Happy Thoughts

Psalm 78

2009-03-24T08:34:00.001-07:00

Notes on Psalm 78

;4=”We will not hide them”=In those ancient times there was very little reading, because books were exceedingly scarce; tradition was therefore the only, or nearly the only, means of preserving the memory of past events. They were handed down from father to son by parables, sayings, and by chronological poems. This very psalm is of this kind, and must have been very useful to the Israelites, as giving instructions concerning their ancient history, and recounting the amazing deeds of the mighty God.

;8=”didn’t set it’s heart aright”=that is, they took no pains to keep their heart aright, or to cherish right feelings toward God. They yielded to any sudden impulse of passion, even when it led them to revolt against God. This is as true of sinners now as it was of them. “And whose spirit was not faithful to God.”=That is, they didn’t maintain a firm trust in God. Again, they yielded to every impulse and every passion, even when it tended to draw them away from Him. They had no strength from attachment to Him as would lead them to resist temptation, and they easily fell into the sin of idolatry.

;9=”turned back”=This refers to some defeat of the Ephraimites; and some think that it was by the men of Gath=1 Chr 7;21. R.D. Kimchi says this defeat of the Ephraimites was in the desert; and although the story isn’t mentioned in the law, yet it is written in the Books of the Chronicles, where we read, on the occasion of “Zabad the Ephraimite, and Shuthelah; whom the men of Gath, who were born in the land slew; and Ephraim their father mourned many days, and his brethren came to comfort him,”=1 Ch 7;20-22; but to what defeat of the Ephraimites this refers is not certainly known; probably the Israelites after the division of the two kingdoms are intended. Adam Clarke

;9-11=We might prepare our children financially & educationally, physically & occupationally but, if we forget to share Christ w/ them, if they don’t understand what God’s Word says, when push comes to shove, they’ll fail in the day of battle.

;10-12=”The field of Zoan”=Tanis was the capital of Pharaoh, where Moses wrought so many miracles. It was located in the Delta, one of the most easterly branches of the Nile. It was afterwards called Thanis; and from it the district was called the Thanitic Canton. Dr. Shaw thinks Zoan was intended to signify Egypt in general.

;13=”He divided the Sea”=The Red Sea=Ex. 14;21-22. “He made the waters stand up like a heap.” The idea here is that the waters were piled up on each side of them as a mound. The design is to represent this as a continuous act; an act not merely of the original creation, but constantly occurring. The reference is to the power by which the waters are gathered and kept together as well as the continual power which prevents their overspreading the earth. God collected those waters and kept them in their places, as if they were solid matter.

-;15=split the rocks=There were two occasions on which the rock was smitten for water. Ex. 17;6 @ Mt. Horeb, shortly after they came out of Egypt; and the other Num 20;11, when they had nearly ceased their wanderings in the wilderness. That’s why the plural form of rocks is used here. “Like the depths”=is used as if He had formed a lake or an ocean, furnishing an inexhaustible supply.

;16=Literally flowings as the waters were poured out in an over-flowing stream. Their continued flowing showed a picture of the continued presence of God.

;17=Lit. they added to sin against Him. The idea is that his mercies and the proofs of his presence only made the occasion of greater sin on their part. And they showed more & more of their depravity in proportion to the mercies bestowed upon them. In the desert, they were completely dependant upon Him. There were no natural streams of water. They would have died had the water stopped. But sinners forget how dependent they are on God, when they sin against Him. On what can they rely, if He withdraws from them, and leaves them to themselves?

;18=”tested God in their heart”=Ex. 16;2=The heart was the source of evil. They weren’t satisfied w/ what He gave them. They asked Him w/ a complaining and murmuring spirit. It’s not wrong to ask God for that which will be better than what we now possess, but it can be done w/ a wrong motive. Here it was mere self gratification.

;20-22=Throughout this psalm, God tells us that we need to rehearse the stories of His salvation & plan over and over again. Read 2 Peter 1;12 It’s not how much we know, but how well we know what we know that matters.

-;21=”the Lord was furious”=Fire may be used here, as in Numbers 11;1, as a symbol of anger or a fire may have been literally sent down to consume them.

;-23=”commanded the clouds above”=He had shown absolute control over the clouds/opened the doors of heaven=is a reference to the doors of heaven opened during the flood. The idea is, that he had rained down manna upon them in such abundance that it might be compared w/ the waters that were sent down during the flood.

-;25=The manna was a type of Jesus Christ said Paul said so in 1 Cor. 10;3-4. And our Lord calls himself, the bread that came down from heaven” Read John 6;31-35

;26=He caused an east wind to blow in heaven/Read Numbers 11;31

-;31=The most vigorous among them were cut down; the people most eminent for rank, for influence, for strength, for victory. Struck down=made to bow. That is, they were made to bow in death. “

;34=Lit. there were not made strangers to their lust=God gave them what they wanted. When He struck them down=refers to when He came forth in His wrath and cut them down by the plague, by fiery serpents, or by their enemies. “Then they sought Him”=Their calamites had the effect of producing temporary reformation. They expressed a wish to know God, and expressed a purpose to serve Him. It was, however, a temporary and hollow, not a deep real reformation. This often occurs. In times of affliction, in sickness, in bereavement, in the loss of property, people become serious, and express a purpose to repent and turn to God. A deep impression seems to be produced on their minds, to last, unfortunately, as long as the hand of God is upon them. Then, resolutions of repentance are formed only to be forgotten when the affliction is removed & when the days of prosperity again return.

;41=
The bible says without faith it is impossible to please God/Heb. 11;6

When Jesus was in Nazareth, it said,” He did not many works there because of their unbelief=Matt. 13;58

Your unbelief can actually limit the work that God wants to do in your life. The COI put limitations on God, and man today is often putting limitations on God. Come to God w/ the prayer: Lord, help me to be totally open to anything and everything You want to do in my life.

Don’t allow your own culture upbringing, the things that have been planted in my mind by the past, my education, or any limit which God wants to do.

;44=”Rivers into blood”=Ex. 7;20=There was properly but one river in Egypt-the Nile. But there were several branches of that river at the mouth; and there were numerous artificial streams or canals cut from the river.

;45=”swarms of flies”=The account of this plague=Ex. 8;24. The rabbis explain the word as denoting a mixture, or a conflux of noxious insects, as if the word were derived from “to mix”. The Septuagint renders it “dog-fly”. The common explanation of the word denotes a species of fly /the gad fly, w/ it’s propensity to suck the blood of animals. “and the frogs which destroyed them”=indicates the order of plagues is not recorded in this psalm.

;46=caterpillar=is supposed to denote a species of locust rather than the caterpillar. It literally means the devourer.

;47=”He destroyed their vines w/ hail”=In the account in Exodus the hail is said to have smitten man & beast, the herb, and the tree of the field. In the psalm only one thing is mentioned, perhaps denoting the ruin by what would be particularly felt in Palestine, where the culture of the grape was so common and so important. “And their Sycamore trees”=This tree was very useful to the ancient Egyptians, as all their coffins are made of this wood; and to the modern, as their small sailing ships/barques are made of it. It also produces a kind of fig, on which the common people in general live; and it’s observed that “they think themselves rich/rigaled when they have a piece of bread, a couple of sycamore figs, and a pitcher of water from the Nile.” The loss therefore of their vines and sycamore trees must have been very distressing to the Egyptians.

;49=refers to the death of the firstborn. Angels of destruction/evil angels KJV=denotes the nature of what the angels had to do, not the nature of the angels.

;-52=”go like sheep”=That is, he shepherded them. He defended them, provided for them, led them as a shepherd does his flock.

;54-55=”holy border”=of His holy place=the land of Canaan, called afterwards the mountain which his right hand had purchased; because it was mountainous country, widely differing from Egypt, which was a long, continued almost perfect level. The meaning is not that the people who came out of Egypt actually inherited that mountain, but that their descendants-the people of God-had been put in possession of it.

;56- 57 He literally cast out the nations. They tried the patience of God/provoked him to anger after they were peaceably settled in the promised land see Judges 2;10-13 Deceitful bow=The eastern bow, which when at rest is in the form of a curved figure, must be recurved, or turned the contrary way, in order to be what is called bent and strung. If a person who is unskillful or weak attempts to recurve and string one of these bows, if he doesn’t take caution it will spring back and perhaps break his arm.

;58-60=The tabernacle or tent which had been erected at Shiloh. The name Shiloh means properly a place of rest, and seems to have been given to this place as such a place or a place where the ark might abide after it’s migrations. Shiloh was a city within the limits of the tribe of Ephraim, on a mountain north of Bethel. Here the ark of God remained for many years after it came into the Promised Land. The ark, after it was taken by the Philistines, was never returned to Shiloh, but was deposited successively at Nob/1 Sam. 21;1-6.

;62=When the ark was taken, 1 Sam 4;10, 30,000 of the COI fell on that occasion.

;63=Fire consumed young men=Fire here may be regarded as an image of the destructive wars, as in Num 21;28 Read The idea here is that the young people had been cut off in war. “Maidens not given in marriage”=As the young people who would have entered into this relation were cut off in war. The margin here is praised,” the maidens were not praised. The idea is the virgins were not praised in nuptial songs; that is, there were no marriage celebrations; no song such as were usually composed on such occasions in praise of brides.
;64=The priests fell by the sword=It was considered a special calamity that the ministers of religion were cut down in war. “And their widows”=That is, the public troubles were so great, the danger was still so imminent, that there was no opportunities for public mourning by formal processions of women, loud lamentations, such as were usual on these occasions Read Job 27;15

;65-69=The Lord rescued His people once again, but there would be repercussions for their sin. He would never again dwell in Shiloh. Our kids might say,” I can sin. God will forgive me & I’ll come back to Him.” That’s true. God does forgive. And we can come back. But things will be different. We’ll be forgiven completely—but opportunities will be lost and scars will remain.

;70-71=A good place to find a shepherd is among the sheep. If you want to be used by the Lord, shepherd the sheep. Like David, be faithful to shepherd whatever flock is around you presently—be that friends, co-workers, schoolmates, or family.

-;72=A heart for God and hands eager to reach out to others is the winning combination. A man after God’s own heart, David’s heart was right and his hand was active. No wonder God could use him.

Psalm 20-24

2008-09-14T15:25:00.001-07:00

• Psalm 20 -24

• One of the things you find yourself doing, in wanting to study the bible better and more creatively, is you seek different environments to read, for example. Pastor Pat was reading in a different chair in his office Thursday, when I went to talk w/ him. I've been recently blessed by my mom, who, as a part of her own devotional times, has shared God's impressions on her heart through the book of psalms. She and I were talking this past week and she shared w/ me how, if you just read through the book, without looking at the numbers or the titles, it's like God's protections and promises for you personally. Give that a try, I've marked a smaller bible w/ marker and marked out the numbers and descriptions in the psalms.

In psalm 20, the king was about to go to war, but before he did he stopped to pray in the sanctuary, where he was joined by the congregation who interceded for him. Having rehearsed the intercessory prayer of the people for their monarch who was praying for victory, the king expressed the assurance he had received from the Lord for an overwhelming victory.
•
• Ps. 20 is a psalm before the battle, it works in conjunction w/ 21=after the battle.
• The battle is in between the two psalms, one precedes it w/ the request for the Lord to guide, to bless, and to keep.
• The other one is praise for what the Lord has accomplished.
• Certainly in 20;7=the theme of the psalm is to kneel before we go into battle.
• We as Christians don’t battle like the OT saints did, but as Christians there are enough battles in our lives.
Again, my mom who, lives in KS, God bless her, has to pray above and beyond the norm, in Spring and Summer and she prayer Psalm 67;2=that yyour way may be known on earth,
your zsaving power among all nations, that God would protect them from a storm that produced potential flooding. And then after God did that, she prayed Psalm 68;20=Our God is a God of salvation,
• o and to GOD, the Lord, belong deliverances from death.
• Some are unavoidable; there is warfare, there are principalities & powers.
• Some of them are un-asked for, some of them complicated because of people’s lives, and people’s emotions…
• There’s a right way to respond & it isn’t human resources, from a battle between nations, ethics, govt., down to personal relationships, it isn’t natural resources/horses, chariots that puts us into place for battle.
• What our nation needs to be strong is a bent knee & a broken heart & crying out to the living God, & the might of a nation still depends upon its righteousness, and its sin is a cause of shame to any people.
• And the pre-battle song here is one where the singer commits himself to the Lord & not to natural resources.
• ;1-3 (In intercessory prayer the congregation prayed in unison that God would answer their king’s request for victory and protection)Again this is another psalm of David to the chief musician=55 times, think about how the Lord is the One who sends help & that the request from the Lord begins at the altar, the approach to God w/ sacrifice & worship.
• ; 4-7, horses were the most advanced military equipment of the day. Remember that they had the great lesson of Israel w/ Pharaoh, the horse & rider thrown into the sea, it was the great song of Ex. 15, something the nation made part of their hymn book throughout their history.
• ;8-9 the pre-battle prayer, great idea to seek the Lord when you’re headed into a troubled situation, when you’re struggling, when you feel like you’re under attack, instead of lashing back, to let the Lord be your defense, seek Him.

Questions In what do people often put their trust these days?
What challenges are you facing?
• Psalm 21=the post/after the battle song, again to the chief musician, a psalm of David.
• ;1-2 selah= think about that, "thank-you Lord for answering prayer."
• ;3a=You precede him, you go before him w/ blessings of goodness-4=now certainly in this psalm of the victorious king it looks forward to the great king of David’s line/Christ.
• ;5--8=now it seems the second half of this psalm, the song now is sung in light of God’s faithfulness in past victories.
• ;9-11=you know psalm two, "why do the heathen rage & the people imagine a vain thing, set themselves against the Lord & His anointed"...
• ;12a-13
• Questions: In what ways would you like your response to God’s work in your life to be different in the future?
What steps can you take to remember to credit God with the next success that you
experience?

• Psalms 22-24=are a triad: 22 you’ll see the first verse, we all know Christ cried that from the cross on Golgotha, Eli Eli…my God, my God. Ps 22 is a picture of the suffering shepherd, 23=is the shepherd guiding, 24=is the shepherd in glory. One is Christ came to suffer, another is Christ working in the lives of His people today; the 24th psalm is Christ’s returning in power & glory. There are all kinds of acronyms that people give this triad; grace, guidance, glory, the cross, the crook=the shepherd’s staff, & the crown. They speak of the Lord who was=Christ crucified, who is=working in our lives today, guiding, being w/ us through the valley, & who is to come. They speak of being= justified, sanctified, & glorified. So it’s a very beautiful & interesting triad. This psalm written 1,000 years before the time of Christ. As you read this, you realize that it could fit no-one else. Crucifixion wasn’t part of the life of Israel at this point & time. We’re going to read “they pierced my hands & feet."

• Rev. 19; 10=the second part tells us “the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” And here David's acting as a prophet. Jesus mentioned at least one of David's psalms, & said," the prophet said," speaking of David, so David, and here at his prophetic finest, the first twenty-one verses are a cry, a sobbing, and a brokenness before God. Verses; 22=31=represent victory from the other side of the cross. And whatever was happening in David’s personal life, he’s stepping into the fellowship of the sufferings of Christ here. Now there are some remarkable things in David’s life, particularly when he’s driven out of Jerusalem by Absalom, his own son, his own familiar friends. And we think of Christ, leaving Jerusalem & going over into the Mt. of Olives & so much of that spirit moving in the heart of David. Here, setting his broken heart before the Lord, the spirit of God comes on David, & very remarkably ;1-5 speak of being forsaken of God.

• No known incident in the life of David fits the details of this psalm. The expressions describe an execution, not an illness; yet that execution is more appropriate to Jesus’ crucifixion than David’s experience. The Gospel writers also saw connections between some of the words in this psalm (vv. 8, 16, 18) and other events in Christ’s Passion. Also Hebrews 2:12 quotes Psalm 22:22. Thus the church has understood this psalm to be typological of the death of Jesus Christ. This means that David used many poetic expressions to portray his immense sufferings, but these poetic words became literally true of the suffering of Jesus Christ at His enemies’ hands. The interesting feature of this psalm is that it does not include one word of confession of sin, and no imprecation against enemies. It is primarily the account of a righteous man who was being put to death by wicked men.

