Here's the Difference

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Bob MacLeod

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Phil Sarlo's Personal Story

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Jane Aubry - I remember one day in the 1970's playing my guitar, looking up to heaven, and saying, “If there is a God, I want to know Him.” When I met Roger, my husband to be, he told me he was “saved”.  I had never heard the word before.  I had thought we could only “hope” to go to heaven. He told me how he was saved and that was the end of talking about it for a time. more...

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 The Encourager

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Do Scriptures such as Luke 12:47-48" TARGET="_blank">Luke 12:47-48 and Revelaion 20:12 teach that there are degrees in punishment for the wicked dead?

Revelation 20:12" TARGET="_blank">Revelation 20:12  And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

Luke 12:47-48" TARGET="_blank">Luke 12:47-48  And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.

These scriptures certainly do teach degrees of punishment. The former passage especially lays down what is doubtless a general principle of God’s dealings in judgment, namely, that the punishment varies, not so much according to the amount of evil inherent in the act itself, as according to the amount of knowledge of right and wrong possessed by the sinner. It is worthy of note that “the servant which knew” is beaten with many stripes, merely for not doing things he should have done, i.e. for sins of omission; while “he that knew not” gets his few stripes for wrong things done by him, i.e. for sins of commission. Another passage in which the same principle is strongly emphasised is Matthew 11:20-24," TARGET="_blank">Matthew 11:20-24, where Christ pronounces woes on the cities in which He had preached most, and in doing so says that it shall be more tolerable for Tyre, Sidon, and even Sodom in the day of judgment than for them.

W.R.

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Sunday School Worksheets

1. Printable Sunday School Worksheets are available for download.

2. Sunday School Activities is another download section that includes 3D models, games and Power Points.

3. Weekly email of a Sunday School activity featuring printable booklets and creative ways to tell a Bible story.
   

1. Lessons outlines and Activities.

2. Sunday School Worksheets.

• You can turn a Bible vese or chapter into a Sunday School class activity in a 3 mouse clicks or use one of the 325 worksheets already made.

 You need have the Acrobat PDF reader, also called Acrobat Reader and a printer.

The Sunday School Worksheets are a source of ideas for lessons and simple crafts designed for appropriate age-group levels: primary aged sunday school students can easily do the Sunday School Story Coloring Worksheets or the fill-in-the-blank worksheets.  Middle school and high school students can do the worksheet activities that have open-ended responses.  Wordfind (or wordfinder puzzles) and crossword puzzles can be done by both primary and secondary age students.  You don't need to have a crossword puzzle maker or a wordfind maker since each Bible story already is completed for you.

The Sunday School Worksheets are provided originally for free download and distribution by Calvary Chapel.  They are a free Sunday School Teacher craft idea resource that cannot be sold according to the original copyright agreement.

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What is demon possession?

Demon possession is the act of a demon, a fallen angel, an agent of Satan, moving into the body and mind of a human being.  
Christ spoke of this type of possession in Matthew 12:44" TARGET="_blank">Matthew 12:44 and Luke 11:25" TARGET="_blank">Luke 11:25…

Matthew 12:43-45" TARGET="_blank">Matthew 12:43-45  When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none.  (44)  Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished.  (45)  Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.

Christ was correcting a problem with empty religion of the Pharisees.  A person who is under the control of Satan is described in Ephesians 2:1-2" TARGET="_blank">Ephesians 2:1-2 as someone following the course of this world - unbridled sinful living, ungodly thinking, lust-filled passions, no limits, sensual, greedy, animal-like, selfish passion.

Ephesians 2:1-2" TARGET="_blank">Ephesians 2:1-2  And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience--

Eventually, a person in this state may grow weary of this type of life and seek reformation and religion.  But a man who is reformed, but not reborn (as in born again) is not truly a Christian.  The key phrase in this passage is verse 44 "unoccupied".  The Holy Spirit is not a resident in his heart.  He is therefore eventually going to return to his Satanic-driven lifestyle and be even more enslaved to his habits.

Other Examples

There are a number of examples of people who were possessed by a demon, but none of them were believers.  The demoniacs of Gadara (Matthew 8:28;" TARGET="_blank">Matthew 8:28; Mark 5:2)" TARGET="_blank">Mark 5:2) are them most startling examples of demon possession.  These show us the extreme change that came upon them once Christ had driven the demons from them.  These were not mere problems such as "demons of depression" or "demons of mental illness" or "demons of alcoholism", but true possession of a demonic spirit.

