Mountain Valley Church of God: Recent Episodes
Mountain Valley Church of God
1st John 4vs 20-21 Last week we looked at the fact that the agape, self-sacrificing love for one another that is not of ourselves, but has it’s origin in God. It is from Him through us, and is the appropriate response to understanding that God loves us! The character of God is love. By His […]
19 We love, because He first loved us. John says “we” and so confesses His love for God, and for believers. “We love because He loved us first.” You can just hear John’s delight, as he includes himself as a beneficiary of God’s love. John is making sure that we all know the ultimate source […]
1st John 4:17-18 When we read 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, it’s talking about when we meet Jesus at the end of our time on earth. And whether we meet Jesus and are fearful, or are in rapturous adoration and love depends on our choice: Are we […]
1 John 4:16 We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. 4:16a Abiding in love is evidence of abiding in God and God abiding in us. John lets us know that he too experiences […]
1 John 4:15 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in him, and he in God. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God. This verse starts our Whoever; It means it’s open to anyone. The word here for confesses means to confess, to acknowledge. Confession is not claiming […]
1 John 4:13-14 By this we know that we remain in Him and He in us, because He has given to us of His Spirit. In 1st John 4:12 John had told us that God remains in us, and His love is perfected in us. Now, in verse 13, John explains how we remain in […]
1 John 4vs10-12 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us John emphasizes in this verse that godly love is not something which originated with man. Instead, it is an attribute of God that we understand only because He reveals it to us. It’s His love that provides […]
7 Beloved, let’s love one another; for love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love. The Holy Spirit produces love in us teaches us to love The power to love like Jesus […]
7 Beloved, let’s love one another; for love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 By this the love of God was revealed in us, that God has sent His only […]
5 They are from the world, therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. The one who knows God listens to us; the one who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit […]
1 John 4:4 4 You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. The World What does John mean by the world? In 1 John, the world refers to the organized system in rebellion against God; with it’s lust […]
Happy Father’s Day! Over and over in the scripture, fathers are commanded to provide a good example for their Children. Timothy 2:11-12 calls this to mind when he says “For you know how, like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a […]
1st John 3b-4a: “and this is the spirit of the antichrist.” So, the denial that Jesus came in the flesh, so that He could die for our sins and be the only Way to the Father is motivated by the spirit of the antichrist. This results in the characteristic attitude of the world to deny […]
1 John 4:2-3 The churches of Asia Minor that John is writing to were unwisely leaving themselves open to believing false teachers and teachings, accepting and trusting in teachings without testing them, which caused a lot of confusion in the church, just as it does today. Every teaching, every doctrine claiming to be the Truth […]
Test-The-Spirits-1st-John-4-outlineDownloadJohn wants to address the confusion in the body of Christ that is caused by the working of false spirits, and false inspirations within the church.
Beloved, do not believe every spirit.
John is concerned for their spiritual welfare. He begins with a command not to believe every spirit, every pneuma, every wind of new doctrine yes, everything that promises to be a breath of new life. Remember that John’s just told us in 1st John 3:24 24 The one who keeps His commandments remains in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He remains in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us. So John is contrasting the Spirit of Truth, this Life-Giving Spirit from God with the false spirits that come from the evil one. And the implication here is that these believers were becoming confused by believing deceiving spirits who where lying and trying to impersonate the Holy Spirit. So John is warning them, and warning us, don’t do that!
The churches that John is writing to were in danger of coming under the influence of the false doctrines and heresy of Gnosticism, which tended to diminish the person and work of Jesus. Faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus is absolutely essential to Christianity, and any attempt to deny them can only come from the pit of hell. So John is warning them, and us not to be open to just any inspired word of doctrine—make sure that it is True Doctrine inspired by the Holy Spirit, not inspired by the one of these false spirits. They were committing themselves to believing teachings without testing them, and that was the problem. And this was causing a lot of confusion in the church, just as it does today.
Test Every Spirit to See if they are from God
Remember that God never demands blind faith, He provides us the evidence of His Word, and of changed lives, and says decide whether you want to believe and see the truth or not. Luke gave the Berean people praise as they judged the teaching of Paul and Silas: 11 Now these people were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so. The question, when it comes to Christian teaching, is whether it lines up with the Word of God, or not! Every teaching, every doctrine claiming to be the Truth must be tested. We have a responsibility to be discerning in understanding the spiritual motivation of teachers. We are to be vigilant, allowing the Holy Spirit to give us discernment, chiefly by hiding the Word of God in our Heart, so that the Holy Spirit can remind us of the Word, when discernment is needed.
So, what exactly are we supposed to be testing? In context, it appears to be saying to test the spirit behind the teaching that we hear, their ultimate source. Just as Truth is Sourced in God, and the Holy Spirit of Truth, Error and deceit is sourced in Satan and his emissaries the fallen angels or demons. Later in 1st John 4:6, John is going to continue this contrast saying 6 We are from God. The one who knows God listens to us; the one who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. I believe that this is a warning to test teaching and doctrine, just as Paul gives us in Timothy 4:1-2 But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, 2 by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, He’s warning against joining this crowd who will follow false teaching, and guidance of spirits who are not from God. These are the teachers who are influenced strongly by the “spirit” of this age (the world’s values, their culture) which is continually being influenced by the servants of Satan.
But we must continue sharing the hope of Jesus Christ in the face of increasingly difficult circumstances. If you cave in, and don’t talk about sin or don’t “preach the gospel” then you’ll face less pressure here, but risk being one of those who falls away from the faith. Jesus said in Matthew 5:14-15 14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; 15 nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Your light must shine before people in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. We can’t be the light of the world if we let the world dim or put out our light by compromising with the darkness! We must stand for the truth during the storm.
Standing in the storm of false teaching
For those of us who will walk with Him, Jesus has demonstrated to us over and over that He will keep us through the storm. And it has built our faith in Him, our foundation. He has the power. In Matthew 8:23-27 God allowed a storm to come upon Jesus and the apostlesThen He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm. 27 The men were amazed, and said, “What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?” Jesus demonstrated His power over the storms in their lives, literally! And there’s another reason for the storm. 6 Chapters later in Matthew 14:22 we find out that Jesus made his disciples get on a boat without him and go on ahead across the sea of Galilee In Matthew 14:24 we read 24 and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. 25 Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. The storm was a test of faith, just as the other had been. Jesus had told them that He would meet them on the other side, so if they really believed in Him as they should, then they should have known that they’d make it to the other side. Even with the wind and the waves against them, they had already been shown that even the wind and the sea obey Jesus, and He had assured them they’d make it. And notice that when their attention was on the storm around them, it produced fear. That’s why we shouldn’t spend our time listening to the spiritual storm coming from our televisions and computers, on the news which is controlled by the prince of the power of the air, the enemy over the airwaves. We’re not going to be able to discern if that’s what we’re paying attention to. Instead we must listen to Jesus when He tells us too in Matthew 14:27 27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” Now this is a command to look to Jesus for courage. It demanded faith in order to overcome fear. One disciple out of twelve understood what was going on. 28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” 29 “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. People ask what was different about Peter? He had discernment to know Jesus when he saw him, and was not confused, thinking that it was a ghost or spirit. And once he knew it was Jesus, it was only THEN that he took his eyes of the storm, and actually listed to what Jesus had said—Take Courage. Rom 10:17 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. It was listening to the Word of God, Jesus in faith that made the difference. The Bible says in Ephesians 2:9 we read that faith is the gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. Faith comes from God, and Peter was looking to Jesus for it. Faith is defined biblically in terms of the action that it produces—we are not called to create faith within ourselves, but to look to Jesus for it. He found that because He listed to the Word of God, and put his trust in it, that he could walk on water just as long as he kept his eyes on Jesus 2 looking only at Jesus, the originator and perfecter of the faith as Hebrews 12:2 tells us. That’s what made the difference—that He looked to, and placed his trust in Jesus.
And so, in our verses today, we find that it’s recognizing whether the teachings line up with the Word of God—are the teachings sourced IN God, that lets us know whether it is something that we should accept or reject the teaching. John calls us to evaluate teachers and teachings in order to discern the source of that teaching, whether it is of God or from elsewhere, just like Peter discerned that the person coming to him over the sea in the wind and the waves was Jesus, and not a ghost. Faith is only valid if it’s faith in God, so we must be sure of the Word that we stand on, the truth it is based on. Just as Peter examined the person coming to Him on the Lake, and knew it was the Word, just as the Bereans Examined the Scriptures to know that the word from Paul and Silas was according to the scriptures, “True faith examines carefully what or who it’s putting the faith and confidence in, before placing faith in them. Otherwise it is only self-deception, that will fail in time of trouble.
I believe that John is asking us to look at the Word to examine teachings and teachers so we won’t be mislead. So what is to be evaluated? Just as Jesus said: their fruits (Matt 7 vs. 15-20. These “fruits” may be visible conduct, but may also include their teachings. So, we don’t look at what they say about themselves, but at what they teach about the Bible, and how they conduct themselves (see Rev 2:20-22). It is not a small thing to put your lot in with those who hate God! It is not a small thing to ignore and wink at evil, refusing to call it sin. It is not a small think to tolerate and participate in evil, because it brings you financial benefits, or social acceptance, or popularity among your friends. We must stand up and be counted with the people of God, against this evil tide, or we will find ourselves counted amongst those who stand against God, and be destroyed! Which means we are to live our lives instead in righteousness, doing right before God. As John says in 1st John 3:10 10 By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother. This is what we’re supposed to spend our time doing.
“because many false prophets have gone out into the world”. Don’t spend your time trying to sniff out false teaching and false prophets, or you’ll miss a lot of good teaching, because you’re always looking at all teaching with a critical eye. Don’t be fearful, have faith in God. Instead, focus on keeping your eyes upon Jesus, and trust the Holy Spirit to give you the discernment to easily identify the false teaching, call it deception and sin, reject it, and focus your eyes upon Jesus. Don’t pay attention to the waves, Keep your eyes upon Jesus.
1st-John-3vs23-24-We-Know-by-This-That-He-Remains-In-UsDownload23 This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us.
When we obey the Holy Spirit’s urging and Jesus’ command to love one another by fellowship with each other and meeting each other’s needs, then the practical effect is that it is proof to us that we are saved. We have convincing evidence of a life spent in service to other believers as we are brought into the presence of our Creator at death. Our love for Jesus; our faithfulness in obedience to Him as our bridegroom, affects our relationship with Him. John 14:23-24 23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will follow My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our dwelling with him. 24 The one who does not love Me does not follow My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me. And as we have allowed His love to pour through us, as a clean vessel, pouring His true love to those around us, we will be in utter delight and joy when we meet Jesus.
It’s the living out of the word in our lives that causes us to see whether we’ve actually incorporated these truths that we’ve learned into our character and manner of living. James 1:22-25 says 22 But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not just hearers who deceive themselves.
23 This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us.
Commanded to believe
There are two important commandments in this first. The first is the essential gospel message of belief in Christ. John 3:16 16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.” Romans 10:9-10 9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. In John 6:47 Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life. Or John 6:29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent”. In fact, John gives us the reason for writing his gospel in John 20:31 saying but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name. We are to believe in His name and have life eternal. “Believe in the name” means to believe in the person, Jesus, and His authority as God the Son to save you—a right legally purchased by Him when He died on the cross for your sins. We must believe in Jesus, in His Name, in His Work of salvation, to be saved, and keep on believing on the basis of Who Jesus is, as He is revealed to us more and more by the Holy Spirit.
Second, John emphasizes that as believers we are “to love one another, Just as Jesus commanded us.” We read this command in John 13:34 34 I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are My disciples: if you have love for one another.” Jesus’ commandment to love other believers is a commandment to follow Him serving our brothers and sisters in Christ. The command to love one another is so important, that Jesus repeats it twice more in John 15:12, and John 15:17!
Sometimes it’s difficult to show love in the families that we were originally born into, and likewise sometimes it’s going to be tough sometimes to demonstrate Christ’s love to our Brothers and Sisters in Christ. We all have our flaws and faults, and that makes us difficult to love sometimes. And others do too, and that makes it more difficult to love them. Eph 4:2 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 being diligent to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Just like our own original birth families, our church family is a mixed bag of people with different backgrounds, experiences, hurts, habits, and hangups, but also talents, abilities, giftings and abilities. John is encouraging himself, the other Christians that he’s talking to and US to “to keep loving. We need to ACT on Jesus’ command to love each other, and to humbly receive love from other Christians. As Col 3:12-14 reminds us 12 So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and [l]patience; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so must you do also. 14 In addition to all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. All the people sitting around you on a Sunday morning are your spiritual close relatives—brothers and sisters in Christ. And loving them is one of the reasons that we’ve been left on earth for. We’re here to care for each other, and meet each other’s needs. And, as we cooperate with the Holy Spirit’s urging in this, we’ll find that we get closer to God, and our relationship with Him becomes richer and deeper. You cannot believe without loving nor love without believing.
24 The one who keeps His commandments remains in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He remains in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.
John is stating another principle that governs the believer’s relationship with God and connects the Spirit’s indwelling with our mutual abiding relationship with God. In this verse he describes the mutual indwelling relationship between the obedient believer and Jesus. This is reminiscent of Jesus’ words in the Upper Roomin John 15:4–7. 4 Remain in Me, and I in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself but must remain in the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in Me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches; the one who remains in Me, and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not remain in Me, he is thrown away like a branch and dries up; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you remain in Me, and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so [g]prove to be My disciples The believer “abides” through obedience and Christ “abides” in the obedient believer in the person of the Holy Spirit. This use of “abide” is not related to the question of whether one is a believer or not, but whether Jesus is influencing our lives as believers or not.
“And he who keeps his commandments abides in Him and He in him.
Abiding in the love of Christ involves habitual obedience to God and His commandments. It is a life lived like Christ lived. Though habitual obedience is not automatic in the life of the believer, we have an obligation through what Christ has done for us to make it more automatic through habitual imitation of Christ. Ephesians 5:1-2 says 5 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; 2 and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. The one who says that he abides in Him, to have a relationship with God should imitate the character and the lifestyle of Jesus, who always and only did the Will of the Father, continually serving God and meeting the needs of others. Realizing what Jesus has done for us, we have a moral obligation that drives us to live our life as Jesus did, because we realize more and more the Goodness and Righteousness and Love of the God we serve, and love Him for what He has already done for us, demonstrated most clearly at the cross. Knowing God creates this inner desire on our part to serve God, just as He did. Our walk is in obedience to God, obeying His commands, and it results in the best life we could live. We see this again in Deuteronomy 10:12 12 “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13 and to keep the Lord’s commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good?
Abiding results in Joy
John 15:10-1110 If you keep My commandments, you will remain in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love. 11 These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.
So, we see that obedience to God, and abiding in His love is the other means by which we receive the Joy of the Lord. We can only abide, remain, and have fellowship with Jesus if we walk in the Light, just as He is in the Light. We remain and dwell in the Father’s love through obedience to Him in our daily lives.
To Abide is to Love our Brothers and Sisters
John consistently refutes the claim to be able abide in Christ, while living in disobedience in verses like 1 John 2:4 The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him;. Those who refuse to love their brothers and sisters in Christ, he similarly calls false-brethren, in verses like 1 John 2:9 9 The one who says that he is in the Light and yet hates his brother or sister is in the darkness until now. and expressing hatred toward brothers and in 1 John 4:20 20 If someone says, “I love God,” and yet he hates his brother or sister, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother and sister whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. In other words, our love for God will be revealed in our love for our brothers and sisters in Christ, since we can easily express that love that God has for them through caring and loving them ourselves. He’s saying that it’s easy to claim to love God, but if we really do, then it’s going to show by our willingness to care for and help our Brothers and Sisters in Christ. So, those characterized by obedience experience a mutual abiding relationship with God.
“and by this we know that he abides in us.”
Since the Holy Spirit accomplishes this work in us of loving our brothers and sisters and encouraging us to obey and abide in Christ, then this also proves to us by this evidence that we are His! We know that He abides in us by the proof of the influence that He has in our lives. We can know we are experiencing Christ’s presence within us precisely BECAUSE of the obedience and love. We have this assurance by the evidence of our actions inspired by the Holy Spirit. It is knowledge gained by experience, not just knowledge gained by instruction. This is something we experience, not just believe to be true because we were taught it, which is much more valuable in the day of adversity!
Mothers-Day-Exodus-2vs1-9-outlineDownload2 Now a man from the house of Levi went and married a daughter of Levi. 2 And the woman conceived and gave birth to a son;
Now, we learn that both of Moses’ parents, Amram and Jochebed, were from the tribe of Levi. Since Aaron was 3 years older than Moses, Aaron was likely one of the boys saved by those faithful midwives.
A second thing to notice is that Moses was a chosen child from the only tribe called to the spiritual leadership of Israel—the Levites. Moses was pre-ordained for the leadership role that God would have for him later in his life, even before God revealed that the Levites were to be the priests.
and when she saw that he was beautiful, she hid him for three months.
Moses was beautiful. This word Towb is the same word that God uses over and over in Genesis chapter 1, starting in Genesis 1:4 when God saw that the light was good, and ending in Genesis 1:31, when God saw all that He had made, and it was very good. Like His creation of the world, the birth of Moses was a part of His plan to deliver Israel, to fulfill His promises to Abraham, and to bring forth the Messiah.
Exodus specifically says that it was Jochebed, his mother’s faith that saved him. She saw he was beautiful, and she hid him for three months. I mean, the author of Hebrews 11:23 is generous, crediting both his parents, saying 23 By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict. But, Exodus 2 makes it clear that it was his mother’s faith in God’s purpose for Moses that drove these decisions. She was willing to risk all of their lives by defying Pharaoh in order to see God’s Will done. To do this, as always, she had to overcome her fear. It’s always, a case of faith vs. fear. Fear of not being enough, fear of messing things up, fear of failure, fear of success, fear of consequences, and of course fear of death. Faith and fear cannot coexist in the same place at the same time. 2 Timothy 1:7 says “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind”. 1 Cor 13 says “perfect love casts out fear”. And as we find so often in leaders who don’t know God, it was fear that was driving Pharaoh’s decision to persecute the Israelites. You would think that, all people the leader of the world at that time, the most powerful person on earth wouldn’t be afraid, but he was. We read in Exodus 1:8-11 8 Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. 9 And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. 10 Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, otherwise they will multiply, and in the event of war, they will also join those who hate us, and fight against us and depart from the land.” 11 So they appointed taskmasters over them to oppress them with hard labor. It was fear that caused the oppression and persecution of God’s people. This Pharaoh knew not Joseph, but more importantly this Pharaoh knew not Joseph’s God, and so Pharaoh himself was a slave—to fear. If we put our faith in anything but God, then we will be slaves of fear. That is the status of humanity without God, no matter what their position. In fact, the primary motivation for seeking power and money and position and privilege is that when things go bad, these things can be a protection for you. But, it’s different for the people of God.
In Romans 8:15, Paul tells us that we “did not receive a spirit that makes us a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship”. We don’t have to be in slavery to fear again. That means that before we knew Jesus we were enslaved to fear. In fact, all in the world who aren’t following God live their lives enslaved by fear, but as believers we no longer have to be, we have been freed from a spirit of fear and given a spirit of sonship. So how did we live enslaved by fear, and how do we go about living out our freedom from it? Hebrews 2:14-15 tells us that by living the perfect life without sin, Jesus purchased for us freedom from fear. How did He do that? 14 Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, so that through death He might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. Did He destroy the devil physically at that time? Sadly, no. But He did destroy his power over death. The word translated destroy here is the Greek katargeo, to make useless or ineffective. Jesus holds the keys to death and the grave now. Through dying for our sins on the cross Jesus destroyed the power of death to cause fear in the life of believers. The enemy’s power over us, his hold on us, is made ineffective through what Jesus did on the cross. 1 Cor 15:56-57 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Freedom has been made possible, but it is up to every one of us to realize that freedom in our lives by choosing to live out the freedom we have been given. And how do we do that? We know longer allow ourselves to live in fear. We fight the battle against our flesh in our minds. 1 Cor 10:3-5 3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not wage battle according to the flesh, 4 for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but [b]divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. 5 We are destroying arguments and all arrogance raised against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, That means that we refuse to give in to the fear of our flesh.
3 But when she could no longer hide him, she got him a papyrus [d]basket and covered it with tar and pitch. The word for what Moses’ mother put him in is tebah, or ark. This word is only used one other place in the Old Testament: Noah’s Ark. Both Noah and Moses were deliverers , called to lead people and animals to a new location where they could be fruitful and multiply, and play their part in God’s redemptive plan for the world.
Then she put the child in it and set it among the reeds by the bank of the Nile.
So Jochebed did the best that she could and put the ark of reeds, this little basket among the other papyrus reeds by the bank of the Nile. Jochebed demonstrated faith in putting baby Moses in God’s hands. How hard it must have been for her to trust God with her little one, not knowing what was going to become of baby Moses. She demonstrated great trust in God.
4 And his sister stood at a distance to find out what would happen to him.
His sister Miriam (ex. 15:20) protects him by watching over him. The whole family is involved in protecting Moses. 5 Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the Nile, with her female attendants walking alongside the Nile; and she saw the basket among the reeds and sent her slave woman, and she brought it to her.The Israelites lived in Goshen, so Pharaoh’s daughter would have had to have been in the region in order to find Moses. It was God that brought them together, and caused Mariam to witness the event.
6 When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the boy was crying. And she had pity on him and said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children.”
When the Egyptian princess opened the ark, and knew immediately that this was one of the Hebrew children. She must have known about her father’s cruel program of population control. The sight of little Moses touched her heart. She probably hated what her father was doing, and decided immediately to rescue this little baby.
7 Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and call a woman for you who is nursing from the Hebrew women, so that she may nurse the child for you?”
Clearly, according to all evidence, the Hebrew women were having a lot of children, and it’s at least implied that the Egyptian women weren’t, since the Hebrews were becoming so much more numerous compared to the Egyptians. And, of course Miriam knew the perfect Hebrew woman to find.
8 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go ahead.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother. 9 Then Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed him.
And so, we can only imagine the excitement with which Miriam ran back to Jochebed with this amazing news of God’s provision. Moses’ protection was assured by his adoption by the Pharaoh’s daughter. And so, by trusting God, Jochebed not only made sure that Moses was safe, but also received back what she had given into God’s hands. God had turned horrible circumstances into hope, and ultimately salvation, because of the trust that this young Levite woman placed in Him. The only things that we truly get to keep are the things that we dedicate to God. If we give God our lives, our time, our resources, our love, our children, then God does not forget. God wants us to know that we can trust Him with what is most precious to us.
10 And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. And she named him [i]Moses, and said, “Because I drew him out of the water.”
Moses was given this Egyptian name, which means “son” or “to beget a son”. But, this word sounds a lot like Moseh, from Mashah, which means “to draw out”, which fits the circumstances of Moses being drawn out of the water. The Princess both honors his Hebrew family by giving him a name associated with the Hebrew language, and also makes him legitimately Egyptian by giving him an Egyptian name, emphasizing her adoption of Moses. And so, it was through the courage of women, doing the right thing even though it could cost them to accomplish His plan of deliverance for the Israelites.
1st-John-3-vs-18-22-outlineDownload1st John 3:18-2218 Little children, let’s not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.
John says that we should meet each other’s needs; that we should not close our hearts toward one another, but should demonstrate our love through action (similarly to what James said in 2:14-16). The Holy Spirit will not only inspire us to do works to help our brothers and sisters in Christ, but will cause us to have genuine love toward all of our fellow believers in Christ. Real love will express itself through action in meeting needs. If a love is sincere, genuine, it will result in the desire to help in times of trouble. John is saying “Instead of talking about it, do what you know ought to be done!”
19 We will know by this that we are of the truth,
When we obey the Holy Spirit’s urging and Jesus’ command to love one another by fellowship with each other and meeting each other’s needs, then this has a practical effect: it is proof to us that we are saved. We have convincing evidence of a life spent in service to other believers when we are confronted with the eventual end of our life, and subsequent meeting face to face with our Creator. So, these works motivated by a love for God’s Children because He loves time is the fruit of the Spirit, the “fruit of love”, persuades us of the validity of our relationship with God, which results in a confidence and reassurance when we stand before Him.
and will set our heart at ease before Him,
This evidence of following Jesus by listening to the Holy Spirit’s urging to love our brothers and sisters in Christ has the effect of peace deep inside. Our troubled conscience over the areas that God is still working on in our lives; those areas where we are not completely obedient is put at ease by the fact that we see that God is working to mold us, and transform us into the image of Christ. And we see this evidence by the love we have shown in real, concrete ways to other believers. We are “persuaded”, convinced of our salvation because we see the evidence of our transformed life.
Our love for Jesus; our faithfulness in obedience to Him as our bridegroom, affects our relationship with Him John 14:23-24 23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will follow My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our dwelling with him. 24 The one who does not love Me does not follow My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me. There is no shortage of love toward us on God’s end of the relationship, but it can be limited by our lack of faithfulness.
This urging of the Holy Spirit to love and serve one another is so that we can give and receive blessings of God through our mutual service to one another as we use the spiritual gifts that God has given us for this very purpose. And as we live this way, someday we’re going to meet our Savior face to face. And as we have allowed His love to pour through us, as a clean vessel, pouring His true love to those around us, we will be in utter delight and joy. That is what the Holy Spirit is trying to counsel us in these verses. As John says in 1 John 3:2-3 2 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope set on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
20 that if our heart condemns us, that God is greater than our heart, and He knows all things.
Self-doubt is a reality of Christian life. Any Christian who is serious about obeying the commands contained in the Word of God knows that they fall short of that commitment. The Bible teaches that the law, or God’s Commandments were given as a mirror. When we look into God’s Word, we see what true righteousness is. Any sane person wouldn’t smash a mirror because it reveals our physical defects, but use it to identify them and correct them, if possible. It’s the living out of the word in our lives that causes us to see whether we’ve actually incorporated these truths that we’ve learned into our character and manner of living. James 1:22-25 says 22 But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not just hearers who deceive themselves. Sometimes we succeed in this, and sometimes we fail. And when we fail, we cause a confidence problem in our spiritual walk with God. Self-doubt, and a lack of confidence before God enters our lives because of sin. And this affects our prayer life, our walk with God, and our feeling of closeness in relationship with God. So, what do we do? We realize that we are called to examine our own heart, but even more-so to allow God to examine our heart. With David in Psalm 139:23-24 we cry out Search me, O God, and know my heart: Try me, and know my thoughts; And see if there be any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting. We allow God to search us and let us know what’s really going on. When we search our own heart, and judge our actions, it is always for correction, not condemnation. Guilt will paralyze us, if we let it. But in the life of a believer, this sorrow over sin serves a very different purpose. As an example, we read in 2 Cor 7:9-10 9 yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. 10 Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. Their guilty consciences have driven them to seek God in the matter, and the Holy Spirit has convicted them that they were truly sinning, just as Paul had said. Conviction of sin is part of the work of the Holy Spirit. And by listening to the Holy Spirit, they agreed with God that they were sinning, and confessed and repented of that sin. They saw that the sins were paid for, and forgiven, not by their actions, but by Jesus’ payment for those sins on the cross. Justice was done, and they were rightly declared innocent! And they, seeing that they were innocent in the eyes of God, could continue in relationship with a Holy and Righteous God, not looking back in shame at sin, but in looking forward in Faith in Jesus. And Paul says that that was great proof that they were Children of God.
We can approach God’s throne with boldness, even in confession and asking for forgiveness, not because are sins are not red as scarlet, but because we can trust Him to wash them white as wool, as Isaiah 1:18 tells us. We’re going to fail in our walk with Jesus, and in our expressing love to other believers sometimes. But, when we do, we need to remember that ultimately we’re looking to God’s Work for salvation, not to our own works. And we do this “because God is greater than our heart.”
21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God;
But it is better not to sin in the first place, so that we don’t have to wrestle with our consciences tendency to condemn us, and our heart and the enemy’s accusations! Butwe who have approached God in confession and repentance do not need to even think about those sins when we come before God. When we come into God’s presence in prayer, we can have a clean conscience, knowing that we have approached God with our sins removed from us, having been cleansed from all unrighteousness and forgiven. We have allowed God to deal with our sins.
