Where Will You Live?

By Jerry Madkins

The Gospel of John The Apostle is all about presenting Jesus Christ as the Savior of the world. It also presents Jesus as the all-powerful Son of God who enables His disciples to do great work on this earth. This book is about modern day Christians "tapping" into the power of Jesus Christ to live more spiritually in the world today. This book will concentrate on the first six chapters of this Gospel which is focusing on living more spiritually in the Kingdom of God upon this earth by becoming a dedicated Christian Disciple for Jesus Christ. The subject of the book is: "Where Will You Live?" All Christians need to learn to live more spiritually in God and less carnally in this world. This book will examine in detail how to do this, and in its signature Chapter Four: "The Samaritan Woman at the Well"; the book will highlight the importance and necessity of all Christians witnessing to all lost sinners. Finally, the book will emphasize living with God in Heaven one day for all of eternity.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Feb 21, 2019
• ISBN: 9781643495682

Book preview

cover.jpg

Where Will You Live?

Jerry B Madkins

Copyright © 2018 by Jerry B. Madkins

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Dedication

This book is dedicated to the memory of Mr. Elmer Everett Hill, an educator, a counselor, a mentor, and a principal. Mr. E. E. Hill served as this writer’s principal of Hill Senior High School in Henderson, Texas. He died and went home to be with the Lord Jesus Christ on September 16, 2015, when he was 109 years old!

He became a principal of then Henderson Colored High School in 1941 and then served in the US Navy in World Wall II and served as principal of that same high school until it was named after him as Hill High School in 1970. He served the Lord and all of humanity in the position with great distinction, love, honor, and faithfulness. He was able to help many students become great Americans. The Bible says, But ye know the proof of him, that as a son with the father, he hath served with me in the gospel (Philippians 2:22).

Professor E. E. Hill surely did serve humankind by helping to educate African American youth in the piney hills of East Texas for over thirty years. The proof of Mr. Hill is that he gave unselfishly of himself to all people always.

Foreword

The approach of this book is to explore the special emphasis that Jesus Christ is placing on living on a spiritual level versus a natural level in the first six chapters of the Gospel of John. Certain selected scriptures will be highlighted. Jesus displayed great love and compassion to others in this author’s opinion in these first six chapters. This emphasis begins by Him being baptized by John the Baptist in chapter 1. Then it continues in chapter 2 with Jesus turning water into wine at a marriage feast in Cana of Galilee as His very first miracle in His ministry upon this earth. Next, in chapter 3, Jesus tells Nicodemus he must be born again (meaning, from above) to obtain eternal life. Then in chapter 4, he informs a Samaritan woman that she needs to seek His living water, which is spiritual rather than having natural spring water from Jacob’s well. After this episode, Jesus in chapter 5 then heals a man who had been sick and could not walk for thirty-eight long years at the Sheep Pool in Bethesda on the Sabbath Day and then orders him to walk around Jerusalem carrying his own bed where he used to lie, indicating a new life in God. Finally, in chapter 6, Jesus feeds over five thousand people with two small fish and only five barley loaves of bread.

All these actions show great compassion by Jesus to want to take care of the natural needs of all people. But Jesus is really concerned about the spiritual concerns, telling those who followed Him that they need to not seek Him for natural needs, but rather, to seek Him for their spiritual needs!

All these incidents in the first six chapters of John’s gospel highlight that Jesus’s ministry on this earth was that He focused on His followers, learning to move from the natural realm of living on this earth in the flesh, to learning to live in the spiritual realm in the kingdom of God! Now this moving from a natural stance in this world to a spiritual stance setting in the kingdom of God is not an easy movement at all. As a matter of fact, it is a most difficult movement that can only happen with the enlightenment that comes from a very close examination of the very specific acts performed by Jesus Christ in these first six chapters of John’s gospel.

It would seem on the surface that Christians would normally want to live close to God as humanly possible. But this is not always true. It is simply humanly impossible for any Christian to live completely in the Holy Spirit because they have to battle the desires of the flesh. This is the mission of Jesus Christ in the first six chapters of John’s gospel: to educate His followers to move from a natural human existence in this world to a much more spiritual existence in the kingdom of God!

