Pastor's Bible Study: Recent Episodes
Chad Thompson
The Pastor's Bible Study is a Bible Study class taught by Chad Thompson on Wednesday Nights at South Union Baptist Church
Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph all lived very different lives. Yet they shared one defining characteristic. They trusted God enough to wait. They obeyed when they didn’t know where. - They trusted when they didn’t know how. - They persevered when they didn’t know when. - They surrendered when they didn’t know why. And because they did, they left a legacy that continues to encourage believers thousands of years later.
The question for us is no longer what Abraham did. The question is: What kind of faith will characterize our lives while we wait on God’s promises?
Have you ever asked God "How are You going to...?" Or, "When are you going to...?" Faith is about more than trusting God for the "What." Faith also waits for the "how" and "when." Abraham didn't know how God would fulfill the promise of giving him a son, but He trusted that He would. And Abraham didn't receive in his lifetime the fulfilment of every promise God made to Him. But, he trusted God for His timing on when to fulfill His promises. Abraham and Sarah teach us what it means to wait by faith when you don't how God will fulfill His promises or when He will fulfill His promises.
Faith waits because faith trusts that God always keeps His promises—even when His timing doesn’t match ours. Waiting is not the absence of faith. Patiently waiting is often the greatest evidence of faith. - The world says, “Seeing is believing.” The Christian says, “Believing enables me to keep trusting even when I cannot yet see.”
In this lesson we explore how faith trust God even when it doesn't know where God is calling us to.
Chapter 19 of Exodus records one of the greatest worship scenes to ever take place. We learn from this passage that worship is not something we go blundering into. The practice of worship isn’t haphazard or without discipline. In this passage we learn how to successfully go about the practice of worship.
God is the Person we worship. He is the only person we should worship. When we truly stop and contemplate His attributes displayed toward us, His authority which He righteously rules over us with, His actions of longsuffering and love which he lives among us with, we can’t help but bestow upon Him supreme worth and reverence. We can’t help but bow our lives before Him and serve Him above any other.
Chapter 11 is God’s illustration of the statement: the just shall live by faith. It is a hall of fame (gallery) of ordinary men and women who trusted God and obeyed Him. - These men and women are not remembered because they were perfect. They are remembered because they trusted God enough to obey Him. They are examples of what it looks like to live by faith.
Big Idea: Faith is trusting God’s Word enough to obey Him, even when we cannot see the outcome.
From chapter 1 to chapter 10 the author has essentially hammered away at one message: Jesus is Better. But now he in essence asks an important question: What are you going to do with that truth? Doctrine always demands a response.
Because Jesus has opened the way to God, believers must draw near in faith rather than draw back in unbelief. Will we draw near to God, or will we draw back from Him? Every believer is moving in one of those two directions.
Jesus is the Mediator of the New Covenant. The central truth of this passage is this: Christ’s once-for-all sacrifice secured eternal redemption and opened the way for sinners to enter God’s presence forever.
The conscience is that inward awareness of guilt before God. It is the knowledge deep inside us that something is wrong between us and Him. And here is the great truth of Hebrews 9: Religion can cover guilt temporarily, but only Jesus can cleanse the heart completely.
The big idea of chapter 8 is: "Because Jesus is better… everything He brings is better." So don’t drift. Don’t retreat. Stand firm in the better covenant.
- So what does this mean for us?
1) You don’t have to live defeated
2) You can draw near to God
3) You can live with assurance
4) You can run to Him when you fail
In the concluding verses of chapter 7, the author continues with this theme of Jesus being a better high priest, but he brings it from theology to implication. He tells us why it matters for us personally. Because Jesus is our perfect High Priest, He gives us what the Law never could—true access to God, lasting security, and complete salvation.
Jesus, as our high priest, is exactly what we need. When we struggle, He gives grace. When we fall, He advocates for us. When we come to God, He welcomes us. He is a better priest and offers us a better hope.
The Hebrew believers were being tempted to go back—to return to the old system, the Levitical priesthood, the familiar rituals of Judaism. And the author’s message is clear: Why go back to something inferior when you have something infinitely better? Why go back to shadows when the substance has come?
The big Idea of the text is: Because Jesus is a better High Priest, we have a better hope and a better way to draw near to God.
The writer of Hebrews pauses here at a very important moment. He has just delivered one of the strongest warnings in all of Scripture—a warning about spiritual regression, dullness, and the danger of failing to grow. But now, he turns from warning to encouragement. Before he presses forward, he wants them to know: “I believe in you. I expect better from you.”
Throughout this section, the message is clear: Because God’s promises are unchanging, our progress in faith should be unwavering.
The call is simple: Don’t drift. Don’t stall. Press on
Hebrews 6:1 states the purpose of the book in terms of why the author is writing to these Jewish believers, “move on to spiritual maturity.” Leave the ABCs. Get to something deeper, higher. Move from the elementary. Build on the foundation of the cross of Jesus. Get to know Jesus as Savior and High Priest. The author is not calling them to leave the gospel behind, but to build upon it—moving from foundational truths into a deeper understanding of Christ’s ongoing ministry as our High Priest.
Jesus is better than Aaron—because He is our Great High Priest. And because He is our Great High Priest, we must hold fast our faith and draw near with confidence.
These verses referencing God's Word fit in the context of the bigger issue – entering into rest. The Word of God is the instrument God uses to keep us from falling short of His rest. You cannot experience God’s rest if something inside of you is spiritually unhealthy. So God does something loving—but uncomfortable. He performs spiritual surgery to restore our spiritual health.
God offers us a spiritual rest of inner peace, joy, and hope that is for the here and now regardless of the giants of life we may face, but we only receive it if we hear and believe. That's the formula: Hearing + Believing = Resting.
The wilderness generation missed Canaan not because God failed—but because they refused to trust Him. The warning of Hebrews 3 is not about losing salvation. It is about missing the fullness of what Christ offers through persistent unbelief.
Jesus is better. His rest is better. So: Don’t drift. Don’t doubt. Don’t delay. Don’t harden your heart. Today, if you hear His voice, respond.
The writer does not diminish Moses. Instead, he affirms Moses’ faithfulness (cf. Numbers 12:7). The argument is not that Moses failed, but that Jesus surpasses him. Jesus is superior to Moses in both person and ministry. For a Jewish audience, Moses was not merely a prophet—he was the deliverer of Israel, the mediator of the covenant, and the one through whom the Law was given. To demonstrate that Christ is better than Moses is to prove that the New Covenant is better than the Old.
Jesus is better than the angels not only because of His deity but also because of His humanity. His humanity enabled Him to regain man's lost dominion, to redeem lost mankind, to disarm Satan and deliver us from death, and it enables Him to be a sympathetic High Priest to His people.
Hebrews 2:1–4 is a loving warning and a hopeful invitation. It calls believers to anchor themselves firmly in the great salvation offered in Christ. The passage reminds us that the gospel is both a gift to treasure and a truth to guard. By paying close attention to what we have heard, we persevere in faith and experience the fullness of God’s redemptive work.
Jesus is better than the angels. He is superior in identity: Son of God, eternal, divine. He is superior in role: worshiped, mediator of salvation, ruler over angels. He is superior in authority: eternal throne, creator of all, sustainer of life. The author's message for Jewish believers tempted to revert to old practices, place undue emphasis on angels, or return to Judaism is: look to Christ, not the servants. Trust the Son, not the intermediaries. Worship the eternal Savior, not His messengers
Jesus is better than the prophets. Though the words of the prophets were worthy of obedience, not a single prophet was worthy of worship. But Jesus is. He doesn’t just give out partial revelation through snippets, messages, etc. He is the full revelation of God. The final and complete message. He brings a better message. He is a better messenger.
The word "better" is used 13 times in Hebrews. The book is a series of contrast between the good things of Judaism and the better things of Christ. Jesus is better in every way. He is better than the prophets as a messenger. He is better than the angels in His deity and humanity. He is better than Moses as a deliverer. He is better than Joshua as a conqueror. He better than Aaron as a high priest. He is a better sacrifice than bulls and goats. He establishes a better covenant. He ministers from a better sanctuary. And our relationship with Him operates by a better principle - faith.
The Feast of Tabernacles is a feast the looks back with joy and remembers how God graciously and miraculously provided for the Jews in the wilderness. So when they come to celebrate it in Jerusalem, the make little temporary shelters (booths) to live in for 7 days. The feast celebrated the fall harvest and the forgiveness of sin. But it also prophesies to the future millennial kingdom of Jesus.
The Day of Atonement in terms of a picture was fulfilled by Christ in His death on the cross. The Day of Atonement in terms of prophetic calendar may very well be fulfilled to the day in the time period following the tribulation and leading to the establishment of the Millennial Kingdom.
This feast is memorial of the blowing of trumpets. Trumpets were blown primarily to gather people for a journey, judgment, or battle. When we think about the fall feast pertaining the second advent the way the spring feast pertain to the first advent, then we can surmise that the tribulation could very possibly begin one year on the very day that celebrates the Feast of Trumpets - the 1st day of Tishrie (on the Jewish calendar).
Jesus fulfilled Passover to the in that He is our Passover Lamb that was sacrificed for us on the Passover. He fulfilled the Feast of Unleavened bread in that His holy body saw now decay or corruption. He fulfilled the Feast of Firstfruits in that he was raised from the dead on the very day of the feast. He is the firstfruits of those who will come forth from the grave. And on the day of Pentecost (first day of the Feast of Pentecost), the Holy Spirit descended and baptized the church. He permanently indwells believers. He brought believers into union with Jesus and one another.
The Passover Feast had two purposes: 1) it was to remember deliverance and redemption from Egyptian bondage, and 2) it was to look forward to the coming Messiah who would bring true redemption. Jesus fulfilled the Passover in that He is our true Passover lamb. By faith we apply His shed blood to our lives and God's judgment passes over us. Jesus transformed the Passover Meal into what is known as the Lord's Supper. The Lord's Supper looks back in remembrance to our redemption from the slavery of sin and death.
The High Priest pictured Jesus in his current heavenly ministry as a our Great High Priest. This is often the office of Jesus that we give the least attention to. We think of Him as Savior and King, but we often fail to emphasize and partake in His ministry as our Great High Priest. He is our representative before God the Father, and Jesus represents the Father before us. Because He lived life as man He is sympathetic to our needs. Because He arose from the dead He has the power to meet any and every need. Therefore, we can come to Him and find grace and mercy to help in time of need.