22 and whatever we ask, we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight.
We approach God’s throne of grace with confidence! John links this confidence he’s been talking about with answered prayer. Obeying God’s Word and Serving God by serving our brothers and sisters in the spiritual gifts that we’ve been given allows us to have the confidence that we need to have faith that God will answer our prayers. They go together! That’s why the author of Hebrews in 4:16 16 Therefore let’s approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace for help at the time of our need. In other words, it’s our confidence in our relationship with Jesus that allows us to approach the throne of grace with assurance that our prayers will be answered. It’s faith in Jesus, and our relationship with Him that gives us the confidence. That’s why Jesus promised us in John 15:7-8 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. God doesn’t want to hold back on us—He wants to bless us and provide for us in the life that He has planned for us, answering our prayers as a result of our abiding in His Will, and confident to come before Him as His Children, as Jesus’ disciples because we obey in Love, and want His will to be done.
1st-John-3vs16-17-Love-Through-Meeting-NeedsDownload1st John 3:16-17
16 We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us;
The ultimate expression of God’s Love is the Cross of Christ. In our excitement over the resurrection at Easter time, we often forget what Jesus went through for us. Peter 2:24 puts it 24 and He Himself brought our sins in His body up on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness; by His wounds you were healed. The worst part for Jesus was something that we humans tolerate all too well—separation from God. Jesus took upon Himself our sin, He experienced the full weight of sin’s consequences including separation from His Heavenly Father. We know what that’s like, but He never did before then. He cried out with a loud voice, “My God, My God, why As have You forsaken Me?” (Matt. 27:46). Soon thereafter “He said, ‘Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.’ Having said this, He breathed His last” (Luke 23:46). And, why was Jesus willing to endure such suffering and to give His life upon the Cross? Why was God, our Heavenly Father willing to send Jesus to pay such a price? They got something for their sacrifice. They purchased the legal right to forgive our sins, without compromising one bit of their Righteousness. They purchased forgiveness of sins Matt 26:28 28 for this is My blood of the covenant, which is being poured out for many for forgiveness of sins. Heb 9:22-23 22 And almost all things are cleansed with blood, according to the Law, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. 23 Therefore it was necessary for the copies of the things in heaven. There was nothing we could do to erase the debt, and redeem ourselves. No amount of gold or silver would have sufficed. But as 1 Pet. 1:18-19 tells us 18 knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, 19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.; And that means that they could justify us 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. So, we who are saved no longer have to fear God as judge, but can freely worship Him as Creator, Redeemer, Lord, and Savior. It was love, and desire for relationship with us that motivated God to create the world in the first place, knowing that we would mess it up, and that the sacrifice of Jesus His Son, would be needed to save us. And it is that great love that John is describing here. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners [at enmity with God], Christ died for us.…For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life. (Romans 5:8, 10).
and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers and sisters.
Sinful people had been separated from their holy God since Adam and Eve tasted the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. But Jesus’ death and resurrection made reconciliation possible. Jesus satisfied God’s requirements for reconciliation, but each person must receive the terms of reconciliation: “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). And so, since our relationship with God has been restored, we are called into his service: “[God] reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.…We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us” (2 Corinthians 5:18, 20). God has commissioned each of us to share with others his message of love and peace. We must our hearts wide, allowing God’s compelling love to flow through us to others. 14 For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; 15 and He died for all, so that those who live would no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose on their behalf. We must allow God to speak through us in everything that we do, so that more people can be reconciled to God before their time on earth is up. God called Jesus to lay down His life from the day that He was born. And He did, living the 33 years or so of His life always doing the will of the Father, and only doing God’s Will. And it is the continuation of THIS ministry that God calls us to. With Paul in Gal 2:20 we say “…I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Gal. 2:20). This is what laying down our lives for our brothers and sisters means. God demonstrated His love in action: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). And, so He calls us to action. We are commissioned to make disciples: Matthew 28:19-20 9 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” And you don’t make disciples by leading people to the cross, and then saying “grow up as a Christian on Your Own”. We are left here on earth when we are saved the to lay down our lives for brothers and sisters.
17 But whoever has worldly goods and sees his brother or sister in need, and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God remain in him?
We see a contrast here between Christ’s self-sacrificial love which was demonstrated to us at the cross, and continues to be demonstrated to us, and our sometimes lack of love toward other believers. John now calls us to evaluate our love “where the rubber meets the road.” It’s not just giving to those in need because we’re commanded to, it’s ministering to people’s needs in the way that God wants us to, because we love God, and He loves them, so We love them! The things that we have are given to us so that we can use them to demonstrate the love that Jesus has for our brothers and sisters in Christ, and for all those in the World. The only question is, do we love the world and it’s resources, or do we love people, who are created by God, and loved by Him, and will live eternally, either in fellowship with God in heaven, or separated from God forever in hell? There are a lot of needs in the world, how do we know when God is calling us to meet a need? Well, the idea is that we see the need in front of us. This “seeing” a need is not a casual recognition or a passing notice–a sustained attentive observation. We “see with our own eyes” this need, and understand that God has brought it before us for the purpose of US fulfilling it! We meet the needs that God puts on our hearts to meet! John’s point is that God will make us “very much” aware of the needs that He wants us to meet. And then WE must act to meet the need. We must show love and compassion to meet the need. We must not shut the doors of our heart. We must not close the door of our compassions from that person in need that God has brought before us, because God does not do this.
how does the love of God remain in him
So, John asks of such a person, “how does the love of God abide in him?” If God is truly in your life, HE is going to influence your life. By obeying the Spirit, through the Word of God, we demonstrate and emulate the love that Jesus has shown us, the unconditional, sacrificial, forgiving love because He first loved us, by opening our heart to others. And, we will find that as we walk by the Spirit, the flesh has less opportunity to influence us to shut up our heart and emotions to the needs of others that God wants us to address. As Gal 5:16 tells us 16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.
18 Little children, let’s not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.
So John is saying that we should meet each other’s needs; that we should not close our hearts toward one another, but should demonstrate our love through action. John is saying that a true faith in Jesus will not only inspire us to do works to help our brothers and sisters in Christ, but will cause us to have genuine love toward all of our fellow believers in Christ. That’s the ministry of reconciliation; not just to introduce someone to Christ, but to encourage them, and care for them as they grow deeper in their relationship with Christ. That’s discipling, and that’s what we are called to, as ambassadors of Christ. We will take action to meet the needs of others, and deal with people in love.
Love-Not-Hate-1-John-3vs14-15Download 1 John 3:14-15
14 We know that we have passed from death to life,
This term, to pass, the word, metabeino means to move from one place to another, to transfer, to change ones dwelling place. So we have changed our address, and moved from the kingdom of this world, to the Kingdom of God. Jesus emphasized that this change of address has the result that we’re no longer under the judgement of God. John is emphasizing another result—that we will have love for our brothers and sisters in Christ.
because we love each other.
It’s not so much that John is giving us a checklist to prove to ourselves that we are Christians—because we can always lie to ourselves. John is saying that a result of our salvation, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, there Will Be love for our brothers and sisters in Christ. We all have the same Holy Spirit within us, urging us to love one another. We all have the shared experience of being hated by the world. We all go through life each “working out our own salvation” that Jesus has purchased for us. This results in camaraderie because of shared experience. This, combined with love from other believers that we receive can’t help but inspire love for other believers. John is saying that a true living faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior will produce true self-sacrificing, agape love for another and can’t help but take action to meet other’s needs. It’s a 1 Cor 13:4-8 kind of love. 4 Love is patient, love is kind, it is not jealous; love does not brag, it is not arrogant. 5 It does not act disgracefully, it does not seek its own benefit; it is not provoked, does not keep an account of a wrong suffered, 6 it does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 it keeps every confidence, it believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never fails; Yes, it’s about action, doing works, but on a deeper level, it’s about allowing the Holy Spirit to mold our hearts until we love people with this self-sacrificial love, willing to help our brothers and sisters out of sincere concern for their well-being. Patient with other’s faults. Kind, as God is kind, causing the sun to shine and the rain to fall for the crops of all farmers, both those that love Him and those who don’t. Not jealous or striving, jockeying for position with one another, but instead being happy for one another when they receive a blessing, or when they succeed. We should not pick and choose who to show kindness to, and not just love those who can return a favor we might do, but having compassion on those who can’t. Turning the other cheek, and praying for someone when we want to lash out, and forgiving and forgetting wrongs suffered. Rejoicing with them when they make a breakthrough in their relationship with God, or have victory over sin. Treating them with courtesy, respect, and integrity out of true love for them, hoping along with them that we’ll all make it together, as we journey toward Jesus, no matter what comes. This is what Jesus meant when He commanded us to love, saying in John 13:34 I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are My disciples: if you have love for one another.” Our love for one another is a great part of our witness.
15 Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him. John is covering much of the same ground that Jesus so clearly taught in Matthew 5:21-22 21 “You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not murder, The first time that the Israelites were given the Ten Commandments, it was directly from the mouth of God. (Ex. 19:9; 20:1)
22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be answerable to the court;
Jesus, in His authority as God takes it a step further, to clarify for the Pharisees that the traditional interpretation of the commandment has fallen short of what God had intended. Jesus in no way replaces the law with His own commands, but clarifies it, showing that God intended the law to extend to matters of the heart, not just outer actions. Jesus not only condemns the action taken, murder, but condemns all the steps that lead up to the murder, starting with anger in the heart. Anger is generally the root cause of murder, and so if the root cause is dealt with, then the murder will not occur. And Jesus’ argument points to God as authority, not to man.
and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be answerable to the supreme court;
Whoever says to his brother “Raca” shall be answerable to the Sanhedrin. Now Raca was a semi-swear word in Aramaic, and it meant empty-headed, good-for-nothing, worthless one, etc. In calling someone worthless or useless, you deny the worth and dignity that God gives them as those created in His image. Murder is the ultimate denial of someone’s worth and dignity from which there is no opportunity to take it back or be reconciled, but saying something like this has a lot in common with murder.
and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.
This word has a lot of history for the Hebrews in the Old Testament, and so when they used it, they were thinking of verses like Psalm 14:1 the fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” (also Prov 9:13, 14:9). A fool to them was an unrighteous, godless, immoral person, a wicked person destined for hell. So, it was a curse. Eternal destruction is God’s purview, not ours. And so, it’s very similar to what Jesus is getting at when He says a little later in Mathew 7:1 “Do not judge, so that you will not be judged. 2 For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. And so, by condemning someone in this way, Jesus is saying that we sin, and condemn ourselves. So, we should have great love for our brothers and sisters in Christ, the kind of self-sacrificing, from the heart, motivated by God’s Goodness and Forgiveness and love for us. If we do this, it will be impossible to hate our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Easter-2023-Sermon-NotesDownloadMark 16:1-616 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might come and anoint Him. As followers of Jesus, it’s important for us to understand that the cross and resurrection are the fulfillment of God’s promise to send a savior, cornerstone of our faith, it is the primary mission of Jesus’ life, and is the foundation of the gospel. Mark 15:42 lets us know that the crucifixion had occurred on the day, before the Sabbath that evening, and that there had not been enough time to properly prepare Jesus’ body. Joseph of Arimathea had wrapped Jesus’ body in a linen cloth, putting about with 100 roman pounds (about 72 modern pounds) of myrrh and aloes, spices, between the cloth layers, before putting Jesus in his own tomb (John 19:39).
Both Mark and Luke testify to the fact that the women kept the Sabbath, which kept them away from the tomb until it was over.
Why are there all of these details regarding spices? Why did the women bring still more in addition to what Joseph had already brought? Because the anointing with spices was a mark of respect for the dead (See Mathew 26:12-13).
Now the spices and oils had another effect—they would stop decomposition for a few days. God had said of the Messiah in Psalm 16:10 For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; You will not allow Your Holy One to undergo decay. And just so that we don’t miss it, there’s all this detail about spices and oils mentioned in the gospels (see Acts 2:27, 30-32).
The spices He was given at His death included Myrrh, signifying death, which was one of the gifts He was given by the wise men to commemorate His birth. He was born to die for us.
God used these women and Joseph of Arimathea as His instruments and His witnesses. Joseph thought that he was only giving Jesus the tomb he had intended for his own burial out of respect, but was instead used by God to fulfill His word in preventing Jesus from seeing decay. The women thought that they were going to pay respects and anoint Jesus’ body, but found out that their role was instead as the primary, first-hand witnesses to both the burial and the resurrection. So these women could verify both the location of Jesus’ burial, and that by the morning of the 3rd day, the tomb was empty.
2 And very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen.The fact that this verse mentions that the sun had already risen lets us know that Mark picks up his account when there was enough light to see, unlike John, who lets us know that when they first got there, it was still dark, just before sunrise.
3 They were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone from the entrance of the tomb for us?”
Would a stone stand in the way of God’s plan? No way. All the power of hell tried to keep Jesus in the grave. Acts 2:24 tells us that death was insufficient to hold Jesus: But God raised Him from the dead, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power. Why? Because He is God. From a legal perspective, death had no claim on Jesus. As 1st Corinthians 15:56 reminds us 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the Law; Since Jesus never sinned and kept the Law fully, He was not under the power of sin and death. God had laid all the sins of humanity on Him, so that He could die in the first place, but He did not commit those sins, and so had to be released by death. God had already taken care of their “Big Problem” of the stone. Mathew 28:2-4 2 And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone, and sat upon it. And as the sun rose, they were then able to see that. Verse 4 tells us
4 And looking up, they *noticed that the stone had been rolled away; for it was extremely large.
Depending on which type of stone was used, the stone covering the doorway of Jesus’ tomb was likely between 1 and 2 tons.
5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting at the right, wearing a white robe; and they were amazed.
From this verse, we don’t understand why a young man wearing a white robe in the tomb would amaze them, but the more specific description of the angel in Mathew 28:3 brings this out a little more clearly: And his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow.
6 But he *said to them, “Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified.
The angel knows exactly why they are there. The angel acknowledges that they have come to the right place, the tomb of Jesus. And that it’s the same Jesus—Jesus of Nazareth, just like Mark introduced Him to us back in Mark 1:9. And the angel acknowledges that this is the same Jesus who was killed by crucifixion three days ago.
He has risen; He is not here; see, here is the place where they laid Him.
The angel tells them, He is risen; He is not here. Talk about exceeded expectations. This is exactly the opposite of what they expected to find in the tomb. With this one word, risen, the whole scenario changes. The tragedy of His crucifixion is revealed as a triumph over death and sin. The women who had probably spent the past 3 days crying were suddenly filled with joy! They get to hear, for the first time, the central belief, the most important belief in Christianity. Paul later makes this point in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 3 For I handed down to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
This is the means by which God saves us. It is because Christ died, paying for all of our sins, was buried and was raised from the dead that we can be saved. The wages of sin is death—it should have been us sinners hanging on that tree, but (John 3:16 ) 6 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. God gave Jesus, so we wouldn’t have to die for our sins. And God raised Jesus to show that the price had been paid.
God has given you all the evidence you need, if you will choose to believe. And in our verses today, we see the angel providing the women the evidence that they needed saying:
see, here is the place where they laid Him.
These words let us know that they saw the place where Jesus had been laid empty, and that they could verify, as eye witnesses, that Jesus was no longer in his tomb on the morning of the third day. And these words are recorded for us so that we know that God did exactly what He said He would do—raise Jesus from the dead.
Palm-Sunday-Gods-Way-Not-Ours-Matthew-21vs1-15DownloadPalm Sunday Matthew 21:1-16All four Gospels include this account of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, letting us know that something really significant is going on here-Matt 21:1-10, Mark 11:1-11, Luke 19:28-40, John 12:12-19).
Matt:21 21 When they had approached Jerusalem and had come to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied there and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to Me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them.” Let’s look at these instructions from the disciples point of view–they’re almost there, and Jesus stops and gives the disciples instructions on where to get a donkey—after they’ve been walking around all over Israel for 3 and ½ years. These instructions must have seemed a little strange to the disciples. “Wait, Jesus, we’re supposed to go up to a village find the first donkey and colt we see, and just grab them? “Uh, isn’t that a good way to get arrested Jesus?” The disciples had no idea what was going to happen, and they had a choice whether to obey. If God’s instructions were always going to make sense to us at the time, that we need verses like Proverbs 3:5-6 5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And do not lean on your own understanding. The only way that we’re going to get God’s Will done is to Trust Him to work through us, and follow His instructions, even if we don’t understand. If we’re always trying to figure it out ourselves, then we won’t be letting God be in Control. Obedience is required, and God does not need our advice on how to do it.
6 The disciples went and did just as Jesus had instructed them, 7 and brought the donkey and the colt, and laid their coats on them; and He sat on the coats.
The Bible bothers to let us know that the disciples didn’t come up with this, nor did they decide to improvise and do it their own way. The salvation of each and every person who comes to Christ, and the working out of the plan that He has for their lives is part of God’s design. When we are obedient to God’s plan by letting people know about our wonderful Jesus and fulfilling the ministries that He has given us, we cooperate and partner with God in fulfilling His Will for their salvation and the work He has for them to do.
8 Most of the crowd spread their coats in the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them in the road.
So why were they spreading out their coats on the road? In 2 Kings 9:13 that the people threw their coats onto the ground in front of him: 9:13: 13 Then they hurried and each man took his garment and placed it under [JEHU] on the bare steps, and blew the trumpet, saying, “Jehu is king!” They celebrated by rolling out the red carpet with what they had at hand—their coats.
Mathew 21:9 9 The crowds going ahead of Him, and those who followed, were shouting,
“Hosanna to the Son of David; Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord;
Hosanna in the highest!” Mark: 11:10 adds “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David”
Son of David This wasn’t the first time that they’d called Jesus “Son of David”, if fact they correctly do this six times in the gospel of Matthew. In 2nd Samuel 7:12-13, God had promised King David that the Messiah would be from his Kingly line and would be established forever: When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever (2 Samuel 7:12-13).
This prophecy that the Messiah would be a descendent of David is why we see in the next verse, Matthew 21:9 and several other times in the Gospel of Mathew, Jesus is called “Son of David.” It’s equivalent to calling Jesus the Messiah,
Hosanna Another thing that they keep shouting is Hosanna. Now, the word Hosanna is kind of important to understand. The word Hosanna (5614) in English is a transliteration (not a translation) of a Hebrew phrase composed of two Hebrew words (hoshiya + na’ meaning something like “Please save!,” “Help, I pray,” “Save now,” or “Save now, I pray!” And that Hebrew phrase is found in only one solitary place in the whole Old Testament, Psalm 118:24-26, 24 This is the day which the Lord has made;Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Peace–Another theme in what the people were crying is PEACE. In the Middle East there is a tradition that a donkey is an animal of peace, versus the horse, which is an animal of war. Therefore, a king came riding upon a horse if he meant to make war and conquer, while riding a donkey emphasized the point that he was coming in peace. Therefore, Jesus’ entry to Jerusalem symbolized his entry as the Prince of Peace. Or as Isaiah 9:6-7 puts it, And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace.
But, a lot of people were still confused about just who Jesus was, just as people are confused about who He is today. Many thought that as Messiah, he would be a political leader, and maybe a deliverer from the Romans. Many people thought that He was just a prophet. We see in Mathew 21:10 and 11 that 10 When He had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, “Who is this?” 11 And the crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee.” There was excitement, but not understanding. All the city of Jerusalem was stirred, but many in the crowd had to ask “who is this?”. They didn’t know him. And many today get excited when they see the power of God, and crowds, or revivals, or miracles, but if it doesn’t drive you to come to know the Person of Jesus, and understand His work of Salvation on your behalf, what good has been done? Don’t miss the boat, and don’t misunderstand—get to know Jesus personally as both Lord and Savior today. The Crowd was excited, but they wanted the Messiah on their terms, not God’s. Israel thought the Romans were the Problem, America thinks that Politics is the problem, but Jesus knows that the problem in Israel then, is the Problem in America now, and it was the same reason why Jesus had to go to Calvary. Jesus knew that their real problem was Sin. Jesus came to die for our sins, to pay the price for our iniquity. Jesus as Sacrifice was the most important part—it’s why HE came, but it’s the part that they couldn’t accept, and the part that people still can’t accept today.
This was a day when the Passover lambs were being inspected, so that they could be used for Passover. On Palm Sunday, Jesus entered Jerusalem at exactly the time the Passover lambs were chosen. And this was the day when Jesus, our Passover presented Himself to Israel as their Messiah at the Temple with the other sacrifices. Notice that as JESUS apparently moves away from his role as Deliverer and gets closer and closer to His role as Sacrifice, He is less and less accepted. The people just wouldn’t accept that the Messiah had to suffer and die because it meant that their Earthy problems weren’t just going to go away. They just couldn’t see the Heavenly, the eternal perspective. Have you rejected your day of visitation? The Bible says Today is the Day of Salvation. It says that because NONE OF US are guaranteed tomorrow. I know that for many of you something today as struck a chord with your heart, and the Holy Spirit is dealing with you. For some, it may be that he’s telling you to Use your Spiritual Gifts HIS WAY, not your way. Be like the Disciples; obey, even when it doesn’t make sense, and fulfill God’s Plan for your life!
1st-John-3vs13-Part-2Download1st John 3:13
David and Saul-We see how jealousy and disobedience destroyed the life of Saul most clearly in his relationship with David. 1Sam 18:8-9 8 Then Saul became very angry, for this lyric displeased him; and he said, “They have given David credit for ten thousands, but to me they have given credit for only thousands! Now what more can he have but the kingdom?” 9 And Saul eyed David with suspicion from that day on. Saul was afraid that David would take the kingdom away from him, but he also saw David as the embodiment of the fact that he had chosen his own sinful way instead of God’s, and that David had chosen to follow God—so God was with David. Saul had turned against God, and was jealous of David, who hadn’t. The lesson is that we must obey God fully, and that means loving our brothers and sisters in Christ, not being jealous of their relationship with God, their gifts or their ministries. Don’t allow a root of bitterness springing up to defile yourself, or others!
Haman and Mordecai—It’s interesting that it was Saul’s disobedience in not killing all the Amalekites, and everything that belonged to them, as instructed by God (see 1 Sam 15:9) that almost destroyed the Jewish people years later. We just got through celebrating Purim, the victory by God using Mordecai and Queen Esther over the plot by Haman to destroy the Jewish people using plotting in the court of King Ahasuerus, as related in the Book of Esther. Esther 3:1 indicates that Haman (the prime minister of the Persian king Ahasuerus) was a descendant of Agag. Esther 3:1 After these events King Ahasuerus honored Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and promoted him which means that either a wife or concubine of Agag must have escaped the sword. Now asking Haman not to dislike or even hate the Jewish people whom he must have blamed for the destruction of much of his own people, the Amalekites is a stretch. We cannot expect a whole lot of grace and forgiveness from sinners, folks. There are going to be times that by obeying God, we’re going to have to take stands that are unpopular, and make us look like the bad guys in the eyes of our society. But it’s God’s opinion of what is Good that counts. Even good people, trying to do good things can find themselves working against God if they are operating based on their own view of what is right. There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof is destruction. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes is an accusation and condemnation in the Bible, not an accolade or praise!
Saul Paulus
For example, Saul’s namesake, the Saul the Pharisee was very religious who knew the Bible and sincerely believed that the Christian movement was dangerous to Judaism. So he hated Christians and felt justified in persecuting them without mercy. He felt justified in doing Christians harm until one day, on his way from Jerusalem to Damascus, Acts 22:4-8 I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death and went to bring those people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished. About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me. I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute Me? Who are You, Lord? I asked. I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting, He replied. This persecution by outwardly good people who think that they are doing good was also predicted by Jesus in John 16:2 “the time is coming when those who kill you will think they are doing God a service”. Look at the hatred in the name of good, in the name of reducing hate and preventing intolerance that is being practiced against Christians today. As Christians is that we must stand for what is clearly taught in scripture. And sometimes we will be attacked for following the Will of God. But we must always remember that Eph 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Our enemies are not the people, but the power that energizes and inspires people to evil, even if that evil is wearing the disguise of “good deeds”. We hate the sin, but love the sinner. We will often be persecuted for telling the truth, for doing the right thing. But don’t let the natural anger at being persecuted turn into hate for sinners. We should not expect logic or reason in the attacks of the enemy. The nature of evil is that it preaches tolerance of evil until it gains power, and then it tries immediately to destroy good without any regard for tolerance or restraint.
Acts 17:5-7 Paul and Silas
After being presented the Gospel, a choice was demanded. Some chose to follow Jesus, but the ones who did not were not just neutral toward the Christians, they hated them with a spiritual jealousy, formed a mob of wicked men against them, and attacked the house where Paul and Silas were staying in Thessalonica. The lesson for Christians is to trust only in Jesus, and count as brothers and sisters only those who are In Christ, part of the body of Christ, not just religious.
That the World Hates You
What was startling his readers was the hatred they were experiencing from “the world,” their neighbors and fellow countrymen. Taking a stand for Jesus was affecting their careers, their social standing, and their acceptance by their family and friends, and John is trying to make sure that they are not surprised, and are ready for this. How many people have felt in their lives, a feeling of dying to self, of leaving the old life, and the feeling that following Jesus is costing them? Feeling a little like a social outcast, experiencing a pattern of prejudicial treatment and resentment is part of the Christian life. We should never be surprised by negative reactions from the unbelieving world regardless of our good intentions and actions, but if we are not careful, we are. How do we safeguard against this?
Count the Cost
In Luke 14:28-30 Jesus said to Count the Cost. 28 For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who are watching it will begin to ridicule him, 30 saying, ‘This person began to build, and was not able to finish!’ Jesus is saying that following Him as His disciple is going to come with a lot of costs, such as being hated by the world, not being accepted, persecution, prejudicial treatment. Jesus does not want us to be surprised by this, and if we’re not willing to pay these costs, then we cannot be His disciple. There is a “continuous hatred” toward believers by the world, and by the enemy, and it produces pressure, hurt, and destruction. It is the consistent normal response of nonbelieving societies and cultures, as our culture is becoming more and more by the day.
Take up your cross, and follow Jesus
Once you have made this calculation, and know that there will be a cost, in societal standing, in personal autonomy, in having to get off of the throne in your life, then make the decision to follow Jesus in spite of the cost, and you’ll find out with Paul that it is well worth any cost. We never know when we will be called to demonstrate our love for Jesus by suffering, and we must be willing. So, take up the cross that you have been given in your life to bear while you follow the Lord. He will make your burden light, if you let Him. The road will not be easy, but He is going ahead of you, and will be your rear-guard behind you. The Holy Spirit is there to help you along the way, and He has provided brothers and sisters in Christ, also, to walk with you in the Journey. Trust Him. Follow Him, despite the cost.
1st-John-3vs-13-Spiritual-Jealousy-Part-1Download1st John 3:13
13 Do not be surprised, brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.
Why would we be surprised? Because early Christians were widely noted for their compassion; Jesus’ message lived out in their lives resulted in radical communities offering love and care for those in need that the pagan world had never seen before. The Didascalia, published in the 3rd century was a guidebook to Christian practice, and insisted that church leaders were to ensure that arrangements were made for orphans to get education, widows to receive aid, and the destitute to be provided with food and firewood. Even before Constantine, the church had created a system of social assistance that no department of the pagan state had ever provided. The teaching of Jesus was the great motivation behind the rise of hospitals, orphanages, and hospices for the dying. Christian hospitals could be found all over the Christian world, from Syria in the East, to Europe in the West. Later Middle Ages, the Benedictines alone were responsible for more than 2,000 hospitals in Western Europe, and by the 15th century there were 37,000 Benedictine monasteries caring for the sick. In America today, approximately 19% of hospitals are religiously-affiliated, and many more used to be. Yet, we have been hated, and persecuted. So often, we get repaid evil for doing good, and yet, John insists that we should not be surprised. Why?
