These are a few of the talks that have been given to the young people.
Below is a list of questions asked by young people, and some answers to them (for the headings in Capital letters follow the jump-links below to move quickly to the subject areas)
• God
• The Devil
• The Blessings of Faith in Christ
• Life
Q1: If God created the world, who created God?
We are here and had a beginning. The law of cause and effect shows that:
1. Everything that has a beginning has to have a cause.
2. The universe has a beginning.
3. Therefore the universe has a cause and some extremely intelligent and powerful being must have started it.
As the universe is characterized by matter and time, therefore God, its creator, must be outside of time. So God Who started this whole process must be everlasting. God Who is different to the universe, had no beginning, so did not need a cause.
Q2: As God is in heaven which is above us then surely going into the earth is going to the devil?
There are Bible verses which give the impression that heaven is “up there” e.g. “So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.” (Mark 16:19) and “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first.” (1Thessalonians 4:16). However if we take things from a fixed physical position at a particular time e.g. midday when heaven is above and earth is beneath, then at midnight, when we are the other side of the world, the earth is above and heaven is beneath!” We do not actually know where heaven is in relation to the earth. Maybe on the day and time when the Lord Jesus ascended back to heaven from the Mount of Olives (Acts 1:12, Luke 25:50-51, Mark 11:1), then that might have been the right time and place for Him to ascend straight to heaven. However the point is that Christ did ascend to God’s right hand (Ephesians 1:20: Hebrews 1:3) but the route that He took to get there God has not revealed to us as we could not grasp it and it so is not really important. But the really great thing is that believers are going to be with Christ in the glory of heaven (John 14:2-3). Therefore the important question is have I trusted in the Lord Jesus for the forgiveness of my sins?
THE DEVIL
Q1: What does the name ‘Devil’ or ‘Satan’ mean?
The Devil means false accuser, slanderer. Satan means opponent, adversary.
Q2: What are some of the other names that are used of him?
Father of lies – John 8:44, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. 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.” The evil one – 2 Thessalonians 3:3; the god of this world – 2 Corinthians 4:4; The prince of the power of the air – Ephesians 2:2 and the prince of this world (John 14:30). He is called the prince of this world for the kingdoms of the world are given to him because man sinned (Luke 4:5-6). He is called the god of this world for he wants to be worshipped instead of God. He causes men to worship him by deceiving them into worshipping false gods and false religions. “But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils.” (1 Corinthians 10:20)
Q3: Is the Devil with you all the time?
No, the devil is not omnipresent like God. He can only be in one place at once. Job 1:6-7 “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. The Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” The devil has to move around the world so he cannot be every where at once. He has many demons (fallen angels) who do his work for him.
Q4: How can the Devil do these things? Is the Devil bigger than us?
The devil was created as a very powerful being, an angel. They are mighty (Psalm 103:20) and he was given a very high place in the hierarchy of angels (Ezekiel 28:14). He is far more powerful than us and opposes us (Ephesians 6:12), Psalms 103:20 “Bless the Lord, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his word, obeying the voice of his word!” Ezekiel 28:14 “You were an anointed guardian cherub. I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God; in the midst of the stones of fire you walked.” Ephesians 6:12 “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in high places (meaning the heavenly places).”
Q5: Does the Devil know what is planned for your life and how it’s going to end?
No, only God knows the future. Isaiah 46:9-10 says: “For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose’ “.
Q6: Why does the Devil so badly want to take over?
He only has a short time before he will be defeated and so is doing all he can to oppose God and us. Revelation 12:12 says: “Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!”
Q7: Why does the Devil want our soul?
The Bible doesn’t speak of the devil wanting our souls or we being able to sell our souls to the devil. But he is the enemy of God and by extension, the enemy of all humans as we are all created in the image of God. He is the enemy of Christians: “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8)
Revelation 2:10 (Written to the church at Smyrna): “Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life”. He is the enemy of people who aren’t Christians (unbelievers), 2 Corinthians 4:4 says “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest (so that) the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”
The devil is also referred to by the Lord Jesus in the parable of the sower in Luke 8:12: “Those by the way side are they that hear; then comes the devil, and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest (so that) they should believe and be saved.”
