Gospel Essentials Class Notes

July 22, 2001

Click Here to Listen to this class:  Part 1 of 1 (53 minutes)

New Series: 

The Call at Evening.

Lesson #1:  The Work of Christ

Study to acquire truth.  Let it stand to ones reason.

What is the destiny of man’s spirit?

What is the true starting point?  Is it what’s commonly heard that ‘all who don’t enter heaven swelter in hell?’

John 14:2 In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

Not necessarily where Christ dwells.

Judgment day:

Two divisions:

Matthew 25:35 Then shall the king say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

 Doesn’t this just mean that we’ll simply enter heaven?

Can’t say.  Paul saw at least three levels of heaven?

II Corinthians 12:2 I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell; God knoweth;) such a one caught up to the third heaven.

Judged for works:

I Corinthians 15:23 But every man in his own order; Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.

1. Establish what the spirit is

How can all be raised to own order if vast majority are in hell?

Mark 9:40 Therefore, if thy hand offend thee, cut it off; or if thy brother offend thee and confess not and forsake not, he shall be cut off. It is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands, to go into hell.

(Matt 13:41) Matthew 13:42 For in that day, before the Son of Man shall come, he shall send forth his angels and messengers of heaven.
43 And they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity, and shall cast them out among the wicked; and there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

How do all these people get the rewards of being raised to ones own order?

Put the map together properly.  Grab Texas because it seems so obvious, wanted to use it first, may try to put it in wrong spot.

May have picked out the Texases.

All centers around two things:  the mission of Christ, and the mission of the Devil.

Bible gives this picture:

Luke 11:22 When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace; 23 But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armor wherein he trusted and divideth his goods.

This verse above gives a hint of the mission of Christ.

Why was Christ manifested?

I John 3:8 He that continueth in sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.

Answer = ‘To destroy the works of the devil.’

What is the work of the Devil that Christ came to destroy?

We all agree that sin is one of the works of the devil.

What does sin cause?

James 1:15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin; and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

Answer=death

Who has the power over death?

Hebrews 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

Answer=’The Devil.’

(Also)

We learn from Hebrews that Christ took on flesh like and become subject to death to destroy the works of the one who had power over death.

Point:  Some may have always blamed God for death.  Answer:  God is the great life-giver, the builder, not the destroyer.

How many will the Devil bring death upon?

Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned;

Answer=’All men’

But what will Christ do to all men?

I Corinthians 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

Answer = ‘Make them alive!’

Clarify, now, that death is two-fold:  First spiritual, that is a separation from God; second physical, a separation of the body and spirit.  These two constitute the death that Satan brought to mankind, so these cover the death that Christ undertook to overcome.

Now, we learn from 2 Timothy 2:26 that those who do not accept the teachings of Christ are taken captive by Satan.  We also learn from Psalms 9:17 and 55:15 that those captives of Satan are taken down to hell.

Psalms 9:17 The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.

Psalms 55:15 Let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into hell; for wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them.

Now, even Satan sees some success from the first part of the next verse:

Isaiah 5:14 Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure; and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it.

Now, what is another name for ‘Hell,’ as used in the Bible?

Isaiah 24:17 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.

Isaiah 24:22 And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.

Answer = ‘The Pit.’

Other scriptures that use the same:

Job 33:18 He keepeth back his soul from the pit, and his life from perishing by the sword.

Job 33:24 Then he is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit; I have found a ransom.

Psalms 28:1 Unto thee will I cry, O Lord, my rock; be not silent to me; lest, if thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit.

Now, what does all of Isaiah 24:22 say?

Isaiah 24:22 And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.

Answer= ‘they shall be visited’

Now it has been established that:

1.        Devil brought sin into the world and through sin gained power over death;

2.        Through sin and death, the souls of multitudes are confined in the hell, the pit, or the prison.

These are the works of the Devil

Therefore, Christ came to destroy sin, death, and the resultant captivity of souls.

Now what does 1 Timothy 4:10 offer?

I Timothy 4:10 For therefore we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, specially of those that believe.

Is this a ‘Texas’ misfit?  If a lot of people are already damned to hell, how is Christ going to be the savior of all men?

Read once more, Isaiah 24:22

Isaiah 24:22 And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.

Does this mean they take ‘visitors’ in hell?

Now, remember the opening scripture that the strong man’s goods are safe until a stronger one comes?

Who will be this strange visitor in hell?  What work will he accomplish?  Isn’t this referring to Satan?

Re-establish that all we’ve discussed is in the Bible and agreed.

What, then, happens to the prisoners?

Zechariah 9:11 As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water.

Answer= ‘Establishes that prisoners will leave the pit.’

What happens when the stronger man comes?

Isaiah 61:1 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;

Isaiah 49:9 That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Show yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places.

Isaiah 42:7 To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.

What is being taught, but that Satan can’t keep the people in hell, even after he gets them there.  This is teaching what happens when one ‘stronger that he’ comes.

Who is going to do all this?  How is this going to be brought about after Satan gets them in Hell?

Ephesians 4:9 (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?

I Peter 3:18 For Christ also once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit, that he might bring us to God.

I Peter 3:19 For which cause also, he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;

I Peter 3:20 Some of whom were disobedient in the days of Noah, while the long-suffering of God waited, while the ark was preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. 

Remember, Jesus said he would preach ‘deliverance to the captives.’

Luke 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, he hath sent me to heal the broken- hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and the recovering of sight to the blind; to set at liberty them that are bruised;

I Peter 4:6 Because of this, is the gospel preached to them who are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live in the spirit according to the will of God.

The strong among the mighty has come.  He that liveth and was dead, but is alive forevermore, and has the keys of death and hell, will open the prison house and say to the prisoners, ‘Go Forth.’  Truly this was a mission worthy of the Son of God.

This is the mission of Christ.

Many carry hardness, believing God is trying to damn humanity instead of save them.  How could we be so blind?

We only criticized what we thought was Christ’s work; what the religious world told you was Christ’s work.  Why didn’t we see it that way?  The world had been putting the map together wrong.