Be Not surprised
He’s saying that they need to “Stop being amazed or shocked” by it, because this can give way to a feeling of “oh poor me”, which was not going to be helpful to their spiritual growth. These are good warnings to be reminded of today, so that we’re not caught off-guard, and so that we do not fall into despair or self-pity.
Jesus warned us
Jesus warned us in John 15:18-19 “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. That means that because we are not of this world, and have been taken out of the world to live our lives for Jesus, we are no longer the world’s own, under the influence of the enemy, but now fight against the flesh, the world and the enemy, and this results in a kind of spiritual jealousy and hatred that Jesus is describing here. The people of the world neither know God, nor mostly want to know God. Jealousy involves the “feelings of displeasure produced by witnessing or hearing of the advantages or prosperity of another.” (according to Webster). It also involves “longing after or coveting some advantage or possession of another.” Then spiritual jealousy concerns feelings of displeasure about someone else’s perceived closer relationship with God, or coveting someone else’s spiritual gifts, ministries or blessings.
The Scriptures Warn Us
Cain and Abel-Cain made the choice not to come under the authority of God, and chose a life of sin for himself instead. And because Cain’s heart was wrong, in his failure to love God enough to obey, then God had no regard for his sacrifice. Samuel the Prophet made this clear to King Saul in 1 Sam 15:22 And Samuel said, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams. Again in Proverbs 21:3 To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice. But Cain wanted to just go through the motions of a sacrifice on his own terms, instead of obeying God, and of course this was unacceptable to God. As 1 John 3:12 told us: And for what reason did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil, but his brother’s were righteous. And by the end of Cain’s story, he is banished from the people of God, and basically founds the line of people who don’t follow God. So, we find the same spiritual lesson that the Pharisees were to learn later–Don’t regard our ways and traditions as higher than God’s Law, or we will find ourselves fighting against God, and if we’re not careful, separated from Him. Also, don’t hate people for having a closer relationship with God—learn from their good example. Follow them as they follow the Lord.
Joseph and his Brothers–In Gen 37, in verse 5 5 Then Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more. Joseph had a dream from God about being put in charge over them. Now, as the youngest, it was kind of understandable that they were unable to rejoice with him about this. Jealousy not only makes us want what others have, but it also makes us want them to not have what they have. The lesson for us, as Christians who have been shown favor by God: we didn’t earn it! Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. Romans 11:6 But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace. In other words, there was nothing commendable in us.Romans 3:10 10 as it is written: “There is no righteous person, not even one; And so, the point is this: Let us not give reason and justification to spiritual jealousy by being self-righteous and arrogant, as young Joseph sounds in Genesis 37, or we may have to learn some hard lessons, as he did—13 years of slavery and prison to work on his character before he was ready to lead! And so, we see another lesson here, in that the very person that they were trying to kill was the one that God was going to use to save them from certain starvation later! So, maybe the person you don’t like, or even the Brother or Sister in Christ that you don’t like will be the very one with a Spiritual Gift that is going to be used to minister to you later in your life! Don’t attack and try to get rid of that person now, or you may find yourself suffering later!
David and Saul-We see how jealousy and disobedience destroyed the life of Saul most clearly in his relationship with David. It began when David returned from killing Goliath, we read in 1 Sam 18:7-8 7The women sang as they played, and said, “Saul has slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands.” 8 Then Saul became very angry, for this lyric displeased him; and he said, “They have given David credit for ten thousands, but to me they have given credit for only thousands! Now what more can he have but the kingdom?” 9 And Saul eyed David with suspicion from that day on. And, of course David was going to have the Kingdom, but it was because God had anointed him to have it, not because he killed Goliath, or was in charge of the men of war and killed a bunch of Philistines. Saul was afraid that David would take the kingdom away from him, but he also saw David as the embodiment of the fact that he had chosen his own sinful way instead of God’s, and that David had chosen to follow God—so God was with David. Saul had turned against God, and was jealous of David, who hadn’t. The lesson is that we must obey God fully, and that means loving our brothers and sisters in Christ, not being jealous of their realationship with God, their gifts or their ministries, and of course not killing them with hatred in our hearts, and certainly not trying to kill them physically, as Saul did! Love your Brothers and Sisters in Christ! Don’t allow a root of bitterness springing up to defile yourself, or others!
1st-John-3vs11-12-Love-One-AnotherDownload1st John 3:11-12
For a Christian, we cannot fail to love our brothers and sisters in Christ, and be walking in our New Nature. We see this in Paul’s warning in 1 Cor 3:3 3 for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like ordinary people? In other words, the Corinthians expressing jealousy and strife toward each other instead of love shows that they are walking in the flesh, and not by the Spirit. They are walking like ordinary, unregenerate, unsaved people, in their old nature, instead of walking by the Spirit.
11 For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we are to love one another;
John is saying that an elementary, basic lesson of Christianity is that we are to love one another. In John 13:34 Jesus taught, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” It was the only New Commandment that he ever gave. A distinguishing mark of being a follower of Christ is a deep, sincere love for brothers and sisters in Christ. In giving this command, Jesus did something the world had never seen before—He created a group identified by only one thing: love.
How did Jesus Love?
He loves unconditionally Romans 5:8 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. And that means that there was nothing commendable in us that Christ would die for us. He loved Sacrificially. Jesus bore our sins on the cross, shedding his blood as a sacrifice for sin, 2 Cor 5:21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin in our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. Jesus bore our sin, so that we wouldn’t have to bear it, and be under God’s wrath eternally. God loves with Agape love, self-sacrificial love concerned only about the well-being of the one loved, and not their worthiness of the love given.Jesus’ love is holy, pure, sincere, without adulteration, or anything that defiles—because He is holy Hebrews 7:26 26 For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens;
Commanded to Love
Love, the Bible insists, is a choice, and a commitment to keep making the choice to love.
By the Spirit
We have the Holy Spirit, who loves us, and others with the Love of Christ, encouraging us, enabling us to obey. 1 Cor 1:19-20 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? 20 For you have been bought for a price: therefore glorify God in your body. That means that we are not only commanded to love, but made capable of loving with the love of Christ.
Because we are empowered by the Holy Spirit, we share the love of Jesus with others, and it is apparent in the way that we relate to Brothers and Sisters in Christ. We see a model of how to live this out in Eph 5:18-21 when Paul encourages us to make our priority to be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your hearts to the Lord; 20 always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to our God and Father; 21 and subject yourselves to one another in the fear of Christ.
Jesus said in Matthew 22:36-40, when a lawyer asked him 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the great and foremost commandment. 39 The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 Upon these two commandments hang the whole Law and the Prophets.”
By obeying the Spirit, through the Word of God, the believer can love like Christ does.We can emulate the love that Jesus has shown us, the unconditional, sacrificial, forgiving love because He first loved us. We will find that as we walk by the Spirit, the flesh has less opportunity to mess up the relationship that we have with God, and with each other. Gal 5:16 16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. And, by the Spirit, we will find that we express the fruit of the Spirit by walking by the Spirit. Gal 5:22-24 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
Show God to Others Through Love
As will all of God’s Commandments, they are for our Good. We are to shine as examples of how God loves people, and reflect that especially in how we love our brothers and sisters in Christ, because, as the song says “They Will Know We are Christians by Our Love, and by this we are able to point them to God. Or as Jesus put it in Matthew 5:16 16 Your light must shine before people in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. We Glorify God by having, and showing love for one another. In giving this New Commandment, Jesus made sure that we would understand the reason, by following it up in John 13:35 saying that when Christian brothers and sisters love one another with the Love of Christ, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another”. Gal 5:16 16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. And, by the Spirit, we will find that we express the fruit of the Spirit by walking by the Spirit. Gal 5:22-24 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. We have the Holy Spirit living within us, and as we obey His urgings to love one another, we love like Christ.
Love as Christ
Christ’s love displayed through the believer is unlike the “love” generated by the flesh, which can be selfish, egotistical, unforgiving, and insincere.First Corinthians 13:4–8 gives a wonderful description of what Christ’s love will be like in and through the believer who walks in the Spirit. 4 Love is patient, love is kind, it is not jealous; love does not brag, it is not arrogant. 5 It does not act disgracefully, it does not seek its own benefit; it is not provoked, does not keep an account of a wrong suffered, 6 it does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 it keeps every confidence, it believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never fails; This kind of love isn’t just a feeling, these words demand action—these descriptions of love all call for an action on our part to love our brothers and sisters in Christ, not just to talk about it! 1 John 3:18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.
Not as the world
People don’t naturally love with a 1 Corinthians 13-type love. To love like that, there must be a change of heart. In 1st John 3:12, John continues
12 not as Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And for what reason did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil, but his brother’s were righteous. I’m sure that Cain said that he loved his brother many, many times as they were growing up, but really Cain just loved Cain. He would not come under the authority of God, and chose a life of sin instead. Ultimately, this manifested itself in him rising up against his brother, and killing him out of jealousy of his relationship with God. His failure to love God in obedience, and love his brother in truth ultimately resulted in tragedy for his brother and himself, and their whole family. But when we are forgiven by Christ, we become a participant in the divine nature 2 Peter 1:4 4 Through these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world on account of lust. When we receive the New Birth, the New Nature in Christ, we also receive the capability to love like Jesus.
1-John-3vs10-Practice-True-RighteousnessDownload1 John 3:10 10 By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother and sister.
John gives a litmus test to tell who are Born-Again Christian followers of Christ, and who are not.
By this
John said that no one who is born of God practices sin, and will say that those who do not follow Jesus don’t practice righteousness.
The Believer’s Struggle Against Sin
The reason that John denies the possibility of believer’s sin, is that when we sin, we are acting in accord with our old nature, our flesh, and not our New Nature. For a Christian, we cannot sin, and be walking in our New Nature. The devil’s children reveal their unregenerate natures by sinning. So when a Christian sins, he or she fails to express the new nature but reflects the devil’s pattern by expressing the old nature. For a Christian, our struggle is AGAINST the flesh, by the power of the Spirit, not cooperating with it. We are no longer allied with the flesh against God. We have changed sides. But, we still have this flesh, with it’s sinful nature, problems, hurts, habits and hangups. And that means that we have a struggle going on inside us, the Spirit against the flesh.
See Rom 7:14-24 14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. So, we see Paul’s inward desire, guided by the Spirit is to live a holy life, but he finds that he has this fleshly nature that wants to sin, and sometimes he listens to his flesh, and sins, and he hates this! For believers, this struggle with sin is vexing, and is really the central struggle of our lives, Gal 5:17 Galatians 5:17 For the desire of the flesh is against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, in order to keep you from doing whatever you want. As a Christian, we finally have peace with God, and it’s wonderful! But immediately we find that we’re now on God’s side, at war with the world, the devil, and our own fleshly desires! And Paul looks at his own battle—the inner man, powered by the Holy Spirit striving to do God’s Will, and the flesh, trying to do whatever it wants. The key here is the struggle against sin. Paul says in Rom 16-18 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. Paul finds that by imperfect keeping of the Law, he has given sin an opportunity. As Paul says in Rom 7:19-20 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. He’s given the enemy an opportunity for harming him, and given sin an opportunity to work destruction and death in his life, instead of dying to himself, and overcoming sin. And it’s because he’s trying in his flesh. And what’s his reaction? He is miserable: Rom 7:24 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? But, for Christians, this grief over sin brings not hopelessness, but a realization that we cannot overcome sin ourselves. And so, with Paul, we say in Rom 7:25 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! Jesus, through the resurrection power of the Holy Spirit in each of us, has given us the power to overcome sin! He is our deliverer from sin, not we ourselves! Didn’t Jesus die for ALL of your sins? Then why are you trying to take some of them back from Him and say “I can handle these myself”. No, Give Him all of them! Trust Jesus! He can give you the victory!
Sin speaks to the world
Another reason why we do not sin, is that it should be more and more distasteful to us, outside, and foreign to us, as we become more and more like Christ. And, when believers sin, they are bearing a witness to the world, but it’s not the one that they want to bear. Sin in the life of a believer is not only evidence of their lack of walk with Christ in the New Birth that has been purchased for them on the cross, it also gives this bad witness to the world. And they recognize the hypocrisy immediately! It’s “speaking their language”.
Perseverance in Christ also speaks
Our perseverance in our Christian walk by the Spirit, and not the flesh, is not only a proof of salvation to us, this sustained abiding in Christ, this continued following after Him and keeping our eyes on Him is a proof to those around us that we belong to Jesus. As Christians, we will “abide” or remain in Him. We can trust that God will complete His work in us Phil 1:6 6 For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work among you will complete it by the day of Christ Jesus. What a wonderful verse. But we forget the one before it: Phil 1:5 5 in view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now. It’s the Philippians personal walk in Christ, active participation living out the Gospel of Christ in their daily walk with Him that gives Paul the confidence to say that God’s work is continuing in them, and will keep continuing in them until the day when they stand before Jesus. Paul agrees with John; the proof of salvation is in the abiding, walking with Christ.
the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest
So, “By means of this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest.”—are obvious. Our conduct, the way that we live our lives, makes our parentage, from a spiritual perspective.
Well, the way that we live our lives, speaks volumes about our spiritual parentage as well. Jesus, by His walk, and His Character, revealed God the Father to us as Emanuel, God with us, so also we, by our walk, our character should be revealing Jesus to those around us! Our conduct makes visible and obvious our true spiritual parentage. The children of the devil display their basic nature by sinning.
anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God
Anyone born of God will practice righteousness, and anyone not Born of God will always lack righteous conduct, because righteousness is always sourced in God, who they do not know! So what about those people who are “good people”, who do wonderful things from a human perspective? Now many good-seeming works are disguised evil deeds, or done with self-serving, selfish or unrighteous motivations.
The classic example is the Pharisees.
But what about those people who are unbelieving, but are good people acting out of human kindness and a sincere effort to do good and serve people? Is God going to allow them to go to hell, along with the really evil people of the world? In terms of how God handles these situations, let’s look at Cornelius in Acts 10. We know from Acts 10:2 2 a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, and made many charitable contributions to the Jewish people and prayed to God continually. An angel even appears to this Roman centurion, and says, “Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God” in v. 4. But despite these good deeds that even God attests to, through his angel, which are motivated by a desire to please God, and praying earnestly to God, he was not yet born again. By his own testimony Cornelius indicated that an angel had told him, “Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon whose surname is Peter, who will tell you words by which you and all your household will be saved”. God will do whatever is necessary to bring the saving message of Jesus Christ to that person so that he can believe it and be born again. We saw a more modern example with the Jesus Movement in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. There was a sincerity of heart, and a desire for Good in some of those flower children that God knew, once they were saved, would turn into a joyful devotion to Him. Again, they were not saved by works, but that desire to do good and seek God got His attention, and He brought about the circumstances needed to hear the good news, come to faith in Christ, and be saved. Even if He needs to send apostles or missionaries to some unlikely places. Titus 3:5 5 He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we did in righteousness, but in accordance with His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, It is only by faith in Jesus Christ that anyone receives the forgiveness of sins. And, if God will respond to their feeble and inadequate efforts, then maybe so should we. Let’s go to those who are searching for God in all the wrong places, and let’s point them to how to have a real relationship with God through Jesus, his son.
1st-John-3vs9-Born-of-GodDownload9 No one who has been born of God practices sin, because His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin continually, because he has been born of God.
No one who has been born of God practices sin,
Literally “Everyone who has been born from God does not sin.” John is saying that habitual sin is inconsistent with a Christian’s walk. Is John saying that the believer never sins? No. John makes it very clear in 1:8–10 that no believer can at any time claim an absence of sin in their life. That is why God provides cleansing from all unrighteousness for the one who confesses known sins (1st John 1:9 1 john 1:9 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. God is faithful and Just in forgiving our sins. The emphasis here is on the results of being born of God—i.e., the ability NOT to sin. We have the Potential to be Sinless in Christ. But we, along with Paul, and all other believers, we come up short in walking out that sinless life. The Gift of God of eternal life and being a New Creation, as His adopted Children is perfect. 1 John 3:1a See how great a love the Father has given us, that we would be called children of God; and in fact we are. There is no question of the person’s status as a child of God. The question is in how much we are going to walk this out in our lives!
The children of God obey Him and live in freedom from habitual sin. We can do this because Jesus has set us free from the slavery of sin John 8:36 So if the Son sets you free, you are free indeed—free NOT to sin.
Romans 6:1–23 goes even further in this idea of a slave and his master. As Christians we aren’t to continue in habitual sin because we died to sin. Romans 6:4 says that since we have been buried and resurrected with Christ we are now able to walk in that newness of life, unlike the unbeliever who is still a slave to sin. Romans 6:6 goes on to say that, since we know that our old self was crucified with Him so that our body of sin might be done away with, we should no longer be slaves to sin. And Romans 6:11 says that we are to consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
We are commanded by God to not let sin reign in our bodies, obeying its lusts, but instead we are to present ourselves to Him as instruments of righteousness (Romans 6:12–14). In Romans 6:16-18 we’re told that we are slaves to the one we obey, either of obedience to sin or of obedience to righteousness. We are to be enslaved to God from whom we receive our gifts of sanctification and eternal life. We do this because (Rom 6:23) the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Since we have been Born of God, born again, we have the power of the Holy Spirit within us NOT to sin. This is the focus of what John says next. He answers the question of how this is made possible. It is by a spiritual birth and a new parentage.
because His seed remains in him;
The one born of God does not sin “because His seed abides in him.” This seed, abiding in the believer is both permanent, and a continuous influencer of our lives as believers. This seed is from God, and impacts our life with the character of God, transforming us into the image of His Son Jesus.
This seed only influences for good, because we know from James 1:13b for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. This sounds to me like this Seed is referring to the Holy Spirit. When we are born again, we are fundamentally, a new creation. Jesus said in John 3:5-6 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which has been born of the flesh is flesh, and that which has been born of the Spirit is spirit. The Holy Spirit is a continuous witness to us that we are His 1 John 4:24 24 The one who keeps His commandments remains in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He remains in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us or 1 John 4:13 13 By this we know that we remain in Him and He in us, because He has given to us of His Spirit. So, we know that we remain in Christ, are His by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Sin does not reside in the inward man, the Spirit, because this spirit has been born of God. Sin does not reside in the inward man, the Spirit, because this spirit has been born of God—that’s why Paul says in Rom 7:16 However, if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, that the Law is good. 17 But now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin that dwells in me. It’s not the flesh that has been redeemed, for there is no redeeming the flesh, it must be crucified, put to death. Gal 5:24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Rom 8:6 For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace,. So, it’s very clear that the flesh is sinful, and cannot please God, nor be redeemed in any way. And, so this seed, that John refers to is our New Spiritual Nature, born of God, who is Spirit, connected to God who is Spirit, by the Holy Spirit, who is God. And it is not where sin resides, because our New Spiritual Nature, our New Man, our New Nature is from God. So, John is essentially saying that “everyone who has been born of God” does not sin because, as our new Nature is from God, adopted as Children by God, as His spiritual offspring, we abide in God, as believers. God’s children do not sin because we are born of God.” So to the extent that we cooperate with the Holy Spirit, and walk by the Spirit, and not the Flesh, we do not sin. So, John is talking about represents the divine nature the new nature that believers receive at regeneration 1 Peter 1:4 4 Through these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world on account of lust.
And, so the Seed, as John uses it here, consciously calls us back to the Word of God. John 15:7 7 If you remain in Me, and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. And again in John 15:10 10 If you keep My commandments, you will remain in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love. The young men of his congregation are commended precisely because as 1st John 3:14b says I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.
“and it is not able to sin.”
And, so, it is in this context of God’s work in the deepest part of us, the Spirit, and in the context of the Work of God’s Spirit within us in sanctifying us and illuminating God’s Word, Jesus to us that John makes his boldest statement yet, that those who are abiding with Jesus in cooperation with the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives are not able to sin. And to the extent that we do sin, as John affirms, we’re not walking in the newness of life that we’ve been given. The ideas of divine sonship and sin are mutually exclusive—sinful acts are the expression of the imperfectness of our walk. And, as we confess our sins, and rely on the faithfulness of Christ to act as our Advocate before the father, forgiving our sins, we allow ourselves to be sanctified, set apart for service. As Eph 5:26 puts it 26 so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. So, John is affirming that the new nature, from God does not participate in sin.
The root of sin our “old fallen nature”. Habitual sin is an inconsistency in the life of a Christian, and is unchristian, and although it’s possible, it’s also very dangerous. Letting sin penetrate down, by habitual accommodation, deeper and deeper into the core of our being means that a Christian, by being UnChristian, can reach the place where they’re no longer Christian, and become apostate, and fall away. Then, they find that they no longer believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior, and some never come back. Worse than that, some get to the point where God stops dealing with them, and they CAN NEVER come back. It’s a very scary thing. But, the old nature, being fallen, naturally and consistently rebels against God. That’s why we’re warned over and over again to guard our hearts. Proverbs 4:23 Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life. And to keep God’s Word stored there, as a protection against sin Psalm 119:11 I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. And let the Lord examine our hearts as in Psalm 139:23-24, “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts, and see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” The Lord examines the Heart, and, according to Jesus in Matthew 5:8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. So, when someone sins, it is the person sinning under the influence of their old nature, and causing damage to themselves, and to their relationship with God, and those around them. When a believer sins, he or she is acting out of the old nature and being consistent with it.It is the new nature that motivates the believer to obey God, though once again it is the person, not his or her nature, who is doing the obeying.
because he has been born of God.
The extent of absence of sin in our lives results from the Spiritual Birth, and our cooperation with the Holy Spirit in allowing Him to conform us to the image of Jesus. Our spiritual birth had a beginning point, but the effect of it continues on in our lives. The person remains a child of God, and His seed remains in us.
Therefore, Cannot Sin Continually
Why not? Why can’t those who have been born of God sin continually? Because for a Christian, the struggle is AGAINST the flesh, by the power of the Spirit. We are no longer allied with the flesh against God. We have changed sides. But, we still have this flesh, with it’s problems, hurts, habits and hangups. And that means that we have a struggle going on inside us, the Spirit against the flesh. We see this struggle with the flesh carefully depicted by Paul in Rom 7:14-15 14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.
Just as our Salvation was a work of God through Jesus empowered by the Holy Spirit, we have this same resurrection power of the Holy Spirit within us, who can achieve are sanctification. We just have to cooperate with the process, and obey out of love for Jesus, and faith in Him, that He can accomplish victory over sin, where we have failed so many times!
John-3vs8-Whos-Son-Are-YouDownloadJohn 3:8
8 the one who practices sin
Literally, the text is “he who does sin is from the devil.”, and again, the implication is of continuous action, or those who continue in sin, practice it, and for whom it’s a habitual part of their life. Every believer has at least some struggle with the flesh, and may sin repeatedly. 1 John 1:8 8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. But, the difference is that those who practice sin as a lifestyle don’t care that they are sinning. Whereas Christians have the Holy Spirit inside us who is grieved by sin, and this drives us to repent, turn away from our sin, and confess them to the Lord. The difference is our attitude toward it. Does the sin bother our conscience, does it seem foreign to us, or are we right at home in it? That’s the question.
Is of the Devil
John reveals the power behind those who practice sin in 1 John 3:8. John is purposefully making a stark contrast between two kinds of people, believers and non-believers. The righteous act righteously and are identified with Jesus, while the lawless act un-righteously, and are identified with the devil. The enemy, Satan, is the source of evil, and so when people are evil-doers, they are showing themselves to be of the devil. We see Jesus use similar language in John 8:44 44 You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he tells a lie, he speaks from his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of lies. According to Jesus, some of the works of the devil are murder and lying. These two sins summarize the character of the devil and his goals. He works to see people destroyed and go to hell (so murdering them in the permanent sense), and he desires to deceive them into that destruction.
for the devil has been sinning from the beginning
In saying, “because the devil has sinned from the beginning.” John reminds us of Satan’s fall, probably best recorded in Ezekiel 28:12-19 and Isaiah 14:12-15 or so. Satan was not created evil, but was originally a beautiful angel, until the day that unrighteousness, injustice was found in him. And he was cast out. The enemy is characterized by sin, it’s his nature, and so he continues to stand in opposition to God. And so Jesus stands in opposition to him.
The Son of God appeared for this purpose,
“For this reason the Son of God appeared.” Jesus became incarnate for a reason.
to destroy the works of the devil.
So John describes the purpose of Jesus’ incarnation as “in order that he might destroy the works of the devil.” How is this accomplished?
Jesus came to take away sin.
As Christians, we seek righteousness. Those who live in unrepentant, continued sin show themselves to be children of the devil because they reflect the devil’s unrighteous nature. It is by their sinful actions that they prove themselves to be sons of the devil. The one who has Christ dwelling within him does not continue to sin because Christ came to destroy the works of the devil. Those satanic works of sin and iniquity no longer have no place in the Born Again believer, because we are regenerated by the Spirit. In a real sense, the work of the devil in a believer’s inward man is being destroyed from the inside out, as we cooperate with the Holy Spirit in His Work of sanctification. Christ came to destroy the works of the devil, and that guarantees our sanctification, and guarantees that those who continue to follow the enemy will just get worse and worse.
Before we were saved, we were under the influence of evil, and acted in rebellion against God, just like the enemy does, and just like the servants of the enemy do. In fact, we “were dead in [our] transgressions and sins, in which [we] used to live when [we] followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient” as it says in Ephesians 2:1–2. The works of the devil in our lives caused us to be “gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts” Ephesians 2:3. It is only through the love, mercy, and grace of God that we were rescued from the works of the devil. Ephesians 4-5 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our wrongdoings, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),. Through sin, the enemy has power over those who have not come to faith in Jesus, but Jesus came to break that power, and to keep on breaking it in our lives as we allow the Holy Spirit to conform us to the image of Jesus. Our part is to allow this process of sanctification to continually work in us, to make us bear our Heavenly Family Resemblance more and more. John says this a different way in 1st John 3:5-6 You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin. 6 No one who remains in Him sins continually; no one who sins continually has seen Him or knows Him. Our commitment to Christ, and our relationship with Him will be reflected in how we live our life.
Jesus came to give life, and defeat sin’s power—death.
John 10:10 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came so that they would have life, and have it abundantly. Abundant life is spiritually abundant. When we rely on Jesus, we do not need to worry about material needs. God will supply what we need. He is our provider (see Matthew 6:25–33). Abundant life is also eternal life. Jesus has defeated death. 1 Cor 15:54-57 54 But when this perishable puts on the imperishable, and this mortal puts on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written: “Death has been swallowed up in victory. 55 Where, O Death, is your victory? Where, O Death, is your sting?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the Law; 57 but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. We have victory in Jesus, and because of His finished work of salvation on the cross, we don’t have to fear death.
Jesus came to take away the suffering caused by sin.
Morally, the devil entices people to sin, making evil seem appealing so that people choose evil over obedience to God. James 1:14 14 But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. 15 Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it has run its course, brings forth death. Physically, the devil can inflict disease, and he seeks to use physical trials to cause people to blame God for their ills. We should pray for the sick. That’s why James encourages us in James 5:14-15 14 Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; 15 and the prayer of faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him. Notice the close link between the physical illness being healed and the spiritual sickness, sin, being forgiven and removed.
The enemy also attacks our mind by deceit. 1 Tim 4:1-2 But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, 2 by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, So the enemy seduces people into believing lies and teaching false doctrines, warping their minds, so that they become insensitive to the call of God back to Him. The enemy casts doubt and keeps unbelievers intellectually blinded to spiritual truth and the gospel (see 2 Cor 4:3-4). The enemy arranges distractions and promotes confusion that cause people to act hastily, irrationally, and foolishly. Spiritually, he takes every opportunity to snatch away the Word of God sown in a person’s heart. We see this illustrated in Matthew 13:19 9 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one sown with seed beside the road. The hardness of their hearts causes the word not to penetrate and speak to them.
