- ♪ Give me the light ♪

>>Today we are blessed with a wonderful gift from God, the Bible. This book is God's living word. In its pages we are told "for the word of God is living "and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword". It is in this book of books that we find the answers to all of men's questions in need. This morning, your area Churches of Christ welcome you to a program committed to that perfect law of liberty. ♪ The lights shall guide me in the narrow way ♪

>>As we present "The Living Word". ♪ ♪ ♪ 'Til I shall vanish, gently turn away ♪

>>Now here is your host Ray Sullins.

>>God has blessed us with another wondrous Lord's day morning and how glorious it is that we can join together in this time and in the things of Christ. We thank you so much for taking this time and giving it to God as we worship him together in spirit and truth. And as most of you know, we will have the privilege this day of approaching the throne of God in a variety of ways as we sing songs of praise, as we study from His matchless word and as we speak to our God in prayer. So I hope we'll each take the opportunities availed to give our very best to God as we are faithful before His throne. But as we begin our offering to God this morning will you bow with me before his throne in prayer? Our God and Father in heaven we thank you for this, another privilege and opportunity on the Lord's day to gather as your people, as those who love you and help us to give you our very best that we might be able to show that in spirit and truth we love you and are willing to obey your commands. And Father, we thank you for all of your rich gifts and we know that it's only through you that we have everything that we have in this life, spiritually and physically. And Father, again, help us to live each and every day in such a way that we'll receive that great reward of heaven in the end where we'll live with you eternally on high. And Father, we thank you for the avenue of prayer and in Jesus name we pray, amen. I hope you're ready to sing songs of praise this morning and to lift up your voice to God as we praise him in song. So at this time, won't you join in the first hymn of the day? The name of the song, "A Hill Called Mount Calvary". ♪ There are things as we travel this earth's shifting sands ♪ ♪ That transcend all the reason of man ♪ ♪ But the things that matter the most in this world ♪ ♪ They can never be held in our hand ♪ ♪ I believe in a hill called Mount Calv'ry ♪ ♪ I'll believe whatever the cost ♪ ♪ And when time has surrendered and Earth is no more ♪ ♪ I'll still cling to that old rugged cross ♪ ♪ I believe that the Christ who was slain on the cross ♪ ♪ Has the power to change lives today ♪ ♪ For He changed me completely ♪ ♪ A new life is mine, that is why by the cross I will stay ♪ ♪ I believe in a hill called Mount Calv'ry ♪ ♪ I'll believe whatever the cost ♪ ♪ And when time has surrendered and Earth is no more ♪ ♪ I'll still cling to that old rugged cross ♪ ♪ I believe that this life with its great mysteries ♪ ♪ Surely someday will come to an end ♪ ♪ But faith will conquer the darkness and death ♪ ♪ And will lead me at last to my Friend ♪ ♪ I believe in a hill called Mount Calv'ry ♪ ♪ I'll believe whatever the cost ♪ ♪ And when time has surrendered and Earth is no more ♪ ♪ I'll still cling to that old rugged cross ♪

