Quarter Three Student Book

The Kingdom and Its Enemies
Grade 5, Quarter 3, Student Book

Bet t y Burt on Choat e
Into Gods World
Bible Class Curriculum
Written by Christians, for Christians
Churches of Christ
Copyright 2014
Into Gods World
Bible class curricula written by Christians for Christians
Churches of Christ
All Quotes from the New King James Version of Scripture
World Evangelism Publications
P.O. Box 72
Winona, MS 38967
Phone: 662-283-1192
Email: Choate@WorldEvangelism.org
Web sites: WorldEvangelism.org
Into Gods World.
Table of Contents
Lesson Page
1. A Little Man with Horns? ........................................................................ 2
2. A World of Hurt ........................................................................................ 7
3. A Messed-up World ............................................................................... 13
4. I Did This for You ................................................................................... 18
5. Am I Lost? ............................................................................................... 24
6. Gods Plan for the Church .................................................................... 30
7. Separate from the World ....................................................................... 38
8. A Dangerous World ................................................................................ 46
9. Providential Care ................................................................................... 53
10. Division and Confusion ....................................................................... 59
11. Many Kinds of gods .......................................................................... 65
12. Do We Sometimes Make Idols? .......................................................... 73
.
13. Lets Look Back .................................................................................... 79
A Word of Explanation:
This student class book is designed also as a tool for family
Bible studies. The format is in narrative form: a Daddy, Mother, son
and daughter, studying and discussing the lessons together. Daddy
leads the discussions and does most of the talking. His statements
are not enclosed with quotation marks, avoiding the repetitious Daddy
said..., Daddy answered..., Daddy asked... So when you are read-
ing text without quotation marks, keep in mind that Daddy is talking....
For Teachers and Parents:
We hope that you will fnd these materials useful, in full agreement
with Gods word, and interesting to study. We ask that in the classroom
you teach with astuteness and compassion, aware that this ideal family
shown in the lessons will not be the home situation of some of your stu-
dents. As teachers, get to know the children and their specifc needs. In
this way you will be better able to instill in their minds what God wants the
family and home to be, without alienating them with the painful contrast
to their own lives. When divorce and broken homes are as prevalent in
the church as in the world, we as a body will either concede defeat and let
ruination continue, or we will bravely rise to the painful task of teaching the
clear message of Gods word so that things can be turned around. Only
true knowledge and humble obedience can save us from destruction.
For decades, many of the Bible class materials provided for the
Lords church were adapted from literature written for interdenominational
use. For that reason, no defnitive doctrine was taught.
We cannot remain strong as Gods Family without knowledge of all
that He says in His message to mankind. Partial truths are not enough to
save us and secure our faithfulness to Him. We understand that the mar-
ket in the church is not large enough for literature to be developed as a
business, hiring people to do all the writing, artwork, graphic design, editing,
and printing, and still to be offered at an affordable price. This explains the
logic behind companies buying the rights to reproduce and edit materials
designed initially for use in the denominational world. They were providing
what they could afford to do.
But this lack of defnitive teaching has opened the door to a major
apostasy that is already well underway. The only course for preventing the
loss of maybe 85% of the American church, following the death of the older
generations, is through literature. This is a vital work the church needs
to do for the church. We have asked volunteers to write and prepare the
materials, so that the fnished products will be biblically sound, appealing
to the eye, offering the needed component parts, and yet remaining within
reason in cost.
To complete such an enormous job four quarters for every year
from the cradle through adult ages will take time. We pray that you will
keep in touch with us, to be aware of new materials as they are completed,
to use them, to offer your suggestions for improvement, and to volunteer
your talents in the work yet to be done. Most of all, pray for Gods people.
1. Can we see Satan with our eyes?
2. Did God create an evil spirit that He called Satan? [God created all beings,
and all that He created was good. He did not cause Satan to choose to do
wrong. Satan made that choice himself, and because he rebelled against God,
he was thrown out of heaven Revelation 12:7-12.]
A Little Man
with Horns?
Laura was helping her mother
with the dishes after lunch. Youre
quiet today! Mother exclaimed.
Whats on your mind?
Oh, I dont know, Laura
answered hesitantly. Something
that was said in our Bible class this
morning, I guess.
What was that? Mother asked.
Well, Tommy asked if Satan is
a little man in a red suit, with horns
and a pitchfork, or is he just the bad
things around us, or the influence
of our friends trying to get us to do
wrong or is he a real spirit person
who is working in the world?
What do you think? Mother
turned the question around. Maybe we
havent studied enough about him for you to really know what the Bible teaches.
Does it say much about Satan?
Oh, yes! And by paying attention to what God says about him, we can be
warned so that well know how to protect ourselves!
Can he just take over our minds you know, like they say some people
are possessed by the devil?
Thats a good question, Mother smiled. And did you know theres only
one place where we can find the true answers about God and about Satan? in
Gods word!
1
Our World..... Lesson 1
Into Gods World.....
Who Is Satan?

Have you ever wondered who Satan is and what he looks like? We often
hear people speak about Satan or the devil. Is he just a bad influence or is he a
real being? Where did he come from? Has he always existed, or did someone
make him? Is he a bad god, equal with the true God, or is he less than God?
In Ezekiel 28:12-17, God speaks to someone, whom He calls a cherub
an angel and He says, You were the seal of perfection, full of wis-
dom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; ... you
were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; you were on
the holy mountain of God; you walked back and forth in the midst of fery
stones. You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till
iniquity was found in you...
2
Memory Verse: Revelation 12:9: So the great dragon was cast out, that
serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole
world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
In Isaiah 14:12-15, we read of God speaking to Sa-
tan again: How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer,
son of the morning! ... For you said in your heart, I
will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above
the stars of God. ... I will be like the Most High.
These are small glimpses of Satan or Lucifer, before
he chose to try to make himself greater than God. He was
a spirit being, called a cherub, and he was described as
being the anointed cherub so he must have been an
angel with great authority. God described him as perfect,
as being on the holy mountain of God, and in the Garden of
Eden. But pride filled his heart, and he decided to make his
throne higher than the stars, even to be like God!
What happened when Satan rebelled? We see
other glimpses in other verses:
And the angels who did not keep their prop-
er domain, but left their own habitation, He [God]
has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness
for the judgment of the great day ... (Jude 6).
Then He will also say to those on the left hand,
Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fre
prepared for the devil and his angels ... (Matthew 25:41).
Evidently, when Satan rebelled, he had influence
over other angels, and he led many to follow him in re-
bellion against God. These verses show us that angels
have the choice to obey or disobey God, but when they
disobeyed, God prepared a place for them. All of us
should keep in mind that hell was originally planned for
Satan and his fallen angels, not for humans.
God cannot allow sin in heaven, though, and so
the angels were cast out of the presence of God.
And war broke out in heaven: Michael and
his angels fought against the dragon; and the drag-
on and his angels fought, But they did not prevail,
nor was a place found for them in heaven any lon-
ger. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent
of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives
the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his
angels were cast out with him.
3
Vocabulary
Spirit being: an immortal life
form which cannot be seen with
the human eye. Being invisible
to us does not mean that it is
not real; in fact the spirit world
is more real in the sense of
being a permanent world than
ours is because those beings
do not die as we do.
Angels: spirit beings who were
created by God before He
made the world and everything
in it. They are above man, and
are doing the bidding of God.
Part of their work is to serve
those who are heirs of salva-
tion. (Hebrews 1:14)
Michael: the archangel; the
only angel in the scriptures to
be designated as archangel.
Michael seems to serve now
as the commander of Gods
host of angels. See Jude 9.
The Devil: also called Satan;
an evil spirit being who wants
to lead us to be evil. Jesus
said. I saw Satan fall like
lightning from heaven. (Luke
10:18)
Demons: spirit beings who
are enemies of God; they are
servants of Satan.
Song:
Get Behind Me, Satan!
When temptations trouble you,
say,
Get behind me, Satan!
When the wrong road faces you,
say,
Christ will lead you all the way,
He will guide you day by day,
When temptations trouble you,
say,
Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now salvation, and
strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come,
for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and
night, has been cast down (Revelation 12:7-10).
These verses show that there was a war in heaven. Satan and his angels
were overpowered by Michael and his angels, and the disobedient spirits were cast
out of heaven. Satan now roams the earth, going about, looking for ways to deceive
all who will listen to his temptations to do wrong.
In Ephesians 2:1-3 we learn that Satan is the spirit that now works in the
sons of disobedience. So God teaches us in His word that Satan is an evil spirit
being, which means that he does not have a physical body that we can see with our
human eyes. But this verse also tells us that Satan is leading people to be disobedi-
ent to God. It is his goal to turn each of us away from God! We can always know that
Satan is the one who has been at work whenever people disobey God.
Satan is powerful but he does not have the same
powers as God. He doesnt
know everything, as
God does, and he isnt
all-powerful, as God is.
He can do only what
God and humans allow
him to do. This means
that he cant move into
our bodies and force us
to do anything. He can
only tempt us to listen to
him. God says in James 4:7
that we are to resist the devil,
and he will leave us. Our power to
resist the devil comes from God and
from a knowledge of the Bible.
All of us know the story of Satans
first battle with humans, and of his victory. Eve
was in the beautiful Garden of Eden, the perfect home that God had made for Adam and
his wife. There, among the fruit trees, Satan, in the form of a snake, asked Eve, Has
God indeed said, You shall not eat of the fruit of every tree of the garden?
Eve knew what God had said. He had warned Adam that if they ate of the
fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, they would die. Eve understood Gods
words, but she foolishly listened to Satan. He convinced her that they wouldnt die
that the fruit would actually make them as wise as God! And, besides, it would
taste so good!
4
Picture used with permission:
(c)2006 www.TeGloryStory.com
So Eve ate the fruit (and, no, the Bible doesnt say it was an apple!) and
she gave some to Adam who was with her! Now, why wasnt Adam telling
Eve, No, Honey, we cant do this! We cant disobey God!? He just took what
she gave him and he ate it the first failure of a man as the spiritual leader in
the family! Be smart, boys, and grow up to be the leaders God wants you to be,
so that you can protect your wife and children from Satans lies.
You know the rest of the story. Adam and Eve had to leave the Garden, and
God placed cherubim as guards so that they could never return to that perfect home.
There are many examples in the Bible of Satans attacks on men and wom-
en. When he appeared to Eve, he added only a few words to Gods instructions,
but through that first lie he was able to deceive her and to persuade her to disobey
God. Deceit is one of his greatest tools, and he uses it every day, even now.
Satan tried to deceive Job into denying God, through bringing all kinds
of problems into his life. Job had strong faith, though, and he did not turn away
from God as Satan wanted him to do (Job 1, 2). Problems are still some of the
devils best tools for discouraging people and getting them to doubt and
disobey God.
We read of Judas and of Ananias who did not resist Satans temptations to
do wrong. Satan led Judas to betray Gods own Son! (John 13:2). Later Satan
tempted one of the first Christians to lie to the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:3). Lying is a
tool that Satan uses every day, knowing that God has said that every liar will
5
have his own place in hell. Of course, what Satan wants is to take as many with him as
he can so he convinces people that a little white lie wont hurt! But hes lying!
Satan even tempted Jesus in the wilderness, but Jesus answered each temp-
tation with a scripture. (Luke 4:1-13). If we follow Jesus example we will learn Gods
word so well that it will become our answer whenever Satan trails thoughts of temp-
tations through our minds.
We are warned that Satan will transform himself into an angel of light. This
means that he will make wrong things appear to be right (Read 2 Corinthians 11:13-
15). We must study Gods word so that we will know the real truths. This is the only
way we will be able to tell when Satan is pretending to be good and trying to lead us
away from God through his lies.
In the New Testament, Christians are warned that Satan will try to destroy us.
In 1 Peter 5:8 we read, ...your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring
lion, seeking whom he may devour.
For our own protection, we must study Gods word every day, so that we will
be prepared with the right answers when Satan slips into our hearts with tempta-
tions. Gods word is our shield and protection.
6
To Do at Home
Begin a collection of newspaper and magazine articles reporting
Satan worship, cases of witchcraft, cult activities, crime, and religious
confict and division. This will help the entire family to be more aware of
Satans work in the everyday world around us.
In your mind, do you picture the devil and
angels something like this?
Cartoon drawings like this one are at work in
two ways: they take away some of our fear of Satan,
because they make him seem to be a joke. And they
lessen our respect and awe of spiritual angelic beings.
Angels are special workers for God, helping and caring
for those who will be saved (Hebrews 1:14).
Can you answer these questions from the lesson?
1. Who is Satan?
2. Is he as powerful as God?
3. Why were Satan and his angels cast out of heaven?
4. The terrible place called hell was made for
________ and ____ _________.
5. What lie did Satan tell Eve?
6. How did Jesus answer Satans temptations?
7. How can Satan seem to be an angel of light?
Additional Scriptures:
Matthew 4:1-11
Matthew 12:24-30
Matthew 25:41
Job 2:7
2 Corinthians 11:3
2 Corinthians 12:7
Ephesians 6:1
Psalm 119:11
A World of Hurt
Anthony and Laura were
watching TV when suddenly they
heard sirens! A police car was rac-
ing down their street!
Whats that? Anthony
asked, jumping up to go to the door.
The police car pulled into
the driveway just next door. Ooh,
Laura whispered. Whats wrong at
Bobbys house?
Just then, Daddy and
Mother ran into the living room and
out the front door, concerned about
what was happening at their neigh-
bors house. Stay inside! Mother
shouted to Anthony and Laura.
Well see whats going on!
More sirens screamed
down the street, and an ambulance
stopped at the Browns house. It
seemed like a long time before
Daddy and Mother finally came
home. They sat down on the couch, tears in their eyes.
Laura ... Anthony, come here, Daddy said.
What happened at Bobbys house? Laura asked, almost afraid to hear
the answer.
Something terrible, Laura, Daddy answered. Bobbys Dad was drunk
and he got mad at Bobbys mother and hit her. The ambulance took her to the
hospital. Bobby and Brenda have gone to their grandparents house, and their
Dad is in jail.
Laura began crying softly. Why would their Daddy do that? she asked.
Honey, Mother spoke up. Do you remember asking about Satan, and if
he is real or is just a little cartoon character with horns and a pitchfork?
Yes. You said hes real and he wants people to do bad things.
Thats right, Laura, Daddy answered. Lets talk about the kind of world
Satan wants.
7
Satans Kind of World

When God created Adam and Eve and placed them in the beautiful world
He had made, everything was perfect. Have you seen pictures on the TV of a
town that has been blown away by a tornado? Have you seen pictures of people
on the roofs of their houses because of terrible rains and flooding? Have you
seen cars all piled up and wrecked because of an ice and snow storm?
When God made the world, none of these bad things happened. The
flowers bloomed, the trees had luscious fruit, the skies were clear, and every
night a gentle dew watered the ground. There were no storms and no dangers.
No one was afraid of the animals, not even the lions and bears and dinosaurs!
We dont know how long Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden, in that
perfect world where nothing died and there was no fear in any heart. But one day
Satan came along and tempted Eve to disobey God by eating the fruit that grew
on the tree of knowledge. God had said, Of every tree of the garden you may
freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat,
for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die (Genesis 2:16,17).
8
Memory Verse: John 8:44: You are of your father the devil, and the
desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the
beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth
in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for
he is a liar and the father of it.
But Satan said, You wont die, but God knows that when you eat it you
will be wise like He is! Eve listened to Satan and she even gave Adam some of
the fruit, and he ate it too.
Have you ever been in the middle of taking a shower, and the bathroom
door suddenly opened? Did you QUICK grab a towel to cover up?
It was that same shock that Adam and Eve had when they ate the fruit.
Suddenly they realized that they were naked, and they were ashamed and ran to
hide themselves. No one told them that they needed to
cover their bodies, but they took leaves and stitched them
together to make the first clothes. Do you think they
might have looked something like this?
Do people and especially girls
today wear clothes that dont cover
enough of their bodies? Do you know
what the word modest means? It means
clothes that are not so tight they look like they are molded to your
skin. It means covering your body so that your top is not low or
your skirt is not short and your clothes are not see through.
Do you know what? God wants us
to wear clothes. He knows that many sins are caused by
showing too much of our bodies, so from the very beginning
He taught a lesson about His standards of modesty. When
He came into the garden He did a surprising thing. He
caused the very first death! He killed animals and then
took their skins and made clothes for Adam and Eve!
That means that God is not satisfied with just some skimpy
little thing on our bodies, but He wants us to be modest.
Have you ever thought about how amazing it is
that we all know a lot about what is right and what is wrong? Is it right to love your
little brother? Is it wrong to hit him? Is it right to tell Mother the truth? Is it wrong
to disobey? How do you feel when you do something thats good? You feel really
happy inside, dont you? How do you feel when you do something thats bad? You
may feel ashamed or mad, but deep inside you know you are wrong, dont you?
When God made Adam in His own image, part of that gift was the knowl-
edge of what is right and good. But when Adam and Eve disobeyed God and
ate of the forbidden fruit, they gained new knowledge of wrong and bad thinking.
They were learning to think like Satan, and they now felt shame and fear.
Satan is still working every day to make people in his image, so they
will do bad, hurtful things. In Bobbys family, his dad got drunk and then he
was so angry with Bobbys mother that he hit her.
9
Vocabulary
Modest: dressing so that our
bodies are fully covered, in
clothes that are not skin-tight.
Lust: the bad thoughts
boys often have when girls
dress immodestly or behave
immodestly.
Conscience: the voice in
our minds that tells us when
we are right or wrong.

