FREE WILL - NYOBS 37.29

FREE WILL

Does man have FREE WILL or is everything already pre-programmed by a sovereign God?

First Word

·         God is Omnipotent – He is ALL powerful; He can do whatever He wants to do EXCEPT break His promise. - If “Free Will” exist, it happens with the permission of God.

·         As a truly omnipotent and good being; God created beings with true freedom over Himself.  Furthermore, He voluntarily did so because "The Greatest Good” which can be done for man, is to allow him to be truly free; for God loves His creations.  

·         Free Will gives man the ability to do the GREATEST GOOD as well as the GREATEST EVIL.

·         Free Will is the main factor for man's accountability for his actions throughout his life.  His actions will be counted on the Day of Judgment, because each man stands as his own person and is responsible for his own decisions and choices. – Life is Choice Driven.

·         Whatever will be, will be - If we do not have FREE WILL, then there is no reason to preach the Gospel (which is what we were commanded to do); and for that matter there would be no reason for the dual judgments for Believers and non-believers as documented in scripture.  – NYOBS 30.27 – TWO JUDGMENTS

·         If Noah ever preached a sermon; it would be entitled “Don’t miss this Boat” – Stay Tuned -

John 3:16 – God loves His creations
¹⁶ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

(NIV2011)

Rom 14:10-12 - Each will give an account of himself to God

10 Why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God's judgment seat.

11 It is written: "`As surely as I live,' says the Lord, `every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God.'" 

12 So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.

NIV

2 Cor 5:10 – All Believers will appear Judgment Seat of Christ

10 For we must all appear before the JUDGMENT SEAT OF CHRIST, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

NIV

Rev 20:11-13 – Un-believers appear before Great White Throne

11 Then I saw a GREAT WHITE THRONE and him who was seated on it.

12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.

13 and each person was judged according to what he had done. NIV

Mark 16:15 – The Great Commission – GO PREACH THE GOSPEL
¹⁵ And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. (NASB)

Good

·         In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth and everything that’s in it and God said – “IT WAS GOOD”.

Genesis 1:4 –The Light – IT WAS GOOD
⁴ And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. (KJV)

Genesis 1:9-10 – The Land and Waters - IT WAS GOOD
⁹ And God said, let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
¹⁰ And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called the Seas: and God saw that it was good. (KJV)

Genesis 1:12 - The Grass, Herbs, Trees, Seed; IT WAS GOOD
¹² And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. (KJV)

Genesis 1:18 - Day and Night – Light and Dark – IT WAS GOOD
¹⁸ And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. (KJV)

Genesis 1:21 - Sea Creatures; Birds of the air – IT WAS GOOD ²¹  So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. (NIV2011)

Genesis 1:25 - Animals and Critters – IT WAS GOOD
²⁵ God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. (NIV2011)  

Genesis 1:31 - God made everything and IT WAS VERY GOOD
³¹ God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day. (NIV2011) 

Not Good

·         God made man and knew that man would be incomplete existing solely by himself.  He said IT WAS NOT GOOD for man to be alone, so He made him a help mate to complete him.

·         Let’s pause right here – Understand that God had already put into effect “the Law of Sin and Death” and in His omnipotence knew that Eve would give Adam the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil, and Adam with his FREE WILL would eat it.

·         If God knew it, then why did He do it? – This was really not about Adam and Eve, but about Satan, and was part of God’s greater omnipotent plan for ALL creation – Stay Tuned.

Genesis 2:18 – Man was not complete - IT IS NOT GOOD
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. (KJV)

Genesis 2:17 – Eat the fruit and you will die
¹⁷ but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." (NKJV)

Genesis 3:13 - SATAN deceived me, and I ate the thing
¹³ And the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."

Evil

·         Scripture says that God created everything; so did God create Evil also?

·         In the beginning God created everything and IT WAS GOOD.

·         The first time we see Evil appear was in the person of an Angel named Lucifer also called Satan, the Devil and AKA Beelzebub.  Scripture says that Evil was FOUND in him and it was Satan that became the Father of Sin in the first earth age.  NYOBS 02.10 - SATAN; WHY IS HE

• Satan was created perfect and was beautiful to behold and was full of wisdom. He was created GOOD, but using his “FREE WILL” he desired to be as God and sit on His Throne. 
• This “iniquity” or sin that was FOUND in him was the direct result of God creating him with FREE WILL. - So in effect, God allowed Sin to come into existence because of the gift of FREE WILL which He gave to angels and men.
• So the next BIG question is; did God know that Satan would rebel or was the omnipotent God surprised? – After all, scripture does say that evil was discovered or was FOUND in him.

