Question:
What happens to the body, spirit, and soul of the believer after death?

Answer:
For the believer, when we are absent from the body (dead), we are present with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:8; Luke 23:43).  That means that while the body is buried in the ground, our soul and spirit are not in the body, but are in the presence of the Lord.  This is a temporary state which will be done away with when the Lord Jesus comes for His Church.  At that point, our body, soul, and spirit will be re-joined (1 Thessalonians 4:14-17), and then we will forever be with the Lord…spirit, soul, and body.  Of course, our bodies will be changed into incorruptible bodies that are fit for our existence in Glory (1 Corinthians 15:53). 

Question:
Please break down the difference between soul and spirit.

Answer:

This is not easily done.  It can be confusing to try to determine the precise difference between the two.  In fact, it takes the Word of God to really divide between the soul and spirit (Hebrews 4:12).  It seems that a man’s soul defines the essence of who he is.  When God breathed into Adam’s nostrils, he became a living soul (Genesis 2:7).  The spirit is that part of us that allows us to know and have a relationship with the Lord.  While we have a spirit, we are not spirit…God is spirit (John 4:24).

Question:
Why did God give Adam and Eve only one chance, but gives us chance after chance?

Answer:

Were Adam and Eve born in sin? – No, they were innocent when God made them. After they sinned we are told that: “The LORD God said, ‘Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil’” (Genesis 3:22).

Were you born in sin? Yes, you and all the descendants of Adam and Even have been born in sin. David, led by the Spirit of God wrote: “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me” (Psalm 51:5).

The governmental hand of God moved when Adam and Eve sinned. In disobeying God, they died spiritually and would someday die physically. Just as the Lord said would happen when He gave them one commandment: “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die”(Genesis 2:16, 17).

Even then, the Lord covered their nakedness with the skins of animals (Genesis 3:21), which is a type of the Lord Jesus dying to take away our sins. After they sinned, the Lord’s mercy was extended to Adam and Eve, even as it is to us today.

“I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels” (Isaiah 61:10).

“Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:20, 21).

(Edited)

Question:
If what comes from the heart is evil, why does God want us to love Him with all our hearts?

Answer:

Of course, when the heart is spoken of here, it is not the literal blood-pumping organ that is being referred to.  It is the spirit and soul of a person…his intellectual and emotional being.  The heart of the believer is capable of knowing, loving, and obeying God.  When we delight ourselves in the Lord, He gives us the desires of our hearts (Psalm 37:4).  Does the Lord ask the unsaved man to love him with all his heart?  No.  Without knowing the love and forgiveness of Christ, one cannot and does not love the Lord.  If an unsaved person prays, the Lord does not respond (Isaiah 59:1,2; John 9:31).  Man, without salvation, has no relationship with the Lord (1 Corinthians 2:14).

Question:
What would happen when you are a sinner if you kill someone and go to jail, and then repent?  Would you go to Heaven or to Hell?

Answer:

When we accept Christ as our Savior, before God we become brand new (2 Corinthians 5:17); in fact, we are made the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21)…no matter what we have done in the past.  However, there are physical and emotional consequences for our actions, whether we are saved or not (Galatians 6:7,8).  If a man in prison for murder becomes a believer in the Lord Jesus, he must still serve the sentence for his crime.

Question:
Since Jesus had not died in the Old Testament days, where did people go when they died?

Answer:
We know that although physically dead, the OT saints were still spiritually alive (Matthew 22:31,32).  In the story of Lazarus and the rich man, we learn that Lazarus went to Abraham’s bosom (Luke 16:22), and that the rich man was in a place of torment (Luke 16:28).  The OT saints had knowledge of, and looked for, an eternal city. (Hebrews 11:13-16).  The OT saints looked forward to the coming of Christ, while the NT saints look back to Christ.  In God’s sight, the crucifixion had occurred before man had even been created (Revelation 13:8).

Question:
Who is the King of the Jews?

Answer:

The first king was Saul, although God’s choice was David.  Jesus was recognized by the wise men as the true King of Israel (Matthew 2:1,2).  Jesus, Himself, acknowledged that He was King of the Jews (Luke 23:3), although the people did not want Him to be their king (Luke 19:14).  They were expecting one who would come in and overthrow the Roman government.  However, Jesus came to save His people from their sins, not their political enemies (Matthew 1:21).

Question:
Why did Jesus choose 12 disciples?

Answer:

Jesus chose these men so that He could teach them.  They were able to help Him in His ministry and faithfully carry out His Word after His death and resurrection.  “He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 15:16, NKJV).

The Spirit of God gives four reasons that He chose the apostles: “He appointed twelve, (1) that they might be with Him and (2) that He might send them out to preach, and (3) to have power to heal sicknesses and (4) to cast out demons” (Mark 3:14, 15, NKJV).

The number “twelve” in Scripture indicates responsibility…there were 12 tribes of Israel.  The Lord knew all about Judas (John 6:70), but chose him that the Scriptures might be fulfilled. (Edited).

Question:
How do you stop peer pressure?

Answer:
We all have peer pressure. Not just teens feel the pressure of people to do things we know we should not.  If we are feeling pressured to do something that is wrong, we need to tell our friend that we are a Christian and want to do the Lord’s will.  Reading or quoting Bible verses to back up our position is very good.  We need to be strong in the Lord and not give in to peer pressure.  If our friends persist, maybe we should consider getting new friends.  We want to show love to everyone, but we want to be careful about those with whom we identify ourselves.  We read Psalm 1 to see the warning about our associations.