In the veil we see Jesus' incarnation. In the Ark we see Jesus as King, Savior, and High Priest. In the Mercy Seat we see Jesus' sacrifice to pay for our sin and satisfy the wrath and justice of God. How do we get to the most holy place? Through the veil of Jesus humanity and life as it was rent by death on the cross.
Scofield Reference Bible: Altar of Incense, type of Christ our intercessor (Jn 17:1-26; Heb 7:25), through whom our own prayers and praises ascend to God (Heb 13:15; Rev 8:3, 4), and of the believer-priest’s sacrifice of praise and worship (Heb 13:15).
The showbread speaks of Jesus as the life sustainer. Eternal life is a gift from God that is received by a person when they receive the “true” manna of God, Jesus. However, eternal life requires a special food to sustain it in growth and strength. It is the showbread that sets forth Jesus as the food for those who have partaken of the manna of life.
The door of the tabernacle was colored to blue, purple, and scarlet representing Jesus' deity, kingship, and humanity. t takes Jesus in his deity and humanity to make Him our Savior . He is the door of salvation, and He is the doorway to fellowship with, serve, or worship God.
The brazen laver primarily dealt with cleansing and that of the priests, and it pictures daily cleansing of believers for service and fellowship with the Lord.
The brazen altar was the place of substitution for Israel. It was a figure of the cross of Christ. In the Old Testament economy, the sacrificer (one making the offering) had to identify himself with the sacrifice (animal) and be represented by a priest. Under the New Covenant, we must identify ourselves with Jesus in his death. He is our substitutionary lamb. His death was substitutionary. He died in our place. And He is our Great High Priest that represents us.
The fine white linen fence tabernacle revealed that God was encircled with righteousness, and when approached on His terms and conditions He could make humanity righteous as well. God can only be approached on His own terms though His Son Jesus Christ. This truth is beautifully taught in a tangible way by the Gate. The tabernacle had only one gate. There was only one entrance. It was wide to accommodate all who would enter, but it was singular, i.e. only one way and pointed to the the truth that Jesus is the one and only way to God. He is the way, the truth, and life. No man comes to God but by Jesus.
The importance of the tabernacle cannot be missed since more than 40 chapters of God’s Word is devoted to its construction, its meaning, the priesthood, and the worship services conducted daily at it. The tabernacle is ultimately a picture of Jesus and His redemptive work on the cross.
The King is coming, and He will rule and reign from the throne of David for 1000 years. This lesson focuses on the what the kingdom will be like and who will be there.
Jesus death is perhaps the single greatest aspect of His ministry on earth. He died as our substitutionary sin atoning sacrifice so that we could be saved, set free, made alive, reconciled, redeemed, etc. Without the death of Jesus there could be no resurrection.
Jesus fulfilled, is fulfilling, and will fulfil the offices of prophet, priest, and king. He represented His heavenly Father to us as prophet. He represents us to His Father as our great high priest. And He rules and will rule as King.
Philippians 2 describes the great humiliation of Jesus, His becoming a servant to serve our greatest need - salvation. Theologically, Paul describes Jesus' kenosis. The word kenosis speaks of the emptying of Jesus of his glory and majesty. Jesus was not, however, emptied of His deity. His kenosis is revealed in His coming from the infinite heights of glory to the infinite depths of hell so that we could be saved, delivered from sin and death, and reconciled unto God the Father.
Jesus is deity. He is God robed in flesh. His' titles, works, and the life He lived all declare that He is God.
Jesus is the incarnate God robed in flesh. He is 100% God and 100% man. This lesson focuses on the humanity of Jesus. It is vitally important that we understand that Jesus lived His life in total victory by depending upon the same resources available to us today as the children of God., It is this reality (i.e. that He lived His life as a man depending upon the Holy Spirit) that lays out an example that we can follow as disciples.
The importance of virgin birth of the incarnate Jesus Christ cannot be overstated. If Jesus was not born of a virgin, then Jesus was a man like you or me. He had a sin nature like you or me. If Jesus was not born of a virgin, then he could not be the Son of God. He could not be sinless. He could not be a substitutionary sacrifice. And He could not be the Savior of mankind.
The virgin birth of Jesus is often the first truth about Jesus to be attacked. The virgin birth fulfilled prophecy, declares Jesus' purity, and reveals God's purposes.
In this introductory lesson we are faced with the critical question: who is Jesus? Jesus asked his disciples, 'Who do men say that I am?" Then he asked, "Who do you say that I am?" Who we think and believe Jesus to be in our lives is the single most important thing we can believe.
As Peter said, "Thou art the Christ, the son of the living God." Because Jesus is deity, he was preexistent to his incarnation and not only preexistent but also eternal.
Gen 22 is the climax of Abraham’s journey of faith to his bold obedience. But, there is something much larger and grander than the sacrifice of Isaac on Mount Moriah. In this chapter, there is a foreshadowing of the sacrifice of God’s Son on this exact same mountain that we today call Calvary. Abraham told Isaac that God would provide Himself a lamb, and He did - Jesus. John the Baptist said, "Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world." Jesus and His substitutionary sacrifice are seen in Gen 22. This is how Abraham saw Jesus in his day, i.e. through the foreshadowing of Christ's substitutionary atonement.
The bible references Abraham as the friend of God, but that does not mean that Abraham was perfect. He is on a journey to bold obedience, but along the way he does have lapses of faith and commits sin. We are reminded that salvation is instantaneous, but spiritual growth takes time.
Abraham sins by lying once again about Sarah being his sister. His sin not only hurt him but others around him. He damaged his character, lost his testimony, lost his dignity, hurt his ability to minister, and he almost lost Sarah and the promised son to come, Isaac.
Abimilech forgave Abraham. His forgiveness is an illustration of how God forgives his children and restores them.
Chapter 19 tells the sad story of both the destruction of Sodom and the demise of Lot. What led to the destruction of Sodom and the demise of Lot? Choices. Every decision we make either leads us toward the light or deeper into darkness. There is no such thing a meaningless choice.
One of the great things that happened to Abraham as a result of journeying to a bold obedience is that God’s Word describes Abraham as the friend of God. (2 Chron. 20:7; Isaiah 41:8; and James 2:23)
In Genesis 18 we see Abraham and God's friendships on display. Abraham fellowships with God as he entertains heavenly company. Then we see God treat Abraham as a close friend when He communicates and shares His plan with Abraham regarding the timing of the birth of Isaac and the judgment to be poured out upon Sodom and Gomorrah.
God’s blessing on Abraham spills over into the lives of Abraham’s family members: his wife (barren/bearing son), his two sons (Ishmael - prince over 12 tribes / Isaac the father of Israel, the lineage of Messiah), and all their offspring.
The blessings of God in our lives can spill over into the lives of our family members (and others). They are designed to do so, but you have to obey God and walk before God blamelessly in order to get the blessing.
The decisions we make can ultimately make us or break us. And the breaking can be so bad that there is no coming back. We can break our reputation, our marriage, our career, our future opportunities, etc. Genesis 13 teaches us some very important and practical lessons about decision making and choosing foolishly or wisely. What were the circumstances surrounding and the causes of Lot's poor choice? What can we learn from Abraham about making good decisions?
Abraham lived a life characterized by obedience that was the result of faith. The bible says that “without faith it is impossible to please God” (Heb. 11:6). It was the faith of Abraham that allowed him to be the friend of God.
We cannot be a lawgiver like Moses, a conqueror like Joshua, a king like David, or a prophet like Elijah, but we can be an Abraham by living a life of bold obedience. The journey to a bold obedience begins with FAITH.
We can learn a great deal about victorious faith from both Joshua and Rahab. We learn that to live out a victorious faith, you must have a personal encounter with God (Jesus) and you must submit to His commands. When you do, you can experience a work of God that has no human explanation, like Joshua and Rahab in the victory and salvation God gave in the battle of Jericho.
Moses life of faith can be divided into three 40 year periods: 40 years of training in Egypt, 40 years of training in the desert, and 40 years of doing what he was trained to do in the previous 80 years. All along the way he had a faith that was tested and tried. He had to learn to war by faith.
If we’re going to follow in the footsteps of Moses, waiting, watching, walking, and warring in faith, then we should make the same decisions he made: 1) We must refuse to go with the flow of a sinful society. 2) We must leave the familiar to venture into the foreign. 3) We must swallow our pride and be willing to do the unusual.
Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph each had faith even unto the end of their days. But the thing the author of Hebrews zeros in on that they utilized their faith to extend a blessing to their children. Every parent has a God-given responsibility to bless their children. From the word “blessing” we get our word eulogy—“to speak well of.” There three lessons we can learn from these men of faith about blessing by faith.
1) The blessing is a spiritual tool giving hope to your children for the future
2) The blessing is another way of you worshipping God
3) The blessing is a means of interlocking the past with the future
Abraham's faith was tested and tested and tested. Some tests he passed. Some tests he failed. But what we do see over time is a growing and strengthening and purifying of his faith. It is as if Abraham were enrolled in a school of faith. One of things that all students in any school have in common is tests. All students are tested to see where they are academically. Our walk with God by faith is a School of Faith. And in the School of Faith we, like Abraham, must have occasional tests, or we will never know where we are spiritually.
Sarah's faith began in unbelief but it ended with her experiencing what was humanly impossible, i.e. God's possible, when after 25 years of waiting she gave birth to the promised son, Isaac. There are many lessons we can learn from Sarah about faith. One of the most important is that faith must be personal. Abraham had great faith, but Sarah needed her own faith. This principle is true for us. We may have people in our lives who have great faith but their faith won't substitute for our faith. Another lesson to learn is that often when we have to wait in faith we end up seeing our faith grow to new levels.
Abraham was a man of great faith. God called Abraham to follow Him and come to a land that God would give to Abraham. . Abraham didn’t know where exactly God was calling him to, but he had faith to follow. And since he didn’t know where he was going, you could say he had faith to wander with God.
In our text we see five principles for those who live by faith:
1) We are invited to live by faith.
2) We obey when we live by faith.
3) We sojourn when we live by faith.
4) We reject the world when we live by faith.
5) We see with spiritual eyes when we live by faith.