Ezek 28:12-15 – Satan created perfect – Given Free Will

12 Thus says the Lord GOD; You … full of wisdom, and PERFECT in beauty. - Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God

14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covers; and I have set thee so: you were upon the holy mountain of God

15 You were PERFECT in thy ways from the day that you were created, till iniquity was FOUND in thee.

Ezekiel 28:15 – Evil was detected in you
¹⁵ From the day of your creation you were sheer perfection... and then imperfection—EVIL was detected in you. (MSG)

John 8:44 – Father of lies

44 He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own: for he is a liar, and THE FATHER of it. KJV

Before Time began

·         Get ready to get upset - This is the part that most folks get their pants all in a wad over.  It’s this First Earth Age of Satan that caused the (present) Second Earth Age to come about.

·         TIME as we know it, only began about 6,000 years ago.  Before that was Eternity Past and after this little blip in God’s plan called TIME, we will have” Eternity Present” -  Forever.

·         I will not spend much time talking about it here, but before the seven day creation of the earth, there was eternity past – All humanoid creatures were created immortal with FREE WILL including the Angels - Satan had fallen and was ruling the earth from “The Garden of God”. – NYOBS 09.34 - GARDEN OF EDEN –  

·         He CHOSE to rebel against God and took about a third of the Angels with him and caused all men (or creatures similar to men) on earth to rebel also.  There was no law of sin and death.

·         God wiped them all out with a flood before the “seven day creation” of Genesis; the living beings were immortal and continued to exist in spirit form as demons; servants of Satan.

·         This is known as the “GAP THEORY” - Read the entire account in NYOBS 17.17 – THE OTHER FLOOD

·         The Jewish traditional roots indicate that demons were the forces of darkness and wickedness and their leader is Satan. – The names Devil and Satan are virtually synonymous.

·         Evil spirits or demons that live today are the same spirits from the first earth age, moving from person to person, killing, stealing and destroying as they go. -They do not consist of matter or material body or substance – they are without physical existence in themselves, but they belong as property or a thing to Satan. - NYOBS 11.15 - DEMONS

·         They are invisible and operate above the laws of nature – have supernatural intelligence and knowledge along with terrible physical strength which they impart to those possessed. - A demon spirit needs a moist place to find rest and attempts to take over humans as well as animals. – They need to possess a person’s mind and body to enable them to get around-NOTE; an evil spirit and the Holy Spirit cannot co-exist in the same body. - NYOBS 11.15 – DEMONS

·         Wrong Mind - When people try to kill their own children or just for fun, do “drive by” shootings or shoot up their work place, their school or the mall, we just casually say they were not in their right mind; this is the height of DEMON POSSESSION.

·         Before the new seven day creation and the beginning of time, God put into effect the “Law of Sin and Death”, as well as the “Plan of Salvation”. – That’s why it was in God’s plan for Adam to eat the apple. - If you can just embrace the “Gap Theory”, it will explain the dating of the earth, dinosaur’s fossils, demons and so forth.

·         If you will notice; Adam as well as Eve had FREE WILL to obey God or not.  You might say; well, God preordained them to eat the “apple”; inferring that they had no choice.  I would say that the omniscience God knew what Adam and Eve would do if tempted and used them in His grand plan.

Rev 12:9 – Angel Satan was hurled to the earth with his angels.

9 The great dragon was hurled down-that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him. NIV

Rev 12:4 – One Third of the Angles followed Satan

4 His tail drew a third of the stars (Angels) of heaven and threw them to the earth. NKJV

Eph 6:12 - Demons are not flesh and blood

12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. KJV

Matt 12:43 – A Demon spirit needs a moist place to find rest

43 When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. NKJV

Mark 5:12 – Demons desire a moist place; even in an animal

12 The demons begged Jesus, "Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them. NIV

Puppies

·         When I return home, my puppy, of FREE CHOICE meets me at the door, barking, jumping and licking me.  She unconditionally loves me.  When I sit in my chair, she climbs up on my chest and licks my chin because she wants to. 

·         Have you ever seen a child hug someone because he was told to go and do it (Preordained), verses a child that runs in and hugs someone just because he wants to. (Free Choice).

·         That’s the whole point of God’s creations; He wants his creations to want to be with Him because of FREE CHOICE, not because they were automated to activate like a lawn sprinkler system coming on, PROGRAMMED by a time clock.

·         Make no mistake, all of creation is watching the patience and love of God which has been going on now for over some millions of years as He allows time for Satan and his servants to repent.

·         This is hard to say, but the longer that you are away from God, the harder your heart becomes till finally your FREE WILL is callused over; hardened by what you have put in your own spirit; your heart, and you miss out on the Promises that God has for the Believer.

