Bro Rick Sunday School 5/29/11

Bro Rick Sunday School 5/29/11

The topic I have on my heart is to study those that have gone on before that kept their faith alive.  We want to learn how to keep the faith alive ourselves.  The enemy would like to snuff out the Church of God.  We can keep our faith alive through God’s help and grace.

Heb 11:13  These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

As Christians we are like this.  We’re passing through life endeavoring to stay true to God.  We’re seeking a country, we want to make heaven our home. 

Heb 11:14  For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.

Heb 11:15  And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.

Heb 11:16  But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.

It is wonderful that God has prepared a place for us.

Heb 11:17  By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,

Heb 11:18  Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called:

Heb 11:19  Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.

Heb 11:20  By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.

Heb 11:21  By faith Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff.

Heb 11:22  By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones.

Heb 11:23  By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king's commandment.

Heb 11:24  By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter;

Heb 11:25  Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;

This is always the better choice.

Heb 11:26  Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.

We need to be willing to be looked down upon as Christians.  What is required of us is so small compared with the things these saints went through.

Heb 11:27  By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.

Heb 11:28  Through faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them.

Heb 11:29  By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned.

Heb 11:30  By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days.

Heb 11:31  By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.

Heb 11:32  And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:

Heb 11:33  Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,

Heb 11:34  Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.

We don’t know what the future holds in this country.  The way things are going across this land, we may have to go through what these folks went through.  We want to stay true to God.

Heb 11:35  Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:

Heb 11:36  And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:

Heb 11:37  They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;

Heb 11:38  (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

Heb 11:39  And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:

Heb 11:40  God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.

All the apostles became martyrs besides John.

From Fox’s Book of Martyrs:

St. Stephen

St. Stephen suffered the next in order. His death was occasioned by the faithful manner in which he preached the Gospel to the betrayers and murderers of Christ. To such a degree of madness were they excited, that they cast him out of the city and stoned him to death. The time when he suffered is generally supposed to have been at the Passover which succeeded to that of our Lord's crucifixion, and to the era of his ascension, in the following spring.

Upon this a great persecution was raised against all who professed their belief in Christ as the Messiah, or as a prophet. We are immediately told by St. Luke, that "there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem;" and that "they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles."

About two thousand Christians, with Nicanor, one of the seven deacons, suffered martyrdom during the "persecution that arose about Stephen."

James the Great

The next martyr we meet with, according to St. Luke, in the History of the Apostles' Acts, was James the son of Zebedee, the elder brother of John, and a relative of our Lord; for his mother Salome was cousin-german to the Virgin Mary. It was not until ten years after the death of Stephen that the second martyrdom took place; for no sooner had Herod Agrippa been appointed governor of Judea, than, with a view to ingratiate himself with them, he raised a sharp persecution against the Christians, and determined to make an effectual blow, by striking at their leaders. The account given us by an eminent primitive writer, Clemens Alexandrinus, ought not to be overlooked; that, as James was led to the place of martyrdom, his accuser was brought to repent of his conduct by the apostle's extraordinary courage and undauntedness, and fell down at his feet to request his pardon, professing himself a Christian, and resolving that James should not receive the crown of martyrdom alone. Hence they were both beheaded at the same time. Thus did the first apostolic martyr cheerfully and resolutely receive that cup, which he had told our Savior he was ready to drink. Timon and Parmenas suffered martyrdom about the same time; the one at Philippi, and the other in Macedonia. These events took place A.D. 44.

Philip

Was born at Bethsaida, in Galilee and was first called by the name of "disciple." He labored diligently in Upper Asia, and suffered martyrdom at Heliopolis, in Phrygia. He was scourged, thrown into prison, and afterwards crucified, A.D. 54.

Matthew

Whose occupation was that of a toll-gatherer, was born at Nazareth. He wrote his gospel in Hebrew, which was afterwards translated into Greek by James the Less. The scene of his labors was Parthia, and Ethiopia, in which latter country he suffered martyrdom, being slain with a halberd in the city of Nadabah, A.D. 60.