Enoch teaches us that by faith we can walk with God in such a way that we please God. By faith we can walk so closely with God and sense His presence and power that we look for our blessed hope, the return of Christ and the rapture that will occur.
Noah was a man whose fear (trust) in God motivated him to build an ark. He was moved by faith to prepare an ark in which he saved his house (family), condemned the world, and became an inheritor of righteousness.
What is your faith moving you to do? Real faith moves believers to action. Do you have real faith?
Abel responded to God in faith by bringing an appropriate offering in sacrifice. Because he obeyed by faith, he won God's approval. God testified to Abel's faith. And to this day, Abel's faith is still speaking to us; pointing us to the way of faith, i.e. responding in obedience to what God has revealed to us in His Word.
True biblical faith is confident obedience to God’s Word in spite of circumstances and consequences. It is not simply an intellectual belief. It is revealed in us volitionally as we act on what we believe. The writer of Hebrews makes it clear that faith is very practical. Faith enables us to understand what God does. Faith enables us to see what others cannot see. As a result, faith enables us to do what others cannot do!
Glorification is the ultimate and absolute physical, mental, and spiritual perfection and transformation of each believer into the image of Christ. It is in essence the completion of our salvation.
The gospel brings us a salvation that is eternally secure. God preserves us. Eternal security is God’s assurance of our salvation. God is absolutely certain of the security of our salvation because He is the one who is securing it. God saves, seals, and secures.
Assurance is our confidence in God saving us and securing us.
The ultimate secret to assurance of salvation is to base your present assurance of salvation on exactly what you based your past experience of salvation – FAITH in CHRIST ALONE, not in yourself.
The gospel is good news because we are preserved and secured by God the Son and the Holy Spirit. We secured by Jesus through His promises, his prayers, His substitutionary death, His resurrection, His heavenly work as our advocate and intercessor. We are preserved and secured by the Spirit through His work of regeneration, His work of placing us in union with Christ, His work of indwelling us permanently and serving as the earnest payment guaranteeing God will complete our salvation.
The gospel is good news because our salvation is secured by our Heavenly Father. He preserves us because He is sovereign, omnipotent, His nature is love, and He chastens us instead of casting us away. Praise God that our salvation does not rest on us but in God's grace alone.
In part 1 of Prayers Without Power Are A Problem we see two things:
1) Our prayers can lack power because of warring
2) Our prayers can lack power because of wickedness
Our walk of faith is an all or nothing thing. Our faith is to be lived out in every area of our lives, including our speech. An untamed tongue is going to cause us trouble in our faith soon and/or eventually.
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The Importance Of The Tongue (vv. 1-2)
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The truth of who we really are is revealed by the words we speak.
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The Influence Of The Tongue (vv. 3-5)
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Our speech has the ability to influence actions, outcomes, directions, attitudes, opinions, destinations, etc.
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The Iniquity Of The Tongue (v. 6-8)
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Our speech can defile us and bring destruction into the lives of others.
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The inconsistency of The Tongue (v.9-10)
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Inconsistency in our speech is inappropriate.
Is our faith working or worthless?
- A profitless profession (vv. 14-17)
The profession of our faith (our words) is no good unless we have works to back up our statement of faith.
- A barren belief (vv. 18-19)
How do we know a person's belief is true? It produces fruitful works.
- A fatal faith (vv. 20-22)
Faith without works is dead. We are justified by faith unto salvation without any works (cf. Eph.2:8-9; Rom. 4:3-5). But our salvation is justified (i.e. we are proven to have a real saving faith) by the works we produce (Jas 2:21-22).
There is a definite possibility of temptation. It is sure. Temptation is not a matter of if but when. And when it comes, it is singularly crafted for each individual.
There is a divine impossibility of temptation. It is impossible for God to be tempted or to tempt any man.
There is a direct responsibility of temptation. We're tempted when we are drawn away by our own lust and desires, therefore we have a responsibility to turn away from temptation. Looking long turns to lusting after the wrong.
There is a decided accountability. We are accountable for the decisions we make to give into temptation. When we choose to sin, it is a choice for which we are accountable.
Intercession is the work of pleading on the behalf of someone else. This what Jesus does for us; He pleads and prays for us and on our behalf. Intercession is the act of Christ whereby He appeals for believers as our “defense attorney” or ADVOCATE, defending us against Satan’s accusations of our sinfulness, thus guaranteeing the SECURITY of our salvation and giving us the right to approach God in prayer.
Adoption is the act of God whereby He gives the believing sinner his position, standing, legal rights, inheritance as a joint-heir with Christ, and all the full privileges of an adult son/(daughter) of God.
Adoption is contrasted with regeneration. Regeneration is the new birth that changes us and imparts unto us the holy nature of our Father and makes us a child of God. Adoption does not change our nature, but rather it changes our position and legal standing as adult sons (daughters) of God and thus guarantees us an inheritance.
Regeneration is the act of God, whereby the Holy Spirit gives a spiritual new birth to the believing sinner imparting to him a new nature and new spirit and giving the spiritually dead new life. Regeneration can be described as a spiritual resurrection, becoming a new creation, and being born again.
Sanctification is the act of God whereby the believing sinner is set apart FROM sin (its penalty at salvation, its power in our lives, and its presence in eternity) and TO God, Christ, and righteousness.
This lesson focuses primarily on the practical aspect of sanctification, i.e. being set apart from the power of sin in our lives. Paul teaches us in Romans 6 four things that can lead us to living above the power of sin:
1) There is a fact to know. As believers we are dead to sin.
2) There is a faith to apply. We must account the fact as true to ourselves personally.
3) There is a function to fulfill. We must choose to yield to the power of the Holy Spirit as opposed to yielding to power of sin.
4) There is a faithfulness to live out. We must choose to obey God.
Job asks the all important question in Job 25:4, "How can a man be justified with God?" Paul answers the question in Romans 5:1 stating that we are justified by faith.
Justification is the judicial act of God whereby He legally declares the believing sinner to be innocent of all sin and as perfectly righteous as Christ. This act of justifying believing sinners comes only through faith and by the grace of God. (Rom. 5:1; Rom. 3:24)
The gospel is God’s plan to deal with man’s greatest need - the need of salvation. Our need is to be forgiven, to have our sins cleansed. The gospel is good news because it tells us that our sins can be forgiven through the finished work of Jesus on the cross.
Reconciliation (theologically) is the act of God whereby He replaces the state of enmity between God and man with a relationship of friendship through peace purchased by the death of Christ on the cross, which now places the believing sinner in a favorable position with God through the covering of the guilt of sin with Jesus' blood.
Before we are saved, whether we like it or not, we are the enemies of God. And yet, God in His love, grace, and mercy, made the first move toward unbelieving sinners and died on the cross for us. Because Jesus shed His blood on Calvary, we can now be reconciled to God through faith and placed in a relationship where God's peace is upon us instead of His wrath.
What is it that drives God's plan of salvation and allows for all of its blessings and accomplishments to be bestowed upon believing sinners? Grace! God's amazing grace is what brings salvation to us. Paul wrote to the Ephesians, "For by grace are you saved through faith..." Salvation is by grace through faith. We cannot earn salvation. We cannot merit salvation. We are not worthy of salvation. Grace is only for the undeserving, unworthy, and those who fall short. And that is every person. But saving grace only flows to those who believe and trust Jesus' finished work of the cross.
The gospel is good news to me because God grants (imputes) righteousness to me. God imputes the righteousness of Christ to sinners who place their faith in Christ, and He imputes the guilt of sinners to Christ. Through Jesus' death, he pays for the guilt of sin. As Paul teaches, the One who knew no sin became sin (a sin offering by taking our guilt upon Himself) so that we could be made righteous through His finished work (cf. 2 Cor. 5:21). God imputes Jesus' righteousness to us when we believe and trust in Christ as Savior.
The gospel is good news because Jesus bought me! That is such a grand statement. We sing the song "Victory In Jesus." The lyrics say...he sought me and bought me with His redeeming blood. The idea of Jesus buying me is the doctrine of redemption. We should truly rejoice when we consider just how far reaching Jesus' redemption of us goes: 1) He paid our ransom price with His blood, 2) He bought us out of the slave market of sin never to be sold again, 3) He not only paid the price, but He set us free, 4) and beyond freedom, He actually invites us into his family through adoption. Jesus doesn't just save us from the uttermost. He saves us to the uttermost. And when we think about what He has done for us by redeeming us we will know personally that the gospel is good news because Jesus bought me.
Our greatest need is the need of salvation from sin, the effects of sin, and the penalty of sin. It is a need that we cannot meet in our own strength, goodness, self-effort, or self-righteousness. Left to ourselves we're done for, hopeless lost and without a relationship with God. But praise God that because of His love for us, He has implemented a plan whereby we can be saved from our sin by His grace on the basis of nothing more than simple trust in His plan. The Gospel is the good news of God's plan to meet man's great need.
The gospel is a simple message. It is Jesus plus nothing equals salvation. We can add nothing to Christ's work of redemption. We can take nothing away from it. We're saved and made righteous in God's eyes when we put our faith in Jesus' finished work of redemption.
When we repent of our sins and disobedience, good result can come forth. When Jonah repented, he saw some amazing results:
1) A second chance to obey and fulfill God's call on his life
2) A spiritual change in his life
3) A willingness and desire to sacrifice in order to fulfill God's call
4) Salvation among the Ninevites
The thing that moves us to a repentance like that of Jonah is an understanding of our resemblance like Jonah. But here's the good news: if we repent like Jonah, we put ourselves in a place to see results like Jonah.
What did Jonah's process of repentance look like?
1) The preparation of repentance. God prepared Jonah to repent using multiple perils like a storm, affliction, a big fish, etc.
2) The period of repentance was thee days and night in the belly of a fish. While in the fish, Jonah came to a place of repentance and surrender.
3) The prayer of repentance. Jonah cried out to God. He remembered, repented, and returned to God. He praised God and then promised to do what God had called him to do.
4) The pardon of repentance. The big fish vomits Jonah out of its mouth an onto dry land where Jonah would make his journey to Nineveh.
