This Bible is God's word. That just means it is a written record of what God wanted to tell man. It is His Word and tells us about who God is and why He created the universe. It explains His plans and how He has been working throughout the centuries. It reveals to us who Jesus Christ and of why He came to earth. It also tells us why we are here and what what is God's purpose for our being here.

           Only God was at the Creation, the beginning of the Universe. The Evolutionist were not, nor any man. The best man can do apart from hearing an eye witness account is read a eye witness account. The Bible is an eye witness account of creation from the One who created it. In the last few years there has been a great deal of controversy over the origin of life. Darwinism says life came from inert matter five billion years ago. However, modern science has learned a lot since Darwin proposed his hypothesis. True unbiased modern science clearly sees that the complexity of all life, means there had to be a designer. Of course those who deny God, still childishly hold on to evolution.

LAST WEEK: SAW FROM THE BIBLE:
1. God created us and the Universe.

2. He did it for a purpose. You are not an accident, you are here for a purpose.

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: "Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this {is} the whole duty of man." Eccl. 12:13

3. Read Deuteronomy 10:12-13 "And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but [1] to fear the Lord thy God, [2] to walk in all his ways, and [3] to love him, and [4] to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, [5] To keep the commandments of the Lord, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?"

4. Rom. 1:21-25. Note: Verse 32.

a. The whole matter is this:

God knows what is best for you.
He created you for a purpose.
People are not fulfilling that purpose and are having great difficulty, heartache trouble.

b. 2. God gave us all we needed to live purposeful, happy and productive lives. He gave us a mind a will, and emotion.

c. The world says if you give me what I want I will be happy!

d. GOD'S WAY!! You can live happy, production and fulfilled lives in spite of sickness, poverty, loneliness, and trouble of every kind!!

          I am not talking about living without a KNOWLEDGE of God, but living without God.

ILLUS: A person can be married and know their spouse yet not care for them or even hate them! They have a knowledge of the spouse, yet they not live in harmony with them. A child can even live with its parents and not recognized them for giving them life, feeding and clothing them, and caring for them. The child can even despise their parents, their love and counsel.

A. What the Bible says: A man who is a child of God will be different than he was before.

What are some of the changes that occur when a person believes and receives Christ as their Savior?
1. Begins with submission to God. Accepting yourself as a sinner and repenting.

2. Begins with obedience: Publicly acknowledging Christ as ones Savior.

3. Continues with the act of obedience to Baptism. Apart of a public show of one's submission and trust in Christ.

4. Then it goes on with submitting one's life to the rule of God.

B. The truth is you were created by God to live for him and in doing so you would live the greatest like possible. But so many, live to themselves.

C. What are then is a man who does not have a personal relationship with God and lives apart from Him?

1. The reality is he is hopelessly separated from God. God says in describing what a person is who believes in Christ and lives for the Lord:

TURN TO: (Ephesians 2:1-3)

          "And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others."

2. Note that the verse says: "Christ made you ALIVE! This teaches true salvation is accomplished with a new life. Folks no where in the Bible is it taught that salvation is only a change in destination after death from HELL to HEAVEN.

3. Spiritually dead. Folks, the best the lost man can do is a failure.

TURN TO: 1 Cor. 2:14

          "But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."

What the verse says is a man with out Christ is like a ship out of water.

HE doesn't know the wonderful life Christ gives, and can not know what he is missing.

ILLUS: We can illustrate it this way. Suppose a poor and homeless man finds a map that tells him where a great treasure is buried. But he looks at the map, thinks it is foolishness and will not believe it is real. The way is there, the instruction is there, yet he can not use the information. The man just refuses to believe what the map says. The unsaved are in this dilemma. The truth that would will save them is but foolishness to them because they will not believe.

          If the man with the map, carefully examines the map and sees it appears authentic and follows it he would life a great treasure. However in salvation something else is in play and that is God through the Holy Spirit seeks to draw the man to the truth and enables him to understand it is true. Would it be foolish if the poor man with the map, decided that he liked being poor and homeless and throws the map away?