10
We were all afraid when we heard the sirens.
We knew something was really wrong in our neigh-
borhood. Thats the kind of mess Satan wants
everywhere in the world!
He wants kids to be bullies in school and to cheat
on tests. He wants them to learn curse words and
to be disrespectful to their parents and teachers. He
knows if he can get them to do these things when they
are your age, theyll keep on listening to him when
they get to be high school age and when they go off to
college. Then it will be easy to tempt them to get drunk
and to take drugs, so that they wont even know what
bad things they are doing. They will lie and steal and
hate each other, and they may get into fights and hurt
people or even take a gun and kill someone.
[Note to teachers and parents: Be aware of the
situations in the lives of the students, and teach these lessons with wisdom and
compassion. If we are ever to change the divorce statistics in the church, teaching
must be done from young ages, but use great care that the lessons have a positive
instructional impact rather than discouragement and guilt in the childs heart.]
When people are not studying the Bible and learning how God wants us
to live, they dont have protection from Satans lies. He will make so much anger
in families that mothers and daddies will divorce, and their children may not have
the kind of support they need. Right now, Laura and Anthony, its so important for
you to be thinking, Ill be a strong Christian, because thats the best way to live
in this world, and Ill marry a strong Christian. Together, well raise our children to
love God and to live so that all of us can be in Heaven together.
Laura, maybe youre thinking, Im just in the fifth grade, Daddy! I dont
even have a boyfriend, so you dont have to talk to me about getting married!
But right now is the time when we need to talk about who you will date and then
who you will marry. If you make the promise NOW that youll either date only
good Christian boys, or that youll teach and convert to Jesus anyone you might
date whos not a Christian, and that you will never once even think of marrying
anybody who doesnt love God more than he loves you, then you will be protect-
ing yourself from one of the biggest mistakes Christians make.
What is that? Marrying someone who cant help you get to heaven. Let
me ask you a question. Suppose that soldiers were fighting in a field, shooting
back and forth in a war, and eight out of ten people who tried to sneak across
that field were shot. Would you want to try it? I think youre smarter than that.
But when a Christian marries outside the Lords church, eight out of ten lose their
faith. Thats why your Mother and I want to teach you now to listen to what God
says in 2 Corinthians 6:14: Do not be unequally yoked together with unbe-
lievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what
communion has light with darkness?
In that verse we can see again the clash between Gods kind of world and
Satans kind of world. God wants us to be His children, to think like He thinks
and to live like He teaches in the Bible. Satan wants us not to believe in God and
then he can lead us into all kinds of trouble. The words God uses to show the
difference between the two kinds of lives is righteousness contrasted with law-
lessness, and light contrasted with darkness.
Christians are looking forward to the time When the Son of Man comes
in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him... (Matthew 25:31).
Would you want to be alive in this world when He comes back, Anthony?
I used to think that would be just wonderful! But then one day I paid attention to
what Jesus said in Matthew 24:37-39: But as the days of Noah were, so also
will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the food,
they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the
day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the food came and
took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
But what was it like in the days of Noah? Genesis 6:5 says, Then the
Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every
intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
What does that verse tell us about the world Noah lived in? That Satan
had turned it into his kind of world! Everything was wrong, and even though
Noah is called a preacher of righteousness, in all his years of preaching nobody
listened to him except his family!
11
12
To Do at Home
Watch the news an hour a day for a week. Make a list of the reports
that are made about crimes committed and the bad things people did
each day. Is the world a good place? a safe place?
Can you answer these questions?
1. When Adam and Eve sinned, was even nature affected, so that natural
disasters began to occur?
2. Were animals dangerous before the fall?
3. Because we were created in Gods image, we recognize right and wrong.
True or false
4. When we let our minds be shaped by Satan, does wrong seem to be right?
5. When we follow God, will we be loving, forgiving, and hard working?
6. When we follow Satan, how will we act toward others?
7. How should Christians dress?
8. Christians should marry ___________. Why?
9. What does God want in our lives? What does Satan want?
10. What was the world like in the days of Noah?
11. What will the world be like when Jesus returns?
12. What did Jesus teach us to do, to protect ourselves from Satan?
1. Love _____. 2. Love our neighbor ___ _________. 3. Do unto others
as _____________________________. 4. Seek first the _________ of
God and His _____________. 5. Believe in _________. 6. Be __________.
We want you to learn something from Noah: Your Mother and I want to
teach you what God says in the Bible about the kind of person He wants you to
be. Then, even if you live to see the whole world lying and stealing and hating and
divorcing and fighting and killing and doing every other bad thing you can think of,
you wont live like that! Youll be protected by the light of Jesus words:
L You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your
soul, and with all your mind. (Matthew 22:37)
L You shall love your neighbor as yourself. (Matthew 22:39)
L And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.
(Luke 6:31)
L But seek frst the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all
these things shall be added to you. (Matthew 6:33)
L ... if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins. (John 8:24)
L Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.
(Revelation 2:10)
When Mother picked up Laura and Anthony from
school, Laura was bursting with eagerness to tell what
had happened during recess. Mother, Bobby got into
bad trouble today! He had to go to the Principals office
and they expelled him for a week!
Thats terrible, Laura! What was he doing?
He came onto campus with an older boy and
both of them were smoking something. The older boy
ran away when one of the teachers saw them, but they
caught Bobby. He was fighting and crying when they
took him inside.
Promise me, Laura, that you wont be making
friends with trouble-makers.
Yes, there are some kids that stay in trouble a lot, Laura answered. Yes-
terday four of the boys got into a fight in the computer lab and knocked one of the
computers off the desk and broke it. Why do they do things like that, Mother?
Do you remember our Bible study last week when we talked about the kind
of world Satan wants to make, Laura?
Yes, but what I dont understand is why anybody would want to be like
that! Whats the fun in fighting and smoking and talking in ugly language? It just
gets people in trouble, and thats no fun, Laura answered, puzzled.
Youre right, Hon. Just like we said, Satan
tells whopper lies about fun things because he
wants people to have all kinds of trouble.
But, Mother, you said God is stron-
ger than Satan. Does He have some way
to protect us, so we wont fall into Satans
traps?
Im glad you asked that question,
Laura. Youre getting old enough to be
learning what God does to help us live safely
in this dangerous world. Tonight in our Bible
study well see just what God has done to
make a wall of protection around us.
13
A Messed-up World
What Did Jesus Do for Us?
Laura, maybe you and Anthony feel afraid sometimes of dangerous things
in this world, because you are children yet, and children cant do much to defend
themselves. But even grown-ups live in danger. Ever since Adam and Eve
sinned and Gods perfect world was broken, humans have faced danger from
storms and earthquakes and other disasters in nature. We hear every day of
terrible wrecks, and we know that people are hurt in all kinds of accidents.
These are physical dangers that all of us face, but the greater danger is
the kind that Satan brings. He wants to cause problems in this world, but
even worse he wants to take us to that terrible place called hell that God made
especially for Satan and his angels.
Weve been reading from the Bible to learn how God wants us to live, that
He wants us to be loving and helpful and honest, and to be His lights in a dark
world. Jesus said, Let your light so shine before men, that they may see
your good works and glorify your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16). But chil-
dren dont come into the world knowing how to read the Bible and knowing the
right things to do.
14
Memory Verse: Matthew 1:21: And she will bring forth a Son, and you
shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.
Laura, what did God do so that you and Anthony would learn about Him?
Well.... I guess it was that He gave us a Daddy and a Mother.
Youre right, Honey. God made families, and daddys and mothers have
important work to do, taking care of their children when theyre babies, and pro-
tecting them in every way they can. Then as they grow older, there are so many
things to teach them: how to brush your teeth, how to button your shirt, that its a
good thing to take a bath! And then theres cleaning your room and helping with
the dishes. When you get a little older, youll even get to learn how to run the
lawn mower!
But we teach you other things that are even more important. When you
fell the other day, Anthony, and scraped your knee, what did Mother do?
She washed off the dirt and put medicine on it, and a bandaid.
And didnt she wipe your tears away and give you a hug?
Yes sir. She said that would make me feel better, and it did!
Thats part of the family thing, Anthony. You know that your Mother and
I are always there to do whatever you need us to do. Thats called security
knowing that youre not alone in this world: that you always have family around
you to love you and take care of you.
God knew how important our families are, so He made a bigger and very
special family for us. In that family, God is our Father, and Jesus is our older
Brother but, besides Him, we have lots and lots of brothers and sisters! Do
you know what Gods family is called, Laura?
Sure, Daddy! Youve been telling us how important it is for us to worship
God every Sunday with our spiritual family! See! I was listening!
Good, Honey! Yes, the church is Gods family, and in Ephesians 3:14,15,
we read these words, I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named. So the church
wears Jesus name, and it is in His name that we come together to worship and
to pray. So we do everything in the name of our Brother we are called Chris-
tians and the church is called the church of Christ or even the body of Christ
because He is the head, telling us what to do, and we are the hands and feet to
go around in the world and to do His work.
15
1. God made husbands and wives, daddys and mothers. What does your
Daddy do to help you? What does your Mother do to help you?
2. Do you have friends whose parents are divorced?
3. How does having a mother and a daddy help you to feel secure?
But not everybody is in Gods special family. Most of the
people are outside, out there in Satans dangerous world of sin.
Satans world is scary, with lots of hurting and crying. We
dont want to live like that. Tonight I want to teach you what God
says about how we become a part of His family.
First, Anthony, how does God talk to us?
In the Bible?
Youre right. We dont hear a little voice telling us what to do. God
has given us all of the directions in the Bible, and so thats why we study it. How
often do we turn to the Bible to read what it says, Laura? Just on Sundays? or
when we have a problem?
We have Bible study every night, Daddy.
And the reason we do that is to hear Gods words for us. I would be real-
ly hurt if you let me talk to you only once or twice a week. Im your Daddy, and
there are lots of things I want to say to you. God is our heavenly Father, and He
has lots of things to say to us too, to help us every day.
So the first thing we have to do to learn how to become a part of
Gods special family is to hear His word, His good news of the Gospel
about Jesus. What have you learned about Jesus, Anthony?
Lots of things, Daddy. I know He was born in Bethlehem, and
when He grew up He was teaching people about God.
Thats right, Anthony. We read about His sermon on the mountain where thou-
sands of people came to listen. The sad thing was that the leaders of the Jews be-
came jealous of Jesus. They didnt want people to follow Him instead of themselves,
so they planned how they would get rid of Jesus. What finally happened, Laura?
16
He was arrested.
Yes. The Jewish leaders arrested Jesus and had a trial, and then they took Him
to Pilate, the Roman governor. They accused Jesus of claiming to be the King of the
Jews, and they knew that the punishment for that kind of treason was crucifixion.
They were really mean to Him, werent they, Daddy?
Yes, He was beaten so badly that in Psalm 22:14-18 the Bible says, I
am poured out like water, And all My bones are out of joint; My heart is like
wax; It has melted within Me. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, And
My tongue clings to My jaws; You have brought Me to the dust of death.
For dogs have surrounded Me; The congregation of the wicked has en-
closed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet; I can count all My bones.
They look and stare at Me. They divide My garments among them, And for
My clothing they cast lots.
But, Laura and Anthony, Mother spoke
up, even though David the shepherd boy/king
wrote many of the Psalms, the way this one is
worded shows that the One of the Godhead
who was born many centuries later as Jesus
the Son of God and the Son of Mary was the
One who was speaking those words. Already,
He could look down through time and could
see what humans would one day do to Him.
Then why did He let those mean things
happen? asked Laura.
Thats a good question, and the answer
is what we need to hear from Gods word. In Matthew 1:21, the angel told Jo-
seph, And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for
He will save His people from their sins.
Can you answer these questions?
1. What are some of the wrong things that happen that you know about?
2. How does God teach us the right things to do?
3. Can we know what God wants unless we study the Bible?
4. Give some reasons why God made Daddys and Mothers.
5. How does family make us strong and help us to feel secure?
6. What is Gods spiritual family called?
7. Who was talking in Psalm 22? Who was He talking about? How did He
know so many hundreds of years before what was going to happen
to Him?
8. Jesus died to save _____ __________ _______ _________ _______.
17
Learn New Words:
PROPHET: A person who, by
inspiration, told beforehand of
things that would happen. Also,
the word was used for preachers
men who brought the message
of God to the church.
PROPHESY: To speak of things
that would happen in the future.
PROPHECY: Te statement of
what would happen in the future.
18
God and Satan are in a war. God wants everyone to love Him, to listen to
His word, and to obey Him so He can take them home to heaven when they die.
Satan is not God. He is a spirit being who wanted to be greater than God,
so he led some of the angels in a rebellion against God. Revelation 12:7-9 says
that Satan and his angels were cast out of heaven, and that the horrible place
called hell has been prepared for them. But Satan lies to people and deceives
them because he wants everyone to go to hell with him. That is why there are so
many bad things in this world. Satan is getting people to fight and lie and steal
and kill. And when Jesus was crucified, Satan thought he was winning the war
against God! But was he.....?
The Great Gift
19
The Gospel The Good News
Tonight, Daddy said as he and Mother settled down in the den for their
Bible study with Laura and Anthony, we want to learn more about the special
family God made for the ones who love Him. We talked last night about the ter-
rible things that were done to Jesus. The soldiers crucified Him, and that was a
horrible way to die.
Satan must have thought he was winning the war when he saw the only
Son of God being nailed to a cross. He thought he had the whole world in his
hands, but he was wrong! God was using that very thing the death of His Son
as the weapon to defeat Satan!
Now, before we learn more about our part in this, I want to ask you, Laura,
why did Jesus die for us? Do you know?
Ive heard the preacher say that He died for our sins...
Thats right. When people get old enough to understand what is right and
what is wrong, we all sometimes choose to do the wrong things and that makes
us sinners. Romans 3:23 says, ... for all have sinned and fall short of the
Memory Verse: John 3:16: For God so loved the world that He gave
His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not per-
ish but have everlasting life.
glory of God. That means that everybody who has lived since Adam and Eve
has sinned, and no one who practices sin can go to heaven. Thats really bad,
because God loves us and wants us to live with Him eternally. But sin shuts
the door, and we cant open it. Romans 6:23 says, For the wages of sin is
death....
Then how can anybody go to heaven, Daddy?
The Bible tells us the answer: For God so loved the world that He gave
His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but
have everlasting life (John 3:16). You see, we were under the sentence of
death, and we didnt own anything precious enough that we could give it to God
so that our sins would be taken away. Its sort of like when you go to a store and
see something you really want, if you have enough money to pay for it, you can
buy it. Well, what all of us want is to go to heaven, but our sins closed the door,
and we didnt have anything to pay so that we could go there.
But Jesus was born as the Son of God and as the Son of Mary, so He
became a human, our brother. And He never sinned. When He died on the
cross, He ... bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died
to sins, might live for righteousness by whose stripes you were healed
(1 Peter 2:24).
The question, now, is How do we die to sins, so that we can live in Christ
as His brother or sister? Who can tell us what to do?
I know, Daddy! God tells us in the Bible!
Youre right, Honey. We have to hear what God teaches us in
the Bible, and we have to believe it in our hearts. Romans 10:10 says,
For with the heart one believes unto righteousness... So the first
real step we can take toward being righteous is to believe what God
says in His word.
We were saying that Jesus died on the cross, to pay the price for our
sins. All that He did for us is called the Gospel, which means the good news.
It really is good news that we can have our sins forgiven, so we need to know
what Jesus did. But, after His death, what is the rest of the story?
He was buried, wasnt He?
Yes, near to the place where He was crucified was a tomb that belonged to
a man named Joseph, and Jesus was buried there with guards to be sure that no
one took His body away. You see, Jesus had said that after three days He would
come alive again, and the Jewish leaders were afraid that His disciples would
sneak in and take Him out of the tomb and then claim that He really had been
resurrected. So the tomb was sealed and a Roman guard was posted. One day
passed, and nothing happened, another day passed, and nothing happened
20
but at daybreak on Sunday morning there was an
earthquake. An angel rolled the stone from the
entrance to the tomb, and Jesus came out alive!
Oh, that was a blow to Satan! When Jesus
was on the cross and in the grave, Satan thought
he had won the war, but when Jesus came alive
again, old Satan was beaten. Do you know why?
Why?
Because when Jesus was resurrected, He was showing that all of Gods
children will one day be resurrected too! Behold, I tell you a mystery: We
shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twin-
kling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the
dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed (1 Corinthians
15:51,52).
So this is the good news we
talked about awhile ago. Isnt it good
news that we can have our sins forgiv-
en and that we can live for God and
look forward to going to heaven when
we die?
I want to go to heaven.
Yes, Laura, we do want to spend
eternity with God. So the question is, If
Jesus died for your sins and for mine,
how do we get our sins erased? 1
Corinthians 15:1-4 answers that ques-
tion: Moreover, brethren, I declare
to you the gospel which I preached
to you, which also you received and
in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word
which I preached to you unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to
you frst of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins accord-
ing to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third
day according to the Scriptures.
This Scriptures tell us that the Gospel the good news is that Jesus
21
RESURRECTED: to be made alive from death. God promises that when Jesus
comes back at the end of the world, everyone will be resurrected from their graves. After
the judgment, some will go to heaven and some will go to hell.
died for our sins, that He was buried, and that He rose from the grave. Romans
6:17 says, But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you
obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered.
So we have to obey a form of the Gospel, picturing what Jesus did for us.
In the first verses of Romans 6, the inspired writer Paul explains clearly
what God wants us to do: Do you not know that as many of us as were bap-
tized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were
buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised
from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in
newness of life.
But wait! Jesus died, so we have to picture His death in our
own lives! How do we do that? In Acts 2, when people were ask-
ing how to be saved, they were told, Repent, and let every one of
you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of
sins... To repent means to turn around and go the other way. So when we
repent it means that we are dying to sin so that we can live a new life in Jesus.
But theres another thing that we must do before we can be
baptized to wash away our sins. Jesus said, Whoever confess-
es Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father
who is in heaven (Matthew 10:32). Would you be ready to do that, Laura?
Sure, Daddy! I believe in Jesus...
But would you be ready to say that if the police were arresting everyone who
became a Christian? In those early days of Christianity and even now in some
countries people are arrested and killed when they become Christians. Jesus
warned us that we have to count the cost when we want to be His brother or sister.
That would be hard. And Id be afraid... but I want
to love Him that much!
So those who love Him that much can be bap-
tized buried in water like Jesus was buried in the
grave and then they are raised up to be a new per-
son in Christ. Romans 6:11 explains, ... reckon your-
selves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in
Christ Jesus our Lord.
22
The Gospel:
1. Jesus died
2. He was buried
3. He was resurrected

