Hidden Treasures
Introduction:
A. Thursday Teresa and I took our grandchildren out
treasure hunting.
1. Our grandaughter had gotten a metal detector,
and she wanted to use it.
2. We had to do a little digging but we found all
kinds of treasures (a rusty 2' bolt, an old horse
stirup, and a bottle).
3. To a 9 and 4 year old those are great treasures.
B. There are great treasures to be found in God's word if
we are willing to do a little digging, and it will help us..
1. See more fully the meaning of what God is telling us.
2. Refute false teaching.
3. Develope greater faith.
I. Seeing more clearly the meaning of what God is telling us.
A. God's word is not difficult to understand, but there are
some things we need to work at to see clearly.
1. It kind of reminds me of when Chasity, our oldest
daughter got her glasses.
a. When she got them she said..."you can actually see
the individual blades of grass."
b. She could see the grass even before she had glasses,
but after she got them she could see more clearly.
2. God wants us to put forth the effort.
a. II Timothy 2:15.
b. I Peter 2:2.
c. I Timothy 4:15-16.
B. If we put forth the effort we can see the beauty of God's word.
1. I John 1:7
a. Even on the surface it is beautiful..the blood of Christ
cleanses us from our sins.
b. Cleanseth (present tense) = progressive action...keeps
on cleansing.
c. If we walk in the light..the blood of Jesus keeps on
cleansing us.
2. I have had many people ask..what if I sin after I have
obeyed the gospel?
a. They are afraid that if they sin after they obey the
gospel that they will be lost.
b. But, the blood of Christ doesn't just cleanse us from
past sin, it keeps on cleansing us...if
c. That does not mean that we can go out and willfully
sin, and His blood will cleanse us, for those who have
baptized into Christ's death have died to sin, and must
not let sin reign in their mortal bodies (Romans 6:1-12).
d. If we are striving to walk in the light His blood will
continue to forgive us.
e. What a wonderful promise!
II. Help us refute false teaching.
A. John was refuting false teaching in I John.
1. Gnosticism.
a. Flesh is sinful, and there is nothing one can do about
it, but as long as you ascend to a higher plane it does
not matter.
b. Not only is that false, but it leads to 2 damnable ideas:
1) You can sin, and it does not matter (I John 1:9).
2) Jesus could not have really been in the flesh, for
He would have been guilty of sin.
2. John's refutation of Jesus not being in the flesh - I John 1:1.
a. That which was from the beginning = Jesus (eternal).
b. Which we have heard = they had audibly heard Jesus.
c. Which we have seen = they had been with Jesus 3 years.
They had seen Him with their own eyes.
d. Which we have looked upon = to behold, look upon, view
attentively, contemplate. Berry's interlinear says "gazed
upon."
1) Have you ever had someone stare at you?
e. Our hands have handled.
f. By doing a little work we can really appreciate what
God is telling us. Not only did they see Jesus...they
examined Him closely with their eyes...He was real...
He was in the flesh..He was no apparition.
B. Other examples.
1. Baptism.
a. Most define it as sprinkling, pouring, or immersing.
b. Baptizo = immerse, plunge, dip, bury.
c. There are other words that mean sprinkle and pour,
and God did not choose them.
2. Mary was a perpetual virgin.
a. Matthew 1:25 = knew her not until she had brought
forth her first born son.
b. Mark 6:3 brother...= a brother (whether born of the
same two parents, or only of the same father or the
same mother).
c. There is no indication Joseph had a wife other than
Mary, and there is no reason to believe he did.
d. If James, Joses, Juda, and Simon were not his
brothers, but cousins, God could have used another
word which means cousin (Luke 1:36), but He did not.
e. From (Mt.1:25) it is clear that, after Jesus was born,
Joseph and Mary had a normal husband and wife
relationship, and several children were born to them.
3. Trinity of the Godhead.
a. There are those who deny there is a trinity in the
Godhead (i.e. Jehovah Witnesses).
b. Gen.1 (Elohim) = plural + 1:26 plural personal pronouns.
c. John 1:1 - Jehovah Witnesses translate differently.
They translate it "Word was a god" instead "Word was
God." They claim that is the way it should be translated
because there is no definite article. Not only is that not
true, but they do not do so themselves in 1:6,12,13,18.
III. Help us develop greater faith.
A. Hebrews 11:1.
1. By just reading this verse we see the importance of faith:
a. Faith is the very substance of what we hope for (home
in heaven, eternal life).
b. Faith is the evidence of things not seen. This chapter
goes on to describe great heroes of faith who believed
what God said w/o having seen what He promised (i.e.
Moses and the flood; Abraham and the promise land).
2. But, by doing a word study on this verse, we can see the
beauty of the faith God wants us to have.
a. Substance = foundation.
1) Faith is the very foundation of the things we hope for.
2) If it is the foundation, we need to make that foundation
as sure, and strong as we can. So we need to develop
that faith.
b. Evidence = proof.
1) God wants the faith we have about things we have not
seen to be based on proof.
2) How can we have proof about things that we have not
seen?
3) We can have proof of these things because of: the
examples we have in Hebrews 11, and throughout the
rest of the Bible; because of the logicalness of what
the Bible tells us about God, creation, etc.; and we
can have faith in things we have not seen because we
can see by the past actions of God that He cannot lie.
B. A little work can develop that type of faith.
1. Our faith can be strong when people try to attack our faith
by saying, "how do you explain the dinosaurs?"
a. God said He created all things (Genesis 1).
b. Job mentions animals that fit the description of dinosaurs
(Leviathan, Behomoth - Job 40 & 41).
c. They must have become extinct for one reason or
another, just like other animals have become extinct, and
continue to become extinct.
2. Our faith will be strong when people try to deny the Bible.
a. Because we have put forth the effort to see how it is what
it claims to be...the word of God (II Timothy 3:16).
b. We see how God named Cyrus by name, hundreds of
years before he was born (Isaiah 44:26-45:7), saying
that he would rebuild Jerusalem.
c. From these, and other proofs, we know that the Bible
could not have been written by men.
3. Because we have put forth the effort, we see God
unfolding His glorious plan of salvation.
a. We see how the temple was patterned after the church,
and heaven itself.
1) The holy place = church, where the N.T. priests
(christians) enter, and serve God daily in their lives.
2) Holy of holies = heaven, where Christ has gone, and
has made a way for us to follow.
b. We see how God said He would set up a kingdom in
the days of the Roman government (Daniel 2) = church.
Which...(Daniel 2:44):
1) Will never be destroyed.
2) Not be left to others.
3) Break in pieces other nations.
4) Stand forever.
Conclusion:
A. With a little effort we can uncover great treasures in God's word.
B. I hope this lesson will encourage you to put forth that effort.
C. The greatest treasure, however, to be found in God's word is
that God so loved the world (you and me), that He sent His Son
to die for us, that our sins can be forgiven.
D. If you haven't taken advantage of what God has done, or if
you have, but need help correcting something in your life..