We have a tendency to go our own way and do our own thing in disobedience to God. And amazingly, it's possible to be at peace with ourselves while in disobedience to God. However, it is a false peace that is produced by our lack of concern for God's will and way. This is what happened to Jonah. He ran away from God in disobedience and yet found himself sleeping peacefully on ship in the midst of a storm. He had a false peace and calmness produced by his lack of concern for God's will and lack of compassion for those who needed to hear God's Word.
How often do we resemble Jonah? How often do have a false sense of peace and calmness because of our own lack of concern God's will and compassion for those who need to hear the gospel?
We're all familiar with Jonah's story, but do we understand that we resemble Jonah more than we may want to. God called him to preach to a people that was different than him. He didn't want to. Instead of going the way God directed him, he went his own way. How often are we exactly that same? We resemble Jonah in many ways when it comes to sharing the gospel with those to whom God has called us to share the gospel.
How can we stand against apostates? How can we protect our church? Or, how can a church right their ship?
Jude gives us four exhortations: 1) Remember God's Word, 2) Build Up Your Christian Life, 3) Exercise Spiritual Discernment, and 4) Commit To Jesus.
Jude's little letter is a call to arms. As you read Jude, you will readily sense the military tone of the book. Jude, in essence, says that when it comes to "the faith" (that system of doctrine that was handed down from Jesus to the Apostles to the early churches) we must do everything we can to fight for it, i.e. to keep it pure, untwisted, etc. Jude says that false doctrine and false teachings will creep into the church unawares. Jude's message is like that of Paul who warned the Ephesian elders to beware of the wolves in sheep's clothing. The wolves will not spare the flock. If we don't fight for the faith, contend for the faith, there could be generations lost. Jude says this is war, therefore, we must earnestly contend for the faith.
If we're going to be a disciple (follower) of Jesus, we must daily deny ourselves and take up our cross (i.e. being hated by the world, being surrendered to God, and being "spent", i.e. a living sacrifice). Following is not a haphazard, sporadic, every now and then choice. It is a regular, consistent, frequent, daily choice. It is a choice a disciple makes faithfully. It is a discipline.
What we see in the Great Commission is the mandate to make disciples (i.e. see people saved, baptized, and brought into the church where they can be taught to observe all things - beliefs, practices, ministries, etc.). If we have a mandate to teach, then the flip side must also be true. We have a mandate to learn. A disciple is a learner. And to learn we must have some discipline.
In Lk 2:46-47 Jesus was learning. He was doing it the old fashioned way, i.e. asking questions, reading the law, discussing, etc. If Jesus was determined to learn, then let's follow His example. Jesus didn't sit in a school of religious law, but He certainly leaned the Word of God. (John 7:15)
The one thing most of us lack when it comes to sharing the gospel is boldness. The early church and church leaders shared with boldness. It is what they were known for. How do we get boldness? Spend time with Jesus and pray for it. Take a listen to this lesson where we are encouraged to share Jesus boldly.
When it comes to time we wish for more, but there isn’t more. It just comes down to how we use what we’ve been given, hence the exhortation from Paul to make the most of our time.
This lesson is going to focus on time in the context of spiritual disciplines. Time is required in order to participate in any spiritual discipline. Because this is true, we must make the most of the time afforded to us.
Giving and acts of generosity allow us to look like Jesus because when we give financially we do some of the very things Jesus did: give, love, sacrifice, and serve. In this lesson we look at 8 principles for giving financially. In end, Jesus only asks us to give what He is already willing to give us. Take a listen to this lesson and be encouraged to steward well and look like Jesus.
Jesus didn’t say “if you fast” but “when you fast.” Implied in Christ’s teaching is that we would fast and should fast. It's not a matter of if but when. Charles Stanley said, "Fasting is the abstinence of anything that hinders our communion with God. In particular, fasting is the abstinence of food for the purpose of seeking God in prayer." It is this spiritual discipline that goes hand in hand with prayer. Fasting is the other hand with which we let go of the world. Fasting helps us to sharpen our focus and fervency in prayer.
The Christian life isn’t just about knowing a certain set of doctrines. It is more than knowing. It is believing. But it is more than believing. The Christian life is also about doing. It is doing what we believe. But to truly do what we believe is going to require some discipline, disciplines, habits, spiritual activities to be engaged in. If we never engage in spiritual activity, then we’re just spinning our wheels, going through the motions, but having no substance to our form.
This lesson focuses on the broadest and most basic, foundational, and important of all the disciplines - bible intake. Jesus said, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God." Where do we get these words that come from God's mouth? His Word. We must be committed to taking the bible into our hearts and minds. When we do, God does something in us that we cannot do on our own; He transforms us.
Self-control is the last quality of the Fruit of the Spirit listed by Paul, but there can be no doubt about its importance to Christian living. Can we truly be in a place of pleasing God if we're not living in a way that we exercise self-control? We are to live controlled lives; lives in balance and in the boundaries of God's Word, will, and desire.
Self-control in the physical realm may happen by our determination and will power, but strength and victory in the spiritual realm come only by yielding to the Holy Spirit. Surrender + Sacrifice produce self-control through the Spirit's power.
The world may view meekness as weakness in a person's make-up, but in reality, meekness is not weakness. It is strength under control. It is a quality we very much need on display in God's people. We especially need it as we increase in power and authority. It is meekness that keeps us from being abusive or overbearing with our authority.
Faith is the intrinsic link in the Christian experience. Faith is not optional. It is a must. Without it we can’t be saved; we can’t serve; we can’t please God; we have no joy.
The basis of our faith, as it relates to our Christian experience, embraces two objects: 1) Faith in the faithfulness of God, and 2) Faith in the faithful sayings of God (i.e. His Word).
God is faithful to us in all things. He is faithful to save. His is faithful to be present. He is faithful to fulfill His promises. He is faithful. Because God is totally faithful to us, we should be faithful to Him.
In 2 Tim. 3:1-4 Paul gives us the key to cherishing good. He contrasts those who love themselves, their money and pleasure with those who are lovers of God (philotheos). It is this love for God that keeps everything in proper perspective.
Loving what is good is the outflow of loving God.
Since God is clearly the source of good, how can a man begin to become good like God is?
1) DISCOVER what God says we should do.
2) DETERMINE that good will be a priority in your life.
3) DECIDE to do what the Word of God says.
4) DEPEND upon the Lord, through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, to make this a reality and response in your life.
We can never truly extend kindness to others until we realize and know just how much kindness we've received from God. Kindness is His nature. He is good and kind to the just and the unjust. It is His kindness that leads us to repentance.
The Greek word "chrestotes" is translated “good,” “kindness,” “gentleness.” Kindness (gentleness) is the grace which pervades the whole nature, mellowing all which would be harsh and austere. The word is descriptive of one’s disposition and does not necessarily entail acts of goodness. It really speaks to the spirit in which an act is done, not necessarily the act itself.
The author of our joy is God. The avenue through which God brings joy into our lives is Jesus. The agent that makes it possible is the Spirit. And it is our faith that activates the process which brings about the fruit of joy in our lives.
Others will know that we are the disciples of Christ when we love the way Christ loves. What kind of love is this? And who do we do it? This lesson focuses on love as a fruit of the Spirit and how we can express love to others in our actions and behaviors.
It is important that disciples in a church participate in the observance of the Lord’s Supper. Why? Because we are commanded to do it. Remembrance brings reflection, appreciation, communion, adoration, proclamation, and confession.
Baptism is a public declaration of our faith and trust in Christ, and it is vitally important to being a disciple, a follower of Jesus. Baptism doesn't save us. Baptism is a testimony of the reality that Jesus has saved us. In terms of being a believer in Christ, our very first act of obedience to Jesus is to follow His example and be baptized. We’ll have a tough time truly following Jesus personally and privately if we don’t follow Jesus publicly. ,
Jesus didn’t come to call us simply as individual, private, personal disciples of Himself. He calls us collectively, corporately to follow Him as a part of a local church. A local church is a called out assembly of believers covenanted together to carry out the great commission. Faithfulness to one another in the context of a local church is vitally important to our being faithful to Jesus as disciples.
Hell is real. It is as real as Heaven. If we can believe what Jesus spoke about the reality of heaven, the we can trust what he spoke about the reality of hell. Hell is a real place where real people spend an eternity when they refuse to accept the grace of God offered to them through the finished work of Jesus.
The truth of the Second Coming of Jesus should influence our lives and behavior greatly. The King is coming. Will we be ready? Let us be loving His appearing, looking for His appearing, labor until He appears, and live like He could appear at any moment.
Jesus was raised from the dead, and because He was, every believer will be too. Our resurrection is assured by His resurrection. He is the first to be raised to never die again. He is not the only one to be raised and never die again. The truth of His resurrection is vitally important to how we live. Because He lives, we can live with peace, power, purpose, praise, etc.
The thrust of this truth for believers is that our Savior not only delivered us from sin and its judgment, but also delivers us from uncertainty and doubt about the deliverance. If God has already made sure our rescue from sin, death, and future judgment, how could our present spiritual life possibly be in jeopardy? How can a Christian, whose past and future salvation are secured by God, be insecure during the time between? If sin was no barrier to the beginning of our redemption, how can it become a barrier to its completion? If sin in the greatest degree could not prevent our becoming reconciled, how can sin in lesser degree prevent our staying reconciled? If God’s grace covers the sins even of His enemies, how much more does it cover the sins of His children?
Salvation is wholly by grace. What do we mean when we say that salvation is wholly by grace? We might say it this way – salvation is only by grace. You cannot earn it, work for it, deserve it, or be worthy of it. There is nothing that you can add to the grace of God or else God’s grace wouldn’t be grace. The bottom line is that salvation is a gift that we receive when we put our faith and trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross.
Jesus, was selected, appointed, chosen, and anointed by God to become the sacrifice for the sin of the whole human race.
The importance of virgin birth of Jesus Christ cannot be overstated. If Jesus were not born of a virgin, then Jesus was a man like you or me. He had a sin nature like you or me. If Jesus were not born of a virgin, then he could not be the Son of God, he could not be sinless, he could not be a substitutionary sacrifice, he could not be the Savior of mankind.
The word “trinity” is derived from two Latin words: “Tres,” which means three, and “unitas,” which means unity. The meaning of the word trinity is “three in one unity.” There are not three Gods. There is only one God. In the totality of His essence, He is revealed to us in the scriptures as Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Is the Bible the Word of God? There are two possible answers. Yes or No. It either is or isn’t. If you are not clear on the understanding of what the Bible is, then you will not be clear on any other truth that relates to genuine Christianity. Christians believe that the Bible is the inspired, inerrant, and infallible Word of God.
