought we knew, I know that I am finding that I am going back again and looking again at these verses that pertain to salvation and those that pertain to the end of the world and man’s condition, before we are saved and after we are saved. These things, I am going back and looking at again.
It is not going to hurt if we go back. God commands us to do these things. Although we know them, we should go back and look at them again and again.
If you will look at Titus 3, we will just read this one passage in the book of Titus. In Titus 3:8, here God tells us:
This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.
You see, we should affirm them constantly. We should go back and bring these things back to our remembrance and examine them. Is this really what the Bible is saying? So we should not just be satisfied with what we already know, because we know that we are living in that day when God has opened up a lot of verses. Verses that we thought we understood, we did not.
We did not understand the doctrine of “hell” and the end of the world and these things. Now that God is beginning to open up these verses to us, we should go back and examine these verses, again and again and again.
With that said, let us turn over to the book of Acts, chapter 17. This ought to be our attitude as we read the Bible, I believe. In Acts 17:1-2:
Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews: and Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures,
You see, he “reasoned with them out of the Scriptures.” We should not be reasoning the Bible in our own understanding. God tell us that we are to “lean not unto thine own understanding.” You see, we are to reason and look at the Bible. What does the Bible say? Is this really true?
Here is what Paul was reasoning with them about. Acts 17:3:
Opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ.
So, you see, he was not reasoning out of his own mind. He was reasoning out of the Scriptures that this very Christ, whom they were arguing against, is the very Christ, and he was using the Bible and not his own understanding.
So this is how we are to look at these teachings that are being taught to us, not to look at them from our own understanding, but is this really what the Bible is teaching?
In Acts 17:10-11, we read:
And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind...
With these new teachings, this ought to be our attitude:
...with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily...
They were not searching what somebody else had said or written. They were searching the Scriptures daily:
...whether those things were so.
So this ought to be our attitude when we approach the Bible, especially when God is opening these verses to our understanding. Is this really so? Is the Bible teaching this, that we are so close to the end of the world? Is it really so?
Many people take the attitude, “Oh, this can not be!” They do not want to hear it. What if it is true? In ignorance, they walk away from it.
But the Bible tells us to examine ourselves. He tells us that for a reason, because our evil heart might deceive us into thinking that we are saved. Maybe someone told you that you were saved, and you are resting in that, but you might be very surprised that you might not be saved in that day when our Lord Jesus Christ returns, and you will have to face an angry God.
So we should approach the Bible with an open mind. Are these things really so? Is the Bible teaching these things? And pray God for wisdom that He will open our eyes to truth.
Let the Bible be our guide and not our human understanding, because in Proverbs, God tells us, “He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool.” Trusting in our own reasoning and in our own understanding, we should never do that. We only ought to trust the Bible.
Now I want to go back again and look at salvation, different aspects of it. Is this really what the Bible is teaching? Is it really so that when someone becomes a child of God that God has performed a mighty miracle in this person’s life? And that is the only miracle that is being performed today—salvation. It is salvation, and this mighty miracle can only be performed by God. No human being can do this. No human being can give me a new heart. No one can give me a heart to believe, “it is the gift of God.”
But let us turn over to 1 Corinthians 15, and then we will go to Genesis, but let us start out in 1 Corinthians 15:22. We have to be very careful with this verse, as you know. In 1 Corinthians 15:22, here God tells us:
For as in Adam all die...
“As in Adam.” Every single one of us started out in Adam. It is spiritual and physical death.
For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
And we know that these “all” are God’s elect. The first “all” is every human being. We all died “in Adam.”
Let us go to Genesis 2. Remember when Adam sinned against God and broke God’s commandment, it was as if all of us were there—every single human being—because Adam represented all of us. We were all there. Some people might think, “Well, if I was there, I would not do it.” Yes we would! We would do the exact same thing as Adam.
In Genesis 2:16-17, He says:
And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
Remember, that death was twofold. It was spiritual death and physical death.
For as in Adam all die...
All of us; we inherited our sin nature from him and came under the wrath of God, right there in the Garden of Eden.
Well, some might say then, “As we know that mankind, to some extent, though he is spiritually dead, he can obey God, to a certain degree, can he not?” Yes, he can.
