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Lesson 1 – Who are the Saints?
Who are the Saints and what are they supposed to be doing in these last days. Are you a Saint? Do you know what Jesus expects of you? Are you prepared to do your part? This Bible Study will dig deep into what the Bible says a Saint is supposed to be doing.
Called to be Saints
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Through the years we have heard the terms “Making Disciples, Discipleship, Disciplemaking, Faith Development, Christian Education, New Saint Classes”, and the list goes on and on. Not always, but generally, the purpose of Discipleship or New Saint Classes is to teach this new Christian how to come to church, pay their tithes, live right, act right, dress right. The main goal is to teach them to be faithful to “church”, not to God but to coming to the church building. It is advertised to nurture a deeper, more intimate relationship with Jesus. However, all that list of things is a natural progress of building a deeper relationship with Jesus in the first place.
Notice this is all focused on that new Christian who doesn’t know any better. What about the saint that has been sitting on the pew for years, or maybe even all their life? What kind of training do we have for them?
God didn’t save you to make you a pew warmer. God didn’t even save you to keep you out of hell. God saved you to make you a witness for the Gospel and to make you a warrior in His Kingdom.
If all you are doing is warming a pew you have missed the point and may very likely miss heaven too.
So, what are we Christian Saints supposed to be doing? We are supposed to be living in a close relationship with Jesus every day. Which means casting our cares on Him, to the point that we don’t have to worry anymore because it is His problem, not mine. In this relationship we completely trust Jesus with every aspect of our lives. There is no need to ask God to pay the electric bill because you know the Father will see to it that it is done. There is always perfect peace. Not to say there aren’t trials and troubles, sad or bad days but through good and bad you have the peace to know the Father is in charge and no matter what happens He has got this.
We are supposed to be feeding ourselves, as adults do, reading and studying the Word for ourselves every day. Why? So that anyone around us can easily see Jesus in us. The world is full of scared hurt people who are looking for any answer to their torment. When you project Jesus with every step you take, people will be drawn to the peace radiating from you.
This is how we are supposed to be a witness. Our lives of inner peace are a walking, living, breathing advertisement for the fact that Jesus fills the empty places in our hearts and makes us complete in Him. While it is a great thing to go out and teach Bible Studies it is more important for you to be a living example of how great life can be when Jesus is part of it.
What the average Christian does today is nothing like what Jesus said He expected of us. Forget about the traditions of the church you attend; those were designed by humans who had and end goal in mind. Their end goal may not have been you being saved. Start fresh with an open mind and see what the Bible says. What did Jesus tell us to do. He is the school master, and our ONLY study guide is the Bible.
This Bible Study will help start you on the path of living in a relationship with Jesus that He approves of. Use the scriptures as a starting point for your own personal study. Pray and ask God to teach you. He wants you to know Him more than you do. He will always answer an honest heart that is looking for truth.
The Emptiness
Each one of us is born with an empty place inside. The empty part of us is a hole where God belongs. That hole is empty because God gave us free will to decide if we want God to fill His place or not.
Because of this emptiness we all feel lonely or incomplete. We feel the need for approval, recognition, or the desire to be loved that no other human or physical thing on this earth can fill. Some try to fill it with drugs, alcohol, sex, or games. We try to fill it with relationships or friends, and it may fill up for a little while, but it never stays full. Consciously or not, we are always looking for a way to fill that empty place inside so we can be whole and content. The only way to fill that place is to put God in it.
The first place to start to fill that emptiness is to understand who God is and what His intentions are for those He has called to be Saints.
Mystery Revealed
In the book of Ephesians Paul is writing to the church at Ephesus. In chapter 3, Paul is explaining that God personally showed him the mystery, or the blessing that has been hidden from the foundation of the world. That mystery is that God always intended to offer salvation to the Gentiles.
Ephesians 3:5-6 (NKJV)
5 which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets: 6 that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel,
How is this mystery revealed to us? The scripture says that it is through the Spirit, which being capitalized means by God’s Spirit. Through the Spirit God taught the apostles and prophets.
Ephesians 3:14-19 (NKJV) 14 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
These verses are full of outstanding promises from God. They tell us that inner peace is possible for those who are rooted and grounded in the love of Christ. It is also possible for each one of us to know the complete fullness of God. We can know everything that is possible for a human to understand.