The Form of the Gospel:
1. The sinner dies to sin (Repents)
2. He confesses his faith in Jesus
3. He is buried in the grave of baptism
4. He is resurrected to life in Jesus
Baptism is the dividing line for every person.
OKAY! Lets go over the Gospel commands together:
We HEAR the good news that Jesus died for us!
We BELIEVE that Jesus is the Son of God!
We REPENT of our sins and make up our minds to live for God!
We CONFESS that we believe that Jesus is the Son of God!
We are BAPTIZED [immersed] into Christ, washing away our sins in
His blood!
Before baptism, we are sinners, and the huge wall of sin separates us
from God. Through our obedience to the Gospel, we are baptized into Christ.
God becomes our Father, and Jesus becomes our Brother. Then the gift of
God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord according to Romans 6:23.
23
The Gospel of Christ
Match the Picture with the Verse
Then Philip said, If you believe with all your heart, you
may. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus
Christ is the Son of God. Acts 8:37
Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized
into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? There-
fore we were buried with Him through baptism into
death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by
the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in
newness of life. Romans 6:3,4
For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears
are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed,
Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their
ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and
turn, So that I should heal them. Matthew 13:15
I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise
perish. Luke 13:3
How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not
believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom
they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a
preacher? Romans 10:4
Am I Lost?
24
Mother had come for a good-
night kiss, but she could tell that Lau-
ra was troubled about something.
Whats wrong, Honey?
Mother, I do want to go to
Heaven. Am I a sinner, like we stud-
ied tonight? I know sometimes I fuss
at Anthony, and sometimes I dont
obey you. Yesterday when you told
me to stop playing my game and to
help you with the dishes instead, I
was ugly and talked back to you. Im
sorry about that. But I dont want you
to be mad at me. Am I a sinner? Do
I need to be baptized so I can go to
heaven?
Laura, Im glad youre thinking
about our study tonight. Mother sat
down on the bed and took Lauras hand. Sometimes when people are young
like you, they are really concerned about being saved, but they dont feel that
they are quite ready to be that good, and so they wait. Maybe in High School
they get involved in things their friends are doing that they know are wrong, but
their friendships are really important, and so they wait some more. Then maybe
they marry somebody whos not a Christian, and they get busy making money,
and they dont have time for God so they wait some more. And sometimes
those people who actually knew about the Gospel and what they had to do to
become one of Gods children sometimes those people die without ever decid-
ing, Now is the time!
But sometimes children are baptized when theyre too young to really un-
derstand what theyre doing, and thats not good either. I think this will help you
to decide when youre ready: Right now, when youve done something wrong,
do you think first about Daddy and me being upset with you, or do you think first
that you have hurt God? If your frst concern is about God and that you have
disobeyed Him, then its time to be baptized. But as long as you are looking first
to Daddy and me, I dont believe that God would be counting your growing up
failures as sins written on His record.
25
Gods Circle of Salvation
Daddy began the family Bible time: Were studying some really important
things, kiddos! Ive made a picture of what weve learned. Lets start at the bottom
of the page with HEARING THE GOSPEL:
Well have a little quiz.
Mother, what is the Gospel?
Its the death, burial, and
resurrection of Gods Son, to
pay the price for our sins.
And when we HEAR THE
GOSPEL, what happens then,
Anthony?
We BELIEVE what the Bible says.
Youre right! Then, because we
want to obey God, what do we do, Laura?
Oh, I remember from your
picture We have to WALK AWAY
FROM SINNING [REPENT] and do
the right things.
Now look at the picture
again and tell me
what we do next.

We SAY THAT WE BELIEVE [CONFESS] that
Jesus is Gods Son.
Great! Now were ready for that BIG step that takes
away our sins! What is that one?
Were buried in water [BAPTIZED] like Jesus was buried in the grave, and
then we come out of the water. But, Daddy, what real difference does that make?
Were still living in this world where Satans doing so much thats wrong!
Memory Verse: Acts 2:38: Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of
Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
26
Aw, Honey! Everything is changed! A person who has been baptized is
now a part of Gods special people that have turned away from the sins in this
world and are living in Christ! You wear the name of Christ Christian just as
the Family wears His name the church of Christ Youre a new baby in that
Family.
Now therere THREE things you need to remember from the start:
(1) Satan is really mad because youve
gotten away from him, so hell be trying to tempt
you in all kinds of ways to leave God or to do wrong
things.
(2) Now you belong to God. Jesus promised,
I will not leave you orphans; I will come to
you (John 14:18). Whatever we need, He will
be there to help us through His providence, if we
depend on Him.
(3) God knows that you are now just a new
baby in His Family, so He surrounds you with your
own Daddy and Mother and with the Christians in
the church, so that they can help you to grow.
I think that tonight we need to talk about
some of the things we do as a family, to help you to learn how to live when you
become a Christian. What can you think of, Anthony?
We pray and thank God for our food. And we study like this. And we pray
before we go to bed.
Thats right, and it is important for us to talk to God. But do you know
what? We dont even have to talk out loud for God to hear the words in our
hearts! All along through the day, you can be thinking, Father, please help me
to do the right things, even when some of my friends are acting ugly. Or Thank
you, Father, for helping me to study hard and to remember what Ive learned for
the math test! Or Im so sorry, Father, that I lost my temper....
Mother spoke up: And do you remember that we said that Satan is not
great like God? God knows our thoughts, but Satan doesnt! In tempting us to
sin, Satan can trail thoughts through our minds, but he cant READ our minds.
Defnitions:
Tempt; temptations:
Thoughts that cause
you to want to do wrong
things.
Providence: Gods help
for us through people
and things around us, not
through miracles [illus-
trate miracles as over-rul-
ing the laws of nature,
where providence works
within those laws.]
1. What are the five things we do to be born into Gods Family?
2. When we become Christians, what does Jesus promise?
3. Does God know our thoughts? Does Satan know our thoughts?
4. What does temptation mean?
So we can follow the example of Jesus, when He said, Get behind Me, Satan!
(Luke 4:8). Sometimes when Im having an exasperating problem, I just stop and
shake my finger and talk to Satan! I say, You may lose things I need and waste
my time in lots of ways, but you wont win! So just go on and leave me alone!
Thats funny, Mother! Laura laughed. Does he go away?
Well, I dont SEE him leaving, but I believe he does because then I depend
on God to help me be strong against every temptation and aggravation. And
there is peace in my heart.
So, since Satan knows that you are just a baby in Christ when you are
newly baptized, and he knows you are not very strong yet, hell try to trip you
up in every way. Maybe somebody at school will say something bad about you
thats not true, or maybe somebody will try to pick a fight. What do you do?
Dont lose my temper? Try to be friends?
Thats a good answer, son. Christians are not cowards, but Jesus
wants us to be peacemakers not looking for something to be mad
about. Do you remember what He said about turning the other cheek
and going the second mile? (Matthew 5:41,42)
But what does that mean, Daddy?
During those days when Jesus was in
the world, the Romans controlled the people of
Israel. It was a law that if a Roman soldier
demanded that someone carry his gear for
a mile, they had to do it. But Jesus told
His followers a secret.
Now listen.... Daddy whispered:
Jesus knew that if you do something
because somebody MAKES you do it,
youll be boiling mad inside, and thats
bad for your health and bad for getting
along with others. But if, in addition to
what you HAVE to do, you volunteer out of
your good heart to do even more, then
youll have a good feeling inside. Two
things will happen: being happy inside
is good for your health, and that person
who was being mean to you will be so
surprised at your attitude that you might
even turn an enemy into a friend! Try
it! Youll see how smart Jesus was!
27
So when Im supposed to help with the dishes, does that mean I ought to
sweep the floor too? asked Laura.
That would be the idea of going the second mile of doing more than
you were asked. There are lots of ways you can be helpful to your teacher at
school, or here at home, that will show people you are trying to be like Jesus.
Thats what He meant when He said, Let your light so shine before men, that
they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven (Matthew
5:16). When we try to live and think and talk like Jesus would do if He were here,
people see Him shining through us. Often, thats how they begin to study our
lives and then they may want to study the Bible to learn how they should live.
Jesus helped people who
were sick or in trouble, too, Mother
added. And you know that when
someone in the church or in our
neighborhood is sick or has some
kind of problem, we take food and
see what else we can do to help.
Weve been taking Jamie
and his mother with us for Bible
classes too, so they can learn
about Jesus, Anthony added.
And he wants to come to Vacation
Bible School.
Thats the most important
thing, son to help the people around us have better lives and to learn how to
obey God and to go to heaven.
Besides the things we teach you at home about God and how to talk and
think and live like He wants, what else do we do, Laura?
We always go to Bible classes and to worship.
Yes, Hon. When a person is baptized and is born into Gods spiritual
family, hes beginning a new kind of relationship. In our physical families, we
have parents, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles and cousins lots of
people who can help us if we stay close to them. That means we have to see
them often and share our thinking with them. Its the same in Gods spiritual
family. If were going to be a REAL family, we have to see each other often and
to know whats going on in each others lives.
Thats one reason why the early church came together for worship every
Sunday. They needed each other. Many of the Christians were poor, and some
were being persecuted, imprisoned, and killed because of their faith. So they
28
helped each other. Paul said about the churches in Macedonia, ... according
to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they were freely willing, implor-
ing us with much urgency that we would receive the gift and the fellowship
of the ministering to the saints (2 Corinthians 8:3-5). And then he explained
why they were willing to give so much to help the Christians in need: ... they
frst gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God.
Its the same in Gods Family today. When we really have given ourselves
frst to God, then well do all we can to help each other get through the good times
and the bad times in this world, so that we can all be in heaven together with God.
Lets read some verses in Revelation that show us a little picture of what
heaven will be like: ... I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven,
and One sat on the throne (Revelation 4:2). Then I looked, and I heard
the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the
elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and
thousands of thousands...
After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which
no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, stand-
ing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with
palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying,
Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!
All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living
creatures, and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God...
(Revelation 5:11; 7:9-11)
Laura and Anthony, as a part of Gods
spiritual family, were strengthened and encour-
aged when we come together on Sundays, but
the REAL reason for our meeting is so that we
can join the multitudes of angels and that great
host of heaven in the worship of God and of His
Son:
Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom,
Thanksgiving and honor and power
and might,
Be to our God forever and ever.
Amen.
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
To receive power and riches and wisdom,
And strength and honor and glory and
blessing!
29
30
Gods Plan for the Church
Gods Perfect World
as He Wanted It to Be
Perfect weather
Perfection in everything
Rich soil for bountiful crops
No danger from anything
Perfect parents, perfect families
Love, helpfulness, co-workers
Perfect populations, working together
in peace and harmony
No sickness
Immortality
Talking, walking face-to-face with God
Our Broken World
as Satan Has Wrecked It
Hurricanes, typhoons, tsunamis
Earthquakes, volcanoes
Danger on every side
Corruption, lying, cheating, stealing
Immorality, broken homes
Sickness, disease,
Deformities from genetic errors
Murder, death
Wars and continual conflict among
families, people, nations
No visual relationship with God
31
The Beginning of Gods Family, the Church

We cant begin to imagine what the world looked like when God finished
His creation at the end of day six, but it was perfect. Nothing felt fear or danger,
there was no death, no decay. The earth, the universe, were designed for beauty
and for life.
God knew, even before the creation, that Adam and Eve would listen to
Satan. He planned, even then, a way for those who would love Him to come back
to Him. What was His plan? That Jesus would be born as His Son, and that He
would save all those who would obey Him.
Do you know what Jesus taught to His followers? He taught them that He
would call people out from the rest of the world, and that they would become His
brothers and sisters. They would be His spiritual family, and the way they would
live would be so different from others that the world would see His light shining
through the Christ-like people. Now, how does He do that?
Memory Verse: 2 Corinthians 6:17: Therefore Come out from among
them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean,
And I will receive you.
Lets go over, again, how we are born into that special family, as new spiritu-
al babies, and then well learn how that family is so different from the world:
32
Gods Circle of Salvation
Well look at the picture of what weve learned, and I want you to tell
me what each picture means. Lets start at the bottom of the page with
HEARING THE GOSPEL:

What is the Gospel?
Its the death, burial, and
resurrection of Gods Son, to
pay the price for our sins.
And when we HEAR THE
GOSPEL, what happens then?
We BELIEVE what the Bible says.
Youre right! Then, because we
want to obey God, what do we do?
We have to WALK AWAY
FROM SINNING [REPENT] and do
the right things.
Now look at the picture
again and tell me what we do next.