>>Perseverance is a difficult thing for all of us especially in this day and time in which we live. When there are so many opportunities around us to have the things that we can have, we often fall victim to our own desires or even at times forgetting God in a variety of ways. Every time we go to the mall or into a store we see something that we like and want and it doesn't matter that we already have things that are similar, we really want the latest versions and we want the newest version of something. And every time we drive down the road we see a car or a house or something we like better than what we have. It's just because of things such as this that we are often drawn to the earth and therefore we begin to let God down and we don't give him our very best to persevere as we have been commanded. How easy is it for us to allow the devil to place stumbling blocks in our way and for us to snatch them up by giving into our fleshly desires? You see, perseverance in a spiritual sense is a very biblical topic. In fact, in Second Peter chapter one verses five through seven, we see that Peter includes perseverance among the Christian virtues that one must have if they are found pleasing in the sight of God. How can we know that perseverance is something that we are commanded to do besides this? Well, let's look at what Peter goes on to say in the same text in verses eight and nine of the same passage. He says, "for if these things are yours and abound, "you'll neither be barren nor unfruitful "in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. "For he who lacks these things is shortsighted "even to blindness and has forgotten that he was cleansed "from his old sins". Paul also confirms the need that we should persevere when he said "we also glory and tribulations, "knowing that tribulation produces perseverance, "or patience and perseverance or patience, "character and character, hope". We find that there in Romans chapter five, verses three through four. Furthermore, James says something similar in James chapter five and verse 11. There we see again the focus on understanding perseverance. When he says, "indeed we count them as blessed who endure. "You have heard of the perseverance of Job "and seen the end intended by the Lord, "that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful". Who had greater perseverance that we know of in scripture than the old story of Job? He was a greatly blessed servant of God who lost everything by the hands of the devil. However, Job was able to persevere. Although so many things of the world might have attracted him, he persevered and remained faithful through the entire ordeal, even in the fact that he at one point began to question God, he ultimately repented of those things at the end of the book. The question we might ask is as Christians, are we able and are we striving to do the same? Yes, we might have our weak moments, but are we trying to make sure that we do not fall away, that we persevere when temptation and trials come our way? And we understand that with God's help, we can always overcome. Yes, the truth is we need to learn to be more Christlike, learn to endure, learn to persevere no matter what may come. Finally, in the Book of Revelation in chapter two in verse 10 we can see some concluding marks here concerning the idea of being able to persevere or continue on patiently. There we read, "be faithful until death "and I will give you the crown of life". What greater picture of perseverance do we have than this? If we will remain faithful to the work of the Lord which is before us, we are able to receive the crown of life in the end. The faithful John describes this as something that we must strive for every day of life, even up to the point of death. You see, our God expects nothing more and nothing less. If we're able to be found faithful in his sight, if we're able to persevere until the end, God will give us the reward. God will give us that mansion in heaven. So let me ask you today, are you striving in a patient way to endure or persevere according to the commandment of God? Our lesson of the day will again focus on our series entitled, "In The Beginning was The Word", the specific topic of the day is "the Word as Messiah". So I encourage you to stay with us this morning and in just a few minutes we'll be led together in these thoughts from God's Word. As far as our guest speaker of the day, we're happy to again have Brother Jerry Sullins with us. Brother Jerry is the director of the Bible Institute of Missouri here in Springfield and we thank him for joining us to lead our thoughts from God's word at the appropriate time. But for now, let's return to our songs of praise and join together with the congregation as we sing together the song, "He Is My Everything". ♪ He is my everything, He is my all ♪ ♪ He is my everything, both great and small ♪ ♪ He gave His life for me, made everything new ♪ ♪ He is my everything, now how about you ♪ ♪ Some folks may ask me, some folks may say ♪ ♪ Who is this Jesus you talk about ev'ry day ♪ ♪ He is my Savior, He set me free ♪ ♪ Now listen while I tell you what He means to me ♪ ♪ He is my everything, He is my all ♪ ♪ He is my everything, both great and small ♪ ♪ He gave His life for me, made everything new ♪ ♪ He is my everything, now how about you ♪