• ;1=Psalm 51 David speaks of his roaring being internal, not external, until he confessed his sin. I don’t know if you’ve ever felt like that, just like you’re ready to explode.
• ; 2-5=this beginning of the psalm speaking of being forsaken. God says His arm is not short that it cannot save, neither is his ear that he cannot hear but, your sins have separated between you & your God. And Christ on the cross said my God my God why have you forsaken me, because our sins had separated Him from His God. And of course, that word why, there, probably one of the most astonishing words in the entire bible. My God my God Why? Because all through the gospels Jesus says I don’t say anything/do anything unless the Father says it/does it. If you’ve seen me you’ve seen the Father. And for the first time in all of time & eternity Christ is cut off & from his lips, as he looks to God he cries why! He had never in eternity been cut off without information, but on the cross at that point in time, he said my God my God why? He’s without information, cut off, asking a question because yours and my sin was on him, the sin of the world. And the greatest part of that mystery is not just that he bore that sin but then when he cries out to his Father, His father answers by firing down his entire holy wrath, upon that sin, upon his son, so that it says that Christ was made the propitiation for our sins.
•
• Herein is love, not that we loved God but that God loved us & sent his son into the world to be the propitiation for our sins. Propitiation is the place where wrath is satisfied. And God’s holy wrath had to be satisfied against the sin of the world. How could God be just & let us off the hook? The issue in Romans, how could God be both just & the justifier of the ungodly? Well in this mystery, when Christ is crying why, we know he’s cut off. And the only thing that separates us from our God is sin. And at that moment in time, the sin which would have separated you and me from God in eternity was placed upon him. What would have made us cry that same shout, is removed from us, paid for by Christ, carried by Him, and he cries in our place, my god my god, our substitute, why has thou forsaken me? And the wrath of God is fired down upon him. The cup that he asked His father in Gethsemane," is there any other way this can be removed?" The cup of God’s wrath poured out without indignation, Rev. 14 says the smoke of the torment of that cup ascends forever & ever. And somehow in those three hours of darkness, eternity was suffered by Christ. And when he said it is finished, to-tell-us-ty, paid in full, it was done! There was no further suffering after that, not that the bible knows. It is finished.
•
• My god my god…Think of King David, whatever was wrenching his heart, whatever he was going through, what God gave him. There’s an interesting term there, Aijeleth Shahar=means the hind of the morning or the deer of the morning it speaks of the early morning when the sun’s breaking, how the deer will move & leap as the deer panteth after the water brook. And David said there was something in this song that sprung to life in his own heart as he wrote it.
•
• ;6= kind of stands alone. And we’re hearing reflections of the heart of Christ in all of this… He was mocked there, we know that. But I am a worm. Often translated scarlet or crimson in the OT, though your sins be as scarlet, Isaiah 1; 18, that’s our word here that’s translated worm. And it’s translated scarlet in places because it’s a particular species of worm called toleth in the Hebrew. It was a worm that was crushed to produce a scarlet dye. And the way that scarlet dye was emitted in the natural life of this creature was when it was ready to give birth and lay eggs, it would climb up a tree & attach itself to the tree, & cover itself w/a waxy substance and it would die there & lay the eggs, & because of it’s death the babes would be born & live out of the death of the mother worm, and it would emit this red dye that would sometimes run down the tree. And Christ says I’m the toleth, the scarlet marking on the tree that gives life. Remarkable choice of words and I wonder what David thought as he wrote these things.
• ; 7-13 tell us about somehow the principalities & powers. -;7 we have this in Mark’s gospel. -;9 When did Christ in His incarnation realize His deity? I don’t know. Theologians have been arguing about this for two thousand years. We know at twelve years old he said to Joe & Mary as he remained behind in the temple, and they came & they found him, he said didn’t you know I had to be about my father’s business? We know that he grew in wisdom & stature & in favor w/ God and men. It says here, thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was on my mother’s breasts. I was cast upon thee from the womb: Thou art my God from my mother’s belly. The seed of the woman that would crush the serpent’s head.
• ;11-very strange verse---13=The great bulls=we read in Deut. about the sixty cities of the giants in Bashan. We read of Og, king of Bashan, 13 ft tall, not a skinny guy, a 13 foot Arnold Schwarzenegger. An outbreak there of giants of some strange & forbidden thing. Again it seems between fallen angels & women. They were giants on the earth it says in Gen. 6 in those days & also afterwards. The Rephaim, the eman, the Zamzumin. Annakins, tribes of them, the great bulls of Bashan that seems to have sired these fallen angels. The great bulls have surrounded me, what principalities & powers surrounded Christ upon the cross? These huge fallen demonic angelic beings w/ horns like bulls & mouths like lions, what surrounded him on the cross?
• ;14-the crucifixion=-15 He’s dehydrated, when know that He's losing a lot of blood. His tongue cleaving to his jaws it’s interesting he said I thirst, when they gave him to drink, and his tongue was loosened from the moisture, he said to-tell-us-tie=Paid in full, he wanted that to be clear, it would have been the plan of the ages. And it was at that moment before he gave up the ghost, he knew that the price was paid in full, and it tells us his tongue was cleaving to his jaw, and he cried I thirst, and they gave him to drink, and at that point, to-tell-a-sty, paid in full it is finished. What a remarkable scene, David walking through.
• ;16-long before crucifixion was practiced. -18right out of the gospels, right out of the scene, the gambling at Golgotha, taking Christ’s robe that was woven without a seem & casting lots for his vesture, the outer garment instead of cutting or tearing it apart. 1,000 years before it took place. Zechariah tells us that when Christ returns=12;10="and there the Lord says and they will look upon me whom they have pierced", it’s spoken in the first person.
• ;19-20=difficult text here=his beloved is the idea/crying to the Lord-21=we don’t know about the unicorns=maybe the horns of the heavenly altar where Christ was slain before the foundation of the world=Rev. 13;8
• ;22a=changes to this song of triumph=remember Jesus said go tell my brethren that I go to my God/their father/my father
• ;22-26a=Jesus said they’ll inherit the earth-27a=now remember this is global-27=we’re looking into the millennium here, what a great picture this is, all the victory born out of the cross.
• ;28-29=so every knee shall bow every tongue confess
• ;30a=it says he shall see his seed, it shall prosper in Isa. 53=he’ll see the offspring of his own sacrifice
• ;30=we are the people that shall be born that he has heard that he has done this.

Question: Why do you think people often feel distant from God?

• 23=It’s interesting as we study through the OT, the 23rd psalm is so well known, we have to be careful that familiarity doesn’t bring contempt. It’s filled w/ so much magnificent truth & depth that I’m convinced that older people in the church become attracted to it as the years go by. And I think Dave wrote this as an older man, looking back across many years. People realize this is incredible so they teach it in Sunday school but, you don’t really learn it.
• It’s like the bride & groom at a wedding saying,” for richer & for poorer, in sickness & in health”. And you know that they’re completely unconscious about what they’re saying, they just want to get out of there. Because over the years the covenant defines itself and a love that endures those things is extremely valuable. The world thinks love keeps marriage alive. Marriage keeps love alive, it goes through it’s seasons. In much the same way, so many of these things are dear to us as the years go by.
•
• 23;1=David growing up in the fields of Bethlehem, writing so many of the songs. At an early age beginning to bear the responsibility of caring for a flock. All of that=God’s seminary, preparing him to be king. Moses raised in all the wisdom & education of Egypt. The commander in chief of Pharaoh’s armed forces. A great man in speech it tells us in Acts 7, thought he had everything in the natural going for him, God had to take him to the backside of the desert for forty years and let him watch a flock of sheep to learn how to govern his people and care for them. And David had to learn early what it meant to observe constantly the relationship between the shepherd & the sheep. Of all domestic animals, sheep are the most dependant upon the one who cares for them. And that’s a nice way of saying they’re the dumbest. You never went to the circus & saw a sheep show, no fiery hoops, can’t even throw a Frisbee to a sheep. We’re sheep; we’re dumber than pigs & fleas, at the bottom of the IQ realm. But is the one who’s the most dependant on the shepherd the greatest measure of intelligence? Yes.
•
• The Lord is my shepherd, is simply=Jehovah-Rohi =two words, the Lord/my shepherd. It’s one of the compound names of God in the bible. You have in Genesis 22 w/ Abraham, Jehovah-Jirah=the Lord is my provider= that’s here, he makes me to lie down in green pastures. You have the Lord Jehovah -Rapha is my healer=Ex. 17 the Lord that heals thee=he restores my soul. The Lord our peace=Jehovah-Shalom=Judges 6=He leads me by still waters. Here it begins w/ the Lord is my shepherd. You have the Lord my righteousness-Jehovah-Tsidkenu=Jeremiah 23;6. You have here He leadeth me in the worn paths of righteousness. You have Jehovah-Shamah=that God is ever present=Ezekiel 48;35. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me, the ever present God. You have Jehovah-Nissi=the Lord is my banner,(Ex. 17;8-16)=the Heb word for banner is staff/Moses' staff was the symbol that Joshua's army could look @ that symbolized God's saving power. Here He’s setting a table for them, His banner over me is love. And all that God is revealed in His compound names, line upon line and idea, truth upon truth is found here in these six verses in this remarkable song. And as awesome as what Christ has accomplished on the cross, there’s beauty as we read about Christ’s coming & all of us as Christians, we’re very much, particularly in these days, anticipating the coming of the Lord, & when the trumpet blows and when this corruption puts on incorruption, this mortal puts on immortality, we’re caught up to meet the Lord in the air, we’ll be reunited w/ friends & relatives & we’re very cognoscente of what He’s done for us, we’re saved, washed in the blood, we’re very anticipatory of his coming.

• Psalm 23talks about the day to day grind w/ the Lord & certainly that’s where He’s with us now, He’s the one in the ever present, I am that I am/the becoming one and all of those names are revealed in the psalm because He is always becoming what we need, not what we want, what we need. And that’s what He is/Jehovah-Rohi=the Lord is my shepherd=I shall not want is I shall lack no good thing. We may want, as Christians you know that, you may want a Ferrari, you may want this or that, it doesn’t say hey you get saved, get whatever you want. I shall lack nothing of need; there will be no need that is ignored in my life because of my shepherd. And David in one sense is realizing that’s the diploma you want to have, that’s the credential, that’s the graduate certificate, it’s worth more than anything you can get from a PHD/seminary/university, it’s worth more than any education, or your uncle’s will, it’s worth more than any other means of sustenance or provision that this world could ever offer, if someone could genuinely say the Lord is my shepherd, and David understands that, we have to flow w/ David here, cause he knows tremendous care given by a shepherd to sheep. The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want.
• ;2a causes is me is the idea to lie down in pastures of new growth. Something very important when they were settling the West here in America, there was always battles between sheep herders & cattle raisers because if you let sheep alone, they eat the grass, then they eat to the roots, then when the roots are chewed off they start to paw and they eat until there’s nothing left and if you just leave them there they’ll drop dead of starvation because there won’t be anything but dirt. If you leave them in one place, it will be completely barren and they ruin the grazing plains where the cattle would graze so there was always tension because the ancient herdsmen knew that you move them from grazing place to grazing place and you move them. It keeps the sheep healthy, they don’t get parasites, they’re not eating dirt, and it lets the grazing land come back & grow again. He maketh me to lied down in green pastures is he leads me to pastures of new growth. And it speaks of the care of the shepherd moving us and how we need that in our lives, fresh feeding/sustenance.
•
• ;2b=He leadeth me beside the waters(literally) of resting places, and the idea is still waters communicates what's necessary because the shepherd had three ways he would sustain his sheep in regards to water. One was, if you're raising sheep somewhere like Ireland, somewhere that tends to be cloudy/rainy/somewhere that has a lot of moisture, they begin to feed in the morning, right before the sun comes up & they'll get their fill. And there's enough dew on the grass that they can actully live several months without drinking. And then they'll lay somewhere in the shade & ruminate & chew their cud all day & digest. And of course what a picture it is of the necessity for us to rise early & find the Lord/find the refreshment that we need/the still waters/the droplets, the things that God will give to us when it's quiet, when we seek His face. Calvary Chapel Philly, on tour in Bethlehem, go across from Bethlehem into the shepherd's field, where they can see the city of Bethlehem, & there's a well there, dug by hand that pre-dates Christ. It's over 2,000 years old, & you look at it & think it's remarkable how they dug this by hand, w/ hammer & chisel, & there's a rope & a bucket there, & there's a manger next to it, & that shepherd will draw that water, it's deep, & pour it out & as they hear that water poured out they'll come & drink, and that's still in that sense too. And it's deep & sometimes in our lives, we don't enjoy it as much in the deep places, God will draw refreshing & water.
•
• And there are times when the shepherd finds either running water or a stream when it's placid or it pools or if he can't find it, he'll put rocks out there and dam it up & get it to be, to pool, because you can't let sheep out into running water. The fleece is heavy, if it get's soaked w/ water, they'll wash downstream & they'll drown. And the problem w/ sheep is there's always a dominant ewe, & if she goes out, if she goes out into the water, and starts to drown, all the other sheep will just follow her. They see her w/ bubbles rising up, legs flailing, and think, "that's what we're supposed to do too." So, the necessity of leading by still water. That's our shepherd. He draws from deep places, he meets us early, he doesn't drive us out into a torrent where we're unable to get our footing. His concern is refreshment/renewal.
•
• ;3=He's not just caring for your physical needs, He's caring for the deep things within our hearts. He resores=to bring back. He restoreth my soul, again we hear Paul speaking of these things, renewed day-by-day in the inner man. The necessity of that inner refreshing, that inner thirst being satisfied. He restoreth my soul. David in Ps. 42;11 would say, why art thou cast down, oh my soul. Speaking of the sheep when they get turned on their backs, sometimes when they're pregnant they lay on their side, they're so fat it rolls them right on their back. Or again sometimes because of their fleece, and that's called," cast down". A shepherd will look at his flock, if he normally has 15 sheep, & he only has 13 out there, he knows there may be two cast down, that's the first thing he thinks before wolves or anything else. Then he'll start to run because if he finds it within a few hours, normally they're fine. But on a hot day they can die within a few hours, it affects their circulation, their breathing, but they end up on their back/cast down. They're running, sweating, & yelling & they can't get any footing on anything. And the shephard has to come & turn them over & massage their legs & get their blood flowing again so, he can let them lose & they can run.
• "Why art thou cast down oh my soul?" David said that. In my soul, there are those times where I get into a position where I can't seem to get out of it, I'm cast out, I can't get my footing, I can't get back on my feet, I can't get going again, I don't know what I'm what's wrong, I'm crying out but the shepherd, my shepherd. Then He comes & restores my soul when it's cast down. He sets me aright again. And then He leads me in paths of righteousness. In ;3 leadeth is a different word than it is in ;2 leadeth=(5095 נָהַל [nahal /naw•hal/;3 leadeth=(5148 נָחָה [nachah /naw•khaw/]
• In ;2 the shepherd goes before the flock and leads, as a shepherd would often do that. In ;3 it's a different word and it means=He guides, sometimes the shepherd would actually hit the side of the sheep w/ the staff & move them along & guide them. He guideth me in the worn/like something that's worn out=something that's proven, He guides me in the worn paths of righteousness is what the language says. He guideth me in those old, proven pathways. Because moving the sheep to higher ground often meant leading them through a gourge or a ravene and there were shadows to get them up to the higher ground for summer grazing, where it was refreshing, where they would flourish.
• So He guides me on those old, proven pathways. And again, I don't know about you but, I think of my own experience in Christ, getting saved in 1994. Not really being plugged into a bible teaching church, plugged into a charismatic church, plugged into other things, loving Jesus, around lots of people who loved Jesus, but because of no grounding, then going from one thing to another, people being "slain in the spirit" over here & this happening over there, that's all old stuff that comes around. Watchman Nee in 1925 wrote about the holy laughter spreading through China. We think it's a brand new thing, it's just old nonsense. We kind of start to chase experience & say," this is really spiritual/that's really spiritual" when we kind of get burnt out our soul get's cast down. But because He's faithful, He guides us back into those well worn pathways of righteousness & brings us back to the cross of Jesus Christ. He let's us stand there again & look at our Savior bleeding & dying for us. It makes us realize the power of the cross & of His love, & of forgiveness and those mercies again are new every morning. Jesus is the most proven pathway/deep/solid/the rock of ages. He brings us back to those proven pathways.
•
• ;4=Not though I run. And when I get into a difficult place, I'd rather run through. Yea though I walk. These are life-long experiences, look, we use this often at funerals. But David didn't die there in ;4, because he still had to write verses five & six. It's not speaking of death. It can be translated the valley of the shadow of death, it can be translated the valley of deepest darkness, the words are translated that way sometimes in the OT because David still has physical death ahead of him.
•
• He prepares a table before me...Surely goodness & mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and then when death comes, I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. So this is part of the Christian experience; it was part of Abraham's experience, Jacob, and Joseph & David, Ruth, Elijah, and Paul, those difficult circumstances in life where we feel like we're in some shadowland, where we can't see sometimes our footing or things seem difficult & we're under a shadow, we feel like we're not in God's light, & it's a place of darkness & sometimes it is the shadow of death. And it's not for me to define that in your life because it comes in so many different ways. But it is always the pathway to higher ground. And the reason being is because it is only the shadow of death. Nobody's ever bitten by the shadow of a dog, no-one was ever run over by the shadow of a train, no-one was ever killed by the shadown of a sword. And this is the shadow of death. Because in Ps. 22 it said," my God my God, why have You forsaken me?" And there needs to be light shining for there to be a shadow. You can't have a shadow without light. And we have the light. Christ is the substance that casts the light we're told that. And we walk in the shadow of death, not in death.
•
• The unbeliever walks into the valley of death, we walk in the valley of the shadow of death. And David does something very interesting when he gets to ;4, before that, again we call this the shepherd's psalm, it's really the sheep psalm, it's sung from the point of view of the sheep. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. And then he brags about his shepherd. Let me tell you what He's like; he...He restores, leads, guides...But once David enters into the dark valley, then he's no longer speaking in the third person. All of the sudden he says yea though I walk...I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. The conversation changes. And he's talking directly to the Lord now. And he says thou art w/ me, and he knows the Lord is w/ him, because already in our place He's cried out my God my God, why have You forsaken me, so that you and I never have to say, My God My God, why have you forsaken me. And we can know even in the valley of deepest darkness, when He can't be seen & his voice can't be heard, & we can't seem to get our footing and we're not sure what's going on, even in that place, He is w/ us. That's what the psalm is telling us. Christ is the shepherd that goes into this dark ravene w/ his flock. He's not standing along the side of the mountain saying, you're okay, you're doing okay, he's right down w/ us in the midst of that valley, in the midst of that pathway.
•
• ;4 the reason being, for thou art w/ me, that's always the reason throughout the bible for fear not/for I am w/ thee, you'll find it over and over. This is the place in the valley where it needs to be reality and it's because He is faithful, it will be, His grace will be there.
•
• ;4=Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. It's speaking of authority, the rod was a weapon, it would drive off predators & enemies. The staff was the tool of the shepherd to guide/to care for. Lord you're w/ me, even in the valley of the deepest darkness/Your authority/Your power/ and Your guidance are supreme over all circumstances.
•
• ;5 This is not a boxed canyon where we'll get trapped in and die, we're going through the darkness. And yet Lord there are things in my life, there's a table set before me, even in the presence of mine enemies. You know Satan hates that. When God sets a table right in front of his nose 7 he can't do anything about it. It says the evil one comes and he touches us not. He has no right to us because we're sealed w/ the Spirit of promise. Without God's permission he can't do anything.
•
• ;6a=some say those are the sheepdogs of the OT/goodness & mercy that work w/ the shepherd. One old Scottish commentator translates that word, surely goodness & mercy shall hunt me all the days of my life. While worldly men are out hunting, goodness & mercy, the one who has the Lord as his shepherd, finds that goodness & mercy shall hunt me all of the days of my life. And of course, remarkably, I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. What a day that will be! We'll sing the last verse there and how much fun that will be.
•
Question: How far does the guidance and protection of God extend for his people? (23:4-5)
•
• Psalm 24=brings us to the end of this triad. Some feel it's relative to 2 Sam 6 where David's bringing the ark of the covenant up into Jerusalem. that maybe so.
• ;1-2=Nobody has to worry, the earth is the Lord's. It doesn't belong to this political power or that political power/this group or that group, the earth is the Lord's.
• ;3-a=the answer is in ;4=the one who has outward purity=clean hands & inward purity=a pure heart. We are in the processes of psalm 23=being led & being led in the paths of righteousness. This is glory: justified in Ps. 22, sanctified in Ps. 23, & glorified in Ps. 24. He who has clean hands and a pure heart, that's because Christ has provided that righteousness for us.
• ;4b-5=now evidently, as we go through this psalm, it was sung by two teams or two choirs of priests. And you can hear the way it answers back & forth. First choir=;1-2, Second choir=;3, First choir=;4-5b=notice the God of his salvation. -;6, Second choir=;7, First choir=;8-;9, Second choir=;10=and we see Him here glorified in power.
• Now ;7=in church tradition is a psalm of ascension, it was sung or read on Ascension Sunday. The church in tradition has recognized this as Christ risen & glorified, and so they sing this psalm. ;7a=the question is were they singing this as they were bringing the Ark of the Covenant up to Jerusalem? And many of these psalms being prophetic, have more than one fulfillment. We know that the East Gate, one day will be not only for the Prince but it seems that He shall enter Himself/Christ when He rules the world from Jerusalem. The East gate. In the Millenium. There's another possible fulfillment of this psalm that's also very remarkable. We know that when Christ returns/Isaiah 63;1=Who is this who comes from lEdom,
• in crimsoned garments from Bozrah, you know w/ his garments dipped in blood. And it tells us that in Ps. 119 that Christ comes as lightning shines from the East to the West, that He comes in that direction towards Jerusalem, and the bible tells us in Zechariah 14:4 eOn that day his feet shall stand fon gthe Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward. It will open up a ravine there that Jerusalem then will be elevated. It will be broken into three parts. It tells us in Revelation; part of it will rise up, where the Millenial temple will be, & it tells u that water will begin to run forth there, & part of it will run to the Mediteranean, part of it will run to the Dead Sea. And Christ Himself, when He touches down on the Mount of Olives, will ride down where He had made His triumphal entry, they only thought that was a triumphal entry, this will be the real one, and we read in Rev. 14 about the blood running to the horses bridle, it says without the city, not up in the Valley of Armageddon, if we think it has to happen up there, it'd be an impossibility. But here this valley had run(Kidron)often, w/ the blood of sacrifices. And it tells us in Rev 16, when the viles are poured out, that great hail, about one hundred pounds in weight, will fall, and the sentence for those who blasphemed in the OT was stoning on this great army amassed in the Valley of Armageddon, it says they'll be gathered together all the way from Dan, all the way down to Beersheba in the Southern part, over two hundred miles of human beings gathered. And then crushed by this hail. And then, this washing down/this blood of all nations, running in the valley to the horses bridle. I think to His horses' bridle as He crosses a river of the blood of all nations, the prince of peace come, proving that man can't govern himself.
•
• Now it tells us then that the city of Jerusalem will be elevated. The East Gate in Jerusalem is blocke up. It's a Turkish gate there, it's not the ancient gate but, when they placed a Muslim cemetary there to desecrate it because it's holy to the Jews, there were workmen there that fell through the ground & what they discovered is under the present East gate, and Biblical Archaeological Review has done articles on it, there is an entire East Gate from the time of Christ in-tact. And it's the East Gate that Christ entered & left when He went out to the Mount of Olives. It's standing there, in tact, underneath the present East Gate. So the other possibility is when He returns, in the same East Gate that He had gone through, as the world begins to rumble & the sun refuses to shine, and the only glory seen in the heavens is JC the Son of Man come on His white horse w/ His vesture dipped in blood, w/ the armies of heaven behind Him & He touches down & splits the Mount of Olives & crosses over this river of blood, running to the horses' bridle, then as the city then begins to be raised up, we have then," lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors, and the King of glory may come in. read ;8-10 What a day there is awaiting all of us as Christ comes.