After a person has become a believer, they need to proceed in the area of discipleship, i.e. become a learner and follower of Jesus. This deals not only with acquiring knowledge about Jesus, but even more importantly, applying that knowledge to our attitudes and behavior.
Paul is coming to the end of his letter to Timothy and to the end of his life. He knows that his trial could be any day now and his expectation is a sentence of death which would be carried out swiftly. As hard as it was for Paul, he was gracious. He exuded grace in the face of death. The Apostle Paul at this point in his life has no one with him but Luke. And yet when you hear his final parting words in this letter he has no bitterness toward anyone and no anxiety regarding his impending death.
Paul is coming to the end of his letter to Timothy and to the end of his life. He knows that his trial could be any day now and his expectation is a sentence of death which would be carried out swiftly. In these moments he is alone and lonely. Leadership and loneliness go hand in hand. Paul had always had an entourage, students he taught, people he ministered to. Now he is alone. The lonely leader closes his letter with a touching plea for Timothy to come and spend some time with him. “Come before winter” (2 Tim. 4:21).
In verse 6 Paul turns his attention away from “you” to “I,” “me,” and “my.” Paul shifts his focus from Timothy to himself. As he nears and approaches what he knows is the end of his earthly life, Paul glances back over his shoulder and then peers into the future as a man prepared to die and do it with no regrets.
AW Tozer - “What comes to our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us. …No people has ever risen above its religion, and…no religion has ever been greater than its idea of God.”
This lesson presents 6 philosophical arguments for the existence of God.
Paul encourages Timothy to preach the Word. "Timothy, just as I have sought to teach and encourage you, now I want you to teach and encourage others with the Word." Paul summons Timothy to remember that he will stand before Jesus, the one who called him, to give an account of how he has served. He asks Timothy to do three things: preach the Word, do the work of an evangelist, and fulfill his ministry.
Timothy had benefited from the very best training from the earliest days of his life (v. 15), which continued for no less than fifteen years under Paul’s discipling (vv. 10-11). Paul has told Timothy to stick with it, you can do it. You can do it in the future, you can do it now. (vv. 12-15), and you can finish well. Finishing well is predicated on allowing God’s Word to do what it is designed to do in your life.
In these verse Paul encourages Timothy by pointing out that he can make a difference in the world and to the people around him in spite of the depravity of mankind all around him.
As Paul writes this last letter to Timothy, he seeks to encourage Timothy to journey on to spiritual maturity. The journey won’t necessarily be easy, but it will be rewarding in this life and the life to come.
There are two things that we can invest in that will last forever: God's Word and people. As Paul approaches his impending death, he turns his attention and thinking to these two eternal things (God’s Word in vv. 13-14 and people in vv. 15-18). There are so many things that vie for the investment of our attention, time, effort, and energy, but the two most important things we can invest in are God's Word and people. Let's seek to store up God Word in our hearts and invest in the only thing we can take with us to heaven and that is relationships with people.
As Paul continues in the opening chapter, he challenges Timothy to strengthen his resolve. And we need to do this too. Strengthening our resolve is not about drawing on our own power or self-enthusiasm. To strengthen our resolve we must let the Spirit of God work in us and through us to carry out God’s will, in God’s way, in God’s time, and for God’s glory.
As Paul begins his second letter to Timothy he is sitting a jail cell awaiting his imminent execution. He had previously written to Timothy to encourage him. Now he writes to request Timothy to come see him. To do so would bring joy to the apostle's heart.
Paul knows he will soon be leaving this world. He writes to Timothy to inspire confidence in Timothy as Paul will be passing the torch of leadership to him. He speaks of four things that would inspire Timothy's confidence: Paul's love, Paul's prayers, Paul's confidence, God's gift.
As Paul closes his first letter to Timothy, he tells Timothy to "guard it," i.e. guard your ministry and guard the very thing your ministry is all about – God’s Word.
Peace and contentment are two things (concepts) that generally go together. When you think of one, you will often think of the other. When you have one, you generally have the other. But the similarity between the two is more than a partnership or relationship. The similarity is their nature. True peace is inward. When you have peace, you have an inner calmness despite outer circumstances or condition. True contentment is inward. It deals with a satisfaction that is in us more so than a satisfaction with stuff, money, material possessions, etc. (outside conditions).
Everyone is subject to authority, but do we submit to it? In the first two verses of the text, Paul is speaking to the issue of slaves/servants submitting to the authority of masters. In our day and age, these words can seem somewhat confusing and perhaps not applicable in our lives. However, what Paul says makes much sense in the setting and timing he was in (i.e. the early church age), and in terms of application what Paul says to servants in principle applies to us even today.
Paul encourages Timothy with how to relate to fellow elders in the church who serve with him in terms of paying elders, disciplining elders, and ordaining and selecting elders.
Paul chooses an analogy of family to illustrate how a pastor should interact with various members of his congregation. He purposefully used a term of family (e.g. father, mother, sister, brother) instead of business or government, because the church is a family. Church members share a common father. We look to Jesus as our older brother. We live in a household (church) with extended family. This is why we regard each other as brothers and sisters. We are family.
To be a good minister, Paul tells Timothy (in addition to pointing out the truth concerning apostasy) to do these things: exercise spiritually, make God your goal, be an example to the believers, give your attention to God’s Word and yourself so that you persevere for your own good and the good of others.
Between the two main sections of the book there are three verses that form a kind of pivot point where Paul pivots from one section to another. This link is very intriguing. It in essence teaches us that the church is to display the truth of God’s Word and bear witness to the person and work of Jesus Christ.
After Paul speaks about the qualities of a man necessary to fill the office of pastor, he turns his attention to the qualities of a man necessary to fill the office of deacon. Of the offices in the church, the most Christ-like is deacon. This is why the qualifications are stringent. Not everyone has what it takes to fill the office of deacon.
To say that the Bible teaches that all Christians must abstain from drinking wine would not be accurate. The Bible does not clearly teach against a Christian partaking of alcohol. There is no command in the Bible to not drink, but there is also no command to drink. There is liberty. However, just because you have liberty to do something doesn’t mean you have to. Exercising liberty (freedom) means freedom to do and freedom not to do. The more important question is not what am I free to do? But what is the wise thing to do?
Church leaders holding the office of pastor (bishop, elder) should be drawn from men who are spiritually mature. Paul in this section of Scripture gives Timothy of list of characteristics that could help the church determine if a man was spiritually mature and qualified to lead in the office of pastor.
Paul wrote these words to a male-dominated culture. As we read them, we need to understand that he wrote them not to limit women, but reassure them of the liberty they have. When we look at this passage of scripture through the lens of our American culture we can the see word "limited" stamped on it. But if we look at this passage of scripture clearly with no cultural bias, we see the word "liberty" stamped across it.
Paul exhorts Timothy and the church at Ephesus to keep first things first, i.e. focus on the top priority. The top priority in ministry and for ministry is prayer. We would do well to heed Paul's exhortation to pray first and to pray for all people and their salvation. That kind of praying can change the world, our world, and our lives too.
Paul writes a letter to young Timothy (Paul's protégé) and encourages him pastor to pastor. Paul knows that Timothy is in a hard place to lead a church. In the opening verses, Paul lays out four directives for Timothy to follow. These things are good for us today also. Timothy was to 1) stick to the task, 2) speak the truth, 3) set his sights on the goal of ministry, which is love, and 4) support the gospel in all that he teaches because the gospel is the standard. If you undercut the gospel in the things you teach, then what you teach is bogus.
The letter Paul wrote to Philemon shares with us the beautiful and moving story of friendship and forgiveness, release and redemption. We really see to very applicable truths: 1) Jesus did for us what Paul did for Onesimus. We've been forgiven for the sake of Jesus just like Philemon forgave Onesimus for the sake of Paul. 2) We can forgive others because we've been forgiven.
As Paul wraps up his letter to the Colossians, he takes time to mention and appreciate several friends in the ministry that have partnered with him and ministered to him during his imprisonment. A friend provides three things vital for a quality life. Friends provide companionship, without which we’d be lonely and isolated. They provide comfort – a pat on the back, a shoulder to cry on, and kind words of consolation when we need them. And they provide the accountability and perspective we need to keep us on the straight path.
In the text, Paul addresses both dimensions of our speech, the vertical and horizontal planes. Our vertical speech is directed to God. Our horizontal speech is directed to other people. And Paul points out that one of the reasons what we say on the horizontal plane is so important is because we say it to those who are lost and don’t have a vertical relationship with God. Our horizontal speech can have an impact on someone else coming into a vertical relationship with God.
Although this passage refers to servants, or slaves, and masters, or slave owners, the principles taught here certainly apply to the employee/employer relationship. In this lesson we will look at the both the original context of this passage and how it applies in our modern day work life. What Paul has to say speaks directly to the dignity of work, our work ethic, and how we treat workers with fairness.
When Christ is our life, His peace will be the decisive factor in what we think and feel. And the truth of His Word will saturate everything we say and do. By default then Christ as our life will also impact our homes, marriages, families, etc.
In this text, Paul will deal with the home, husbands, wives, parents, and children. As with all things that God created, God has a divine design for the Home. Not all of that design is laid out here in these four verses, but if as families we would implement the truths of these four verses, we would be healthier and happier and glorify God.
Paul uses the image of changing clothes illustrate how our actions are to match our identity as the elect, holy, and beloved of God. Since we are the elect of God, holy and beloved we have some solemn responsibilities to God to put on spiritual clothes and turn on spiritual controls. Instead of sensuality, materialism, and negative emotionalism, we are to have compassion, kindness, humility gentleness, patience, tolerance, forgiveness, love, and unity.
In the first two chapters of the book, Paul laid down the doctrinal part of Colossians. He exposed the false teaching that was robbing the Colossians of their spiritual maturity. Now in chapters three and four he gives practical application of those doctrines that leads to genuine spiritual maturity.
Christianity brought a change to the way of thinking and living for the Colossae believers. What we believe has a very definite connection with how we behave. It has too. Being in union with Christ means we share His life. He cannot live in us by His Spirit and permit must to live in sin.
