TBU Comprehensive Study 36
TBU Comprehensive Study 36
TBU Comprehensive Study 36
Unpacked
36. Standing Firm
Paul Mallison
The Bible
™
Unpacked
Paul Mallison
The Bible Unpacked™ Copyright © 1994–2017 by Paul Ian Mallison. All rights reserved.
This book may be freely reproduced for use for non-profit Christian purposes. Free
electronic copies may be downloaded at: www.thebibleunpacked.net. In return, users are
asked to increase their support of persecuted Christians – in prayer and if possible
financially. (See www.thebibleunpacked.net/persecuted_Christians.htm for a list of
organizations that help persecuted Christians.)
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the NET Bible®
copyright ©1996–2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://www.bible.org/ All rights
reserved. Scripture quoted by permission.
Scripture quotations marked “CEV” are from the Contemporary English Version
Copyright © 1991, 1992, 1995 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.
Scripture quotations marked “ESV” are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard
Version®, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked “GNT” are from the Good News Translation in Today’s English
Version- Second Edition Copyright © 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.
Scripture quotations marked “GW” are taken from God’s Word® Copyright 1995 God's
Word to the Nations. Used by permission of Baker Publishing Group. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked “ISV” are taken from the Holy Bible: International
Standard Version®, Release 1.44. Copyright © 1996–2007 by The ISV Foundation of
Fullerton, California USA. Used by permission of Davidson Press, LLC. All rights reserved
internationally.
Scripture quotations marked “NCV™” are taken from the New Century Version®.
Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked “NKJV” are taken from The New King James Version /
Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers., Copyright © 1982.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Quotations of short phrases from other Bible translations are on occasions included in
comments on the verses. The copyright notices for these translations are given below.
Scripture quotations marked “AMP” are taken from the Amplified® Bible, Copyright ©
1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org).
Scripture quotations marked “NASB” are taken from the New American Standard Bible®,
Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman
Foundation. Used by permission.
Scripture quotations marked “NLT” are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living
Translation, copyright 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.,
Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked “NRSV” are from the New Revised Standard Version of the
Bible, copyright © 1989 by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Contents
I. General
a) Be Faithful to God .............................................................................. 2
A Quick Word
This series of studies aims to present a compilation of the Bible’s
teachings in a clear and readable order. There are 40 booklets in the
series, based on the 40 chapters of the book The Bible Unpacked -
Comprehensive Edition. Each booklet has two sections, which can be used
for two or more studies.
See Topics in This Series towards the end of this booklet for a full listing of
all the topics. Note that studying booklets alternatively from the two
major sections (What to Know and What to Do) would add variety.
The material contains Bible verses. Before the verses are headings, which
reflect what the verses say – in particular the parts of the verses in italics.
The verses are sometimes followed by a comment.
The verses often have a brief introduction. Usually these state who is
speaking and often who they are speaking to. Apart from God and Jesus
Christ, the main speakers are:
Moses – who lead the Israelites and taught them God’s laws;
David – Israel’s greatest king who wrote many of the psalms, most of
which are essentially prayers;
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel and other prophets – who spoke to the
people of Israel on God’s behalf; and
Paul, Peter, John and other leaders of the early church – who spoke to
various groups and wrote letters to believers.
Much care has been taken in order to correctly interpret the verses.
Nevertheless, if you encounter a verse that is used to teach something
that is contrary to or goes beyond your understanding, assess its use by
doing such things as: reading the passage it is from; and considering how
its teaching fits in with Scripture as a whole (e.g. interpret OT teaching in
the light of NT teaching).
Paul Mallison
36. Standing Firm v
Preliminary matters:
Beforehand the leader should: check the context of any verses they are
not familiar with; and review the questions. If need be, they should
compose questions more applicable to the group.
Each person should have a Bible, for things such as checking a verse’s
context. It would also be helpful to have Bible commentaries on hand.
Pray before beginning the study. Ask God for help in understanding the
meaning of the verses and to affect your lives through them. Also pray
together at the end.
a) Be Faithful to God
What is involved in serving God faithfully with all our heart (cf. 1Sam
12:24)? What attitudes and actions are needed to do so?
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
God’s commands are to be on the hearts of his people (v. 6). As such
his people should take steps to keep his commands in their thoughts
(vv. 7–9).
How can apparent believers get to the point where they effectively
forget God? What things should we look out for, so that we do not
forget God?
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
6 The Bible Unpacked - Comprehensive Study Series
See also:
Be Faithful to God and Endure, Ch. 40
Which of the fruits of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22–23 do you think
you most need to work on producing? What can you do regarding this?
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
How is the Christian life like a sporting contest (cf. 2 Timothy 4:7-8)?
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
What are some indicators that people are falling away from God?
What are the danger signs to look out for?