Q8: Did God know the Devil was going to be big headed?
Yes, God knows all things; see the verse from Isaiah in the answer to question 3.
Q9: Why did God create the Devil if He knew that the Devil would freely choose to disobey Him?
We can suggest a couple of reasons for this: The devil falling and tempting Adam and Eve to sin, allowed God to show His great love by the Lord Jesus dying on the cross to save us from our sins. John 15:13 – Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. The devil being thrown out of heaven when he rebelled (Isaiah 14:12) and being thrown into the lake of fire in the future (Revelation 20:10) allows God to show us how He is holy and righteous and as a result of this must judge sin.
Q10: Does Jesus still love the Devil?
The Bible doesn’t say directly whether Jesus loves or hates the devil. But we know: God hates evil, lying, pride, disobedience etc, all the things that mark the devil, that Jesus came to defeat and destroy the devil and that ultimately the devil will be punished in the lake of fire (Revelation 20:10). 1 John 3:8 – The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. Hebrews 2:14-16 – “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham”.
Q11: How do you know when God or the Devil is talking to you?
God speaks through His Word rather than audibly to us. The Bible doesn’t indicate that we can expect the devil to speak to us, but we see that he is a liar and always seeks to oppose the truth of God. Sin came into the world after the devil caused Eve to doubt what God had said in Genesis 3:3 “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the Bible shows that the devil has introduced false teachers and false prophets. So, whenever someone tells us something we go to the Bible to check whether what we have heard is true, like the people of Berea did and like John encourages us in 1 John. Acts 17:10-11 “The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so”. 1 John 4:1-3 – “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already”.
CREATION OR EVOLUTION
Q1: How big is the universe?
Some people estimate that there are 200 billion, or 400 billion or 1,000 billion stars in the Milky Way alone! Then it is estimated that there are about 500 billion galaxies in space! Therefore no human being knows how big the universe is. However as “God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1) and “He made the stars also” (Genesis 1:16) then God knows how big the universe is. It could well be that the angels do as well.
What is all the more amazing is that God, Who is Almighty (Genesis 17:1) and holy (1 Peter 1:16 and Leviticus 11:44), actually loves and that God “the Father has sent the Son as Saviour of the world (1 John 4:14). Consequently “whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
THE BLESSINGS OF FAITH IN CHRIST
Q1: I am very conscious that I am a sinner, however, what if we sin and then we repent about it, but afterwards we tend to sin again the same sin as we did. My question: Does God forgive us in this situation?
Answer: Thank you for asking such an important question! When a person trusts in Christ as their Saviour, God blesses them with every spiritual blessing (Ephesians 1v3). These blessings can be divided into “relationship” blessings and “fellowship” blessings. Relationship blessings are totally dependant on Christ but fellowship blessings are dependant on us. An illustration is that you are the child of your parents and that is your unchangeable relationship with them. Your fellowship, i.e. how well you get on with your parents is changeable, but does not affect your relationship with them. This is the same with a believer, our sin can affect our fellowship with God, but never our relationship with Him. All spiritual blessings come through our Lord Jesus Christ, the unfailing Son of God, and not through our efforts. It is Christ Who died for our sins and rose again and not ourselves (1 Corinthians 15v3-4). At the moment of faith you took your eyes off yourself and believed in, or relied on, the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 16v31) for the forgiveness of sins and all the other spiritual blessings from God. For example Romans 5v1 “Therefore being justified (made right in God’s sight) by faith, we HAVE peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
About the forgiveness of sins we read:
Romans 4v7 “Blessed are they whose INIQUITIES (meaning my deliberate lawlessness or self will) ARE FORGIVEN, and whose SINS ARE COVERED.”
Colossians 1v14 “In whom (Christ v13) we have redemption … through his blood, even THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS.” No exceptions for any sins, however dreadful, are made.