Questions: What does it mean to have clean hands and a pure heart? What changes do you need to make in your schedule or activities to make worship a top priority?

Psalm 20

2008-09-07T16:52:00.000-07:00

Psalm 20
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• 20 TO THE CHOIRMASTER. A PSALM OF DAVID. This psalm, written by David, is a psalm by a king for a king, very possibly written either for his own coronation or for his son Solomon's coronation. It's an invocation, a prayer, that God's blessing might be upon the king.
• 1 May the LORD lanswer you in the day of trouble!
• May mthe name of the God of Jacob nprotect you! The word, Israel=Governed by God. The word, Jacob, on the other hand, means heel snatcher. Therefore, when you read about the God of Israel in the OT, the reference is to the nation when it was obedient to God. When you read about the God of Jacob, the reference is to the nation when it was following it's sinful tendencies. Thus, David's prayer, is, May the Lord hear you even when you're not doing as well as you ought.
• 2 May he send you help from othe sanctuary
• and give you support from pZion!
• 3 May he qremember all your offerings
• and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices! Selah
• 4 May he rgrant you your heart’s desire
• and fulfill all your plans! The prayer here is that the king might be helped even in time of struggle.
• 5 May we shout for joy over syour salvation,
• and in the name of our God set up our tbanners!
• May the LORD fulfill all your petitions!
• 6 Now I know that the LORD saves his anointed;
• he will answer him from his holy heaven
• with uthe saving might of his right hand.
• 7 Some trust in vchariots and some in whorses,
• x but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. Know that it's not by your horses, chariots, tanks, or bombers; know that it's not by your technology, ingenuity, or strategy that you will be delivered. May the Lord hear your prayers, for He is the only One who can see you through.
• 8 They collapse and fall,
• but we rise and stand upright.
• 9 O LORD, save the king!
• May yhe answer us when we call. Let the king hear us when we call David prayed. And may the King of kings hear us when we call.

Psalm 19

2008-09-07T16:51:00.004-07:00

Psalm 19
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• 19 TO THE CHOIRMASTER. A PSALM OF DAVID.
• 1 i The heavens declare the glory of God,
• and the sky above1 proclaims his handiwork. No doubt this psalm of David was inspired when, as a shepherd in Bethlehem, he looked up at the skies overhead & heard the silent sermon of the stars. Psalm 19 tells us that the reality of God can be understood in two ways: through God's creation & through His commandments.
• 2 Day to day pours out speech,
• and night to night reveals knowledge.
• 3 There is no speech, nor are there words,
• whose voice is not heard.
• 4 j Their kmeasuring line2 goes out through all the earth,
• and their words to the end of the world. Every culture, every people, every situation has a missionary, for the heavens declare the glory of God, the greatness of the Creator.
• In them he has set a tent for lthe sun,
• 5 m which comes out like na bridegroom leaving his chamber,
• and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.
• 6 Its rising is from the end of the heavens,
• and its circuit to the end of them,
• and there is nothing hidden from its heat. After talking about the glories seen in nature, Dave talks about the supernatural revelation seen in the Word.
• 7 o The law of the LORD is perfect,3
• p reviving the soul; (Converting=KJV) The Law of the Lord is perfect---but I'm not. I need to be converted. I need to be saved. THe Law is a schoolmaster, Paul would say, to show us our sinful condition & that we're in need of salvation(Gal. 3;24-25).
• q the testimony of the LORD is rsure,
• s making wise tthe simple; The Word of God is never out of date. There are no changes, no addenda to His plan.
• 8 u the precepts of the LORD are right,
• rejoicing the heart;
• the commandment of the LORD is vpure,
• w enlightening the eyes;
• 9 the fear of the LORD is clean,
• enduring forever;
• the rules of the LORD are xtrue,
• and righteous altogether. The brass laver in the tabernacle was made from the looding glasses women brought out of Egypt. Thus, the laver revealed the priest's need to be cleansed s they looked in. But it also brought about the cleansing as they dipped their hands therein. That's what the Word does. It reveals my sin, but it also removes sin as it shows me the blood that was shed & the way I am to walk as I depend on God. How shall a young man...We are washed, Paul declares, by the water of the word/Eph. 5;26. Now you are clean, Jesus said, through the Word---the testimony, the statutes, the commandment, the judgments---I have spoken unto you/John 15;3.
• 10 More to be desired are they than ygold,
• even much zfine gold;
• a sweeter also than honey
• and drippings of bthe honeycomb.
• 11 Moreover, by them is your servant warned;
• c in keeping them there is great reward. It's not in hearing or in knowing the judgments of the Lord that there is great reward. It's in keeping them that there's great reward.
• 12 d Who can discern his errors?
• e Declare me innocent from fhidden faults.
• 13 g Keep back your servant also from hpresumptuous sins;
• let them not have idominion over me!
• Then I shall be blameless,
• and innocent of great transgression. Lord show me my faults David prays. Don't let me get away w/ either deliberate sins or secret sins.
• 14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
• be acceptable in your sight,
• O LORD, my jrock and my kredeemer. Cause my meditation in Your Word and my meditation about You to be acceptable in Your sight in order that I might have fellowship & intimacy w/ You. Oh, that this prayer of David would be ours.

Psalm 17

2008-09-07T16:51:00.003-07:00

Psalm 17
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• 17 A fPRAYER OF DAVID. This is the first psalm that's called a prayer in this book. In it, David argues his case before the Lord in prayer in order that his request might be granted. This is a good way to pray. When I present my case to the Father in prayer by saying, "Here's what You said in Your Word..." Or, "Here's what I know to be true about You..."It's not that I'm trying to persuade a reluctant Father but rather I'm encouraging faith within my own heart. Here, David argues his case, & in so doing, his own faith is growing.
•
• 1 Hear a just cause, O Lord; gattend to my cry!
• Give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit!"Lord, Daivd prays, "Listen to me. Hear my plea. My prayer is not empty words, but from my heart."
• 2 From your presence hlet my vindication come!
• Let your eyes behold the right!
• 3 You have itried my heart, you have jvisited me by knight,"You have tried my heart, Spurgeon wrote=Like Peter, David uses the argument, Lord you know all things; You know that I love You(John 21;17). It is most assuring to appeal to the Lord and call on our judge to be a witness for our defense. 1 John 3;21=21 Beloved, kif our heart does not condemn us, lwe have confidence before God;
• you have ltested me, and you will find nothing;
• I have purposed that my mouth will not transgress. You've tried me, Lord, and You'll find no fault in me. Listen to me because I'm righteous, David prays. Wait a minute Dave. Even at this point he's already guilty of lying. He jeopardized the life of his own wife, Michal, when he snuck out the window and allowed her to lie for him(1 Sam 19). And regarding Ahimelech, his lies to him resulted not only in his death, but in the deaths of 85 other priests(1 Sam 21,22). There are glaring inconsistencies in Dave's life, so how could he have the audacity to say he was faultless? I suggest the solution is quite simple. That is, although Dave had problems & failures, he was nonetheless a man after God's own heart. He loved God passionately. He pursued God's heart, not so much to get something from His hand, but to look into His face. And because David sought the face of the Lord, like Noah, he found grace in the eyes of the Lord(Gen.6;8). What is grace? Unmerited, undeserved, unearned favor. I believe Dave had a firm grasp on where he stood positionally because he understood grace. Therefore, he made his arguments not upon a denial of his present sins but upon a realization of his positional standing.
• 4 With regard to the works of man, by the word of your lips
• I have avoided the ways of the violent.The old adage is true: This book will keep you from sin or sin will keep you from this book. The Word is powerful. Jesus showed this to be true when He beat back the temptations of the devil. Quoting scripture concerning each temptation that came his way, Jesus unsheated the Sword, used the Word, and Satan the destroyer, fled(Matt 4).
• 5 My steps have mheld fast to your paths;
• my feet have not slipped.
• 6 I ncall upon you, for you will answer me, O God;
• o incline your ear to me; hear my words.
• 7 p Wondrously show7 your steadfast love,
• O Savior of those who seek refuge
• from qtheir adversaries at your right hand.
• 8 Keep me as rthe apple of your eye; Scripture records that, even in the wilderness, God kept Jacob as the apple of His eye(Deut 32;10). Here, Dave asks that Jacob's protection be extended to him. The apple of the eye is the pupil. We are told that the reflex that covers the eye is the quickest reflex in the body. When there's danger coming toward your face, your eye will close in 1/10,000th of a second. And the speed w/ which your eyelid closes to protect your eye is the speed w/ which the Lord protects His children.
• hide me in sthe shadow of your wings,
• 9 from the wicked who do me violence,
• my deadly enemies who tsurround me.
• 10 They close their uhearts to pity;
• with their mouths they vspeak arrogantly.
• 11 They have now surrounded our wsteps;
• they set their eyes to xcast us to the ground.
• 12 He is like a lion eager to tear,
• as a young lion ylurking in ambush. David says he's under attack like prey stalked by a lion or, as Peter would tell us, by the devil who seeks to devour(1 Pet. 5;8).
• 13 Arise, O LORD! Confront him, subdue him!
• Deliver my soul from the wicked by your sword, The sword is a reference to the Word/Heb. 4;12. The key is to be in the Word and in touch w/ the Lord because it is as we hear what He says & makes His word the basis for our prayer that our soul is delivered.
• 14 from men by your hand, O LORD,
• from zmen of the world whose aportion is in this life.1
• You fill their womb with treasure;2
• they are satisfied with bchildren,
• and they leave their abundance to their infants. Deliver me, Lord, from the evil men who appear to be prospering, from worldly men who would seek to seduce me w/ all of their riches & success stories.
• 15 As for me, I shall cbehold your face in righteousness;
• when I dawake, I shall be esatisfied with your likeness. A little boy struggled to uproot a huge weed. Finally, w/ a mighty tug, he was victorious. That was a mighty big tug, said a man, observing the scene. Yeah, said the little boy, It's pretty tough when the whole world is pulling against you. That's what happens w/ us. There's a whole world pulling against us. The world system pulls against us. The enemy goes about lie a roaring lion, seeking to devour us. Our sin nature continually plagues us. When will we be free of this? When will we be truly satisfied? Not until we awake in the likeness of the Lord. "When we see Him, we shall be like Him, John tells us/1 John 3;2. When I see You, I'll be satisfied, David says. In the meantime, Lord, protect me. Keep me as the apple of your eye. Hide me under the shadow of your wings. See me through.
•