Jesus came to destroy the enemy personally
The servants of the enemy seem to know that Jesus came to destroy them. In the synagogue in Capernaum, the spirits of a demon-possessed man cried out in Mark 1:24 23 Just then there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, 24 saying, What business do you have with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are: the Holy One of God!” So, the demons knew that Jesus’ business was to ultimately destroy them, even though the time for their actual destruction wasn’t yet fulfilled.
Jesus has come to destroy Satan’s work in introducing sin to the world, and take away his power to influence. This “taking away” involves more than forgiveness of individual sins. Satan, who has continued to sin from the beginning, continues to be the tempter of mankind. His goal is clearly to get all people to sin along with him. Jesus’ purpose in coming is to stop the cycle, to free men from Satan’s power and influence, and to remove sin from their lives. By doing this, Jesus destroys Satan’s work.
Jesus came to save people, not just from the fires of hell and eternal damnation, but from being sons of the devil, under the power of sin each day of their mortal lives, and transform them into sons of the Kingdom, who will one day be transformed, and brought into glory where sin will forever be removed. Who’s son are you? Who’s son do you want to be?
Psalms 37:1-40
Pastor John Brint
The service video will appear below as soon as it is available.
1st-John-3vs6b-7-For-Goodness-SakeDownload6b no one who sins continually has seen Him or knows Him.
We’re talking about habitual sin. Claiming that we have arrived at a sinless state, and look just like Christ is self-deception. 1 John 1:8, NASB: If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. We are all works in progress. John points to God’s provision for sin by allowing confession (1st John 1:9) and Christ’s activity as His people’s Advocate (1st John 2:1), and even lets us know that claiming to be perfect, sinless is a mark of someone who is NOT abiding in Christ in 1 John 1:10 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us. But, he is saying that a sinful life, abiding in sin, instead of abiding in Christ, is impossible for a child of God, so that anyone who leads such a life is demonstrating that they are not a child of God. These actions are an outward sign that something is wrong inside. The Holy Spirit can empower us to be sinless as much as we cooperate with the Holy Spirit in the process. John denies the ability to “sit on the fence”, to “have one foot in the world, and one foot in your Christianity”, to be, as James likes to put it “double-minded”. By doing this he forces us to look at our lives a little more objectively, and evaluate whether we are abiding with Jesus. He urges us, as Paul does in 2 Corinthians 13:5: Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test? It is sin to refuse the Lordship of Jesus, because to do so means that we fail to accept the revelation of the love of Jesus, and refuse to love Jesus, the Father who sent Him, and our brothers and sisters in Christ who need our spiritual strength to support them when they are weak. So not sinning means first of all loving devotion to the person of Jesus, and then devotion and service to our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Why does John use see and know, to describe what is not true of the person whose lifestyle is characterized by sin? When John says that those who habitually sin have not “seen” Christ, he talks from personal experience. Remember the beginning of this epistle. John is speaking as an eye-witness in 1 John 1:1-3 when he says 1 What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life. It was John’s experience in seeing Jesus and hearing His words personally that caused him to want to walk with Jesus, and make Him Lord and Savior of his life. And John is saying that if you really see Jesus for who He is, you CANNOT continue in sin. Those whose character is sinful have never seen Jesus really, their eyes have not been opened, they are still blinded to the truth by sin, because if they had, their lives would have been impacted in such a way by the love of Jesus that they could not continue to deny Him by habitual sin. Instead of having our sinful desires dominate our minds, we are to have His abiding Word within us, which we can use to resist the enemy. Jesus quoted scripture to the enemy when He was tempted, and not only that, it was scripture that He was living out, putting into practice, that abided with Him. That’s why John praises the young men in his congregation in 1st John 2:27 I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God remains in you, and you have overcome the evil one. This overcoming is because God’s Word remains in them, abides with them, has been incorporated into their lives.
7 Little children, make sure no one deceives you;
John wants to make sure that they’re listnening, and so he says“Little children.He warns them, “make sure that no one deceives you”. Remember that he’s just said in 2:18 that 18 Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour. These antichrists are trying to deceive them into believing that those who live any way that they want, these self-deceived antinomians are heirs to salvation, just as they are. The destructive heresies involve a denial of Jesus, and indecent behavior, or a habitually sinful lifestyle, and teaching that this is o.k. for Christians. Living unrighteous lives while claiming to be Chrisitans John said in 1 John 1:6 6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth;.
the one who practices righteousness is righteous,
And God acknowledges the righteous path, but not any other path. Psalm 1:6 For the Lord [e]knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the wicked will perish. The Lord’s Blessings follow in a righteous life, because he does not have to spend all of your precious time chastising and correcting you. Look at Isa 60:21 Then all your people will be righteous; They will possess the land forever, The branch of My planting, The work of My hands, That I may be glorified.; and Dan 12:3 3 And ]those who have insight will shine like the glow of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.
This is not the self-righteousness and false- piousness of the wicked, it’s condemned in Matt 23:28 27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. 28 So you too, outwardly appear righteous to people, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness; Self-righteousness only leads to abasement, destruction and shame. Positionally we are accepted in Christ and God is always well pleased with us because we have been placed in His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased, we have His righteousness imparted to us, the same righteousness that caused the Father to say in Matthew 3:17 17 and behold, a voice from the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” And He is pleased with us, as we are In Christ Eph 1:5-6 5 He predestined us to adoption as sons and daughters through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, with which He favored us in the Beloved.
But in our actions, and the experience of our walk with Christ, we may either be pleasing the Lord or not pleasing the Lord. We do not put on the world’s mindset, but the mind of Christ 2 Tim 2:4 4 No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him. 5 And if someone likewise competes as an athlete, he is not crowned as victor unless he competes according to the rules We are not lawless, self-serving sinners, but Children of God, and we are admonished over and over again in scripture to walk as followers of Christ. Paul encourages the Thessalonians in 1st Thess 4:1 saying Finally then, brothers and sisters, we request and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received instruction from us as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel even more.
just as He is righteous;
We don’t earn salvation through the way that we live our lives, but the outpouring of the Holy Spirit to conform us more and more to Jesus’ image comes out in our conduct, and this is evidence that we are saved. We see this same idea in Romans 5:3-5, along with the fact that it’s usually hard times that kick this spiritual growth into high-gear, saying 3 And not only this, but we also celebrate in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; 4 and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; 5 and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. The foundation of our hope is the love of God, as manifested through Him sending His one and only Son to die on the cross for our sins. And the pouring out of this love in our hearts causes it to overflow into our actions as we persevere despite tribulation, endure under persecution, and more and more, be like Christ.
just as He is righteous;
A 100% Righteous Standard
And, because God has this righteous standard, we fall short, to varying degrees. Romans 3:23 tells us, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. It’s impossible for us to achieve God’s 100% righteous standard on our own, we have to have Jesus’ blood applied to our lives, to make the gap. John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me. Jesus Christ is our righteousness. 1Corinthians 1:30 says 30 But it is due to Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, 31 so that, just as it is written: “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” We have nothing to brag about as Christians, because it wasn’t our work that made us righteous! And, as Christians, it is God’s Righteousness that we aspire to in our living, and when we do this, God will make sure our needs are taken care of. Matthew 6:33 But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.*
1st-John-3vs5-6OUTLINE-The-Lamb-of-God-Purchased-Freedom-from-SinDownload1st John 3:5-6
5 You know that He appeared –In contrast to the lawless people who continue to sin, John reminds us of our example Jesus. Sin is lawlessness, and those who continue in sin, instead of being In Christ, are lawless. It was God the Father’s plan, and Jesus was obedient to it.
in order to take away sins; The Lamb of God-Lambs’ blood covered the doors of Israel, and allowed God’s judgment to “pass over” them (Exodus 12:22–23). Isaiah 53:12 predicted that the Messiah would “bear the sins of many.” The connection to Passover is the primary reason Jesus is referred to as “The Lamb of God.” Before Jesus, there was no lasting remedy for sin. Jesus came to this earth for the express purpose of shedding His precious blood. He died on the cross to provide forgiveness of sins. We can easily see that this was always the plan of God. Isaac’s question, that persisted throughout the Old Testament is “where is the Lamb?” In Genesis 22:7 Isaac spoke to his father Abraham and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” And he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” (NASB). And all those Old Testament prophecies looked forward to when Jesus would come. Isaiah 53:7 He was oppressed and afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth. (NASB) It is revealed throughout the Old Testament, that Jesus’ miraculous birth, His sinless life, and His atoning death were always part of God’s plan. But, when we get to the New Testament, Jesus has come. In the gospels the emphasis is “Behold the Lamb”, here He is!” John the Baptist said in John 1:29 of Jesus Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
And when John in Revelation 5:6 gets a glimpse of Jesus in heaven, what does he see? And I saw between the throne (with the four living creatures) and the elders a Lamb standing, as if slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth.
The Blood Matters–1 Peter 1:18-19 Knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, 19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. 20 For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you. The shedding of Jesus’ blood was always part of the plan. We cannot remove the blood of Christ from salvation—the shedding of His blood was the means by which we were saved, and by which we were forgiven. Hebrews 9:22 And almost all things are cleansed with blood, according to the Law, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. It was the death of our Passover Lamb Jesus, and applying His Blood to our lives Jesus that saves us. Remove the blood, and you remove the sacrifice, remove the sacrifice, and you remove the glory that is due to Jesus because of His sacrifice! (“do this in remembrance of me” in communion).
and in Him there is no sin. —As 1 Peter 2:22 tells us “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.” It is Jesus’ example of a perfect life, and the pattern that we have In Him, as we cooperate with the Holy Spirit to in His working out of God’s will in our lives that is the continuing saving of us. Sanctification. Romans 8:29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers. So, if we are saved, we will find our lives conforming more and more to His wonderful example of a sinless life. And that means that although we are not sinless, over time we sin LESS.
When peter is describing Jesus’ sacrifice, as the lamb slain from the foundation of the world, and His appearing to save us, his call in 1st Peter 13-14 is to a life of righteousness, of holiness. 1 Peter 1:13-16 13 Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, set your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, 15 but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; 16 because it is written: “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” Peter sounds a call to battle against the flesh, the world, and the enemy. We are at peace with God, but this produces enmity with the world, because they hate God! We must prepare are mind against the onslaught of our flesh, always wanting it’s own lusts and desires fighting against our spirit. Galatians 5:17 For the desire of the flesh is against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, in order to keep you from doing whatever you want. We, in our spirit, cooperating with the Holy Spirit struggle against our own flesh, and it’s desires. We will have victory, if we fight the battle God’s way. As we practice using the weapons of God’s Word, the Sword of the Lord, and Prayer to help us access God’s power to destroy concentrated resistance of God’s enemies, then we will have victory as we set our mind on Spiritual things, instead of the fleshly desires of this world.
6 No one who remains in Him sins continually; —No person who remains in Christ, abides in Christ can sin continually. Someone who is truly IN CHRIST is opposite in character from a lawless man. This is because the effect of abiding in Christ is always a changed life. Christians do in fact, sin, but we go to the Father in Jesus’ name in repentance to confess our sins, knowing that He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (John 1:9). To deny sin is to be deceived and call God a liar. What is John saying “Everyone who abides in Him does not sin.”? He means that the abiding believer does not have Jesus’ sinless perfection, but is being conformed to His image of sinless perfection more and more all the time, and so, not continuing to practice sin as their way of life. Not sinless, but sinning less. He’s trying to contrast abiding with Christ, with the former life of sin. They are opposites. You cannot sin continually, live a sinful life, and be abiding in Christ. And if you are abiding in Christ, you cannot sin continually, living a sinful life.
To “abide” is to live, continue, or remain; so, to abide in Christ is to live in Him or remain in Him. When a person is saved, they are described as being “in Christ” Therefore there is now no condemnation at all for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1); Therefore if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. (2 Corinthians 5:17). And, if we are “IN Christ”, abiding in Him, then we definitely ARE held in a secure in a permanent relationship John 10:28-30 28 and I give them eternal life, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.” We can have eternal security! But it’s eternal security in abiding relationship with Jesus. Abiding in Christ is not a special level of Christian experience, but is the position of all true believers!
In John 15:4–7, Jesus tells His disciples that drawing life from Him is essential, using the picture of branches united to a vine: “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” Without the union with Christ that salvation provides, there can be no life in Christ, and no fruit born of the Holy Spirit’s work from the inside out to produce fruit. No desire to serve God, and no relationship with Him. It is about our relationship with Jesus. And practically speaking, this means abiding, continuing in prayer. Pray continually. And it means abiding in God’s Word. Jesus said in John 8:31-32 31 So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly My disciples;
no one who sins continually has seen Him or knows Him.–What kind of sin? We’re talking about habitual sin. In saying that no one who ‘abides’ in him sins, John is not asserting that it is impossible for a believer to commit an occasional act of sin. Is it serious? YES! Is it fatal? Not In Christ! He has already pointed to the provision made for such an emergency by means of confession (1:9) and Christ’s activity as his people’s Advocate (2:1). But, he is saying that a sinful life, abiding in sin, instead of abiding in Christ, is impossible for a child of God, so that anyone who leads such a life is demonstrating that they are not a child of God.
And God, through His Holy Spirit can empower us to be sinless as much, and only as much as we cooperate with the Holy Spirit in the process. We, as Christians, can be sinless insofar as we abide now in the Walk of the Spirit, not of the Flesh, sharing the life of eternity NOW, living as Citizens of Heaven Now, by living in Christ, and by being spiritually reborn, and renewed 3 cor 4:26 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.” We pray that we may be, as Eph 4:23 and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind,. And that happens as we follow God’s instruction through Paul in Rom 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. We have abiding results in Christ of freedom from sin and our abiding is marked by freedom from sin. IT is possible, In Christ.
1st-John-3vs4-Law-and-Grace-Faith-and-WorksDownload1st John 3:4 Christ, the Fulfillment of the Law
To understand our position, with relation to the law, as Christians, it helps to look at Jesus our example. He said, beginning in in Matthew 5:17 17 “Do not presume that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill… The view of lawless people is diametrically opposed, to the teaching of Jesus, and as Jesus says in the passage—is a dangerous and deadly “presumption”.
Paul points out that life in Christ is death to sin. Because we have been saved by grace, not by works, we are a new creation that CANNOT continue to live in the old way. He says in Rom 6:1-7 6 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? 2 Far from it! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? God’s grace brings liberty from the slavery of sin and not liberty to sin. We are dead to sin, but alive IN CHRIST! And, in 1st John, John is warning his beloved brothers and sisters that these gnostic teachers around Ephesus and other places were trying to lead them astray. The writer of Hebrews reminds the reader that salvation itself may be jeopardized if someone rejects following Jesus, and the gospel is forsaken 4 For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame. You don’t want to be anywhere near that line, folks. Don’t play with your salvation. You can get to the point that you reject Christ, the ONLY salvation for sin, and if He is not your Lord, then God will be your Judge. Those are the only two relationships available with God.
James in particular emphasizes that real faith is active faith, lived out in our lives James 2:14-18 14 What use is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone says he has faith, but he has no works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? 17 In the same way, faith also, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. In other words, when your faith stops as just words “Go, in Peace, Be Warmed and Filled”, “I’ll pray for you”, or whatever we might say that doesn’t meet the need, then we probably haven’t followed the urging of the Holy Spirit as we should, and probably haven’t lived out our faith in the way that we’re supposed to.
Faith or Works
So, wait, James is saying we’re justified by works and faith, but Paul emphasizes that sola fide, faith alone in Christ’s righteousness is the only alternative to a damning system of works-based righteousness: “Now to the one who works, his wage is not reckoned as a favor, but as what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness” In other words, those who trust Jesus Christ for justification by faith alone receive a perfect righteousness that is reckoned to them. Those who attempt to establish their own righteousness or mix faith with works only receive the horrible wage (eternal death) that is due all who fall short of perfection.
Jesus, and all the New Testament writers call us to diligence in living righteous lives BECAUSE of what HE has done for us, and not to take it for granted, according to the deceitfulness of the false teachers. 2 Peter in 1:4-11 tell us that through Jesus’ work on the cross, we have been granted everything we need for a godly life, as we become imitators of Jesus saying 5 Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, 6 and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, 7 and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they do not make you useless nor unproductive in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For the one who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins. 10 Therefore, brothers and sisters, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choice of you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; 11 for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you. Peter is saying that it’s our noticing in OURSELVES that our righteousness is increasing is what makes our calling and election sure. We know that HE has chosen us before the foundation of the Earth, and that we are His, BECAUSE of our changed lives. But, with this comes a deeper and deeper appreciation of sin, as God sees it. And so, we see the Apostle John in 1st John 1:10 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us. John is writing against those false teachers who were saying that they were free from sin, and thereby putting themselves on a pedestal and attracting people to their teaching. 1st John 1:8 says 8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. So, this easy-believism resulted in a blindness to the sin in their lives, and a false-belief that they were “alright with God”, that everything was fine, when they were still in their sins. John reminds us in 1st John 1:9 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Praise God! But those who think that they have no sin, and yet, are living just like the world put themselves in a place where they will never confess their sins, and will never be cleansed from all unrighteousness, BECAUSE they are blinded to their need for repentance! And so, we come to an understanding that we are saved by Grace through Faith in Jesus’ finished work on the cross alone! And we trust only in what Jesus has done—our works do not save us. But the New Testament writers are unanimous, in saying that IF we are indeed saved, THEN we will produce works of righteousness, and if we don’t have any desire to live righteous lives, as followers of Jesus, then we’re not really Jesus-followers, Christians, at all!
and sin is lawlessness.
Every sin is a transgression, breaking the law, against God because sin violates His moral standard for human beings. Since God created us, then He has the right to define boundaries for us, and to judge us if we do not meet that standard. AS followers of God, we are supposed to “whose delight is in the law of the LORD” (Psalm 1:2). “I long for your salvation, LORD,” writes the psalmist, “and your law gives me delight” (Psalm 119:174). The contrast between lawlessness and love could not be clearer: “Their hearts are callous and unfeeling, but I delight in your law” (Psalm 119:70). Why would a Christ-follower want to live as “far” away from Him as possible?!
There is a vast difference between someone who sins, as we all do Romans 3:10 10 as it is written: “There is no righteous person, not even one; and that anyone who says he is without sin is deceiving himself and the truth is not in him. A lawless person is one who has given himself or herself over completely to a sinful lifestyle. Lawless people either do not believe in God or refuse to acknowledge His right to rule their lives 14 The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they have committed detestable acts; There is no one who does good. (Psalm 14:1). Those who persist in lawlessness will not inherit the kingdom of God 1 Cor 6:9-10 9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; and then he goes it to a list of sins of those who will not inherit the Kingdom. There’s another list in Gal 5:19-21 .
Jesus warned that in the end times lawlessness will increase and “the love of many will grow cold” (Matthew 24:9-12). 9 “Then they will hand you over to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. 10 And at that time many will fall away, and they will [g]betray one another and hate one another. 11 And many false prophets will rise up and mislead many people. 12 And because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will become cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end is the one who will be saved. Jesus ties tribulation and persecution for His name’s sake, and martyrdom, and hatred of His followers by the world with lawlessness. When an attitude of lawlessness pervades the atmosphere, people stop wondering about right and wrong. This was the exact attitude of the self-righteous Pharisees and teachers of the law. 46 But He said, “Woe to you lawyers as well! For you load people with burdens that are hard to bear, while you yourselves will not even touch the burdens with one of your fingers. Every act of sin is an example of lawlessness because it is a violation of God’s standard of holiness and His perfect character. And we are supposed to stand for what’s right, fighting against lawlessness, instead of joining in. If a person makes a practice of sinning, then that person is making a practice of lawlessness, and those who regularly go against God’s ways (sin) are living as if there is no standard of righteousness (lawless). John further describes such people as “children of the devil”, a little later in 1 John 3:10. The same word for lawlessness is used by Jesus in one of the most terrifying passages in Scripture: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness'” (Matthew 7:21–23). These are people who clearly think they are Christians because of their self-righteousness and self-deception, but Jesus says to them that they are actually workers of lawlessness (anomia). He does not know them, meaning they do not have a saving relationship with Him. Instead of this we want to hear as in Matthew 25:21. 21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter the joy of your master.’
1-John-3Sin-is-Lawlessness-and-Lawlessness-is-Sin-3vs4-pt-1Download4 Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.
First John 3:4 says, “Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.” The word translated “lawlessness” comes from the Greek word anomia, which means “an utter disregard for God and His laws.” From this Greek word we also get the word antinomianism.
Antinomianism
Antinomianism is the false belief that there are no moral laws that God expects Christians to obey. It’s the conviction that that believers are freed from the demands of God’s law by depending upon God’s grace for their salvation. In the Bible, there is always a balance between Law and Grace. It’s always been this way.
Easy Believism is Not Christianity
Believers, who emphasize the unconditional promises that God makes when covenanting with His people, but then downplay, ignore, or even seek to eliminate any expectation of righteous living, are trying to justify an “easy believism” kind of faith. If you can be truly happy living like the world, I’d say that you’re probably not really a Christian. Christians have the Holy Spirit within them urging them to live righteously all the time. John 16:8, NASB: 8 And He, when He comes, will convict the world regarding sin, and righteousness, and judgment: 9 regarding sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 and regarding righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you no longer are going to see Me; 11 and regarding judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. So, the Holy Spirit elenxei expose, reprove, convince with solid evidence, expose to be guilty the world of sin, but also believers of righteousness, as well as the enemy of his final judgement. It is under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that Paul, and John, Peter, and all those New Testament writers urge us to walk by the Spirit, not by the flesh, to rid ourselves of all the old sinful practices by cooperating with the Holy Spirit’s urging. For instance Paul in Ephesians 4 beginning in verse 20 says 20 But you did not learn Christ in this way, 21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, 22 that, in reference to your former way of life, you are to rid yourselves of the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, 23 and that you are to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. So we know that “easy believism” is contrary to the scriptures.
Continuing in verse 25 of Ephesians 4, Paul is basically saying that if you are really a Christian, then you will cooperate with the Holy Spirit in changing you to look more like Christ.
Rid yourself of Falsehood—Ephesians 4:25 25 Therefore, ridding yourselves of falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, because we are parts of one another. You can’t build trust in your relationships, if you’re not being trustworthy in your relationships.
Rid yourself of Anger—Ephesians 4:26 26 Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and do not give the devil an opportunity. Anger is an emotion, it comes from deep within us. But what we do with that feeling; how we control it, is up to us.
Rid yourself of theft– 28 The one who steals must no longer steal; but rather he must labor, producing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with the one who has need. Paul is urging us to work for a living, not steal for a living. And he is also urging us to be diligent in our work, so that we will have the means to be generous when we encounter someone with a need.
Rid yourself of slander and gossip—Ephesians 4:29 29 Let no unwholesome word come out of your mouth, but if there is any good word for edification according to the need of the moment, say that, so that it will give grace to those who hear. Unwholesome words here are sapros rotten, worthless, unfit for use, “of poor or bad quality”.
In summing up, Paul continues in Ephesians 4:30 30 Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 All bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and slander must be removed from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit. The Greek word here lupeo’ means to cause pain, to grieve, to vex, to distress, to make sad. How do you feel when you cause pain to someone you love? How does making someone you love sad, or distressed feel? When we realize what we’re doing, It makes us feel sad, doesn’t it?
And so, professing Christians who’s lives have not changed at all, due to this urging of the Holy Spirit within them, over a long period of time, should take Paul’s advice in 2 Corinthians 13:5, Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test? In other words, the simplest explanation for a life that has been unchanged by God, despite “accepting Christ” is that you haven’t repented of your sins, and made a commitment to follow Jesus, based on The Way that He has made possible by dying for your sins on that cross. And therefore you’re not really saved.
A saved person has this witness of the Holy Spirit inside them who is grieved by sin, and therefore it makes us sad and even distressed to sin, and we want to come to Jesus to confess our sins.
Lawlessness? We’re under Grace not the Law, right?
Where we get pushback from those who want to live any old way that they want is that they say “well, I’m not under the obligation of the law, I’m under grace, right? While Paul says in Gal 5:18 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law., we must look at the context. Just before the verse, Paul says plainly in Gal 5:16-17 16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. 17 For the desire of the flesh is against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, in order to keep you from doing whatever you want.
In Christ, the Fulfillment of the Law
And, if we are to look at our position, related to the Law, we must consider Jesus’ words about the law in Matthew 5:17-20. 17 “Do not presume that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. 18 For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not [a]the smallest letter or stroke of a letter shall pass from the Law, until all is accomplished! 19 Therefore, whoever nullifies one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 “For I say to you that unless your righteousness far surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Again, this is Jesus talking here. And does this sound like a man who is saying “live whatever way that you want?”, no, again, he is antagonistic to this view. The view of these lawless people is diametrically opposed, and diabolically opposed to the teaching of Jesus. Continue to sin, because we are saved by Grace, not by works? No. (see Paul’s words in Rom 6:1-7 Paul clarifies that God’s grace brings liberty from the slavery of sin and not liberty to sin.
1-John-3vs2-3-We-Will-Be-Like-HimDownload1 John 3:2-3
Beloved–John begins here, with “Beloved”, conveying how dear these churches are to him.
Now —John is emphasizing that our status as Children of God is not something that we have to look forward to in hope—we are Children of God right now!
We are the Children of God
John emphasizes that we already are the children of God as we are transformed into the image of Jesus. We have a kinship relationship with God, adopted as sons and daughters, made possible by Jesus’ saving work on the cross (Romans 8:15; Gal 4:6)
and it has not appeared as yet what we will be.
John brings up the “Now and Not Yet” aspect of salvation. We have been saved from the penalty of Sin, because of what Jesus has done for us on the cross. We are being saved Now from the power of sin in our lives, because we are no longer slaves of sin, but bondservants of God, as we cooperate in God’s work of sanctification in our lives. But someday in the future, we will be something more than we are now, as we are saved from the presence of sin in heaven.
We know that when He appears,
Those who are Jesus’ will be instantly revealed to be His! The wheat will be instantly winnowed away from the chaff, and Jesus will receive those that are His. Paul lets us in on this secret in 1 Corinthians 15:51-53 51 Behold, I am telling you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. John wants us to know, to have confidence in the fact that someday, suddenly, we will be changed. And Paul emphasizes that suddenly, those who are alive at Jesus’ coming will be changed, and receive new imperishable bodies. This will occur when Jesus comes back. And not only that, at that last trumpet sound, the dead in Christ will be raised and receive these new imperishable bodies as well.
we will be like Him,
Paul clarifies the order of the resurrection in 1 Cor 15 beginning in verse 20 saying 20 But the fact is, Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. 21 For since by a man death came, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. So, not only was Christ raised up on Resurrection Sunday He IS our first fruits; the first raised from the dead to Eternal life.
Like Him in an Eternal Body that does not perish, nor fade away
1 Cor 15:42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body; Our present bodies decay and die, but our new bodies will not. This should help inform our priorities!
Like Him in a Body made for Heaven—1 Cor 15:43-44 43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. Currently, our fleshly bodies are born in sin, and are comparatively weak, “our frame is dust”, but someday we will receive new bodies, free from the penalty, power AND presence of sin, and suitable to exist there forever.
Physical, Literal Bodies, although unlike the ones we have now-In the resurrection, those who have placed their trust in Christ will have a body like Jesus’. Jesus said to His disciples in Luke 24:39 Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have. So, Jesus’ resurrected body had flesh and bone. Apparently, the new bodies that we will have will be able to do some interesting things. Jesus was able to suddenly appear in a locked room, for instance in John 20:26 And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in their midst, and said, ‘Peace to you!’
A transformed body-The Bible teaches that we will receive a transformed body. And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be, but mere grain – perhaps wheat or some other grain. But God gives us a body as He pleases, and to each seed its own body (1 Corinthians 15:37,38).
Like Him in Manifesting the Power of God-Our resurrected bodies will be powerful, as 1 Cor 15:43 tells us, It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. Our mortal bodies are weak. This will not be the case with our resurrection bodies. So, what kind of power are we talking about? We find that it talks about the powers of the age to come in association with the Holy Spirit. And this makes me think that the taste that we have of the power of the age to come is our use of the Gifts of the Spirit. Someday we’ll be able to operate in these gifts fully!