If you turn over to Romans 2, we can obey God. Although that person is spiritually dead, he can, to a certain degree, obey God, but not in a God-glorifying way because he is still spiritually dead—he is still spiritually dead. In Romans 2:14:
For when the Gentiles, which have not the law...
For example, there is a people-group that is living in Africa somewhere and never heard the Bible. They do not know anything about the Bible. Remember, we were all created in the image of God. No matter where that person was born or in what century he lived or wherever he lived, we were all created in the image of God, and here God is telling us that they “have not the Law.” They have not heard anything about the Bible.
I do not know if you have ever seen a program on TV where a person is born into a tribe somewhere, but they have their laws and if they break their laws, they are punished. They are punished. Although these people know nothing about the Bible, they know wrong from right. They know wrong from right, do they not? Of course they do.
Romans 2:14:
For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:
You see, they have a conscience. Romans 2:15:
Which show the work of the law written in their hearts...
Do you see?
...their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)
We know wrong from right. You do not have to teach your child to sin, to steal a cookie or to tell a lie. We know that it is wrong to murder. We know that it is wrong to commit adultery. We know all of these things.
So, to a certain degree, unsaved man, although he is spiritually dead, can do certain things. He can repent, but not to the glory of God. He can stop drinking. That is a form of repentance. It does not bring him closer to salvation, but he could live a decent, moral life.
Many people in the world today are decent, moral people who would never break the law. They show a certain form of kindness. They do these good things, but they are not saved. Spiritually, they are still dead because God has not changed their hearts.
So to a certain degree, we can obey God to a certain extent. But we are only going to obey God to His glory, the right way, when God does a work of grace within us. God has to give me a new heart, and we are going to look at that a little bit later.
So they “show the work of the law written in their hearts.” So though he is dead—in Adam, we all die—yet he can obey God to a certain extent.
Maybe you have been listening to Family Radio for a long time and you are not saved, you could know these things. Mr. Camping repeats this every night, almost, about salvation. By listening to it, we can learn a lot, a lot of true things from the Bible, and we can know them, and still, yet, be on our way to Hell, until God regenerates us and gives us a new heart and then we will begin to do it God’s way.
But, you see, the death there was two-fold.
For as in Adam all die...
Adam broke the Law of God, and we were all sentenced. God’s wrath abides on us, every single one of us, before we are saved. We are there, under the wrath of God.
Look at John 3, another familiar passage. In John 3:36, God tells us:
He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life...
We know that, of ourselves, we can not believe. Faith is a gift. Believing on Christ is a gift.
...hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.
You see, as long as we remain in our sin, God’s wrath abides on us. We are headed for eternal destruction. We are in trouble with God.
If you will look at another familiar passage in the book of Psalms, chapter 5; in Psalm 5:5, God tells us:
The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity.
God’s perfect hatred is against the unsaved. His wrath abides on them, and God tells us more information here in that He hates “all workers of iniquity.” And this is what is going to happen to them. Psalm 5:6:
Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing: the LORD will abhor the bloody and deceitful man.
God goes on to tell us from verse 5, about the wicked, how God is going to destroy them forever, and so you see what sin brings. Sin brings judgment and the wrath of God upon us. Mankind, we are in trouble with God. We are in trouble with God.
If you will look at another aspect, God tells us, also, in 2 Timothy, where He gives us more information—this is by no means looking at all of the verses, but these are different aspects of our condition before God, before He saves anyone—He told us earlier that His wrath abides on us, and in 2 Timothy 2:25-26, here God tells us:
In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance...
We see another aspect of this. God has to give us repentance.
...to the acknowledging of the truth; and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.
You see, God has to give us repentance. And here, God tells us in 2 Timothy 2:26 that we are held captive by the devil. We are in the kingdom of darkness before we are saved. Satan rules over us.
When Adam and Eve sinned against God, God gave Satan to rule over mankind, and this is where we are. We are in a terrible situation before we are saved, and He tells us that we are held captive by Satan at his will. We are in the “prison house” of Satan, and we can not do anything to get out of it.
We are in the situation where our sin has gotten us into deep and terrible trouble with God, and it seemed that there was no hope for any one of us. But we know that our only hope is Christ Himself. And here, we are in the “prison house’ of Satan.
If you will go back over to Isaiah 61, the first couple of verses there, in Isaiah 61:1-3:
The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty...
See, we are in the “prison house” of Satan. We are held captive by the devil.
...to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
So this is where we are.