We SAY THAT WE BELIEVE [CONFESS] that
Jesus is Gods Son.
Great! Now were ready for that BIG step that takes
away our sins! What is that one?
Were buried in water [BAPTIZED] like Jesus was buried in the grave, and
then we come out of the water. But what real difference does that make? Were
still living in this world where Satans doing so much thats wrong!
The difference now, though, is that we have no more sins on our record.
God is our Father, and even though we cant see Him, we have His Book. What
is that, Laura?
The Bible!
Yes, and the more we read the Bible, the more we know about God His
love His power His promises. Do you remember the story of Job, the man Sa-
tan said would curse God if God just took away the hedge of protection around him?
Well, after Job still held onto his faith in spite of the terrible things Satan did to him, in
Job 38:1 we read: Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind...
Can you imagine that??? It was like a mighty storm blowing up, and then
Job heard the very voice of God! And what was God saying? He was talking
about all the things in the world things He had created and He was asking
Job, What do you know about all that I have done?
Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
Tell Me, if you have understanding.
Who determined its measurements?
Surely you know!
Or who stretched the line upon it?
To what were its foundations fastened?
Or who laid its cornerstone,
When the morning stars sang together,
And all the sons of God shouted for joy?
Or who shut in the sea with doors...
When I fxed My limit for it,
And set bars and doors;
When I said,
This far you may come, but no farther,
And here your proud waves must stop!
Have you commanded the morning since your days began,
And caused the dawn to know its place,
That it might take hold of the ends of the earth...
Have you entered the springs of the sea?
Or have you walked in search of the depths?
Have you comprehended the breadth of the earth?
Tell Me, if you know all this.... (Job 1:4-18).
The more we understand about God, the more sure we feel that He loves
us and will take care of us. Today, He doesnt talk to us like He did to Job, but we
have another advantage: Job didnt have the Bible!
Did you know that? The Bible was written over a period of about 1600
years, by about 40 different men! Most of those writers never met any of the
33
others, but they wrote what God was telling them to write, so the Bible is true. 2
Timothy 3:16 says, All Scripture is given by inspiration of God...
There are many statements in the Bible that prove it was from God be-
cause humans didnt understand those things at that time. God challenged
Job, Who knows the size of the earth? Who set the boundaries of the sea?
No one knew those things. He said in Job 26:7, He stretches out the north
over empty space; He hangs the earth on nothing.... But in Jobs day, some
thought the earth was resting on the back of an elephant, and some thought it
was on a turtle! And did you know that there is an area of the sky in the north
where there are no stars? So it is empty space!
It was centuries after Psalm 8 was written that an oceanographer by the
name of Murray read the verse that talks about the fish that pass through the
paths of the seas. Mr. Murray believed that if the Bible said there were paths
in the sea, it must be right, and he would find them. He did, and today the great
oceanliners sail those paths because the currents help them move along.
All through the Bible there are statements that were beyond the knowledge
of the age in which they were written. Only God could have told the writers those
things, so we can believe with-
out any doubt that whatever that
book says is the truth!
When we read the Bible,
we can learn not only a lot about
the history of the world since
the creation, but we learn how
God has worked with people.
We learn about Cain and Abel,
and how God punishes the ones
who are evil. We read about
Noah and the great flood that
completely re-made the surface
of the earth. We learn about
Abraham and Moses and all the
prophets and the kings of Israel.
Its a long story 4,000 years
long! And all of it is true!
Because of the revelations
in the Bible that prove God was
the one who told the men what to
write, we can be sure that every
promise made will be kept.
34
35
Promises Jesus Made
Come to Me, all you who labor
and are heavy laden, and I will
give you rest (Matthew 11:28).
Let not your heart be trou-
bled; you believe in God, believe
also in Me. In My Fathers house
are many mansions; if it were not
so, I would have told you. I go to
prepare a place for you. And if I
go and prepare a place for you, I
will come again and receive you to
Myself; that where I am, there you
may be also (John 14:1-3).
I will not leave you orphans; I
will come to you (John 14:18).
Peace I leave with you, My
peace I give to you; not as the
world gives do I give to you. Let
not your heart be troubled, neither
let it be afraid (John 14:27).
Wherefore come out from
among them, and be ye separate,
saith the Lord, and touch not the
unclean thing; and I will receive
you (2 Corinthians 6:17).
If you love Me, keep My com-
mandments (John 14:15).
Ye are the salt of the earth...
Ye are the light of the world....
Let your light so shine before
men, that they may see your good
works, and glorify your Father which
is in heaven (Matthew 5:13-16).
And we know that all things
work together for good to those
who love God, to those who are
the called according to His pur-
pose (Romans 8:28).
Weve studied a lot about Jesus.
Where was He born?
In Bethlehem!
And where did He grow up?
In Nazareth!
After John baptized Him in the
Jordan River, Jesus began to gather
followers we call them His apostles
and to teach them all about how He
wanted them to live. He said, Dont be
like the hypocrites or the other world-
ly people! Be separate! Be salt that
keeps things from ruining! Be light that
shows the way out of a dark world! If
you love Me, keep my commandments!
Be at peace...
In all of Jesus lessons, He
was teaching us to be different from
the world around us. He said, Love
your enemies and do good to them! If
someone is mean to you, dont fight
back! Be forgiving to those who wrong
you! Trust God to take care of you,
just like He takes care of unimportant
things like the sparrows. Dont worry
and dont be afraid!
These are the lessons Jesus
taught and the promises He made. So,
Laura and Anthony, when we are bap-
tized, we are born as new babies into
Jesus special family the church
those people who dont live like Satans
world.
Before Jesus death, burial, and
resurrection He had told His disciples to
wait in Jerusalem until the special day
arrived. On that day a Jewish feast
day called Pentecost when Jews
from all over the world were gathered
in Jerusalem, ... suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing
mighty wind, and it flled all the house where they were sitting. And there
appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fre, and it sat upon each of
them. And they were all flled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with
other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance (Acts 2:2-4).
What a great day! This was the day God had been working for from before
the creation! This was the day when the good news would begin to be taught
everywhere in the world, when people would learn that Jesus had died for their
sins. They would learn how to be forgiven, and how to be born new as spiritual
babies in Gods new family, the church!
A huge crowd gath-
ered because of all the
noise, and Peter and the
other apostles began to
explain what was happening:
Men of Israel, hear these
words: Jesus of Nazareth,
a Man attested by God to
you by miracles, wonders,
and signs which God did
through Him in your midst,
as you yourselves also
know Him, being deliv-
ered by the determined
purpose and foreknowl-
edge of God, you have tak-
en by lawless hands, have
crucifed, and put to death;
whom God raised up,
having loosed the pains of
death, because it was not
possible that He should be held by it (Acts 2:22-24).
The sermon convinced the people that Jesus really was Gods Son, and
that they had done a terrible sin by wanting Him to be crucified. So they cried
out, Men and brethren, what shall we do? (Acts 2:37).
Then Peter said to them, Repent, and let every one of you be bap-
tized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall
receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38).
A wonderful thing happened then. About three thousand people in that
crowd decided to become Christians!
36
Those people were
baptized just as we are today
being buried in water, like Christ
was buried in the tomb, to have
their sins washed away.
The story in Acts 2 goes on
to explain what happened then:
And they continued
steadfastly in the apostles
doctrine and fellowship, in
the breaking of bread, and in
prayers. Then fear came upon
every soul, and many wonders
and signs were done through the apostles.
Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common,
and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as
anyone had need. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and
breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and
simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the
Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved (Acts 2:42-47).
So, reading those words, it sounds like the early Christians moved into one
place together and that they shared everything. Some people today say we should
do that, but we have to remember that this was an unusual time. People had come
from many different countries, expecting to stay only a short time in Jerusalem. Now,
their lives have been changed! They have become baby Christians, and they know
they have a lot more to learn. So they stayed on in Jerusalem, and the Christians
who lived there shared whatever they had with their new brothers and sisters.
For those first weeks, or months, the Christians were so focused on God
and being saved that they met every day in the temple the place of worship
for the Jews and they were praising and thanking God that they knew about
Jesus and that they were now a part of His church.
How did they learn and grow? What did the verse say? That they were
in fellowship with each other, and I feel sure that they were talking all the time
about this new religion, they were listening to the apostles as they taught the
many things Jesus had taught.
The verse also says that they were praying, and that they were breaking
bread. In chapter 20, when Paul came to Troas, he met with the Christians on
the first day of the week Sunday to break bread. They were doing then
just what we do today, as the church they were taking the Lords Supper!