In the first eleven verses of chapter 3, Paul will give us a three-step procedure for living the victorious Christian life.
After making it clear that Jesus is all we need (He is sufficient), Paul attacks the heresies and false teaching of his generation. He begins verse 16 with the conjunction therefore, pointing to the connection between the practical application that follows and the theological discussion of sufficiency of Christ that he just shared. From verse 16 to the end of the chapter, Paul focuses his attention on three threats the Colossian believers were facing: Judaistic legalism (vv. 16-17), Gnostic mysticism (vv. 18-19), and dualistic asceticism (vv. 20-23).
We (believers) need each other to achieve our maximum potential in spiritual growth. We can’t grow they way we should if there is no “we” in our lives. A lone ranger mentality in our Christian life will impede our growth. There are many things we need to do as individuals, but there are also needs that we have that are best met by others. Individually we can emphasize bible study and prayer, but alone we miss out on aspects of Christian community and accountability.
The Apostle Paul, as great as a Christian as he was, surrounded himself with others who helped him in his walk with Christ. He shared with the Colossians five things that will help us grow in Christ: 1) Concern for others, 2) Comfort with others, 3) Compassion for others, 4) Confidence in God's Word, and 5) Conduct that brings stability.
We are all called to ministry. If we going to fulfill our ministry we must: 1) Have the right attitude - joy 2) Serve in the right area – the stewardship of our life 3) Know the right assignment – proclaiming Christ and His gospel 4) Realize the aim and purpose - present every man (believer) spiritually mature in Christ 5) Depend on Jesus - realize that we can’t do in our own efforts
In our text Paul records a hymn of praise to Jesus that reveals how Jesus meets our deepest needs. Jesus meets our need to know God, to be loved, to be forgiven, to have security, and to feel assurance.
Paul prayed that the Colossian believers would be filled with (controlled by) the knowledge of God's will. Paul knew that knowing and doing (obeying) God's will leads to spiritual growth and brings stability in the face of temptation and false teaching. When I know and do the will of God for my life, then I walk worthily, work fruitfully, withstand gloriously, wait joyfully, and worship thankfully.
If you change the gospel's message, you by default change who Jesus is. The gospel is simple faith in Jesus' work of the cross to save us from sin. It is a message of grace. If you add to or take away from the gospel, then you adding to or taking away from the cross-work of Jesus and you declare Jesus to be insufficient. Jesus is sufficient to be our Lord, our life, and our leader. He is supreme. And when you know that and believe that, you will not be easily moved by false teaching.
The young church in Thessalonica had a problem with some of her members loafing and not working. It wasn't a matter of not being able to work; it was a matter of not being willing to work. Paul expected the church to come together in solving this problem. To assist them in the task, he gives four motives to encourage the careless believers to turn from their sin and start earning their own wage.
Paul contrasts Satan’s big lie with God’s truth and teaches us about four responsibilities we have toward the Truth of God’s Word: believe it, guard it, live it, and share it.
Someone posing to be Paul, had written a letter to the believers in Thessalonica stating that the Tribulation had already started. The believers were instantly shaken in faith and became troubled in spirit. To calm their hearts and shaken faith, Paul explained that they were not in the Day of the Lord. The reason was simple: that Day could not arrive until certain other events had taken place. There were sure and clear signs that the Tribulation was not taking place. Paul in essence gives them logic so they can draw a logical conclusion: Event "A" must precede event "B," since event "A" has not yet occurred, then event "B" (in this case the Tribulation) could not be occurring.
Paul knew that the believers in Thessalonica were undergoing some very difficult hardships from pressures on the outside and confusion from within. He sought to encourage them in three ways: praise, promises, and prayer.
As Paul wraps up his first letter to the Thessalonians, he ends by reminding those at Thessalonica to do the basics (fundamentals) when it comes to respecting spiritual leaders, loving brothers and sisters in the church, and glorifying God.
Paul had assured the Thessalonians in 4:13-18 that the dead in Christ will rise and we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet Jesus. Now in 5:1, Paul continues to talk about end time events but his focus shifts from the rapture of the church to the “day of the Lord.” The subject is similar but different. The key difference in what he has to say here is not so much "when" these events take place but the "whom" that is involved. The big difference here is that the rapture deals with the saved and the “day of the Lord” is going to impact the lost.
Paul seeks in this section to contrast the differences between the saved and lost in terms of how we view the second coming of Christ. How Christians view the second coming and how the lost world views the second coming are totally different. How each group will be impacted by the second coming will be totally different. There is great contrast.
The return of Christ was something that the Thessalonian believers were looking for. They believed it could happen at any moment and they had questions in regards to their loved ones that had passed on: what if the Lord should return? Would their deceased loved one be handicapped in any way? Would they be left out of the rapture all together, i.e. did they miss it and its presumed blessings? Will those who are alive at His coming have an advantage over the believers who have died? So Paul writes to say, “Hey, I don’t want you to be ignorant, misinformed, uninformed…” Paul took time to answer these questions. He based his encouragement and comfort on five fundamental facts. 1) We have God's Word 2) Christ is coming 3) The dead in Christ will rise 4) Living believers will be raptured 5) Christians will forever be with the Lord
The Christian life can be compared to a walk. Paul often used this picture: “Walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called” (Eph. 4:1); “walk not as other Gentiles walk” (Eph. 4:17); “walk in love” (Eph. 5:2); “walk as children of light” (Eph. 5:8). The Christian life begins as a step of faith and then turns into a walk of faith. (cf. 2 Cor. 5:7) “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” Walking suggest making progress. Our Christian walk should show us progressing in our faith, in our love, in our holiness, in our maturity, etc. Paul teaches the Thessalonians about a threefold walk: we are to walk in holiness, harmony, and honesty.
In chapter 3 Paul explains three ministries that he performed to help the Thessalonican believers become more firmly established in their new found faith. He sent them a helper. He wrote them a letter. And He prayed for them.
Paul shares with the believers at Thessalonica the resources they have to draw upon when they find themselves in the midst of suffering and persecution. These resources are available to us also: God's Word in us, God's people around us, and God's glory before us.
Paul's heart was for the believers at Thessalonica. He had established the church, and he wanted to see the believers growing in their faith and walk with God. In chapter 2:1-12 we see three pictures of Paul that show how Paul was invested in seeing these believers grow. We see him act as a faithful steward, a loving mother, and a concerned father.
El Shaddai is translated in our English bibles as "Almighty God." God is all powerful, and He uses His power to bless and bring bountifulness into our lives. We see this name introduced to Abraham in Genesis 17. God needed no help in fulfilling His promise to Abraham that he would be a father of a son and more than that, a father of many nations. At 100 years of age, Abraham saw El Shaddai bless him and Sarah by giving a son to two people who were as "good as dead."
In life we can look before us and see problems and obstacles and difficulties and feel hopeless or hopeful. Know God as El Elyon, the Most High God, possessor of heaven and earth, will lead us to be hopeful. Because God is El Elyon, He has the final say. He can rule and overrule anything.
In Genesis 14, we find Abram responding to what appears to be a great difficulty with great hope. God (El Elyon) delivers his enemy into his hand, and Abram gives all the glory and credit to El Elyon.
El Roi is "the God who sees me." The LORD revealed that He is the God who sees us in our crises when He revealed Himself to Hagar in the wilderness. When she was at the end of rope and didn't know what to do or had any belief that anyone even cared about her, she found out that God cared. He wanted to direct her path and give her promises about her future and the future of her child.
God sees us, our condition, and our future as it could be. He not only sees us, but He hears us. He hears our cries for help. He hears us in our affliction. God is faithful.
When David came against Goliath, he didn't come at him with a human weapon (i.e. sword, spear, shield, etc.), he came at him in the name of God, i.e. Jehovah Tsaba (The LORD of Hosts). David recognized that there was a spiritual element to the battle. Goliath was uncircumcised and not in covenant relationship with God. David couldn't win in the strength of his flesh. He needed God. It was God's battle to win. David did his part, but God got the victory and the glory.
Jehovah Rohi - The LORD is my Shepherd
This name (title) reveals so much about the character of God. God is to us like a shepherd is to a sheep. He provides care, guidance, direction, feeding, leading, etc.
In order for us to truly see God as our Shepherd, we must first see ourselves like a sheep. A sheep is not too smart, pretty much defenseless, and dependent on the shepherd for protection and cleanliness. That describes us pretty well too. We need God, and He wants to shepherd us too.
Jehovah-Shammah is the LORD Who Is There. Ultimately Jesus, Immanuel (God With Us) is our Jehovah-Shammah who we will dwell for all eternity.
The further you (or a nation) depart from the person of God and His righteousness, the more chaos, strife, unrest, etc. will be brought into your life (or nation). This is what we learn from Judah in the time period in which we are introduced to God as Jehovah-Tsidkenu. We don't get to set our own standard of righteousness. God is the standard of righteousness. We are to reflect His righteousness. We can only do this through Jesus, who ultimately is Jehovah-Tsidkenu.
The word "shalom" means peace. Peace is an inward calmness that can exist within us regardless of our outer turmoils. Our obedience to God brings peace, and our disobedience to God disrupts peace. Jehovah is peace. He is the source of peace. And His presence means peace for us.
God's foremost attribute is His holiness. His great desire is to redeem us from sin and then sanctify us (i.e. set us apart from sin and unto Himself). God is Jehovah-M'Kaddesh, the LORD Who Sanctifies You.
As sinful, fallen creatures, we need to be healed. We need physical healing. We need emotional healing. We need spiritual healing. The name, Jehovah-Rophe, reveals the nature of God as our healer. The name means "The LORD who heals you." We learn from Israel's experience at Marah, that when we yield to God and trust Him, we position ourselves under His authority in such a way that He can turn the bitter waters of life sweet.
When we fight from the mountain and in the valley under the banner of Jesus, our victory is sure. He is our banner of redemption. He is our banner of spiritual warfare. However, we must understand that some battles rage on. As they do, we can become weary. We need others in our lives who can help us stay focused and connected with heaven's power so that we see victory on earth (i.e. in our lives). This lesson shows us how the name Jehovah-Nissi applies in our lives both eternally and practically.