To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.
You see, God is the One who has to set us at liberty from the “prison house” of Satan, because we are held captive by him, and here Christ came to set us free—to set us free—because only God can do that.
This passage, as you know, is picked up in Luke 4, I believe. Luke 4 speaks about this. You see, this is a fulfillment of that particular verse. In Luke 4:17-21. Here, Christ is speaking, and says:
And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor...
Remember, the “poor in spirit.”
...he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted...
And what do we need to be healed from? The disease of sin.
...to preach deliverance to the captives...
Which are those whom Christ came to save, who are held captive by Satan at his will. They are in his captivity.
...and recovering of sight to the blind...
All of this is spiritual language.
...to set at liberty them that are bruised,
You see, only Christ can set us “at liberty” from the “prison house” of Satan.
...to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.
You see, Christ came with the “Gospel of Peace” to set us “at liberty” from the “prison house” of Satan himself, because, as we know, Satan won the right to rule over us when Adam rebelled. We are held captive by him.
You know, it is frightening, those who teach the language of free-will, a gospel of free-will. They do not understand what salvation is. We are held captive by the devil, and Christ, only Christ, can set us free. Only He can set us “at liberty” from the “prison house” of Satan. No one can do this. No human being can look at you and tell you that your sins are forgiven. Only God can do that. And we see that Christ, in the New Testament [note: the speaker here inadvertently said “Old Testament” when he intended to say “New Testament”], would tell someone, “Your sins are forgiven,” because He is God. He could do that, but no human being can do that. Christ has to pay the penalty for the sins of His people, you see.
Let us look at another verse along this thinking. Look at Colossians. Let us turn over to Colossians 1. In Colossians 1:13-14, we read, speaking about Christ delivering us, the soul, from the “prison house” of Satan:
Who hath delivered us...
You know, in other parts of the Bible, God speaks about Christ as the “deliverer.” He is the One who can deliver someone from the captivity of Satan.
Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness...
You know, at times, “darkness” in the Bible relates to the dominion of Satan. That is where we are before we are saved. We are in the dominion of Satan and in “darkness.”
...and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
You see, Christ is the One who redeemed us. He is the One who has to deliver us from the dominion of Satan himself.
And God is going to tell us, if you turn over to Psalm 107, here God is going to give us a wonderful picture of what salvation is. Although the setting of it is speaking to Israel, God is speaking about those whom He came to redeem, His elect. In Psalm 107:1-17:
O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good...
And the Lord Jesus, He is the essence of goodness. “God is good.” God tells us that “the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance.” God is good:
...for his mercy endureth for ever.
When God has saved someone, He has given you mercy and it is forevermore. He is not going to take it back at a certain point. His mercy is forever.
Let the redeemed of the LORD say so...
And the “redeemed of the LORD,” are His elect. He paid for our sins.
Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;
Satan is the enemy of mankind. Remember that we are held captive by him at his will, and Christ redeemed us “from the hand of the enemy”:
...and gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south.
A “great multitude” of people, from all over the world, whom God has redeemed.
They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in. Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble...
You see, before we are saved, are we not in trouble with God? And who do we have to cry to for mercy? God Himself, not to a man. A human being can not save us.
Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them...
Remember, Christ is the “deliverer.”
...he delivered them out of their distresses. And he led them forth by the right way...
We know, in other parts of the Bible, that Christ is the Way, “the right way”:
...that they might go to a city of habitation.
And what “city” do we come into when we become saved? The “new Jerusalem.” The “new Jerusalem,” as the book of Revelation tells us.
Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
It is God’s salvation program, is it not? It is the wonderful thing that God has given to us, through Christ.
For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.
With salvation, you know, with this wonderful Word that He has given to His people.
Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death...
And that is where we were before we were saved. We were “in the shadow of death.” We “sit in darkness” in the kingdom of Satan. The dominion of Satan is where we are:
...in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron;
Do you see how our sins put us where we are? Remember the children of Israel in Egypt? Is that not a picture of us before we are saved? We are there, in Egypt. What did the children of Israel do to come out of Egypt? Nothing. God led them out. You see, that is where we are bound by our sin, “bound in affliction and iron.” And why are we bound?
Because they rebelled against the words of God...
You see, that is why. We rebel. We have sinned against Him:
...and contemned the counsel of the most High: therefore he brought down their heart with labour; they fell down, and there was none to help.