Like Him in a Spiritual Body–Jesus said in Matthew 22:30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. The idea seems to be that we will not reproduce, and of course we will not need to, since there will be no death.
Like Him in Glory–Those who get close to God shine with God’s glory, for example Moses in (Exodus 34:35).
These are two different kind of bodies. As Paul says in 1 Cor 15:40-44 40 There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one, and the glory of the earthly is another. Our present bodies have been designed by God to exist on Earth. Daniel in chapter 12 vs. 2-3, he says 2 And many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt. 3 And those who have insight will shine like the glow of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. So righteousness, and being about the Father’s business is associated with greater glory-see Mark 9 beginning in verse 2 and Matthew 17, beginning in verse 1 (The Transfiguration).
because we will see Him just as He is.
One day we’re going to see Jesus, and when we do, we will see Him just as He is. We will behold Jesus in His divine glory. We will see Jesus in His true nature because their spiritual as well as physical eyes will be fully open. We will know as we are known. Our lives here should be spent in preparation.
Our glory in Eternity is determined by our Faithfulness to God’s plan for our lives– 2 Cor 4:17 17 For our momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison,
But, this doing the Will of the Father is always associated with persecution. Jesus said in Luke 6:22-23 22 Blessed are you when the people hate you, and when they exclude you, and insult you, and scorn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man. 23 Rejoice on that day and jump for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven. For their fathers used to treat the prophets the same way.
3 And everyone who has this hope set on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
Because we are Sons and Daughters of God, we should act like His kids and devote ourselves to holiness, it’s an obligation, and a pleasure. Assurance, this hope of salvation is one of the things that tends to help us dedicate ourselves more fully to God. When we know we are freely forgiven by Jesus, because of what HE has done, we want to glorify Him. And those who enjoy the fullest assurance of this forgiveness tend to walk closely with God in love and appreciation, and admiration for what Jesus has done. The Father has “chosen us before the foundation of the world, that we might be holy.” The Son did not die only to save us from hell, and bring us to heaven—but to “redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous for good works.” The Spirit is given to “create us anew unto good works.” When we are very intent on attaining some goal, we are very glad to receive signs or evidence that we are closer to reaching the goal. Assurance is like that. We search very diligently for as much proof as we can accumulate. What is the evidence, that can be depended on that we are going to heaven? Holiness—conformity to the example of Christ. It’s the evidence that we’re not delusional in our assurance. Our dependence is to be upon the Spirit of God, but with all of our ability, all of our understanding of God’s Word, and all of our effort, we are to exert ourselves to follow Jesus closely, to live Holy lives. That’s what it means to love God with all your heart, soul mind and strength. Our desire is fixed on meeting Jesus in heaven, but we know “without holiness no man shall see the Lord.” So, we fix our hope, and press on, as Paul says in Philippians 3:14 we I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
New-Years-Resolutions-NotesDownloadA resolution is “a firm decision to do or not to do something. It is an act of will. But the big question is: Who’s Will?
The New Year(s).The New Year is, indeed special in the Bible. In Exodus 12: 1 God spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt; he said, 2 “This month shall be the beginning of months for you; it is to be the first month of the year for you. Chodesh HaAviv,1 the Month of Spring. It was for the express purpose of commemorating God liberating the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. Then there is also the “civil year”, the point in the year from which the years are counted. Yom Teruah “day of shouting/blasting”, or the Feast of Trumpets, also called Rosh Hashanah, the “Head of the Year”. It commemorates God’s Creation and our need for repentance and forgiveness. God is big on commemoration. Consider the 7 feasts of Israel. Also consider Memorial Stones–There are at least three times in the Bible where memorial stones are set up. These each become significant locations throughout biblical history. Bethel, Gilgal, Ebenezer. To everyone else, the stones were just a heap of rubble, but to the people of God, they were a constant reminder that Yahweh was a personal and powerful God, working wonders on behalf of His people. And so Biblically, times, and feasts and stones of memorial or remembrance are specifically to commemorate something God has done. So, when we want to commemorate something at the beginning of the year, it’s important that it be based in God, and how He is working in our lives, and what He has done.
Preparation– The place to start is in repentance and prayer.
Repentance-Repentance is preached throughout the whole Bible (Acts 3:19). Repentance is a type of resolution, a change of direction in life based on belief, a re-engagement of our will to follow the person of God in relationship. Reflection- In our reflection, we should assess the Previous Year. How was your relationship with God last year? Did you make resolutions or spiritual goals? How did you do?Prayer we ask God for guidance. Ask God to reveal Her will for your life. Prayerfully consider how you can better serve God in the new year. Pray at the beginning of this process. You’ll save yourself a lot of grief. James tells in 1:5-6 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. What Are the Dangers of Resolutions for Christians?Holding on Too Tightly to our own Plans. As Proverbs 16:9 tells us, The mind of a person plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps.
Using our Own Strength– We can’t change in our own strength. These resolutions must be in relationship with God and complete reliance upon the power of the Spirit (Romans 8:13).
Proper Motivation–What is the motivation behind our resolutions? James 4:3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures Is our request all about us, or is it all about God? Does it line up with what God has for us in this season? Or is it based on selfish desires? We need God’s discernment to know the difference.
Trying to make God fit our timetable– God doesn’t work by our calendar or timetable. James 4:13-16 13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” 14 Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. For you are just a vapor that appears for a little while, and then vanishes away. 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.” 16 But as it is, you boast in your [n]arrogance; all such boasting is evil. If we’ve given our lives over to God to be His servant, then how can we take the reigns out of His hand, or get into the driver’s seat of our lives again. If God is in control, then we need to recognize that our plans must be centered on Him, and of course that includes our resolutions. He is able to control our lives much better than we can, and the desire to stay in the driver’s seat, and make all the decisions based on our own ideas and earthy priorities is indeed arrogant, and evil boasting.
Resolution ideasI think you should spend time in repentance and reflection and prayer, so that you can hear from God on how He would like you to get closer to Him in relationship this year. But, as you do this, here are a few things to consider
Stay connected with your Church-Hebrews10:23-25 23 Let’s hold firmly to the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; 24 and let’s consider how to encourage one another in love and good deeds, 25 not abandoning our own meeting together, as is the habit of some people, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near. Jesus Himself attested to the power of gathering together saying in Matthew 18:19-20 “Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.”
Share the Gospel–In Ephesians 5:15-17, the apostle Paul tells us, “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” As the time darkens, we must make the best use of our time, because people will try more and more to restrict our opportunities to share the Gospel. But, at the same time, the evil days, people may be more receptive. We have the hope of security forever in Jesus. In Hebrews chapter 6 vs 19a that 19 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and reliable and one which enters within the veil, 20 where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever… But we must be willing to share what we know. We must teach, just as Paul did in 1 Cor 15:3-6 For I deliver to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then He appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep” And we must let them know that this evidence demands a verdict! Either choose to follow Jesus or not, there’s no middle ground. Romans 10:9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;
Build Up the Body of Christ–Do you want to grow as a Christian? Press into God, and see what He has for you to do. We each have a calling to minister to other believers. The Holy Spirit has given each of us at least one gift as Ephesians 4:12-14 tells us 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ; 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. This is what will grow us up as Christians—cooperating with God in building up our relationship with Him, and listening to Him when He calls us to help build each other up. And there will be a result. As Paul continues in Ephesians 4:14-16 14 As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of people, by craftiness [i]in deceitful scheming; 15 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, that is, Christ,
Minister to needs of people– Find ways to reach out to friends and neighbors. If you get to know them they will share their needs with you. And then, we work together to meet their needs. If we stop short of that, then what have we really done? As James said in 2:14-17, meeting needs is truly living out our faith. 14 What use is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone says he has faith, but he has no works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? 17 In the same way, faith also, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. Be intentional about participating in bringing relief to those in need in your community Hebrews 10: 24 and let’s consider how to encourage one another in love and good deeds, . As James reminds us in 1:27 Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. That is the heart of God for us. And people will notice, and want what we have. As Jesus told us Matthew 5:16 16 Your light must shine before people in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
Luke-2-vs-8-15-Keep-WatchDownload8 In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock at night.
David had fed his sheep in those same fields around Bethlehem, and today, 3,000 years later, there are still shepherds feeding flocks in those fields. Shepherds typically kept watch over their fields by night from April to November. Shepherds were singled out in the Talmud as an untrustworthy group, and not qualified to bear witness in trials. The nature of their calling kept them from observing the ceremonial law. God sent the message of Jesus’s birth to the same people that Jesus would focus His ministry on—the outcasts and sinners that He came to save, who knew that they needed a savior. They were open to what He had to say, and available and willing to share the good news of Jesus’ birth. And they were alert they were keeping watch. We are to keep watch and stay alert. See Mark 13Lvs 33-37
And what flocks were they watching? Many of the sheep raised in the area would have been used for the sacrificial offerings at the Temple in Jerusalem. These guardians of the temple sacrifices, these unworthy, sinful men who saw so many sacrificial lambs born, would get to be present at the birth of the “lamb who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).
9 And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood near them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened.
In this dark of night–suddenly and angel of the Lord appeared near them, with the Glory of God shining all around them. They were terribly afraid.
10 And so the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people;
The angel proclaims the good news, the Gospel. When Jesus comes, it’s always good news. It’s good news to you and me. We celebrate Christmas because we rejoice at the coming of our Savior and Lord. It is Jesus Who illuminates God for us, and helps us understand who He is. In 2 Cor 4:4b Paul says that believers see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. We are able to see God through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Do you want joy, peace, contentedness, wisdom and knowledge? Make God the source of your Joy and follow Him completely. Those shepherds couldn’t even imagine the joy that those angels were really talking about. Jesus’ birth pointed to this joy in God that was now possible.
Jesus brought Joy wherever He went-In John 17:13, we read 13 “But now I am coming to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves. Jesus’ mission was to preach hope to the downtrodden, the lost sheep of the house of Israel. We see this when Isaiah describes Jesus’ mission in Isaiah 61:1–2a 1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, Because the LORD anointed me To bring good news to the humble; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim release to captives And freedom to prisoners; 2 To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD He said in John 15:11 11 These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full. Jesus’ ministry brought hope to so many who were shut out of the Pharisees religious system, and brought Joy that they too were children of Abraham, and God had a plan for their lives.
To know Jesus Christ brings great joy –Do you want to live your life in Joy, despite adversity here on earth? Do you want to look forward in rock-solid hope, grounded in the promises of God, toward a joyous future? Then decide to begin a relationship with Jesus today. No matter what you have done, or how far off-course you’ve wandered, Jesus came to seek and to save those that are lost. And it’s a day of rejoicing when anyone decides that they want to turn away from their sin, and turn toward Jesus.
The angel’s birth announcement of the long-awaited Messiah is good news of great joy to all people. Jesus is the Savior of the World. That’s why, even at His birth, this good news was declared to be “for all people”. That’s why John 3:16 says “For God so Love the World”, or why 1st John 4:14 calls Him “the Savior of the World”, and as we’ve read why John the Baptist says Jesus is the “lamb who takes away the sin of the world” in John 1:29. Jesus is our savior, and He is the long-awaited Jewish Messiah. As we continue in Luke 2:11
11 for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is [h]Christ the Lord.
The angel tells them that today—this very day—Jesus has been born. Jesus is first described as Savior—which was His prominent role as Messiah during His first coming, and second, as Christ the Lord, which is his prominent role in His Second Coming.
12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
The angel’s sign to them is that they will find the baby, not wrapped in a fine receiving blanket, but in these strips of cloth, and lying in an animal feed trough.
13 And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army of angels praising God and saying,
And then, suddenly, the heavens burst open, and there appeared a portion of the heavenly host, the army of angels that serves God praising Him.
14 “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among people with whom He is pleased.”
So, they are encouraging the shepherds to join with them in praising God to the greatest extent possible. The Peace that Jesus makes available between God and man. It’s letting the shepherds know that Jesus is bringing this opportunity to have a harmonious relationship with God.
15 When the angels had departed from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, “Let’s go straight to Bethlehem, then, and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” So, why did God choose the shepherds? He chose the shepherds because they would respond to Him. God chose them because they weren’t too busy for God. God has sent His son Jesus into the world to be born in a manger, but also so that He could be born in our hearts. God wants you to accept His free gift of His Son, so that you will have the peace that the angels spoke of, then end of the conflict with God. Respond to Him today. Begin the most Joyful relationship of your life. And if you’re already a Christian—Stay Alert, look up, for your redemption draws near!
Josephs-Choice-Mathew-1vs19-22-NotesDownload18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows
Matthew describes the origin or source of Jesus, his Genesis, just as John does in John 1:1-4 from the perspective of the Power of God in performing this unique miracle by the Holy Spirit.
when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph,
The focus in the Gospel of Mathew is on Jesus the anointed one, the King of Israel, the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies, and God’s promised Messiah. Mathew starts out his book in Matt 1:1 The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham The original intended audience of Mathew was Jewish people and Jewish converts, in other words those familiar with the Old Testament. There were really four relationships that a couple had.
Promise–or pledge. Parents would get together and “arrange the marriage”.
Proposal–Now when the girl was old enough to be married, a large gathering would be planned between the two families, during which the Groom to be would propose marriage by offering the potential Bride to Be a glass of wine. If she accepts the proposal and drank the wine, then the official year of betrothal began. It’s interesting as the Bride of Christ—it’s one of the things that’s wrapped up in communion. We remember our Groom, our Lord and Savior, and what He did to make a relationship with God through Him possible, and we look forward to being united with Him permanently someday as the Bride of Christ. See Eph 5:25-7, 2 Cor 11:2, Rev 19:7 and elsewhere for a picture of the Church’s relationship as the Bride of Christ Bride of Christ.
Then the Groom would go back to his village to build a home for them to live in, or an addition to his parent’s home. Now sometime toward the end of this year’s espousal, the groom would arrive, back at the bride’s house, usually unannounced, with the wedding party and bring her back to his village for the wedding feast. That’s what Jesus is doing right now: John 14:2-3 Jesus said “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3 If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.” Like a first century groom, Jesus is going to come for His bride and take us to a place that He has prepared. And what a celebration the Marriage Supper of the Lamb will be one day, where we celebrate our relationship with Jesus as the Bride of Christ.
Mary and Joseph are in the betrothal period. The OT law treated betrothal as creating a legal state of marriage, with possibilities of adultery, divorce, and widowhood, as well as marriage. In this interim period sexual relations were not considered proper, and would result in shame for the couple.
before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit.
This part is important, because Mathew goes out of his way to mention that Mary and Joseph strictly observed the law. They saved themselves for marriage, which is what Mathew means by “before they came together”. This is very important, both to emphasize the purity of Mary and Joseph, but also because, as we learn later in verse 22 Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: 23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.” It is an important fact that Jesus was born of a virgin. With Child by the Holy Spirit is a reference to the role of God’s creative power from God to produce this extraordinary miracle, a unique miracle of God. Mathew is careful to mention that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, not by man. This, was very important to Joseph, for obvious reasons, but it’s even more important to us. Why? Because, we learn in Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned— that Adam was held accountable for the sin of eating of the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil, and that through him sin was passed down. That means that, since the conception of Jesus did not involve a male, this original sin would not have been passed down to Jesus. Recall that it’s Jesus’ sinless nature, along with his humanity, that what qualified Jesus to bear the sins of the world—because he had no sins of his own to atone for. Important!!
19 And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly.
Mary and Joseph were betrothed, and therefore considered legally married, so it was Joseph’s decision.
And here’s where the righteousness of Joseph really shines. We don’t know how or under what circumstances Joseph found out that his wife was pregnant before they’d come together, we only know that it must have hurt him tremendously. Planning for their future, but all that was dashed in an instant when he found out that Mary was pregnant. He would be humiliated in front of his entire community for what he thought Mary had done, or he would be humiliated by everyone thinking that the baby was his. He was in a hard spot.
Joseph had a Choice to make–Joseph didn’t want to disgrace her, or make a public example of her. This would likely consist of a public trial in determining the cause of Mary’s pregnancy. Being a righteous man, Joseph may have considered himself obliged to divorce Mary in these circumstances, and so obey the Law of Moses. So Joseph’s plan was to put her away—divorce her—secretly, with just the minimum witnesses necessary, instead of a public trial. He could break off the betrothal by giving her a writ of divorcement, since he had legal grounds for divorce. Joseph had a choice to make, and Joseph chose mercy in the face of disappointment, supposed betrayal and humiliation. He could so easily have made another decision, seek vengeance, be bitter, to punish, to avoid personal embarrassment…
Choose Mercy–Joseph chose mercy, instead of revenge against Mary, even though he was hurt by her. Just as Joseph chose mercy, we As Christians, we are to choose mercy. We are to have compassion on those around us, loving those who have wronged us, and turning the other cheek. It’s not easy sometimes, but it IS the life that we are called to. Joseph had a plan to let mercy triumph over judgement, to show compassion.
20 But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream
So it was when Joseph was planning to show mercy, planning to follow what he knew was the Lord’s will, walking according to God’s plan, that an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. As we take a step in following God’s will as we understand it, He shows us the next step. So Joseph had another choice to make. He could follow the expectations of the Pharisees interpretation of the law of Moses, that he was obligated to divorce Mary, or he could follow the instructions of the Angel, from God, and take Mary as His wife. He was in the same position that the apostles were, later in Acts 4:18-19 18 And when they had summoned them, they commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, make your own judgment; 20 for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.” God had told Joseph to Marry Mary, and the Pharisees said no, according to their legalism. The apostles had been told to proclaim the Gospel, but the Pharisees and other members of the Sanhedrin said No. They both had a choice-to obey God, or to obey a traditional interpretation of the Law.
“Joseph, son of David,–Joseph was a direct descendant in the royal line from King David. Son of David was a messianic title as well as a claim of descending from David, it immediately begins Joseph thinking about the Messiah, so that what the angel tells him next fits right in.
do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife–ordinarily, he wouldn’t do this, both because he was a righteous man and wouldn’t want to take who he’d thought was an unrighteous woman as wife.
for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.-The Jewish religious leadership at this time was not teaching that the Messiah would be born by conception-by the Holy Spirit.
21 She will bear a Son; –Now this is a prophecy that is often overlooked, but remember that approximately 50% of babies are female
and you shall call His name Jesus,-“And you shall call his name..Yeshua”. That’s the Hebrew and Aramaic version of the name, and that’s what he would have said to a person who understood Aramaic and some Hebrew.
For He will save His people from their sins.”
And of course, it was Yeshua, Joshua who led the Jewish people to the Promised Land of Israel and the name Joshua means “The Lord is salvation”. The Jews were looking for a Messiah to save them from the Romans, but God had a better plan. God was going to save His people Israel from their real enemy, their sins. This is not hosanna with a little h, save us from our circumstances, but Hosanna with a big H, save us from eternal separation from God, save us from the eternal consequences of our actions, save us from all of the ways in which we fail you Lord God. With the Birth of Jesus, the Hope of Israel was realized, and the Hope of Nations was realized. To know Jesus is to know Hope.
We have an important choice to make-Will we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, and follow His plan for our lives? We have an important role to play–Like Joseph’s Role in teaching Jesus about God, we have a role in following Jesus closely, so that the way that we lead our lives help people around us know the genuine Jesus.
Who-Were-the-Magi-Matthew-2-vs-1-8Download2 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea
The wise men, or Magi didn’t arrive until after Jesus’ birth. Just when is a matter of conjecture. But there are clues (see Leviticus 12:1-4). It took a full forty days before her purification would have been completed. Luke 2:39, 39 And when His parents had completed everything in accordance with the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city of Nazareth. Then this suggests that they moved back to Nazareth as soon as they could after presenting Jesus at the Temple and offering the sacrifice according to the Law of Moses. The wise men found them in Bethlehem in a house.
in the days of Herod the king
The Herod here is Herod the Great, who ruled as king from 37 to 4 B.C. Although he professed Judaism and is responsible for expanding the rebuilt temple on a grand scale, along with a lot of other building projects, he also erected many pagan temples. And his reign was not peaceful.
behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying 2 “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”
The Magi were part of the Medo-Persian empire that had defeated Babylon and took over their kingdom. The ancient Magi were a hereditary priesthood of the Medes. The Magi mostly served as court advisors, making forecasts and predictions for their royal patrons based on their study of the stars, about which they were quite knowledgeable. In Matthew’s gospel the Magi attending Jesus’ birth testifies to the validation of Jesus’ kingship. They represent a foreshadowing of Jesus’ acceptance by the gentile world.
For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”
The Magi must have had an unmistakably clear astronomical/astrological message to urge them on such a long, dangerous journey. They saw something in the night sky that was so significant it convinced them to make the trip of over a thousand miles to Jerusalem to look for this new king. How could seeing “signs in the sky” inform the Magi that a King of the Jews had been born? During the Babylonian exile. King Nebuchadnezzar assigned the prophet Daniel to the high office of “chief of the magicians, enchanters, astrologers and diviners” (Daniel 5:11). In other words, Daniel was appointed Chief of the Magi. The Magi of the first century would have most certainly studied the writing of Daniel, and the Scriptures of the Israelites who remained in Babylon.
2 “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews?
A visit by these powerful and important officials to pay homage to a newborn king would have fit the Magi’s usual job description perfectly to the original readers of Matthew’s gospel, but it would also signal big trouble.
3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.When Herod was troubled, all Jerusalem was troubled, because he tended to fly off the handle like a megalomaniac and go slaughtering people.
4 And gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written by the prophet: 6 ‘And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, Are by no means least among the leaders of Judah; For from you will come forth a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel.’”
The term Chief priests is used to signal that the upper echelon of the priestly order. They should have been the ones looking for Jesus, since they were the ones supposedly following God. They were supposedly the ones following God as His Worshipers, but they sold their birthright for a little stew, to a descendant of Esau. They served Herod, their political master instead of God. Bethlehem means house of bread, and so it was a fitting place for the bread of life to be born. Bethlehem is where the Passover lambs were born, and so it was a fitting place for Christ, our Passover to be born. And it was the birthplace of King David, to whom God gave the Davidic covenant that one of his descendants would rule forever on his throne.
Who do you serve, in your heart? Do you serve God, willing to follow the path that He has laid out for you, or do you serve political masters, or the Dow Jones, or your position and power, or simply yourself?
1st-John-3vs1-How-Great-a-LoveDownloadChapter 3:1
3 See how great a love the Father has given us, that we would be called children of God; and in fact we are. For this reason the world does not know us: because it did not know Him.
The apostle John loves to talk about family. He so often addresses those he has taught as “my beloved children”, or “little children”. And, so he can’t really resist talking about the wondrous nature of God’s love by which we are granted this privilege.
Behold
This is something “visible” to the believer, in that God’s love in our lives can be known and should be seen.
See How Great a love
John is asking us to appreciate in awe, wonder, and amazement the fact that God would not only save us through Jesus shed blood on the cross, but adopt us as His children. The Father’s love is so unconditional, measureless, long-suffering, patient and supranatural compared to the limited, conditional, sometimes even shallow love that we can express that we can hardly comprehend it.
God’s love is infinite, measureless
God’s love infinite measureless: Psalm 86:15 But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. Psalm 103:17, etc.
God’s love is revealed in Jesus
The Lord God has chosen to fully reveal Himself through His Son, Jesus Christ. He has done it in such a way that a finite mind might understand Him. We see this in the introduction to Hebrews in 1:1-3 1 God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, 2 in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom He also made the world. 3 And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and [e]upholds all things by the word of His power. We have a hard time wrapping our head around an infinite God, but we understand Jesus, he is both Man and God, bridging the gap, allowing us to understand God. “No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him” as it says in John 1:18. We have come to know God’s love “because He laid down His life for us” (1 John 3:16). John 4:9-10 9 By this the love of God was revealed in us, that God has sent His only Son into the world so that we may live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. And Rom 5:8 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
And so, in a very real sense, God sent Jesus to live the life that HE lived in perfect accordance with the Will of the Father, being without sin, and then die for us on the cross, in order to explain His boundless, infinite, long-suffering love for us in a way that, if we will look at it, examine it, can’t help but point us to the bedrock of God’s love for us.
Has lavished
To lavish means to bestow, or give something in abundance, with profuseness or excess. God’s love is extravagant, lacking in moderation and restraint. And the key here is that He “has lavished” (dedōken) perfect past tense, it’s something already accomplished, and it’s effects are still continuing. The extravagant gift of Jesus, His Son, has already been given. Once someone gives you a present, it takes away all ability to earn it. Furthermore, God has not just given His son as a sacrifice, but has raised Him so that we can have a relationship with God through Him, by the power of His Holy Spirit within us, and by His advocacy at the right hand of the Father. We get to be part of God’s magnificent plan. It’s His act. His love for us, and our status as His Children, if we are truly His, is not earned but is a gift, an act of unmerited and unimaginable generosity, founded not on any obligation felt by God nor on any expectation, but on love. And therefore it rests on His faithfulness.
The Father
John isn’t pointing us so much to our relationship with the Father as His Children as proof of His love, but rather THE MEANS by which this relationship was made possible. John is pointing us to God the father as the source. And John is pointing to the lavish love that God has poured out on us—Jesus. His blood was poured out for us. The love that God has lavished on us is His Son Jesus. That’s what we’re supposed to Behold, to see, to comprehend, to think about.
That we are called Children of God
And not only do we get to be transformed into the image of Jesus, we also get to bear God’s name. We have a relationship with God, through the relationship that we have in Jesus as our kinsman redeemer. We are members of God’s family.
For this reason
The next part of the verse begins “For this reason”, or “on account of this”. On account of what? On account of our relationship with God, as His children, THROUGH CHRIST. Because Christians are partakers in the divine love and have been designated the children of God in CHRIST the world does not understand them.
This view that God is the one who is loving, and Through Jesus is allowing us to have relationship as His Children is consistent throughout the New Testament. God does not love us so that we can become His Children, God loves us, so He sent Jesus to die for our sins, so that we can have relationship with Him through Jesus, and thereby become His adopted Children. We see this in John 1:12-13 12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name, 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of a man, but of God. It’s our receiving of Jesus that, placing our trust in Him, we become Children of God—And God arranged this—there’s nothing in us that would commend us to Him, but He sent Jesus anyway!
The World does not understand
The “world” (kosmos) refers to the evil humanistic system that dominates the society around us, a hostile order that stands in opposition to God. It is this unbelieving world which does not know ‘us’, and it did not know ‘him’ either. John 1:9-11: 9 This was the true Light that, coming into the world, enlightens every person. 10 He was in the world, and the world came into being through Him, and yet the world did not know Him. 11 He came to His own, and His own people did not accept Him.
To be called God’s children indicates a family relationship that the world does not want to choose, but is jealous of, all the same.
The world does not know us, because it did not know Him.
We are identified with Christ—we are Christians, followers of Christ, and our life is In Him. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. We can count on LESS acceptance from the world, because we are His. See 1 John 3:13 13 Do not be surprised, brothers and sisters, if the world hates you. The word accepts it’s own, not us 1 Joh 4:5 5 They are from the world, therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. 1st John 5:19 19 We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. John highlights this again in John 1:10 (‘He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognise him [the Word = Jesus Christ]’). Being identified with God leads to alienation from the world. See John 15:18-25 18. The world hates us, just like it hated Jesus. We are no longer Of the World, just passing through it as Pilgrims, chosen out of the world to be God’s Children, and hated by the world for it. It’s our refusal to live by the world’s selfish system, and “play the game”, scam and be scammed, that the world hates. It’s our identification with Christ that the world hates, but it’s our identification with Christ that gives us life in Him, and allows us to be called the Children of God! And, so in a very real sense, the worlds people are not “all God’s Children” The world does not know us, because it has not know God.
What a privilege to get to know God in relationship!
