What Does the Bible Say About the Gospel #2?

We continue our discussion of the gospel by looking at what Paul and Silas taught the jailor in Philippi. We see that he asked them what he must do to be saved and again the answer included baptism. We next talk about the 12 disciples Paul talked to in Ephesus. He found out from them that they had been baptized with John's baptism. Listen to the episode to find out why what Paul told them is important to us today. We go back over each occasion that the apostles taught the gospel to someone. We note the one thing each of them was told to do which was common to all and again, why we need to pay attention to this today. We talk about the connection between baptism and the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. Paul wrote to the Thessalonian brethren about the coming judgment and what the gospel had to do with it. We look at that and what Peter said about that judgment as well. Take about 30-minutes to listen in on our discussion. Have your Bible handy so you can verify what we are saying. There is a transcript of this Buzzsprout episode provided for your convenience.

Transcript

Fred Gosnell: 0:00

This is a presentation of the Woodland church of Christ, meeting at 3370 Broad Street in Sumter, South Carolina. We meet for worship on Sunday at ten thirty am and five thirty pm. We meet for bible study at nine thirty am on Sunday and seven pm on Wednesday. If you have questions or comments on this lesson, you may email them to Fred Gosnell at fgosnell@ftc-i.net or to Arnie Granke at agranke440718@twc.com or to Glenn Landrum at scbamaboy2003@yahoo.com.

Arnie: 0:42

Good afternoon. This is what does the Bible say? Brought to you by the church of Christ at Woodland. I'm Arnie Granke, Fred Gosnell and and Glenn Landrum are with me this evening, and we want to talk to you about the Bible. Certainly we would welcome you to come and worship with us if you happen to be in Sumter, whether you're a resident here or just just visiting, we would welcome you. We're on highway 76 378, about two miles east of the Shaw Air Force Base main gate. So we're pretty easy to find. We're also kind of alone, no other buildings right around us, not, at least not immediately. And we would certainly welcome you and and we welcome you to ask any questions that you might happen to have, a either about the things that we've spoken about here on this program, or just general Bible questions that you need to know the answers. We would welcome you to to do that. So I'm going to, I'm going to pass this on to Glenn, and Glenn tell us about what we're looking at today.

Glenn: 2:04

Well, the subject we're covering at this time is the gospel. And we talked about this before we introduced the the gospel. And Paul defined the gospel in First Corinthians 15, one through eight. And basically what, what he has said about what the gospel is, is that it's the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That, of course, gospel is the good news, and that's the good news that people need to hear in order to be saved. So that's what we're we're discussing, and we're in in the midst of talking about part of that gospel and what some of the things are that we we will need to do in order to be saved. And specifically, we're talking about baptism at this time. And we're giving some examples of baptism. We got started last week in Acts 16, beginning in verse 22 and talking about the Philippian jailer. So, beginning in verse 22 says, And the multitude rose up together against them, and the magistrates rent off their clothes and commanded to beat them. And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailer to keep them safely, who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison and made their feet fast in stocks. And at midnight, Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises unto God, and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken, and immediately all the doors were open, and everyone's bands were loosed. And the keeper of the prison waking out of his sleep and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm, for we are all here. Then he called for a light and sprang in and came trembling and fell down before Paul and Silas and brought them out and said, Sirs, what must I do be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved and thy house. And they spake unto him the word of the Lord and to all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes and was baptized, and he and all his straight way. So you notice in this when the Philippians jailer, he was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners would have all escaped, since the doors were all open, and he saw they didn't see the bands on the prisoners. He thought they were all gone. And of course, him, being in charge of the prisoners, he would have been put to death himself for allowing them to escape. But Paul told him not to hurt himself. And then he asked Paul and Silas, what must I do to be saved? Paul told him. He said, believe on Jesus Christ. And then he continued to teach him, and he taught him about baptism. And at that time, the jailer was baptized, and his family were baptized. Well, this is an example that we've we've seen, along with others, that every example we find in Acts has baptism as part of what people need to do in order to be saved.