You see, who can help us? No human being can help us, but God Himself.
Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness...
You see, this is a wonderful picture of salvation. Here, we cried unto the Lord in our trouble, and God, in His mercy, saved this one and He saved that one, you see, and out of their distresses:
He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder.
You see, we are in bondage to our sin, and God breaks that. He breaks it after we have become saved. And God goes on:
Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! For he hath broken the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron in sunder. Fools because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted.
And God goes on and on to talk about this wonderful salvation that He has given to us. You see, God has done all the work of saving us. He has done all the work of saving us, even though we deserve to be cast out into Hell—that is what we all deserve—but, yet, we see God’s mercy.
He should have wiped us out right there in the Garden of Eden when Adam sinned, but He did not. He did not, and if you go through Genesis, you will see this wonderful salvation that God had planned for the human race, that God would have a people for Himself and He would save a “great multitude,” and this wonderful salvation that He has given to us, God had made it possible.
Let us turn over to the book of Luke, and we will see the Lord Jesus Christ as He came. In Luke 1, we see the same great truth. In Luke 1, we will start reading at verse 76 to 79. You know, wherever you turn in the Bible, you see this great truth—this salvation. Luke 1:76-79:
And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest...
Speaking about the Lord Jesus Christ:
And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; to give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness...
So you see the same “darkness.” We are seated in the dominion of Satan.
...to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.
Salvation is what Christ came to do for us, to take us out of the dominion of Satan, His elect, and He “translated us into the Kingdom of His dear Son,” and this is the wonderful salvation that, humanly speaking, we can not even begin to understand, but a wonderful thing God has done for us through Christ.
We are undeserving sinners. Not one of us deserves to be saved. If your eyes have been opened, spiritually, and as you looked on your life, you know that you did not do it. It is God who works in us “to will and to do of His good pleasure.” We can not save ourselves at all. That is why all praise and glory has to go to God for this “unspeakable gift,” as the Bible calls it.
And it is a wonderful salvation, although many are offended by it, by the Gospel of salvation. It is so sad, you know, but it is man in his rebellion, and to rebel against God, he is offended at the true Gospel. He does not want to hear it. Your heart goes out to them, but all you can do is pray for them, that God may open their eyes to truth.
I want to look at another aspect of salvation. God is going to tell us a little bit about our heart, our heart before we are saved. Our heart, God tells us in Jeremiah 17, is “desperately wicked,” is it not? Our heart has an incurable disease called “sin.” It is an incurable thing.
Let us look at Isaiah 61. God tells us why we are separated from Him. God tells us in Isaiah 61—no that is not the verse—Isaiah 59, sorry. In Isaiah 59:1-2, here God tells us:
Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save...
You know, God can save the hardest heart. He could save anyone. He can break our stubborn will, because “salvation is of the Lord.”
Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: but your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.
You see, the sin that we commit, it is a terrible thing. Sin is horrible. Remember, right back at the Garden of Eden, Adam did not kill someone. He just took a fruit, and you see how God came down on him. He just ate a fruit. What is the big deal with the fruit? He did not kill anybody. But sin is an affront to God, see? Sin is something that we should not take lightly in our own lives, you see? God tells us in the Bible to crucify the flesh. Do not feel sorry for yourself. Sin is terrible. Sin destroys lives. It destroys marriages. It destroys a nation. It destroys, destroys, destroys. Everything sin touches, it destroys. It looks good, because if mankind did not get some enjoyment out of sin, we would never do it. The flesh enjoys sin, but our sin is sending us to Hell. The end result of sin is death. The Bible tells us, “For the wages of sin is death.”
Mankind, although they know it, because everybody knows that there is going to be a Last Day and that there is a “hell” to pay, so mankind knows it. If you listen to your unsaved family members or friends, you will hear them talking about Hell all of the time. Mankind, they know it, that there is a Hell. No question. No matter where you are from, or whatever, we know that there is a Hell, but we do not care. We still live out our lives and go about our business and enjoy our sin “for a season,” although our sin, physically, is going to kill us. You commit a horrible sin and you get an ugly disease, or by smoking. You go to the doctor and he tells you that you need to stop smoking, but you love the cigarettes and you do not want to give it up, although it is killing you, you see?