This book is a theological investigation of proper residential spiritual living for the people of God upon this earth in the twenty-first-century Christian church of Jesus Christ. It is the hope that this book can improve immensely one’s quality of life (QOL) in spiritual living upon this earth. This book’s intention is to secure a QOL for all readers that will allow them to have life and have life more abundantly, and then one day to have life eternally in heaven with Jesus Christ.

It is hoped that all Christians who read this book will be challenged to show forth godly love, witness to lost sinners, and have compassion toward all people who need their assistance to live a more spiritual life in God. This can be done with the help of the Holy Spirit and by serving Jesus Christ to the very best of their abilities. Jesus gave His earthly life in order to bring salvation to all people everywhere for all times. Now His Christian followers in His twenty-first-century Christian church must continue His work of saving lost souls in the world today!

Preface

There are some very prestigious residential addresses all around this world. There is Number 10 Downing Street in London where the prime minister of England resides. In America, there is 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, DC, where the president of the United States resides. There are those in America who want to live in a penthouse on Park Avenue in New York City, or live in a mansion in Beverly Hills, California. Such acclaimed addresses as these have homes that cost millions of dollars!

This writer, however, believes one great address in America once existed, and it was Box 144B, Henderson, Texas, 75652. This is where this author—Jerry B. Madkins—was reared for the first eighteen years of his life. And living at this address meant he had to attend church every Sunday, all day long from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. This residing at church for the young Jerry B. Madkins all day long, every Sunday, molded and instilled in him a great need and wonderful hope for Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. It was his mother, Ms. Ruby Lee Nora Broadenax, that made him attend church until he knew and accepted Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Savior on the first go-to meeting homecoming Sunday in August 1962. He was baptized in his grandfather’s muddy pond behind the Pine Hill Bethel Baptist Church by the Reverend James F. Bailey. These actions upon the life of Dr. Madkins in these early residency years has now ensured that he will one day have a very permanent resident in the most prestigious place in the universe which is in heaven for all of eternity as he now claims eternal life in Jesus Christ. This book is a direct result of where he lived for the first eighteen years of his life in a most spiritual manner upon this earth. The gospel of Jesus Christ does change lives on this earth eternally for the better. The above illustration about this author bears out this fact. This book is aimed at helping others understand the significance of John 3:16 and other selected scriptures in the Gospel of John.

This book is constructed in a specific manner and to assist the reader to grasp some of the very pertinent scriptures in John’s gospel, in the first six chapters. These scriptures can and will enable an existent in heaven after one dies. The specific construction of this book is as follows for each of the six chapters:

A specific portion of scripture will be highlighted from each of the first six chapters of John. Then those verses, and other verses, from throughout the Bible will be analyzed and given in-depth exegesis so as to draw out the most important points that will highlight how living on this earth in Jesus Christ should exhibit a strong spiritual lifestyle, which then can lead to eternal life in heaven one day with Jesus Christ.

This book will also explore the subjects of why all Christians should be fervent witnesses for Jesus Christ while upon this earth. And what the true meaning of life and life eternal is. And finally, this book can help one determine how a Christian can always be ready for their examination on this earth: physical death! Christians in twenty-first-century church of Jesus Christ should live according to God’s Word. Much more specifically, they should be completely familiar with God’s Word as how a Christian in today’s carnal-minded world must learn to live more spiritually in order to please God in their walk of faith upon this earth. This book will also examine how a Christian should evangelize lost sinners in the world today.

This book is not another commentary on the Gospel of John. Rather, it is a residential and theological examination of selected scriptures from chapters 1–6 of John’s gospel. The Gospel of John can give the people of God today a better way of living in a more spiritual manner in this world. This book will challenge all Christians to step it up in their service to God by being good witnesses for God, serving others and living more spiritually in Jesus Christ in all love!

This book is designed to assist the reader to better understand what it truly means to live for God in the spiritual kingdom of God upon this earth as opposed to living in the flesh and sin in the carnal and natural world. This book will list at the end of each chapter some suggested sermon and/or Bible study outlines that pastors, Bible study teachers, or just any dedicated Christian who wants to know more about God’s Word can use to grow spiritually in Jesus Christ as they live upon earth. At the end of this book, there will be a commitment form that will give a Christian contract for service in their local churches.