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
36. I. General 11
See also:
The Timing of Jesus Christ’s Return, Ch. 15
As you do not know when Jesus Christ will come, keep watch
and be ready
M ATT 24 : 42–44 “So keep on watching, because you don’t know on
what day your Lord is coming. 43But be sure of this: if the owner of the
house had known when during the night the thief would be coming, he
would have stayed awake and not allowed his house to be broken into.
44
So you, too, must be ready, because at an hour you are not
expecting him the Son of Man will come.” ISV
will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place
there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. ESV
Wait eagerly for Jesus Christ’s return and for all that will follow
P HIL 3 : 20–21 [P AU L :] We, however, are citizens of heaven, and we
eagerly wait for our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, to come from
heaven. 21He will change our weak mortal bodies and make them like
his own glorious body, using that power by which he is able to bring
all things under his rule. GNT
J UDE 1 : 21 Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the Lord Jesus
Christ with his mercy to give you life forever. NCV™
The “Day” is the day of Christ’s return. The “Wicked One” is quite
likely the first beast of Revelation 13, understood by many to be a
final antichrist.
Are there any indicators (cf. Matt 24:4–14) that Jesus Christ’s return
may be drawing near?
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Are you ready for Jesus Christ’s return? If you knew he was returning
in the next twelve months, what would you do differently?
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
See also:
5. Angels, Satan and Demons
The Greek rendered here as “fight the good fight” alludes to warfare
(cf. AMP), in contrast to the Greek behind the same rendering later in
6:12. As such it refers to or at least reflects the spiritual warfare in
which believers are involved.
The opposing desires of the sinful nature and the Holy Spirit, who
indwells believers, produce spiritual conflict within believers. Note
that the final clause is probably speaking of the influence of the sinful
nature in hindering one from doing the good one wants to do – in
conflict with the Holy Spirit. Alternatively, it possibly could be
speaking of the Spirit helping us to not indulge the desires that we
naturally want to fulfill.
How can we counteract “the desires of the flesh” (1Pet 2:11; cf. Gal 5:17)?
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Resist Satan
J AMES 4 : 7 So submit to God. But resist the devil and he will flee from
you.
1P ET 5 : 9
Be firm in your faith and resist him [Satan], because you
know that your fellow-believers in all the world are going through
the same kind of sufferings. GNT
. . . God’s word; . . .
E PH 6 : 17 And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit,
which is the word of God.
The description of God’s word as “the sword of the Spirit” reflects its:
power; offensive and defensive roles; spiritual nature; and importance
to the work of the Holy Spirit. Note that the “helmet of salvation”
may well have in view the hope of salvation (cf. 1Thes 5:8).
. . . and prayer
M ATT 6 : 13 [P R AY ER TO G O D :] Don’t allow us to be tempted. Instead,
rescue us from the evil one. GW
In the face of evil (cf. vv. 11, 13), believers should keep on praying –
not just for themselves but for all God’s people.
What are “the burning arrows shot by the Evil One” (Eph 6:16) – and
how does faith enable us to put them out?
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
c) Counteraction of Demons
drove out many demons, and rubbed olive oil on many sick people
and healed them. GNT
These verses show that Jesus gave his disciples authority over
demons. They do not imply that this authority is necessarily given to
all believers.
The Holy Spirit, faith and prayer also figure in the driving out
of demons
M ATT 12 : 28 [J ES US :] But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then
the kingdom of God has already overtaken you.
M ATT 17 : 18–20 Then Jesus spoke sternly to the demon. It went out of
the boy, and right then he was healed. 19Later the disciples went to
Jesus in private and asked him, “Why couldn’t we force out the
demon?” 20–21Jesus replied: It is because you don’t have enough faith!
But I can promise you this. If you had faith no larger than a mustard
seed, you could tell this mountain to move from here to there. And it
would. Everything would be possible for you. CEV
M ARK 9 : 28–29 Then, after he [Jesus] went into the house, his disciples
29
asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we cast it out?” He told them,
“This kind can come out only by prayer.”
24 The Bible Unpacked - Comprehensive Study Series
Some people worry a lot about Satan and demons, while others are
hardly concerned at all. How should we view them?
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
I SA 47 : 13–14 A [G O D ,
TO THE B ABY LO NIANS :] You are powerless in spite of
the advice you get. Let your astrologers come forward and save you—
those people who study the stars, who map out the zones of the
heavens and tell you from month to month what is going to happen to
you. 14“They will be like bits of straw, and a fire will burn them up!
They will not even be able to save themselves … GNT
Are you aware of anything which draws your devotion away from
God? If so, what can you do about it?
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
28 The Bible Unpacked - Comprehensive Study Series
Notes
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
36. Standing Firm 29
Notes
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
30 The Bible Unpacked - Comprehensive Study Series
Notes
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
36. Standing Firm 31
Part A. God and Spiritual Powers Part C. God and the World: Jesus Christ
Part B. God and the World: Basics Part D. God and His Own People
Then the King will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, anything you did for even the
least of my people here, you also did for me.’ Matthew 25:40 NCV
This series of studies is based on the
Comprehensive Edition of The Bible Unpacked.