That is how sin operates. Sin brings death. It destroys everything. Look at our own nation. You can see sin everywhere. Is it getting any better? No. And it is not going to get any better. It is going to get worse. It is getting worse. You see, it is getting worse every day, because God has given man up to his own lusts although He is still saving a “great multitude.”
But, you see, the earlier that we learn this and start doing it God’s way, we can avoid a lot of problems in our lives. We could avoid a lot of sin and whatever the end result is, but we do not. We just continue on in our own way. But if you are one of God’s elect, He will save you. He will save that person. But, you see, it is our sin that has separated us from God, and our iniquities, that God will not hear us. It is terrible, sin is, you see.
Let us look at Matthew 15. Let us leave here and go over to the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 15. I will start reading in verse 10. God is going to tell us what comes out of our heart before we are saved. Matthew 15:10-18:
And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand: Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man. Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying? But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. Then answered Peter and said unto him, Declare unto us this parable. And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding? Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.
You see, God is telling us that what is in your heart will normally come out through your mouth. You know, they have a term in the computer world, “Garbage in/garbage out.” You see, what is in your heart normally comes out, and that is what you are going to speak about. If you love the world, you are going to speak about the things of the world, because that is in your heart and that is going to come out through your mouth.
Matthew 15:19-20 says:
For out of the heart...
God is focusing on the heart:
...proceed evil thoughts...
Do you see what the evil heart produces? Remember, God tells us that our hearts are “desperately wicked.”
...evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: these are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.
You know, in other parts of the Bible, God speaks about the “treasure of the heart.” What is in your heart comes out of your mouth.
So before we are saved, out of our evil heart, this is what comes out of it, you see, and you can not stop it if you are not saved because that evil heart is still there, you see, and this is what our evil heart produces.
Remember when God was faulting and describing the Pharisees in Matthew 23 about the “whited sepulchers” and so forth? They looked holy outwardly. Somebody could look holy, as if they are doing it God’s way, but God sees the heart of a man, a place where we can not see. We can not see the heart of another fellow human being. God does. Remember, He would fault them, I think it is Matthew 23:25. He says there:
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
You see, God is looking at their heart. Outwardly, they pretend to be loving God and all of these things, but God is looking at the heart. You see, Christ could make that judgment because He is God Himself, because He sees the heart of a man. Here, He goes on in Matthew 23:26-28:
Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward...
Many people are like that. They appear to be something else, but inwardly, where God is looking at the heart, God sees that part, the heart, and God is saying:
...which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
You see, God can see the inner man. That is why we can not look at somebody and say, “Oh, this person is saved, or this one is not.” We do not know, only God does. You see, God can look at you. And oftentimes, you will see Him do that throughout the New Testament. He would just look at a person’s heart and make a judgment of it, because He knows “the secrets of the heart.” God knows what we are thinking at all times. Does He? Of course He does. He is God. He knows.
Look at Psalm 139. In Psalm 139, God tells us that He knows. We can not hide anything from Him. God is all-knowing. He is all-wise. He knows everything. In Psalm 139:1-4, here God tells us:
O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.
You see, God knows.
For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.
Everything is known to God. Every sin that you have ever committed, every evil thought that you have thought about. Whatever you have done, He knows. He knows “the secrets of the heart,” and there are many other verses that you could look at. He knows. He would just look at the disciples and just tell them, “Why are you thinking that way?” because Christ/God knows. He knows. He knows all things.
So we see how wicked our heart is, how desperately we need salvation. But is it true that God creates a “new heart” within us? Yes, it is. You see, I find myself looking back at these verses, again and again and again. Is it really so that when somebody has become a child of God—how wicked we are, and you just look at some of these verses—that God creates a “new heart” within us? It is absolutely true! It is absolutely so that when we become a child of God, God Himself puts a “new heart” within the “heart” of this person.
Look at Ezekiel 11. You will see this same wonderful truth that God teaches us in the Bible. We will start reading at verse 17. Ezekiel 11:17-21:
Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even gather you from the people, and assemble you out of the countries where ye have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.
Is He speaking about the “land of Israel” over there? No; it is the new heaven and new earth.
And they shall come thither, and they shall take away all the detestable things thereof and all the abominations thereof from thence. And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh: that they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God. But as for them whose heart walketh after the heart of their detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their way upon their own heads, saith the Lord GOD.