God provides for our greatest need (salvation) through the finished work of Jesus (the Lamb of God) on the cross. The fact that God provides for our greatest need means that He can provide for our every need. Jehovah-Jireh foresees our needs and can make provision for our needs. But, He must not only foresee the need, He must see our obedience. When Abraham obeyed God's call, God provided for his need. This is true for us also.
Adonai speaks to God as being Lord and Master. He does own all of creation and by virtue of that, He does own us. When we refer to God as Lord (Adonai), we are acknowledging His authority over us.
The joy of God's Lordship in our lives is found in the fact that when we yield to His Lordship, He works in us and through to accomplish what we could never do on our own.
The name "Jehovah" is God's personal name declaring that He is a person, holy, righteous, who reveals Himself and interacts with creation. He is self-existent and eternal.
Elohim is the Creator. He cares for preserves His creation. He is the Strong One who keeps His covenants.
This last chapter of Mark wraps up with Jesus' resurrection from the tomb, His commission to His church to preach the gospel to every person, and His ascension to heaven where He began His High Priestly work of interceding and advocating on the behalf of believers.
This study is a detailed account of Jesus' condemnation, scourging, mocking, and crucifixion. Barabbas was set free, while Jesus took what was no doubt meant to be his cross. In a much greater way, Jesus took our cross. He is our substitute. We can truly say, "He died for me."
In this lesson we learn some practical lessons about how to respond to injustices in our lives. Certainly, we have an example to follow in Jesus.
Peter's faith failed in measure when he denied Jesus, but it didn't fail in whole. Satan sought to sift his faith so that he would fall away from Jesus. God allowed the sifting so that Peter would actually have his pride sifted away.
Failure isn't good, but good can come from failure. We can learn from Peter's story that when we fail we should allow our failure to drive us to repentance, turning, and conversion, and also use our failures to help strengthen others.
Judas' betrayal started as a sinful plan in his heart. His sin led him to actually betray Jesus and turn him over to the religious authorities for thirty pieces of silver. His sinful thought led to a heinous sinful action. But after the betrayal, his remorse led him to hang himself. He served evil and in the end was consumed by evil. This lesson focuses on Marks recounting of the betrayal of Jesus and gives four ways Judas' story can apply to us.
The Last Supper (i.e. Passover meal for Jesus) was also the first Lord's Supper. Jesus instituted this meal as a memorial, a way of remembering His sacrifice for our sin. If we fail to remember we will forget His sacrifice from a practical standpoint. The supper is extremely important.
Jesus eats two suppers with his men on back to back nights. One supper is at Simon the lepers house. The other supper is in the upper room. Between the two suppers we see individuals act in the extreme in opposite directions. At Simon's house, Mary pours out the contents of an alabaster box in worship of Jesus. It is lavish, unreserved, costly, and uninhibited. In the upper room, Jesus announces his impending betrayal by Judas. Judas has the audacity to ask, "Is it I?" He knew full well he had already conspired to betray Jesus. Within hours of this announcement, Judas would indeed betray Christ. We see the extremes of Worship and Betrayal.
In the Olivet Discourse Jesus gives an overview of the characteristics leading up to and including the tribulation period and His second coming.
As the religious leaders (enemies) of Jesus become desperate to hold on to their power and thwart people from following Jesus, they cunningly devise a plan to ask Jesus question that are designed to trap Him and make Him look bad in the eyes of the people. Being much wiser than His enemies, Jesus not only answers the questions in such a way that He dismays His enemies, He then turns around asks His own questions of them.
Jesus tells an emotionally charged story to drive the point home that God's patience was going to run out with the religious leaders Israel. They could could continue to reject the Messiah, but judgment would eventually come.
God's grace is in unlimited supply. But, access to His grace is limited to this life.
The Jewish leaders rejected Jesus as King and Messiah. They chose instead to elevate the temple, their faith, and their authority above Jesus. What they didn't understand was that they had acted and believed in such a way that they served a good for nothing temple, believed with a good for nothing faith, and led with a good for nothing authority.
Jesus rides to town on a colt declaring Himself to be King. He is both the rightful ruler of the throne and temple. On Palm Sunday Jesus indicated and revealed this very truth by fulfilling prophecy, cleansing the temple, performing miracles, and receiving acclamation.
Jesus is the Messiah. He is the Savior. In the healing of Bartimaeus we see the picture and proof of who Jesus is. In the response of Bartimaeus to Jesus healing him, we see what our response to Jesus should be - following and serving Jesus with a heart of gratefulness.
As Jesus approaches Jerusalem for the last time we see His humility juxtaposed with His disciples' ambition and pride. Jesus, the King, will lay His life down and serve our greatest need. His disciples argue about who will be the greatest and jockey for position in the coming kingdom. Power isn't about people serving us. Power is about us serving people.
Sometimes we're just better off keeping our mouths shut. Silence can be golden and certainly a blessing to us.
Who is Jesus to you? This is the all important question. In this section of scripture we see multiple comparisons and contrasts regarding Jesus, who He is, what will happen to Him, and what the true measure of success is.
One of the best ways to learn is through repetition. Jesus used repetition to teach his disciples how their inadequacy can become his abundance. When they couldn't connect the dots and see that truth clearly, Jesus repeated the lesson. He feed 5,000. He fed 4,000. He increased their faith and drew them to a place where they could believe that when what they need is more than what they have, Jesus is the answer.
We can't work miracles but we can do the practical to meet the needs of others. Jesus met a need for a deaf and mute man. In doing so we see three practical things we can like him: be courteous to others, give liberty, do all things well.
The heart of the problem is the problem of the heart. Jesus explains how it is the heart of man that corrupts a man not what he eats, drinks, or touches. The only cure to our heart problem is Jesus.
The Syro-Phoenecian woman teaches us four principles that we can apply to our prayer lives that can help us prevail in prayer by faith.
Up until Mark 7, Jesus has been pretty much non-confrontational with those who oppose His ministry. But, in Mark 7 Jesus becomes much more assertive and confronts the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and scribes. The lesson we learn is that Jesus, through His Word, confronts hypocrisy in us. We need to look long in the mirror of God's Word and listen to what Jesus says freedom truly means.
When the disciples saw Jesus calm the stormy sea they were once again astonished and amazed and blown away. Even though they had seen Jesus calm a stormy sea previously, and seen Him heal people and cast out demons and feed over 5,000 with just two loaves and five fish, they were astonished as if they didn't have a clue as to who Jesus was. And that was exactly it. They couldn't connect the dots that Jesus was God robed in flesh. Mark tells us that their heart was hardened and they didn't understand the lesson of the loaves.
When we look at life from the human (horizontal) standpoint, we can see obstacles and problems as being impossible to overcome. When we see life from the divine (vertical) standpoint, we can see that even the toughest problems present God opportunities to minister to us and through us.
Mark sandwiches the back story of Herod having John the Baptist killed between the beginning and ending of the story of Jesus sending out his 12 disciples. From this drama we learn very applicable lessons about revenge, peer pressure, rationalizing our actions, and the way of sin.
Jesus sent His disciples (the 12) out two by two with a short list of dos and don'ts. With the authority given to them by Jesus, they greatly expanded Christ's ministry. We too have been authorized by Jesus to expand His ministry through the local church.
In Mark 4 and 5 Jesus shows His power over the forces of evil and the devil. He calms a storm (danger). He heals a demoniac (demons). He heals a woman with an issue of blood (disease). And he raises the daughter of Jairus from the dead (death). Jesus is King. His kingdom is advancing. He is available to help us today.
In this lesson we see the desperation of Jairus and the woman with the issue of blood. Desperation drives us to Jesus. It brings us to a place of humility where we can surrender our need to God and trust Him.
Jesus confronts evil and destroys it so that He can redeem and restore us. Any person restored by Jesus can be used of God to impact the world greatly. This is what we see in the story of the healing of the demoniac of Gadara.
Jesus teaches us lessons about truth, and then He puts us to the test. In this lesson we see Jesus teach a series of parables teaching lessons on truth, and then He gives His disciples a test by putting them into a storm. The question is: will they trust Him? And they should because they have His promise, presence, and peace.
The soil of our heart makes all the difference when it comes to the seed of God's Word germinating, growing, and producing fruit.
Jesus tells a parable about a sower who cast seed into four different types of soil. Each soil represents a type of heart: hard, shallow, thorny, and good.
We each need to assess the condition of our heart and strive to prepare the soil of heart so that it gladly receives it and produces fruit.
Jesus was misunderstood by His friends, His family, and His enemies. Sometimes in your Christian faith and walk you too will be misunderstood. This lesson gives us some insight as to how to handle that situation.
Pressure in life is always coming at us. It was coming at Jesus too in His earthly ministry. How do we respond to the pressures that life brings our way?
Mark shares with us how Jesus was compassionate toward the needs and concerned for the hardhearted. We too should show compassion towards those in need and be concerned for others who have a hard heart towards God.
When a legalist begins to criticize us, then we must respond with biblical truth. That is exactly what Jesus did when He was criticized by the Pharisees.
Jesus healed a leper. This healing teaches us many lessons. Two of which are the lesson of salvation and the lesson of publication. Jesus' healing of this man pictures the salvation (cleansing) of a sinner diseased with sin. And there is also a lesson about how we should share the greatest news of what has ever happened to us as believers, i.e. our cleansing from sin.
Jesus calls each of us to follow Him. He calls each us to a unique calling and purpose. The question we must answer is, "Have we answered the call?"
The overarching purpose of these opening verses of Mark’s Gospel is to reaffirm the divine authority of Jesus Christ. Disciples preparing to face the cruel authority of Roman persecutors needed this reminder: Do not fear Rome; our authority comes from God, who will hold Rome accountable and will minister to those who faithfully endure temptation.
The author of Hebrews closes his letter to the Hebrews with personal words of requests for prayer, exhortations to apply and book, and a farewell of grace.
Jesus never changes, and God has given us some truths that can allow us hold tightly to the unchanging grace of our Savior.
Chapter 13 is filled with lots of practical teaching on a variety of subjects that deal with love for people and love for God. The author in verses 1-7 shows us how we are to love others with our commitment and contentment.
We need God's grace everyday to stick to the race track of life. We must look to Jesus, God's love, and God's grace. If we turn our eyes and lives to worldliness, we will get off track and perhaps not even get back into the race.