1-John-2vs29-Trust-in-the-Righteousness-of-JesusDownload1 John 2:29
29 If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness also has been born of Him.
John’s saying that they should know by now that God is righteous, but the word he uses indicates that it’s possible that some of them have not trusted in the righteousness of Jesus. Jesus knew God is Righteous (see John 17:25-26). To know God, is to know He is righteous! It was by making God known to the Disciples, what His Righteous and Holy character is like that Jesus says will induce love in us as His disciples for God, and will deepen our relationship with Him.
God is Righteous and Just when He forgives:
Forgiveness is the pardoning of an offense. But forgiveness doesn’t negate the offense or its effects. There are consequences. Sin damages relationships. Jesus bore our sins in His body, and He still bears the scars of that payment. When we forgive, we make a choice to act like Jesus, and just pass over those wounds and hurts, disregarding the damage, because we know that we have offended a Holy and Righteous God much more than anyone could ever offend us. Forgiveness must always be coupled with justice. Justice is about restoration, not retribution or vengeance. If all we do as Christians is forgive, without seeking restoration of the image of God in the offender and the offended, then we have not practiced Christian justice. It’s not just about our heart, but the heart of those who have offended us as well. Forgiveness without Justice belittles Righteousness. We want restoration, and a change of heart, and for people to understand that there’s a reason why we’re forgiving—it’s not that we don’t care what they did, or that we’re passive or weak—it’s that we understand that we have also sinned against those around us, and more importantly, against a Holy God! God is just and righteous when He forgives, because He has already meted out the punishment, and laid it all on Jesus, who agreed to take the punishment for us. But God also seeks justice in our lives. By his gospel, he not only forgives us, he restores us to righteousness. He changes us. He sanctifies us. He makes us a new creation, in Christ. God demonstrates His justice by forgiving us, because the debt has already been paid! It’s the blood of Jesus that has cleanses us from all sins.
Abraham’s entire reason for thinking that he had any bargaining position with God was based on the fact that he knew God to be righteous! The source of David’s strength was that he trusted God. Do you know what David said to the 9 and ½ feet tall, about 600 pounds of muscle Goliath, who had been a warrior from his youth, whose armor weighted 125 pounds, and his iron spearhead alone weighed 15 pounds when he met him? We read in 1st Samuel 17:45 45 Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted. 46 This day the Lord will deliver you up into my hands…, That’s quite a lot of confidence, considering the challenge that he was facing from a giant who had just threatened to kill him! Where did this confidence come from? Experience in trusting the Lord! (see 1st Samuel 17:32-36). Faith grows by: Trusting God to get you through circumstances that seem difficult or impossible and Knowing that He is able to get you through those circumstances.
Knowing God in His righteousness comes by knowing Him. (see Psalm 11:7 Psalm 4:1, Psalm 50:6 for example). We trust God because we know Him. We learn, both by the instruction of the Word of God, and we know by experience. John continues in 1st John 2 vs. 29
You know (by experience) that everyone who practices righteousness has also been born of Him.
No one can never take away our experience of knowing personally our righteous God, and it’s living for Him in righteousness that causes us to experience Him more. And we grow in righteousness, by growing in Faith! After all our source of confidence isn’t our own righteousness, but faith in Jesus’ righteousness. Romans 4:120-21 20 yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, 21 and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform. His faith was in God’s ability, not his own, and he grew strong in faith. The Gospel is the inherent, omnipotent power of God accomplishing the salvation for those who accept it. And, active faith in God is necessary for that power to be present in our daily lives. It’s the righteousness of Jesus that gives you access to God’s power in your life. And it’s faith that allows you to appropriate that power to do God’s will in your life. Isaiah 50:10 Isaiah 50:10 Who is among you that fears the Lord, That obeys the voice of His servant, That walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God. Be righteous, but put your faith in God! He’s the one who directs us: Proverbs 3:5-6, Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight. God took a weak Abraham and put strength into him. Abraham was made strong because of his faith indeed, but it was God, not faith, that provided the strength. Faith allowed Abraham to appropriate God’s strength to do God’s will! In Romans 1:21 we see that the fundamental sin of the human race was, “even though they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God or give thanks.” But Abraham expresses the opposite sentiment: Abraham grew strong in faith and gave glory to God. This teaches us that our faith should grow. Weak faith (or little faith) is still faith, but we should grow strong in faith. We grow in faith by growing in our knowledge of the object of our faith, namely, God. Faith is only as good as its object.
We all must come to God with “the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all” ( Rom 4:16). This faith is rooted in God’s gracious promise to declare righteous all who believe in Jesus Christ, who paid the penalty for our sin. Saving faith is rooted in God’s grace. It rests on God’s promise. It revels in God’s glory. And saving faith relies on God’s power to keep His promise, in spite of human inability.
We have hope, even in circumstances which seem hopeless. This means that we will have struggles of faith, just as Abraham experienced. Circumstances often dash our hope, but against that, we fight back with hope. Our faith and hope are not in ourselves or our ability or in a positive attitude that everything turns out okay for good people in the end. No, our faith and hope are in the God who gives life to the dead and who calls into being that which does not exist. And, since God’s salvation is by grace through faith apart from works, we can join Abraham (in 4:21), “being fully assured that what God [has] promised, He [is] able also to perform.” Knowing who God is, and trusting Him to keep His word.
Saving faith puts all its weight on Jesus Christ and His shed blood at Calvary. It’s rooted in God’s grace, it rests on God’s promise, it revels in God’s glory, and it relies on His power. Jesus is the Bridge from us to God. He’s the Only Way! Make sure that your trust is in Christ alone.
1st John 2:28 28 Now, little children, remain in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not draw back from Him in shame at His coming. And Now, Little Children If these members of the churches of Asia Minor, present day Turkey, are acting as Children of God, they will be […]
26 These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you. John doesn’t want them to be snared by these false teachings. John says trust in Jesus, and the Power of the Holy Spirit to guide you into all Truth, not in these false teachers. In warning them about false […]
25 This is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life. John has been telling us about the benefits of abiding, remaining in relationship with God in Christ. We have fellowship with God: 1 John 1:3 3 what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may […]
1st John 2:23-24 23 Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; —When people deny the Son, they show that they do not have the Father. Hebrews 10:28-31 tells us that if it’s the case that 28 Anyone who has ignored the Law of Moses is put to death without mercy on the testimony […]
1 John 2:20-22 20But you have an anointing from the Holy One, John wants to reassure his readers that they are Christians. John draws a sharp distinction between True Believers and these false teachers by going right to the source. 2 Cor 1 21 Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed […]
What about those who choose to leave the faith? There are those who choose to leave the faith, even though they know something about Jesus. Probably the most obvious case is Judas Iscariot (see John 13:26-7). Judas made a choice to betray Jesus, even though he saw the witness of Jesus’ love and kindness, ministering […]
1 John 2:18-19 John’s warning against false teachers. 18 Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour. Again, we see John address the churches that he is writing to as a loving […]
1st John 2:16-17 Do Not Love The World Pt. 2—The Lust of the Flesh, The Lust of the Eyes, and the Pride of Life 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but […]
1st John 2:15-17 Part 1: 15 Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. Do not love the world An obstacle to the spiritual growth which can hinder the progress toward spiritual maturity that we talked about last […]
1 John 2:12-14 12 I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you on account of His name. John’s just spent time giving them evidence that they’re saved saying that if they follow God’s commands out of love for Him, then it is evidence that they are saved. If you’re […]
9 The one who says that he is in the Light and yet hates his brother or sister is in the darkness until now. We’ve looked at our love for God as measured by our obedience to His commands now we look at our loving relationships with our brothers and sisters in Christ as a […]
1 John 2:7-8 7 Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you When we understand what God has done for us in sending Jesus to the Cross, and what Jesus has done in dying for us, for our sins so that we can have relationship with God, then we love God. We obey […]
1 John 2:5-6 5 but whoever follows His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: Whoever follows His Word We know that we are saved because we obey God’s commandments. And we are obedient to God out of love for Him. We […]
1 John 2:3-4 3 By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; 3 By this we know A healthy relationship with […]
1 John 2:2 and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. He Himself Not only is Jesus our Advocate in Heaven who works on our behalf, He is also the sacrifice that cleanses us and satisfies God’s just wrath, making […]
2:1 My little children, I am writing these things to you In this verse, John reveals another of his purposes in writing this epistle. He doesn’t want us to sin. Even though he has already reminded them that they are sinful and do continue to sin, and have sin that is in need of confession, […]
1:10 If we say that we have not sinned, John is warning us against an attitude toward sin that any believer, including him, could fall into and thereby do harm to their fellowship with God. This is the kind of claim that might be made by one who admits to a sin nature, but sees […]
We have a choice, to confess before the Lord, or not, but there are two things that occur if confession does occur. All believers, John included, must acknowledge our sin before God, in order to experience Jesus’ cleansing work. Agreement with God in Mutual understanding of Guilt Before Him-And the idea behind the word “confess” […]
1 John 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. 8a If we say that we have no sin, Now that John has reminded us of the complete moral purity of God, and of the necessity of walking in the light, John wants […]
5a This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you 1st John is an attestation by an eye-witness of what John heard. John is bearing witness that this comes directly from God. 5b that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. So John begins the main […]
3 what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. These first three verses serve as the prologue of this epistle. First John is written to encourage us, as believers, […]
Authorship-The author of this epistle is John, the beloved Apostle, the author of the gospel of John, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John, as well as Revelation. There is no surviving early copy of the epistle that does not attribute it to him in the title. Unanimous attribution of the early church (including Ignatius in 110 […]
All human fathers are imperfect. That’s why we need a Heavenly Father. To be a Godly father, we emulate our Heavenly Father. Genesis 18:19 tells us that God chose Abraham because of his fatherhood, even before he was a father to Isaac. Genesis 18:19 19 For I have chosen him, so that he may command […]
And everyone who hears these words of Mine In Luke Luke 6:46, He says everyone who comes to me. Everyone who hears or reads Jesus’ words is responsible for activing on them. Although many at least intend to act on them, not everyone does. This week we’re looking at the false Christian, the pseudo-Christian, the […]
Jesus has finished His foundational instructions to His disciples, and to us, about what it means to be a true follower of Jesus. Jesus, the Word from the Beginning, is our foundation, the rock on which our life, our house is built, and His teachings tell us what it means to be His disciple. If […]
Lord—Kurios–“one who is in charge by virtue of possession”, the owner, a persion in a position of authority exercising absolute ownership rights as Lord. There is a difference between paying lip-service to Jesus as Lord, and actually making Him Lord of your life “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ Jesus is contrasting […]
Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they? Grapes and figs are good fruit. In the Old Testament, the nation of Israel is symbolized as a fig tree. We see Israel represented as a fig tree (in Hosea 9:10 and in Jeremiah 24), or a fig tree that bears no […]
False prophets are defined as those who, claim for themselves the capacity to define for others the will of God, but represent in their practice and teaching a false understanding of the will of God, specifically an understanding that is not in accord with scripture. Jesus is warning us of wolves that disguise themselves as […]
Even from the beginning, God said being a mother would not be easy (Gen 3:16). Motherhood of course it’s wonderful in so many ways. There’s a special bond between mothers and their children that is often the deepest bond with another human being that we have. The Bible is filled with examples of the struggles […]
15 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. We’re talking about false prophets today, and the best way to spot a counterfeit is to know what the genuine article looks like. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches the true meaning of the Law […]
Enter through the narrow gate The first question that we have to ask about this verse is Enter Where? Jesus is teaching about the Way to Eternal life. Long before being a Christ-follower was called Christianity, it was first called simply The Way. We are not only Christ followers, but we are identified personally with […]
28 Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. The Gospel of Matthew presents the Resurrection of Jesus as the culmination of Jesus’ mission as the Messiah. As followers of Jesus, it’s important for us to understand that […]
Therefore When we put the Golden rule in the context of the theme of judging others only with righteous judgement, this summary statement becomes clear. In everything We all know what it’s like to read Jesus’ words “Love your neighbor as yourself” and say to ourselves ‘Yes, I agree, how wonderful, it makes sense to […]
We talked last week about asking and seeking and knocking and that it’s the very act of giving our lives over more and more to God that causes us to be quick to hear the Holy Spirit’s direction, and to obey what He has to say. Jeremiah 29:11 11 For I know the plans that […]
First Jesus cautioned us against judging in the flesh with it’s biases in not being able to see the truth because of our own prejudice and in hypocrisy. Then Jesus tells us that we can’t refuse to make discerning judgement. Jesus gave us the responsibility to judge righteously and with grace. Who is sufficient to […]
6 “Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces. The general tendency of human nature, according to the flesh is going to be try to set ourselves above others as a critic, […]
Matthew 7:3-4 Being discerning does not directly lead to being a ‘judge’ in the sense of being condemning. The person who is practicing the kind of judgement that Jesus is warning against is the fault-finder, the sin-sniffer, the self-appointed fruit inspector who is negative and destructive towards other people and enjoys actively seeking out their […]
Matthew-7v1-2-Dont-Judgev2Download How many times have you heard someone ________: “The Bible says don’t judge”? There is a call by the world today to be ________________ of any evil that the world can come up with, to bow before any god that the world will put up. Jesus says in Matthew 7:1, “Do Not Judge”. So, where does this leave the Christian?
Judge
The word, in Greek used here for judge is the word krinete which properly means to separate, distinguish between, then select, or prefer. But in most of the New Testament, it’s to pass judgement on, or to criticize…the practic of setting _______________ above someone else as a critic or one who passes judgement– “Don’t make a _______________ of judging others”.
Jesus is not _________________ the use of discernment or our best critical thinking about situations and people. Don’t judge does _______ mean “don’t think”. In fact, in Luke 12:57, Jesus specifically encourages us to judge with discernment in disputes, saying 57 “And why do you not even judge by yourselves what is right? 58 For when you are going with your accuser to appear before the magistrate, on the way, make an effort to settle with him, so that he does not drag you before the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. In other words, it’s better for brothers and sisters to come to an ______________ between themselves, discerning what is right, instead of bringing it before a judge when you don’t know how their judgement will come out. Paul makes it clear in 1 Cor 6:1-6 that, in fact, we are ______________ to judge, and judge rightly saying in 1-2 1 Cor 6 Does any one of you, when he has a case against his neighbor, dare to go to law before the unrighteous and not before the saints? 2 Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? If the world is judged by you, are you not competent to form the smallest law courts? We are expected to be able to judge ______________ in disputes, and avoid besmirching the name of Christ
How are we to reconcile “Judge not” with all of these other verses? As always, we look to ____________ as our example. When we look at Jesus’ interactions with sinners, we find that He had _________________ on them, but did not shy away from telling them the truth about their need for forgiveness.
- Zacheus—Jesus didn’t point out his sin __________________. That would have been the kind of self-righteous judgement that the Pharisees would have made. It would have crushed Zacheus’ hope that he could be forgiven. Zacheus received Jesus ______________, because he knew he was an unworthy sinner, and appreciated Jesus’ mercy and compassion. Result:“Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham.”
- Woman at the well. The self-righteous Pharisees would have ________________her a Samaritan half-breed, cut off from Israel, a 5-time rejected wife, and an adulterer. But Jesus, perceiving her need for love and acceptance had ____________________ on her, showing her mercy. Result: He demonstrated His supernatural knowledge of her situation, and when she expressed her hope in the Messiah, Jesus revealed Himself as Messiah to her, saying in verse 26 Jesus *said to her, “I am He, the One speaking to you.” And many more _________________ because of her testimony that Jesus knew her sin, but was willing to accept her anyway, because of her faith in Him as Messiah.
- Woman Caught in Adultury (John 8 v3-11) The pharisees clearly wanted to ______________ and kill her by stoning. But Jesus asked them to use the same measure or standard that they were using against her to look at their _________ lives. Jesus demonstrates mercy and _________________ for her. Result: By saving her life, Jesus is giving her the ___________________ to repent. In saying that he doesn’t condemn her, Jesus is giving her an ____________________ to repent. He did warn her, saying Go. From now on do not sin any longer.” Jesus does not say “I forgive you”. Why? Because she had not ________________. Instead, Jesus says, not “Follow Me”, but “Go”, and warns her not to keep ________________ her mistake.
And so, when Jesus tells us “Judge Not” he is pointing out that we should not put ourselves in the place of a judge over another’s sins, since we have ______________ as well. We are not the one to determine and provide the _____________________ for sin. That’s God’s job, not ours. Some day He will give us the _______________ to judge. But, by then we will be in heaven, free from sin, free from these old fleshly sinful bodies. Jesus is not requiring that we put blinders on, but rather that we make ________for repentance, and let God do the judging.
so that you will not be judged
And, just in case we need some __________________ to resist the great temptation of being self-righteous, He tells us our motivation for not judging others should be to avoid being judged ourselves. He must be talking about the ________________of God. And since Jesus is addressing believers in the Sermon on the Mount, then it makes sense that the judgement that we should be ______________ about here is the Bema Seat judgement where we stand before Christ as He sits in the Judgment seat. Romans 14:10-12 But as for you, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or you as well, why do you regard your brother or sister with contempt? For we will all appear before the judgment seat of God. 11 For it is written: “As I live, says the Lord, to Me every knee will bow, And every tongue will give praise to God.” 12 So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God. So, we are to react with kindness and compassion for our brothers and sisters in Christ, and their shortcomings, we are to help them get closer to Jesus, not trying to judge them and point fingers at them, blocking them as they try to get closer to God, or try to serve Him. In giving us these instructions, Jesus lets us know what’s best for our life in eternity.
2 For in the way you judge, you will be judged;
So, why is judging and condemning such a bad thing? It causes us to falsely set ourselves above other people, and look down on them. It sets up a counterfeit self-righteousness that we substitute for true righteousness, and so makes us think that we’re alright with God when we’re not. It’s very ______________. See Luke 14:9-14 Jesus tells a parable that illustrates this point. Notice that the parable is directed toward those who were ________________ in their own self-righteousness and looked down on everyone else. And notice the actions of the Pharisee in judging the tax collector, condemning him. And look at the result: The Pharisee does not go home justified before God, despite the fact that he went to the temple to pray and receive justification. It In So, the very act of judging and condemning others, and relying on our own self-righteousness sets up a ______________ to the work that God wants to do in our hearts. So, why is condemning others such a bad thing? Why is condemning condemned? Because the self-exalting arrogance that is the motivation for wanting to condemn people in the first place is the _______________ of who we’re supposed to be in Christ! The Pharisee was bragging to himself about all the works that he was doing to get close to God, and yet it was his faith in those sacrifices that he was making instead of the God. And his condemnation of the tax collector for a lack of works resulted in the _____________________ of the works and sacrifices that he was making. In the way that he judged, he was being ______________by God, just like Jesus says in our verses today.
and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.
And so, we must be careful of the standard of _______________ that we use. The imagery that Jesus is using comes from grain contracts in which it was frequently specified that grain delivery and payment therefore would be measured with the same _________________—that of the purchaser. If we spend our time condemning others, then we must expect that God will respond in the coinage of strict ____________ toward us. Mercy and generosity of spirit toward others is a _______________ to God that this is how we want Him to deal with us. The very act of judgment establishes a set of criteria which God will use to judge our own conduct when we stand before Him.and the suggestion is that it creates a set of criteria in relation to which it were better that one did not ask to be judged. The background thought is of one’s own need for God’s mercy and forgiveness. The thought of Jas. 2:13 is similar. To some degree we have a negative statement of Mt. 5:7.
In order to avoid being judgmental of others, there are three remedies which we find useful.
- First, we Allow God to ___________ us, and we search ourselves diligently for our own frailties.
- Consider what ___________ we ourselves have already received from Jesus
- Cultivate a spirit of __________ toward everyone.
Matthew-6v34-Do-Not-Worry-About-TomorrowDownload 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow,
Some people are tempted to be overcome and _________________ by their worldly possessions in the sense of wanting to hoard them and store them up, amassing them as security against some future calamity. Others spend their lives concerned about them in the sense that they ____________ continually about their scarcity; that they will be in need. But, according to Jesus, it’s the ___________ problem—our focus on worry about money and material possessions instead of ________________ on God. He’s addressing this issue of worry __________________ in this section of the Sermon on the Mount, telling us 3 times in this section of the Sermon on them mount: In verse 25, in verse 31 and lastly in verse 34, our verse today.
It’s as if He knows that we’re going to be such ___________________ in not worrying, and not letting our anxieties get ahold of us sometimes, that even when we know that God will provide for us, and that we’re seeking first the Kingdom of God, then we still need to be _________________ to keep God in His first place in our life, and rebuke worrying whenever it rears its ugly head! Even we are successful at not worrying about God’s provision for the present for a while, then immediately, our fleshly mind is going to say “Yes, but what about tomorrow”? It’s as if our flesh __________ to be concerned about the things of this world, even though it causes us suffering to worry. It’s amazing to me, the lengths we will go to in order to _____________ turning ourselves over to God and giving Him our lives fully!
for tomorrow will worry about itself.
Jesus wants to _______________ from us the burden of worrying about tomorrow, and place that burden in the hands of God—who holds all our tomorrows—who knows what’s going to happen tomorrow. Give Him some room to ________________ those things that you’re worried about between today and tomorrow. Worry is just a well-disguised ________________ to fulfill our personal quest for power over the world around us, control over circumstances, and comfort in our daily lives, instead of turning to God to ______________ us.
Have you ever thought about the fact that _____________is the tomorrow you were worried about yesterday! If we will cast all our cares on Him, because He cares for us, and simply wait on the Lord to solve the problems, then we will find that a great majority of the things that we would tend to worry about will be taken care of by God ________________ they become some insurmountable problem. So we can truly let God have our problems, trust in him, and “let tomorrow _____________ about itself”.
Earlier in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said in His model prayer in Matthew 6:11 “give us this day our daily bread” Because God gives us our daily bread, it means that we must ___________________ with Him each day to ask for our daily bread. This day-by-day existence keeps us ___________. As members of God’s family, we have direct access to our Heavenly Father through our Great High Priest, Jesus
Now, in our human nature, we want to ask God for a whole warehouse full of bread—enough to last us a lifetime, so we won’t have to ask again. See Luke 12:15-21. This foolishness is completely in line with human nature, and completely _________of line with what God wants for us. We should all remember the words of Paul to Timothy in 1 Timothy 6:17-Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. Remember Jesus’ warning in Luke 12:15 to Then He said to them, “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.” We need to keep asking God to Give us each day our daily bread, instead of just continually ________________ up grain.
Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Because of the sin of Adam and Eve, there is always a problem of sin in this world, and the need to earn a living by the sweat of our brow. Life in this world is a __________, because of sin. We are not to spend our time ________________ the grand total of all of the problems, trials and tribulations that may come upon us, today, tomorrow, next week and next year–If we do, it will paralyze and crush us. But Jesus encourages us to live __________ day at a time. Every day has problems. We need to address today’s ____________ of problems.
Most of us spend much of our time worried about the regrets of yesterday, the uncertainty of tomorrow, and spend too little time being _________________ with what God’s doing today! Yesterday and tomorrow are like two thieves who steal our _____________ and our concern. When you spend your time worrying about tomorrow, you withdraw time and energy from the bank of tomorrow, and end up with a ________________ burden today, and tomorrow. You’ve added to yourself a burden that you were never _____________ to carry! We can sometimes barely handle the problems that come to us today, what makes us think that we’re going to be able to handle both today’s problems AND tomorrow’s?
Although it’s o.k. to plan for tomorrow, and be prudent, we must never _____________ in our plans for tomorrow—remember as Christians that it’s God’s plan that counts, not our own. There is nothing in the Scripture which indicates that it is wrong to have a savings account, or to carry insurance. But if I am always thinking about my bank accounts or 401k’s, wondering whether I have saved enough and so on, then that is something which Jesus is ____________________about and condemns.
There are those who say that the Christian should live his life fully but should make no ________________ at all for the future. There are those that say that everything should be done completely by ___________, and by no other means. How is the work of God supposed to be accomplished, if all of the Saints are outside just waiting for manna to fall from Heaven, and not working? They won’t be able to support _______________________, much less the Kingdom of God, and their lack of prudence _________________ their usefulness for the Kingdom. So, what’s the answer? We are to be open to _________________ plan God has. For most people, most of the time, it’s going to be serving, using the gifts that God has given them, in ____________ congregations, while earning a living from their labors. But, at the same time, we must be open to ______________ God wants to do at the time. There are some times, places and situations where we ARE supposed to ________________ only by faith—to walk through by faith. And if God ___________ us to do that, then that’s exactly what we will do.
We can trust in Jesus. In John 6, after he had fed the Five Thousand men, besides women and children, by multiplying 5 little barley loaves and two small fish, and made sure that they had a grassy place to have a picnic in, and the people ate their fill, He then pointed them to the source of their provision. He said 6:35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; the one who comes to Me will not be hungry, and the one who believes in Me will never be thirsty. In Hebrews 13:8. The Hebrew Christians were passing through troubles and trials, and the author of that Epistle tells them not to worry, and for this reason: ‘Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.’ He says you need not worry, for what He was yesterday, He is today, and He will be tomorrow. You need not anticipate life; the Christ who takes you through today will be the ___________ Christ tomorrow. He is changeless, everlasting, always the same; so you must not think about tomorrow; think instead about the changeless Christ.
We can trust in God. Lamentations3:22-23 22 The Lord’s acts of mercy indeed do not end, For His compassions do not fail. 23 They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. It is the mercy of God that sees what we’re going through and immediately desires to help us. God’s mercies are new every morning—there’s a brand new _____________ for each day of what God knows we need to get us through. They never run out. They never fail to meet the need. They never disappoint. They never, ever fail, because they really are new every morning and available all the time. He is the I AM. The All-becoming One, the One who becomes whatever is needed to fulfill every need and ___________ every blessing. And He can provide for you! When we focus on God first and foremost, then we find that worry simply disappears!
Matthew-6v33-Seek-First-The-Kingdom-and-His-RighteousnessDownload 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Seek
Jesus is states this as a command “You all seek now first the Kingdom of God”. This word for seek means to search for, to pursue, to endeavor to __________ and find by any means. We are to seek the Kingdom of God with the same passion that we find when Jesus says in luke 19:10 that 10 For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Jesus didn’t just wait for sinners to come to Him, He sought them. In Luke 19, he didn’t wait for Zacheus to _________ down from the tree and come over to Him, instead He saw the desire in Zacheus’ heart and went over to the tree. He pursued Zacheus, saying that He must stay at his house. It is more than a simple, “looking around” for some lost sheep, but includes the idea of diligently, earnestly and tenaciously searching for the sheep, sparing no effort, because that which is searched for is of the _____________value. Now, think about __________ you were when Jesus found you, how much searching it took for Him to find you, and bring you into the fold. THAT’s the same _______________ that we are to show in seeking the Kingdom of God. A true understanding of what Jesus has done for us, and a ______________ appropriation of the salvation that Jesus has purchased for us on the cross will result in our striving and pursuing after righteousness.
First
We, as Jesus’ disciples are to seek as our __________ priority, the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. It means that our first and our __________ effort should be directed toward the furthering of God’s kingdom, and that means ___________things God’s way. We find the same priority in the model prayer that Jesus taught us to pray earlier in the chapter—The Lord’s prayer starts out: ‘Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.’ It starts with God, and so should we. We must allow the Holy Spirit to keep bringing us to that place in our mind, heart and spirit, that we desire Him _________ all else, that God is the ruling passion of our life, taking priority over everything else.