37
38
Separate from the World
Among any crowd of people would be problems that satan has
brought into the world: broken homes, orphans, deserted children, lying,
stealing, drug abuse, alcoholism, brutality, pagan religions, divisions among
those who claim to follow Christ, persecution, and many other terrible
wrongs. Read this letter from a young girl:
Dear Sir/Madam,
I am a girl of about ffeen years of age. Please sir, I am an orphan girl,
and right now my grandmother that I am staying with had died also. And so
my parents properties has been taken away from me by my fathers relatives.
Tey have locked me from the house that rightfully belongs to me and
now I am homeless. Everywhere I would lay my head has become a problem for
me. Sometimes I get little to eat because I cannot do any work. And so, nor-
mally, I eat lefovers of people food at canteens and other places where I could
get something to eat.
Please, I would kindly request some favours from you. I would need
some clothes to enable me to go to church, and also some Holy Bible which I
can take it to the church. And some little amount of money which can enable
me to go back to school and learn....
39
The Family
Can you imagine what a puzzling thing it was for those new Christians to
know just what they were supposed to do? They had learned that Jesus was the
sacrifice for their sins, so they didnt have to make the animal sacrifices they had
made under the law of Moses. They worshiped God now on the first day of the
week the day when Christ was resurrected instead of on the seventh day
under Judaism. Instead of the priests eating the shewbread, every Christian
was now to eat the bread in remembrance of Jesus body, and drink the grape
juice in memory of the blood He had shed for them.
Everything was so different, and they had a lot to learn before packing up
their things and going back to their homes. It wasnt long, though, before the
same Jewish leaders who had turned Jesus over to the Romans began to per-
secute the Christians, Steven was the first one to die, and then everyone except
the apostles moved out, but by the time they left Jerusalem they knew enough
that, ... those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word
(Acts 8:4). We even read of the church existing in Rome, the capitol of the world,
though no apostle had gone there to preach!
When the Christians were all in Jerusalem, we might think, OK, Jesus had
said Christians are to come out of the world and be separate, so they were like a
separate little community. They could all live together and do the good things that
the Bible teaches without getting all tangled up with the world. But then they
were scattered, a few here, others there, maybe someone all alone in another
place. How were they to be that special family then?
Can you tell me, Laura? What about you, Anthony?
I dont know. We live in this town, and I go to school with the other kids
so were not separated, really. Of course, On Sundays and Wednesday nights,
and some other times, the church gets together for worship and Bible study.
So, our being separate from the world is not that we live separately; its that we
are different in the way we live! Do you ever hear the other kids use curse words?
Yes, but we dont talk like that.
And sometimes do the girls need to wear clothes that do a better job of
covering their bodies?
Sometimes Im embarrassed, Daddy with how short the skirts are.
Memory Verse: Colossians 1:18: And He is the head of the body, the
church, who is the beginning, the frstborn from the dead, that in all
things He may have the preeminence.
So girls need to be careful with how they dress, but boys need to be
careful too. Anthony, you may look around at what the other boys in school are
wearing and think, Thats cool! Id like to have a shirt like that! And maybe its
the kind of clothes gangs are wearing, so by the clothes themselves the boys are
saying, Look at me! Im tough and youd better watch out!
Sometimes I see boys wearing such baggy pants that theyre about to fall
off. Why would they do that?
Its an upside-down kind of thinking, son. Yes, theyre attracting attention to
themselves, but their clothes say that theyre rebellious kids who want to shock ev-
eryone who sees them, out of fear that theyre going to walk right out of their pants.
I heard about a boy like that who was being chased by the police, and they caught
him because he got all tripped up when his baggy pants really did fall down!
Sometimes you kids may think that your Mother and I are too picky about
your clothes and your hair. Others in school may be having tatoos and ear pierc-
ings and nose piercings and lip piercings all of these things make negative
impressions on anyone who sees you. We want you to shine only the light of
Christ not the rebellion of kids gone wild in a culture thats gone wild too.
Do you hear about parties, especially among the older kids, where drinking
and drugs and other bad things go on?
Yes so all of these things are how were to be separate!
Youre right, Laura! And, in contrast, when were with Christians were
worshiping or studying Gods word, or enjoying the fellowship, or going to a Bible
camp together, or maybe door-knocking to sign up people for Bible courses, or
doing a community project, or maybe even going with a group on a mission trip.
All of these things keep our focus on God and the life He wants us to live. Thats
very different from the world, and people watching us can see the difference.
Do you remember that in the early church, some of the Christians sold their
things to help the ones in need?
Thats another way were different.
God teaches us to Therefore, as
we have opportunity, let us do
good to all, especially to those
who are of the household of
faith (Galatians 6:10). Another
command was, If any believing
man or woman has widows, let
them relieve them, and do not
let the church be burdened, that
it may relieve those who are
really widows (1 Timothy 5:16).
40
So Christians really care about people who are having problems. Do you
remember when the terrible typhoon hit the Philippines and so many were killed
and many others lost their homes and everything they had? We didnt know any
of those people, but the church took up money to send to Christians over there so
they could go out with food and clothes to help the victims.
Lets talk about some of the ways the church is a special spiritual family. Ev-
ery family has a head. Who is the head of the church? Some man weve elected?
N-o-o-o... Wouldnt Jesus be the head of His church?
Colossians 1:18 says, And He [Christ] is the head of the body, the
church, who is the beginning, the frstborn from the dead, that in all things He
may have the preeminence. In the religions that men create, they usually have
a powerful leader, but in the Lords church we are all under the leadership of Jesus.
And under His leadership, following His directions in the Bible, who looks after the
members of a local congregation?
We have a preacher!
Yes, but even the preacher is under the authority of men like brother Wat-
kins and brother Samuels and brother Lewis. They are called elders or shep-
herds, because they are supposed to look after the church like a shepherd takes
care of a flock of sheep. Through Paul, special requirements were given for
anyone who would be an elder. If a man desires the position of a bishop, he
desires a good work. A bishop [elder] then must be:
l blameless, [not doing wrong things to others]
l the husband of one wife, [not divorced and remarried]
l temperate, [a stable, reasonable person]
l sober-minded, [serious and concerned about spiritual things]
l of good behavior, [always being a good example]
l hospitable, [showing care and concern to others; serving others]
l able to teach; [a good knowledge of Scripture and desire to teach]
l not given to wine, [not a drunkard]
l not violent, [not easy to lose his temper]
l not greedy for money, [realizing that earthly wealth is not important]
l but gentle, [considerate, compassionate]
l not quarrelsome, [a peacemaker, but not a compromiser]
l not covetous; [not looking at others with envy for what they have]
l one who rules his own house well, having his children in submis-
sion with all reverence (for if a man does not know how to rule his own
house, how will he take care of the church of God?);
41
l not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same
condemnation as the devil. [mature as a Christian, in knowledge and life]
l Moreover he must have a good testimony among those who are out-
side, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil. [must have a good
reputation among his neighbors and fellow-workers] (1 Timothy 3:1-7).
That may sound like a lot of rules, but Jesus knew that the leadership in
local congregations was really important. Men can lead us to follow the Bible, or
they can lead us away. And leading the church away from the truth means a lot
of people would be lost eternally. Jesus was guarding against that.
So, following Jesus rules in the Bible, we have elders, and then under the
elders are men called deacons. There are also rules in 1 Timothy about these men,
and in order to safeguard the church we have to be careful to follow what God says.
Can women be elders and deacons, Daddy?
Im glad you asked that, Anthony, because women are doing lots of things in
leadership in the world these days. Lets look back to 1 Timothy 2:11-13 and see
what God says through Paul: Let a woman learn in silence with all submission.
And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to
be in silence, for Adam was formed frst, then Eve. Going all the way back to the
beginning, we see that the order of creation still holds true. God created men to be
the leaders in the home and in the church and women are to be the helpers.
Nowdays, because of whats called the feminist movement women are
taking over leadership in lots of things. Some churches even have women elders
and preachers, but this is going against Gods law. If we want Gods approval in
the day of judgment, we have to obey Him in everything.
Now, I want you to pretend that we are a part of the church that special
family that belongs to God but pretend that theres nothing in the Bible about com-
ing together every Sunday for worship or doing anything together. Do you think wed
just lose track of each other, and finally there would be no church?
Tommy goes to a different school, so I never would see him if we didnt have
Bible classes together.
And suppose there was no special day of worship. Suppose we just went
through the weeks and months without ever coming to the church building for
worship we probably wouldnt even have a church building! So God knew
what He was doing when he divided time! A day is 24 hours time to work
and eat and rest! We need all of those things! And a week gives us time to work
and go to school and have a day for other things we need to do, and then have
one day to worship God with the church! Then the cycle starts over and we have
new strength to start a new week!
Lets think now about worship. What does that mean, Laura?
42
Well... were all together and we sing and pray to God.
Do you know who else is there with us? Lets read Hebrews 12:22-24 where
Paul is showing the whole picture when we come into Gods presence in worship:
l ... You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God,
the heavenly Jerusalem,
l to an innumerable company of angels,
l to the general assembly and church of the frstborn who are
registered in heaven,
l to God the Judge of all,
l to the spirits of just men made perfect,
l to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant,
l and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.
So, even though we are sitting in a church building, in spirit we are actual-
ly worshiping at the very throne of God, with Jesus at His side, and the whole
host of angels and all the other Christians all over the world who are there with
us! Just think about that!
Wow! I didnt know that!
And, Anthony, thats why we have to be so careful in worship. Thats why
we dont want to be talking with our friends or passing notes or checking a game
on our phone. We wouldnt do any of those things if we were in a serious meet-
ing with the President of the United States; how much worse it is to show such
disrespect for the very God of heaven!
There are other ways that people disrespect God. Did you know that if we
change up what He wants in worship, that is wrong? I know weve studied about
Nadab and Abihu in Leviticus 10, two priests in the Old Testament. As priests, they
were to use fire from the Lords altar for burning incense in worship, but they took fire
from another place, disobeying what might have seemed like an unimportant rule.
But God had made the rule, and it was important to Him! So important that, what
happened to Nadab and Abihu?
Didnt God send down fire and they died?
Thats right, Honey. And Moses told their father, Aaron, what God had said
about anyone who came into His presence to worship:
By those who come near Me
I must be regarded as holy;
And before all the people
I must be glorifed. (Leviticus 10:3)
No, God doesnt send down fire today on people who change up His wor-
ship, but that doesnt mean Hell say, Thats OK. You dont have to be so careful
to obey Me now! No, when we disobey, we will have to answer in the judgment.
43
Do you know what we do in worship, and why?
We always sing songs.
You know, Honey, the amazing thing is that God must love singing! Why? Be-
cause it seems like every living thing has a song! The birds warble, the crickets chirp,
the whales even sing! And one part of earthly worship that will be in heaven is singing!
We see several songs in Revelation (chapters 4 and 5; 15:3), all praising God!
Why do you think God wants us to sing, but in the New Testament nothing
is said about Christians worshiping with harps or other instruments?
I dont know. Would it be wrong to have a piano, Daddy?
Or drums? Or clapping? Eight times singing is mentioned in the New Tes-
tament, but there is no record of musical instruments being included in the wor-
ship. Do you think it was because they hadnt been invented then?
Maybe...
Actually, Cains great-grandson, Jubal, invented the first flute and harp! How
about that??? Music has been a part of humans from the beginning, just as every
living thing even yet seems to have music built into his make-up! So it wasnt that
there were no instruments in the first century. But if we add them to the pattern
of worship, that is adding to what God has authorized, and thats wrong. Do you
remember the verse (Revelation 22:18) that says ... If anyone adds to these
things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book...?
There are several reasons why we are not commanded to use instruments
in worship. All of us are supposed to do all the things, arent we?
Yes.
Laura, can you play a piano or a flute?
No.
Then, if that was required, you wouldnt be able to worship like God asks,
would you? And suppose we were being persecuted for being Christians, and we
had to hide even when we were worshiping. No matter where we might go, we
could still sing but if we had to play an organ we couldnt take one of those into
hiding with us, could we? So God planned things that allow us to worship Him
anywhere, any time, no matter what happens. Even in prison, Paul and Silas
were singing praises to God!
Now, lets talk about another problem with the piano, and the clapping.
God wants our singing to be a way of teaching. Ephesians 5:19 explains, ...
speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing
and making melody in your heart to the Lord. So He says that the melody
is to be in our hearts, not on a piano, and that we are to teach others through the
words we sing. Thats telling us two things:
44
(1) God wants only His creation [our voices, from our hearts] to worship Him.
(2) If clapping (making a drum of your hands) is going on, people wont be
able to hear and understand the words, so the purpose is defeated.
So, we reverently come into Gods presence with singing. What else do
we do in worship, Anthony?
We pray.
Yes, but we have to re-
member that we cant approach
God on our own. Jesus said in
John 16:23, ... whatever you
ask the Father in My name
He will give you. So it is only
through our Brother that we
have the right to speak to God
and to ask His help in anything.
We eat the Lords Supper,
too, Daddy but only after weve been baptized!
And thats a very important part of worship. God doesnt want us to forget
how much He loves us so much that Jesus died so that we can be a part of that
special family of His!
And you know that we also study the Bible not just in worship but every
day, so that we can know how our Father wants us to live.
And we give our money too. Why do we do that?
Because theres work the church needs to do, and that takes money! So
every week God asks us to plan to give a part of what we earn, so that the Gos-
pel can be preached, and so that well be able to help those who are in need.
See? Not only are we a special family, worshiping God and helping each
other, but we have a lot of work to do! God has made us His ambassadors all
over the world!
45
1. Christians in the early church went everywhere doing what?
2. Name some ways Christians are to be diferent from the people around them? Do
we wear special clothes, like priests in the Catholic church and some preachers wear?
3. Girls must be careful to dress how?
4. Boys must be careful not to dress like members of _______.
5. What do Christians do when neighbors or friends or other Christians have needs?
6. Can you name the fve acts of worship?
7. Can you tell me why we dont use a piano in worship?
8. Why must we be very respectful when we worship God? no talking or playing!
Have you ever wondered why Christians are left in this dangerous world?
If Jesus just took us home to Heaven when we are coming up out of the water
from baptism, no one would be tempted to sin anymore, no one would leave the
Family and go back out into a worldly life, no one would be lost! What a perfect
solution to a soul-threatening problem!
But... You are learning about God and His Family because a Christian is
teaching you! So if God had just taken to Heaven all the people who were bap-
tized on that first day when the church was begun, there would have been no-
body to ever teach anyone else!
Of course God knew that this
world is a dangerous place for His chil-
dren, so He left us here, even risking
our souls, so that we could spend our
lives as Jesus said, Go [ing] into all
the world and preach [ing] the gospel
to every creature(Mark 16:15).
So, we are here,
facing many dangers
and problems, not just
to eat and sleep and
watch TV, but we are
here to be sure that
everyone gets to hear
that Jesus died for
them, so they can also
be born into Gods
Family!
A Dangerous World
46
47
Our Fathers Care for His Family
Sometimes people think that if they become Christians, God will build an
invisible wall around them so that nothing will go wrong in their lives. But He
never promised that. There are natural disasters, like a fire or a bad storm, that
can burn our house down or blow it away.
Sometimes our problems are caused by somebody who doesnt like us
and may lie about us or do something else bad.
And sometimes we cause our own problems by making foolish decisions.
If its snowing and you decide to go to school without your coat, you may get
pneumonia and end up in the hospital! A little word of warning: we need to think
carefully and prayerfully about the decisions were making because God isnt go-
ing to force us to decide the wise things, and He wont prevent the natural result
of what we have decided to do. So, our part is to learn lessons from our poor
decisions and to ask God to help us to think more wisely.
God does help us in many ways, and if we understand what Hes promised
and how He works, we can look for what Hes doing in our lives.
The first promise is in Romans 8:28: ... all things work together for
good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His
purpose. Thats a powerful promise! It says that no matter what the weather
or some natural calamity does to you, or no matter what someone who doesnt
like you does to you, or no matter what trouble you have because of a foolish
decision you made, if you His child hold onto your love for Him, He will turn
those problems around so that they will have a good benefit in your life.
When we had a fire in our house, the insurance paid for making it better
than new! When that kid who was mad at you told a lie about you, everybody
had more confidence in you when he was proved wrong. And, Laura, do you
remember that time you decided to play all evening instead of studying for your
English test? You learned from your bad decision and your bad grade that youd
better study next time! So youve been making straight As ever since!
All of these things worked together so that the end result was good, just
like God promised.
But, Laura and Anthony, lets look at some things that we read about in the
Bible and see if we can understand the ways God works in the world.
Memory Verse: Romans 8:28: And we know that all things work to-
gether for good to those who love God, to those who are the called
according to His purpose.
First, Ill remind you that the Bible is not just a history book about people
who lived two- or three- or five-thousand years ago. Hebrews 1:1,2 tells us,
God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the
fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son,
whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the
worlds. So God is the real author of the Bible, and He has given it to us for a
very important reason.
1 Corinthians 10:6-11 explains: Now these things became our exam-
ples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they [the Israel-
ites] also lusted. And do not become idolaters as were some of them. As it
is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. Nor
let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twen-
ty-three thousand fell; nor let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempt-
ed, and were destroyed by serpents; nor complain, as some of them also
complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer. Now all these things
happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition,
upon whom the ends of the ages have come.
Thats why, kids, when were thinking about our lives and choices, your
Mother and I always teach you to look into the Bible for examples and instruc-
tions on how were supposed to live today. Its true that there are differences
in Gods responses now, but there are no differences in His expectation of
obedience from His children! Sometimes in the past He immediately punished
disobedience, because those people didnt have the Bible and they didnt know
much about what God would do. Sometimes the lessons He had to teach were
really hard.
In those days, God spoke di-
rectly to the fathers of households, like
Abraham, and He often used miracles
to help people understand His power.
You remember that He spoke to Moses,
sending him to Egypt to free the Israel-
ites. Because Pharaoh wouldnt listen
to Moses, God sent awful punishment to
the whole country in the form of the ten
plagues.
The Egyptian people learned
enough from those lessons that they
gave money and other things to the
Israelites when they left the country. But
Pharaoh hardened his heart, determined
48
Defnitions
Miracles: Gods overruling of
nature to make an immediate
change. Example: the parting of
the Red Sea in the Exodus; giving
sight to blind people; raising the
dead.
Providence: Gods work through
natural means, or in unseen ways,
to accomplish His will; often these
events are labeled as coincidenc-
es, as something that just hap-
pened.
to continue fighting God, and so he and his army were drowned in the Red Sea
when the waters miraculously closed up.
Today when people harden their hearts to God and the Bible, its like
they are shaking their fists in His face and shouting, Theres no God! But God
doesnt send a bolt from Heaven to burn them to cinders! Hes not doing mirac-
ulous punishments anymore. Instead, in the Bible He warns EVERYBODY that
the same Jesus who died to save us from our sins will come back one day TO
BE OUR JUDGE. Jesus Himself said that the righteous obedient ones will go
away to everlasting life, but He will say to the disobedient, Depart from Me,
you cursed, into the everlasting fre prepared for the devil and his angels
(Matthew 25:41).
We can see a strong dividing line in Gods dealings with humans. From
the creation until the Bible was completed after Jesus death, burial
and resurrection, God spoke directly to some people, and His mes-
sengers and prophets did many miracles to prove that they were speaking Gods
words. But after the Bible was completed, God has worked through what is called
providence. To help you understand, lets go to the Bible and see some exam-
ples!
Do you remember the story of Jonathan and his armor bearer in the fight
they had with the Philistines? We can see providence in Gods help there:
Then Jonathan said to the young man who bore his armor, Come,
let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised; it may be that the
Lord will work for us. For nothing restrains the Lord from saving by many
or by few. So his armorbearer said to him, Do all that is in your heart. Go
then; here I am with you, according to your heart.
Then Jonathan said, Very well, let us cross over to these men, and
we will show ourselves to them. If they say thus to us, Wait until we come
to you, then we will stand still in our place and not go up to them. But if
they say thus, Come up to us, then we will go up. For the Lord has deliv-
ered them into our hand, and this will be a sign to us.
So both of them showed themselves to the garrison of the Philis-
tines. And the Philistines said, Look, the Hebrews are coming out of the
holes where they have hidden. Then the men of the garrison called to
Jonathan and his armorbearer, and said, Come up to us, and we will show
you something.
49
From Creation Miraculous Age
Age of
Providential
Care
Jonathan said to his armorbearer, Come up after me, for the Lord
has delivered them into the hand of Israel. And Jonathan climbed up on
his hands and knees with his armorbearer after him; and they fell before
Jonathan. And as he came after him, his armorbearer killed them. That frst
slaughter which Jonathan and his armorbearer made was about twenty
men within about half an acre of land.
And there was trembling in the camp, in the feld, and among all the
people. The garrison and the raiders also trembled; and the earth quaked,
so that it was a very great trembling. Now the watchmen of Saul in Gibeah
of Benjamin looked, and there was the multitude, melting away; and they
went here and there (1 Samuel 14:6-16).
Now, some questions: Did God tell Jonathan to go and fight the enemies
of Israel?
The Bible doesnt say He did.
OK. Did God tell Jonathan what he should use as a sign that God would
help them win the battle?
Well, it doesnt say that either, Daddy.
Now the sign Jonathan had spoken was that the Philistines would tell them
to come up the side of the steep hill. Being on their hands and knees would
make it easy for the Philistines to kill them as they were climbing, so it took a lot
of faith on Jonathans part to start that climb, but he did. And they had a great
victory! The Bible doesnt say that any angels were seen killing the bad soldiers,
but there was a scary earthquake! Now, do earthquakes happen, just naturally?
Sure they do! So we would say that God used nature to providentially help Jona-
than and his armorbearer defeat the enemies of Israel.
Another time that God fought for Israel, behind the scenes so that nobody
saw an angel or knew that God was doing it, was when King Sennacherib of As-
syria was camped around Jerusalem, planning to totally destroy the city.
After this Sennacherib king of Assyria sent his servants to Jerusalem
... to Hezekiah king of Judah, and to all Judah who were in Jerusalem, saying,
Thus says Sennacherib king of Assyria: In what do you trust, that you remain
under siege in Jerusalem? And they spoke against the God of Jerusalem, as
against the gods of the people of the earth the work of mens hands.