Fred Gosnell: 5:57

Well, there's, there's one other one in Acts, chapter 19 that we need to look at. And and this is, this is in Ephesus, verses one through seven. So we begin at verse one says, It came to pass that while Apollos was at Corinth that Paul, having passed through the upper coast, came to Ephesus and finding certain disciples, he said to them, Have you received the Holy Spirit since he believed? And they said unto him, we have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Spirit. And he said unto him, unto what then were you baptized? And as Glenn pointed out, all of these examples we've been given talk about baptism. So Paul asked, What, so what have were you baptized? They said, Unto John's baptism. So then Paul said, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people that they should believe onim which should come after him, that is on Christ Jesus. When they heard that they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, and when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spake with tongues and prophesied. And all the men were about 12. So what we find here is here were, here were 12 individuals who had obeyed John's baptism. But John's baptism was not in effect anymore, and Paul taught them baptism in the name of the Lord, and when they heard that, of course, they were baptized. Of course, then Paul laid his hands on them and the Holy Spirit fell upon them, a miracle occurred to confirm that what Paul told them was true. Now we need to remember what Paul told the Ephesians. In Ephesians, chapter four, in verse verse four and five, he says, There is one body, one spirit, even as you're called in one one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism. You can only be baptized right one time, in the name of the Lord. And of course, those 12, individuals were baptized, but they had to be re baptized in the name of the Lord. So we need to remember this example.

Arnie: 8:10

So we've really looked at a number of baptisms, and like Glenn and Fred, both have indicated there's a lot of similarity, because everyone is doing what the Bible is teaching, and not something that some local pastor told them that you need to do this or you need to do that, but rather, what what the Bible, the word of God, indicates. I'm I'm thinking of these inspired examples, and every one of them being the same. On Pentecost, the believers repented and they were baptized in in Acts chapter two. In Samaria, in Acts chapter eight and beginning in verse 12, the Samaritans believed and were baptized. Acts chapter eight, again, in the later chapters of, later verses of the chapter, verses 36 and and 38. There was a eunuch, an Ethiopian eunuch, that was returning back to his home, and happened to be met by a gospel preacher and in Acts Eight, beginning in verse 36 the eunuch believed the gospel. He confessed his faith and he was baptized. Acts chapter nine involved Paul, who became an apostle himself, but wasn't at that particular time and in in Acts chapter nine and and verse 18, and then also 22 and verse 16, Paul who became a believer, who'd actually been out persecuting Christians, but became a believer, was baptized. Acts chapter 16 and verse 15, we talked about a lady that was in the business of selling purple dye. And her name was, was Lydia. She had heard the gospel. She believed in and confessed her faith, and she was baptized as well. And then, then in Acts chapter 16 and and verse 31 now, as as Glen has read, and Fred has noticed as well, the jailer there in Philippi believed and and was baptized. And not just he, but but his whole family there. There is a pattern here. And nobody came into the picture and said, Oh, you, but you need to do this or that. You need to ignore those people that are teaching about baptism, here's what you ought to do. None of that happens because it wasn't occurring and and the reason it wasn't occurring is because what every case involved was the preaching of the gospel.

Glenn: 11:36

Yeah, there was one other example that that I think we read about, and that was the example with Cornelius in Acts chapter 10, Cornelius and his family, they were commanded, in verse 48 they were commanded to be baptized in the name of the Lord. And then they asked on him to stay, a few days. So also Cornelius and his family when they believe they were baptized as well. It's a common thing that everyone was was required to do in order to be saved. We often hear it said that all, all one has to do is believe, but that's not exactly what the Bible says. Yes, the Bible does say you have to believe, but it also says that you need to confess your sins. It also says that you need to repent of your sins, and it also says that you need to be baptized. So what do you notice about all those who obeyed the gospel? Baptism, every one of the examples included baptism .Acts 22, 16 And now why tarriest thou? Arise and be baptized abd ash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord. First Peter 3, 21, tells the like figure where unto even baptism doth also now save us, not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience towards God by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In Colossians, 1, 14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins. And I would also look at Colossians two, verse 12. And I'm going to turn over there Colossians two, verse 12 is a another good passage to use with this. And it says, Buried with him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God. Who raised Him from the dead. Well, in this case, it's telling that when we were baptized, we are being raised with Jesus Christ through faith in the working of God. So just as you would read in Romans, six, three and four, baptism is a representation of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Fred Gosnell: 14:14