The construction of this book lends itself to either individual student studies or to organized Bible studies in local churches. If the book is used by an individual person, then it is suggested that each student would read each chapter and apply its principles to enhance their spiritual existence in this world. Each student should do concentrated Bible research to develop a residential and theological viewpoint on how to live more spiritually in their daily lives and work more effectively in their local churches. The commitment form" can serve as a covenant document between a church’s pastor and their members. Finally, the verses quoted in the book are from the King James Version of the Bible. However, all students should consult other versions of the Bible to enrich their grasp of all scriptures listed.

This textbook is designed to aid all students in wanting to grow more spiritually in their service to Jesus Christ and to want to go out and witness to all lost souls in their world that Jesus Christ saves all people to the very uttermost and then gives them eternal life in heaven when they die!

Introduction

This book is all about learning how to grow stronger in the Lord spiritually. All Christians should have an inherent responsibility and obligation to seek out God’s ultimate will for their own walk with Jesus Christ upon this earth. In the world there are many of Fortune 500 companies that desire to have well-known mission statements published for all their employees and clients to know truly what their primary objective is in the world of business. The people of God have a mission statement to win lost souls in the world to Christ. But each individual Christian may not be doing all he or she can be doing to witness to lost sinners in the world today. This book has the purpose of addressing the issue of staying on mission for Jesus Christ as they attend and work in their local churches. It is the ultimate will of God that all people be saved. That is why Jesus came into this world. The Bible says, For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16).

Unfortunately, in the New Testament church of Jesus Christ today, there are many Christians who can just barely manage to attend Sunday morning services once or twice a month and then they really believe they are doing the best they can for the Lord. The ultimate will of God for His people is not just for them to show up in church occasionally. Too many Christians today are just satisfied wandering thought life doing minimal things for God when they should be exercising maximum spiritual living in their walk of faith.

All Christians should have short-term goals and objectives for service to Jesus Christ. There is a commitment form that can help all church members better delineate their goals for being a more fruitful Christian. These can be to attend Sunday school, morning worship services, and Bible study and prayer meetings every week without fail. They should have a schedule set in writing somewhere on paper, on a calendar, or on their computers, laptops, or cell phones that clearly delineate their dedicated and faithful church attendance anywhere from there to six months to at least one year. This is the short-range program for service to God.

Next, all Christians should have medium-range goals and objectives for Jesus Christ. These can be to perform some meaningful tasks in their local church for the next two to three years. This can also include a plan for consistent giving of tithes and offerings for God’s kingdom building on this earth. This plan should include specifics amounts of time and talents whereby they give of themselves. They should include measurable objectives that are time specific. As an example, I will increase my offerings to the church by $100 by the end of the year in Sunday school, or I will volunteer to work in the church library, kitchen, nursery, etc. at least two Sundays a month is year. These are medium-range goals.

Finally, all Christians should have long-range goals and objectives for Jesus Christ. These can be significant work objectives to increase their own personal spiritual growth as well as their local church’s growth for the next three to five to ten years. This plan should clearly include learning to be effective witnesses for Jesus Christ to all lost souls in this world. An example would be I will attend witnessing classes, read my Bible, and definitely witness and testify to at least one lost soul each week. And with the help of the Holy Spirit, I will make it my personal objective and purpose to win at least one lost soul to Jesus Christ once a month or year, or I will join the choir, usher boards, or serve on the church evangelism committee, etc. These are long-range goals for Jesus Christ. It is strongly suggested that commitment form at the end of this book be reproduced locally by pastors to assist them in helping their church members grow spiritually.

The Christians in the world today must learn to live more spiritually oriented for God sooner in their lives than later. The Bible says, Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them; While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain (Ecclesiastes 12:1–2). No Christian should be satisfied with just attending church and then going home. They need to consider tithing on their time to God. Therefore, all Christians should do this sooner in their walk of faith than later when they have spent the majority of their time of living carnally in this world, rather than living spiritually in the kingdom of God. And all Christians need to learn to think on and about the ways of Yahweh in their daily living, rather than worrying about the ways of this world. Finally, all Christians must learn to serve God in all sincerity and faithfulness and not concentrate on the vain things of this world that are quickly passing away. And they need to desire to give Jesus Christ their full and undivided attention in serving Him in their youth rather than later in their life, when they have wasted most of their living in and on the things of this world. God will help His people be a dedicated believer if they seek His ways over the ways of the world. The first six chapters of the Gospel of John is a perfect guide to being more spiritually acute in the Lord. It is now time to define what is meant by true spiritual living for all Christians in the kingdom of God upon this earth. And true spiritual living is best defined as the following: being transformed by the Holy Spirit in the ways of Jesus Christ, rather than conforming to the ways of this world!

