Aug. 28, 2022

What if the Bell Tolls?

 August 27 & 28, 2022

Primary Text:  Philippians 1:20-24                  

Previous Teaching:  What if the Wolf Knocks?

1)  Targets of the Enemy 

1 Peter 5:6-8:  Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.  Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.  Be self-controlled and alert.  Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

DQ 1) Who does the devil seek to devour?  Why?

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2)  Spiritual War
1 Peter 5:9:  Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. 

Ephesians 6:10-12:  Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.  Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

DQ 2) How do Christians “stand” against the devil’s schemes? 

DQ 3) Is the church in the United States standing firm against the spirits of   

           evil?

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This Week’s Teaching

1)  The Fear of Death

Hebrews 2:14-15:  Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death--that is, the devil--and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. 

DQ 1) What causes fear of death?

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2)  The Sting of Death

 1 Corinthians 15:54-57:  When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory."  "Where, O death, is your victory?  Where, O death, is your sting?"  The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.  But thanks be to God!  He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 

DQ 2) Why is death necessary? 

DQ 3) Why does death “sting”?

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3)  To Die is Gain

Philippians 1:20-24:  I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.  For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.  If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me.  Yet what shall I choose?  I do not know!  I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. 

DQ 4) What is to be gained by dying?  

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4)  The Judgment Seat

2 Corinthians 5:6-10:  Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord.  We live by faith, not by sight.  We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.  So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it.  For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. 

DQ 5) What will occur at the “judgment seat of Christ”?

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5)  Heavenly Citizenship
Philippians 3:20-21:  But our citizenship is in heaven.  And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. 

Revelation 21:4:  He will wipe every tear from their eyes.  There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.  

DQ 6) How will heaven be radically different from earth?  

DQ 7) What is your perception of the nature of heaven?

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