TFS BIBLE TRAINING PROGRAM VOL. 2 (JULY – SEPTEMBER 2013) Activities include reading and studying the Bible Teaching, praying on the Bible Teaching, answering questions on the Bible Teaching and Bible Reading. NOTE: You will need to send Reports Of Understanding "ROU" to us after studying this teaching and the Bible reading; Reports Of Understanding answers to the questions on the teaching, your personal understanding of the teaching and of the Bible reading. Please send this before next week Tuesday. This Bible Training Program is not just to seek more Bible or theological knowledge, but it is to develop a better relationship with God and be equipped for the work of God. Activity One: Bible Teaching THE SECOND TOUCH Mark 8:25, “Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up. And he was restored and saw everyone clearly.” There was an unusual event during the earthly ministration of Jesus Christ. In the Book of Mark chapter 8, from 22, “Then He came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man to Him, and begged Him to touch him. 23 So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town. And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything. 24 And he looked up and said, “I see men like trees, walking.” This man was completely blind, probably born blind and he was brought to Jesus Christ with the intention that if Jesus Christ could pray for him, he would receive his sight. Jesus took this man by His hand, led him out of the town, spit on his eyes, and then put His hands on him. After all these, Jesus asked the blind man if he could see, he said he could only see men walking like tree. Before Jesus Christ touched this man, he was blind, and after he was blunt – half blind and half seeing, until Jesus had to touch him the second time. “Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up. And he was restored and saw everyone clearly.” Mark 8:25. The question is that, “Why would Jesus perform such a miracle that He would pray for the blind and the blind would not be able to see clearly immediately, and that would have to pray for him over again before perfect healing would take place? Does it mean Jesus Christ didn’t have the power of instantaneous miracle? Or does it mean, probably, possibly Jesus was short of power at that moment? But we read in the Bible that before and after the case of this blind man, Jesus performed lots of astonishing miracles. In that same Book of Mark 5, there was a man called Jairus; this man had a daughter of twelve years old, the girl fell sick and died. Mark 5:22, 23, “And behold, one of the rulers of the synagogue came, Jairus by name. And when he saw Him, he fell at His feet 23 and begged Him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter lies at the point of death. Come and lay Your hands on her, that she may be healed, and she will live.” 24 So Jesus went with him, and a great multitude followed Him and thronged Him.” As Jesus Christ was going to the house of Jairus, there was a woman who had flow of blood for twelve years, coming to Jesus for healing. You can see that Satan is a bad Satan but God is a good God. The same year Jairus had his daughter was the same year the woman started her sickness of the flow of blood; same year, same town, different problem but same Solution. This woman with the flow of blood did not go to Jesus Christ for lay of hand, she did not go to Jesus for special prayer or for anointing oil or holy water; she just believed in her that if only she could touch the edge of the garment of Jesus Christ, she would be healed; and she did just that. “When she heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment. For she said, “If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.” Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction.” Mark 5:27-29. She was healed instantaneously. And when Jesus got to the house of Jairus, “Then He took the child by the hand, and said to her, “Talitha, cumi,” which is translated, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” Immediately the girl arose and walked, for she was twelve years of age. And they were overcome with great amazement.” Mark 5:41, 42. There was another man, he was dead for complete 4 days, and all hope on him was also dead. This man was called Lazarus. When Jesus got to his grave, he was already stinking. Jesus Christ just commanded at once and the man came back to life. “Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” 44 And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.” John 11:43, 44. Jesus Christ performed more than opening the eyes of the blind, He did lots of instantaneous miracles even from far distances; He was going about doing good. And so why was the case of the blind man different that Jesus had to pray for him over again. The answer is because Jesus deliberately used the case of the blind man to dramatize and illustrate to the people their spiritual condition. Before Jesus Christ came to this world, there was nothing like Gospel, all what they knew about were the laws of Moses and the teachings of the Pharisees; but when Jesus came to this world, he brought the Gospel of the Good news. HUMAN RELIGION Religion by definition means – man seeking God. But no matter how hard a man toils, he cannot find God because God is too mighty to be fathomed by human wisdom and strength. Since you have been trying all religious activities, have you experienced inner peace or certainty of eternity? Have you experienced victory over sin and Satan? Why do you keep having fear within and in-depth anxiety about your life after death? The bad news about