>>Welcome again to "The Living Word" broadcast and we're so happy that you are in our viewing audience this morning. We pray that the things that are said may lead you closer to Christ and maybe to an obedience of his word. This series for the past few weeks has been based upon the word which in the scripture is Jesus himself. Jesus, it is said of Jesus in John chapter one, verse one, "in the beginning was the Word, "the word was with God and the word was God". Throughout this series we've studied how the word is not only God, he's a creator. He's called the Son of God. He's called the life, the light, through him is all grace and truth. In fact, he is the expressed image of grace and truth and studied him to be the teacher that is the rabbi, as it was stated last week. And today I have the privilege of discussing with you the concept that is referring to Jesus as the Messiah. That is the anointed one of God. This is a very interesting word which is found throughout the Bible. In the Old Testament though, we see that basically the Hebrew word mashiach, and I probably have not pronounced that properly, but anyway, a transliterated word Messiah is used in the Old Testament to refer to an anointed one. This can be used and was used in reference to the kings of Israel because Saul, David and Solomon and other kings were anointed with oil by the prophets of God to designate that they were the leaders that God had chosen. Throughout the whole testament, we do not see any reference to a future Messiah that is going to be brought into the world. He's not referred to as the Messiah but yet as to the Savior because that is mentioned in the Old Testament. It's used commonly in the New Testament, which we will discuss in a few moments from now. The coming of the Christ, the anointed one of God was not really spoken of in the Old Testament but he is referred to as we said, as the Savior. He's the coming savior. In Genesis chapter three, verse 15, God actually said to the serpent, I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise your head but you shall bruise his hill. There are many people, in fact, most all of us believe that this is in reference to someone who's coming who will destroy the influence of Satan himself who is in the image of a serpent in the Garden of Eden, in the book of Genesis, the first three chapters. The Promise of Abraham brings to us also an understanding of a coming great blessing, because God made that promise to the father of faith, as he's referred to, that is Abraham, back in Genesis chapter 12, which basically God said, get you up out of and go to a place that I will show you and in you shall all nations of the earth be blessed. And we know that that blessing to all nations would come at a future time and many references are made that that future time and the one who represented that great blessing was Jesus Christ himself. Where we also see in the scripture that is emphasized by the prophets of in the book of Isaiah. I call your attention to Isaiah chapter two where it says in verse three, we'll just read first of all verse two. "Now it shall come to pass in the latter days "that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established "on the top of the mountains "and shall be exalted above the hills "and all nations shall flow to it. "Many people shall come and say, "come and let us go to the mountain of the Lord, "to the God of Jacob. "He will teach us his ways and we shall walk in his paths "for out of Zion shall go forth the law "and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem". The word of the Lord God came from Jerusalem in early times because Jesus had just lived on the face of the earth for 33 years, he had suffered and died upon the cross and he brought into reality through his apostles the very beginning of the kingdom of God, which it's talking about of here. Now we see also as we look into Isaiah, in the book of Isaiah, we also see in chapter nine verse six that some wonderful things are said about Jesus, although his being the Messiah is not really stated. It says there in verse seven it says basically, I think that I may be saying, just let me tell you what the scripture says. Actually it's in chapter nine, I was in chapter six. It says in verse six of chapter nine, "for unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. "The government shall be up on his shoulder. "His name shall be called wonderful, counselor, "mighty God, everlasting Father, prince of peace". Although the word Messiah is not mentioned, the very concept of the Messiah is mentioned in several of these words because in all of these descriptive words of Jesus, and there's about 50 of them in all the Bible, we can see clearly that the Messiah, the anointed one of God in the New Testament was and is Jesus Christ. Well, also looking at Luke chapter two some very important statements are made. Now, the Greek word for Messiah is Christos and that is mentioned throughout the New Testament. In Luke chapter two, as you know and as you've probably heard and read before, "there were in the same country, shepherds living "out in the fields keeping watch over their flock by night". And it says, "and behold, an angel of the Lord "stood before them and the glory of the Lord "shown roundabout them and they were so afraid. "The angel said to them, do not be afraid, "behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, "which shall be to all people, "for unto you this day shall be born in the city of David, "a savior who is Christ the Lord". There's that word. There's introduction of the Christ, the son of God, who would lead people to salvation. In the same book in chapter three would say Jesus or that is John the Baptist was basically among the people and preaching to them a wonderful sermon in that chapter. And as we look at the verse 15, "the people were in expectation "and all reasoned in their hearts about John, "whether