• Introduction

  • Genesis 1:26

  • Genesis 9:3-7 – Human life is different!

• Understand the truth

  • Luke 1:39-44; 2:12, 16; 1:57, 36 – The unborn child is a baby. The same word is used for the child before and after birth.

  • Exodus 21:22-25 – Causing the death of an unborn child was punishable by death under the Law of Moses!

  • Isaiah 44:2; Jeremiah 1:5; Psalms 139:13

  • God’s Old Covenant laws protected the life of the unborn.

  • Abortion is a sin. It is murder.

• Love your neighbor

  • Matthew 22:39

  • II Corinthians 2:6-8

  • John 8:31-36 – We can follow Jesus’ example and show love.

  • Mark 6:34

• Love in deed and truth.

  • I John 3:16-18

• Pray for all who are in authority.

  • I Timothy 2:1-2

[Note: This sermon is the last of Jesse Jenkins’ 70 year career of regular local preaching. I’m personally proud to have hosted so many of his lessons on this site over the years. The strength of his teaching and that of others who have preached at Benchley is one of the reasons I started this site in the beginning. Good Bible teaching is far too rare these days and when it is found, it deserves to be shared. Brother Jenkins, if you happen to read this, thank you from the bottom of my heart for your work. I have grown tremendously studying at your feet. By preserving your lessons for posterity, hopefully others will grow in the Lord as well. May God bless you. -MRW]

• Psalms 11:1-3

• The foundations of any God-approved society have always been the same:

  • Family – companionship

    • Matthew 19:6 – God organized marriage and the family relationship

  • Government – protect the good and punish the evil

  • Church – reconciliation to God

• The foundations are under attack

  • Family

    • Genesis 4 – Lamech had two wives.

    • Genesis 6 – God was ready to destroy the earth.

    • II Peter 1:5

    • Things went wrong very quickly when people disobeyed God’s marriage law.

    • The Law of Moses allowed some concessions, but God’s marriage law has never changed.

    • Matthew 19:9

    • Marriage is under attack

    • Quotes from:

      • Declaration of Feminism

      • James S. Buckley

  • Government

    • Romans 13:1-4

    • Thomas Jefferson: “I tremble for my country when I reflect that my God is just. His justice will not sleep forever.”

    • Over government is under attack.

  • Church

    • Ephesians 2:13-16

    • The church is under attack:

      • By many organizations

      • By false doctrines

      • By indifference among members

    • There is a standard of right and wrong, established by two factors:

      • God IS.

      • God has SPOKEN.

• What can the righteous do?

  • Psalms 11:4-7

  • Keep trusting in God

  • Keep on being righteous

  • Keep on spreading the Word.

• If Heaven is worth anything, it’s worth everything!

[Due to technical difficulties, part of the audio in the middle of this lesson was lost and the video stream was cut in two. I have attempted to piece the audio back together. My apologies! -MRW]

• Matthew 28:1-10

• Can we believe what Matthew wrote about the resurrection?

• Are the New Testament writings reliable?

  • Luke 1:1-4

  • The New Testament is repeatedly confirmed by outside sources.

    • Luke 1:5; 2:1-4

    • If it was a work of fiction, it would be written with as few details as possible. Not so with the New Testament.

    • Luke 3:1-2

    • 59 marks of authenticity

      • John 5:2; 11:49

    • 84 marks of authenticity in the book of Acts

  • They included embarrassing and unlikely details.

    • Mark 8:33; 9:32; Matthew 14:31; 26:56; Mark 16:11

    • John 9:28-29; Acts 10:34-35

  • Alleged contradictions are actually marks of authenticity

    • John 20:12

    • ApologeticsPress – Alleged Discrepancies

    • J. Warner Wallace – Cold Case Christianity

• Could the disciples have stolen the body?

  • Matthew 28:11-15

  • What’s their motivation – persecution and death?

    • Acts 4:1, 20; 8:1-3

  • How likely is it that not a single one would recant?

    • I Corinthians 15:5

    • Acts 12:1-3

    • Most of the apostles suffered cruel, torturous deaths because of their preaching.

  • How did they get past the guards?

    • Matthew 27:62-66

  • How do we explain the appearances of Jesus?

• Could the disciples have been deceived?

  • Substitute on the cross theory.

    • Surah 4:157-158 – Jesus was not the one on the cross.

  • Swoon theory

    • Jesus was close to death, but did not really die.

  • Wrong tomb theory

    • Nobody checked? Also, how do you explain the appearances of the risen Jesus?

  • Hallucination theory

    • People don’t hallucinate in groups, and they certainly don’t hallucinate the same thing!

    • How do you explain the empty tomb?

• John 5:25-29

• Personal notes:

  • Today is Jesse Jenkins’ last Sunday as a local preacher at Benchley. He’s been working with the church in Benchley for 24 years.

• Introduction

  • Each individual is ultimately the architect of His own life.

  • I Corinthians 15:19 – Without Jesus, life is not worth living.

  • John 10:10

• Have THE faith by which to live.

  • One may have a decent life by having a faith to live by. Such a faith will bring comfort in this life but will do no good after death.

  • Romans 1:16; John 14:6

• Have your faith by which to live.

  • We must have our own faith in the faith.

  • II Corinthians 5:7

  • Acts 15:29

  • II Peter 1:3-11

  • Romans 10:17

  • Your faith can’t be any stronger than the time you spend with the word of God.

  • An inherited faith will not stand. Only a personal faith will help you attain salvation.

  • II Corinthians 4:13; 5:7

  • Ephesians 4:14

• Have a work for which to live.

  • If you want something done, don’t call a lazy man. Call a busy, industrious man.

  • John 9:4

  • I Corinthians 10:31

  • II Timothy 2:2

  • James 5:19-20

  • John 9:4

  • II Corinthians 6:2 – Today is the day of salvation!

  • Hebrews 4:9, 11

  • A lazy man can’t find rest. A spiritually lazy man can’t find contentment.

• Have a fit self with which to live.

  • The only way I can make my self fit to live with is to live for God.

  • True happiness comes from within.

  • Romans 14:22

  • John 15:11

  • I John 1:4

• We all have a story about how we became Christians. We should be thankful for those who taught us the gospel.
• William P. DeFee (1836) – First gospel preacher in Texas.
• Philippians 1:5; 4:10, 17
• Preaching in Czechoslovakia since 1990, right after the Berlin wall fell.
• Acts 14:27
• News and updates from preaching in the Czech Republic. The stay was much longer than anticipated because of the COVID-19 lockdown, but allowed time for more teaching and excellent results.