Well, Paul told Timothy in Second Timothy chapter one, in verse 13, he said, Hold fast the form of sound words which thou hast heard of me in faith and love, which is in Christ, Jesus, The Word form there, in other places, is translated pattern. So what Glenn just read there talking about what baptism represents, the pattern of it. It's a pattern of the death, the burial and the resurrection of Jesus. And remember, Paul was told by Ananias, Arise and be baptized that wash away your sins. Baptism washes away your sins. And of course, one of the things that Peter tells us. And I think it's in first First Peter, chapter three. And Fred is going to find it here in a minute, if you if he's good at it. So First Peter, chapter three, and in verse 21 and 20, 22 he talks about, Who, by him, do believe in God that raised up him up from the dead, speaking of Jesus, gave him glory that your faith and hope might be in God, seeing you have purified your souls in obeying the truth. Another passage talks about obeying the gospel, obeying the truth through the Spirit to unfeign love of the brethren. See that you love one another with a pure heart, fervently being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God, which you live with and abideth forever. So So when, when we obey the gospel, when we obey the truth we are our sins are washed away. But then that's a picture of the death of burial, the resurrection of Jesus. So why that? Of course, what happened was Jesus shed his blood on the cross in his death. And one of the things Peter said before in First Peter, chapter First Peter, chapter one, verse verse 19, he said with the that, You're not redeemed with the corruptible things like silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb, without blemish and without spot. So so the baptism is in water, but it's we're baptized into his death, where he shed his blood. Our sins are washed away, not by the water, but by the blood of Christ, and that blood is applied to us when we are baptized into his death where he shed that blood.

Arnie: 16:56

Acts, Chapter Two, of course, is a is a good place to look when we're looking to study the the very first baptism that was occurred that was a public public thing was, was when people from all over the globe had come to Jerusalem, and were were there to worship and and it just happened, of course, that the Holy Spirit also was moving that the apostles to do, to do the work of preaching, that the gospel and Acts. Chapter two and verse 40 speaks about, Many with many other words. he did testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. Untoward means that they're not heading in the direction of of God, they're heading in the wrong way there. Then they that gladly received his word, were baptized, and the same day they were added unto them about 3000 souls. And verse, verse 47 it would just drop down to to that Praising God and having favor with all the people and the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. Those that were obeying the Gospel were added there. Nobody had to make up some kind of a story about that, or, or anything that was what the what the apostles had been instructed to do, and, and, and how they had been instructed to do it. And then Hebrews chapter five, excuse me, in verse verse eight, verses eight and nine speak about Christ. Though He were a Son, yet learned He obedience by the things which He suffered And being made perfect, He became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey Him. So we're not making anything up as we as we go along. We didn't have to have a a little parley together and and discuss what we were going to teach besides just looking at the Bible itself, and we would encourage you not to delay. Come to Woodland. We'll be glad to have you as a as a guest. We'll answer any questions that you have with regard to to Bible things, and we'll help you understand the gospel and then

Glenn: 20:03

There's one of the things we we passed over in this obey it. lesson, and I think it's pretty important that we take a look at those, and we're going to look at Second Thessalonians, one, seven through nine. And this is a unique passage, and we learn a great deal from it, but it reads And to you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus Christ shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power. So the Thessalonians, they were somewhat worried about about this situation, and they now they needed some reassurance about salvation, and Paul told them, said that Christ was going to come, and he'd be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, and he'll be coming in flaming fire, and he's going to take vengeance on two groups of people, those that obey not the gospel and those that do not know God. So we need to be sure that we know God, know who God is, know what he's done and what his son has done, and that we also obey that gospel that we've been talking about, and obey it in the manner or the pattern that was talked about just a few moments ago. First Peter 4, 17, and 18 says, For the time has come that judges judgment must begin at the house of God, and if it be first, begin with us. What shall the end of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? Very sobering thought here, for he's saying that judgment is going to start with those who are followers and is is not that we are saved with the the abundance of our good doing, or everything we're we're being saved by God's grace. We're being saved because his Son gave his life for us and shed his blood for us. Notice in verse 18, where it says, And if the righteous scarcely be saved. We have been made righteous by Christ's blood. And so then the question is, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? Well, we know where the ungodly and the sinners will appear. They're not going to appear on that book of life, that that our names are going to be written in, their names are not going to be there, and they're they're going to be condemned to hell. It's a scary It's a scary thing, but we need to be aware of that, and we need to understand that, that we need to believe in God and His Son, Jesus Christ, and believe that gospel that we've mentioned and do as the gospel tells us to do. Any final thoughts?

