- ♪ Give me the Bible ♪

>>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. ♪ Thy light shall guide me in the narrow way ♪ As we present "The Living Word." ♪ Precept and promise, law and love combining ♪ ♪ Til night shall vanish in eternal day ♪ Now here is your host, Ray Sullins.

>>In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus once proclaimed, "The pure in heart will see God." The question this morning is are you living in such a way and striving to keep your heart pure, so that you will see God someday? Thank you for choosing to be with us this day and for joining us for "The Living Word" program. We are excited that you have joined us for this time of offering and encouragement in relationship to the things of God and to participate and do our own offerings before the throne of God, that we might in all things be found pleasing in His sight. We are glad that you have joined us as we again gather before our savior. Our commitment this morning is to give glory to the creator through the singing of songs of praise as well as the study of His perfect Word. And I hope and pray that we'll all do our part, so that we might always do those things that God has asked of us. As we begin our offering to God, at this time will you bow with me before His throne in prayer? Our God and Father in heaven, we thank You so much for this day and the many great blessings of life, the privilege that we have to be called Your children and to be servants and workers in Your kingdom. And Father, we thank You as well that we have the opportunity to not only know Your will but to know what You would have us to do to be found pleasing in the end, that ultimately through Your grace, love and mercy, we might have life and life eternal. And Father, we thank You that You have given us the ability to obey Your gospel and to know exactly what we should do in order that we might be recipients of all of these great things. Help us to do all we do in spirit and truth now, according to Your perfect will, in Jesus' name we pray, amen. One of the great blessings and privileges that we have as God's creation is to know that we are called by Him and called into obedience. Our first song of the morning reminds us as to why we should be willing not only to know God but to always follow His will. So at this time won't you join in with the congregation as we sing together, "I Know That My Redeemer Lives." ♪ I know that my redeemer lives ♪ ♪ And living, cares for me ♪ ♪ I know eternal life He gives ♪ ♪ And gave on Calvary ♪ ♪ O 'twas wonderful, wonderful love ♪ ♪ That brought Him from Heaven above ♪ ♪ As a ransom, to die on the tree ♪ ♪ To save a poor sinner like me ♪ ♪ I know the promise cannot fail ♪ ♪ The hour is drawing nigh ♪ ♪ Though cruel death my flesh assail ♪ ♪ My soul shall never die ♪ ♪ O 'twas wonderful, wonderful love ♪ ♪ That brought Him from Heaven above ♪ ♪ As a ransom, to die on the tree ♪ ♪ To save a poor sinner like me ♪ ♪ I know my mansion He prepares ♪ ♪ Beside the crystal sea ♪ ♪ That where He lives and loves and cares ♪ ♪ There I may ever be ♪ ♪ O 'twas wonderful, wonderful love ♪ ♪ That brought Him from Heaven above ♪ ♪ As a ransom to die on the tree ♪ ♪ To save a poor sinner like me ♪

>>In Psalm 51:10, we find some of the most beautiful and thought-provoking words that were ever written by David. Here he says, "Create in me a clean heart, oh God and renew a steadfast spirit within me." Oh, what a wonderful spirit we see in this child of God as he prostrated himself before the Almighty to confess his need for help. And in this passage we find that David clearly implied the problem of sin was prevalent in his life. Because of this, what did he request? "A clean heart, Oh God." How many of us also struggle with sin and temptation in life? Certainly we all do. The question might be how often do we find ourselves actually slipping or falling into those things which are not approved by God? You see, David was also there and he suffered at times because he did not do the will of God and because he fell short of what God had commanded. This request for a clean heart then, also would imply that David wanted to be more like his creator. Remember the cries by God throughout the Old Testament as He pled with His people to be holy? He said, "For I am holy." This is found in Leviticus 11:45. It is from this knowledge that you and I must also understand that God is pleading with us that we might, as well, have a clean heart and furthermore keep in mind that today because of Christ we have the ability to be completely forgiven of sins if we will all but ask and then obey through repentance. Finally, notice the second part of David's request when he said, "And renew a steadfast spirit within me." Here we find another plea from this great servant of God that the Lord gave him and would give him a renewed strength and the ability to be as God in the things that he did and said. Oh, what a wonderful church and people of God that we would be today if we would only rely on God and make a similar request to be like God. Our Lord can help us and our Lord can give us a clean heart if we but do our part and ask of Him and then try to put into practice those things that He has asked of all of us. The question for us this day might be, are we willing to do our part? Are we willing to truly commit to God and follow Him in all things and to be obedient to His perfect will? If not, why not choose today to recommit yourself and to give God your very best that you might not only be a faithful child in this life, but that you might know you'll have the great rewards of the life to come. Today we're happy to have Brother Jerry Sullins with us to lead our main lesson thoughts of the day. Brother Jerry is the director of the Bible Institute of Missouri here in Springfield, Missouri and we thank him for being with us this Lord's Day. As far as our topic of study this morning, we'll be considering a new series of study which is entitled "The Works of the Flesh." And our first lesson of the day will deal with adultery and fornication, so please continue with us this morning and after our next song together, Brother Jerry will return and lead us in this study from God's Word. The name of our next hymn, "Seek Ye First." ♪ Seek ye first the kingdom of God ♪ ♪ And His righteousness ♪ ♪ And all these things shall be added unto you ♪ ♪ Singing allelu, alleluia ♪ ♪ Seek ye first the kingdom of God ♪ ♪ And His righteousness ♪ ♪ And all these things shall be added unto you ♪ ♪ Singing allelu, alleluia ♪ ♪ Ask and it shall be given unto you ♪ ♪ Seek and ye shall find ♪ ♪ Knock and the door shall be opened unto you ♪ ♪ Singing allelu, alleluia ♪ ♪ Ask and it shall be given unto you ♪ ♪ Seek and ye shall find ♪ ♪ Knock and the door shall be opened unto you ♪ ♪ Singing allelu, alleluia ♪ ♪ Man shall not live by bread alone ♪ ♪ But by every word ♪ ♪ That proceeds from the mouth of God ♪ ♪ Singing allelu, alleluia ♪ ♪ Man shall not live by bread alone ♪ ♪ But by every word ♪ ♪ That proceeds from the mouth of God ♪ ♪ Singing allelu, alleluia ♪

