Question:
If you are a Christian, beside praying and reading the Bible, how can you develop a better relationship with the Lord?

Answer:

John 13:34, 35 – The world will know we are the Lord’s disciples when we love one another.

Acts 2:42 encourages us to continue “in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.”

Hebrews 10:25 teaches us that we should be faithful to attend the meetings.  The Lord is honored in this, plus, we grow in the Lord when we fellowship with fellow believers.

Question:

If a parent is skeptical about your Christianity, what can I do to help them?

Answer:

1 Peter 3:1 – “Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the Word, they also may without the Word be won by the conversation of the wives.”  Even as a wife can influence her unsaved husband greatly by her works, a child can exhibit Christ to his/her parents by their actions.  Ephesians 6:1 tells children to obey their parents in the Lord.  It’s hard to have a good testimony before our parents if we disobey the Word by disobeying our parents.

Question:
How can we get restored if we start doing bad things and hanging out with bad friends?

Answer:
James 4:4 – “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.”

·         Get rid of those friends and look to the Lord for friends that want to follow Jesus.  You cannot help your unsaved friends if you are away from the Lord and need to be restored…so get away from them until you are restored and can minister Christ to them.

·         Repent and read the Bible.

·         Get close to the Lord and follow the leading of His Spirit instead of being led by bad friends.

·         We should not try to have things in common with the world, so they will be our friends.  We should be friendly, and show the Lord in our lives, but not be friends with the world.

·         We cannot do these things in our own strength, because Jesus said: “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, [they] are spirit, and [they] are life” (John 6:63). “For the love of Christ constraineth [empowers] us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: and that He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose again” (2 Corinthians 5:14, 15).

(Edited)

Question:
How do you know if demons are around you?

Answer:

 Sometimes the presence of demons is very obvious (Mark 5:2-15), but sometimes it can be very hard to detect (2 Corinthians 11:14).  Satan can appear as appealing and sly, trying to sway your judgment.  The best way to detect the presence of a demon would be to ask the person what they think of the Lord Jesus Christ.
2 John 1:7 – “For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.” 

Question:
Where is Satan now?

Answer:

Satan is here on the earth and in the sky: Ephesians 2:2  – “Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.”

He is powerful, but believers on Christ have the Spirit of God dwelling in them so they have the promise of 1 John 4:4 to enable to resist him: “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world.”

1 Peter 5:8 – “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.”

(Edited).

 

Question:

Would the devil experience the same pain and suffering in hell as the non-believer?

Answer:

No. The Lord tells us in Luke 12:47 that there are different degrees of suffering in hell: “And that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.” But the devil’s suffering will be far worse than any unbeliever’s torment could possibly be, because he has sinned longer for he has sinned since before God put our first parents, Adam and Eve, on the earth!

Though no one will be in hell until Christ comes to earth as Judge and the first two occupants in the Lake of Fire are the beast and the false prophet (Revelation 19:20), yet every unbeliever and the devil will be in hell for all eternity, as the Lord tells us: “into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched” (Mark 9:43-48).

The Scriptures tell us that all angels (including the devil—who is an angel), were created to serve God and His people (Matthew 4:10; Hebrews 1:14). Of the devil, who is called Satan, we are told that he was “the anointed cherub” (the archangel) from the time he was created (Ezekiel 28:14, 15). God created the angels before He created the earth (Job 38:4-7). But iniquity was found in Satan when he said: “‘I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.’ Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit” (Isaiah 14:14, 15). This is why hell was prepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41).

 

The devil in the form of a snake deceived our first mother, Eve, and sin came into the world and death by sin (Romans 5:12). Christ came into the world as a man in order to save human beings: “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; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage” (Hebrews 2:14, 15).

Although the devil is not now in hell (the Lake of fire), hell will be his final place of everlasting torment: “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever” (Revelation 20:10) (Edited).

Question:

What does the word Devil mean?

Answer:

Devil is a New Testament word that means “false accuser.”

 

The Greek word is diabolos Strong’s #1228. In the King James Version this word is translated “devil” 35 times, “false accuser” 2 times and “slanderer” 1 time with the total: 38 times.

