To Print Out The Lesson Click On The Title Below.
Proverbs 11:21-31
21 Though
they join forces, the wicked will not go unpunished; But the posterity
of the righteous will be delivered.
22 As
a ring of gold in a swine's snout, So
is a lovely woman who lacks discretion.
23 The desire of the righteous is only good, But the expectation of the wicked is wrath.
24 There is one who scatters, yet increases more; And there is one who withholds more than is right,
But it leads to poverty.
25 The generous soul will be made rich, And he
who waters will also be watered himself.
26 The people will curse him who withholds
grain, But blessing will be on
the head of him who sells it.
27 He who earnestly seeks good finds favor, But
trouble will come to him who seeks evil.
28 He who trusts in his riches will fall, But
the righteous will flourish like foliage.
29 He who troubles his own house will inherit
the wind, And the fool will be
servant to the wise of heart.
30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, And he who wins
souls is wise.
31 If the
righteous will be recompensed on the earth, How much more the ungodly and the
sinner.
Father God, I pray and ask that your
Holy Spirit takes non-believers and leads them to the truth of the Gospel, and
that those led to the truth will accept the truth and reject untrue doctrine
and beliefs they are living by. In
Jesus
name we pray, Amen!
Gospel of John 3:18-22 NKJV
This lesson is about the change that takes place in the
heart of a regenerated person. Anyone that is sincere and accepts Jesus as
their Saviour, a change happens in that person’s life; a change that is done
from the inside out starting with the heart of stone, which is enmity toward
God, being replaced with a heart of flesh. It is a change the non-believed does
not understand!
18 "He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who
does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name
of the only begotten Son of God.
He who believes in Him is not condemned; Anyone that believes in Jesus and
what He did on the Cross for Humanity; that places their faith in Jesus; that
has accepted Him; that relies on Him; that trusts His promises for salvation;
that goes to Jesus for all things has eternal life here after.
God
pardons sin, and delivers us from deserved punishment, because we believe in His
Son Jesus. Jesus died in our place; He suffered for us, and by His sufferings
our sins are atoned for; done away with by the sacrifice of Jesus which He
offered on the Cross, and was accepted by God, to forgive sin. When a sinner
believes in Jesus, he trusts in Him as having died in his place, and God having
accepted the offering which Christ made in our place, as being an equivalent
for our sufferings in hell, there is now no further condemnation. Romans 8:1 There
is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who
do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
But he who does not believe is condemned already; A person that does not believe,
meaning Born Again, is condemned because of the fall of Adam. Due to the fall
and by the very act of having a human birth into this world, one stands
“condemned.” It is called “original sin.”
Even
though a child (meaning toddler, pre-teen, and possibly early teen) is
protected through the state of innocence, upon reaching the age of
accountability, whenever that may be, unless they are brought to a saving
knowledge of Jesus Christ, the person is “condemned,” i.e., “lost.”
Because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of
God;
This means, that believing in Jesus as a “Good Man” or “Miracle-Worker,” or
even as a “Prophet,” will not suffice for eternal life in Heaven. One must believe
in, and accept Him, as Saviour, meaning not wanting to live a life of inherited
sin that separates him from Jesus and asks Jesus to forgive them because of the
way they are living and that they want to live for Jesus. One must have the
desire to live according to Jesus ways and not the ways of the world and what
the world devises for salvation.
19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into
the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were
evil.
And this is the condemnation; The word, “condemnation,” as it is
used here, in the Greek Text is “krisis,” and means; this is the
cause of condemnation; or this is the reason why men will be punished. Jesus
came for the deliverance of mankind from their sinful nature, because they were
already condemned due to the Fall of Adam. Jesus! condemnation will come at a
later date when we stand before Him on Judgment Day.
That the light has come into the world; The light of course is referring to
Jesus. Jesus is the truth and the way and through the teachings of the Gospel,
sin is revealed in people’s lives. The light of Jesus denotes instruction,
teaching, doctrine, etc. that illuminates the path of a sinners life.