religion is that it cannot find God, no matter the name or popularity of the religion, you can never find God; no matter how religious, disciplined or good you are, you can never find peace or rest for your soul. Humanity seeking God by their human effort and knowledge, called religion, cannot find God. Every religion tries different means to seek God and to supplicate unto God, but no religion has successfully found God, because God is unfathomable, His personality and knowledge transcends human comprehension. We cannot relate with God on the ground of religion. There is no way a mortal man can seek an immortal and invisible God and find Him. Men have tried all manners of religions to seek God, but all to no avail, because it is quite impossible for a man to seek God and find Him. Every religion knows there is a God somewhere and that you will need to make your own effort to seek Him, but they could not find God through all their religious rituals and activities. THE GOSPEL – GOOD NEWS! When God saw the predicament of humanity, that there was no means they could seek Him and find Him, He Himself came to seek humanity, In the likeness of man, Jesus Christ came to the world to seek for the lost humanity. Luke 19:10, “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” The Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is all about the Good news of God’s free calling. Gospel means God is calling you unto Himself, irrespective of whatever you have done wrong or you are doing wrong. This is what makes the difference between Christianity and all the religion of the world. WHO IS JESUS? That was the message of Jesus Christ when He was on this planet earth; He was preaching, teaching and calling people unto repentance. But with all the preaching and teachings of Jesus, the people could not see clearly, they could not see the clear picture of Jesus Christ, they were mistaken Jesus Christ to another person. That was the reason Jesus Christ used the miracle of the blind man to illustrate to them. Jesus continued in that same Mark 8 verse 27, “Now Jesus and His disciples went out to the towns of Caesarea Philippi; and on the road He asked His disciples, saying to them, “Who do men say that I am?” So they answered, “John the Baptist; but some say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” This is the real point, people were making mistake of the fact about Jesus Christ, they couldn’t see clearly of who Jesus Christ was. The same thing is applicable today; you might have heard a lot of teachings and messages about Jesus Christ, but who is Jesus Christ in your life? Many people are making mistake on their conclusion and relationship toward Jesus today. THE MISTAKES 1, The Prophets The first category of people making mistake of truth about Jesus Christ are the people who see Jesus as a prophet. They heard a lot about Jesus, they read about Jesus and they concluded that Jesus is a prophet, one of the prophets God, sent into this world. Some people made same wrong conclusion about Jesus during His earthly ministry. If what you see and say about Jesus is that He is a prophet, you have seen something, at least, but you need to see better because Jesus is more than a prophet. 2, The Provider You may know Jesus as your Great Provider, that He will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory; you might have been repeatedly told in your church that Jesus is a Great Provider and Supplier of all needs; this is great, but if that is all you know about Jesus, then you have not seen the clear picture of Jesus. Jesus is more than just a Provider of needs; He is more than a Supplier of financial or physical needs. 3, The Protector You may know Jesus as your Protector, He does protects you, and you do not go to Herbalists or ritualists for protection; you believe that Jesus will protect you from every evil, that no weapon formed against you shall prosper. But if this is all you can see about Jesus, then you have not seen the clear picture of Jesus. Jesus is more than just a protector. 4, The Healer Jesus heals, you might have experienced that in your life before or heard testimonies of people healed by Jesus, but the real picture of Jesus is more than a healer, He is greater and mightier than a healer. THE REAL PICTURE Here we want to read the real picture of Jesus from the Bible, and if you have not seen Jesus in this picture in your personal life, it means you have not known anything about Jesus; no matter how much you have known about Jesus, no matter how long you have been a Christian or a minister in the church. Peter saw the real picture of Jesus and he told Him, “You are the Christ.” Mark 8:29. Jesus is the Christ, that is His clear picture and personality, and that is the reason He is called Jesus Christ. Jesus is the only Christ of the universe, that is, He is the Messiah of this world. Jesus is the only Savior of the whole wide world. And why is Jesus Christ the only Savior of the world? It is because there is no any other name, given under heaven by which we can be saved except through the name of Jesus Christ. THE REAL QUESTION The question is that, have you known Jesus as your personal Savior since you have been a Christian? Has He saved you from your sins all this while? Have you surrendered all to Him since you have been a worker or minister in the church? THE SECOND TOUCH OF SALVATION Do you know that you may be a devoted Christian or Christian minister and never experienced genuine salvation? You may be a committed Christian or Christian minister and might have lost your salvation? If you have been falling into