4. Hostile to God. James 4:1-7

a. A lot of people who say they believe in God are hostile towards Him.

b. I have a pastor friend named Will Muldoon. He resigned his church. Why? Basically because the folks there did not like him preaching the whole Bible. They liked the promises of heaven and help Christ gives.... yet they told him not to preach about the negative things such as hell and sin.

c. Christ's Apostle John had the same problem. In 3 John 9-11 he explained that there was a man in the church who was a leader. He had a lot of power and he could dismiss people from the congregation, and he determined church policy. His name was Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, and he would not receiveth John as God's apostle. Those in the church that received John, this man kicked out of the church. He was an evil man and the reason he rejected John is because John exposed him as the hypocrite he was.

d. He was lost! What was he doing in the church and with all that power? If you ask him if he believed in God, he would say most definitely! Yet, he opposed the things of God.

5. Blinded by Satan. 2 Cor. 4:1-6.

Satan is not in the bars, gambling houses, Las Vegas, Reno. Carolyn and I several times held a Bible study in Ely, Nev. The town has several legal prostitution houses. That's what gambling brings.

Satan's domain is working in churches. Getting people to believe lies, instead of the Gospel. Getting folks to accept false teaching. His greatest tool is false religion!

6. Powerless to Overcome Sin's Hold. Read John 8:34

a. "Jesus answered them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin." (John 8:34)

b. Anything that enslaves you is sin.

7. Incapable of Living a Spiritual Fruit and Meaningful Life. Read John 15:4-6

A. It is a simple matter of coming into a right relationship to Christ through belief in Him. When a person trusts Christ he:
1. Has his sins forgiven.

          "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace." (Ephesians 1:7)

          "He has delivered us from the power of darkness and translated {us} into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins." (Colossians 1:13-14)

Compare this with being hopeless separated from God.

2. Receive the new Birth. Read John 3:3

          "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead" (1 Peter 1:3) Compare this to being spiritually dead.

3. Have excess to God. Heb. 10:19-22.

B. Compare this to being separated and alienated from the God who created you.
1. Understand the things of God. Read 1 Cor. 2:9-13 and compare this to being blind to God and spiritual dead.

2. Become a new person living a wholesome and abundant life. Compare this to remaining a person who is a vile sinner, unable to overcome sin...living a life of being defected to sin.

3. And the list goes on and on!!!

A. He gave you a mind. You can hear and understand God's instruction. You can reason and see the evidence it is true.
1. You also have a will. You can chose to do what you know is right, because you understand that this is God's plan for you.

2. You can also to a degree feel the convicting power of God's Spirit drawing you.

B. God instructs in his Word. To Believe in Him.
1. "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life." (John 5:24)

2. "But what does it say? "The word is near you, {even} in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes to righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made to salvation." (Romans 10:8-10)

C. Repent of your sin. What is the reality?
1. You are a sinner. You will die in you sins and go to a Devil's hell, unless you receive Christ.

". . .and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel." (Mark 1:15)

2. "The Lord is not slack concerning {His} promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance." (2 Pet. 3:9)

D. WHOLEHEARTED BELIEVE THAT THE BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST PROVIDES COMPLETE FORGIVENESS.
1. "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace" (Ephesians 1:7)

2. "For it pleased {the Father that} in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross." (Colossians 1:19-20)

A. UNDER GOD'S JUDGMENT.
1. "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. "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." (John 3:18-19)

2. "And even as they did not like to retain God in {their} knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting;" (Romans 1:28)

B. POWERLESS TO OVERCOME SIN IN YOUR LIFE.

          "Jesus answered them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin." (John 8:34)

          "Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins." (John 8:24)

CONTRAST THIS TO: "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 6:23)

          "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God" (Ephesians 2:8)

          "For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth." (Romans 10:4)

          "That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. (John 3:15-17)

2. You were created...your creator has a plan for you.

3. Will you accept it, believer and trust in Christ as your Savior to forgive you sins and give you the gift of eternal life.