Psalm 17

2008-09-07T16:51:00.001-07:00

Psalm 16

2008-09-07T16:50:00.000-07:00

Psalm 16
•
• 16 A hMIKTAM1 OF DAVID.Michtam means "golden" &/or hidden. I suggest both meanings are applicable here because hidden in this psalm is a goldmine of meaning concerning something far bigger than David's own situation. Applying this psalm to Jesus, Peter quoted ;8-11 in the semon he gave on the Day of Pentecost(Acts 2;25-28). Paul would also apply a verse of this passage(;10) to Jesus as a prophecy of His ressurection(Acts 13;35). I believe the setting of this psalm is the Garden of Gethsemane, for I believe it tells us what our Lord was thinking the night before He was crucified...
•
• 1 Preserve me, O God, for in you I itake refuge.=Luke tells us that the night before His Crucifixion, Jesus prayed so passionately that the capillaries in His face burst open(22;44).
• 2 I say to the LORD, “You are my Lord;
• j I have no good apart from you.”=literally, My goodness is nothing apart from You, Jesus prayed, echoing His statement in John 5;30 that He could of His own self do nothing.
• 3 As for kthe saints in the land, they are the excellent ones,
• in whom is all my delight.2
• 4 The sorrows of those who run after3 another god shall multiply;
• their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out
• or ltake their names on my lips.
• 5 The LORD is mmy chosen portion and my ncup;
• you hold my olot.In the garden, Jesus would pray," Father, if you are willing, remove xthis cup from me. yNevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”(Lk 22;42) That which caused Jesus to be filled w/ so much anguish that He bled from His face was the knowledge that, for a time, He would be out of fellowship w/ His Father. What causes horror, anguish, & fear within me? Is it that I might be out of touch w/ the Father? May that be my greatest concern.
• 6 p The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
• indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.= What is Jesus' beautiful inheritance? Us. We are His inheritance. We are His treasure. Looking at us, I can't help but think we're somewhat of a bunch of lame ducks. Not the Lord. Scripture says it was for the joy set before Him that He endured the cross(Heb.12;2). What joy? You and me. The Lord looks at us & sees a goodly heritage.
• 7 I bless the LORD who qgives me counsel;
• in rthe night also my sheart instructs me. Jesus seemed to pray a lot in the night season(Matt.14;23; Luke 6;12). When you wake up in the middle of the night, try using it as an opportunity to be instructed by the Lord & to hear from Him.
• 8 t I have uset the LORD always before me;
• because he is at my vright hand, I shall not be wshaken.
• 9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my xwhole being5 rejoices; As Jesus prayed, He knew the Father was as close as His right hand.
• my flesh also dwells secure.
• 10 For you will not abandon my soul to ySheol,
• z or let your aholy one see bcorruption. "As I drink of this cup, I know You'll not leave Me in the grave", Jesus prayed. This of course, points to the Resurrection.
• 11 You make known to me cthe path of life;
• in your presence there is dfullness of joy;
• at your right hand are epleasures forevermore. If ;10 speaks of the Resurrection, verse 11 speaks of the Ascension--of Jesus' return to fullness of joy, to pleasure forevermore, to heaven.

Psalm 20

2008-09-07T16:49:00.003-07:00

Psalm 15

2008-09-07T16:49:00.002-07:00

Psalm 15
•
• 15 A PSALM OF DAVID. The situation here deals w/ the time when David brought the ark of the covenant back from Kirjath-jearim.(1 Sam 7) You see, the ark had been captured by the Philistines & placed in their temple to Dagon. Ultimately, the ark made it's way back to Israel & was kept at Kirjath-jearim for a season until David brought it back to his capital city, Jerusalem.
•
• 1 O Lord, uwho shall sojourn in your vtent?
• Who shall dwell on your wholy hill? As the ark is being transferred, David asks,"Lord, who can come into Your prsence?"
• 2 He who xwalks blamelessly and ydoes what is right
• and zspeaks truth in his heart;
• 3 who adoes not slander with his tongue
• and does no evil to his neighbor,
• nor btakes up a reproach against his friend; The Hebrew word(5375 נָשָׂא [nasa’, nacah /naw•saw/]) literally means "receive". In other words, a righteous man is one who doesn't listen to gossip. If I give ear to gossip, I'm just as guilty as the one who speaks it.
• 4 c in whose eyes a vile person is despised,
• but who honors those who fear the LORD;
• who dswears to his own hurt and does not change; The righteious man honors those who are in awe of God. He gives his word & is a man of integrity.
• 5 who edoes not put out his money at interest
• and fdoes not take a bribe against the innocent.
• He who does these things shall never be gmoved. In this short psalm, David has boiled the six hundred thirteen OT commandments down to a list of eleven. Later on, Micah will reduce the list to three: to do justly, to love mercy, & and to walk humbly w/ God(6;8). But when Jesus comes on the scene, He'll make it simpler still, for, when asked which is the greatest commandment, He said, 37 And he said to him, g “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 first commandment. 39 And ha second is like it: iYou shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 jOn these two commandments depend kall the Law and the Prophets.”
• Jesus boils it all down to one: love. Love God w/ all your heart, soul, mind, & strength. Love your neighbor as yourself. Love God above you in heaven. Love people around you on earth. This forms the shape of a cross upon which hang all the law & the prophets.

Psalm 14

2008-09-07T16:49:00.001-07:00

Psalm 14
•
• 14 TO THE CHOIRMASTER. OF DAVID. gThis is describing largely the fruit of unbelief, which is of course, bad fruit.
•
• 1 The hfool says in his heart,
• i “There is no God.”The fool in that day, different then somebody today walking down the street, meaning to put a person down. It meant stupid in the OT but, you were stupid because you didn't believe in God. In that day, everybody had a god, even if you were an idolator. It was unheard of back in David's day
• They are jcorrupt,Now here's the fruit of unbelief. they do abominable deeds,
• k there is none who does good. And Romans 1 says those who refuse the knowledge of God, it's just revealed in creation, His eternal power as godhead, that they refuse that & they supress the truth in righteousness. Then God gives them over to practice those things that are abominable. When someone refuses the knowledge of God, then there's no accountability. If you look at the caliber of crime, like in Russia, in America we have a problem w/ overcrowded prisons and such, but when you go to Russia & you look at the crimes of mass murder, cannibalism, the ungodliness manifests itself in abominable ways. And you look @ what it did to that nation, an entire nation decided there was no God. And there's no fruit in that. Atheists organizations are not building hospitals & orphanages & charities. They are corrupt. They've done abominable works & there's no sense of accountability that one day they'll stand before God.
• 2 The LORD llooks down from heaven on the children of man,
• to see if there are any who understand,2
• who mseek after God. Now Paul makes this argument & quotes this verse in Romans 3
• 3 They have all turned aside; together they have become ncorrupt;
• there is none who does good,
• not even one. Paul says there are none that seek after God.
• 4 Have they no oknowledge, all the evildoers
• who peat up my people as they eat bread
• and qdo not call upon the LORD?
• 5 There they are in great terror,
• for God is with rthe generation of the righteous.
• 6 You would shame the plans of the poor,
• but3 the LORD is his srefuge.
• 7 Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion! And we feel that way everyday, Lord come quickly, David cried...
• When the LORD trestores the fortunes of his people,
• let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

Happy Words for those that love the Psalms!

2008-09-07T16:48:00.001-07:00

Happy Words for those that love the Psalms!
•
• Shem'inith. (eighth). A musical term found in the title of Psa_6:1. A similar direction is found in the title of Psa_12:1. Compare 1Ch_15:21. It seems most probable that Sheminith denotes a certain air known as the eighth, or a certain key in which the psalm was to be sung.
• Sheminith
• Eight; octave, a musical term, supposed to denote the lowest note sung by men's voices (1Ch_15:21; Psa_6:1-10; Psa_12:1-8, title).
• Glory
• (Heb. kabhod; Gr. doxa).
• (1.) Abundance, wealth, treasure, and hence honour (Psa_49:12); glory (Gen_31:1; Mat_4:8; Rev_21:24, Rev_21:26).
• (2.) Honour, dignity (1Ki_3:13; Heb_2:7 1Pe_1:24); of God (Psa_19:1; Psa_29:1); of the mind or heart (Gen_49:6; Psa_7:5; Act_2:46).
• (3.) Splendour, brightness, majesty (Gen_45:13; Isa_4:5; Act_22:11; 2Co_3:7); of Jehovah (Isa_59:19; Isa_60:1; 2Th_1:9).
• (4.) The glorious moral attributes, the infinite perfections of God (Isa_40:5; Act_7:2; Rom_1:23; Rom_9:23; Eph_1:12). Jesus is the “brightness of the Father's glory” (Heb_1:3; Joh_1:14; Joh_2:11).
• (5.) The bliss of heaven (Rom_2:7, Rom_2:10; Rom_5:2; Rom_8:18; Heb_2:10; 1Pe_5:1, 1Pe_5:10).
• (6.) The phrase “Give glory to God” (Jos_7:19; Jer_13:16) is a Hebrew idiom meaning, “Confess your sins.” The words of the Jews to the blind man, “Give God the praise” (Joh_9:24), are an adjuration to confess. They are equivalent to, “Confess that you are an impostor,” “Give God the glory by speaking the truth;” for they denied that a miracle had been wrought.
•
• Michtam. (golden psalm). This word occurs in the titles of six psalms, Psa_16:1; Psa_56:1; Psa_57:1; Psa_58:1; Psa_ 59:1; Psa_60:1, all of which are ascribed to David.
• The marginal reading of our Authorized Version is "a golden psalm," while, in the Geneva version, it is described as "a certain tune." From the position which it occupies in the title, we may infer that michtam is a term applied to these psalms, to denote their musical character, but beyond this everything is obscure.
•

OT328 Psalms Overview

2008-09-06T22:38:00.000-07:00

OT328 Psalms (2 credits)
Calvary Chapel St. Joseph, Missouri
Fall 2008

Instructor:

Pastor Chuck Rhein, Calvary Chapel St. Joseph
chuck@calvarystjoe.com

Course Description: We will discover the beauty of the praise and poetry in the book of Psalms. Every Psalm will be looked at and evaluated as we learn how to communicate with our Creator and the comfort and healing this communication brings.
Course Material:

Bible, New Living Translation primary
Bible, King James Translation for word study
Treasury of David, Charles Spurgeon; ISBN - 09170062599781565639454
Class Handouts (if necessary), provided by Instructor
Required Listening – Book of Psalms by Joe Focht

Book of Psalms – Class Syllabus
This sheet corresponds with the commentaries and the Bible text.
Class Psalms
(Assigned Reading and listening)
8/31
Class 1 Ps 1 thru 10

9/7
Class 2 Ps 11 thru 20

9/14
Class 3 Ps 21 thru 30

9/21
Class 4 Ps 31 thru 40

9/28
Class 5 Ps 41 thru 50

10/5
Class 6 Ps 51 thru 60

10/12
Class 7 Ps 61 thru 70

10/19 MID-TERM EXAM
Class 8 Ps 71 thru 80

10/26
Class 9 Ps 81 thru 90

11/2
Class 10 Ps 91 thru 100

11/9
Class 11 Ps 101 thru 110

11/16
Class 12 Ps 111 thru 120

11/23
Class 13 Ps 121 thru 130

11/30 NO CLASS – THANKSGIVING

12/7
Class 14 Ps 131 thru 140

12/14 FINAL EXAM
Class 15 Ps 141 thru 150

Course Requirements:

1. Reading Assignments: All reading assignments must be completed prior to the session in which the reading material is discussed (execption: Class 1). This will facilitate full participation of students in class discussions. The New Living Translation is preferred for Scripture reading assignments and will serve as the primary text for class discussion. Reading from other translations, particularly The King James Translation, is also encouraged to broaden the student’s learning experience.

2. Homework Assignments: Background assignments each week will prepare the student for full participation in the class. One page summary reports from the required listening assignments are to be handed in at the beginning of each class. Late assignments will receive a maximum of 80% of full credit, unless prior arrangements have been secured with the instructor.

3. Attendance: Class attendance is essential to grasping the concepts that are discussed in this course. Any absence, whether excused or not, will impact the student’s understanding of this subject matter. Absences from class will be handled in accordance with current Calvary Chapel Bible College policies. Makeup of missed classes is strongly encouraged in order to keep current with class discussions and to reduce the impact on final course evaluation. Students with perfect class attendance will be rewarded with a 2% bonus added to their course evaluation.

4. Class Participation: Because some of the important concepts covered in this course, it is important that the student actively participate in class. Participation may mean the student says, “I don’t understand.” For others, it may mean illustrating a concept to the class. For others, it may mean attempting to explain a concept so that a peer can more fully understand the topic being presented. Failure to participate impacts the success of the entire class. The Class Participation portion of the student’s Course Evaluation will be reduced 1% for every missed class, even if the class work is made up.

Note: Any student with a diagnosed learning disability is encouraged to talk to the instructor as soon as possible concerning alternative methods of fulfilling course requirements.

Course Evaluation:

Grading for this course is based on the following scale, adjusted for unexcused absences (see #3 above):

1. Class Participation 15%
2. Homework Papers 15%
3. Mid Term 50%
4. Final Exam 20%
5. Perfect Class Attendance Bonus 2%
Total Possible: 102%

Textbook/Reading:

· Read the commentary sections before class
· Treasury of David, Charles Spurgeon; ISBN - 09170062599781565639454
· Reading is to be completed by the end of the course.

Homework: Each week you will be required to turn in a Homework Paper with the following:
1.) Read the text from the Bible and the commentary (when required) for that class period,
2.) Complete a Homework Paper each week with the following information; brief summary of the required listening assignment that will be studied for that week’s class including a section (paragraph) describing personal application. (i.e. me, myself, and I).

How to Hear from God

2008-08-20T21:15:00.000-07:00

• 1 Samuel 3; 1, “Meanwhile, the boy Samuel served the Lord by assisting Eli. Now in those days messages from the Lord were very rare, and visions were quite uncommon.”

• The word of the Lord was precious or rare. Speaking to believers in Rev. 3; 20, Jesus says,” “Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.

• In other words, the question isn’t whether Jesus is speaking. The question is: Are we listening?

• There’s no question God speaks. Psalm 29 tells us His voice is so powerful that it moves mountains and clears forests. The question is, are God’s people tuning in? Are they able to perceive & receive the word He speaks constantly?

• There are numerous voices speaking via radio & television waves traveling through any given location. The fact that we don’t hear them is not because those voices aren’t present, but because we’re not tuned in to them. Our antenna isn’t up, our TV sets aren’t on.

• The same thing is true spiritually (John 10; 27=27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.) Our Shepard speaks constantly. The question is, are we tuned in to His frequency? Am I picking up & receiving what He’s saying?

• I see four questions answered in the passage before us…

• To Whom Does God Speak? 1 Sam 3; 2” One night Eli, who was almost blind by now, had gone to bed.”

In the temple, there was an experienced, professional priest named Eli. He may have had all his seminary degrees, but he didn’t hear God’s voice. God bypassed him and spoke to a child instead.

Jesus said,” I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.” Luke 18;17

• Children have an amazing receptivity:

1. Having the quality of receiving, taking in, or admitting.
2. Able or quick to receive knowledge, ideas, etc.: a receptive mind.
3. Willing or inclined to receive suggestions, offers, etc., with favor: a receptive listener.
4. Of or pertaining to reception or receptors: a receptive end organ.
5. (In language learning) of or pertaining to the language skills of listening and reading (opposed to productive).