·         God says; you would not believe who He will use in His plan even if He told you.

·         Make no mistake, God will use His enemy; those who have rejected Him; to accomplish His plan. – He called King Nebuchadnezzar His Servant who was actually the enemy of Israel, so He can certainly use Satan too. – That’s why Satan continues to exist. - Nothing can frustrate the Will of God. - NYOBS 02.10 - SATAN; WHY IS HE

·         Make no mistake; Even though God uses the Evil man for His purpose; they will still be judged - GUILTY. – So plainly, it makes a difference on HOW you are used of God.

Jeremiah 25:9 - My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon
⁹ I will summon all the peoples of the north and my SERVANT Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon,” declares the LORD, “and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants and against all the surrounding nations. I will completely destroy them

(NIV2011)

Habakkuk 1:5-11 – God used the Chaldeans to punish Israel
⁵ Look among the nations! Observe! Be astonished! Wonder! Because I am doing something in your days— YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE IF YOU WERE TOLD.
⁶ For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, That fierce and impetuous people who march throughout the earth To seize dwelling places which are not theirs.
¹¹ Then they will sweep through like the wind and pass on. But they will be held guilty, they whose strength is their god." (NASB)

Bond Servant

·         This is a good place as any to talk about Servants and Bond Servants. 

·         A servant was someone who did not have “FREE WILL”, but existed only to serve their master as he was commanded; this was their place in life and that’s where they were assigned; essential they were a slave.

·         A Bond Servant is someone who once was enslaved and is now FREE; and now by his own FREE WILL has made a decision out of love to serve his master.

·         The Apostle Paul without even knowing it, was a servant; a slave to Satan persecuting the followers of Christ, but was set Free and with FREE WILL chose to become a Bond Servant of Jesus Christ.

·         Paul called himself a BOND SERVANT; one who has chosen of his own FREE WILL to serve.

·         Did God know that Satan would rebel? – YES – and created him anyway and when “Eternity Present” begins; those that remain will be those of FREE WILL who want to be with God as BOND SERVANTS of the most high.

Romans 1:1 – Paul called himself a Bond Servant of Christ
¹ Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, (NASB)

Acts 16:17 - Bond-servants of the Most High God
¹⁷ Following after Paul and us, she kept crying out, saying, "These men are bond-servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation." (NASB)

Revelation 1:1 – Book of Revelation is for God’s Bond-Servants
¹ The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must soon take place; and He sent

and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John, (NASB)

Free Will – God’s Omnipotence

·         Because of Free Will, we have a choice to become predestined in God’s plan.

·         What I read in scripture, is that we as followers of Christ have been predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son. And that He who has BEGUN this work of “conforming” us will complete it.

·         What is the Image of His Son?  Christ has a heavenly Calling – He is in the presence of God – He will rule and reign forever.

·         The justified Christian in a glorified body; will be called to Heaven into the presence of God, face to face with Jesus Christ, to rule and reign with Him. – We have begun.

·         Predestination is the revelation of God’s hidden plan to extend the gospel to the “Dirty, Rotten, Low Down, Scumbag Sinners; the Rejected, Revolting GENTILES”; You and Me.

·         Those that “call on His Name” by their FREE WILL are predestined to become Justified, Glorified, Holy and Blameless.

·         In God’s Omnipotence; Gentiles are predestined to have the same “FREE WILL opportunity” as the Jews to come into the Kingdom of God. - They will be “grafted into the branch” and will have JEWISH ROOTS. – NYOBS 29.28 – PREDESTINATION REVISITED

Rom 11:17 – Gentile Believers, now have Jewish Roots.

17 If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root,

NIV

Rom 8:29-30 – Predestined - conformed to the Image of Jesus

29 For whom He foreknew, He also PREDESTINED to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.

30 Moreover whom He PREDESTINED these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.  

NKJV

Phil 1:6 – He who begun the work in us will complete it

6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ; NKJV

Whosoever WON’T

·         Predestination never refers to the Lost; it’s about the Believer’s destination.

·         There are just two kinds of people – the Whosoever Wills and the Whosoever Won’ts – The Lost are lost because they choose to be lost.

·         God does His Part to save us and we do our part. – My part was sinning and God’s part was saving; my part was running away and the Holy Hound of Heaven’s part was chasing me. – By God’s grace I am saved; and for no other reason – It was a Gift from God to me.

·         Predestination is like the parable of the lost sheep.  When you are one of the “Whosoever Wills” that come to the Lord, you are preordained to make it all the way home with the Lord. Even if you stray away, God will come after you.