I want to state it plainly here, I am talking to the everyday Joe and Jane, the saints. I am not talking to ministers, pastors, teachers, bishops, prophets or any other name of any person who holds and office in any church. This message is for every human born on this earth. God has given us the overflowing blessing of being able to live in complete peace with the full knowledge the He is our Lord and Savior. That He loves us and wants a personal relationship with us, individually.
Who Are the Saints
The Hebrew word kaw-doshe means a sacred or holy One. The first place we see the Hebrew word kaw-doshe translated into the English word Saints, is in Deuteronomy 33. This passage is a blessing from Moses before he died. He says that the Lord came with 10,000 of His saints. Moses also states that His saints are in His hand.
It is the same word in Job 15:15, and throughout many of the Psalms.
Deuteronomy 33:1-3 (NKJV)
1 Now this is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death. 2 And he said:
“The LORD came from Sinai,
And dawned on them from Seir;
He shone forth from Mount Paran,
And He came with ten thousands of saints;
From His right hand
Came a fiery law for them.
3 Yes, He loves the people;
All His saints are in Your hand;
They sit down at Your feet;
Everyone receives Your words.
Job 15:15 (NKJV)
15 If God puts no trust in His saints,
And the heavens are not pure in His sight,
In 1 Samuel 2:9 and 2 Chronicles 6:41 saints is translated from the Hebrew word khaw-seed' which means pious, godly, holy One, merciful.
1 Samuel 2:9 (NKJV) 9 He will guard the feet of His saints, But the wicked shall be silent in darkness. for by strength shall no man prevail.
2 Chronicles 6:41 (NKJV) 41 “Now therefore, Arise, O LORD God, to Your resting place, You and the ark of Your strength. Let Your priests, O LORD God, be clothed with salvation, And let Your saints rejoice in goodness.
Psalms 37:27-28 (NKJV) 27 Depart from evil, and do good; And dwell forevermore. 28 For the LORD loves justice, And does not forsake His saints; They are preserved forever, But the descendants of the wicked shall be cut off.
King David tells us in Psalms 37 that the Lord does not forsake His saints, but He preserves them forever. Each time the word is used in the Old Testament it isn’t point blank clear who the writer is talking about. Meaning it isn’t explicitly said that God is talking about the Children of Israel. Most of these scriptures are prophetically speaking of the Last Days.
However, there those who could have been classified as saints who were not the Jews. Such as Balaam, he was called a prophet of God and God spoke to him. It was said whoever Balaam blessed was blessed and who ever he cursed was cursed. Therefore, God honored what Balaam said, however we see that God have control over what he could or could not say.
Numbers 22:6 (NKJV) 6 Therefore please come at once, curse this people for me, for they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land, for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.”
There was also Reuel Jethro who was the father-in-law of Moses. He was called a priest of God but he was the son of Esau and the grandson of Ismael, therefore absolutely not a Jew.
Exodus 3:1 (NKJV) 1 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
Others that we know of were Job, Melchizedek, Naaman and Ruth. Each of these are listed as being of great faith and showing reverence to God but they were not Jews, and the church didn’t exist yet.
It is very plain in Daniel 7, that Daniel is talking about the Church and what will happen in the Last Days.
Daniel 7:17-18 (NKJV) 17 ‘Those great beasts, which are four, are four kings which arise out of the earth. 18 But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever.’
When you do a search for the word Saints in the Bible it is clear in all the scriptures that the Saints are those who are set apart from evil, they are living in a way that is approved of by God and therefore He trusts them to do His will. They may be Jew or Gentile, but He calls those who are His, Saints.
In the New Testament the Greek word hag'-ee-os is translated as Saints. It means pure, morally blameless or religious, ceremonially, consecrated holy one.
Once we get to the book of Matthew the first-time saints is mentioned the writer is talking about those who rose from Hades when Jesus died on the cross.
Matthew 27:51-53 (NKJV) 51 Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, 52 and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; 53 and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.
These were not a part of the church before they died but Jesus went into Hell to preach the Gospel and those who believed He was the Messiah followed him out. They didn’t die in the church but they did resurrect as part of the church.
Ananias tells us that Paul, then called Saul, is doing harm to Your Saints. Saul was killing all those who had repented, been baptized in the name of Jesus and received the Holy Ghost. This is clear when Ananias says the saints are those who call on Your name.
Acts 9:13-14 (NKJV) 13 Then Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem. 14 And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.”