Colossians 2v13 says about God “… having forgiven (again past tense) you ALL (again no exceptions) trespasses (they are going over the line).” Hebrews 9v26 “… but now once in the end of the world (here meaning age) hath he (Christ v24) appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.” Notice that God says, “but NOW” at the end of the age Christ appeared to PUT AWAY SIN by the sacrifice of Himself at the cross. So in our relationship to God, He says that sin has been put away as far as He is concerned and this is entirely dependant on Christ.
1John 1v7 “…, AND THE BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST HIS SON CLEANSETH US FROM ALL SIN.” There is not one single sin that the blood of Christ has not permanently cleansed us from.
1John 2v12 “I write unto you, little children, BECAUSE YOUR SINS ARE FORGIVEN YOU for his (v1 Jesus Christ) name’s sake.”
So my relationship to God, or my standing in Christ, is one of being totally forgiven. These are amazing statements that God has made about us and He wants us to believe and enjoy them.
But what about the day to day living? Every person has a sinful nature that likes to sin and at faith in Christ the believer receives everlasting life (John 3v16, 36, 5v24, Romans 6v23, 1 John 2v25, 5v13). The Bible says that this new spiritual life is in conflict with the sinful nature, called “the flesh” as in Galatians 5v17, “For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.” The word “lust” means strong desire and often refers to strong desires after wrong things, but not always.
However God our Father has made it possible for our fellowship to be maintained with Him. If we sin, our fellowship, i.e. sharing in common, with God, is broken but he says in 1 John 1v9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Here God says that if we “confess OUR sins”, then He is “faithful … to FORGIVE US OUR SINS”. As our faithful Divine Father He will keep His promise that when we confess our sins then He WILL forgive us. He will also be “just (righteous) to forgive us our sins” because Christ has paid the price for them ALL at the cross. So this forgiveness is not freedom from the eternal judgment of our sins but the restoration of fellowship with God. Then God adds that He will cleanse us from the effects of all unrighteousness, i.e. what is not right. So there is a double result of confession, i.e. deliverance from the guilt of sin, and being cleansed from its pollution. Also when we confess our sins we may still feel guilty afterwards and so think that we have not been forgiven. So we confess it again etc., but as far as God our Father is concerned we were forgiven at the first confession, whatever are our feelings.
That sin is a big problem to the Christian is seen in Romans 7v14-15 “For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal {i.e. spiritually fleshly and not experiencing victory over the power of sin in his life}, sold under sin {i.e. he feels like he is sold as a slave to sin as his master}. For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.” In Romans c8 he learns more of his spiritual blessings and the power of the Holy Spirit in his life.
LIFE
Q1: Will you go to hell if you do not attend Church on Sundays?
Those who sadly go to hell are those who do not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour as seen below:
John 8:24 “Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”
Romans 10:9 “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Hebrews 10:39 “But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.”
Therefore not going to church or a Gospel Hall or a place where God’s word the Bible is taught and preached will not condemn you to hell and neither does just attending church meetings make you fit for heaven. However if you do other things instead of going to church then you will not hear the Word of God which can bring further knowledge to help you to salvation or further learn and be blessed by the eternal truth of God in life. If you want to go to church but are stopped by others in authority then the Lord does understand that. However seek not let that become an excuse so that you regularly miss hearing the truth of life. If you find some of adult the Bible messages boring then ask God to help you to understand and be blessed by at least something from His Word, the Bible.
Q2: Does the Bible say that we are all brothers and sisters?
It depends who you are referring to. Concerning the whole human race the Bible does not say that we are all brothers and sisters although it does say: “And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings. … “For in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’ (meaning created by God). Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising.” (Acts 17:26, 28-29)
However concerning those who have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour we read: “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” (1John 3:1-2). “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:26). Therefore at the time of faith in Christ a person becomes a child of God and so becomes part of the family of God and so every other believer is either his brother or sister. This is referred to in:“For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother” (Mark 3:35). So believers are bound by stronger ties to fellow-Christians than they are to those blood relations who are not saved.