Demons may enter the body of an unbeliever and take control of his thoughts and emotions but the Christian is protected from Satan and his angels because he is indwelled by the Holy Spirit (1 John 4:4;" TARGET="_blank">1 John 4:4; Ephesians 1:13-14;" TARGET="_blank">Ephesians 1:13-14; Colossians 1:13-14)." TARGET="_blank">Colossians 1:13-14).

Shad David Sluiter

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PRAYER TO THE HOLY SPIRIT
Is it right to pray to the Holy Ghost?

Which Scriptures, if any, can be cited to justify this, either directly or by implication?

It is not according to God’s order as laid down in His Word. The glorious Three in One, though co-equal, co-eternal and co-substantial (that is each possessing the whole Divine substance), are not identical in function and relation, as any thoughtful reader of the Scripture will allow at once. The Father sends the Son, the Son by the Eternal Spirit offers Himself to God, the Spirit proceedeth from the Father, Who sends Him forth in the name of the Son. The Father desires worshippers. Such can only come through the Son, and in the power of the Spirit. All these purposes and functions are also the work of the Divine Being in the Unity of His essence.
It is therefore quite beside the mark to insist on predicating of each of the Blessed Divine Persons the same relations, lest we dishonour any One of Them. We pray to the Father and the Son (John 14:13, 14)," TARGET="_blank">John 14:13, 14), but never are we told to do this to the Holy Spirit; nor have we one instance SO far as I know, of any such exercise. Whatever pious ecclesiastics, often governed as much by their feelings as by the Word, may say, we cannot presume to be wiser than God, or to go beyond His Word, or honour Him by going outside what He has revealed. The ultimate divine order is given in Ephesians 2:18" TARGET="_blank">Ephesians 2:18 “For through Him (the Son) we both (Jew and Gentile) have access by one Spirit unto the Father.”

W.H.

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Why is there pain and suffering?

You may also be interested in the more personal question "Why am I experiencing a time of difficulty? What is going trying to do to me?"

C.S. Lewis called it “The Problem of Pain” in his short, but influential book.

“If God were good, He would wish to make his creatures perfectly happy, and if God were almighty, He would be able to do what He wished. But the creatures are not happy. Therefore God lacks either goodness, or power, or both.  That is the problem of pain in its simplest form.”

Very briefly, there are a number of ways of answering this challenge.  

Choice

God created man, Satan and the angels with the power of choice.  This gives us the option of choosing to obey or to rebel against God.  Building us with a free will has the inherent risk of losing us to sin.  Suffering, being the result of sin, is the inheritance we received from Adam and Eve and their fatal choice to disobey God.  Romans 5:12" TARGET="_blank">Romans 5:12 says that he is the source of death in the world being the head of all humanity.  As a consequence of Adam’s choice, the world is visited by calamity and suffering.

Romans 5:12" TARGET="_blank">Romans 5:12  Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned--

This “bondage of corruption,” with the “whole world groaning and travailing together in pain” (Romans 8:21, 22)," TARGET="_blank">Romans 8:21, 22), has affected all men everywhere. God did not make the world in its fallen state.  In fact, when finishing the world he said "it is very good" (Genesis 2:1-3)." TARGET="_blank">Genesis 2:1-3).  Some day in the future, God will take away the curse from the earth. In that day, “God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain” (Revelation 21:4)." TARGET="_blank">Revelation 21:4). 

God lacks power?

If God is almighty, then why does he allow suffering to exist?  God actually uses suffering to accomplish his will.  Hebrews 12:5-11" TARGET="_blank">Hebrews 12:5-11 says that he disciplines his children with chastening.  Discipline is both punishment and instruction. 

Hebrews 12:5-11" TARGET="_blank">Hebrews 12:5-11  And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? "My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him.  (6)  For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives."  (7)  It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?  (8)  If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.  (9)  Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live?  (10)  For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness.  (11)  For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Hebrews 5:8-9" TARGET="_blank">Hebrews 5:8-9 says that Christ himself “learned” and was "made perfect" by what he suffered. Christ was certainly not ignorant nor unaware of suffering neither was he "imperfect" in the moral sense of sin.  He "learned" by experience what suffering is.  He "learned" obedience by practicing obedience even at the cost of the worst suffering imaginable.  "Made perfect" is the completion of his work by carrying it out to the end.

 Hebrews 5:7-9" TARGET="_blank">Hebrews 5:7-9  In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence.  (8)  Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered.  (9)  And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him,

Just because suffering continues to exist does not logically mean it exists because God is powerless to stop it.  God uses suffering to accomplish his purposes, which raises the next question…

God is cruel?