And men loved darkness rather than light; Many people
don't want their lives exposed to God's light because they are afraid of what
will be revealed. They don't want to be changed. Darkness is the emblem of
ignorance, iniquity, error, superstition, heritage, customs, rituals, false
teachings; whatever is opposite to truth and godliness.
Because their deeds were evil; Men who commit crime commonly choose
to do it in the night, so as to escape detection. So men who are wicked prefer
false doctrine and dishonesty. Thus the Pharisees cloaked their crimes under
the errors of their system; and, amid their false doctrines and superstitions,
they attempted to convince others that they had great zeal for God.
20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not
come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.
For everyone practicing evil hates the light; This is true
of all mankind. They choose to practice their deeds of wickedness in secret.
They are afraid of openly practicing, because they can be easily detected.
Therefore, most crimes are committed in the night. So it is with the sinner
against God. The lost hates the gospel, even though they don’t realize it, but
it condemns his conduct, and his conscience would trouble him if he was
enlightened. How many times have you read the lists of sins in the NT and had a
feeling of guilt come over you? The light of those words convicts the heart of
a sinner, but life goes on as usual because the sinner hides those feelings of
guilt out of shame. They don’t want anyone to know how wicked they are based on
God’s Word, so they gloss over the list of sins and compares themselves with
other human beings, but God knows!
And does not come to the light; Mankind by nature is a proud being and it is very
difficult for a proud person to humble themselves and admit they are wrong, or
don’t fully understand something especially spiritual, or come to grips that
their heritage or what they have been taught is not the real truth. Therefore
they won’t accept the light of Jesus for fear of what loved ones, neighbors, or
society will think of them, so they continue their life as usual. It shouldn’t
matter what others think of us, because the only thing that should matter is
what “God thinks” of us. One
day we will stand before God and not man for judgment.
Lest his deeds should be exposed; To “expose” here means not only to
“detect” or make manifest, but also includes the idea of “condemnation” when
his deeds are detected. The gospel would make his wickedness obvious, and his
conscience would condemn him. What can we learn from this verse:
1. That one design
of the gospel is “to rebuke” men; to convict them of sin in order to bring a
sinner to the foot of the Cross in repentance.
2. That men by
nature “hate” the gospel. No man who is a sinner loves it; and no man by nature
is inclined to come to it, any more than an adulterer or thief is of a mind to
come to the daylight, and do his deeds of wickedness there.
3. The reason why
the gospel, is hated is that men are born sinners. “Christ is hated because sin
is loved.”
4. The sinner must
be convicted or convinced of sin. If it isn’t in this world, it will be in the
next, which will be too late. There is no escape for him; and the only way to
avoid condemnation in the world to come is to come humbly and acknowledge sin
here and now, and seek forgiveness from Jesus.
21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds
may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God."
If
we would rephrase this verse it would read something like this; But those who are
Born Again come to the light so others
can see that they are doing what God wants.
But he who does the truth comes to the light; The sinner acts from falsehood and
error. The true believer acts according to truth. The sinner believes a lie,
that God will not punish, or that there is no God, or God is all forgiving and
will forgive them when they stand before Him, or that God is all love and would
not sent anyone to hell, or that there is no eternity and no hell. The
Christian believes all these, and conducts their lives according to the truth
of God. This is the difference between a Christian and a sinner.
A
person has to have a desire to come to God. No one can force a person to turn
to God, just like a person can’t force a horse to drink at the water trough. We
can lead a horse to water and if it is thirsty it will drink otherwise it
won’t. It is the same with people, they can be led to God but if they have no
desire to accept what God has for them then all we can do is plant Gospel Seeds
and pray they will germinate and grow. If a person does seek God then the Holy
Spirit will guide them in their journey. If a person wants to or feels they
need to do something toward salvation, then seeking God with a sincere heart is
all that is required, good works and deeds will not get a person that free gift
of Grace from God. John 8:12 Then Jesus
spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of
the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of
life." John 14:6 Jesus said to him,
"I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one
comes to the Father except through Me.
That his deeds may be clearly seen; This phrase proclaims
the great change that takes place in the Believer’s life, upon coming to
Christ. The evil deeds are forever gone, with righteous deeds taking their
place.