Q3: Is it normal to feel that you do not deserve the life you are having?
Answer: I would certainly say that it’s not abnormal! Life can be difficult, disappointing and frustrating, even for Christians. For some it often is. The fact that a person has chosen to trust in God does not save them from encountering problems in life, perhaps serious ones. There may be times in believers’ lives where we are working hard and trusting God and despite our best efforts things just seem to go wrong.
One is Joseph, Jacob’s son. He was sold into slavery by his brothers, an awful fate that no doubt filled him with fear, pain and uncertainty. As a slave, Joseph’s service was so useful and diligent that his master promoted him to the highest position in his house. Yet despite all this, Joseph ended up stuck in prison for possibly seven years. This was because he wanted to be faithful to God and ran from the opportunity to sleep with his master’s wife (Genesis 39v7-20)! Out of all his brothers, Joseph would have been the last one to ‘deserve’ that kind of life, and he must have at times been feeling very low.
Another Biblical example is Job. Job was extremely prosperous but had everything taken away from him. In one day he lost all his business and all his children and soon afterwards his health as well! What’s more his so-called friends came to him and told him how all these disasters must have somehow been his fault. We get a window on Job’s emotions as he argues with his friends and asks God why these things happened to him. Job states that it would have been better that he had not been born (Job 10v19) and even begs for death at God’s hands since he cannot see any further purpose to living (Job 14v13)!
The best example however is the Lord Jesus Himself. The writer to the Hebrews composed his letter to a group of Jewish Christians, many of whom were having a hard time (Hebrews 10v34). He encourages them to think about the Lord Jesus “that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds” (Hebrews 12v3). The Lord Jesus should have been welcomed by the world but instead He was rejected by them (John 1v11). Instead of listening to Him, they criticized everything He did and looked for ways to trip Him up (Matthew 12v1-2, 13; Luke 15v2).Finally, they took Him and put upon the cross, the greatest act of injustice, humiliation and suffering that they could devise. As He was the Son of God, the Lord Jesus certainly did not deserve such treatment, but He endured it for you and me.
As believers, when we experience difficulty that we feel is undeserved, we must remember that we are not the first or the last to do so. We live in a sinful, fallen world and we may expect to go through difficulty in our lives, perhaps especially if we are trying to live for God. However, we can always remind ourselves that the Lord Jesus suffered for us even though He did not deserve it, and we have been saved by trusting in Him, even though we did not deserve that.
We can rely on the gracious promises of God, who encourages us to cast “all your care upon him; for he careth for you” (1Peter 5v7). When God said that He wants you to cast, in believing prayer, all your cares and worries on Him, He meant it and really cares for you. At the end Job had all things restored to him and more, Joseph was released from prison and made Pharaoh’s ‘right hand man’ but that does not mean that all believers’ lives will finish on a high in this world, but God does bring good out of it! Our God loves us and delights to answer our prayers, and though He uses times of trial to improve and refine us He also leads us by “green pastures” and “still waters” (Psalm 23v2).
Everyone suffers times of trial and suffering but there is something that believers have that the world does not have. Romans 8v28 “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” God, from His throne in heaven and in full understanding of all things, has made this statement in His Word, that He is working all things together for our good. We can in fact wonder how He can bring good out of certain circumstances in our lives. However as God has said this it must be true. Although we cannot always see it happening we can rest in the truth of it, which is something that the unbeliever cannot do.
It is easy to look at others and think that they are better off than you in: talents or looks or relationships or money and circumstances. However the believer does have the Lord Who loves them constantly, has spiritually richly blessed them and will keep them until life here on earth is over.
Psalm 119v92-93 “Unless thy law had been my delights, I should then have perished in mine affliction. I will never forget thy precepts: for with them thou hast quickened me.” Here the Psalmist says that in his depressions and despairs, which came from his afflictions and circumstances, he would have gone under, but for the comfort and encouragement received from the Word of God.