If God is capable of stopping suffering, then why does it continue?  To end suffering, God would have to end the root cause of suffering – the ability to sin.  This would mean that God would end our ability to make choices. To stop murder, God could end our ability to commit murder.  To stop sin against God, he could end our ability to rebel.  To stop evil implies ending the ability for individuals to choose what they want to do. God created Adam with the foreknowledge that Adam and his sons had the ability to worship God as well as the ability of Cain to kill his own brother.

Doesn’t God want his creatures to be perfectly happy?

Is God leading us somewhere with the aid of suffering?  The purpose of creation is not to give us self-indulgent pleasure.  The ultimate happiness of man is found by being able to glorify God even if that entails suffering on our part.  If God had made Adam with the mind of a programmed machine, Adam would not have sinned nor died.  Adam and his descendents would also not have the experience of being redeemed by grace.  There would be no salvation.  There would be no mercy of God.  There would be no heaven.  Instead, God has created a plan that will be consummated by the salvation of sinners who don’t deserve redemption, but will worship God eternally because of it. Man would never know salvation apart from sin. 

Suffering is turned into goodness in the end.  God was not surprised by Adam’s sin and fall. Of course, this does not mean that God is the source of sin, but it does mean that God is above sin and can use it to accomplish glory in the end.  If God is eventually going to bring glory to himself through the suffering of all humanity, can he not do the same in your broken life?

Conclusion

These are summary paragraphs of a few reasons why suffering is allowed to continue.  We can't know all the reasons why God allows suffering we just know that He does.

Shad Sluiter

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Don't have much time to prepare your lesson for tomorrow's Sunday school class?  Perhaps you like reading the Bible story for the lesson, but you don't have time to create an interesting activity.  Then the following fast links will help you create a fast lesson and an activity to go with it. 

• Lesson plans - A fast-start to help you prepare for next class.

• Printable activities - Crafts, foldable paper models, worksheets, PowerPoint and other items to make your lesson more interesting and active.

• Sunday School Puzzle Maker - Create a crossword puzzle or wordsearch in a few mouse clicks.

• or use one of the 325 worksheets already made to get you started fast.

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Hebrews 9:22" TARGET="_blank">Hebrews 9:22 states that “almost all things are by the law purged with blood,” and Wm. Lincoln has pointed out that the only sin offering which did not Involve blood-shedding was that of Levitus 5:11. The peace-offering was never made without the burnt-offering and then blood was shed.

Who paid for the burnt offering? Did one offering avail for two persons?

To reply to the last parts of the question first: I judge from Leviticus 10:2," TARGET="_blank">Leviticus 10:2, that each offerer brought his burnt-offering at his own expense, and if so, it was an individual offering. There was, however, the continual burnt offering (see chap. 6. 9-i3), and I should think that was provided by the priests from the offerings to them by the people. I do not think the peace-offering was necessarily accompanied by a burnt-offering. They were quite distinct, but it would be true to say that the burnt- offering, representing the whole offering of Himself by Christ to God, was constantly accompanied by a meal-offering (see Numbers 28: 11-13;" TARGET="_blank">Numbers 28: 11-13; Numbers 29;" TARGET="_blank">Numbers 29; Judges 13:16-19)," TARGET="_blank">Judges 13:16-19), representing the spotless humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ, tested in every possible way. The bloodless offering to which Mr. Lincoln refers was the tenth part of an ephah of fine-flour offered for a sin-offering (Leviticus 5:11)." TARGET="_blank">Leviticus 5:11). This represents the lowest form of sin-offering. Really there was only one—representing Christ. The different degrees of offering in Lev. 4" TARGET="_blank">Lev. 4 and 5 represent the different degrees of appreciation of the offering by different classes of offerers. Some, like the high priest, would offer the bullock—that would entail a very high estimate of Christ; this also availed for the whole congregation. It will take the whole of the redeemed fully to appreciate Christ. The ram would stand for a lower, though still high, appreciation of Christ, and so down to the turtle doves, but in these all the offerer would have the see of the need and value of the blood of Christ. The handful of flour would be Christ too, but Christ little understood, little appreciated, “a touching of the hem of His garment,” a coming to Him, a trusting Him, but with no sense of His atoning sacrifice. Some, perhaps many, to-day, begin like that, they come to the right Person, but they do not yet apprehend Him in the right way, and which of us can say that we do this as we ought to? One thing we may say in the case of the fine flour, the offering would be almost unseen, but in the case of the bullock it would be the offerer who might be almost unseen; and the higher our thoughts of Christ, the smaller we will become. We cannot think much of Christ, and of ourselves at the same time. “He must increase, I must decrease!”

W.H.

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