>>Welcome again to "The Living Word" broadcast. We're so happy that you're in our viewing audience today. We hope and pray that the things that are said may be helpful to you as we all strive to know God's will, hopefully, and to seek His will and have an eternal rest with Him in heaven someday. Sin is something that all of us deal with in life. In fact, the Bible even says in Romans 3, "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." Many people in this life today do not believe in God. I'm not speaking necessarily to those people, except I want you to understand that God is, the God that we're speaking of, is the one that's spoken of in Acts 17, "For in Him we live and move and have our being and we are all of His creation." Today, I hope to, in some way, help you to understand what sin is and what we need to do to overcome that malady that is in our life. The prophet Isaiah said in Isaiah 59:1-2, "That the Lord's hand is not shortened that it cannot save. Neither is ear heavy that he will not hear but your sins," that is your iniquities, "Have separated you from your God and your sins have hid his face from you so that he will not hear." So, that's what sin is. Some people say, "Well, further describe it for me." The Bible describes sin in this way in I John 3:4, that sin is lawlessness. "Whoever commits sin commits lawlessness and sin is lawlessness." One version says it is a transgression of God's law. Some people have asked me in the past years, "Well, are there any specific examples of sin or list of sin in the Bible?" Well, they're listed throughout the Bible, but I'll call your attention to the new covenant under Jesus Christ our Lord in Romans 1:29-32, you can read of sins that are present even in this age and will always be present until the Lord comes again. I Corinthians 6, also read I and II Peter, in fact, you can read almost any New Testament book and you can hear, including the gospel accounts, of the sins that people were guilty of that the Lord Himself and the apostles of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, mention to people that will keep you out of that eternal home. In the next few weeks, we will be discussing sins individually that are mentioned especially in Galatians 5:19-21. I'd like for you, if you have your Bible, to turn with me to hear about these sins that the churches of Galatia, that province in Asia Minor, were dealing with on a daily basis. And the apostle Paul given these words by God through the Holy Spirit said, beginning in verse 19, "Now the works of the flesh are evident which are adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outburst of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envies, murders, drunkenness, revelries and the like of which I tell you beforehand, just as I have told you in times past that they who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of heaven." Is these something that we ought to consider in our lives? Should we understand what these sins are? Should we consider that they will keep us out of heaven? I think basically what God is trying to say to us through His Holy Spirit, through the apostle Paul, is to give us a knowledge of what sins, at least these categories of sins, that will keep you out of heaven. I'm reminded of a verse that's found in the book of I John 2:15 where it says simply this, "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world for all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the Father but of the world. The world passes away and the lust thereof but he who does the will of God abides forever." It seems like to me in this world today that people are ignoring their sins and their iniquities, which is basically the same thing. Are you? The reason we present these programs each Sunday is so that you might consider your relationship with God. The world needs to understand, and we are all a part of the world, that God expects certain things of us as far as those things that will make us holy and He expects us to keep away from those things that are evil in this world, that are ungodly, un-Christlike and to live a godly life in this world. Now, these sins, whether you like to believe it or not and will accept it or not, will keep us out of heaven. I will start this series this morning by discussing you in the few minutes that are left, the first two sins that are mentioned in this list in the book of Galatians 5:19 and they are simply adultery and fornication. Many people do not want to accept what God says about these two sins. I wonder myself why God put these in front of all others, not because that any sin will not keep us out of heaven because any sin will keep us out of heaven, but these are sins that God has dealt with from the very beginning. It was intended in the mind of God from the very beginning that two people would marry in the sight of God and in the sight of culture and custom to be recognized as those who are joined together by God. Why is it did Jesus say or actually attend a marriage feast in Cana of Galilee to recognize that two people were married and therefore had the ability to live together as husband and wife? Why does God grant divorce or would grant divorce, even though according to Malachi 2:15, He hated divorce? Why did He grant that someone might divorce unless there was a marriage agreement? Adultery is a sin that is so rampant in our society today. Do you realize that even if you contact any source of information in the secular world today concerning how many people who are married or divorced, now although at one time, two out of five was the number, now today, every other marriage that takes place ends in divorce and even a less percentage than that. How sad that is. How God will not accept such a thing. This is a