·         NOTE:  God’s Omnipotence; It is God’s sole prerogative to save someone already bound for Hell if He chooses to do so.  – It’s His right as the potter to do what he chooses with His clay, but although Omnipotent, He will not change His nature, nor break His promises, and He cannot Lie. – Whosoever will; may come.

John 3:15-16 – Whosoever Will – Whosoever Won’t
¹⁵ That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
¹⁶ 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.

(KJV)

John 6:37 – Whosoever comes to Christ will not be cast out.
³⁷ All that the Father gives me shall come to me; and him that comes to me I will in no wise cast out. (KJV)

Luke 15:4-6 - The Holy Hound of Heaven will find you
⁴ Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?
⁵And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders
⁶ and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’

(NIV2011)

James 1:17- God does not change
¹⁷ Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. (NIV2011)

Hebrews 6:17 - It is impossible for God to lie
¹⁷ It is impossible for God to lie.

(NKJV)

Ephesians 2:8 – By Grace - Salvation is a Gift from God
⁸  For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—

(NIV2011)

Isa 46:10 – God Is All Knowing - OMNISICENCE

10 I make known the end from the beginning, NIV

Jer 23:24 – He Is Ever Present- OMNIPRESENT

24 Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him?"

 declares the LORD. NIV

Rev 19:6 – He Is All Powerful - OMNIPOTENT

6 And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. KJV

Right now it’s hard to understand the Sovereignty of God

because we see through a glass somewhat dimly,

but one day when we are face to face with Jesus Christ,

we will finally see clearly.

1 Cor 13:12 – We see dimly now – but one day we will know

12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

KJV 

Sovereignty of God

·         The Queen of England enjoys the pomp and circumstance of royalty, but Parliament and the Prime Minister run the nation, not the Queen. She reigns, but she does not rule. – Man reigns on this earth, but it’s God that rules.

·         God is eternally, immutably good: He cannot change; whereas man was made mutably good, that is, he was made with the possibility of changing in his conformity to the laws of God.

·         Does God DO evil? – NO – God’s nature make Him absolutely incapable of performing evil, yet, He ordains everything that comes to pass.

·         Does God ORDAIN evil? – YES - If not, there would be no evil, because God is sovereign. - He ordained that His creatures should have the capacity for evil.

·         Garden of Eden – When the Serpent came to Adam and Eve and began his treachery, God could have stopped him and there would have been no sin - God did not sanction the evil, but He did not stop it either. In choosing not to stop it, He ordained it. – So in essence, God has esteemed it good that evil should be allowed to happen in this world.

·         Judas could not have betrayed Christ apart from the Devine providence of God. The actions of Judas was part of the divine providence of the plan of redemption for the world. - God ordains not only how things end, but also the means to that end. – Human choices and human actions are a part of the overall providential scheme of God’s plan. - All things work together for good in God’s providence.

·         Jacob gave his son Joseph a coat of many colors making his older brothers very jealous. This led them to sell Joseph and he wound up in Egypt as second in command next to Pharaoh.  Joseph saved Egypt from the famine and saved his family from extinction also. – That spawned Moses, The Law, The Prophets and then Christ – NO coat of many colors; NO Nation of Israel, then NO Messiah. - God used evil for good.

·         God’s Fault – Sometimes we blame our decisions on God just as Adam did when he said; that woman that YOU gave me; she gave me the fruit, and I ate it – It’s your fault God for giving me that woman.  - We quickly take credit for our Good choices, but not for our Evil choices - Adam tried to blame his bad choice on God, and that’s our tendency too.  We say it’s God’s providence for the choices that we make; they were preordained by God.  - NOT TRUE -

·         World View - We live in a period of skepticism about the existence of God – When talk turns to a Higher Power, the reference is to an IT instead of a HE. – The world view is that we live in a universe that’s in a closed loop and nothing from the outside influences it. – It doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you are sincere; truth is insignificant. – Unbelief

·         Unbelief - Jesus said He would bring another comforter to the world to bring men into repentance. -  He said the Holy Spirit would bring conviction of “the sin of unbelief”.

·         Repentance is not an option with the ‘incomprehensible God’ – To be saved you must repent.

·         Providence literally means “to see beforehand”- God not only creates, but sustains and divinely preserves. – Saying it another way; God is “Hands on”; He did not just WIND IT ALL UP and then walk away. – All creation is completely dependent on Him for the continuity of its existence. – God is the sustainer of everything. – He is omnipotent; all powerful.

·         Life was choice driven from the beginning of this present earth age starting with Adam and even before that with the angel Satan in the preadamic age; Eternity Past.