Fred Gosnell: 23:52

Well, one of the things that our listeners should should have noticed here that our baptism is related to the death, the burial and the resurrection of Jesus. When Paul was teaching the Epicureans and those stoics on Mars Hill as he ended what he talked about there in verse 30 of Acts 17, he said, The times of ignorance, God winked at but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent. Remember, repentance is one of the things we have to do. But then next verse says, because he hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness. Glenn just talked about the judgment, By that man whom he hath ordained, whereof notice he hath given assurance unto all men in that he had raised Him from the dead. Now remember, Jesus told everybody when he was going to be in the grave for three days, and he said that he would be raised up. So what Jesus resurrection has done, it has given us the assurance that everything he says is true, and of course, everything He taught his apostles is true, and then he sent his apostles, remember he said, Go to all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be condemned. So, so it's not some optional thing. It's not something that that's kind of nice to do. We'll believe and everything is fine. But in every one of the cases that we have discussed in the Bible, everybody that was taught the gospel, every one of them, the last thing that they did was they were baptized in the name of the Lord. They were immersed in water and, and that example, that pattern, is recorded there, and we're to follow it, and we are to teach other people the same thing that was taught in the first century. Now, Peter, let's, let's just go back to First Peter, chapter three, and and notice Peter there went all the way back to the flood, and he said in verse 18 or 3, 18, says Christ also has once suffered for sins, the just, for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the spirit. And again, His death is mentioned. Then he said, By which, also he went and preached to the spirits in prison. Now the people that are being talked about here are those the next verse, which sometimes were disobedient, when once the long suffering of God waited in the days of Noah. These spirits, when Peter wrote this, were in prison. But he's discussing what happened when in the days of Noah, so while the ark was preparing wherein few, that is eight souls, were saved by water. Then he says, The like figure. It's a similar it's the antitype, The like figure, wherein even baptism doth also now save us not to putting away the filth of the flesh. It's not taking a bath, but the answer of a good conscience toward God. Notice by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, again, who is gone into heaven, is on the right hand of God, angels, authorities and powers being made subject to him. So baptism is like, those who were saved by water, those who were in the ark. And one of the things Jesus said was, he said, straight is the gate, and narrow is the way. And few there be that find it. The problem is, there's only a few people that are going to end up being saved, and it's going to be those who obey the gospel.

Arnie: 27:41

And we want you to be in that number as as well. We certainly none of us would would back up and say, Boy, I wish I didn't hadn't been baptized. Wish I hadn't obeyed the gospel. That's just not going to going to happen. In fact, many of us were busy looking for someone who could teach us the gospel and that we could obey it and understand it. And I think that that's a problem that a lot of people have. They look at the Bible as being something that's difficult to understand and and possibly the solution for that, if, if you have that problem, is obtain a more recent translation. Fred and I both use the King James version, which which goes all the way back to the 1600s and so some of the some of the things that it says are worded a little differently than we would then we would say them in English today. \But there are plenty of more recent translations that are equally as accurate. There's nothing inaccurate about the King James Version. It's just that they spoke differently and read differently than than we do now. And so get you one of these new, more recent translations and read through it, and just don't read a verse or two and then, and then say good night. Read a chapter or two, or three or four. You could, pretty easily, in some of the, some of the chapters in the Bible, you could, you could read several chapters very simply just before you go to bed. So do that, and if you have questions, come in and ask it at Woodland, we'll certainly be delighted to take time to talk to you. And we hope that you'll obey the gospel. Thank you for listening. We look forward to being with you next Lord's Day. Have a good week.