Now because of this King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah, the son
of Amoz, prayed and cried out to heaven. Then the Lord sent an angel who
cut down every mighty man of valor, leader, and captain in the camp of the
king of Assyria. So he returned shamefaced to his own land. And when he
had gone into the temple of his god, some of his own offspring struck him
down with the sword there (2 Chronicles 32:9,10,19-21).
50
In the Bible, God tells us that He sent an angel, but historical records say
that the whole army died of some terrible disease that struck them that night!
Nobody actually saw an angel!
According to the Bible, angels are Gods workers who are sent out by Him
to serve His people. One time the king of Syria was making war against Elisha
the prophet. This is the record in the Bible of what happened:
Therefore he [the king] sent horses and chariots and a great army
there, and they came by night and surrounded the city. And when the
servant of the man of God arose early and went out, there was an army,
surrounding the city with horses and chariots. And his servant said to him,
Alas, my master! What shall we do?
So he answered, Do not fear, for those who are with us are more
than those who are with them. And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray,
open his eyes that he may see. Then the Lord opened the eyes of the
young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and
chariots of fre all around Elisha (2 Kings 6:14-16).
51
So the whole place was filled with angels, there to protect Elisha, even
though nobody could see them! Thats Gods providence at work!
Do you remember when the apostle Paul was imprisoned and a band
of Jews had vowed to not eat or drink a thing until they had killed him, how did
God take care of him? His nephew heard about their plot and was able to talk
to the centurion who took him to the commander in charge of Paul. Then the
commander called two centurions and they got up two hundred soldiers in the
middle of the night, with seventy horsemen and two hundred spearsmen to
slip Paul away to Caesarea for his trial! How many providential tools did God
use to take care of that son of His??? Four hundred and seventy-five! But only
Paul knew God was doing all of those things!
Later, when he was being taken as a prisoner on a ship to Rome, a bad
storm came up. After many days, Paul urged the sailors to take food, assuring
them that everyone would be saved. And when he had said these things, he
took bread and gave thanks to God in the presence of them all; and when
he had broken it he began to eat. Then they were all encouraged, and
also took food themselves.
And in all we were two
hundred and seventy-six
persons on the ship.
And the soldiers
plan was to kill the pris-
oners, lest any of them
should swim away and
escape. But the centurion,
wanting to save Paul, kept
them from their purpose,
and commanded that those
who could swim should
jump overboard frst and
get to land, and the rest,
some on boards and some on parts of the ship. And so it was that they all
escaped safely to land (Acts 27).
So in this case, God used a Roman ship, sailors, and soldiers to take Paul
to testify of Himself in Rome! Even things that belong to governments really be-
long to God! So Rome got to pay for Pauls trip!
Do you see again that, without the use of miracles, God providentially did
what needed to be done so that Paul could safely reach Rome and make the ap-
peal to Caesar? Of course, while he was there he was allowed to have his own
rented place and to teach anyone who came to him!
52
Its a big world out there 24,000 miles around it, nearly 200 countries,
and more than seven billion people! Jesus has gone back to Heaven, where He
reigns as King of kings and Lord of lords. That means He has authority over ev-
eryone and everything in this world, to use whatever He needs to aid His soldiers
on the ground. Who are His soldiers? You and me! He has left Christians here
to complete the work God has been doing since before the creation: saving the
souls of the obedient. Jesus says to each one of us, Go into all the world and
preach the gospel to every creature... If you ask anything in My name, I will
do it.... I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
53
Providential Care
54
Gods Providence at Work Today
Now lets finish up the study on providence. We looked at amazing things
God did in the Scriptures to help His children in their struggles in this world that
Satan rules, but there are amazing things happening now!
Hebrews 1:14 says, Are they [angels] not all ministering spirits sent
forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation? That means that God,
even today, sends out His angels to help take care of us. We wont see them, but
theyre here, wherever theyre needed. Hebrews 13:2 explains more: Do not for-
get to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained
angels. Now, thats saying that even now it may be that someone comes to us,
seeming like an ordinary human, like the time that angels came to Abraham and to
Lot in Genesis 18:2; 19:1, and to Joshua (5:13) but that may be an angel! Or it
may be that angels are with us but not visible, as in 2 Kings 6:17. We wont know
for sure; well never see angel wings or anything else that looks angelic, but God
says He does take care of us, and He has lots of tools to enable Him to do that.
In the Bible we saw examples of Gods use of nature, governments, peo-
ple, angels, and all kinds of other things to do what His people needed Him to do.
Now I want to share some things that have happened in our world in our time
that seem to be explained only within Gods providential care.
Missionaries were about to move to a new country. For years they had
been trying to go to India, but now a family of American Christians working in the
little country of Sri Lanka was asking someone to come there and help them start
the Lords church. What to do? What to do? The missionaries were praying for
God to open the right doors and to close
the wrong doors. Their part was to apply
for visas [permission to live in the country].
The husband had an Indian visa, which
meant that there should be no problem
getting a visa for the family. So they said,
If the family gets a visa, well conclude that
God wants us to go to India. If we cant,
well believe He wants us in Sri Lanka.
The visa was denied, so they moved
to Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka and
began to teach the Gospel to anyone who
Memory Verse: Hebrews 1:14: Are they [angels] not all ministering
spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?
would listen. The missionary advertised a two-week school for those who might be
interested in studying the Bible. A certain well-educated man, who had just gotten
out of a business with his father-in-law, and currently had no job, saw the ad. He
said to himself, Im not working. This is an opportunity to go to a Bible school.
Before the end of the two weeks, he was baptized and became a great
helper in having home Bible studies. In a few months the missionary family
moved to India. As they were studying with people, and able to begin the church
in New Delhi, they looked into the possibility of having programs over the radio
stations operated by the Indian government, but they were told that Christian
religious broadcasting wasnt allowed in that Hindu nation.
Then they heard some exciting news: the radio station in Sri Lanka, called
The Giant of Asia was allowing Christians to use their towers for broadcasting! The
coverage was most of the Eastern side of the globe! What a great blessing of God!
The missionary knew preachers in India who spoke several of the major languages,
so he was sure everything could be managed but what about a reliable person
to manage the contracts with the radio station? Oh yes! God had been looking
ahead, and a zealous, trustworthy Christian was already in place in Colombo!
What happened? Through the years of the team working together,
millions of people in India have been able to know that Jesus died for them, and
many have obeyed Him in baptism! God does work all things together for good!
Ill tell you another story that shows His providential care. You know that
Jesus has told Christians to go into all the world and preach the Gospel, and our
work really is to go and to teach so that people will want to learn more about God
and to obey Him. But God knows that there are those who are already looking
for Him, even though nobody has come to teach them. Those are the people He
takes care of through providentially pulling many things together!
A man in Burma worked at the airport in Rangoon as an air controller. One
day he met a man from India who was also an air controller. They got to talking,
and the Indian man said that
he was studying a Bible course
from an American missionary in
Thailand. He gave the address
to the Burmese man who wrote
for the course. Then he and
he and his family very careful-
ly studied each lesson. They
became convinced they needed
to be baptized, so the mission-
ary from Thailand flew over
and studied further with them
55
and baptized them into the body of Christ! That was the beginning of the church
of Christ in Burma! Now there are many Christians in that country, and even Bible
training schools! But look at Gods reach in this: from India to Burma to America
to Thailand and back to Burma, and working over several years of time! Gods
hand is not shortened that He cannot do whatever is needed, and He looks ahead
in His preparations, and He never forgets the work Hes weaving together!
Another amazing thing happened to a missionary in Pakistan. One day a
man came to the gate and was looking at the sign that said The Church of Christ
Meets Here. He came inside to find out more about the church, actually checking
to see if he could worship with them in good conscience. Through several hours of
discussion, the missionary learned that the man, a doctor, was from the mountain-
ous area of Iran, bordering Russia. He said he was a part of a group of Christians
there, and that the church with which he worshiped numbered about 5,000!
Their history? He said that some of the men who had seen the star of
Jesus were of his tribe, and they had followed the star to Bethlehem. After they
returned home, they waited until the baby would be grown up and would be able
to do the work He had been born to do. They returned to Israel and were there
in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, among the crowd that heard Peter and the
other apostles preaching that at last the kingdom of God had come! They were
baptized and waited there for some time, learning from the apostles and writing
down what they called The Sayings of Christ. When they came home again,
they taught their families and their tribal people what they had learned, so that
they became Christians too.
The doctor had a very correct understanding of the Gospel and of how
to become a Christian and to worship God. He said that his people had been
persecuted to the point that they had isolated themselves in the mountainous
regions. Later, when the missionary was in Iran again, he went to the area the
doctor had told him about, at the edge of the mountains. The only way he could
go further would have been by horseback and with an interpreter, so the journey
had to stop there. People in the area did tell him, though, that lots of Christians
used to live there but they had moved into the mountains.
So you see how God can bring people together, to supply what is needed
for someone who is already looking for the Truth!
Now, let me ask you this. When youre getting ready for a test, what do you do?
Study all that weve covered in the book and in the class.
And if youre in a competition say, a Tai Kwan Do competition how
would you prepare?
Practice...
So, if God has put His treasure of the message of the Gospel in our hands,
56
asking us to take it to all the world, how do we prepare? Well, first of all, are we will-
ing to do what He asks?
But Im just a kid, Daddy. I cant go to some other country!
Thats right, son, and some of us wont ever go to some other country, but for
you today that place is neighborhood friends or friends in school. They need to
see Jesus in the way you talk and behave, and youll want to make opportunities to
talk to them about God and to ask them to come with you to Bible class. Weve done
that with Jamie and his mother, and when they are ready we want to have personal
Bible studies with them so they can learn how to obey God.
But youre growing up, and you need to be praying now about how you will use
your life. Some people think, I need a job to make lots of money! Its wonderful when
people become good doctors or lawyers or do some other work that will help people and
may also pay well. But our main focus, as Christians, is different on God, first, and
then how we can use our homes and talents and money in His work of spreading the
Truth. Yes, we want to be able to feed our families and to buy clothes for our kids, but our
most important preparation needs to be for Gods work: to be able to teach classes, to
serve as elders and preachers and song leaders and evangelists even in our own coun-
try, and to support families who do go into foreign countries with the Gospel.
Do you know why I put in forty hours a week at the office to earn a living, and
then preach and work with that small church that cant afford to pay me any salary?
Its so we can help them grow to be a stronger church.
Maybe the time will come when all of us can even live in a foreign country, to
start the church there, but if we cant do that, what we give to support someone in a
mission field may be the only way those people can hear the Gospel.
Now, if were going to teach people in this country, how do we need to prepare?
We can learn how to door knock and sign people up for Bible studies.
Thats right. And if were going to do well in those Bible studies, we need to
know something about what the people around us believe in religion. Most of our
neighbors are members of denominational churches, so we need to know what
those churches teach. If we know, well be better able to show them the Truth.
Then, if were preparing for maybe going to some other country as mission-
aries, we need to learn how people live in those places, and what they believe. Did
you know that most of the people in the world are not Christians? Can you tell me
the names of some of those other religions, and the gods they worship?
Ive heard of Muslims a lot lately in the news.
And we need to know about them and their god and their book. We need
to know about Hindus too, because most of the people in India believe in those
gods and India is the second largest population in the world! China is the largest
country. What do most of the Chinese believe? We have a lot to learn!
57
Questions
1. What is a miracle?
2. Is providence the same as a miracle?
3. Did Gods prophets and messengers in the Old Testament do miracles?
4. Did John the Baptist perform miracles?
5. Did Jesus perform miracles?
6. Did the Apostles perform miracles?
7. Has the age of miracles ended?
8. How is this age of providential care and the Bible better than miracles?
58
Jesus could heal the sick, raise the dead, and do unlimited kinds
of miracles. The reason was to prove that He was Who He claimed to be:
the Son of God (Matthew 12:25-32).
When He began His church, He gave the apostles the power to do
all kinds of miracles too, and also to preach and to write the Bible by the
direction of the Holy Spirit. The New Testament completed Gods perfect
book of directions for Christians. The last book is Revelation, and there
we are forbidden to add anything to what God has said.
But during those years while the New Testament was being written,
Christians scattered over the world needed help. Various ones in the con-
gregations were given special miraculous gifts. Some could heal people,
to convince on-lookers that God was working through them. Some could
speak the truths that would be written in the New Testament. Some were
given special knowledge, so they could help to guide the church.
We read about this last part of the miraculous age in 1 Corinthians
13:8-10: Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail;
whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it
will vanish away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when
that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.
The Bible is the perfect law of liberty [James 1:25: But he who
looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a for-
getful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he
does.] Today, there are people who claim to do miracles by Gods power,
but they teach doctrines that contradict the New Testament. If we didnt
have the Bible, there would be no way to prove if a teacher was from God
or from satan. 1 John 4:1 warns, Beloved, do not believe every spirit,
but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false proph-
ets have gone out into the world.
59
Division Confusion
Parents, Teachers, study this lesson with care, and teach it
with love. It is not intended to alienate or to offend anyone, but to
help everyone to see that division and doctrines created by men
are tools of satan to ensure that well-meaning people dont fnd
the truth.
There may be as many as 41,000 denominations in the
world! In the US the estimate is 1500 different religious groups,
teaching many different doctrines. Almost 8 out of 10 Americans
would say they are Christians: Baptist Christians, Methodist
Christians.... JESUS PRAYED THAT WE MIGHT ALL BE ONE!
60
Satan Invades!
What did Jesus promise in Matthew 16:18? I will build My church. It
was a very simple plan. He wanted everyone who believed in Him to be united
in His one Family. God is our Father; Jesus is our elder Brother (Matthew 12:50)
whom we love and respect as our Lord by wearing His name. Believers were first
called Christians in Antioch, the first congregation that was made up of both Jews
and Gentiles (Acts 11:26). Romans 16:16 says, The churches of Christ greet
you. This was not really the name of the church, because the word for church
just meant those who were called out called out of a worldly life to follow Jesus.
The church was also called the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:27)
because He is the Head and the members are like His mouth, eyes, hands, and
feet, taking His Gospel to all the world. The church is described as the bride of
Christ (Ephesians 5:22-33), because Christians are to belong only to Him, and
to love and obey Him like a wife does for her husband. In return, Christian hus-
bands were taught to love their wives like Christ loved the church that means
they should be willing to die for them!
The church in Scripture is often called the kingdom, over which Christ is
the King one kingdom, one King! In fact, usually in the New Testament, the
church was just called the church because there was only one and everybody
knew what that one was!
Well, you know weve talked about old Satan! Hes always been around,
telling lies and getting people to mess up what God is doing. Back there in
the Garden of Eden, he lied to Eve, and he told her that if she would just eat
that fruit that looked so good, she would be like God! Do you remember
when we first talked about Satan, we read a passage of Scripture that de-
scribed him as being the anointed cherub. But he wanted more! He said, I will
exalt my throne above the stars of God ... I will be like the Most High.
Thats still his goal, and hes still telling people they can be gods or like god. He
did his work in the Garden, and now all humans are sinners. When Jesus was born,
Satan tried through King Herod to get rid of that Baby that was a threat to the devils
success, but that didnt work. Then when Judas betrayed Jesus and He was crucified,
Satan thought he had finally won. But Jesus came out of that grave, conquering death
and Satan was beaten again. At last, the church began on the day of Pentecost,
and people could wash away their sins in baptism they could be SAVED!
Memory Verse: Ephesians 5:15,16: See then that you walk circum-
spectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the
days are evil.
Do you think Satan just threw up his hands in defeat and quit? No, he
developed a plan, a scheming, devilish plan. He knew that Jesus had died so
that the sins of everyone who was baptized into His Family could be forgiven,
and they could live and grow as children of His Father, looking forward in hope to
their own eternal life with Him. The work had been done, and Satan couldnt stop
any of that. Now, whoever learned about Jesus and His church could do like the
people did on the day of Pentecost: they could repent of their sins and be bap-
tized, and God would add them to the church.
But.... if Satan could get Christians to change up some of the teaching, it
would be like a train going off the track they wouldnt be on the road to heaven
any more! And if he could get them to start some other churches, all claiming to
belong to Christ, then people would be confused about just what was right, and
he would be able to get them on his own broad way, even though all the time
they would be thinking they were right!
So error began to creep into congregations. Paul warned in 1 Timothy 4:1-
3 that men would begin to teach error and to lead people away from the Truth.
In Acts 20:29-32, he told the elders of the church in Ephesus: For I know this,
that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not spar-
ing the fock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse
things, to draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch, and remember,
that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and
day with tears.
But the problem is that people start thinking for themselves instead of lis-
tening to the Bible, and their thinking can bring about differences. We can under-
stand that problem, a little, in the early church because the New Testament was not
completed. Most Christians would not have had even
one copy of one of the books. The church in Rome
would have had the letter Paul wrote to them, but they
wouldnt have had copies of all the other letters. Thats
why there were special gifts of teaching in the early
church, so that Christians could learn from apostles or
other inspired teachers.
As time passed, divisions took place because
some were teaching that sprinkling water could be
counted as baptism, which is actually a burial in wa-
ter, like Christ was buried in the grave. Others taught
that dedicated preachers of the Gospel couldnt have
wives and families. Some believed that certain foods should not be eaten on
certain days. With the differences in beliefs, division took place and the different
groups called themselves different names: Gnostics, Montanists, Monarchians.
61
Inspired:
Certain men were given
the gift of prophecy
that is, through the
miraculous power of the
Holy Spirit,they were
given the message
of what to teach and
preach, so that there
would be no error (2
Peter 1:21).
Finally, one group appointed a leader over all of their churches. They called him
the Pope, and that church came to be known as the Catholic (universal) church.
Of course, not all the Christians left the Truth. Jesus had promised that
when He started His church, nothing would destroy it, so there have been Chris-
tians and congregations of the Lords church in the world ever since the day of
Pentecost, though many did go astray.
The Catholic church grew and became even more powerful than many
of the governments. They had priests and monasteries and huge church build-
ings. They told the kings what to do. Then came a time when some in the Cath-
olic church began to speak up about the wrong teachings and the problems in the
priesthood. Do you know what happened? Those who wanted changes were
persecuted. Many were killed!
It was a terrible time, but out of that developed what is called the Reformation
Movement: those people were trying to re-form what they thought was Christianity,
and so different churches were started. A man called John Smyth decided that the
baptism in the New Testament was a burial in water not sprinkling, so he started
what came to be called the Baptist church.
The Methodist church grew out of the
dissatisfaction of another man named John
Wesley with the Episcopalian church of which
he was a member. His churches followed cer-
tain methods!
There are many today who call them-
selves Pentecostals, claiming to be like the
first church, as it was started on Pentecost.
Church of God, Assemblies of God, Holi-
ness, Pentecostal and many other names
are used by their groups. They believe that
miracles can still be performed and that people
can talk in tongues. Because these things
are mentioned in the Scriptures, it is easy for
them to convince listeners that they are right.
The problem is that even the New Testament
teaches that the age of miracles would come
to an end when the perfect book of God the
Bible was completed.
There was a story in the news about a
snake handling church Pentecostal that
made hunting and catching poisonous snakes
a part of their religion. They believe that when
62
The Miraculous Age
v The Apostles were baptized with
the Holy Spirit on the day of Pen-
tecost, enabling them to speak by
inspiration, to perform miracles, to
speak in languages they had not
studied (Acts 1:8; 2:4-47)
v The apostles could give miracu-
lous power to select people, through
the laying on of their hands (Acts
6:6,8), but they could not give that
power to others (Acts 8:5,14,15).
With the completion of the New Tes-
tament, and the death of the Apostles
and those to whom they had given
special gifts, the miraculous age
ended.
v 1 Corinthians 12:31; 13:8-13
explains the more excellent way.
Even magicians can do things that
the average peson cant explain. In
the name of religion people today
CLAIM to do miracles by Gods
power even though they are teaching
doctrines that are not in the Bible.
v We have Gods Word now to guide
us. By it, we can check every doc-
trine, to accept the Truth and to reject
error.
Jesus promised the apostles that even a snake bite wouldnt hurt them (Mark
16:18 was fulfilled when a snake bit Paul in Acts 28:3-5, and he didnt get sick),
that promise still holds true today. But that was only for the miraculous age
and God never intended for anybody to deliberately take up poisonous snakes
like these Pentecostal people were doing as a religious thing to prove that God
would protect them.
But do you know what happened? The man who started that church just
died from a rattlesnake bite!
The Seventh Day Adventist churches were started by a man named
William Miller who prophesied that Jesus would come back in 1843. I guess he
hadnt read where Jesus Himself said in 24:36 that only the Father knows when
He will return! Lots of people believed Mr. Miller, though, and when Jesus didnt
come, he set another date. When He didnt come that time, either, his followers
divided. Ellen G. White became a prophetess, teaching that the Ten Command-
ments are still to be followed, and that the day of worship is the Sabbath.
The Jehovahs Witnesses church was started by Charles Russell, after
he was disillusioned with Millers failed prophecies in the Seventh Day Adven-
tist church. Russell wrote six books that he claimed were inspired by God like
the Bible, but Revelation 22:18,19 the completion of Gods message to the
world says no one is allowed to add anything to Gods word! Mr. Russell also
taught that the Holy Spirit is not Deity but only the force of God, that Jesus was
not divine while in the flesh but only human, and that God has hidden Jesus body
somewhere that there was no resurrection.
Joseph Smith started the Mormon church. He claimed to have visions
and revelations, and these were written in the Book of Mormon to guide his
followers. He taught that no one can be saved if they reject that book.
Anthony and Laura, do you see a problem with these denominations?
They dont sound like the church Jesus started.
Youre right, son. There are lots of churches, and all of them teach many
things that are not in the Bible. They were started by men, and they believe and
practice what those men taught. But who started Christs church?