In this fallen world, everyone experiences a mixture of both triumphs and tragedies. However, neither astonishing victories nor demoralizing defeats represent the end of the story. As the author closes out chapter 11, he summarizes this truth: And all these, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect. We too can do as they did: look into the future by faith and live faithful lives in the present.
Sometimes we have to wait before God fulfills what He has promised. In the waiting we exercise our faith and grow it stronger. We don't give up in despair. We have to long for those things that are not of this world. Get our eyes on the spiritual, eternal, and heavenly. Like Abraham, we must look for a city whose building and maker is God.
The way to follow Jesus is faith. He is superior in person and ministry. The way we please God in following Jesus is through and by the superior principle of faith.
Because of Jesus' superior sacrifice, a way has been opened for us to have a relationship with God. It also established Jesus as our Great High Priest. In light of Jesus superior sacrifice and ministry, we have a responsibility to draw near to God, hold fast our confession of hope, and stir one another up unto love and good works.
Because the OT sacrifices could never provide for cleansing and removal of guilt, there was a need for a greater sacrifice. Jesus is that greater sacrifice. He is the Lamb that taketh away the sins of the world. By His sacrifice, the OT ended and the NT began. The sacrifice of Jesus was a one for, once for all, and free for all sacrifice that brings the removal of guilt and the purging of the heart from sin.
Jesus is the Mediator of the New Covenant which He has signed and sealed in His own blood. His sacrifices is a once for all time payment of sin. As a High Priest He only offered one sacrifice one time. He now appears in the heavenly tabernacle as our Great High Priest ministering the New Covenant benefits to all believers.
The Old Covenant along with its priesthood and sacrifices could never clean a person's heart or remove sin guilt. It could only "cover" the sin. The New Covenant along with its Great High Priest and one time sacrifice cleanses internally and removes all sin guilt. Our faith must be in the finished redemptive work of Jesus on the cross.
Jesus is superior person, but He is also superior in ministry because he administers a superior covenant. The New Covenant is greater than the Old Covenant and it is required to be so because Jesus' priesthood is superior.
Jesus priesthood is greater. Only Jesus allows access to God, the ability to draw near to God, and to grow spiritually. Jesus is the bridge-maker, the one and only mediator between God and man.
Jesus' High Priesthood is greater than the priesthood of Aaron because Jesus is of a different order and His priesthood is more efficacious.
Following the dark clouds of the difficult warning received in 6:4-6, the author now shines a ray of light as he seeks to encourage the Hebrew Christians in their spiritual progress.
The author implores his readers to quit being sluggish in their spiritual growth and dull of hearing God's Word. He exhorts them to move on to spiritual maturity. God will do His part if we do our part in growing spiritually. This lesson deals with a very difficult passage of scripture that says it is impossible to be renewed unto repentance. What is it that we cannot repent of? We can repent of sin, but we cannot repent of the lost time, lost fellowship, lost opportunities, etc. as a result of spiritual regression.
Jesus is greater in His personage. Jesus is greater in His ministry. Jesus is our Great High Priest, and we surely need Him and are grateful to have Him. He is our faithful advocate, intercessor, and savior. He is not prejudiced against a single believer. He is constantly present and accessible 24/7. And He as our Great High Priest secures our salvation forever.
The Word of God is a scalpel in the hand of our master surgeon,Jesus our Great High Priest. Jesus will use the Word to do spiritual surgery to bring spiritual healing so that we can enjoy the rest He has for us. However, we must yield to the touch of our Physician and draw near unto Him.
God offers us spiritual rest for our souls. Regardless of the circumstances of our lives we can experience peace, hope, and joy when we trust God by faith and yield to Him. Two enemies that we must be aware of that can rob us of our rest are panic and pride. Panic leads us to run from our perceived giants in fear and miss out on God’s rest. Pride leads us to fight our own battles without God and miss out on God’s rest.
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When we doubt God's Word and fail to obey, our hearts can harden toward Him. The author of Hebrews uses a historical account from Israel's past to illustrate the danger of doubting God and allowing our hearts to become hardened.
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Christ is superior to Moses in His person. And Jesus is superior to Moses in His ministry.
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Jesus is greater than the angels not only because He is deity but also because He is a man. His humanity enabled Him to regain man's lost dominion. His humanity enabled Him to bring many sons to glory. His humanity enabled Him to disarm Satan and deliver us from death. His humanity enables Him to be a sympathetic High Priest to His people.
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Because Jesus is greater, and because we are the inheritors of salvation freely, we must pay close attention lest we drift from the foundation of the gospel. If we neglect our salvation, there will be negative consequences.
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The Jews held the OT Prophets and Angels in the highest regard as messengers. Both gave bits and pieces of God's revelation, but only Jesus has given us God's full revelation.
Jesus is greater than the OT messengers, both prophets and angels.
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Introduction to the study of Hebrews. The theme of the book is Jesus is greater. He is superior in His person and work.
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We have to keep the main thing the main thing.
1) The cross is central to the believer's life. 2) The cross is central to the believer's relationships. 3) The cross is central to the believer's power.
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In Gal. 6:6-10 Paul lays out three things with regards to sharing our blessings: 1) The Precept For Sharing Our Blessings 2) The Principle For Sharing Our Blessings 3) The Promise For Sharing Our Blessings
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Nothing is a greater robber of joy than WORRY. From a spiritual standpoint, worry is wrong thinking (the mind) and wrong feelings (the heart) about circumstances, people, and things. The antidote to worry is the secure mind: “And the peace of God…shall keep [garrison, guard like soldier] your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus!” When you have the secure mind, the peace of God guards (v. 7) you and the God of peace guides you (v. 9).
The antidote to worry is the secure mind: “And the peace of God…shall keep [garrison, guard like soldier] your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus!” When you have the secure mind, the peace of God guards (v. 7) you and the God of peace guides you (v. 9). With that kind of protection – why worry?
Paul’s spiritual mind has him heartbroken over the way some professed Christians are living, people who “mind earthly things.” In this section, Paul is encouraging us to have the spiritual mind because our citizenship is in heaven. Philippi was a Roman Colony on foreign soil. It much the same way, we are citizens of a heavenly colony on earthly soil. We need to live now as if we were living in our future home.
This text is not talking about salvation. That would contradict what Paul previously said in chapter 3. Paul is talking about being a “winning Christian” - one who fulfills the purpose for which he was saved.
What are the essentials for winning the race and one day receiving the reward that is promised?
We must be dissatisfied, devoted, directed, determined, and disciplined
The spiritual mind is set on heavenly things not earthly things. It is a mindset that takes a heavenly perspective, not an earthly perspective. A saved person can have either an earthly mindset or a heavenly mindset. The spiritual mind keeps things from robbing you of joy.
Christ shows us the pattern for the submissive mind. Paul reveals to us to power for the submissive mind. And Timothy and Epaphroditus give us the proof that we too can have the submissive mindset.
If we're going to live out the great example of Christ's submissive mindset then we must know that there is a purpose to achieve, a power to receive, and a promise to believe. We can't do it by imitation; we must do it by incarnation.
Chapter 1 focused on the "single mind." Chapter 2 focuses on the "submissive mind." The submissive mind puts others first for the glory of God. The secret of joy in spite of circumstances is the single mind. The secret of joy in spite of people is the submissive mind. Jesus is our ultimate example of a person exercising the attitude of humility found in the submissive mindset.
In our text, Paul is speaking about fighting for the faith of the Gospel. The “faith” is the same thing that Jude mentioned in Jude 3 – “Earnestly contending for the faith.” (cf. 1 Tim. 4:1) We must earnestly fight for faith and strive for the advancement of the gospel so that we can hand the baton of the faith of the Gospel to the next generation.
Although imprisoned in Rome and chained, Paul was more than a prisoner. He was a pioneer. He advanced and furthered the gospel by using his chains as a tool to take the gospel to places that he himself would never go personally. We need to see that God has given us the ability to use an unlikely or even unfavorable situation to further the gospel.
Paul rejoiced in his circumstances, because his circumstances strengthened the fellowship of the gospel. (v. 5) Fellowship – def – to have in common. Christian fellowship is more than sharing a cup of coffee, lunch, passion for a sport, etc. Christian fellowship is about having Christ in common, the gospel in common, sharing Christ, sharing eternal life.
Paul told the Philippians that he had them in his mind, in his heart, and in his prayers.
The Apostles show us how we are to handle the truth of God's Word in the midst of persecution. The Sanhedrin attacked the truth. The Apostles affirmed the truth. Gamaliel avoided the truth. And the church announced the truth.
When Satan fails to destroy a church from outside attack, he will slither his way in and seek to destroy it from within.
The early church truly had power. What was the secret? The early Christians knew how to pray so that God’s hand could work in mighty power.
he emphasis of chapters 3 & 4 is the name of the Lord Jesus (Acts 3:6, 16, 4:7, 10, 12, 17-18, 30) A name implies more than mere identification; it carries with it authority, reputation, and power. (Cf. Mt. 28:18-20, Phil. 2:9-11) The great concern of the early church was that the name of Jesus be honored and glorified. We bear a responsibility to glorify the name of Jesus. (How we live, the things we say, the things we do, etc)
When the day of Pentecost was fully come (i.e. had been fulfilled), then the true purpose of Pentecost was fulfilled, i.e. the empowering of the church (spiritual body of Christ).
In chapter 1 we see the believers taking care of some “unfinished business” and getting ready for Pentecost. What they said and did reveal to us the faith of the church. In what did they really believe?
1) They believed in the risen Christ 2) They believed in each other 3) They believed in prayer 4) They believed in God's leading
The story of Ruth ends on a happy note. Ruth is redeemed by Boaz through marriage. Boaz is a picture of Jesus. Ruth (a gentile) is a picture of Jesus' bride. Just Boaz redeemed his bride, Jesus has redeemed His bride. Jesus did for His bride what she could not do for herself. Jesus gave His life as the purchase price for His bride.
Ruth's relationship with Boaz reveals to us how we can grow in a deeper relationship with God.
We learn from Ruth that if we're going to let God work in our lives so that we handle our problems rightly, we must live by faith, grace, and hope.
When it comes to problems, we can endure, escape, or enlist the problem. If we attempt to escape, we miss out on learning what God wants us to learn. If we endure, problems become our master and control us. But if we enlist, then our problems become our servants and serve to God’s purpose.