James the Less

Is supposed by some to have been the brother of our Lord, by a former wife of Joseph. This is very doubtful, and accords too much with the Catholic superstition, that Mary never had any other children except our Savior. He was elected to the oversight of the churches of Jerusalem; and was the author of the Epistle ascribed to James in the sacred canon. At the age of ninety-four he was beat and stoned by the Jews; and finally had his brains dashed out with a fuller's club.

Matthias

Of whom less is known than of most of the other disciples, was elected to fill the vacant place of Judas. He was stoned at Jerusalem and then beheaded.

Andrew

Was the brother of Peter. He preached the gospel to many Asiatic nations; but on his arrival at Edessa he was taken and crucified on a cross, the two ends of which were fixed transversely in the ground. Hence the derivation of the term, St. Andrew's Cross.

St. Mark

Was born of Jewish parents of the tribe of Levi. He is supposed to have been converted to Christianity by Peter, whom he served as an amanuensis, and under whose inspection he wrote his Gospel in the Greek language. Mark was dragged to pieces by the people of Alexandria, at the great solemnity of Serapis their idol, ending his life under their merciless hands.

Peter

Among many other saints, the blessed apostle Peter was condemned to death, and crucified, as some do write, at Rome; albeit some others, and not without cause, do doubt thereof. Hegesippus saith that Nero sought matter against Peter to put him to death; which, when the people perceived, they entreated Peter with much ado that he would fly the city. Peter, through their importunity at length persuaded, prepared himself to avoid. But, coming to the gate, he saw the Lord Christ come to meet him, to whom he, worshipping, said, "Lord, whither dost Thou go?" To whom He answered and said, "I am come again to be crucified." By this, Peter, perceiving his suffering to be understood, returned into the city. Jerome saith that he was crucified, his head being down and his feet upward, himself so requiring, because he was (he said) unworthy to be crucified after the same form and manner as the Lord was.

Paul

Paul, the apostle, who before was called Saul, after his great travail and unspeakable labors in promoting the Gospel of Christ, suffered also in this first persecution under Nero. Abdias, declareth that under his execution Nero sent two of his esquires, Ferega and Parthemius, to bring him word of his death. They, coming to Paul instructing the people, desired him to pray for them, that they might believe; who told them that shortly after they should believe and be baptized at His sepulcher. This done, the soldiers came and led him out of the city to the place of execution, where he, after his prayers made, gave his neck to the sword.

Jude

The brother of James, was commonly called Thaddeus. He was crucified at Edessa, A.D. 72.

Bartholomew

Preached in several countries, and having translated the Gospel of Matthew into the language of India, he propagated it in that country. He was at length cruelly beaten and then crucified by the impatient idolaters.

Thomas

Called Didymus, preached the Gospel in Parthia and India, where exciting the rage of the pagan priests, he was martyred by being thrust through with a spear.

Luke

The evangelist, was the author of the Gospel which goes under his name. He traveled with Paul through various countries, and is supposed to have been hanged on an olive tree, by the idolatrous priests of Greece.

Simon

Surnamed Zelotes, preached the Gospel in Mauritania, Africa, and even in Britain, in which latter country he was crucified, A.D. 74.

John

The "beloved disciple," was brother to James the Great. The churches of Smyrna, Pergamos, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea, and Thyatira, were founded by him. From Ephesus he was ordered to be sent to Rome, where it is affirmed he was cast into a cauldron of boiling oil. He escaped by miracle, without injury. Domitian afterwards banished him to the Isle of Patmos, where he wrote the Book of Revelation. Nerva, the successor of Domitian, recalled him. He was the only apostle who escaped a violent death.

Barnabas

Was of Cyprus, but of Jewish descent, his death is supposed to have taken place about A.D. 73.

And yet, notwithstanding all these continual persecutions and horrible punishments, the Church daily increased, deeply rooted in the doctrine of the apostles and of men apostolical, and watered plentously with the blood of saints.

“He that believeth on me out of Him shall flow rivers of living water.” John 7:38

We need to be willing to give our life for God.  This is not a time for us to be cowardly.  We don’t want to be ashamed of God.  We need to learn from these old saints how we can be better Christians.