& expectancy:
.
1. The quality or state of expecting; expectation; anticipatory belief or desire.
2. The state of being expected.
3. An object of expectation; something expected.

• As people get older & more knowledgeable, they begin to look down on hearing the voice of the Lord. “God doesn’t speak to us in that way today,” they say. Eli represents the old order & what can happen when one loses his sense of wonder & expectancy.

• Have you become an old professional? Are you saying in your soul,” I’ve heard all this. I know all that”? If so, you’ll not hear the voice of the Lord. It’s when you retain a childlike excitement about the things of God that He will speak to you.

• When did God speak? 1 Samuel 3; 3 the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was sleeping in the Tabernacle near the Ark of God. 4 Suddenly the Lord called out, “Samuel!”

• Samuel was ministering to the Lord when God spoke to him. Ministering to the Lord is different from ministering for Him. Ministering for the Lord is teaching a lesson, giving a sermon, helping someone in His name. Ministering to the Lord, on the other hand, is drawing near to Him personally & privately.

• Ministry to the Lord takes place not on stage, but in the pew. Ministry to the Lord is not about what others see us do, but what the Lord alone enjoys as we spend time w/ Him. Ministering to the Lord is the highest calling in life, & every single one of us can do it.

• I love my wife when she does laundry for me or makes dinner for me. But those things can’t begin to compare to the love I feel when she’s ministering to me. –being by my side, sharing w/ me, loving me. The same is true of the Lord. When you minister to Him, it’s a far higher calling than ministering for Him. (Ezekiel 44)

• 1 Samuel 3; 4b; “Yes?” Samuel replied. “What is it?” 5 He got up and ran to Eli. “Here I am. Did you call me?”

• “I didn’t call you,” Eli replied. “Go back to bed.” So he did.

• 1 Samuel 3; 6 Then the Lord called out again, “Samuel!”

• Again Samuel got up and went to Eli. “Here I am. Did you call me?”
• “I didn’t call you, my son,” Eli said. “Go back to bed.”

• 7 Samuel did not yet know the Lord because he had never had a message from the Lord before.

8 So the Lord called a third time, and once more Samuel got up and went to Eli. “Here I am. Did you call me?”

• Notice at this point, Samuel didn’t know the Lord personally. He hadn’t yet heard from the Lord audibly. But he knew about the Lord. Samuel knew that, as God, He deserved worship & affection. Samuel didn’t yet know the Lord, but here he is, year after year, ministering to the Lord.

• Ministering to the Lord before ministering for Him is also seen in the book of Acts…

• “13; 2 One day as these men were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Dedicate Barnabas and Saul for the special work to which I have called them.”

• This verse should be noted by anyone who wants to be a servant of Jesus Christ, for it was as Paul & Barnabas ministered to the Lord that He separated them for ministry.

Find ways you can minister to the Lord, where no one else sees what you’re doing, but where you are pleasing the Lord because He’s worthy.

• Where Did the Lord Speak?

1 Samuel 3; 8 So the LORD called a third time, and once more Samuel got up and went to Eli. “Here I am. Did you call me?”

Then Eli realized it was the LORD who was calling the boy. 9 So he said to Samuel, “Go and lie down again, and if someone calls again, say, ‘Speak, LORD, your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went back to bed.

10 And the LORD came and called as before, “Samuel! Samuel!”
And Samuel replied, “Speak, your servant is listening.”

• Samuel was in the temple. As a new believer, I heard the voice of the Lord through the teaching of His Word through my pastor as well as from other Christians. And as the years go by, I still hear His voice most clearly & most frequently in the temple/at church.

• If you want the Lord to speak to you and give guidance to you, be in the temple. As the days go by, you’ll discover that it’s the place He’ll speak to you most frequently.

Another help in hearing from God is taking notes during the message and then looking up the scriptures later on your own.

Acts 17; 11= and the people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they listened eagerly to Paul’s message. They searched the Scriptures day after day to see if Paul and Silas were teaching the truth.

• I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve been around people after the service to hear how God has spoken to them through a message that my pastor has ministered to them through. Why do they hear them? Because, as He did to Samuel, it was God speaking to them in the temple.

• Why Did God Speak to Samuel?

– 1 Samuel 3; 11 =Then the LORD said to Samuel, “I am about to do a shocking thing in Israel. 12 I am going to carry out all my threats against Eli and his family, from beginning to end. 13 I have warned him that judgment is coming upon his family forever, because his sons are blaspheming God] and he hasn’t disciplined them. 14 So I have vowed that the sins of Eli and his sons will never be forgiven by sacrifices or offerings.”

• God didn’t speak to Eli. He spoke to Samuel. Why? I suggest it was because Sam got out of bed.

God talks to us in the middle of the night as well. But we think it’s the pizza or our husband’s snoring or the caffeine from the double latte we ordered earlier that keeps us up.

I’m convinced, however, the Lord speaks to our souls at night because it’s the only time our hearts are quiet enough to hear Him. The question is,” Will I respond?”

• When I do, I hear Him say,” There’s something I want to talk over w/ you. I have direction to give you. I have a word of correction for you.

If you want your dreams to come true, you’ve got to get out of bed! Four times in one night, Samuel got out of bed to check out what was going on. On the fourth time, he discovered it was the Lord all along.

God interrupts your sleep or your life, your plans & your schedule, because He wants you to hear from Him.

1 Samuel 3; 15-21- Samuel stayed in bed until morning then got up and opened the doors of the Tabernacle as usual. He was afraid to tell Eli what the LORD had said to him. 16 but Eli called out to him, “Samuel, my son.”

“Here I am,” Samuel replied.

17 “What did the LORD say to you? Tell me everything. And may God strike you and even kill you if you hide anything from me!” 18 So Samuel told Eli everything; he didn’t hold anything back. “It is the LORD’s will,” Eli replied. “Let him do what he thinks best.”

19 as Samuel grew up, the LORD was with him, and everything Samuel said proved to be reliable.

20 And all Israel, from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south, knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the LORD. 21 The LORD continued to appear at Shiloh and gave messages to Samuel there at the Tabernacle.

• God not only spoke to Samuel because of his responsiveness, but because of his tenderness. Samuel didn’t want to say to Eli,” Eli, you’re in trouble. You haven’t disciplined your sons. Now judgment is coming to you and your family. And it’s too late for any sacrifices to make up for what you’ve done.”

• Living in the temple, Samuel no doubt observed Eli’s sons and was aware of their immorality & problems. Therefore, he could have said,” Aha! At last these guys are getting what they deserve.” But that wasn’t the heart of Samuel. Nor was it the heart of Daniel.

• Before Daniel gave Nebuchadnezzar the interpretation of his dream, he said,” I wish this dream applied to your worst enemy rather than to you, for you’re going to go insane like an animal for seven years and eat grass like a cow in the fields. “

• Daniel could have said,” Great! It’s about time God brings Nebuchadnezzar down a notch or two.” But that wasn’t the heart of Daniel, nor is it the heart of anyone who is in tune w/ God.

• Whatever God speaks to you must be enveloped in tenderness & love. Even if the message is a difficult one, it’s always to be delivered in humility and kindness.

The Deity of Christ

2008-07-27T21:37:00.000-07:00

CHRISTOLOGY: The Deity of Christ

· Apologetics may be simply defined as the defense of the Christian faith. It's the icing and not the cake, which is the gospel.
· Our purposes are to utilize apologetics for evangelism.
· Having said that, there are two scriptures that are crucial as we go to approach a person or persons to share the gospel:
· 1 Corinthians 3;6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.
· 7 So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. Keep in mind that we're not warring against flesh & blood/Eph. 6, and that it's God's job to change the heart, not ours. Secondly, 2 Timothy 2;24-26: 24 And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,
· 25 In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;
· 26 And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.

· Christology is the study of the person and work of Jesus Christ. The confession that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, which Peter was the first to make (Matthew 16:16), is the heart of the Christian faith. It is this confession that makes one a Christian, and all Christian theology attempts to understand what it means to make this confession.
·
· The first major theological decision that the church ever made was to confirm that Jesus is the Son of God. He was declared to be of one essence with God the Father and the Holy Spirit (this was decided upon by the Council of Nicea, AD 325). But this belief forced upon the church, formed another question: How could one person be both God and man?
·
· To answer this question, the church developed the doctrine of the Incarnation. The way to that doctrine was paved with controversy. There were theologians who emphasized the deity of Christ at the expense of his humanity (a belief called docetism), while others emphasized his humanity at the expense of his deity (adoptionism). Some claimed that the Son only seemed to have a human body, or that while he had a true body and soul, the divine logos took the place of the human spirit. There were theologians who claimed that the man Jesus, as he grew in virtue, was elevated to divine sonship and so was “adopted” into the Godhead, perhaps when he was baptized or at the Resurrection. The church rejected all such explanations. It also rejected all attempts to resolve the problem by suggesting that Jesus was both a divine person and a human person (Nestorianism) or, alternately, that the human and divine nature were fused in one nature (monophysitism).
·
· Jesus proved to be God in three ways:
· 1)Fulfillment of prophecy, over 300 fulfilled
·
· BIBLE READING: Isaiah 53:1-12
· KEY BIBLE VERSE: He was wounded and crushed for our sins. He was beaten that we might have peace. He was whipped, and we were healed! All of us have strayed away like sheep. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the LORD laid on him the guilt and sins of us all. (Isaiah 53:5-6)

This chapter in Isaiah speaks of the Messiah, Jesus, who would suffer for the sins of all people. Such a prophecy is astounding! Who would believe that God would choose to save the world through a humble, suffering servant rather than a glorious king? The idea is contrary to human pride and worldly ways. But God often works in ways we don’t expect. The Messiah’s strength is shown by humility, suffering, and mercy.
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· How could an Old Testament person understand the idea of Christ dying for our sins (our transgressions and iniquities)-actually bearing the punishment that we deserved? The sacrifices suggested this idea, but it is one thing to kill a lamb, and something quite different to think of God’s chosen servant as that Lamb. But God was pulling aside the curtain of time to let the people of Isaiah’s day look ahead to the suffering of the future Messiah and the resulting forgiveness made available to all mankind.
· BIBLE READING: Luke 2:21-40
· KEY BIBLE VERSE: Lord, now I can die in peace! As you promised me, I have seen the Savior you have given to all people. He is a light to reveal God to the nations, and he is the glory of your people Israel! (Luke 2:29-32)
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· The Jews were well acquainted with the Old Testament prophecies that spoke of the Messiah’s blessings to their nation. They did not always give equal attention to the prophecies saying that he would bring salvation to the entire world, not just the Jews (see, for example, Isaiah 49:6). Many thought that Christ had come to save only his own people. Luke made sure his Greek audience understood that Christ had come to save all who believe, Gentiles as well as Jews.
· BIBLE READING: Luke 7:18-35
· KEY BIBLE VERSE: John’s two disciples found Jesus and said to him, “John the Baptist sent us to ask, ’Are you the Messiah we’ve been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?’ ” At that very time, he cured many people of their various diseases, and he cast out evil spirits and restored sight to the blind. Then he told John’s disciples, “Go back to John and tell him what you have seen and heard-the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor. And tell him, ’God blesses those who are not offended by me.’ ” (Luke 7:20-23)
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· 2) Sinless life=1 Peter 1;19 He paid for you with the precious lifeblood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. Luke 23;14 and he announced his verdict. "You brought this man to me, accusing him of leading a revolt. I have examined him thoroughly on this point in your presence and find him innocent. ;15 Herod came to the same conclusion and sent him back to us. Nothing this man has done calls for the death penalty. Hebrews 4;15 This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same temptations we do, yet he did not sin.
· 3) miraculous life=Gospel of John=2=water to wine, healing of nobleman's son, healing of lame man in 5, multiplication of loaves in 6, 9 the healing of the blind man,11= resurrection/resuccitation of Lazarus, no other religious leader in the past has accomplished these kinds of miracles, esp. w/ the proof we have for them.
· The truth of Christianity rests on the truth & truthfulness of Jesus Christ. Who is He? What did He say about Himself? What separates Jesus from a host of others such as Buddha, Confucius, Hare Krishna, and the Dali Lamma? Answers to these questions make a difference not only when one chooses a worldview, but to whom ultimate allegiance & worship is to be rendered. Therefore, based on the premise that the biblical records are presenting a reliable portrait of Jesus Christ, we will seek to discover "who" Jesus claimed to be while at the same time placing emphasis on rationality(non-contradictory)of the incarnation of the Son of God.
· Regarding the divine nature of Jesus, this is the very characteristic that separates Him from the rest of religious leaders; Buddah, Mohammed, Joseph Smith and the rest.
· None of them either claimed to be divine or demonstrated being divine. This makes Christianity unique, this is the very thing that caused Christianity to rise above the pagan religions of the first, second, and third century. While they were still dealing w/ mythological content, we were dealing w/ history.