Question:

The Lord said in John 5:39 – “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of Me.” He was referring to the OT (Old Testament), because the NT (New Testament) had not been written yet. – Where is Jesus here in Psalm 22? 

Answer:

Although David wrote this concerning himself, the true fulfillment of these verses is found in the Lord Jesus while on the cross.

1. All the young people were familiar with this cry of agony in Psalm 22:1.  It was the same cry that Jesus cried from the cross (Matthew 27:46).  Although Jesus is God, and knows all things, He asked this question.  The question was really asked so that we might ask ourselves, “Why did God forsake Jesus while He was on the cross?”  The answer is found in Psalm 22:3.  God is holy and cannot look (favorably) upon sin (Habakkuk 1:13). 


2. Verse 6 shows that David was hated.  Jesus was hated and rejected (John 1:10,11; 15:25).


3. Verses 7 and 8 show that David was mocked during his time of suffering.  Jesus was mocked and made fun of by the very ones He loved and came to save (Matthew 27:40-44).


4. Verse 14 speaks of all his bones being out of joint.  The Lord Jesus was laid on the ground and nailed to the cross.  The cross was lifted up and dropped into a hole deep enough to keep the cross from falling over.  His bones would have come out of joint by the impact of this dropping.


5. Verse 15 speaks of great thirst.  The Lord Jesus cried out from the cross because He was thirsty (John 19:28).


6. Verse 16 says his hands and feet were pierced.  Nails were driven into the hands and feet of the Lord to secure Him to the cross.


7. Verse 17 speaks of his bones being exposed.  We considered all the beatings the Lord endured, such that He didn’t even look like a man (Isaiah 52:13,14).  We also talked about how Isaiah has much that is prophetic of the Lord Jesus.  We compared Isaiah 50:6 with Matthew 26:67.


8. Verse 18 tells about people gambling for his clothes.  When Jesus was on the cross, the guards there gambled for His clothes (Luke 23:34). 

The young people seemed to enjoy the exercises of finding Jesus in type and in prophecy in the Old Testament.  May we all learn to find Jesus in the OT because, “They are they which testify of Me.”

Question:

The Lord said in John 5:39 – “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of Me.” He was referring to the OT (Old Testament), because the NT (New Testament) had not been written yet. – Where is Jesus in Exodus 12:1-14? 

Answer:

Jesus is represented by the Passover lamb.  We then discussed some of the particulars of the story.

1. The Passover lamb was kept for 4 days to examine it to make sure it was without blemish (Exodus 12:5).  Jesus had a ministry of approximately 4 years and proved Himself to be the “…Lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:19).  Even Pilate had to admit that he could not find any fault in Jesus (Luke 23:4).


2. While the house might be too small for the lamb (Exodus 12:4), the lamb was never too small for the house.  This shows how that Jesus can save all who come to Him (Matthew 11:28; John 6:37).


3. The lamb could not be eaten raw or boiled, but the entire lamb had to be roasted (Exodus 12:9).  To roast an animal required cooking it over an open flame.  Fire is often used to indicate God’s judgment (Hebrews 10:26,27; 2 Thessalonians 1:7,8).  God judged His Son completely for the sins of those who believe in Him.  God did not spare His Son, but judged Him completely (Romans 8:32).


4. Even though the lamb was killed, the firstborn was still not safe.  The blood had to be applied to the door (Exodus 12:7).  Although Jesus died for all men, all men are not saved.  Only those who “apply the blood” are saved.  That is, those who believe the shedding of the blood of Jesus was for their sins are saved…the blood has to be applied (1 Peter 1:18,19).


5. The New Testament declares in plain language that Jesus is, indeed, the Passover (1 Corinthians 5:7). 

Question:

The Lord said in John 5:39 – “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of Me.”  He was referring to the OT (Old Testament), because the NT (New Testament) had not been written yet. – Where is Jesus in the story of Abraham sacrificing his son, Isaac, in Genesis 22:1-14?

Answer:

Two answers were given:

1 – Isaac represents Jesus because he was the only son of Abraham and willingly obeyed his father.

2 – The ram represents Jesus because he was substituted for Isaac.

We began to explore both answers. 

1.    Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was born (Genesis 21:5).  Most writers say that Isaac was a young man when this incident occurred.  We learned that Isaac probably could have stopped his father from offering him as a sacrifice, but he willingly obeyed his father.  Jesus, Himself, was obedient unto death (Philippians 2:5-8), so Isaac is a good type of Christ here.  The question was asked, “Why did God refer to Isaac as his only son, when Abraham had another son, Ishmael?”  Through discussion, we learned that Isaac was the son of promise, and he was the one that God recognized as His own promise to Abraham.  We read Proverbs 8:22-31 to show that Jesus was the daily delight of His Father, even as Isaac was the daily delight of Abraham. In Hebrews 11:17, we see that Isaac is called his father’s “only begotten son.”  The only other person referred to as an “only begotten son” is Jesus Himself (John 3:16).

2.    While on the way to make the sacrifice, Isaac asked his father where the sacrifice was.  Abraham responded that “God will provide Himself a lamb.”  We read in John 1: 29,36 that John the Baptist, upon seeing Jesus, declared that He was “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”

So, we recognized that both Isaac and the ram were “types” of Jesus.  We also looked at the first type of Jesus in the Bible when God killed animals to cover the nakedness (sin) of Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:21), which is a type of Jesus dying for us to take our sins away.