A child of God has the
light of Jesus shining forth from them. Their deeds are clearly seen and not
understood by those around them. For example; at work co-workers may try to get
the Christian to slow down production or stand around and talk when there is
work to be done. The Christian views this as stealing from the company and may
even state this, but the co-workers just laugh it off. Another fine example of
thievery at work in current times is when employees surf the internet when they
are supposed to be working. The boss may not know the actions of their employees
under the veil of darkness and secrecy, but God knows and one day will have to
answer for those sins come Judgment Day unless one repents and accepts Jesus
before they die.
That they have been done in God; This phrase is referring to the
conduct or lifestyle of a child of God. That their deeds are performed
according to the will of God, or by the assistance of God’s Spirit, and are
such as God will approve. The actions of good people are performed by the
influence and aid of the Holy Spirit. The character of a Born Again Christian is:
1. He does truth.
He loves it, seeks it, and follows it.
2. He comes to the
light. He does not attempt to deceive himself or others.
3. He is willing
to know himself, and aims to do it. He desires to know the true state of his
heart before God.
4. A special
object of his efforts is that his deeds may be “shaped in God.” He desires to
be a good man; to receive continual aid from God, and to perform such actions
as He will approve. A true Christian does these things out of love for Jesus
because of what Jesus did for him on the Cross.
We
have to work out our own salvation, not in good deeds and works, but through
the Word of God and humbling ourselves in repentance. Philippians 2:12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always
obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out
your own salvation with fear and trembling;
22 After
these things Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea, and there He
remained with them and baptized.
With
the cleansing of the temple and discussions that Jesus had with the Pharisees,
hostility was starting to take place, therefore Jesus and His disciples moved
out of the metropolis of Jerusalem and into the region of Judea. As we see in
the upcoming verses this area was in close proximity of where John the Baptist
was still baptizing those that came to him. In this area Jesus disciples baptized
those that became believers. Only the disciples did the baptizing, not Jesus. John 4:2 (though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His
disciples)
“This is the close of our Lord’s discourse with Nicodemus
- a discourse condensing the gospel, giving the most striking exhibition and
illustration of truth, and representing especially the fundamental doctrine of
regeneration and the evidence of the change. It is clear that the Saviour
regarded this as lying at the foundation of religion. Without it we cannot
possibly be saved. And now it becomes every reader, as in the presence of God,
and in view of the judgment-seat of Christ, solemnly to ask himself whether he
has experienced this change? Whether he knows by experience what it is to be
born of that Spirit? If he does he will be saved. If not, he is in the gall of
bitterness and in the bond of iniquity, and should give no sleep to his eyes
until he has made his peace with God.” (Barnes)
Colossians 1:16 For by Him all things were created
that are in heaven and that are on earth,
visible and invisible,
whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.
All
things were created through Him and for Him.
Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of
the glory of God,
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our
Lord.
John 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, Most assuredly, I say to you,
unless one is born again, he
cannot see the kingdom of God."
The
Lighthouse Full Gospel Church
Sinners
Prayer; Pray this, and if you believe it with your heart, Jesus will save you!
“Lord Jesus I know I am a
sinner. I confess my sins to you; I am
sorry for my sins; I repent (Meaning, desiring to turn from a sinful
lifestyle.) of all my sins, and I am asking for your forgiveness. I believe that only you can forgive sin. I commit my life to you and ask you to come
into my heart, direct, and take charge of my life. I believe that you died to set me free from
my sinful lifestyle and you rose from the dead to give me eternal life, and
right now you are seated at the Right Hand of God Almighty. I believe you are
the Son of God; the only Way, the only Truth, the only Life, and my
Savior.” I believe this and have faith
you will make a new person out of me, by sending the Holy Spirit to dwell in my
heart and lead me in a new life. In Jesus name I pray Amen.”
(John 3:16,17; Romans
3:23; 6:23; 5:8; 10:9-13; Ephesians
2:8-10; 1 John 5:11-14; 1:6-10)
(Sin: Rom. 1:22-32; Gal. 5:19-21; Eph.
5:3-7)