Jesus
And which book is supposed to be our guide?
The Bible.
Yes, the Bible and particularly the New Testament, because we are
Christians living under the law of Christ, not under the law that was given to the
Jews through Moses.
Besides these and many, many other denominational groups that teach
doctrines that are different from the New Testament, you see lots of huge church
63
buildings these days where community churches meet. In those groups youll
find Baptists and Methodists and lots of people from different churches. Not
much real doctrine is preached in those pulpits because they dont want to upset
anybody. So, mostly, their preachers talk about being good people and being
blessed by God and those churches are sort of like spiritual clubs. Built into
humans is the need to remember God, and also the need for mixing and mingling
with other people. Community churches take care of both of those things, with-
out upsetting anyone by teaching some doctrine they dont believe.
Your Mother and I are teaching you about these things, kids, because you
need to know the difference between the church Jesus owns and the division
Satan has caused that developed denominations. You need to know the differ-
ence between the doctrines that were written in the New Testament to guide the
church and the doctrines that these men who started these churches were teach-
ing their followers.
Satan wants the world to be confused. He wants division among those
who believe in Jesus. He wins the victory when we get all messed up and go
down his broad path to destruction.
I want you to memorize Ephesians 4:4-6, so that those words will always
be in your mind and heart. There is ONE body and ONE Spirit, just as you
were called in ONE hope of your calling; ONE Lord, ONE faith, ONE bap-
tism; ONE God and Father of all...
There are seven ones in these verses. Three of them identify the God-
head: God, the Lord Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. God must be first in your life in
all you do.
The other four ones are about us and our relationship with God: We have
faith in God and His word, and then we are baptized into the one body of Christ,
so that we have hope for eternity! Isnt that a powerful summary of Christianity?
If you stay faithful to these words, youll never be led off the narrow path by Satan
and he will be beaten!
64
1. What did satan, as the anointed cherub, want to do?
2. What did he tell Eve, if she ate the fruit?
3. How did satan try to get rid of Baby Jesus?
4. When Jesus was crucifed, had satan won the war with God?
5. Could satan keep God from starting His Family, the church of Christ?
6. What has satan done to confuse people so that they dont fnd the true church?
7. Can you name some of the denominations that are in your town?
8. What are the seven ONES listed in Ephesians 4:4-6?
65
... He has put eternity in their hearts... (Ecclesiastes 3:11) Embed-
ded in humans is the need to worship. Almost since the begin-
ning, though, they have created their own gods, making images of
things they could see since it is not possible for sinful people to
see the true God with their eyes. Some of these created gods
have faded with time; some are worshiped even today!
Many Kinds of gods
66
Other gods and Other Religions
Daddy opened the Bible, saying to Mother, Laura, and Anthony, Ecclesi-
astes 3:11 Is an important verse of Scripture. Lets read it to begin this study:
He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eter-
nity in their hearts, except that no one can fnd out the work that God does
from beginning to end.
What do you think
He was describing when
He said He made every-
thing beautiful?
The Garden of
Eden?
Yes, and every-
thing else in creation! It
was perfect! And the next
part of the verse tells us
something about the way
He made us. What do you
think He meant when He said He put eternity in their hearts?
All people all over the world have buried their dead, often with clothes, jew-
els, tools, and other things because they believed they would live again! Mother
answered.
Thats right, and all people everywhere have worshiped God or a god!
These two things show us that the Bible account has to be true when it tells
about the one great God and His creation of humans with souls!
Have you ever seen a fairy, Anthony?
No but Ive read about them in my story books.
Do you believe fairies are real?
Not really, because theyre just story books. And nobodys ever seen one.
Has anybody seen God?
No...
Has anybody seen a soul that has come out of the grave?
The disciples saw Jesus.
Memory Verse: 1 Timothy 2:5: For there is one God and one Mediator
between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus.
Yes, and thats another proof that what the Bible says is true, because in
these almost 2000 years since Jesus was resurrected, no one has been able to
offer convincing proof or arguments that He is still in the grave! But during all
those thousands of years even before Jesus came, people who had never seen
God and had never seen a resurrection still believed both of those things! That
knowledge is a part of our being made in the image of God. Even though weve
never seen our souls the real me living in this body and even though weve
never seen God, the consciousness of His existence is in our make-up.
The sad thing is that so much of what Adam and Eve knew from the be-
ginning got all mixed up as their children had children and those children had
children, and they began to populate the world. We know that their first son killed
their second son. The Scriptures say that Cain and his wife went out from the
presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod. That doesnt mean that they
moved far enough away from Eden to be out of Gods sight, because God sees
everything. It means that they werent living the way God wanted people to live.
In fact, Genesis 4:25,26 says, And Adam knew his wife again, and she
bore a son and named him Seth, For God has appointed another seed for me
instead of Abel, whom Cain killed. And as for Seth, to him also a son was born;
and he named him Enosh. Then men began to call on the name of the Lord.
Back then, people lived a long, long time. Adam lived to be 930 years old!
He was 130 years old when Seth was born, so that means he had another 800
years to teach Seth all he knew about God and he would have known a lot
because for some time he had even walked and talked with God!
Enoch was Seths great-great-great grandson, the sixth generation from
Adam. We know that he was so devoted to God that he didnt die; God just took
him to heaven! So some of the people even then 687 years after the creation
were still obeying and loving God.
Methuselah was Enochs son. He lived in the same world with Adam for
243 years, so Adam would have been able to teach him a lot about God too.
Methuselahs son, Lamech, was the father of Noah. During Noahs life most of
the people in the world had not only forgotten God, they were very evil. Gen-
esis 6:11-13 says, The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth
was flled with violence. So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was
corrupt; for all fesh had corrupted their way on the earth. And God said to
Noah, The end of all fesh has come before Me, for the earth is flled with
violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
Seth Adams son was still living for 355 years after Methuselah was
born, and even for 34 years after Noah was born! So Noah could have learned a
lot about God from these men who were righteous. We know that he loved God
because the Bible in Genesis 6:9 says that he was perfect in his generations.
67
We see a lot thats bad in the world today, but it had gotten so awful in No-
ahs time that God just couldnt stand it any longer. What did He do, Laura?
He told Noah to build the ark, and the flood came.
So the evil people were washed away, and Noahs family started over. But
by the time Nimrod came along and became a powerful ruler, building the mighty
tower of Babel that he planned to reach on up into heaven, they were disobeying
God again. It was then that God made different languages, so the people were
scattered because they couldnt understand each other.
We dont know just when they got mixed up about God to the point that
they started worshiping the stars and rivers and figures they had carved, but
there are all kinds of gods and goddesses in the ancient histories throughout
the world. God described their stupidity in Isaiah 44:9-17: Those who make
an image, all of them are useless... He [a man] plants a pine, and the rain
nourishes it. Then it shall be for a man to burn, For he will take some of it
and warm himself; Yes, he kindles it and bakes bread; Indeed
he makes a god and worships it; He makes it a carved image,
and falls down to it. He burns half of it in the fre; With this
half he eats meat; He roasts a roast, and is satisfed. He even
warms himself and says, Ah! I am warm, I have seen the fre.
And the rest of it he makes into a god, His carved image. He
falls down before it and worships it, Prays to it and says, De-
liver me, for you are my god!
Can you imagine such a silly thing using part of a tree for
a fire, part of it to cook with, and then carving part of it into a god?
Some of
the gods that
were worshiped
back then were
Baal, Marduk, and
Ashteroth. Ani-
mals and even
people were
sacrificed to them.
But that
kind of thinking is
still a part of some pagan religions. Have you ever heard of Hinduism?
A boy in my class is from India and he says he is Hindu, Daddy.
Do you know anything about that religion?
Not really...
68
Hinduism
In the earliest forms, Hindus made animal sac-
rifices to their god, the beliefs were very simple, and
there were no priests it sounds a lot like the early
days in Genesis, during the Patriarchal Age when the
fathers of the families were the ones God dealth with.
As time passed, those fathers forgot more about the
true God, so they made idols of all kinds. Shiva, the
god of destruction is
one of their gods. Hin-
dus say anything can be
worshiped, even people!
In Hinduism there
is no savior, like Jesus.
They believe that there are five levels of people;
they call them castes, and you cant change your
caste. The lowest class has to do the dirty work like
sweeping and cleaning toilets; if their shadow falls
on a high-caste person, he believes it makes him
unclean. These untouchables cant even go into
the temples to worship!
The highest caste are the wealthy people and
the priests. Hindus believe that their goodness or evil
in past lives determines which caste they are in. They
believe that when someone dies, he will be reborn
[reincarnated] but maybe not even as a human. If he
was lazy in this life, he might come back as a turtle or a
sloth! If he was bad he might be a dog in his next life!
Buddhism
A Hindu by the name of Buddha, several cen-
turies before Jesus was born, got tired of the priests
lording it over the people like they were kings, so he
started another religion. He taught his followers the
reason everybody suffers is because of desire. So,
the goal was to give up all desire so that there is no
greed or hatred or passion about anything. The best
Hindus and Buddhists are supposed to become holy
men and leave their families and just live in the jungle
and meditate. They are supposed to stop loving any-
thing or feeling any attachment even to their families!
69
Biblical Ages
Patriarchal: The father of
the household [the patriarch]
offered sacrifices, and God
spoke directly to the faithful
patriarchs, as Noah, Abra-
ham, Jacob, etc.
Mosaic: The law of Moses
was given for the people of
Israel. The priests offered
sacrifices.
Christian: The law of Christ
came into force with His
death, ending animal sacri-
fices and a priestly system.
Thats just the opposite of what Jesus teaches us.
He wants us to love God and each other!
Some Hindu beliefs that Buddha brought into
his teachings were karma [and we hear that word
even here in America!] which means that the good
things and bad things that happen to a person are
because of his past life, and nirvana [when you
hear that word, you know Hinduism is creeping into
our language!]. Hindus believe that when a person
gets so good that he finally knows he is god, hes not
reborn again. His soul just mixes into god and he
is not a separate being anymore. What that really
means is that they are working toward the time when
they will no longer exist!
The Buddhist goal is to reach the point at
which they are totally detached from greed, hatred, and cares. Buddha was so
turned against all the idolatry in Hinduism that he never taught that there is a
god! But even Buddhists needed something to worship, so they made Buddha
their god, and they bow down to the floor to worship him!
Islam
We hear a lot about the religion of Islam in the news. In order to under-
stand it better, we need to look at its history. A man by the name of Mohammad
claimed that the angel Gabriel appeared to him and told him he was to start a
new religion. This was about 600 years after Jesus lived and started His Family.
In his hometown of
Mecca, Mohammed preached
a mixture of his own thinking
and some of the Old Testament
laws and even a little of the
New Testament, but he wasnt
making many followers. So
he decided that the sword
was the best way to build the
new religion. From the time he
started killing in the name of
allah, he grew in power. He
took over towns and then countries, killing everyone who didnt convert to Islam.
In the news these days, the claim is often made that Islam is a peaceful religion,
but its book the Koran says very clearly not only that infidels [those who
dont become Muslims] are to be killed, but also those who would leave Islam. In
70
Muslim countries, when a person becomes a Chris-
tian, his life is in great danger. The flag that represents
Islam even today often shows crossed swords, so it is
not a religion of peace!
The holy place for Muslims is the Kaaba [a
black stone building] in Mecca, where it is required that
pilgrimages be made each year. Tradition teaches at
least three different stories of its background: (1) it fell from heaven and is like the
House in Heaven; (2) Adam built it; (3) Abraham and Ishmael [Arabs descended
from Ishmael] built it. History says that it was a place of pagan worship until Moham-
mad conquered the city of Mecca and claimed it for allah.
Islam is not simply a religion; it is the government, the courts, the law for
family, business, education it is the total life for its followers. The law of the
Koran is called Sharia, and the belief of Muslim leadership is that Islam
must take over the entire world, and that Sharia must become the law ev-
erywhere. Sadly, even children are taught in the schools that to die as a suicide
bomber in the name of allah is the best thing anyone can do.
The Koran teaches that those who are disobedient should be beaten, and
often people die from the beatings. It also says that it is good to lie if that will
help to spread Islam. In countries where the religion is in strict control, women
have to wear clothes that cover their whole bodies, faces and all. Usually girls
are not allowed to go to school, and if they get into any trouble they can be beat-
en or stoned to death.
The middle East and many countries of Africa are under the power of
Muslims. Their goal is to take over Europe and America, and to make everybody
become Muslims and to live under their Sharia law. We must pray that our gov-
ernment leaders wont be blind to what they are doing.
Its so important, Laura and Anthony,
that we study Gods word so carefully, and
that we believe in God and Jesus so deeply
that if someone said, Either you give up
Jesus and be a Muslim, or we will kill you,
that we would count the cost and be willing
to die for God. We pray that such a terri-
ble thing will never happen, but we have to
grow strong now, to fight off Satans temp-
tations, and to live and even die for God.
And we must be working as Christians
to spread Jesus Gospel so that even
Muslims will learn that God is love.
71
Anthony, if someone gave you a statue of one of the Hindu gods, would
you fix a special place for it and take special care of it?
I dont want one of their idols, Daddy!
And I wouldnt either, Laura piped up. How can they worship something
and pray to something for help that cant even do anything to help itself?
The main reason, Honey, is that is what theyve been taught all their lives!
Thats why its so important that your mother and I be very sure that what were
teaching you kids is exactly what God says in His Book, because youll probably
stay with whatever we teach you, if we do a good enough job of it.
But, theres one more kind of god that we need to talk about before we
leave this subject of idols and false religions. Im sure youd never worship an
idol, but did you know that we can make our own gods and idols out of any-
thing? Without even realizing it, people do that!
Have you ever heard anyone say, So-and-so just worships money!?
Some people spend all of their time and energy and thought on
money they never have enough, and some would do even
very wrong and evil things, just to get their hands on more mon-
ey. in 1 Timothy 6:10, the apostle Paul warned the young man,
Timothy, ... the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for
which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness,
and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
Things are gods to lots of people. Maybe its an
X-Box or some other kind of machine a boy has r-e-a-l-l-y
wanted, so he saved up his money and spent a lot of his
time just dreaming of the day when he would have his very
own well, he might still call it an X-Box but in his heart
it may be more important than God. If he thinks about it
more and spends more money on it and would rather be
playing games on it than anything else, then he may al-
ready have an X-Box idol in his heart! Had you thought
about that???
Or, when you get a
little older and have to have
a car, watch out that you
dont make a god out of it!
So, whats the rule, kids? Be always on
guard so that nothing in this world is as important
to you as God is! Jesus even said that if you love
Mother and me more than you love God, you are not worthy of having Gods love
(Matthew 10:37).
72
73
Do We Sometimes Make Idols?
74
Satans Tricks
Daddy was laughing as he sat down with Mother
and Laura and Anthony for their evening Bible study.
Whats funny?
Something I saw today. You know weve talked
about the idols that people make and worship. Well,
in Hinduism, many people have a little place of special
worship in their homes. They have a shelf thats sort
of an altar of worship, and they put their idol on it. Then
they may offer flowers or something else to the idol.
Well, I saw one Ganesh, the elephant god of pros-
perity that they pray to for money and success in
a shop and picked it up to look a little closer. Do you
know what was printed on the bottom of that god?
Made in China!!! Can you imagine worshiping a
god that was made in a factory in China?
But, really, its not funny its sad that sincere
people can be that deceived by Satan.
I wouldnt do that, Daddy, Laura said.
No, but Satan has lots of ways to trick us when we may not be watching
closely what hes doing. Weve taught you about the true God, and so you know
that Hes the only one we can worship. But tonight we want to talk about some
other tricky ways Satan tries to get us off-track.
What are some of the things weve said people in our world do that satan likes?
Bullying kids, Anthony suggested.
Laura added, Cheating and lying.
The really bad people murder and steal, Mother suggested.
Youre right. All of those things are common in our world, because lots of
the people are following Satans lead. But you wouldnt do those things, would
you, Anthony?
Memory Verse: Philippians 4:8,9: Finally, brethren, whatever things are
true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever
things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good
report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy med-
itate on these things. The things which you learned and received and
heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.
No, sir, I wouldnt.
So for people like you who want to be good, Satan has a very different bag
of tricks. Do you know what some of those tricks might be?
To argue with you and Mother, and to disobey? Laura asked.
Yes, he uses those things. Thats why were always teaching you to have
respect for authority for God, for government, for teachers, for us as your
parents. But therere other ways Satan tricks all of us some-
times: he uses temptations to take up our time and thought
and money on things that arent wrong, in themselves. But
they become wrong the way he uses them. Let me show
you:
Anthony, do you have a video game?
Yes, sir.
Does Mother limit the time you can play each week?
Yes, sir.
Why do you think she does that? Theres nothing
wrong with the game; youre not hurting anybody when you play it. Why cant
you just play any time you want to, and for as long as you would do it?
Um-m-m... Maybe Id just play all day... because Im always sad when the
times up and I have to stop.
But why would Mother not want you to play a game all day? and then you
might get up tomorrow and start all over again, and the next day! Whats wrong
with that, if youre having fun?
Well, you said I have work Im supposed to do, so I cant play all the time.
Thats right, son; were not in this world just to use all our time playing
games and having fun. All of us have to learn to carry our share of the work load.
Do you remember that after God had created Adam and Eve and had put them in
the Garden of Eden even before they had sinned by listening to Satan the
Bible says, Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of
Eden to tend and keep it (Genesis 2:15). So they had work to do responsi-
bilities! What does that word mean, Laura?
Things we are supposed to do.
So, what do you do now, Anthony, instead of playing games all day?
I keep my things picked up in my room, and when I bring something to the
den or somewhere else, Im not supposed to leave a trail of stuff. After dinner, were
supposed to take our dishes to the kitchen and rinse them. When you work in the
yard, you tell me to come too so I can learn how to cut grass and pull weeds. And,
theres school and homework!
75
Laura, what jobs do you have?
To keep my room clean too, and help Mother with the dusting and vacuum-
ing. I like to help make cookies so I can learn to cook. I help set the table for din-
ner, and unload the dishwasher. And sometimes I help fold clothes from the dryer.
OK, now lets think of some fun things to do and decide whether or not
theyre good for us. Ill start with the first one: Play ball. Tell me some good
things that come from playing ball.
Well... its good to learn how to follow rules, and to get to be a winner at
running and playing.
And the exercise is good for our bodies. So its good to learn rules and to
be a skillful player and to get exercise. How would Satan use playing ball as one
of his tricks?
Sometimes people get mad when they dont win.
And if all I did was play ball, I couldnt do my work,
Laura added.
Well, how about reading? Can Satan use that as one of
his tricks?
Um-m-m! Daddy you hit on my temptation! Laura
laughed. I could read all the time! Isnt that good?
Yes, therere some useful things about reading. We
learn from what others have learned and have written, so read-
ing can be a very valuable use of time. You have to read a lot
to do your school work, dont you?
And even when the kids were babies, I started reading to them, Moth-
er spoke up. Some of our best family times have been when we read special
books together. I treasure those times.
And, just like tonight our family Bible study is reading time, so thats
really important. But would it be good for anybody to just sit and read all day?
No.... Theres more to life than just books.
Thats what we have to remember: that we need to fill our days with many
good things, and not let Satan pull any of his tricks on us. Lots of people now
spend so much of their time watching TV or playing computer games or texting
their friends or reading or playing sports or checking out Facebook or Youtube or
a dozen and one other things things that are not wrong, themselves but sa-
tan makes them wrong for us when he gradually gets us in the habit of spending
hours and hours on those things.
Were humans. We live in bodies. We need to rest, dont we? So God
made day and night, so that it would just be natural to curl up and go to sleep
76
when it gets dark. You know if you dont get enough rest, youre grumpy! But
doctors say getting enough rest is important for the health of our bodies and even
our minds. I read the other day that in Alaska and places where it never gets
really dark in the summer months, people have more problems with depression
and there are even more people who kill themselves because of depression! So
God knew what He was doing when He gave us time to rest.
We need time to relax and have some fun too. Thats good for our
health. Proverbs 17:22 explains, A merry heart
does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit
dries the bones. When you think about some of
the really strange looking animals God made, you
just have to laugh! God must have a sense of humor,
and He wants us to laugh and have fun, because
even thats good for us.
We need exercise, if we want to stay healthy.
Too many kids now just want to sit around and read or watch TV or play computer
games, and eat! And so they get fat because theyre not running and exercising.
Some of those kids will develop diabetes and joint damage because of the way
theyre treating their bodies. Thats why work is good for us, because it gets us up
out of our chairs and away from the refrigerator, and makes us use our muscles!
Now, in ages past, people walked to wherever they needed to go, they had to dig
the ground to grow food, they had to carry heavy things on their backs from one
place to another so there was hard work involved in just living. Things have
changed so much now. We think of all the advantages we have, and what a wealth
of tools and helpful marvels we have! And we do have a lot to be thankful for
but satan can turn those good things into problems for us if we let him.
A good rule to remember is Moderation in all things. Laura, do you know
what moderation means?
Not really....
Mother?
It means moderate sort of middle of the road in everything. Not to
play all the time, or eat all the time, or be funny all the time! Or even to work all the
time! It just means to make some time for everything and to have a balanced life.
Thats a good explanation. Does that make sense to you kids?
Yes,sir, it does.
So God wants us to work some and play some and study some and rest
some and most of all He wants us to make time for Him every day. In fact,
God wants to be in our minds all through the day. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says,
Pray without ceasing.
77
And Philippians 4:6-9 describes the way we should think: Be anxious for
nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let
your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses
all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble,
whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely,
whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything
praiseworthy meditate on these things. The things which you learned and re-
ceived and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.
Now lets see if we can understand what the apostle Paul was telling us
God wants us to do:
1. Be anxious for nothing.
with prayer
and supplication [with earnest hearts]
and thanksgiving
make requests to God.
2. The result? Gods peace will guard our hearts and minds through Jesus.
3. We are to meditate [think deeply about] on these things:
true things no deceit or lies in our thinking
noble things high ideals
just things fair things and right things
pure things no evil or sin in our thinking
lovely things happy, positive things
of good report reputation for rightness
things of virtue high standards
things that are praiseworthy examples we can follow
4. If we build our thinking and our lives on these things,
Gods peace will be with us.