The choices WE make on this side of death have eternal consequences.

John 14:16 - God gave us the Holy Spirit to help us
¹⁶ And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever - (NIV2011)

John 16:9 Unbelief in Jesus Christ is Sin
⁹ of sin, because they do not believe in Me; (NKJV)

Acts 17:30 – We ALL are commanded to repent
³⁰ In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands ALL people everywhere to repent. (NIV2011)

John 16:8 – He will convict the world of sin
⁸ And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:

 (NKJV)

Genesis 50:20 – What man uses for Evil – God uses for Good
²⁰ You (Joseph’s brothers) intended to harm me (Joseph), but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. (NIV2011)

Romans 8:28 - All things works together for good - His purpose
²⁸ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (NIV2011)

Genesis 3:11-12 - It’s the Woman that YOU gave me - fault
¹¹ And He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?"
¹² Then the man said, "The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate." (NKJV)

To Ponder

·         God’s sovereignty is unlimited and although man’s FREE WILL is real, it is limited. – Man is free, but God is freer; He is sovereign.

·         Does God choose WHEN I will die? – No - God’s natural laws do – God sets the maximum years for man, and it’s up to us to choose how we treat our bodies. – Regardless of that, before we die we will complete our part of God’s omnipotent plan. – Whether we are Good or Evil, God will use us in His plan. NYOBS 06.14 – DEATH

·         Does God choose your WIFE for you? - No you do; ALL your Free Will choices are GUIDED by what you have put in your own spirit. - GIGO – Garbage in; Garbage out – HIHO - Holiness in; Holiness out.

·         Our FREE WILL choices are made from the abundance of what overflows our heart.

·         Men have Free Will, but lack Liberty, their choices are driven by their fallen “natural desires” and will choose what is wicked. -  In the fall of man; the desire for the things of God was lost, and man would never choose God – He must be drawn by the Holy Spirit.

·         It takes the work of the Holy Spirit to empower man to repent. – None can come unless God draws them. – Grace is necessary to liberate the human heart.

·         It’s in the Book - How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? - THAT’S WHY WE PREACH THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST.

·         We should believe in God’s Omnipotence; that He is in control of everything, but remember we are still accountable for the FREE WILL choices that we make on this side of life – GIGO - HIHO

·         God uses Evil men as well as Good men, but there’s a difference in their destination.

·         FREE WILL is a Gift from God to us and the angels. -  Life is Choice Driven !

Proverbs 15:28 – What’s in the heart overflows the mouth
²⁸ The heart of the righteous PONDERS how to answer, But the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things. (NASB)

Matthew 12:34 – Out of the abundance of our heart we speak
³⁴ For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. (KJV)

Rom 8:5-8 – A man with a sinful spirit CANNOT summit to God

5 Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.

6 The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace;

7 the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so.

8 Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. NIV

Romans 10:14-15 - How can they believe who have not heard.
¹⁴ How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?
¹⁵ and how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news! (NIV2011)

John 6:44 – None can come to Him unless the Father draws him
⁴⁴ No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him;

Heb 9:27 – God has decided that ALL will die… ONCE

27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: KJV

2 Sam 14:14 – God does NOT take away life.

14 Like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be recovered, so we must die. But God does NOT take away life; instead, he devises ways so that a banished person may not remain estranged from him. NIV

Ps 90:10 – We can have 70 years – maybe 80 - It’s not fixed

10 The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away. KJV

Deut 5:16 – Treat your mama good, get even more than 80 years

16 Honor thy father and thy mother, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, KJV

Isa 55:11 – Our assignment in God’s plan will be completed

11 So shall my word be that goes forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. KJV

John 11:26 – The Believer will never die

26 and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this? NIV

All Scripture is God-breathed

and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting

and training in righteousness

(2 Timothy 3:16 NIV2011)

In the multitude of counselors,

 there is wisdom.

Proverbs 11:14

I am grateful to those that went before me providing concepts, ideas, historical information, and scripture verses.  Because of them I can stand on their shoulders and see further that I otherwise ever could have.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

Bible Almanac; The – Packer Tenney White

Does God Control Everything – R.C. Sproul

Harper’s Bible dictionary – Harper and row

Illustrated Bible Dictionary – Nelson’s

Illustrated Bible Dictionary; The - Tyndale

International dictionary of the Bible; The – Douglas – Tenney

Josephus; The complete Works – William Whiston

Nave’s Topical Bible – Nelson

Table Talk – R.C. Sproul

Thru the Bible – J. Vernon McGee

Victory Journey through the Bible; The - Beers

Who’s Who in the Bible – Paul D. Gardner

Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible; The - Tenney