His Kingdom
What does Jesus mean by telling us to “Seek first the Kingdom of God”? Remember that The Kingdom of God is both the _____________ subject of the Sermon on the Mount, and of Jesus’ teaching during His time on earth. As Citizens of the Kingdom, we’re trusting God with something much more _______________ than our financial well-being and our material needs—we’re trusting Him with our souls. And so, if you don’t think you can trust Him to provide material things, then what makes you think that you really believe in Him as Lord and Savior? No, it’s only when you really KNOW Him, then you realize that it’s because if His _________________ that you can trust Him with your soul, then we can say with Paul in 2 Tim 1:12 12 For this reason I also suffer these things; but I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that He is able to protect what I have entrusted to Him until that day. Because we know HE whom we have believed and believed IN. Jesus is giving them His ____________________ of them as Citizens of Heaven. When we pray, as in Jesus’ model prayer for His disciples, “Thy Kingdom Come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” we’re praying “God, rule on earth the way that you rule everywhere else in the Universe” And as Citizens of the Kingdom on earth, as His ambassadors, we are the ones that God has ________________ to make this happen. The Kingdom of Heaven is current reality now experienced by believers in our spiritual life, as we are reminded of by Paul in Romans 14:17 “17 for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Paul also taught that followers of Jesus Christ enter into the Kingdom of God at salvation in Col 1:13: 13 For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. And someday we will get to experience as a reality, together, the Kingdom all around us, it all of it’s glory, in the kingdom’s ______________ consummation. We’re supposed to be seeking first the Kingdom of God so that we can both experience life as a Citizen of Heaven in our daily lives, and to the extent that we follow Jesus closely, bring more of His rule to the world around us by the way that we live our lives and the _________________ we set—so that unbelievers will _____________ to follow Him.
His Righteousness
Righteousness is right-living—being ___________________ about what pleases God, and doing what He requires of us. So, if we’re already seeking the Kingdom, why does Jesus feel the need to tell us to “seek His righteousness” as well. This means ____________, the life of righteousness. We are not only to seek the kingdom of God in the sense that we set your affections on God and His Kingdom, but we must also seek holiness and righteousness. Earlier in the Sermon, Jesus said ‘Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.’ We, as Christians are to seek to be more like Christ in our character, growing in holiness and in the knowledge of the Lord. This is the way to increase our faith. IT’s a positive reinforcement cycle: Our faith allows us to __________ to lean on God, and in getting to know Him better, we realize that He is a Holy God, with ___________________ of those who are called Citizens of Heaven and are called His children. He calls us to Be holy, even as I am Holy. And, as we cooperate with the Holy Spirit in sculpting our hearts to be more like Jesus, we become more holy, and look ___________ and more like Jesus. This releases God’s blessings toward us, because it removes the danger that we’d become arrogant or self-sufficient because of them. Then when we see how God deals so righteously with us, and what a Good God He is, then we have the __________ to press into Him more and lean on Him more, and the cycle starts all over again. We, as followers of Christ are to grow in him. (see 1 Peter 1:4-8, etc.) By seeking Him, His righteousness more and more, becoming more and more like our heavenly Father, we are partakers of the divine nature, and we, as Peter puts it, ‘make [our] their calling and election sure’. To God—No! He already ____________ who are really His. To our neighbors? No, they probably can’t tell a shaft of wheat from a tare. No, It makes our calling and election sure to ________________!
All these things will be given to you as well
What things? Well, first off, those things food, water and clothing that they were anxious and worried about! All those things that the unbelievers spend all their __________ clawing and grasping for, will simply be added to disciples who focus on God, and allow Him to provide. Our Father expects his children to put him first, but God _____________ in meeting our needs. And, when we were young in the faith, we found that our earthly needs _________________ our prayers, we prayed mostly about these things, but we never found satisfaction—it was because God had to change our ____________ first. As we grow in _________________ and have some experience in trusting God, we begin to pray about and seek the ________________ of God. Now, that doesn’t mean that we think that God does not care about their needs, nor do we hesitate to bring them to Him. That is unbelief. But, as we prioritize God, seeking His rule in our life, and that His Will be done on earth, pursuing His righteousness in our lives, then we focus on all our needs less, and we find that just by following His path for our life, we receive all we need to eat, drink and wear as fringe benefits.
Seeking God’s kingdom and righteousness will ___________ a man against those vain habits, like keeping up with the Jones’ that cause a person to live _____________ their real income. If your outflow exceeds your income, then your upkeep will be your downfall. God will preserve us from financial mis-management. It is not an accident that the Puritans of the seventeenth century, became wealthy people. It was not because they __________________ wealth, it was just that they were living for God and His righteousness, and the result was that they did not throw away their money on worthless things, or habits that harmed them.
Our ____________ concern is our spiritual condition, our nearness to God and our relationship to Him. If we put this first, then worry about everything else will go; that is the ___________.
Matthew-6vs30-32Download Flowers only bloom for a little while, and then their beauty fades. They are ______________. People of Jesus’ day would heat their ____________ with grass when wood was in short supply. So, grass could indeed be blooming today, and tomorrow _____________ into the furnace. For all their beauty, flowers do not rank ____________ in the order of living things. And so, we see that God will look after the _____________ of His servants. He is quite able to make sure that you have _____________ as you serve Him. When God reminds the Israelites in Deuteronomy 8 of their 40 years of wandering, and how the Lord took care of them, He says in verse 3b-4 fed you with the manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, in order to make you understand that man shall not live on bread alone, but man shall live on everything that comes out of the mouth of the Lord. 4 Your clothing did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. None of you have worn the __________ set of clothes every day for 40 years, nor worn the same shoes for 40 years. God caused a miraculous ___________________ of what they had during very difficult times of wandering in the wilderness. God is _____________ this all the time for us, as His servants. He is keeping us and ______________ us through situations, trials and tribulations that we have no way to get through ourselves. (see also Deut 29:2-5). Yet they didn’t notice that God was keeping their clothes and shoes from wearing out during those forty years. They were _____________to what God was doing around them. Why? Because they were focused on ________________ and murmuring. Never content with what God was giving them, always focused on the meat and bread that they had enjoyed in Egypt—while they were slaves. Their focus on what ____________ wanted caused them to miss the boat on what God wanted to do, and circle around Mt. Sinai for 40 years, instead of entering the promised land.
And that is the way many in the church are today. God is working all around them, preserving them, providing miracles and provision for them, and all they say is “but WE want THAT instead, of what you want for us, Jesus”. Over and over, Jesus has to say, in Matthew 11:15 15 The one who has ears to hear, let him hear. The fact that Jesus has to say “the one who has ears to hear, let him hear” is like Jesus saying “listen up”. And what does that imply? That they weren’t _________________;
You of little faith!
Whenever we see the words, you of little faith in the New Testament, it’s always referring to the disciples. They were the ones who were “of little faith”. “You of little faith” is not a ___________________. Worrying is sin. And this biting, gnawing worry is a failure to trust God. And it opens a door to do what sin always does, and that’s separate us from God. And if we fail to listen to the voice of God for long enough, and instead listen to our anxiety and worry, then we will begin to doubt our salvation, and become ____________________ for the Kingdom of God.
31 Do not worry then, saying, ‘What are we to eat?’ or ‘What are we to drink?’ or ‘What are we to wear for clothing?’
Jesus is not saying that His disciples should be as ________________ as the birds and the flowers, doing no work, or simply happening on food and clothing as they find them. Instead, God expects us to ________ (see Gen 3 v17-19). And, because it was our sin and doubt of God’s provision in the first place that caused Adam and Eve to sin, then that means that this tension and doubt and anxiety, and worry that we feel if we don’t carefully guard our hearts, is something that we’ve brought on ourselves, and ______________ to bring on ourselves by not trusting God. It’s our doubt of God’s _____________ that causes us to ask “What are we to eat”, or “What are we to drink”, or “what are we to wear for clothing”.
32 For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things;
Basically, Jesus is saying: Don’t act just __________ the people who don’t even know God. Don’t give priority, and all your attention to ____________________ pursue these things. If you know God, then the pursuit of your life will be Him, not all of the things.
for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
We have a heavenly father, and HE will __________________ our needs, if we will let Him. He will also let us spend all our time chasing after the things the world chases after, but He knows, and we will find out that they only leave us empty.
Jesus understands our needs But, what about the _______________________ of believers? Jesus knew what it was like to not have enough to eat or have adequate shelter. He and the disciples had no permanent home, ministering from town to town. Matthew 8:20 tells us Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head” (Matthew 8:20). He knew what it was like to feel real need. He knew what it was to feel _________. “Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well” (John 4:6). Indeed Jesus knew what it was like to be tempted. Mark 1:13 tells us “He was in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan”. And because Jesus lived this most difficult life, He ___________________ our weakness. The author of Hebrews sums this up by saying in chapter 4 v.15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things just as we are, yet without sin.
Jesus knows what it is to be thirsty
During the approximately six hours Jesus Christ hung on the cross, our Lord spoke ___________ final statements. One of those statements is recorded in John 19:28: “Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, ‘I am thirsty.’” John links Jesus’ statement “I thirst” to the fulfillment of Scripture. When Jesus said, “I thirst,” from the cross, He was alluding to a prophecy in Psalm 22:15: “My mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death.” In response to Jesus’ request for something to drink, the soldiers offer Him wine vinegar: “A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips” (John 19:29). This action was a fulfillment of Psalm 69:21: “They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst.” Immediately after receiving the drink, Jesus says, “It is finished,” and then bows His head and gave up His spirit (John 19:30). Even after 6 hours on the cross, Jesus knew that all ________________ had to be fulfilled, and THAT was His ___________. With the last ounce of strength left in His body, he is still making sure that the final prophecy which had to be fulfilled in His earthly life was completed. THEN He said “tetelestai” “It is paid in full”, “My work here is completed” “It is finished” “salvation is accomplished”. Jesus’ life was a fulfillment of the first and greatest commandment: as Mark 12:30 puts it: 30 and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. He did it for us, to __________________ salvation, but also to _____________________ what trusting God is all about. When we doubt God’s provision, and begin to worry and fret, then we have only to look at the __________. Look at what’s already been done for us, and we know He will provide. When we look to the cross, and spend our lives at the foot of the cross, then we can say along with Paul in Philippians 4:19 19 And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. 20 Now to our God and Father be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Matthew-6vs29-30-Dont-Worry-Grow-Instead-Like-LiliesDownload 28 And why are you worried about clothing?
We talked a couple of weeks ago about the fact that neither clothes nor the present extremes of climate that we experience in the world were originally part of God’s design. We need to remember why we’re wearing clothes in the first place—because of sin and shame, and so He is asking us not to ____________ the mistake of Adam and Eve of not trusting God. Worry is, at it’s heart, a _____________ to trust God.
Notice
Jesus asks us to carefully _______________ what He is going to say about the lilies.
Notice how the lilies of the field grow; they do not labor nor do they spin thread for cloth,
We don’t see flowers walking south, migrating for the winter into warmer climates, only to return again in the Spring. They do _________ of that kind of work at all. Instead, they simply grow. They don’t grow by their own ___________, but how they soak up the sunshine that God gives them.
Flowers bloom where God has planted them.
As we consider the lilies of the field, how they grow, Jesus is offering us some ______________ for our own life.
Be Fruitful
Indeed, God made the flowers to be beautiful and _______________, and indeed, after God created Adam and Eve, He blessed them and told them, in Gen 1:28 “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it”. We flourish, not by spending ourselves on our own efforts, but by ______________ in God. We are successful in the work that God has for us to do through His ___________, and we help others find Jesus or grow in Christ by His power, not ours.
Keep on the Sunny Side
Sometimes blooming where we are planted is about “looking to the good” in any situation (Remember Philippians 4:8). Even in less than wonderful situations, we have control over how we ______________ in terms of our thought life and in our actions.
Do What is Right
Doing what’s right when it’s hard. God’s timing and provision is perfect. You are here, now, in this service for a _____________. You are listening online ___________ for a reason. Grow means change, but it always means change for the _____________ in God’s eyes.
29 yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these.
It helps us to ________________ the life of Solomon for a moment. He didn’t come from the ________t of backgrounds. He was the son of David, but his mom was Bathsheba, and the beginning of their relationship included adultery, murder, and judgement. But, 2nd Samuel 12:24-25 The Lord loved the child 25 and sent word through Nathan the prophet that they should name him Jedidiah (which means “beloved of the Lord”), as the Lord had commanded. God made an inexplicable choice. He renamed Solomon, just as He had renamed Abraham, Sarah, and Jacob. It was a sign that when he decided Solomon should be the next king. Solomon’s birth is a vivid ____________ of God’s grace. God can take something that is horrible and ugly and turn it into something ______________. He did this with David and Bathsheba, and He can do the same thing in our lives, if we will serve Him.
Consider that one prayer changed Solomon’s life He prayed in 1st Kings 3:9-14 9 So give Your servant [e]an understanding heart to judge Your people, to discern between good and evil. For who is capable of judging this great people of Yours?” He was anointed King as a young man, and knew the great ____________ of responsibility that was on him, and he knew he couldn’t handle it. He asked God for help. And God responded (see 1st Kings 3:10-14). It would have been the easiest thing in the world for him to look to his __________ to handle the responsibility of being king, but instead he looked to God, and ___________ for help. And he was _______________.
It takes great ___________________ to handle success
Solomon’s kingdom was marked by unprecedented peace, wealth, and splendor. He was the wisest man who ever lived, yet because he started to lean on his own great wisdom, instead of God’s Greater wisdom, he saw his kingdom ________________. The greater our prosperity or success, the more likely we are to _____________ our need for God. Let us never forget the inherit danger that comes with material and other blessings. We don’t just pray for success—pray for the __________________ to handle success.
Bad Company Corrupts Good Character (1 Kings 11:4;11:7)
Solomon was not ___________________ from the influence of those he chose to spend his time with. Being supremely wise and God’s anointed did not _______________ him from this. We will become like those we chose to be close to. Let us choose _____________ those who will be our friends and confidants. There’s a term that’s thrown around a lot right now called influencers. I means those who influence a lot of people in our society. We need to watch out, who we let be our influencers. And our chief influencer, indeed our Lord, must always be God.
Solomon had everything, and he ___________ it all away. At the end of his life, this man Solomon, who had so much promise, wrote the book of Ecclesiastes as a form of __________________ and repentance about wasting his life with foolishness and sin. “I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But behold, this also was vanity.” Ecclesiastes 2:1 What Solomon is saying is this: “trust me. I had everything that you’re scratching and clawing for served up on a silver platter. I had all the money and influence and fame and power and privilege, and in the end it is meaningless and pointless and worthless.” Don’t make the ________________ of Solomon. Don’t let anyone or anything turn you away from God. Worldly pleasures and passions lead to a ________________ life. Anything worth having comes from God James 1:17; 2 Cor 9:8-10 Deut 28:1-5; Eph 1:3 reminds us.
30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith!
God makes sure that the flowers are adorned with beauty that even Solomon could not _____________ at the height of his power. And flowers exist for such a short _____________of time. They are here one day and gone the next. If God sees to it that they are blessed with beauty and wonder and splendor, then we can trust He who gave His one and only son for us, meeting our greatest need, for salvation, to take care of our other ______________ as well. We just have to have the faith to commit all our ways to _________________ God
Matthew-6v26-27-God-Cares-for-the-Birds-So-Dont-Worry-He-Cares-For-YouDownload 26 Look at the birds of the sky, that they do not sow, nor reap, nor gather crops into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more important than they?
Jesus illustrates that anxiety is __________ because it represents a failure to trust God as provider. Jesus asks us to consider the birds of the sky. The example that God provides for the animals is used again and again to let us know that we can trust God to provide (see Job 12:7-10; 38:39-41, Psalm 104:25-28). God, in his mercy and goodness feeds even the birds. Jesus assures us that God cares for them in Matthew 10:29 saying Are two sparrows not sold for an assarion? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. Birds, except doves, get a pretty bad rap overall in the Bible (Gen 15:11; Lev 14:22; Gen 40 16-19; Matt 13:4, 19 in the Parable of the Sower; Rev 18:2)
27 And which of you by worrying can add a single day to his life’s span?
We’re going to talk a little bit about worry and anxiety.
Worry is ineffective
We can ________________ calamity after calamity, trouble upon trouble that could happen-but 85% of it won’t. Not only does stress not add a single day to our lives, but because of the ______________ of continual stress, it causes us to age faster and die earlier. Since you don’t have the power to change the things that you’re worried about anyway, why don’t you “cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you”
Worry is disobedient-Philippians 4:6-7 tells us Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and pleading with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
There is a big difference between prudence and anxiety. Prudence is acting with care and ____________ for the future and necessarily concerns things that we can _____ _______________ about. The anxiety it’s referring to is that kind of “anxious, harassing concern” that eats away at us. That _________________ concern of those who are continually full of cares, especially about the future and especially about those things that they can do ______________ about! Since God commands us not to be anxious about anything, then continually worrying and fretting is ___________________ and therefore sin.
Worry can become a habit and a vice.
Did you know that you can become __________________ to worry? Continually asking all of those “What If this happens?” questions can lead to overthinking and worrying that can become a _____________. Uncertainty is part of life, but when we let worry go into overdrive, it is ______________ to us, and can be a hard pattern to break. Worry is based in fear, and according to 2 Timothy 1:7 7 For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline. God will help us discipline our minds not to be consumed by fear and anxiety, if we will _______ him. We must “take every thought captive” before worry and anxiety takes ___________. Get rid of the worry, before it becomes a stronghold in your life. Stop it now.
Numbers 4:13 we read “13 Then they shall clean away the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple cloth over it. The altar was a very important thing—there were many _______________________ concerning the altar. In Exodus 20:24-26, for instance, the altar was to be made “of earth or stone that had not been shaped or cut with human hands” and “there were to be no steps up to the altar.”. And then, in Deuteronomy 27:5-6 and Joshua 8:31 it says that “the stones were not to be hewn or cut stones because this would pollute the altar.” There were no ___________ up to the altar. This is a picture of the fact that we cannot approach God on the basis of _____________—making little steps for ourselves to complete to get closer to God, or making the worship and service of God something we want it to be by cutting the stones ___________________. The main function of the altar was for sacrifice and worship — and special care had to be taken to keep it Holy. — And part of that special care was to get rid of the ________________ that accumulated on a daily basis. Now why was that important? Removing the ashes kept the fire burning.
Sitting around worrying is causing many a person’s fire to go __________ today. Worry and anxiety can __________ the Word if we are not careful, and distract us from what is really important. Scrape off the ash that causing you to ____________ the joy, miss the peace, miss the deliverance that God wants to give you, and start worshipping God. Remember that you have been delivered from this body of death and sin, covered by the blood, covered by that purple cloth and stop letting the enemy put out your fire with the ________ of anxiety. God has provided! Our brains are such that we can _____________ our brain to stop worrying. It starts with the decision not to _________________ the misfortune that your worried thoughts see in your future and trust God. Philippians 4:8 tells us 8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
whatever is true-Truth from God’s perspective; absolute truth.
whatever is honorable-noble or worthy of respect, having dignity, worthy of serious consideration and paying attention to. This ____________ out much of the news. But it rules in God’s Word.
whatever is right- “approved by God”, righteous, or Just in the ___________ of God; Everything God does is just. He will demonstrate through His Word, or through the circumstances of our life. And as we think about these things, we learn to ______________ our God more, and love and appreciate His character in a deeper way.
whatever is pure-untainted, pure, holy, innocent, having integrity, morally upright. We should consider and dwell on things that are pure, innocent and have integrity; the kind of moral uprightness that God _______________ of His people.
whatever is lovely-worthy of affectionate caring; so dearly prized, or worth the effort to have and embrace. If the thoughts going through your head don’t cause you to be joyful that you’re thinking about them before you go to bed at night, or are happy to wake up to in the morning, then don’t dwell on those ________________ things; choose thoughts that you as a Christian can _____________.
whatever is admirable- “well-sounding”, or “good report”, This idea in English might be: “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all”. The key here is love for people as we’re telling them the truth. Ephesians 4:15 says 15 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ,
if there is any excellence – Areté means moral ____________. Paul is summing them up by urging us to “look to the good” in any situation or anytime we wander off in thought. Find the good in the situation and _________ on that! The great temptation here is to think about all of the bad and evil in a situation—and there’s plenty to choose from.
and if anything worthy of praise-épainos means appropriately judged as deserving praise—fitting praise, praiseworthy. Of course, most often when the word praise is used in the New Testament, it’s most often referring to praising God. In Philippians 1:11 11 having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. Things worthy of praise are those things that are praiseworthy because we’re acting like God acts, emulating our God.
dwell on these things-Now when this verse says “dwell on these things”, it doesn’t mean think on them a little bit, and then go on about your day thinking about __________________ else. It means let your mind continually be taking these things into ______________. Continually ___________ on these things. We can think of Philippians 4:8 as a kind of guard checking the credentials of thoughts that come into our head. If it doesn’t pass this test, it will probably __________ us—don’t let it in—don’t keep dwelling on it. We will remove the ashes, we will stop this ___________ of anxiety and worry when we dwell on these things, and (2 Cor 10:5) We are destroying arguments and all arrogance raised against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. When we do this, we will have victory! Phil 4:7 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Matthew-6-vs-25-Dont-be-anxious-God-will-provideDownload 25 “For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is life not more than food, and the body more than clothing?
For this reason Since being greedy for gain is ________________ in disciples, then we can’t act as if our possessions are our be-all and end-all of life. We cannot let our possessions ________________ us!
See Parable of the Sower in Matthew 13:22 We learned that the seed of the word, when scattered among thorns, becomes unfruitful: And the one sown with seed among the thorns, this is the one who hears the word, and the anxiety of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. If we’re busy trying to “pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps”. And so, we look just like the world, who spends it’s time doing the very same thing, then our ______________ for Christ is diminished. We have a ____________-God or greed.
I say to you Jesus uses this phrase “I say to you” 14 times in the Sermon on the Mount. And each time, He uses it to emphasize His ___________________ as Messiah, as the Son of God, One with the Father to correct the people’s misunderstanding of God.
do not be worried about your life
Jesus calls us not to be worried about our life. Self-preservation is the most ________________________ of all preoccupations of our existence, and the thing that occupies us, in one way or another, most of the time. See Matthew 10:37-38. It’s a change of _________________ that Jesus is looking for in our lives. Let’s get back to what’s really important in our lives. And the first, and most important thing is walking _______________ with Jesus. When we fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, then everything else will be put in its ________________ perspective. Hebrews 12:1 12 by saying: Therefore, since we also have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let’s rid ourselves of every obstacle and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let’s run with endurance the race that is set before us, Jesus has paid for us to walk in ________________, not to walk encumbered.
as to what you will eat or what you will drink;
See Genesis 2:8:1:29: If we believe that He created all plants good for food out of nothing, then it goes without saying that we can _____________ Him to be able to supply our individual needs.
Biblical Examples: Waters of Mara Gen 15:23-26; Manna in Exodus 16 beginning with verse 3; God had the ravens feed Elijah in 1st Kings 17; God supplied Elijah and the widow in 1st Kings 17; Elisha threw salt into a poisonous spring in 2nd Kings 2; God provided for a poor widow in 2nd Kings 4 by telling Elisha to have her borrow many jars and containers so that the little oil in the bottom of a jar could be multiplied to fill them all; Jesus multiplied fish and loaves to feed hungry people (Matthew 14,15,16; Luke 9; Mark 6; John 6). God ordained from the beginning that food would be the key element to nourish our physical bodies. HE can _____________ for us much better than we can provide for ourselves (Prov 10:3; Psalm 37:25). :
nor for your body, as to what you will put on.
Neither clothes nor the present extremes of climate that we experience were originally part of God’s ____________. When Adam and Eve fell, we find immediately in Genesis 3:7 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves waist coverings. They made clothes for themselves. Their provision for the covering of themselves was completely _______________. The first thing that God does for them after the fall is to replace the clothing that they attempted to _________________ for themselves. In Genesis 3:21 we read: 21 And the Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them. The clothing was needed because of sin. Man’s inability to do anything about his sin, and his shame because of sin required a sacrifice. So, when Jesus tells us not to be concerned and worry and fail to trust God about what we will wear, He means that we need to ________________why we’re wearing clothes in the first place—because of sin and shame. And so, because this was all due to Adam and Eve not _______________ God in the first place, then maybe we shouldn’t _____________their mistake.
And this is why, in our modern society, we can understand Jesus’ words concerning clothes to stand for any basic ___________in our lives. God will provide all of our basic needs. And if we have wants more than these, we’d better be willing to part with them when we see people in __________ around us. Psalm 41:1-2GOD’S PROMISE TO THE GENEROUS: Blessed is the one who considers the poor! In the day of trouble the Lord delivers him; the Lord protects him and keeps him alive; he is called blessed in the land; you do not give him up to the will of his enemies.
Is life not more than food, and the body more than clothing?
God created life, so creating food is no _____________. God created our body, so clothing it is _____________. We should trust the same God who created everything to be able to ________________ for our needs.
Spiritual-Inventory-Part-III-outlineDownload God came up with the idea of relationships when He decided to create man and have fellowship with Him in the Garden. Half-hearted allegiance to the _________ of Christ not only robs Jesus of the honor and glory due to Him, but also robs us of the joy and fulfillment and purpose for which He _______us.
In relationship from the Beginning–God designed us to ________ in relationship. He desired that we walk with Him, AND in fellowship with each other (see Gen 2:18; 22-23). It was only after God had created both of them, male and female that He determined that all creation as He originally made it, was _________ Good. Without relationships with each other, something was _____________.
Jesus as Lord in Our Home We all want a _____________home, filled with joy. A home that not only meets our basic need for shelter, providing us somewhere to store our water and food, but a place that is our __________.
God ordained the institution of the ____________ as the place where we model the relationship that we have with Him to those _____________ to us. Marriage is intended by God to be a ____________ lifelong relationship between a man and a woman enduring through trials, sickness, financial crises and all sorts of emotional _____________. Jesus affirms marriage in Matthew 19:4-6. The _____________ of Jesus Christ within our homes is the only lasting foundation that can bring the Love that God has shown us into our homes and make our homes a place of peace, joy and love. By ___________________ to Him and orienting all of our family relationships toward the model that He has given us in His Word, we allow Him to transform our households. 1 Cor 7:14 tells us “For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband; So as believers we bring holiness into our household, conducting ourselves according to the instructions that God has given us in our relationship with our spouse. The light of Jesus shines through our lives as a witness to those who spend the most time with us; our __________.
The Work of God’s Spirit in the Household See Ephesians 5:21-25 The context of these verses is found in Ephesians 5 vs. 15, and deals with our walk with God, and so our ability to enjoy marriage the way that God wants us to driven by our walk with God followed by a series of phrases which tell us the _____________ of being filled with the Spirit of God Literally, the passage says: “Be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord in your heart, always and for everything giving thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father, being subject to one another out of reverence for Christ.” It’s the being _____________ with the Spirit that causes the submission! It’s what Paul means when he says back in Ephesians 4:1–2, “Lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called in all lowliness and meekness, with patience, forbearing one another in love.” And in Romans 15:2, “Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to edify him.” And Romans 12:10, “Outdo one another in showing honor.” And Philippians 2:3, “Do nothing from selfishness or conceit, but in lowliness count each other better than yourselves.”
If we desire to see the Spirit of God __________________ our family life, we must surrender totally to Jesus as Lord and turn all our daily doings into an offering of worship to him. When the Spirit reigns in our life, we do everything with a _____________to honoring Jesus. And in that way Jesus becomes the foundation and focus and goal of the family, and life at home is transformed. And in verse 25 husbands are commanded 25 husbands love their wives as Christ loved the church. This first word to husbands is this: Be ____________ with the Spirit! Yield to the lordship of Christ! And then recognize this: your God-appointed headship in the family is to be exercised in love using the pattern of Christ’s _________for the church. In Gal 3:28 we read: 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. That means that all people are ____________ in value to God. We just have different ___________ within marriage.The husband must be meek, and a _______________ leader within our households, serving our wives, loving them as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for Her. But we must also __________.
Submission in Context: Ephesians 5:22 means: if wives are filled with the Spirit and yielded to the lordship of Christ, then you will be _____________ to your husbands as to the Lord. The phrase “as to the Lord” is very important, and has two implications. One is that a woman’s first and ______________ allegiance is to the Lord Jesus and that other allegiances are subordinate to and derivative from this one. The other is that, therefore, the subordinate allegiances are limited by the ________________ will of Christ. This means that the form which a wife’s submission takes will vary according to the ____________ of her husband’s leadership. If the husband is not following God, her witness will cause him to have to confront it, and he will feel guilty that he is not assuming the role of moral leadership in his house. 1 peter 3:1-2 tells us: In the same way, you wives, be subject to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won over without a word by the behavior of their wives, 2 as they observe your pure and respectful behavior.