he was the" what? "The Christ or not and John answered saying, "I indeed baptize you with water, "but one mightier than I is coming "whose sendal strap I'm not worthy to lose. "He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire". That was in reference to the Christ, the Messiah, the one anointed by God who was God himself in the flesh, coming to this world to save his people from their sins. Remember what Jesus said to his disciples in Matthew 16, beginning with verse 13. He asked them a question, who do men say that I am? And they said, well, some say that you are John the Baptist, some Elijah, some Jeremiah or one of the prophets. Then Jesus looked at them and he said, but who do you say that I am? And one of the most beautiful statements came out of the lips of Peter, that is the apostle Peter, that was ever said. He said, thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. You are the Christ, you are the Messiah, the Son of God and that Jesus, that Christ, the Savior of all the world, came to this world as the Messiah, the anointed one of God to lay down his life for our sins. That's exactly what he did on the cross of Calvary. Jesus laid down his life, shed his blood for the forgiveness of our sins, to save us from our sins. In the book of Romans chapter six, verses one through four, basically it says this, and by the way that word Christos is used throughout all of the Bible and especially in the book of Romans. He said, "what shall we say then? "Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? "God forbid, certainly not. "How shall we who died to sin live any longer therein"? Now listen to this my friends, "or do you not know that as many of you "as were baptized into Christ Jesus, "that is into the Messiah, were baptized into his death? "Therefore, we were buried with him "through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised "from the dead by the glory of the Father, "we should even also walk in newness of life". So it was through Christ and in Christ we are baptized. Therefore, we are all the sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of us as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. This is what Paul said to the churches of Galatia and Galatians, chapter three verses 26 and 27. Now what are we to do? We are to obey that Christ, that anointed one of God, he came to tell us what we needed to do to be saved. You have heard his word probably many times and believe that Jesus is the Christ. You're willing to confess his sins. Why not do what the Messiah, the anointed one of God has told you? He who believes and his baptized shall be saved. And what Paul revealed to us in Galatians six, one through five or six or even further in that chapter, he revealed to us that we are baptized into Christ. Why not do what Jesus died upon the cross to give us an opportunity to do? And that is to be saved from our sins. Therefore, we who are in Christ, we become new creatures. Old things have passed away. Behold all things have become new and we get into Christ by being baptized into Christ for the remission of our sins. So as Peter said on the day of Pentecost, I say to you today without fear or favor, repent and be baptized, every one of you in the name of Jesus, the Messiah, for your sins. That's when you will receive the remission of your sins and have hope of eternal life. It is always the prayer of this program and those who preach from this pulpit that you will have the courage and the strength to obey God rather than man. To do what Jesus died upon the cross to give you an opportunity to do. He is the son of God. He was God who lived in the flesh. He died upon the cross for your sins and mine. So why don't you take the opportunity to get in touch with us? We'll be glad to give you that truth that will lead you to life eternal and to truly know who the Messiah is. ♪ I have decided to follow Jesus ♪ ♪ I have decided to follow Jesus ♪ ♪ I have decided to follow Jesus ♪ ♪ No turning back, no turning back ♪ ♪ Though none go with me, I still will follow ♪ ♪ Though none go with me, I still will follow ♪ ♪ Though none go with me, I still will follow ♪ ♪ No turning back, no turning back ♪ ♪ My cross I'll carry, 'til I see Jesus ♪ ♪ My cross I'll carry, 'til I see Jesus ♪ ♪ My cross I'll carry, 'til I see Jesus ♪ ♪ No turning back, I'll follow him ♪

>>What a blessed opportunity we have had this day to share together in the things of God. And it's always our privilege to gather together on the Lord's day and ask you to join us each and every Lord's day at 7:30 as we commit ourselves to these offerings before the throne of God itself. But for now, let me ask if you have any questions or comments about today's lesson, maybe you'd like a free transcript or a free CD or DVD of the program, or possibly we could assist you with free Bible materials, or free Bible correspondent courses. No matter what your need is, please feel free to contact us at the following address The Living Word, 2540 North Kansas Expressway, Springfield Missouri, 65803. Many of these items are also available on our website, that address, thelivingwordprogram.com. Or if you prefer, you may call us at 869-2284. Praise be to God for the fact that the Messiah has come into the world and offered us salvation. May we therefore respond to what God offers so that we might be obedient to his will and thus recipients of his wondrous promises.

>>Our prayer is to help the world know more about God through this television program. "The Living Word" has been brought to you under the oversight of the Elders of Kansas Expressway Church of Christ in Springfield, Missouri, with the assistance of the following area churches of Christ. ♪ And save the world ♪ ♪ Give me the bible, holy, precious, shinning ♪ ♪ The light shall guide me in the narrow way ♪ ♪ Rings have been promised ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ 'Til I shall ♪