As we all begin to study this book here to increase our level of spiritual living in this world, we must remember how the early church in the acts of the apostles really had a desire to win lost souls to Jesus Christ and to live spiritually for God. The Bible says, And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert (Acts 8:26). Too many Christians are living in the desert of this world and not in the kingdom of God" on this earth. Philip was willing to go in the desert to win a soul for Jesus Christ. And many Christians today cannot even faithfully attend church services every Sunday for one hour.

When Christians do not live up to their full potential in Jesus Christ and thereby stay in the ultimate will of God for their lives, then they are living in the desert of this world and not in the kingdom of God upon this earth. A Christian residence should always seek to be on a heavenly level and not in a worldly desert. Where do you want to live today?

If you are at home on Sunday mornings cutting your grass and not at morning services, you are living in the desert.

If you rarely attend Sunday school and Bible study at the church every week, you are living in the desert.

If all you do is to go to church once or twice a year (Easter and Mother’s Day) for one hour, you are living in the desert.

If you work in the world and spend more than sixty hours there during the week and are too tired to give God one hour on Sunday morning, you are living in the desert.

If you spend a hundred dollars on a meal out on Saturday night and put one dollar in the church’s offering on the next morning at church, you are living in the desert.

If you are too busy to work in your local church at least ten hours each week, you are living in the desert!

It is my hope that all who read this book will become more spiritually minded people of God to do meaningful work in the kingdom of God to help the church of Christ to grow up on this earth and save lost souls!

Chapter One

Living in Sin or Living Baptized and Saved

And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

—John 1:5

All the people in the entire world have to make a crucial choice in their life upon this earth. The first people on this earth—Adam and Eve—had to make this choice. And this choice is . . . to sin or not to sin!

This choice is the option that God has always given His created people to make in order that they can choose between being obedient to His Word or being disobedient and listening to the lies of the devil. From the beginning, since Adam and Eve, all of humanity everywhere, have been found being disobedient to God and choosing to live in sin and not to do His will.

In this modern-day era of the twenty-first-century church of Jesus Christ, this choice boils down to living in the world in the flesh, or living in the New Testament church of Jesus Christ. For the people of God, it can still be a sad commentary even when the Christians in this world choose to still live in sin after accepting Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. Why is this? And this is true because of the following:

Even Paradise Can Become Boring Sometimes

Jesus Christ is the Light of the world. Jesus Christ is the Word of God made incarnate. He came into this world at an appointed time to save all of humankind from their sins. This was the plan of God all the time, even from the beginning of Creation when God created Adam and Eve and placed them in the Garden of Eden, which was their own individual paradise. Then Adam and Eve sinned and lost their place in paradise because they were tempted by the devil to disobey God’s command. What happened was that paradise had become boring! And this is the primary result of man not wanting to follow the laws of God and live in the Light. Mankind, even in paradise would rather gravitate to the darkness and commit sin! Satan will always be there, tempting humankind to sin and lose out on the wonderful blessings God has for His people.

In the Garden of Eden, in the midst of all that was pure paradise for the people of God, who at that time only included Adam and Eve, mankind decided to ultimately disobey the command of God and commit sin by eating fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil that the Lord had strictly and specifically forbade Adam to eat (see Genesis 3:15–17). But the devil, in the form of a serpent, tempted Eve to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and she gave in to Satan’s temptation and then enticed Adam to also eat of the forbidden fruit, causing sin to enter into the life of all humankind (see Genesis 3:1–6). Someone might ask these questions:

Why would Adam and Eve enter into sinfulness when they lived in paradise?

What more could a person want than to exist forever in paradise?

What could be wrong with paradise that could entice the people of God to want to break His commandment and commit sin?

Why would the people of God put paradise at risk for one moment of pleasure?

The answer is simple in this author’s opinion: because even paradise and even the most perfect situations and circumstances that God can place humankind into can become plain boring after a period of time. And these are true:

People like excitement, and sin can be exciting!