lifestyle that is accepted in America today, for sure as well as in many parts of our world. I want to call your attention to what Jesus said as He was answering a question made by the Pharisees. Is it lawful for a man, this is in Matthew 19, to divorce his wife for just any reason? Now Jesus took them back to the saying that is found in Genesis 1 through Genesis 2, and that is that God joins together, He fuses together a man and a woman. They become one flesh and there the statement is made, "What God has joined together, let no man put asunder." And Jesus made this statement in verse nine, "I say unto you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery." Now, what is one of those sins that keeps us out of heaven? The Holy Spirit from the words of God Himself said to Paul in Galatians 5:19 as we have read, that adultery will keep you out of the kingdom of heaven. My friend, I ask you one thing and that is, are you guilty of adultery? Sexual immorality that is actually committed between a married person with someone other than his or her spouse? Are you guilty of that? Now, you say, "Preacher, why are you mentioning these things?" I'm saying that I'm only repeating what Jesus Himself said, so if you want to be right with God, you cannot commit adultery. The second one for our consideration this morning is fornication. Now, this is a broad word that is mentioned in the original language, which simply says that it is any kind of sexual activity between a married person or any person, towards another individual or of any kind. Now, that covers so many people in our world today. What amazes me is how people try to cloud the understanding of what fornication and adultery is by simply saying, "These people are sleeping together." Oh, they're not sleeping together if they're not married. Marriage is undefiled if you are married as God expects you to be married properly. Why do people say they're sleeping together? No, my friend, you're not sleeping together, you're committing fornication. Fornication will keep you out of the kingdom of heaven. You say, "Well, what's wrong with it?" Well, God said it is a sin. It is missing the mark that God has set for us in our lives. It is something that will cause us to lose our souls. Are you guilty of such a sin? Those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of heaven. But in these closing minutes, let me emphasize to you, after a long list of sins given in I Corinthians 6, that the Apostle Paul actually speaking the words of God Himself said concerning these Christians in Corinth who had been converted from all types of sins which included homosexuality and everything else, he said, "But you are washed, you are sanctified, you are justified in the name of Jesus Christ." That is by His authority, you are cleansed from that sin, and he was encouraging these people, "Now keep away from those sins." It is my desire this morning not to insult anyone, not to be looking down in a descending way to anyone, but to simply get you to recognize that God expects us to keep these sins that are mentioned in Galatians 5, as well as throughout the New Testament, keep them away from us and not be a part of any of these sins, for they will keep us out of the kingdom of heaven and as every prophet of old, Jesus Christ, John the Baptist, and everyone who were preaching repentance unto the remission of sins, I call upon you today to repent, to turn away from those sins, to give your life to God through baptism in the name and by the authority of Jesus Christ, to cleanse yourself from your sins and to keep away from those sins and encourage everyone in this life to observe God's will and to live as God wants you to live, faithful unto death and you, my friend, will receive that crown of life. ♪ Blue skies and rainbows and sunbeams from heaven ♪ ♪ Are what I can see when my Lord's living in me ♪ ♪ I know that Jesus is well and alive today ♪ ♪ He makes His home in my heart ♪ ♪ Never more will I be all alone ♪ ♪ Since He promised me that we never would part ♪ ♪ Green grass and flowers all blooming in springtime ♪ ♪ Are works of the Master I live for each day ♪ ♪ I know that Jesus is well and alive today ♪ ♪ He makes His home in my heart ♪ ♪ Never more will I be all alone ♪ ♪ Since He promised me that we never would part ♪ ♪ Tall mountains, green valleys ♪ ♪ The beauty that surrounds me ♪ ♪ All make me aware of the One who made it all ♪ ♪ I know that Jesus is well and alive today ♪ ♪ He makes His home in my heart ♪ ♪ Never more will I be all alone ♪ ♪ Since He promised me that we never would part ♪

>>Again, let me thank you for choosing to be with us this morning. I hope we've all been encouraged through our time spent together, and remember that you're invited to join us every Sunday morning at 7:30 as we commit ourselves to this time of service before the throne of God. 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 free CD or DVD of the program or possibly we could assist you with free Bible materials or free Bible correspondence 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 417-869-2284. Hopefully, we have begun to learn this day those things which will keep us from the kingdom of God and eternal life with our creator. The question is, will we be those who heed the warnings and strive to remain pure according to God's will? Now, we always put God first in the things that we do for Him today.

>>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 the Kansas Expressway Church of Christ in Springfield, Missouri, with the assistance of the following area Churches of Christ. ♪ Give me the Bible, holy message shining ♪ ♪ Thy light shall guide me in the narrow way ♪ ♪ Precept and promise, law and love combining ♪ ♪ Till night shall vanish in eternal day ♪