Our relationship with God Our response to God and the responsibilities this brings

Outline What God demands of man Man Mortal / Immortal What the Bible means by Responsibility Responsibility and Resurrection from the dead Judgement Summarise Ladies and Gentlemen good evening to you all Over the last Month in the evening lectures held in this room, you have been considering various aspects of what the Bible teaches about God. As tonight is the last talk in this series, we want to think about the responsibilities that belief in God bring upon us. As we go along we will be making a lot of quotations. I make no apology for this, we need to prove what we say from the Bible I have put as many of the quotes as possible on slides. Also on the slides you will see additional quotes that we will not be going to tonight, but you can look at these at your leisure Tonight I want us to think think about what God demands of the believer, what our response should be to those demands and why we should obey His demands. You know many of the churches around us teach that man has an everlasting soul, and that it doesn’t really matter what we do in our lives. Because ultimately we all live for ever and will happily inhabit heaven however we use or misuse our lives. So why should we bother complying with Gods requests. So tonight we will begin by establishing what it is that God does demand of men. We will look at this subject of Mortality and Immortality, whether man really does live for ever, no matter how he acts in his life. We will look at what the Bible means by responsibility, and what will happen to us when we die. In particular I want to look at two aspects of this, what the Bible describes as the resurrection and judgement. And then at the end we’ll summarise our thoughts.

God’s Demand (1) John 17 3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. God demands of man that he have a knowledge of and belief in His existence and purpose in order to receive eternal life. <READ> We are not immortal Many churches teach that when we die our soul goes off to heaven. This is not Bible teaching, often spoken of from this platform Eternal life is dependant on our knowledge of God, on our knowing Him and His son Jesus

God’s Demand (2) Hebrew 11:6 6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Hebrews 11:1 1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. <READ> Several lessons here: To please God we must: Believe that He exists

Immortality is conditional 2 Timothy 1:9-10 John 3:16 John 6:40 Revelation 2:7 James 1:12 Romans 6:23 When born human beings do not possess immortality it is a quality brought within reach through Christ by the Gospel It will only be attained on condition of both believing & obeying the Divine commandments

Future bestowal of immortality(1) 1 John 2 25 And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life. 2 Timothy 1 1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus, You don’t promise something to someone, if you have already given it them Immortality is not now possessed, but is a matter of promise for future bestowal at Christ’s return

Future bestowal of immortality(2) Titus 1 2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began; Titus 3 7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. Immortality is a matter of hope You don’t hope for something that you already have

Future bestowal of immortality(3) Matthew 19 29 And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life. Luke 18:18 Luke 18:30 To be inherited when Christ comes You only inherit something that belongs to someone else, not something that is yours already

Future bestowal of immortality(4) Mathew 18:9 Jude 21 Galatians 6:8 To be entered into To be looked for To be reaped

How immortality will be received 1 Corinthians 15:51-54 2 Corinthians 5:1-4 Phillipians 3:20-21 Luke 20:35,36 Immortality of the Bible, is to be manifested as a result of a change of body at the resurrection

Responsibility Explained Mental Capacity Babes and the mentally deranged are incapable of understanding the gospel and therefore are not responsible for their actions Circumstances Some may be capable of understanding the gospel but have never heard it and so will not be judged by Christ

Knowledge – basis of Responsibility John 3:19 Luke 12:47-48 Luke 19:22-23 James 4:17 Romans 5:13 Knowledge of the Truth, whether believed or rejected, makes one responsible to God for actions done. Privilege brings responsibility. In similar way “earthly” parents hold children responsible for their behaviour once adequately instructed.

Israel – Nationally Responsible Amos 3 2 You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities Deuteronomy 28 15 But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee: Israel has been punished more severely for her sins than other nations. This has resulted from her special relationship to God. Being God’s people Israel was instructed in His Law and purpose. Greater enlightenment brought greater responsibility.

Christ’s Appearing Increased Responsibility John 15:22-24 John 9:39-41 Acts 17:30-31 Hebrews 2:1-3 Hebrews 10:28-29 Since Jesus Christ has been manifested, God has held men more responsible. This is because the glory of God shone more brightly from him than it ever had before from any other person.

Responsibility Determines who shall be raised from the dead Isaiah 26:14 Ephesians 2:1, 12 Ephesians 4:18 Psalm 49:20 Jeremiah 51:39, 57 Obadiah 16 Psalm 37:10,20,34,38 Psalm 104:35 Only those responsible will be present at the Judgement Seat. Those not responsible die and pass out of memory as if they had never been. They will not be resurrected

Judgement 2 Corinthians 5:10 Romans 14:10-12 John 5:27-29 2 Timothy 4:1 Time, place and judge have been appointed for judgement. There will be a Judgement Seat set up at Christ’s return and he has been appointed by God to execute the judgement

Only God Can Judge Responsibility Matthew 25 15 And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey. John 12:47-50 Only God knows the capacity and circumstances of each individual

Two Groups Responsible Who will appear before the Judgement Seat of Christ whether righteous or unrighteous Those not responsible Who will not appear before him to answer

Summary Philippians 3:20-21 1 John 3:2 Revelation 5:9-10 Luke 13:28 We are mortal Have a capacity to hear + understand the Gospel Hear the Gospel Responsible Resurrection Judgement Obedience of God’s commandments Baptism Immortality Philippians 3:20-21 1 John 3:2 Revelation 5:9-10 Luke 13:28 Daniel 12:2 Revelation 2:11