· What are the Critics saying about Christ?
· Bertrand Russell(1872-1970) was an English logician and philosopher. He called Jesus cruel & inhumane for teaching the doctrine of hell & eternal punishment. This quote from Him is very indicative of what many people cross the country and in the world believe about Jesus," When I tell you why I am not a CHristian I have to tell you two different things: first, why I do not believe in God & immortality; and secondly, why I do not think that Christ was the best & wisest of all men, although I grant him a very high degree of moral goodness. I do not believe that one can grant the superlative(passsing all others in quality)wisdom or the superlative goodness of Christ as depicted in the gospels.
· So he's denying what the gospels say; he's saying he was a good man but He's not wise like God is in any sense of the Word. This mentality is very prevalent, the Jesus Seminar/higher critics and secular humanism of people you talk to on the street hold to it as well.
· Others say:
· Jesus was a good man but not sinless (Secular Humanism) He tried to change people, He helped the poor and tried to help those in the Middle East but He's not God. They always stop short of the divine question. In fact humanism says that God is out-moded/a thing of the past because today man is modernistic. We have science/technology so, get rid of the deity question. See the communist manifesto for that. He was a wise man but not God(unusual wise person).
· You can have the Christ consciousness like Confucius and Krishna had, this is the tennant of the New Age movement.
· He never claimed to be the Son of God (Arianism/Jehovah's Witnesses). These guys will take you through all kinds of scriptures and show you how He talked of Himself as being a man. Ultimately they don't take you to the divine passages. (Islam) He couldn't be God because God can't have a Son. They think God had a son in a procreative/biological way. We're talking about a relationship that denotes a member of the Godhead; Father, Son, Holy Spirit, which is a functionality.
· Some say He should be categorized w/ the rest of those who claimed to be God( Rev. Moon, David Koresh, Charles Manson who claimed to be Messiah or God in some way, we would call these people insane). Most of them are in prison, did prison, or are dead. Manson's in prison and Moon has served prison.
· Notice the scriptures that Paul gives, the first is 2 Cor. 11;4 For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him. What Paul is saying is that the Corinthian church was submitting to doctrines and teachings that were not scripturally sound. There's all these different doctrines of Jesus coming along and you're just buying whichever one comes along. He warns us here against another Jesus, we need to know the true Jesus.
· Galatians 1; 8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. He goes on in ;9 repeating the phrase. Where's the gospel in scripture? 1 Corinthians 15;1-10, John 3;16. Christ came, died on the cross, buried and raised and revealed Himself to many and ascended to the right hand of the Father=the essential gospel message. He will forgive sins.
· Why is it important?
· 1. If Jesus is not God there are several implications that follow: He's a liar.
· A. He said He was the only way to salvation, Jn. 14;6/Acts 4=there's no other name by which we must be saved.
· Man has a moral obligation to worship & obey. So if He demands worship and He is God, we ought to render to Him ultimate allegiance and obedience. If we're not rendering ultimate worship to the ultimate, we've got a problem. But if we're rendering worship to something that's not the ultimate, we also have a problem. What do you give to the person who has everything? You give Him worship. People don't understand that He wasn't just a man.
· Isaiah 44...Son of God refers to position not origin, the little Greek word for born one is never used of Him
· He's called the heir, the Lord/Curios is what translated the Hebrew word for Yahweh
· He's called the Lord of Glory, the Holy one=108 times the bible says He's the Holy One of Israel
· 44 is a very critical issue as it relates to the deity of Christ, that is, He's called the first and the last
· ;6 the word Yahweh is used twice in this verse and the redeemer is called the Yahweh of hosts=Lord Saabaoth means hosts or armies
· Because of the statement, beside me there is no God. So now I know the statment I am the first and the last, beside me there is no God is a statment of deity.
· In chapter forty-eight verse twelve=the first and the last. ;13=the creator, thru ;16 shows that He's both the sent one as well as the creator. ;17=I am the Lord God, the last twenty-seven chapters of Isaiah are critical as to who the Messiah is & His deity.
· Take this and go to Revelation chapter one and see how the bible in the NT takes these quotations & applies them directly to Yeshua/to Jesus.
· ;17 this is that vision of the resurrected Christ. You see that there's no doubt about it that He's our Lord Jesus Christ. And He makes a clear statement=I am the first and the last.
· In 2;8=first and last. And then at the end of Rev. at the last chapter ;13, if it's the first and last letter of the Greek alphabet, and He's called the Word, the revelation from God, then everything there is to be said, He is. He's the first word and the last word. He's all there is that God has ever said. The statement is really dealing w/ the finality of God's revelation, that Jesus is God in human flesh, a final revelation that's complete & sufficient for all the fullness of God dwelled in Him in bodily form. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, now if you put a period there, you don't have a strong OT connection, although some certainly powerful statements but, the first and the last gives that Isaiah 44 and 48 connection.
· Now notice ;16, the point of using this verse is to confirm that the person talking is in fact, Yeshua/Jesus. Now we've already mentioned that in Isa. 44;6 He's called the Lord of Hosts/the Redeemer/Yahweh, not adonai=earthly lord, it's Yahweh, the name of our God.
· It's been said that there are several arguments to prove the deity of Christ, His names are just one of them. We have His attributes and His abilities. Technically speaking, divine attributes are not possessed by man. We point this out because you'll get some books in a Christian bookstore and it will talk about the attributes of God & they will say some of the attributes are love, righteous, faithful, while we aren't what God is, yet we manifest some of the characteristics. When you speak strictly of the attributes of God, you speak of what man is not and cannot be. Some tv evangelists have claimed to be God, it's a miracle God didn't strike them dead. It's important to ask yourself as you look @ these attributes to ask yourself if these belong to Jesus Christ?
· God is eternal, man is not; Isa. 9;6=everlasting Father. Now a lot of people who are a part of the Jesus only group, who believe that Jesus and the Father are one and the same, use this verse to say that Isa. 9;6 calls Him the Father. No, what it means is that He's the Father of the Ages, what it means is He's the source controlling all of time, it's dealing w/ His providential role, it's not saying He's the Father. 9;6 describes Him as being eternal.
· In 1 John 5;11=eternal life is the possession of JC, He is eternal.
· Now a second attribute of God that's unlike man is that He's unchangeable. Malachi 3;6=6 For I am the Lord(Yahweh), I change not; Now from man's perspective, it might look like He changed. It says at the time of the flood, it says that the Lord repented when He saw the wickedness of man. He hasn't changed, because one of His principles is to judge sin. The Lord changed His mind, we think, because man sinned, no He knew man would sin, the change of mind was in accord w/ the change of the course of action God will take. Up until that time, He's patient. At that time, He's no longer patient, but brings the judgment & righteously so. So His character doesn't change. What's interesting in that passage that if the bible didn't say that, & that He didn't judge the world, then we could argue that He does change. But His character is always consistent w/ Himself. Hebrews 1;8-12 He is unchangeable. In some of your theological books that you might read, this is usually called immutability. Chapter 13, and Hebrews is one of the best books to read on the person & work of JC, esp. from a Jewish point of view. 13;8 This makes a connection because here, at the last chapter, he deals w/ the immutability of the Lord, which he mentioned in the first chapter. The unchangeable Christ.
· Now some of the next three attributes are what people fight over in the Christian world at the time of our Lord becoming man. There are a lot of good men that are discussing these things. The root question here is when Jesus became a man, what characteristics of His divine attributes did He not have? Historic Christianity teaches that He never stopped being God. All during His earthly ministry when He willing humbled Himself as a man, He was still God in human flesh. All the fullness of God dwelt in Him. Watch very carefully the tricky wording of some bible teachers today that indicate the fullness of God didn't occur until the ressurection. Some of the word of faith teachers teach that Jesus became a sinner, descended into hell, was tortured, punished, & became born again & then became the fullness of God in human flesh & we can do the same through the new birth. Ken Hagin/Ken Copeland/and Fred Price. And many of the things they say look/sound good but that's pure heresy. He never stopped being God ever. Phillipians 2;5-11 is the key passage on the Kenosis(emptying) of Christ, what we believe He did is He layed aside the exercise of His divine attributes. It didn't mean that He permanently did it because on certain occasions He clearly revealed it. It only took one look in the garden of Gethsemene and the entire priestly soldiers fell over backwards like dominos. He said to a fig tree be withered and it was. During a storm on the Sea of Gallilee, He rebuked it the bible said, the same word for rebuking a demon, and immediately the sea was calm, it wasn't gradual. Now the disciples who were expert fishermen, knew those winds didn't just subside, and worshipped Him saying truly you are the Son of God.
· Omnipresence is our next one. How is Jesus omnipresent when He had a physical body located in the land of Israel, He never really went more than 200 mi. from His home, how can He be omnipresent? At the same time that He walked the hills of Judea, He was filling the universe w/ His presence. And there's where we have a total inability from the human perspective to understand. In Matthew 18;20=two or three are gathered=what do they mean? According to the law in Deuteronomy in order for a word of which you say is to be established, there needs to be two or three witnesses to confirm it. What He's saying is whenever two or three are gathered together in My name to witness what that brother says, I'm there in the midst of it/the authority of Christ is there. In Chapter 28, after His resurrection, He makes this statement; ;20 I am w/ you alway, even unto the end of the world. Do you believe the Lord Jesus is with you right now? Col. 3;11=Christ is all(everything that you'd possibly need in Christianity), and in all=meaning in every person/His omnipresence. We speak about Jesus coming into your heart. According to John 14, not only does Jesus come, but also the Holy Spirit and the Father. Jesus said We'll all abide in you. We'll make our abode in you. When you honor the Son you honor the Father. It's interesting in Revelation at the church of Laodicea, Christ is on the outside of the door of the church knocking. Saying if any man/singular, apparently the church gets so bad in the end time, that Jesus has been pushed outside and His invitation is to anyone in there. According to Revelation 12, satan won't be kicked out until the tribulation period. He's omnipresent, right now @ the throne of God in the physical body which He was resurrected in.
· He's also omniscient. Some good bible teachers say that while He was on earth He didn't know. Why do they say this? For one passage alone," No man knows the day nor the hour, neither the angels nor the Son of man". Let me ask you a question, is there anything that God knows that He chooses not to know? Our sin! He knows them but He chooses not to remember them. So Jesus could choose not to remember the day of His return, while on earth, so He could relate to His disciples. Remember that in Col. 2;3 it says that in Him are hid all the treasures of wisdom & knowledge. The bible says that Jesus grew in wisdom & knowledge in favor w/ God & man. Well then He didn't know everything, did He? Begin @ John 2;3-5 , by the way the word commit and the word believe in the previous verse are exactly the same, He knew what was in man=omniscience. In Mark 2 Jesus heals this paralytic man, in ;6 there were scribes reasoning in their hearts and in ;8 He knows what they're thinking.
· He's not only omniscient but, omnipotent, there isn't anything He can't do. God can do anything consistent w/ His nature. He's not going to alter who He is in order to please our fanciful ideas. Phillipians 3 spe77aks about His power to give us a resurrected body like His. 3;20-21= He is able even to subdue all things unto himself. JW's teach that He can't do that, only the Father does & then eventually He surrenders all things to the Father, who's the only one that can do that. But yet here's a clear verse saying He can and will do that. Our Lord is able to do all things unto Himself. In Rev. 1;8=the almighty/the omnipotent one, there isn't anything He cannot do. One of the things that makes God Himself and not man is that He's perfect. Totally complete & sufficient in Himself needing nothing. Col. 1;19=all the fullness dwell. In the Gr. text Father is not written=italics. All the fullness was pleased to dwell in Him. 2;9-10, all Christians are filled up in Him. When you have Jesus, that's all you need. Are sufficiency is of the Lord. You don't need pastors, the church has grown up without them. As well as bibles, no printing press unitl 1450 A.D. That's why we can do church anywhere.
· He's incomprhensible , He's past finding out. He's greater than our knowledge can discern. In Isa. 9;6 it says His name shall be called Wonderful, the Heb. word=incomprehensible/too difficult to understand. It's important for us to understand this nature of God. We'll be learning about Him throughout all eternity. Isa. 55;8-9 He's giving us a comparison there. In church history there's two doctrines about God that kind of fight each other, you need a balance there. There's what we call the transcendence of God=how great He is. And the other is the emmanence of God=how He's identified w/ that which He's created. He's transcendant=greater than anyone can possibly fathom, & yet He's small enough to live within my heart. And those two battle. Now sometimes when you and I in wanting to pray to God, we want to know that He's as close as our breath & our friend, He's the friend that sticks closer than a brother. So the compassionate, High Priest that He is, comforts us when we're really going through hard times as though He's right there in the room. But we have to keep in mind the emmanence of God because if we keep focusing on how He's like me, it will confuse you as to who He really is. He's also the transcendent God=greater than anything I could ever imagine. The name it and claim it movement is an offense to the transcendence of God. The greatness of God is what I need so I don't lay my total confidence upon myself. Romans 11 says He's way past finding out.
· Misunderstanding the title," Son of Man"
· Excerpts from "the Case for Christ"=Lee Strobel
· "Karen Armostrong, the former nun who wrote the best-seller A History of God, said it seems that the term "Son of Man"simply stressed the weakness and mortality of the human condition, so by using it, Jesus was merely emphasizing that He was a frail human being who would one day suffer and die." If that's true, that doesn't sound like much of a claim to deity."
· Contrary to popular belief, "Son of Man" does not primarily refer to Jesus' humanity. Instead it's a direct allusion to Daniel 7;13-14=13 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.
· 14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.
· So look at what Jesus is doing by applying the term 'Son of Man' to himself, he continued. This is someone who approaches God himself in his heavenly throne room and is given universal authority and dominion. That makes 'Son of Man' a title of great exaltation, not of mere humanity."
· The man sharing w/ Lee Strobel is Dr. Craig Blomberg, author of The Historical Reliability of the Gospels. He's considered widely to be one of the country's foremost authorities on the biographies of Jesus=the four gospels.
· "Later I came upon a comment by another scholar whom I would soon interview for this book, Wiliam Lane Craig, who has made a similar observation. "Son of Man" is often thought to indicate the humanity of Jesus, just as the reflew expression "Son of God" indicates His divinity. In fact, just the opposite is true. The Son of Man was a divine figure in the Old Testament book of Daniel who would come at the end of the world to judge mankind and rule forever. Thus, the claim to be the Son of Man could in effect be a claim to divinity.

Christian Apologetics Class #2 Arguments for Creation over Evolution

2008-07-20T20:56:00.000-07:00

Christian Apologetics Class #2 Arguments for Creation over Evolution

· The Hebrew word Bara is used of God's operation of the world only rarely, as in: Ps. 104;30, Amos 4;13, Gen. 1;1,21, 27, 2;3-4, 5;1-2, 6;7, Deut. 4;32, Ps. 89;11, 12, 148;5, Isaiah 40;26, 42;5, 43;1, 7, 45;8, 12, and Malachi 2;10.
· The Greek word ktisis refers to creation in Mk. 10;6, 13;19, Rom. 1;20, 1 Cor. 11;9, Eph. 3;9, Col. 1;16, 1 Tim. 4;3, and Revelation 3;14, 4;11, and 10;6.
· God's Ongoing Creation: Some uses of bara & ktisis do refer to God's continuing work or providence. God did not cease to relate to the world he had created. He continually sustains it's very existence.
· Psalm 104;30=30 Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth.Here create(bara) is used, not of the initial generation of life, but of it's continual regeneration. The context speaks of God causing "the grass to grow for the cattle, and plants for the man to cultivate" in ;14=14 He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth; It is He who in ;10 You make the springs pour water into ravines, so streams gush down from the mountains. And in ;20 0 You send the darkness, and it becomes night, when all the forest animals prowl about. It is God who continually provides food for all living things(v.27-28)27 Every one of these depends on you to give them their food as they need it.
· 28 When you supply it, they gather it. You open your hand to feed them. So we see the repeated emphasis on God's preservation of his world.
· Amos 4;13=13 For, lo, he that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought, that maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth, The LORD, The God of hosts, is his name. Bara here seems to be used of God's work in his creation, not simply of his original work of creation. The word maketh which is often used interchangeably w/ the word create (cf. Gen. 1;26, 27, 2;18) is used in other texts to describe God's continual providence.
· Other descriptions ; In numerous ways, the Bible presents God at work. In addition to creating & making, he is "doing" and "causing" the operations of nature. He sustains it (Heb. 1;3), holds it together (Col. 1;17), causes it to have being (Rev. 4;11), produces life in it Ps. 104;14. He is the continual cause of it's existence. There would be no reality of creation, past or present, were it not for God.
· Comparing Creation and Providence. God's dual work of creating & preserving the world are often presented in the same passage, even the same verse. Notice these revealing contrasts.
· God produces and yet produces. Genesis 1;1 says God created the heavens and the earth and later he is at work through the land producing vegetation in ;11 11 Then God said, "Let the land burst forth with every sort of grass and seed-bearing plant. And let there be trees that grow seed-bearing fruit. The seeds will then produce the kinds of plants and trees from which they came." And so it was. The first was an act of origin; the second was one of operation. Both are the work of God.
· God rested and yet is at work. Genesis 2;3 declares that God rested from his original work of creating. But Jesus affirmed that God is always at work in John 5;17.
· God laid foundations of earth and yet is making it productive. Ps. 104;5 declares that God set the earth on it's foundations. A few verses later God is bringing forth food from the earth in ;14. The first is a work of originating, the second of operating. God does both.
· God brought the world into being and yet keeps it in being. In Acts 17;24 the scriptures teach that God made the world. A couple of verses later it says in him we live and move and have our being, in ;28. God is both the past cause of its becoming and also the present cause of it's being.

Scriptures already shown declare that God's acts are necessary both for the world coming to be as well as for it continuing to be. There are several ways this may be stated that highlight nuances of the distinction:
· God brought the universe from nothing, and he keeps it from returning to nothing.
· God is the beginning cause and conserving cause of all that exists.
· God was active in life's production, and he is active in it's reproduction.
· God was operative in the generating of the world, and he actively governs it. Providence refers most specifically to God's governance of all that exists and occurs.
· God was involved in making the universe, and he is involved in caring for it.
· God is responsible for originating and operating the cosmos.

· Scientific Importance: Until after the lifetime of Darwin, the developers of modern science were creatonists, in that they believed in the supernatural origin of the universe & of life. Their number includes:
· Johann Kepler(1571-1630), celestial mechanics, physical astronomy
· Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), hydrostatics
· Robert Boyle(1627-1691) chemistry, gas dynamics
· Nicholas Steno(1638-1687) stratigraphy
· Isaac Newton(1642-1727), calculus, dynamics
· Michael Faraday(1791-1867), field theory
· Charles Babbage(1792-1871), computer science
· Louis Agassiz(1807-1873), glacial geology, ichthyology
· James Simpson(1811-1870), gynecology
· Gregor Mendel(1822-1884), genetics
· Louis Pasteur(1822-1895), bacteriology
· William Kelvin(1824-1907), energetics, thermodynamics
· Joseph Lister(1827-1912), antiseptic surgery
· James Clerk Maxwell(1831-1879), electrodynamics, statistical thermodynamics
· William Ramsay(1852-1916), isotopic chemistry

· In addition to these founders of scientific and mathematical fields were their forerunners, who also held to supernatural creation. Their number included Roger Bacon(1220-1292), Nicolaus Copernicus(1473-1543), and Galileo Galilei(1564-1642).

The Turn to Naturalism. After Darwin(1809-1882) published On the Origin of Species in 1859, the scene changed radically.