78
1. Satan wants people to worship __________ instead of God.
2. He wants people to do ________ things like stealing and killing.
3. If people want to be good, he fools them with his bag of ________.
4. How does Satan make good things into something that is wrong?
5. Is it wrong to spend hours and hours and hours every day on games?
6. What does in moderation mean?
7. How is playing sports good for us?
8. How are we healthier when we exercise and are happy?
9. What does it mean to have responsibilities?
10. If we are to have a good, balanced life, Who must be a part of every day?
Lets Look Back...
Lesson One: Who Is satan?
Some people today think there is no such being as satan: We, as hu-
mans, just do some things that are wrong. Satan is a spirit being so we cant
see him with our eyes, but Gods word tells us that he is real. Hes described as
... a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8). He was created
when God created all the angel host, but he wanted to be as great as God and
so he made war with the Michael and the good angels. Revelation 12:7-9 says
that he was thrown out of Heaven, and that he is now at war with Gods people
on the earth.
In the Bible we read of many battles people have had with Satan: Adam
and Eve; Job; Peter; Judas; and even Jesus. Jesus taught us how to defend
ourselves against Datans attacks: with Gods Word! Thats why its so important
that we study the Bible and know the right way to live.
Satan uses many weapons in his war with us: lying, deceit, discourage-
ment from problems. If we refuse to listen to Satan, and listen instead to what
God says to us in His Word, He will use all of Satans challenges to make us
stronger for the right. He has purpose for our lives in this world.
Lesson Two: How Satan Wrecks the World
Before the flood of Noahs time, the Bible says that Satan had so wrecked
the world that everybody did only evil things all the time only Noah and his
family still loved God.
What were some of the terrible things people did? [Encourage students to
give answers.] fighting, killing, lying, stealing, cheating, cursing, immodesty and
lust, immorality, idolatry...
Humans were created in a likeness of God. We can think and act; we
have consciences. [What is a conscience?] Within ourselves, we know that
some things are right and we feel good about doing them. We know that some
things are wrong, and we feel guilty when we do those things. Our lives must be
pure, and we must learn to be passionate about living for Jesus.
It is important that Christians be with Christians, so that we can help each
other to be strong against Satan. Christians need to marry Christians so that
they can have good homes and raise their children to be Christians. That way,
we can be ready when Jesus comes back to take His Family to Heaven.
79
Into Gods World.....Lesson 13
Lesson Three: What Has Jesus Done for US?
We know that when God created the world, everything was perfect but
now it is a dangerous place because sin destroyed the perfection. There are
natural disasters, like storms and earthquakes that happen everywhere.
People have been ruined too, because satan has lied and deceived almost
everyone. He is always trying to trip us up and to get us to live like the people
around us. It makes him happy to see trouble-makers having fights, ruining their
lives with drugs, and cheating and lying.
But Jesus has done everything to help those who love Him. He made
the family fathers and mothers to teach their children in the right way; and He
made His spiritual Family, the church, so that Christians can help each other to
be strong and to live faithfully all their lives. Jesus loves His church so much that
He died on the cross to save us. He taught His disciples to go into all the world
and to preach the Gospel to everyone. Since we are His disciples now, that
should be our purpose every day to live as pure examples of Christianity, and
to make opportunities to talk to others about what Jesus has done for us. We
who know Christ are not to focus on the latest fashions and fancy foods to eat
and smart things to have; our reason for being in the world is to help people see
Jesus living in us.
Lesson Four: God and Satan at War!
The church of Christ is Gods Family in the world. The church is carrying
on the war with Satan. You might ask: If there is the danger that a Christian will
become weak or will let Satan tempt him to leave Christ, why does God leave us
in this dangerous world? Why doesnt He just take us to heaven when we are
baptized, and then all of us will be saved, and nobody will lose the war?!
But think about that: Who is teaching you how to be a Christian? Your
parents? Are they Christians? Your Bible class teacher? Is he/she a Christian?
How would you learn if there was no one to teach you? And if the first ones who
obeyed the Gospel had been taken to Heaven right then who would have
been left in the world to have brought the truth and the Bible on down through the
centuries to us???
So we HEAR the Gospel, we BELIEVE that Jesus is Gods Son, we
REPENT we die to sin as we turn away from Satans temptations, we CON-
FESS our faith that Jesus is Gods Son, we are BAPTIZED into Christ buried
in water and raised up out of the watery grave, resurrected to new spiritual
life, becoming new babies in His Family. What we do to be born into the family
pictures what Jesus did for us: He DIED for our sins, He was BURIED in the
grave, and then He was RESURRECTED. Teaching this is our purpose in life.
80
Lesson Five: Gods Circle of Salvation
Fifth graders often are beginning to wonder if they would go to Heaven if
they died; to wonder if it is time for them to obey the Gospel. Most children at
that age are not mature enough in their thinking to have been able to read the
Bible for themselves and to figure out the rights and wrongs and the remedy for
sin. Children are not perfect, but God does not count their errors against them
until they are old enough to be counted as responsible. For our children, we
kept emphasizing that the best way to judge accountability is the persons own
attitude: if the first concern is for what the parents will think, rather than how God
will judge some wrong in their behavior, they are not yet ready for the one-to-one
relationship with God. They would still be counted as innocent, I believe.
But when they do obey the Gospel, they are born into Gods Family, and
they have a new life to live. They need to be made aware that Satan will be
working really hard to tempt them to leave the faith because hes angry that an-
other soul belongs to God. Satan realizes they are just spiritual babies, and dont
know much about defending themselves. They need the help of their physical
family and their spiritual family to grow strong.
The new life requires growth and changes. We learn about these in the
Bible. We learn to be loving and patient, to go the second mile, to turn the oth-
er cheek rather than to give in to anger when someone mistreats us. We learn
that we are to be lights of Jesus in the world What Would Jesus Do? should
be our guide always. Life, now, has great purity and spiritual purpose.
Lesson Six: Gods Perfect Plan satans Work to Wreck It.
Gods book the Bible is not a history book about people who lived
centuries ago. Yes, it does tell us true accounts of people and ages past, but it is
far more than a history. It is God speaking to us today, as our Heavenly Father,
telling us what to do to have the best and safest life possible in this broken world;
and telling us what not to do, to protect us from making terrible mistakes.
The Bible was written by about 40 men, over a period of more than 1600
years! Most of them never knew any of the other writers, and most of them never
got to read what the others wrote! Yet, the message is one: it begins with the
creation in the Garden of Eden the original Paradise and ends with the
eternal Paradise the new Heaven and Earth that Jesus has gone to make
ready for His Family.
All through the Bible are prophecies statements about things that would
happen many years down the way and all of them came true, which proves
that God inspired the men in what they wrote. We can follow Gods perfect plan
to be born into His church, to live purposely and in purity every day for Him, and
we can look forward to living with all the saved people eternally.
81
Lesson Seven: That Special Family
What is Gods special Family called? [body bride church of Christ]
Where did it begin? [Jerusalem]
When did it begin? [the Day of Pentecost, approximately AD 33]
Who is its Head? [Christ]
Christians are called sheep and the men who lead the church are called
shepherds. That means they take care of the Christians, teaching them, lead-
ing the church in its work. They are helped in that work by men who are called
deacons which means servants in the original language. What do servants
do?
There are also teachers and preachers evangelists in the church.
In the New Testament, God has described the kind of men who are to lead
the church, both elders and deacons. He has shown how we are to come to-
gether on Sunday to worship Him as a body of people. We are to sing hymns of
praise to God, to take the Lords Supper in remembrance of Jesus death to save
us from our sins, we are to study the Bible, we are to pray, and we are to give of
our money to help pay for the work the church is in the world to do. God leaves
us in the world but we are to live so differently from the broken world around
us that people will be able to see Christ in us. That purity is our purpose.
Lesson Eight: The Fathers Care for the Family
Jesus promised, I will not leave you orphans. I will come to you.
Since creation, there have been three ages in the way God has worked
with humans. The first was the Patriarchal Age; the second was the Mosaic Age;
the third is the Christian Age.
Patriarch means fathers. During that age [about 2500 years] there were
no churches or any organization of people. God talked to the fathers of faithful
households [such as Noah and Abraham] and gave them guidance. There was
no Bible for them to read.
Through Moses God gave what we call the Law of Moses to the people
called Israelites. They were a chosen nation, because God planned for Jesus to
be born to them.
Jesus died to begin the last chosen nation, Christians who make up
the church. We see God working through miracles [parting the Red Sea, Jesus
raising the dead] and also through His providential interweaving of people, pow-
ers, things, to bring about what He wanted: Jonathan, Sennacherib, Elisha, Paul.
After the Scriptures were completed, the miraculous age ended because now we
can prove all things through Gods written word.
82
Lesson Nine: The Wonderful Providence of God
Miracles were powerful proofs that a prophet or a teacher was actually
from God. That was their purpose. The Scriptures say that the more excellent
way would be through the coming of THAT [not HE] which is perfect (1 Corinthi-
ans 13). The only two perfects are Jesus and the Bible. Jesus is He; the Bible
is that, a thing, not a person. So when the Bible was completed with the Rev-
elation of Jesus to John, the message from God was finished and there was no
more the need for proving that a preacher was from God. Now we can know by
comparing his message to Gods word. This is the safest way for our souls. A
magician or a fake healer can deceive people, but if his message is tested by
Scripture, his error will be clear for all to see.
So, today, God works powerfully but not miraculously, through anything
and everything He needs to use to bring about His will. Reggie, Vertannes, the
doctor in Karachi are examples of Gods providential care for those who are look-
ing for Him. With the same power, He works in the lives of Christians to do for
them what they cannot do for themselves. Hebrews 1:14 and 13:2 are His bind-
ing promises. Knowing Gods providential work, we turn to Him in fervent prayer
always, in all things.
Lesson Ten: Satans Further Attacks
Satan has been the enemy of Gods people from the beginning, but he
really tried to destroy Gods plan to save us by destroying the Baby Jesus. When
he failed in that, he hoped he could tempt the man Jesus to worship him instead of
God. Finally, Satan must have thought he had won the war when Judas betrayed
Jesus, the Jewish leaders condemned Him, and Pilate finally allowed His crucifix-
ion. But then Jesus came out of the tomb, alive, and the victor over death. By His
resurrection, He promises a resurrection for all of us, so Satan was badly defeated.
But then, when Jesus began His church, the devil sneakily planned a
new way to fight. He couldnt keep Jesus from calling people to obey Him, to be
baptized into His church, and to live by the Bible. But Satan could start counter-
feit churches! Do you know what counterfeit means? Tell me about a counterfeit
dollar.... It may look like the real thing to people who are not trained to recognize
the genuine bill, but a counterfeit thing is worthless. Counterfeit churches look
like churches groups of religious people but they wear different names and
worship different ways and teach different ways of being saved and all kinds of
other doctrines. Jesus began only one family, and He says in Ephesians 5:26,27
that He is coming back for His one bride!
We, as part of His bride, have to live pure lives, purposeful lives, pas-
sionate about teaching others so they can be saved to and live prayerfully under
Gods providential care. What a life!
83
Lesson Eleven: Other gods and Other Religions
Almost from the beginning of Satans war with God, hes been getting peo-
ple to worship idols and things instead of God. He told Eve that she would be
like God if she ate the forbidden fruit.
There are many religions in the world today, and one of the lies the devil
is still getting people to believe is that humans can become like God. So stat-
ues are made of Buddha and of men in the Hindu religion who became gods.
People bow down to them, their faces to the ground, and worship them.
In the Bible, God ridiculed humans who would cut down a tree, burn part
of it to warm themselves, burn part of it to cook their food, and then carve a god
from the rest of the tree. He showed how stupid they were to fall down before
an image they had carved with their hands an image that could not move or
speak or even help itself in any way and to pray to it for their needs.
To us, knowing the Bible and what it teaches us about God, we cant imag-
ine that anyone in this day and age would actually worship a lifeless stone. Mil-
lions in the world follow these religions Satan has made, to confuse people and
to keep them from turning to the true God.
But even though we know the truth about God, still we can be fooled by
Satan. How? By letting anyone or anything be more important to us than God.
We have to be careful in this, because if I ask you, Who do you love most? you
would probably quickly say, God! But we show who is most important to us by
our actions. If we have hours to devote to video games and no real interest in
letting God talk to us through the Bible, who or what is more important to us? If
wed choose to go to a ball game instead of to Bible class or to do some work in
the church, that tells us what is more important to us. Our passion must be for
God, not for entertainment or things in this world.
Lesson Twelve: Satans Tricks
Satan knows that many people dont want to do bad things. You wouldnt
kill anybody or rob a bank. So if he cant get us to do really bad things, hes sat-
isfied if he can just keep us from putting God first in our lives. So he zeroes in on
every innocent distraction possible. Theres nothing wrong with reading a good
book, or playing video games, or competing in sports, or a thousand-and-one
other things. But if Satan can fill our days with thinking about all the fun things
so that there is no real time left to give to God, he wins again! Satan is a tricky
fellow, and we have to be on guard all the time, or hell find a way to trip us up.
Our protection from him is to be sure that God is truly the most important in
our lives; that we sincerely pray to Him, thankful for all He does every day, talking
about Him to others, trusting Him to keep His promises, with peace in our hearts.
84
87
Published by World Evangelism Publications
[P.O. Box 72, Winona, MS 38967, USA]
for Churches of Christ

Quarter Three Student Book

Încărcat de

Informații document

Drepturi de autor

Formate disponibile

Partajați acest document

Partajați sau inserați document

Opțiuni de partajare

Vi se pare util acest document?

Este necorespunzător acest conținut?

Drepturi de autor:

Formate disponibile

Quarter Three Student Book

Încărcat de

Drepturi de autor:

Formate disponibile

The Kingdom and Its Enemies

Grade 5, Quarter 3, Student Book

S-ar putea să vă placă și