And we must always remember that whether or not we are currently married to another person on this earth, we are, each and every one of us who is a believer, the __________ of Christ. There we are already betrothed (see Ephesians 5:25-32. As 2 Corinthians 4:14 tells us, we will be presented in Heaven to Him 14 knowing that He who raised the Lord Jesus will also raise us with Jesus, and will present us with you. And as the Bride of Christ, we ____________ walk with God. We must walk as Jesus walked in His life on earth. 1 John 1:6 tells us If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; And like Or as 2 Cor 11:2 tells us I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. For I promised you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his trickery, your minds will be led astray from sincere and pure devotion to Christ. That call to purity as the Bride of Christ, and guarding the flock by continually challenging you to live Holy Lives as revealed in the Truth of God’s word, and ___________________ you to do the same for others, using the gifts that God has given each of you is what Shepherding is all about.
And follows it up in verse 20-21 with 20 Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing to the Lord. 21 Fathers, do not antagonize your children, so that they will not become discouraged. Notice that there is no expiration date on these commands. God can use our ____________ to teach us long after we have left their household. We obey God first, but we also obey the first teachers that God put in all of our lives—our parents. And by the same token, we should not _________________ our children, even if they are all grown up. Our words ______________ to them more than we know, and our attitudes toward them have an effect on them that is more than they will admit—so we must always be careful to be Godly in the way that we treat, advise and instruct them.
So, I ask you to take spiritual inventory of your relationships, and in particular your family relationships. Since we ask God as in Matthew 6:12-13 to 12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.’” And we are told in the following verses 14 For if you forgive other people for their offenses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive other people, then your Father will not forgive your offenses. And are assured that it is up to us to “go to our brother who has something against us” and ask for forgiveness, then I ask: Who has hurt you? Against whom have you been holding a grudge? Who do you have resentment against? Against whom are you seeking revenge? Are you jealous of someone else? Make yourself a little ____________. These are the people that God wants you to be like Him toward and _____________ and make up with. And this is so that you may be presented to Him blameless, without spot or wrinkle. We must also ask ourselves honestly: Who have you hurt? Who do you owe an amends to? Who have you criticized or gossiped about? Have you justified you bad attitude by saying it is “their” fault? We should ask God’s forgiveness and the forgiveness of those we have hurt. If we will do this, then the Holy Spirit will be free to do His _________ to mend our hearts, and perhaps theirs as well.
Spiritual-Inventory-2-Notes-1-2-22Download This week we’re picking up where we left off in talking about taking a _____________ end of the year inventory.
What does it mean to ________with the Lord in relationship with Him?
We’re Created to be in Relationship with God See Gen 2:8-9; 15. Gen 2:31 And God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. Mankind, along with all of creation was declared “Very _______” by God. God didn’t just leave them in the Garden and say “have a nice life, Adam and Eve”! He _________ them there. Genesis 3:8 tells us 8 Now they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, So, it was God’s _____________ to visit Adam and Eve in the cool of the day (likely early morning).
Our reaction: hiding But, what is Man’s reaction to God’s ___________________ to walk with Him? It is a consistent _________________ of God’s invitation Even Adam and Eve, who were ___________________ filled with delight that they were going to get to spend time with God when they heard the sound of God walking in the Garden had a very different reaction after sin had entered their lives. We see it very clearly in Genesis 3:8b and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. In fact it is only through God’s gift of the faith to believe that ANY of us ______________ to the drawing of the Holy Spirit, and come to faith in Christ.
Even we Christians fill our time with empty activities like television, video games, hobbies, and other activities. All of these can be a serious drain on our time if we’re not careful—and much of it is procrastination as we do ______________ else rather then get alone with God and get real with God. We know that there are areas in our lives where we fall _________, and we’ll do about anything rather than letting God deal with them and change our hearts.
Our reaction: the blame game In Genesis chapter 3, beginning in 12 The man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me some of the fruit of the tree, and I ate.”
Put Faith into Action So, What do those that walk with God have in common? Enoch Gen 5:24 24 Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him. The picture here is that Enoch was in ________ with God for those 300 years, obeying God and loving Him. Noah. Gen 6:9 These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God. Noah _________ God when He said that he would destroy the earth with a flood. And Noah put his faith into ___________. Constructing the ark was no small task—it probably took decades to build. Walking with the Lord means putting faith into __________.
Patient Endurance We need patient endurance to finish this race, There are _________ in the way. The first hurdle is ______. Fear was Adam and Eve’s emotion as they tried to face God in their sins, and their reaction was to ________. Fear is the first enemy of _________. The fear of what other people think should never prevent us from obeying the Lord (see 1 Sam 15:24; John 9:22). If Noah had felt that way, he would have never built that ark. Psalm 91 speaks of the one who “dwells in the shelter of the Most High” and who says of God, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust” (verses 1–2). Fear has a way of telling you that you can’t do it, that you’re not good enough, not strong enough. But, in good times and in bad times, we look to God for our _____________. Phil 4:13 13 I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. You are able to overcome, __________ of Christ’s strength in you. It doesn’t ________ on you! God makes you ________ than enough.
Gal 6:9 tells us not to grow tired as we do God’s will for our lives: Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Good things take _______ and that we won’t often see immediate results. But that doesn’t mean our efforts are ____________. It takes time and patience, but when you finally reap a harvest, it is well _________ the effort!
We need perseverance to finish this race. Hebrews 12:1 tells us to run with perseverance: Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,
The biggest thing standing in the way of doing God’s will with our lives after fear is _______. It trips up our feet so that we can’t run. Sin will mess up your ability to _________ from God, and __________ Him and do His will. If we _____________ our sins to God He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.
Our patient perseverance has a purpose. Romans 5:3-4 lets us know that Perseverance Produces Character: Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. It doesn’t do us any good to dwell on our inadequacies, and to fixate on the fact that we haven’t _______________ yet. It just discourages us. Even if we fail sometimes, we can let God dust us off and pick us up. When we face difficult things in our life, we always have a choice: we can give up or go ______________ and grow in character.
Remember that we are not alone in our Journey. God both goes before us and is our rear guard behind us. In Deuteronomy 31:8 we are reminded that we’re not walking alone The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” In2 Corinthians 4:16-18 we are reminded Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. God sees the whole picture. The things we see are just a tiny ___________ of the big picture.
If you need hope in as you walk with God, get in your prayer closet, and get in your bible. Romans 15:4 reminds us For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope. All of those accounts in the Bible of God’s servants who faced ______________ difficult situations and still made the ___________ to keep moving forward in faith, without knowing what the __________ would be are there for our instruction and our good. Job did all the _________ things, but faced difficult situations and praised God in the midst of them. Paul was ________________over and over again, beaten, shipwrecked and he still chose to praise God and continue his work. Jesus, of course, is the ultimate example of patient endurance. He did ___________ wrong and still went through adversity, pain, and hardship…for all for us.
Year-End-Inventory-Sermon-NOTES-Week-1Download At the end of the year, business owners are busy taking an end of the year ________________. First, it means taking a look at the inventory count. Next, an _________________ is made of any inventory discrepancies. Then, a _____________ is made to see if the discrepancy is in the spreadsheets or software being used, or whether there are really things missing—the dreaded audit. Then the stock records and spreadsheets are _____________ to match the physical inventory of goods on hand. And last, the information is used to make _________________ for the coming year, project what items are needed to begin the new year, and place orders to obtain what’s needed. It’s not a fun process, but it’s absolutely ______________ to determine whether a business has made a ___________ or not during the previous year.
The Bible encourages us again and again to mind the __________ of our business. Proverbs 27:23 says Know well the condition of your flocks, And pay attention to your herds; So, if God is concerned with diligence in the conduct of our business affairs, how much more-so the ___________ of our hearts.
Count your Spiritual Inventory First and foremost, are you in the faith? In 2nd Corinthians, Paul spends a couple of chapters addressing a specific issue that’s relevant to conducting a ___________ spiritual inventory. Paul says that they should be able to see with their spiritual eyes that he is speaking the Word of God in ________ to them. Paul points to his continual urging of them to ________ in the truth. It is not ___________ signs and miracles, but the inward condition of Paul’s heart as evidenced by the way that he lives his life that is the true evidence of salvation. Paul wants Jesus to be _______________, not himself. He’s saying, don’t spend your time ____________ everything and everyone around you. Instead, make sure you yourself are in the faith. So, our first step in taking a spiritual inventory is to focus not outward on other people’s walk, but to look at our ________. It’s not the easiest thing to do. We need help—we are hopelessly biased toward seeing _________________ with rose-colored glasses.
Make sure that you are in the Faith After Paul encouraged the Corinthians to turn their gaze inward instead of outward, Paul’s first priority is to tell them in 2 Cor 13:5 to 5 Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?
So, the first priority is to make sure that you are in the __________—that you are saved, redeemed by God through Jesus’ sacrifice to pay for your sins which allows you to stand justified before God. We need to put our ___________ in Him—our very Existence, everything that we are. And that means that we are living for Him. And if we’re living for Him, there will be __________________in our life! James 2:18-20: 18 But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”
Overcoming the World—true faith means understanding that God is God, and therefore it means obedience. In 1 John 5:2-3 we read 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; So, we see that the evidence of the faith is _______________ to God!
If we are saved, we have the ___________ of God within us, and we should believe Him and put our trust in Him. 1 John 5:10-12 10 The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; …12 He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. We can know, and God wants us to know that we are His God has given us the Holy Spirit so that we can know for sure that we are saved. Paul says in Ephesians 1:13-14 13 13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of the promise, 14 who is a first installment of our inheritance, in regard to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory. We have a pledge concerning our salvation! We walk out this faith in our lives of _______________, not through obligation to the Law as in the Old Testament, but in __________________ of the Law by obedience to God out of love for Him. As Romans 8:4 tells us: 4 so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. And we have the Witness of God as Romans 8:16 tells us: 16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, Do you see that the refusal to be a slave to sin, how our ______________ the sinful world around us is ______________ on the Holy Spirit, and how our overcoming provides ongoing ______________ to us of the work that the Holy Spirit is doing in our hearts?
1 Corinthians 12:3: “No one can say, Jesus is Lord! except in the Holy Spirit.” And our ability to say that Jesus is our Lord is evidence to us, not in our questioning mind or our changeable emotions, but in our spirit. But we’re only going to be successful in continually doing this if Jesus really is the Lord of our Lives. Jesus Himself said In luke 6:46-7 46 “Now why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? 47 Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them, is the one who truly builds His life on a solid foundation that cannot be overcome. Obedience is God’s ________ Language!
Let the Lord search David the Psalmist, so many times cries out for God to examine him, knowing that he needed help from the Lord to truly see himself accurately Psalm 26:6 2 Examine me, Lord, and put me to the test; Refine my mind and my heart. And of course in Psalm 139:23-24 23 Search me, God, and know my heart; Put me to the test and know my anxious thoughts; 24 And see if there is any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way. So let’s take some time to take an honest look at our lives spiritually over the last year. It will help our spiritual ___________, our relationship with God, our Brothers and Sisters in Christ, and with our friends and family.
Luke-2-Jesus-Born-in-Bethlehem-and-In-our-HeartsDownload 2 Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth.2This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria.
Caesar Augustus had brought the Roman Republic so much under his _____________, that finally he had transformed it into the Roman Empire. Now in saying that the census covered the world, literally the inhabited land. By which they meant inhabited by Roman citizens as opposed to barbarians—the whole ____________ world. Luke is using the common language for an ___________ that covered the whole Roman empire.
3 And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city.
But in the hands of God, this Emperor was just a __________. God needed to get Mary, who was nine months pregnant to make a journey of about 75 miles overland from Nazareth to Bethlehem, so that prophecy could be _________________. The prophecies of God are always fulfilled, completed from the time they’re spoken. Typically, Romans registered people in the place they were living, just like we do today, not by where their ancestors lived. It could very well be that Herod disguised the Roman Census as an appeal to tribal patriotism amongst the Jews, asking them to return to their tribal homes to be counted, and so Joseph returned to the City of David as the ancestral home of that branch of the tribe of Judah.
4 Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David,
Bethlehem Ephrathah was just a small city, likely about 300-1000 inhabitants. But this city of Ruth and Naomi, Boaz, and of course David was where God had said that the _______________ would be born, and this one prophecy effectively ________________ all other cities and towns throughout the world as a place in which the Messiah could be born.
Now Mary and Joseph were both of the House of David, so they would be going back to their __________________ home of Bethlehem. Justin Martyr tells the Roman government about Micah’s prophecy and about the little town of Bethlehem in his 1st Apology defending the faith (chapter 34) saying: “Now there is a village in the land of the Jews, thirty-five stadia from Jerusalem, in which Jesus Christ was born, as you can ascertain also from the registers of the taxing made under Cyrenius, your first procurator in Judæa.” So in A.D. 156 or so, the physical tax ____________ was still able to be looked up in the Roman Archives.
5 in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child.
So, we know from verse 5 that Joseph and Mary travelled ________________ for the census. This verse emphasizes the ___________________ between Mary and Joseph, since it indicates that Mary would not want to give birth without Joseph being there. Mary was still in _____________ as a woman who had become pregnant before marriage. Mary was safe as long as it was clear that Joseph was _______________ responsibility for the family, and that meant she needed to stay with him.
6 While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth.
Jesus arrived at the exact day and hour he was supposed to. He arrived at___________, so the shepherds could receive their visitation from the angels who pointed them to Jesus. Thousands of years of waiting for the Messiah, but ___________________ when God’s timing was fulfilled, everything happened.
God doesn’t usually ___________ Himself to us. Our job is just to wait on the Lord and ________ Him that He will see things through.
7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son;
Mary gives birth to her ___________________ son. Mary and Joseph had ________ children later. The mention that Jesus is the firstborn lets us know why we find Mary and Joseph and Jesus at the _____________ 40 days later in Luke 2:23-24.
But, Luke is also stating clearly that Jesus is the firstborn son of a Davidic family in the ruling line, and therefore a ___________ right to inherit David’s throne, along with inheritance rights from Joseph.
and she wrapped Him in cloths
Wrapping newborns in strips of cloth, or swaddling, is not only an ancient practice to us today, but was an _______________ practice to Mary and Joseph as well. It helped ______________ the baby to the shepherds who were looking for him. In Luke 2:12, when the angels announced the birth to the shepherds, they told them “This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
and laid Him in a manger,
Jesus was laid in a manger, a feed trough, so therefore likely in a room designed to accommodate ______________.
because there was no room for them in the inn.
And it would be quite possible that there was no room in the guest rooms of people’s houses, because David had a lot of _____________________, and there were a lot of people crowding into this small town for the census.
Ancient tradition associates the birth of Jesus with a _________. Both Jerome and Paulinus of Nola mention a desecration. This indicates that the cave was a sacred site to Christians before the 2nd or 3rd century.
God, knowing that man would ________, knowing that He would have to send Jesus to Earth, and knowing that each and every person that Jesus _________________ would be a sinner, knew that humble beginnings would best prepare Jesus for His mission. Romans 5:8 puts it like this: But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Bethlehem, this little, seemingly insignificant town, only gained prominence because it was a place of God’s ________________.
No-one made room for them. When we’re _______________________ in our own surroundings, the tendency is not to make room for Jesus—and maybe that’s why we find ourselves so rarely in comfortable surroundings! Sometimes it takes these _______________ circumstances to wake us up to our need for Him.
How many times have you been so concerned about how God was going to solve a problem you’re praying about, and then are amazed that God, once you gave it over to His provision, ___________________ provided the solution? God is waiting for is for us to realize that should be ____________ on Him to meet our needs according to His will. His _________________ is more than we could have hoped for.
Outline-Joy-To-the-World-Luke-2-vs-8-14-1Download 8 In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock at night.
David had fed his sheep in those same fields around Bethlehem, and today, 3,000 years later, there are still shepherds feeding ___________ in those fields. Shepherds typically kept watch over their fields by night from April to November. Shepherds were singled out in the Talmud as an __________________ group, and not qualified to bear witness in trials. The nature of their calling kept them from ________________ the ceremonial law. God sent the message of Jesus’s birth to the same people that Jesus would ___________His ministry on—the outcasts and sinners that He came to save, who knew that they needed a savior. They were open to what He had to say, and available and ____________to share the good news of Jesus’ birth.
And what ____________ were they watching? Many of the sheep ___________ in the area would have been used for the sacrificial offerings at the Temple in Jerusalem. These guardians of the temple sacrifices, these unworthy, sinful men who saw so many sacrificial lambs born, would get to be present at the birth of the “lamb who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).
9 And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood near them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened.
In this dark of night–suddenly and angel of the Lord appeared near them, with the Glory of God shining all around them. They were terribly ____________.
10 And so the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people;
The angel proclaims the good news, the Gospel. When Jesus comes, it’s always __________news. It’s good news to you and me. We celebrate Christmas because we ______________ at the coming of our Savior and Lord. Joy of Jesus Christ
The source of Jesus’ Joy and our Joy is God
Jesus has an intimate, __________________ relationship with God the Father and the Holy Spirit. When the seventy-two came back rejoicing that the evil spirits were subject to them in Jesus’ name, He rejoiced with them In Luke 10:21 At that very time He rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit, and said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for doing so was well pleasing in Your sight.
Jesus explained in John 5:19-20 that it was His relationship with the Father that motivated His every _________. Jesus was a perfect ____________________ of God. In 2 Cor 4:4b Paul says that believers see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. The Joy of the Lord, and doing His will was what ___________________ Jesus. In John 4:34 34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to accomplish His work.”
Do you want joy, peace, contentedness, wisdom and knowledge? Make God the ________________ of your Joy and follow Him completely. This was what Jesus came to give you; what He purchased for you at Calvary. Walk in it; abide in it and Live.
God’s takes Joy and Delight in those who walk in His ways
The Joy we have in God, and the delight He takes in us is bound up in the _______ that we live our lives. And when God delights in us, and we walk in His ways, we have only joy and gladness at His presence In Acts 2:28 28 You have made known to me the ways of Life; You will make me full of gladness with your Presence
His Joy will sustain us and be with us, no matter what we go through
As we keep our eyes on the example of Jesus, we emulate His example of Keeping our eyes on God, and the Joy that we will have in His presence. Hebrews 12:2 2 looking only at Jesus, the originator and perfecter of the faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. As we live our lives doing God’s will, we have confidence that God will never leave us or forsake us.
Jesus Christ’s coming brings great joy
And so, in Luke 2: 10-11, those shepherds couldn’t even imagine the joy that those angels were ____________ talking about. Jesus’ birth pointed to this joy in God that was now possible. That’s why we see His Birth surrounded by Joy. As we learned last week in Matthew 2:10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. Or in consider Elizabeth’s words in Luke 1:44 Luke 1:44 (NASB 2020) — 44 For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy. Or the Joy of Simeon as He held baby Jesus at the Temple in Luke 2:28–32
Joy in Jesus’ Ministry
John 17:13 “But now I am coming to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves.
He said in John 15:11 11 These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.
John the Baptist describes his joy at seeing Jesus in John 3:29 — 29 He who has the bride is the groom; but the friend of the groom, who stands and listens to him, rejoices greatly because of the groom’s voice. So this joy of mine has been made full.
To know Jesus Christ brings great joy
Luke 15:7 7 I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance.
The angel’s birth announcement of the long-awaited Messiah is good news of great joy to all people. Jesus is the Savior of the World. That’s why, even at His birth, this good news was declared to be “for all people”. That’s why John 3:16 says “For God so Love the World”, or why 1st John 4:14 calls Him “the Savior of the World”. Luke is especially emphasizing here, that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah
11 for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is [h]Christ the Lord.
The angel tells them that today—this very day—Jesus has been born. Jesus is first described as Savior—which was His prominent role as Messiah during His first coming, and second, as Christ the Lord, which is his prominent role in His Second Coming.
12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
The angel’s sign to them is that they will find the baby, not wrapped in a fine receiving blanket, but in these strips of cloth, and lying in an animal feed trough.
13 And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army of angels praising God and saying,
And then, suddenly, the heavens burst open, and there appeared a portion of the ________________ host, the army of angels that serves God praising Him.
14 “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among people with whom He is pleased.”
So, they are encouraging the shepherds to join with them in praising God to the greatest extent possible. The Peace that Jesus makes available between God and man. It’s letting the shepherds know that Jesus is bringing this opportunity to have a ___________________ relationship with God.
15 When the angels had departed from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, “Let’s go straight to Bethlehem, then, and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” So, why did God choose the shepherds? He chose the shepherds because they would ________________to Him. God chose them because they weren’t too __________ for God. God has sent His son Jesus into the world to be born in a manger, but also so that He could be born in our hearts. God wants you to accept His free gift of His Son, so that you will have the peace that the angels spoke of, then end of the conflict with God. __________________ to Him today. Begin the most ________________ relationship of your life.
The-Wise-Men-Visit-Jesus-outlineDownload 2 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea
The wise men did not arrive until after the birth of Jesus. But, just how soon after Jesus’ birth their visit occurred is a matter of ______________. (see Leviticus 12:1-4). It took a full forty days before her purification would have been completed. And on the forty-first day, Joseph and Mary brought baby Jesus from Bethlehem to the Temple in Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. Putting this together with Luke’s description of what happened after they were finished at the Temple 2:39, 39 And when His parents had completed everything in accordance with the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city of Nazareth. Then this suggests that they moved back to Nazareth as _________ as they could after presenting Jesus at the Temple and offering the sacrifice according to the Law of Moses. The wise men found them in Bethlehem in a house.
in the days of Herod the king
The Herod here is Herod the Great, who ruled as king from 37 to 4 B.C. Although he professed Judaism and is responsible for expanding the rebuilt temple on a grand scale, along with a lot of other building projects, he also erected many _________ temples. And his reign was _________ a peaceful one.
behold, [a]magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying 2 “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”
The Magi were part of the Medo-Persian empire that had defeated Babylon and took over their kingdom. The ancient Magi were a hereditary __________________ of the Medes. The Magi mostly served as court advisors, making forecasts and predictions for their royal patrons based on their study of the stars, about which they were quite knowledgeable. In Matthew’s gospel the Magi attending Jesus’ birth testifies to the validation of Jesus’ kingship. They represent a foreshadowing of Jesus’ _______________ by the gentile world.
For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”
The Magi must have had an unmistakably clear astronomical/astrological message to urge them on such a long, dangerous journey. They saw something in the night sky that was so significant it convinced them to make the trip of over a ________________ miles to Jerusalem to look for this new king. How could seeing “signs in the sky” inform the Magi that a King of the Jews had been born? During the Babylonian exile. King Nebuchadnezzar assigned the prophet ______________ to the high office of “chief of the magicians, enchanters, astrologers and diviners” (Daniel 5:11). In other words, Daniel was appointed Chief of the Magi. The Magi of the first century would have most certainly studied the writing of Daniel.
2 “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews?
A visit by these powerful and important officials to pay homage to a newborn king would have fit the Magi’s usual job description perfectly to the original readers of Matthew’s gospel, but it would also signal big trouble.
3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.When Herod was troubled, all Jerusalem was troubled, because he tended to fly off the handle like a megalomaniac and go slaughtering people.
4 And gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written by the prophet: 6 ‘And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, Are by no means least among the leaders of Judah; For from you will come forth a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel.’”
The term Chief priests is used to signal that the upper echelon of the priestly order. They should have been the ones _____________ for Jesus, since they were the ones supposedly following God. But instead, they served _____________ masters instead of God. Bethlehem means house of __________ and so it was a fitting place for the bread of life to be born. Bethlehem is where the Passover lambs were born, and so it was a ____________ place for Christ, our Passover to be born. And it was the birthplace of King __________, to whom God gave the Davidic covenant that one of his descendants would rule forever on his throne.
7 Then Herod secretly called for the magi and determined from them the exact time the star appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the Child; and when you have found Him, report to me, so that I too may come and worship Him.”
Herod was no stranger to doing things secretly. You don’t assassinate political rivals, including family members, successfully by sky-writing it or passing out flyers before you do it. He had no intention of worshiping the Messiah, but wanted to _______ baby Jesus.
9 After hearing the king, they went on their way; and behold, the star, which they had seen in the east, went on ahead of them until it came to a stop over the place where the Child was to be found.
When they got to Jerusalem, since they probably felt that they’d reached the capital, and that’s where kings lived, so their journey was over. But now they realized that they had still some distance to go, and once again they saw the _________.
10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.
When the Magi “caught sight of the star,” they were more than a little joyful. God made sure that when they needed to be sure, they again saw the star that had brought them to the land of Judea
11 And after they came into the house, they saw the Child with His mother Mary; and they fell down and [f]worshiped Him.
The star appeared and went before them; it could be assumed that they followed it. Their intention was to fall down and pay homage to Him. προσκυνεῖν (proskynēsai)is used of the Magi’s intentions when they find the one to be king of the Jews. It is used repeatedly of Jesus from infancy onwards in a manner which seems to include both _________________ respect and religious worship. The Magi fell down and worshipped Him or knelt down and worshipped him.
Then they opened their treasures and presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
They proceeded to open their treasure chests and offer gifts.
Gold in the OT, is symbolic of the highest degree of _____________. King Solomon had an ivory throne overlaid with the ________ gold (1 Kings 10:18). The furniture of the Tabernacle features gold; ,symbolically pointing to Christ and His deity. The Ark of the Covenant was constructed of acacia wood and overlaid with ________. The mercy seat and two cherubim were made of pure gold (Exodus 25:10-21). Because gold is a __________ and valuable metal that does not corrode or tarnish with time, it symbolizes Jesus’ eternal Kingship. It is also associated with God’s precepts, principles, and promises—all of which are perfect and pure.
Frankincense was a luxury import, the aromatic, clear resin obtained from trees in northern India and Arabia (Isaiah 60:6; Jeremiah 6:20). It is used in incense and perfumes, and was treasured for its aroma and _____________ properties. Frankincense was an ingredient used in the sanctuary of the Lord (Exodus 30:34) as part of the meat offering (Leviticus 2:1, 16; 6:15; 24:7) and as a sweet savor (incense). Frankincense is also a symbol of prayer (Psalm 141:2; Luke 1:10; Revelation 5:8). Because of the use in the Temple, frankincense is considered to be _______________ of Jesus’ office as a Priest of God (Exodus 30:34-37). Jesus is our Great High Priest, interceding on our behalf before our Holy God, approaching Him on our behalf. He is the One and only mediator between God and man, and since he has already died and rose again, he has this role forever. (Heb 4:14-16).
Myrrh, similarly, was the rosin of a bushy tree which grew in Arabia and Ethiopia. These rosins were spices used for medicine, cosmetics, and anointing oil. It was mixed into the oil that was used to anoint prophets for the divinely appointed work of revealing God and communicating His will and words to His people. Jesus came to the nation of Israel (Matthew 15:24) and He came as a Prophet in fulfillment of a prophecy of Moses: Deuteronomy 18:15 The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet [Jesus] from the midst of thee [Israel], of thy brethren, like unto me [Moses]; unto Him ye shall hearken. Jesus Himself confirmed His office as a Prophet to Israel. He attributed the office of Prophet to Himself with His words: Luke 13:33 Nevertheless I must walk to day, and to morrow, and the day following: for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem. The gift of myrrh also takes on another representation. In addition to anointing prophets, oil was used in the ________________ of the dead. Myrrh was presented to Jesus at His birth pointing to His life as a Prophet and it was used at His death to anoint His body for the grave. John 19:39 And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight.
12 And after being warned by God in a dream not to return to Herod, the magi left for their own country by another way.
Warned is a verb used often to indicate a divine ________________, a revelation; here this divine command is given in a dream, as on a number of occasions in Matthew
As we look at this account of the 3 wise men, I think that there are some lessons for our own lives.
- Allow God to Direct Your Path
- Listen to God and Obey Him
- Approach Jesus just as Wise Men should—with wonder and reverence.
- Give Jesus what He wants most—for you to love God with all your heart, soul mind and strength.