Jeremiah 6:16 KJVR

(16)  Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.

I want to hold on to the old paths.  Holiness unto the Lord is what is required.  I want to live carefully.  The old paths are very recognizable.  An old path is well worn and you can pick out an old path; it is well trodden and nothing grows in it.  The place to prayer is well worn; we need to get our spiritual eyes open to recognize the old paths. 

These old saints were willing to give their very lives for the gospel.  They knew how important it was.  The one that labored in India probably had to learn the language.

We’ve seen in life that as people go away from the old paths they produce fruits that are not what God would want them to produce.

Jer 18:15  Because my people hath forgotten me, they have burned incense to vanity, and they have caused them to stumble in their ways from the ancient paths, to walk in paths, in a way not cast up;

We want to make sure our paths are ways that will be going up that mountain.  We don’t want to look to the ways of those that have lowered the standard a little.  Human understanding will easily take us down the wrong path.  We need to stay to the old paths.  History does repeat itself and we don’t want to fall into apostasy.

Pro 12:28  In the way of righteousness is life; and in the pathway thereof there is no death.

We don’t want to lay aside the way of righteousness in this busy day that we are living in.  Everybody is busy. 

“Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness…”

All we need to do as we go through life and are so busy is to live close to God and let Him schedule our time.  We must overcome.  Righteousness and keeping God first is the most important thing in our life.

Gen 6:8  But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.

Gen 6:9  These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.

Noah was doing all he knew to live for God and this is all God expects from us.  He was perfect in his generation and walked with God.

God gave Noah a tremendous project that took him about 100 years to build.  Can you imagine his determination to please God?  He just kept going on and on and on.  Wood deteriorates as it weathers.  He must have been pitching it as He went.  I wouldn’t have liked the job of putting on the pitch.  I don’t know what kind of soap they had back then, but he probably was pitchy. 

Think of how Noah furthered the gospel.  Think of if there had been no man that had been living for God in that time period.  Noah was an awesome person, building a boat with no power tools in a place where there was no water.  It is amazing how God gave him the ability to do that.  He may have never built a boat before.  It was something from God.

Exo 7:1  And the LORD said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet.

Exo 7:2  Thou shalt speak all that I command thee: and Aaron thy brother shall speak unto Pharaoh, that he send the children of Israel out of his land.

Imagine living in a country where the ruler was ungodly.  Imagine God choosing you to go and tell him that you and your people were leaving.  Moses was willing to be the leader of his people.  This was a big deal for Moses; he was a meek man and had problems to even talk.  He had a big job to do and he was willing to do it even though he had a personal weakness. 

Moses went before the most powerful man of the kingdom and that put him in danger of even his life.

Exo 14:8  And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel: and the children of Israel went out with an high hand.

Exo 14:9  But the Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army, and overtook them encamping by the sea, beside Pihahiroth, before Baalzephon.

When we come to these situations in life where things seem impossible, we must choose to believe in God.  If we’re living for God then when we come to difficult situations, we can choose to believe in God.  There was murmuring going on among the Children of Israel, they had problems believing.

I want to encourage you to believe if you have a Red Sea that needs to be opened.  God is a God that can do impossible things.  The things that are impossible with man are possible with God.

Moses chose to believe in God and God made a way.  God will deliver us when we come to a situation where we feel like the water has to part.

The Children of Israel came to many places where they wanted to go back to a previous position where they were surviving.  When God puts his finger on something where He wants us to get the victory, we may feel the same way, but we have to go forward when God says to.  We cannot go back when God says to go forward.  We wouldn’t make it at that point; we’d be taking a different path that would take us out of God’s will completely.  

We need to have faith.  I’m convinced that many times we use our mind in ways that God didn’t intend.  He doesn’t want us to get off into vain thinking and waste our minds in things that are profitless. 

Exo 14:10  And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto the LORD.

Exo 14:11  And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt?

We can learn from this that murmuring will not get us anywhere.  It will not get us through the Red Sea.