Apologetics Class #1 Arguments for the Existence of God

2008-07-20T20:54:00.000-07:00

Apologetics Class #1 Arguments for the Existence of God

· Apologetics can be defined as the reason for the hope that lies within us.
· 15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:1 Peter 3;15

· Apologetics may be simply defined as the defense of the Christian faith. The simplicity of this definition, however, masks the complexity of the problem of defining apologetics. It turns out that a diversity of approaches has been taken to defining the meaning, scope, and purpose of apologetics.
· There are differing kinds of apologetics systems such as Classical Apologetics, Evidential Apologetics, Experiential Apologetics, Historical Apologetics, and Presuppositional Apologetics.
· Our purposes are not to learn theory but some different approaches for defending the Christian faith.
· For example: if a God exists, miracles are possible, indeed the greatest miracle of all, creation, is possible.
· Confirmed historical evidence substantiates the truth. The New Testament documents are shown to be historically reliable.
· Classical apologists turn to evidences showing that God has revealed himself in the Bible and incarnated himself in Jesus.
· Evidentialists, on the other hand, think the case for Christianity can be most effectively presented using evidences for creation, for the historicity of Jesus and especially his resurrection, and other evidences in one ‘cumulative case’ for Christianity.
· Some Christians appeal primarily, if not exclusively, to experience as evidence for the Christian faith. Some appeal to religious experience in general. Others to special religious experiences, mystical experiences & others identify what they believe are particularly supernatural conversion experiences.
· Historical apologists believe that the truth of Christianity, including the existence of God, can be proven from the historical evidence alone. The earliest apologists, including "Tertulian, Justin Martyr, Clement of Alexandria, and Origen", defended the historicity of Christianity.
· Cosmological Argument for the existence of God is the argument from cause & effect. As everything that exists must have an adequate cause, so an all-powerful and intelligent God is an adequate cause to explain the universe. The scripture identifies that "cause" as the creative power of God(Gen. 1;1; Rom. 1;19,20 & Ps. 94;9)
· Teleological Argument for the Existence of God says God is proven by the order & useful arrangement in the universe. The orderly world in which we live clearly demonstrates that a great mind was behind it's arrangement. The scriptures identify God as that great intelligence. Primary reference is Ps. 94;9 but also Heb. 3;4.
· Ontological Argument=the word ontological comes from the root "being" and is a deductive arugment that only indicates the probable existence of God. It reasons that the idea of a perfect and infinite Being cannot be derived from a finite & imperfect human being. Therefore, a perfect & infinite Being who exists must have placed the idea in mankind. Primary reference is Heb. 3;4 & Rom. 2;15.
· Anthropological Argument for the existence of God says that the existence of man as a moral and intellectual being is an argument for the existence of a moral & intelligent being called God. This is true because man was created in the image & likeness of God(Gen. 1;26), and even after the Fall he has the law of God written in his heart(Rom. 2;15). Application: So today, Christians ought to be careful to reflect the character of God in their lives & not become a stumbling block to the gospel.
· Likewise, William Lane Craig has developed the cosmological and teleological proofs into complex arguments combining philosophical reasoning with scientific evidence. Craig is perhaps best known for his articulation of the kalâm cosmological argument, a philosophical proof for God’s existence based on the premise that the universe cannot exist without a beginning.
· For our purposes tonight, I want us to understand that a person's worldview/belief system/spiritual belief provides answers for four categories: Origin, Meaning, Morality, and Destiny.
· We'll be discussing at least one example of all four this evening.
· Let's begin w/worldview subject #1- Origin: God makes sense of the origin of the universe;Typically atheists have said that the universe is eternal.
· Discoveries in astronomy & astro-physics have rendered that theory less likely.
· Evolutionary theory presents the big-bang creation scenario w/ the idea that nothing existed prior to big-bang.
· So the question lends itself to ask how can something come from nothing. It's impossible and that points itself to a cause that is a force or a being that exists outside of our natural world, beyond the universe, that brought the universe into being.
· The power would have to be that which is outside of time, space, therefore being immaterial, changeless, & enormously powerful. These qualities are already some of the central attributes of what believers ascribe to God.
· 2) God makes sense out of the complex order in the universe. It's been shown that there had to be 50 constants/physical quantities given in the big-bang that if they were altered in one part to 100,000,000 x 3, the universe could not have permitted the existence of life.
· The ratio between the weak force & the gravitational force has to be a certain proportion in comparison to the ratio of the mass of the neutron & the electron, for example.
· The odds against a life permitting universe are too numerous to be calculated.
· It makes more sense to say that the universe exists as the result of intelligent design, w/ the source of the origin not being an impersonal force, but a personal, intelligent creator, God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we cannot have come here by accident.
· Let's continue w/ worldview subject #2-Meaning:

Complaints or Contentment?
Gregory Koukl
Does God owe us a perfect world? Your answer to that question will determine your ability to be content in this life. Greg discusses how two different responses to the untimely death of a teenager reveals two contrasting views prevalent the Christian world today...and which of them more closely reflects the biblical perspective.

· Some of you might have heard of a tragedy here on the West Coast recently. A teenager snow-boarding in the Angeles Crest Mountains was lost for ten days. When they found Jeff Thornton over a week ago he was alive--shaken and frostbitten, some broken bones, but alive--and apparently in good shape. It was a great victory, front page news. Search parties had tracked him in the snow over difficult terrain and finally found him. They got him to the hospital and all seemed well. A week later, though, Jeff Thornton was dead. Thornton was from a small, religious farm community here in California named Brawley. While the boy was lost, the town prayed, as is often the case when tragedy strikes. By the way, have you noticed that nobody ever raises any questions about separation of church and state in cases like these? Classrooms are filled with prayer when personal tragedy strikes with no hint of impropriety. You'll even see appeals to pray on the evening news. "Please pray," news anchors say, or "Our prayers are with you." This happens with every major catastrophe we've faced as a country. It's interesting that nobody balks at this. In this particular case, the community was alive with prayer. Sure enough, the prayers were answered when the young boy was found. But then there was a turn-around. A week or so later, as a result of complications of gangrene, frostbite, exposure, shock, and broken bones, the young man died. [As an aside, isn't it interesting that when a young person dies like this we use the term "untimely" to describe it? It was an "untimely" death at an "untimely" age. We use the word because we believe the person died before his time. To put it more precisely, he died before his appointed time. Isn't this a tacit admission that their life had purpose, a purpose that was beyond what that individual intended--a grander purpose, a transcendent purpose which was not fulfilled because he was cut down early in life? Responses like this are spontaneous, bearing testimony to something we know deep down inside--there is a God, and He has established a purpose for each individual, a purpose that is not fulfilled when someone is struck down "before his time."] This morning I read the headlines in the LA Times : "Stunned Town Mourns Snow-Boarder's Death." Fifteen hundred people attended the memorial service for Jeff that was held at the high school. The main thing that struck me about this account was the different ways people responded to this tragedy. Some were thankful to God that they had been given ten extra days with Jeff Thornton. Others were angry at God because He gave the boy back just to take him away again. God was either gracious or cruel, depending on who you asked. His mother, choking back the tears, thanked her son's friends for their prayers and thanked the members of the search-and-rescue team that refused to give up the search. Then she told the crowd, "Imagine my joy when my baby was found alive. We shared precious moments, but I didn't know those moments wouldn't last. I want to thank God for giving me back my son, if just for a short time." The pastor, Reverend Scott Peterson, agreed: "Through the grace of God, the prayers of his friends, and the hard work of the search-and-rescue team, Jeff was brought back alive to his mother." Tuesday night at a private service, members of the football team other students reflected on the death of their friend, Jeff Thornton. One 15-year-old coed had a different take on the tragedy. "It's just not fair. Not fair! That God gave him back to us and then took him away again. A lot of kids don't understand it at all." Isn't it interesting, the contrast here? Each response represents two fundamentally different views of God's role in the world. Both had the boy for just a short period of time, returned to them back from the dead, as it were. Jeff's mother thanked God for giving her son back to her for ten more days. The 15-year-old coed said God was unfair to give Jeff back for a short time and then take him home again. These two contrasting responses show us two different expectations about God. Maybe the young lady's response was just a function of grief. I don't know for sure, but I suspect it goes much deeper than that. Could the co-ed's grief have been greater than Jeff's mom's? Something else is going on. This 15-year-old student seemed to have the view that I hear echoed even by what many consider to be mature Christians. When hard times hit they say, "What happened? Why did God allow this?" They are not just expressing emotion or grief. They are genuinely stunned that God would allow evil to touch their lives like this. God hasn't kept His part of the bargain. Each reaction betrays a particular view of God. One view is that God aids us as we maneuver through the contingencies of a fallen world. When He helps us as we navigate through life we thank Him for His grace. We consider anything God might do on our behalf an added benefit to us--a gracious, unmerited favor. Jeff Thornton's mom was like this. Though her son was eventually going to die, the fact that he was able to spend a week with his family-- talking with his mother, sharing his last moments with his friends-- was seen by her as a gift of God, a special work of grace in the midst of tragedy. The second view--the co-ed's--is that God owes us something like a perfect world. We have a divine right to happiness, fulfillment, and prosperity. If we don't get them, God has not fulfilled His end of the bargain. If God lets us have something good for a moment and then takes it away, it's "not fair" because, on this view, we deserved the good thing to begin with. We deserved the best. We deserve heaven on earth, and we've been cheated. A lot of Christians think this way. It's one of the serious flaws of the so-called faith/prosperity movement. They're looking for heaven's rewards and heaven's perfection right here on earth. They're expecting God to protect them, as a divine obligation, from the contingencies of living in a fallen world. When God gives them something wonderful, that's par for the course. When everything is going smoothly, that's the way it ought to be. It's owed them. People like this are not excessively thankful for things, and they complain when they don't get what they want. Two completely different ways of viewing things. I guess you can guess which one I think is biblical. It's the first one. This is why we're not just encouraged but commanded to give thanks in all things. It emphasizes the fact that everything we have, "every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of lights, in whom there is no variation or shifting shadow." (James 1:17) This is why, in humility, we give thanks for whatever joys we are given in this fallen world. It explains why we give thanks when we get a son back before his ultimate homecoming-- if only for a couple of days-- instead of blaming God for not letting him stay longer.

· Continuing on, our #3 worldview category is Morality: (OMV)=Objective Moral Values
· An opening statment could be; God makes sense out of objective moral values in the world. If God does not exist, then it seems that objective moral values don't exist. Objective moral values=are true whether everyone believes them or not.
· For example, if the Nazis had won WWII & either exterminated or brain washed anybody that disagreed w/ them, anti-Semiticism would still be objectively wrong, even if the Nazis convinced everybody it was right.
· I think one of the best arguments for the existence of God is the presence of evil in the world. One way I can demonstrate that is to ask the non-Christian that raises this question, do you believe there is evil in the world? They must believe it because that's what prompts the question they are raising. Then I ask them to tell me, as a non-Christian, where it comes from. Secondly, tell me where good came from. Thirdly, tell me how you distinguish between good and evil. Those are very thorny problems of which the Christian only has to answer one, but the non-Christian has to answer three.
· If God doesn't exist, then many OMV's don't exist. The common evolutionary atheist will tell you that moral values are just the by-products of Socio-biological evolution/the means by which the selfish gene propagates itself or else they're simply expressions of personal taste, like saying," I like broccoli" or "the news".
· So then we should bring up examples like, what if someone likes killing innocent people or rape? So if God doesn't exist, it's realistic that there are no OMV's, only subjective ones.
· Dr. Ravi Zacharias said, in his book,"the Real Face of Atheism", in every society, no matter what the cultural underpinnings, there is a code of "oughtness". While the specifics vary from culture to culture, in each case, those specifics are rooted in a prior set of beliefs as to what ought to be. One common agreement emerges: That wherever one finds an "oughtness", it is always linked together w/ a believed purpose in life. Purpose and oughtness are helplessly bound, and any effort to sever them meets w/ individual discord & societal disruption. The result is anarchy.
· Consider a watch. Any description of its goodness or badness is bound up w/ what a watch is supposed to do. The story is an old one, but the point it makes is worthy of repitition. On his way to work every day, a man walked past a clockmaker's store. He would ritualistically stop outside & synchronize his watch w/ the clock that stood in the window of the clockmaker's shop. Observing this routine, the clockmaker one day struck up a conversation w/ the man & asked him what kind of work he did. The man timidly confessed that he worked as the timekeeper at the nearby factory & that his malfunctioning watch necessitated daily readjustment. Since it was his job to ring the closing bell every day @ 4 pm, he synchronized his watch w/ the clock every morning to guarantee precision.
· The clockmaker, even more embarassed than the timekeeper, said," I hate to tell you this, but my clock doesn't work very well either, and I have been adjusting it to the bell that I hear every afternoon from the factory @ 4 pm! How does he know the right time when the only recourse is to a poorly functioning watch that is in turn corrected by a faulty clock? What happens to a society that does not know which way to turn to gain an understanding of right & wrong?
· There's no reason to deny that OMV's do exist. Somethings like torturing innocent people, child abuse, rape, & murder are objectively wrong. While love, sacrifice, equality are objectively good. If an atheist says he doesn't believe in God, ask him," do you think the inquisition was a good thing? That it's morally neutral to persecute people because of their religious beliefs & then burn them at the stake? To wage war among nations because of religious prejudice?" People will intuitively recognize that, if they're being honest w/you. Many times it takes some creative listening to find out what the real issue is w/ an individual, as well as some real praying and humbly asking the HS to intercede on their behalf.
· Worldview #4 is are final subject for this evening, Destiny:

· Though you forget the way to the Temple, There is one who remembers the way to your door; Life you may evade, but death you shall not, You shall not deny the stranger. T.S. Eliot
· To be, or not to be--that is the question; ...To die, to sleep; To sleep, perchance to dream. Ay, there's the rub; For in that sleep of death what dreams may come, When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pause. William Shakespeare, Hamlet

· The subject of death has been addressed by a majority of the great thinkers because it is the last "enemy" & the one common experience we're all forced to face. It is the great human equalizer.
· Any worldview that does not know the origin of human beings and cannot give our reason for being, certainly must remain silent on our destiny, or at best, argue for nothingness.
Hitler and Mother Teresa
Gregory Koukl
What kind of God would allow a Hitler to go to heaven if he believed in Jesus and a Mother Teresa to go to hell if she didn't?

"You're saying that Hitler and Mother Teresa would both suffer the same fate before God if they didn't believe in Jesus?" The words echoed over the radio airwaves as the host of "Religion on the Line" on ABC's L.A. affiliate station patiently waited for me to answer. I knew the question was coming, but I had no tidy theological retort that would put the ball back into his court. Someone once said that if you word the question right, you can win any debate. The question that evening was a classic case in point. The host might as well have asked, "Do you still beat your wife?" Simply answering "yes" or "no" wouldn't do. At the root of this discussion is the issue of Jesus as the only way to salvation. It is one of the biggest stumbling blocks of Christianity to those who are sincerely interested in leading moral lives and working hard to mitigate the impact of evil in the world. To make Jesus the sole issue of salvation seems to ignore the obvious difference between people of conscience and others who are entirely without scruples. Does that make sense? Radical Surgery Required Let me give an analogy that may add perspective. All things being equal, it's good to practice healthy living. People who eat their vegetables, get proper rest, exercise sensibly, and don't smoke or drink to excess, generally reap the benefits of longevity and vitality. Those who don't, get sick. But what if all things aren't equal? What if there's a hidden element, a terminal disease quietly sucking life out of the body? Healthy living does nothing to avert the underlying disease. In that case, the undisciplined junk food addict and the diligent athlete suffer the same fate. The silent tumor breaks its silence; the grave claims them both. There's a parallel to this in the spiritual realm. On the one hand, it's good to live righteously. Holy living contributes to spiritual health. Those who continually practice sin eventually suffer its consequences. There's another side to the equation, however, a crucial element too often ignored. Our most valiant attempts at goodness are met with failure because a deep-seated malignancy sucks the life from our efforts. No matter how hard we try, each of us is dying from a spiritual disease no amount of righteous living can heal. The sad truth is this: Ultimately, no person lives completely right. Sure, they're capable of doing good things, sometimes phenomenal things. Even a dying patient can have healthy eating habits. But good works, like good meals, cannot restore vitality to a diseased patient; they can only maintain it. Restoration must come through surgery. At first glance, it seems unfair that God wouldn't consider all the good we've done. Think about it, though. When was the last time you received a letter from the D.A. congratulating you for not holding up a bank or shooting your neighbor? Obedience to the law is expected. A year of good behavior doesn't cancel out a year of lawbreaking, evening up the record. Every person, from the greatest to the least, has broken God's law. That makes them guilty, and guilty people must seek God's surgery: forgiveness. Agreed, some need more forgiveness than others--sometimes much more, just as a disease can ravage one body more violently than another. But every person is fatally stricken, nonetheless. Ever Heard of the Ten Commandments? Have you read the Ten Commandments recently? Take a quick inventory by asking yourself these questions. Have you ever given allegiance to anything else over God in your life or used anything as an object of worship or veneration? Have you ever used God's name in a vain or vulgar fashion? Have you worshipped God on a regular basis? Have you even once disobeyed or dishonored your parents? Have you murdered anyone, or even had harsh thoughts about someone (see Matthew 5:22)? Have you had sex with someone other than your spouse, or even thought about it (see Matthew 5:28)? Have you taken something that wasn't yours? Have you lied? Have you simply wanted something that wasn't yours? Sound tough? It is. This is God's Law. These are God's requirements. Even in grammar school, 60% is a flunking grade, yet who among us has not violated each of these commandments many times? Reducing the Ten Commandments to only two doesn't help. Jesus said, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind," and "You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets" (Matthew 22:37-40). Even the best of us violate these two laws daily. Whenever you're tempted to trust in your own ability to please God, take a good look at the standard, God's Law, then look at your own score card. To use Paul's words, each of us is "shut up under sin" (Gal. 3:22). Our mouths have been closed, and we all have become accountable to God (Romans 3:19). Saved by our own goodness? The Law gives us no hope. Try this calculation. If you sinned only ten times a day from your tenth birthday to your sixtieth--and keep in mind we're not just talking about rape, pillage, and murder, but the full range of human moral failing, including heart attitudes and motives--what would your rap sheet look like? You would have amassed 182,500 infractions of the law. What judge in his right mind would turn you loose with a record like that? Ghandi vs. Al Capone The worst of us tend to whitewash our own contribution to evil. Al Capone said, "I have spent the best years of my life giving people the lighter pleasures, helping them have a good time, and all I get is abuse, the existence of a hunted man." [1] By contrast, Ghandi--a man utterly committed to a life of virtue--was not so optimistic. Towards the end of his life he lamented, "It is an unbroken torture to me that I am still so far from him whom I know governs every breath of my life and whose offspring I am. I know it is because of the evil passions within me that keep me so far from him; yet I can't get away from them." C.S. Lewis captured this contrast with these words: "When a man is getting better he understands more and more clearly the evil that is still left in him. When a man is getting worse, he understands his own badness less and less....Good people know about both good and evil: bad people do not know about either." [2] If Lewis is right, then the One who is most holy sees sin most clearly. The One who is perfectly righteous understands the full tragedy of even the most "trivial" breach of goodness. God's purity is without flaw, so He sees sin as it really is. That's why He is not so inclined to dismiss our moral imperfections with a "boys will be boys" mentality. Hitler and Mother Teresa Could Adolph Hitler and Mother Teresa suffer the same fate? No and yes. No, because they'd answer for different crimes and, as such, their judgment would be different. Just as there are degrees of sin (see John 19:11), there are degrees of punishment. Jesus said Sodom would fare better than Capernaum in the day of judgment (Matthew 11:24), though each would be condemned. Yes, because each person must ultimately answer for his own sins--Hitler for his, Mother Teresa for hers, you and I for ours. Unless, of course, Jesus is allowed to answer for them. That is the good news: Jesus, though rich, for our sake became poor, that we through His poverty might become rich (2 Cor. 8:9). To stay alive physically, first cure the disease, then keep fit to maintain your health. To experience spiritual well-being, God must do surgery on the root problem, sin. Living righteously afterwards secures our spiritual vitality, but it can never cure our disease. Only Jesus can do that.