sin, then you need a second touch of salvation; if you have been rising and falling into sin, then you need a second touch of salvation. We need not to pretend as if everything is okay with our relationship with God, and then get a big surprise on the last Day. So it does not matter your position or your possession, what matters is: do not pretend. The blind man at Bethsaida did not pretend, though Jesus touched him and prayed for him, he did not pretend as if everything was okay, he did not keep quite so as not to sound embarrassing to Jesus and go home half blind. The man confessed that he could only see men walking like trees. Sincerity attracts second touch of Jesus Christ. And we can do the same thing. You are a Christian, devoted and trying to serve God, but you see yourself falling into sin, you see yourself living some lifestyle a child of God should not live. You cannot deny the fact that you are a Christian, but you are not definitely sure what will be your portion if death or rapture takes place now. In such case, you need not to worry too much, all what you need is a second touch of Jesus Christ, so that you will be made perfect. Do not mind how long you have been a Christian or been speaking in tongues; what really matters is the second touch of salvation. We should not wait until there will be no seconds for another second chance, while you have the time now, go for second touch. HOW TO EXPERIENCE SECOND TOUCH AND GET SURE SALVATION What you need to do now: HUMBLY ADMIT YOUR SINS If truly you need God’s mercy to pardon your sins and give you grace to overcome them, then you need to face it by yourself and acknowledge your sin. Don’t excuse sin because everybody is doing it - in your church (even your pastors, parents or partners), in your family, in your place of work, etc. Don’t says, “Does that means everybody doing it will go to hell fire?” Yes, everybody can go to hell and God will still be righteous. Jesus said instead of you to be thinking how many will be saved, YOU strife to be saved NOW. Don’t excuse sin because of its popularity, it’s in person - you, face it. And sin is sin, either small or great, there is no difference, you just be sincere and confess it. Psalm 51:3 For I acknowledge my transgressions, And my sin is always before me. 4 Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight Make a Genuine Confession Do you wonder why you’ve made several confessions of your sins and yet you still have guilt of those sins, you still go back into such sins, and your salvation is not certain or you find yourself going back into your sins? It’s simple: you didn’t make genuine confession. Genuine confession is not just using the name of Jesus, not answering altar call and so on. Take the next 2 steps that lead you to genuine salvation in Jesus Christ: First Repent before You confess. There are many fake confessions, but if you sincerely want to make acceptable confession, you must first repent. No need for you to confess if there is no repentance in you. Repentance is thoughtful realization of your sins and determination to forsake them. If you confess without readiness to forsake the sins you confess, you are simply wasting your time, and the sins will soon get you down. To repent is not to be sorry for your sins, if you are sorry without readiness to forsake all, you will have a sorry case and that is not a genuine salvation. Humble yourself before God now and surrender all. Proverbs 28:13 He who covers his sins will not prosper, But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy. Pray It All Now all you need to do is to go before in prayer as you confess your sins and ask God to forgive you through His Son Jesus Christ. Tell Him you are sorry for how you have lived and all you have done, ask Him to cleanse you by the Blood of Jesus and give you a new heart and a new spirit. He will do it as He has promised in His Word saying, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:8-9. Activity Two: PRAYER Now is the time for your salvation! Do not delay further, do it now, don’t allow Satan to distract or delay you, because another chance may not come. You can pray the prayer for the next 5 to 10 minutes. GENERAL SECOND TOUCH PRAYER FOR ALL Every one of us needs second touch of Jesus Christ, we need to see and know Jesus Christ more, because Jesus is more than what we have seen or known about Him. So every participant of this program will take 30minutes, apart from your daily prayer time, to pray between the next 3 days; pray for second touch, check your own spiritual weakness, search your own personal life and see where you need second touch of Jesus Christ, and take at least 30minutes to pray for the second touch of transformation so you become more like Jesus Christ. Confess your weakness, worldliness and weariness to Jesus and ask Him to touch you afresh. Activity Three: QUESTIONS AND ANSWER 1, What is Gospel of Jesus, and what is it all about? 2, What is the difference between Christianity and religion? 3, How can we have the second touch of God? Activity Four: BIBLE READING FOR THE WEEK: EPHESIANS CHAPTER 4 & 5 Please include what you understand in the Bible reading with your understanding in the Bible Teaching and answers to the questions in your ROU. We look forward to receiving your ROU as soon as possible. If you have any question, please forward it to rtemonlinebiblecourse@gmail or send it to us on facebook page, onlinebibletrainingprogram Be blessed in Christ Jesus TFS Bible Training Program
Posted on: Thu, 11 Jul 2013 13:39:26 +0000
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