So, you see, He does give us a new heart. Although Adam rebelled and we were all in Adam and God paints this picture of us, the Bible does teach that when somebody has become a true child of God, God gives them a “new heart” and a “new spirit.” So, you see, it is true. So God Himself indwells.
Even when you read Ezekiel 36, this is the same great truth, that God does give a person a “new heart.” And each one of us has to examine ourselves. Has God given me this “new heart”? In Ezekiel 36:26-27:
A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit...
Do you see how God is repeating Himself? How many times has He used that phrase in these two verses here? He uses it about four times.
If you go back to Ezekiel 36:26:
A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit...
They are one and the same.
A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
You know, this I believe would point back to the Gospel of John, chapter 1. God speaks about the Word becoming “flesh.” In other words, He gives us a “heart” like Christ. God does that.
Ezekiel 36:27:
And I will put my spirit...
You see how He repeats Himself again?
And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
You see, four different times, God uses the same phrase to describe the same thing, something that He does. He puts a “new spirit” within you, a “new heart,” and He gives you “a heart of flesh,” and He speaks about “My Spirit,” His Spirit He gives us.
So you see, He does give us a brand new “heart.” God, the Holy Spirit, comes and indwells that person. You know, that is a great truth that He does.
Look at 2 Corinthians 1:21-22, and it says:
Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.
So, do you see what He does? This is God, the Holy Spirit, who comes and indwells this person. We look the same, but there is a difference. God, the Holy Spirit, is in this person.
If you will look at 1 John, the Epistle of 1 John, 1 John 4:11-13, there we read:
Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. Hereby know we that we dwell in him...
Do you see that? “God dwelleth in us,” and “we dwell in Him”:
...and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.
Is that not something? That is why we can not lose our salvation. God indwells us and we indwell Him.
I read this and said, “Wow! You know, this is amazing! We can not lose our salvation. God indwells us.” It says here:
Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.
Turn over to chapter three, 1 John 3:23-24. This is the same idea there:
And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment. And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him (in Christ), and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.
These are great truths that God has given to the child of God, that God indwells us and we indwell Him. And that is why when you look at other language in the Bible, God tells us that nothing is going to separate us from the love of God—nothing! Nothing in this life. You know, in Romans 8, there He lists things that could separate us from the love of God. But nothing will separate us from the love of God, because He keeps us. It is not that we are holding onto God. God keeps us, and not one of His elect is going to be lost.
So the Bible does teach that God, the Holy Spirit, dwells in us after we become a child of God, and this is a great truth in the Bible. Wherever you look, you can see that this is the same great teaching in the Bible, that God indwells the true believers.
In the Gospel of John 14, a couple more verses, in John 14:23, here God tells us:
Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
Do you see the “we” there?
...we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
This is God, the Holy Spirit. The whole Godhead is involved in our salvation, you see.
And then God tells us, one last verse, in Romans 8, Gold tells us very, very plainly, where He says in verse 9, in Romans 8:9, God tells us:
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit...
Speaking to the true believers:
...if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
If God’s Holy Spirit is not indwelling in that person who professes to be a child of God, that person is not a child of God, no matter how they argue with the Scriptures, and argue and argue and argue.
And many people think, because you say, “God, the Holy Spirit, indwells you,” they take it and run with it, thinking some outward manifestation of the Spirit, or whatever they think, but that is not the true Gospel. Those who claim that God is speaking to them in some foreign language, that is a false gospel. It is a false gospel, coming right out of the mind of man, or wherever it comes from, but it is not from the Bible.
God tells us that if we do not have the Spirit of Christ, we are not saved, so each one of us ought to examine ourselves. Has God performed this mighty miracle of salvation in me? Has He given me a new heart? And if He did not, we know that today is still the Day of Salvation.
We can not trust our feelings. We can not let somebody tell us that we are saved. The Bible has to. Remember that God tells us, “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.”
As we read the Bible, that assurance of salvation will begin to grow on us, that we are indeed His, a child of God. Remember, Psalm 35 says [note: the speaker inadvertently said “Psalm 33”here when he intended to reference Psalm 35]:
“Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation.” God will give you an assurance, if indeed you are truly saved.
At times, there may be doubts, but we go back to the Bible. We go to the Bible, and if we are indeed truly a child of God, God will testify to us that we are indeed a child of God.
Let us close. Heavenly Father, we thank you Lord.