Paul testifies to King Agippa that he personally sought to kill the saints in many cities and caused them to blaspheme. This would define a Saint as one who followed the plan of salvation Jesus defined to the Apostles. A Saint would be one who declared Jesus was the Son of God and the Messiah. A Saint is one who believes Jesus died on the cross for the sins of the world. They believe that the New Covenant promise was delivered on the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Ghost was poured out.
Throughout the rest of the New Testament the Saints is used when one of these people or groups of these people are being discussed. Saints are not perfect, and they are not sin free holier than thou ones who stand in solid white on a pedestal. The are also not dead people that we should pray to or worship in any way.
Saints are those who have believed Jesus’ message and His promise. They are those who have been washed clean by the blood of the lamb. They are those who have been born again into the family of God. They are those who have taken on His name. They are those who have taken up their cross to follow Him. Those who have forsaken the pleasures and sins of this world to strive to live as close to God as possible. Those who wake up every morning and choose to be a part of His kingdom today. They actively turn aside from this world of sin and seek to do what the King of Kings wishes.
Matthew 6:31-34 (NKJV) 31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
So, who are the Saints? They are the chosen and called out ones who God has placed His trust in to do His will in these last days. They are the ones who will be a part of Jesus’ army when He returns to battle evil and destroy it in the pit. The Saints will be kings and priest to reign with Christ for a thousand years. The Saints are the Church, the Body of Christ, the Bride.
Since God has called us to be saints and promised this complete peace and close relationship with us how do we go about obtaining our part of that inheritance?
Five-Fold Ministry
Ephesians 4:11-16 (NKJV) 11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,
These scriptures are often misquoted. Most people read this as a list of church offices or positions. This isn’t what this means. God gave some, means these are gifts. There are people who are gifted as an apostle. An apostle is one who goes into a new area and starts a new work. Some are gifted as prophets. A prophet is a messenger of God. A prophet proclaims the will of God or states what God has planned to do in the future.
Evangelists are those who are gifted at explaining the gospel and leading people to be born again. They are passionate advocates of the word and truth. Pastors are those who have the care and oversight of the flock. Everyone of these calling must be apt to teach but there are those who have a gift of teaching.
Not one of these giftings have a job requirement that you must be a pulpit preacher first on them. These giftings are given to all saints. They are available to anyone who is willing for God to use them in this way.
Just as with Baalam when God used the donkey to deliver His message… if God needs and evangelists he will use any donkey or saint just as long as they are willing to speak His words.
12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,
Verse 12 tells us why God gave us these gifts. The purpose of the gifts is to equip the saints to do the work of ministry. Paul states plainly that the saints are supposed to be doing the work of ministry. When we all do the work the whole body of Christ is edified.
13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;
Until we all believe the same thing, do the same thing, and we all have the same knowledge of Christ. Reaching to the point where we are perfect, which means to be complete in Him. Until the stature or the maturity of the fullness of Christ.
14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,
Children are easily fooled or molded into thinking a different way. They don’t have the knowledge or the experience to determine if something is right or wrong. Pew warmer Christian don’t have the knowledge either. They have spent so much time swallowing whatever they are told that they don’t have the skill to decipher truth from a lie. They are easily fooled because they don’t know the word of God themselves.
The only way to know the truth is to plant the word in your heart every day. When you are learning to write sentences, you need a dictionary to look up the meaning of different words. Reference books such as an Encyclopedia, Grammar Guide, or a Thesaurus are helpful to teach to write correct sentences.
The Bible is the Saints dictionary, encyclopedia, and reference guide contained in 66 books. The more you read it the more it makes sense. The more you study the easier it is to retain. The more you love it the more God shows you the secrets.
Verse 15 and 16 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
Equipping the saints is a process not an event. We live in a microwave Burger King world where we think we must have it all our way right now. Building a relationship with God is a daily process that will take the rest of your life. The day you stop is the day you lose. There is no such thing as knowing everything there is to know about God. Even Solaman, the smartest man to ever live couldn’t brag of that fact.
Every journey has a starting point. Start today to step toward the goal of knowing more about God and understanding who He is and what His plan is for your life. Just make your mind up to try and watch God help you ever step of the way. If you don’t know the Bible for yourself, you will not make it in these last days. Your only hope of surviving what America is turning into is a strong relationship with God. When they close our churches and stop us from meeting together will you be able to continue to worship God on your own? Or will you give in and go with the crowd? Your eternity depends on your answer today.