People like new things, and new things are very exciting for a while!

People like to explore the unexplored and do something dangerous and daring at times!

Finally, people want a change from the daily and boring routines of their lives, and this can mean many times involving themselves in sin!

Just how do the people of God immediately change their lives and position in God so as to disobey Him and commit sin? People can do some of the following: (1) in the world today, spouses have affairs outside of a marriage that is doing just fine; (2) employees steal from their employer when they are being well compensated and have ideal jobs and workplaces; (3) people eat junk food when they have plenty of healthy food in the kitchen; and (4) people jump off of a cliff with a bungee cord tied around their foot just for the thrill of it, so as to defy God’s law of gravity upon this earth. People like a new thrill, and sometimes darkness and sin seem to fit that bill perfectly. The people of God in the twenty-first century need to start thinking about trying to avoid the world’s sin at all cost!

John the Apostle in the first chapter is telling the people of God that the solution to sin in one’s life that is being filled up completely with the darkness in the world is the Light of God, Jesus Christ. The Bible says, That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world (John 1:9). Now, from the time that original sin entered the world, it was the plan of God to have His Light ultimately conquer the darkness that is in the world (see Genesis 3:8–15). The people of God should never want to live in the darkness of the world, as opposed to living in the Light of God. And there are several very good reasons why living in the Light is better than living in the darkness when it comes to the people of God living more spiritually. Some of these are the following:

The thrill that a child of God may experience while living in sin can easily kill them.

Sin and living in the darkness can cause a child of God to lose their piece of paradise in this world.

While living in darkness a child of God can stumble and fall and may have to struggle the rest of their lives just to make a living in the world.

Most of all living in sin and darkness will surely cause a child of God to lose his or her perfect relationship that they have with God in Jesus Christ. They can still have a relationship with Christ, but it will not be what it could and should be if they had avoided the darkness of sin.

There is a tendency in human nature to want to try new things and explore new paths not before traveled. This is good and exciting as long as a Christian does not break the laws, rules, regulations, and commandments of God. Now, really, the most exciting thing a believer in Jesus Christ can ever do is to simply obey the Word of God and love everybody. Living a life worthy of one’s calling in Christ is the most exciting thing any Christian can ever do upon the face of the earth! It is truly better to live a Christian lifestyle in the Light and gain life, life more abundantly and life eternally, than to live in darkness that makes one a sinner before God that can only lead to one’s death and destruction in this world. Why did Adam and Eve risk paradise for just a moment of pleasure on this earth? In the end, all Adam and Eve truly gained were the following:

The knowledge that they were naked,

The knowledge that they were now living to die one day, and

The knowledge that they have now lost the paradise that God had given them and would have to work and have pain in this world.

Welcome to the penalty of sin!

____________________________________________________

Greek Word Study: Light (PHOS)

This Greek term means to shine, gleam, illuminate, or to make known. It means to make visible that which otherwise cannot be seen in the darkness.

____________________________________________________

Hebrew Word Study: Sin (CHATTATH)

This Hebrew word means to be disobedient to God and guilty of breaking God’s law. It can also mean to violate the status quo in one’s culture, political life, and especially religion so as to exploit the commandments of God and thereby disregard the rights of other people. It literally means to turn away from God.

Sin Is Still the Main Problem for All of Humankind in the Twenty-First Century and in God’s Christian Church

The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. (John 1:29)

Sin is a real problem in the world today for both the saved people of God and unsaved people on earth now, who must live in it from day to day. Sin can affect anyone in a most dramatic fashion so as to turn one’s life upside down and cause great turmoil. Sin can cause serious problems and horrible situations for all people no matter how good they claim to be or how bad they really are. But Jesus Christ is the answer to all sin for all people. And the most crucial decision any person will ever make in their entire life upon this earth will be to decide whether they will be living in sin and staying lost, or living baptized and saved in Jesus Christ! All people everywhere must decide whether they want to be saved or stay unsaved. Everyone for all time must decide where they want to live in the world or in Christ. And then finally, everybody must decide whether they want to live eternally in heaven in paradise with Jesus Christ or in eternal torment in hot flames with the devil.

Living in sin happens to everyone. Even saved Christians cannot