 

The Greek Lexicon gives the meaning of diabolos to be:

1) prone to slander, slanderous, accusing falsely,

1a) a calumniator, false accuser, slanderer,

2) metaph. applied to a man who, by opposing the cause of God, may be said to act the part of the devil or to side with him

Other names for the devil are Lucifer, Satan, Beelzebub, Belial, Prince and Power of the air, Roaring Lion. God created Lucifer (morning star), but he fell because of his pride (read Isaiah 14:12-15), and by his fall he became Satan, Beelzebub, etc. (Edited).

Question:
Why didn’t God just tell Abraham where He wanted Abraham to go in Genesis 12:1?

Answer:
The Lord wanted Abraham to act in faith and to walk in faith, seeking His will daily.  If the Lord had told Abraham exactly where to go, it would have been possible for Abraham to reach his destination without crying out daily to the Lord.

Psalm 86:2,3 – “Preserve my soul; for I am holy: O Thou my God, save Thy servant that trusteth in Thee.  Be merciful unto me, O Lord: for I cry unto Thee daily.”

Question:

Why did God make people like Noah do things that made him seem so strange (building an ark when there was no rain)?

Answer:
The unsaved world never understands the ways and thoughts of a Christian.  They are foreign to them: 1 Corinthians 1:27 – “But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.” 1 Corinthians 2:14 – “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

God wanted Noah to trust Him, which he did—believing that what God asked him to do was for the best and this is what Noah did: “By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith” (Hebrews 11:7). What God told Noah to do (build an ark to the saving of his family) was not “strange” to even those who perished when the flood came!

 

God has the best for you, even though He has “appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that man [Jesus] whom He hath ordained; whereof He hath given assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised Him from the dead” (Acts 17:31). “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

“Flee [to Christ] from the wrath to come” (Matthew 3:7). “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2). “Time is short” (1 Corinthians 7:29). Tomorrow may be too late!

Question:

I really love this girl, but she doesn’t love me. What should I do?

Answer:
As a way to help answer this question, other questions were put to the young men: Why do you want a girlfriend?  Is it for companionship, to show off, or just to be able to say that you have a girlfriend? What should you look for in a girlfriend? 

Personality, sense of humor, beauty, Godliness? Lastly, the advice was given that you should draw closer to the Lord and accept His will for your life…even if it means you will never be married.

Genesis 2:18 – “And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.”

A few extra comments that were made:

·         A wife is to be a helpmeet (a helper in your life for the Lord)

·         Matrimony is ordained by God

·         Marriage is for better or worse (and there will be both in a marriage)

·         Marriage is one man married to one woman for life

·         Before marriage, participate in group activities to avoid possible problems created by being alone with the opposite sex

Question:

Who wrote the book of Revelation?

Answer:
John the Apostle wrote the book of Revelation.

Revelation 1:4 – “John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from Him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before His throne.”

We know this is not John the Baptist because he was killed during the earthly lifetime of the Lord Jesus.  Read Matthew 14:1-12 for the account of John the Baptist’s murder.

Question:

What is unconditional love?

Answer:

Compare Romans 3:24 with John 15:25.  The Greek word for ‘freely’ in Romans 3:24 is translated ‘without a cause’ in John 15:25.  That is a very good definition of unconditional love…without a cause.

Question:

Is the love of Jesus unconditional love?

Answer:

Yes, the love of Jesus is unconditional, undeserved, and unlimited.

Jeremiah 31:3 – “The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.”

 

Question:

Can you go to heaven if you got shot or injured, and right before you die you say, “God forgive me?”

Answer:

If you truly seek salvation through faith in Christ Jesus, you will be saved.  However, don’t wait because you may not get the opportunity if death comes quickly.

Luke 23:42 – “And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom.”   (Read the whole portion in Luke 23:32-43.)

2 Corinthians 6:2 – “(For He saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)”

Question:
If, as a Christian, you die after you have sinned, will you still go to heaven?

Answer:

Yes, if you are truly saved, you will go to be with the Lord when you die…even if it is immediately after you’ve committed a sin.

1 John 1:9 – “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Romans 8:38,39 – “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Question:
When you walk in faith, and if you are justified by faith, will your bond with God be tougher?

Answer:

As we walk with the Lord, the bond we have with Him becomes sweeter and more precious to us.  However, as we walk in fellowship with the Lord, the world will take notice and will persecute us, try to destroy our testimony, or try to compromise our testimony.

2 Timothy 3:12 – “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.”

Philippians 1:29 – “For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for His sake.”

John 15:18 – “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated Me before it hated you.”