A Good Reason for Evil
·

James 5

2008-06-30T12:21:00.001-07:00

A call for patient endurance in light of the coming judgment.

1. (7-8) Imitate the patient endurance of the farmer.

Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.

a. Therefore be patient, brethren: James brought the issue of the ultimate judgment before us in his remarks about the ungodly rich and their destiny. Now he calls Christians (especially those enduring hardship) to patiently endure until the coming of the Lord.

b. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently: A farmer does not give up when his crop does not come to harvest immediately. He keeps on working even when the crop cannot be seen at all. Even so Christians must work hard and exercise patient endurance even when the harvest day seems far away.

c. Until it receives the early and latter rain: The pictures of the early and latter rain should be taken literally as James intends. He refers to the early rains (coming in late October or early November) which were essential to soften the ground for plowing, and to the latter rains (coming in late April or May) which were essential to the maturing of the crops shortly before harvest. There is no allegorical picture of an “early” and a “latter” outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the church.

i. The Bible does explain that there will be a significant outpouring of the Holy Spirit in these last days (Joel 2:28-29, Acts 2:17-18); but this passage from James doesn’t seem to be relevant to that outpouring.

d. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand: The soon return of Jesus requires that we have established hearts, hearts that are rooted in Jesus and His eternal resolution of all things.

e. For the coming of the Lord is at hand: There is a real sense in which the coming of the Lord was at hand in the days of James as well as our own day today. One might say that since the Ascension of Jesus, history has been brought to the brink of consummation and now runs parallel along side the edge of the brink, with the coming of the Lord . . . at hand.

2. (9) Practicing patient endurance among God’s people.

Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door!

a. Do not grumble against one another: Times of hardship can cause us to be less than loving with our Christian brothers and sisters. James reminds us that we cannot become grumblers and complainers in our hardship - lest we be condemned even in our hardship.

b. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door! Jesus comes as a Judge, not only to judge the world, but also to assess the faithfulness of Christians (2 Corinthians 5:10). In light of this, we cannot allow hardship to make us unloving towards each other.

3. (10-11) Following examples of patient endurance.

My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience. Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord; that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.

a. Take the prophets . . . as an example of suffering and patience: James reminds us that the prophets of the Old Testament endured hardship, yet practiced patient endurance. We can take them as examples.

i. Jeremiah stands out as someone who endured mistreatment with patience. He was put in the stocks (Jeremiah 20:2), thrown into prison (Jeremiah 32:2), and lowered into miry dungeon (Jeremiah 28:6), yet he persisted in his ministry.

b. You have heard of the perseverance of Job: We are reminded of Job as an example of patient endurance. His story shows both the necessity of a constant trust through times of calamity, and God’s compassionate and merciful resolution of seasons of hardship.

c. That the Lord is very compassionate and merciful: The compassion and mercy of God may seem far away in times of trial. But examples like Job encourage us to be those who, by our patient endurance, see the goodness of God in the land of the living (Psalm 27:13-14).

4. (12) An exhortation in light of the coming judgment before Jesus.

But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your “Yes,” be “Yes,” and your “No,” “No,” lest you fall into judgment.

a. Do not swear: The Jews of James’ time made distinctions between “binding oaths” and “non-binding oaths.” Oaths that did not include the name of God were considered non-binding, and to use such oaths was a way of “crossing your fingers” behind your back when telling a lie. It is these kinds of oaths that James condemns.

i. The Bible does not forbid the swearing of all oaths, only against the swearing of deceptive, unwise, or flippant oaths. On occasion, God Himself swears oaths (Luke 1:73, Hebrews 3:11, Hebrews 6:13).

b. Do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath: James again echoes the teaching of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:34-37). The need to swear or make oaths, beyond a simple and clear yes or no betrays the weakness of your word. It demonstrates that there is not enough weight in your own character to confirm your words.

c. Lest you fall into judgment: This lack of character will be exposed at the judgment seat of Christ. This motivates us all the more to prepare for that judgment by our speaking with integrity.

3. (17-18) Elijah as an example of answered prayer.

Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.

a. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours: Elijah is a model of earnest prayer that was answered by God. His effectiveness in prayer extended even to the weather! Yet, this shows that Elijah’s heart was in tune with God’s. He prayed for the rain to stop and start only because he sensed it was in the heart of God in His dealings with Israel.

b. Prayed earnestly is literally prayed with prayer. To truly pray, by definition, is to pray earnestly.

c. If Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, then we can be men with the power of prayer like him.

4. (19-20) Helping a sinning brother.

Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.

a. If anyone among you wanders from the truth: Having introduced the topics of sin and confession, James reminds us of the need to confront those who have wandered from the truth. Wanders from the truth is a good picture. Most people don’t wander deliberately - it just sort of happens. Nonetheless, it still gets them off track and possibly in danger.

b. He who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins: There is a blessing for the one who loves his brother enough to confront him, and who turns him from the error of his way. He has saved that soul from death and covered a multitude of sins.

c. James concludes with this because this is exactly what he has endeavored to do through this challenging letter - to confront those who have wandered from a living faith, endeavoring to save their souls from death, by demanding that they not only hear the word, but do it, because a living faith will have its proof.

James 5: 7-20

2008-06-30T12:21:00.000-07:00

James 5;7-20 Read ;1-6 for Review

· In James’s day there was no middle class, you were either very rich or very poor. Because of this kind of a set-up, the lower classes were usually extremely oppressed by the rich class. The rich class had control over the court systems, they could buy off the lawyers & buy off the judges, and thru bribes they had power. They had their own golden rule. He who has the gold rules.
· And because of this, the early church who were mainly slaves & of the low class, were oppressed & persecuted. And James is speaking about the godless rich people who were oppressing the poor. And one of the most beautiful things to see in scripture is that God is on the side of the oppressed, always. God is always rooting for the underdog in most cases, unless the oppression is from that peoples own fault. God is always on the side of those that are downtrodden, in fact one of the beautiful things about Messiah's reign in the Millennium is that the poor will reign and actually have a special place w/ Christ.
· Money is not bad, the love of money...You can use it for evil or good, for yourself or for the Lord or for the devil...But when a person begins to love it to the extent that he's not controlling but it's controlling him or her, then it becomes evil. When a man is under bondage and is ruled by anything, it's sin, he's not free anymore to make choices.
· J Paul Getty, one of the richest men that ever lived, while spending the last few days of his life, a newspaper came out where Getty was quoted as saying," I would give all the money I've ever earned if I could have one happy marriage. Some of us are happily married. We're richer than J Paul Getty ever was.
· Howard Hughes, the last few days of his life, spent the last few years of his life as a recluse, a very sick & miserable man. And so James is speaking to the godless rich, when he says terrible troubles are ahead of you, NKJV says you have heaped up treasure in the last days. As it comes to the very last days, as inflation continues, especially in other parts of the world, money will become valueless. And when people are really hungry, during the tribulation period before the second coming, people will be hungry & their money won't feed them.
· In Revelation it says," a measure of wheat for a penny/actually a quart of wheat for a day's wage, will be the cost during the tribulation. So when it comes down to it, you can't eat gold. Food will become valuable. If you think about it, even if the oil & energy fails us, we can still get by. There are other ways of transportation; people have done it for thousands of years.
· But when it comes to energy for our body being depleted, that's far more serious than just energy for our automobile.
· In; 3-6 James is saying in the end, God will judge the world, & the cries of those who have been defrauded are reaching the ears of God. And God will work, God will intervene. Vengeance is mine says the Lord. Deut. 32; 35.
· There was once a farmer who was an atheist, who was very proud he was an atheist, and he once wrote a newspaper in the town that he lived in and he said," I've been experimenting w/ a certain field of mine this October, he said I've ploughed my field on Sundays. I've planted all the seed on Sundays & didn't go to church while all the other farmers were in church. I plowed/I planted, I fertilized & I reaped my field on Sunday. And in the newspaper it says, what is the result? He said I have more bushels of wheat per acre than any farmer. He's very proud of the fact that he's not keeping God's land laws or Sabbath laws. The editor of the newspaper wrote back and said, God doesn't always settle His accounts in October. God has eternity to settle His accounts.
· And James is reminding his readers here in; 1-6 although they're oppressed, that God is still in eternity & they must face eternity. In these verses he clearly shows us the condition of the world.
· A call for patient endurance in light of the coming judgment.

1. (7-8) Imitate the patient endurance of the farmer.

Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.

a. Therefore is patient, brethren: James brought the issue of the ultimate judgment before us in his remarks about the ungodly rich and their destiny. Now he calls Christians (especially those enduring hardship) to patiently endure until the coming of the Lord.

b. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently: A farmer does not give up when his crop does not come to harvest immediately. He keeps on working even when the crop cannot be seen at all. Even so Christians must work hard and exercise patient endurance even when the harvest day seems far away.

c. Until it receives the early and latter rain: The pictures of the early and latter rain should be taken literally as James intends. He refers to the early rains (coming in late October or early November), which were essential to soften the ground for plowing, and to the latter rains (coming in late April or May) which were essential to the maturing of the crops shortly before harvest. There is no allegorical picture of an “early” and a “latter” outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the church.

i. The Bible does explain that there will be a significant outpouring of the Holy Spirit in these last days (Joel 2:28-29, Acts 2:17-18); but this passage from James doesn’t seem to be relevant to that outpouring.

d. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand: The soon return of Jesus requires that we have established hearts, hearts that are rooted in Jesus and His eternal resolution of all things.

e. For the coming of the Lord is at hand: There is a real sense in which the coming of the Lord was at hand in the days of James as well as our own day today. One might say that since the Ascension of Jesus, history has been brought to the brink of consummation and now runs parallel along side the edge of the brink, with the coming of the Lord . . . at hand.

2. (9) Practicing patient endurance among God’s people.

Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door!

a. Do not grumble against one another: Times of hardship can cause us to be less than loving with our Christian brothers and sisters. James reminds us that we cannot become grumblers and complainers in our hardship - lest we be condemned even in our hardship.

b. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door! Jesus comes as a Judge, not only to judge the world, but also to assess the faithfulness of Christians (2 Corinthians 5:10). In light of this, we cannot allow hardship to make us unloving towards each other.

3. (10-11) Following examples of patient endurance.

My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience. Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord; that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.

a. Take the prophets . . . as an example of suffering and patience: James reminds us that the prophets of the Old Testament endured hardship, yet practiced patient endurance. We can take them as examples.

i. Jeremiah stands out as someone who endured mistreatment with patience. He was put in the stocks (Jeremiah 20:2), thrown into prison (Jeremiah 32:2), and lowered into miry dungeon (Jeremiah 28:6), yet he persisted in his ministry.

b. You have heard of the perseverance of Job: We are reminded of Job as an example of patient endurance. His story shows both the necessity of a constant trust through times of calamity, and God’s compassionate and merciful resolution of seasons of hardship.

c. That the Lord is very compassionate and merciful: The compassion and mercy of God may seem far away in times of trial. But examples like Job encourage us to be those who, by our patient endurance, see the goodness of God in the land of the living (Psalm 27:13-14).

4. (12) An exhortation in light of the coming judgment before Jesus.

But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your “Yes,” be “Yes,” and your “No,” “No,” lest you fall into judgment.

a. Do not swear: The Jews of James’ time made distinctions between “binding oaths” and “non-binding oaths.” Oaths that did not include the name of God were considered non-binding, and to use such oaths was a way of “crossing your fingers” behind your back when telling a lie. It is these kinds of oaths that James condemns.

i. The Bible does not forbid the swearing of all oaths, only against the swearing of deceptive, unwise, or flippant oaths. On occasion, God Himself swears oaths (Luke 1:73, Hebrews 3:11, Hebrews 6:13).

b. Do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath: James again echoes the teaching of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:34-37). The need to swear or make oaths, beyond a simple and clear yes or no betrays the weakness of your word. It demonstrates that there is not enough weight in your own character to confirm your words.

c. Lest you fall into judgment: This lack of character will be exposed at the judgment seat of Christ. This motivates us all the more to prepare for that judgment by our speaking with integrity.

· As we get to; 13 to the end of the chapter, a lot of it deals w/ the issue of healing & it's one of the most interesting passages in the NT on healing.
· ; 13 Suffering=speaks of emotional duress more than anything, not talking about physical illness, we'll come to that. Are you smitten w/ something that's eating @ you, driving you out of your mind, it's bothering you; you find your life falling apart over it, it says simply let him pray.
· God's prescription is prayer. I don't find anywhere in the NT, " if you're hassled & afflicted go tell everybody else about it". Some people love to go from person to person...And there is a point where we share our burdens w/ one another. But the interesting thing is, as you look @ the answer, in light of the scripture, when you're afflicted, it's to go to the Lord. He's the only one who can straighten it out anyway.
· The scripture really indicates that if we're really going through those deep waters in our hearts & in our minds & we're troubled, that Jesus is the answer. And I've discovered that human beings are so complicated, who could ever understand them anyway? I’ve lived inside of me for 41 years, & I don't understand me yet. So how am I ever going to understand you?
· People go through emotional situations that affect their health, that affect them in remarkable ways, we're very complicated & integrated, & I don't understand all the problems & all the dynamics of a human being but, I understand the answer.
· Jesus Christ is not just a force, He's a shepherd, and a Father, and He's a groom, & He's a living Saviour.
· And He calls us that are afflicted into fellowship w/ Him, but it is by His power, & His Spirit, that we're delivered & are given peace.
· So is anyone suffering, James says let them pray. Then it goes on & it says are any of you cheerful? If you're cheerful, sing. Don't waste it just skipping down the street, if you're having a great day, remember to praise God too. I find in my own life, when things are falling apart, when things are desperate, I pray desperate prayers. Desperate men do desperate things. I find when everything's falling apart around me, I'm praying; oh God, oh God, oh God...And then when things are going great, usually I'm thinking, "I know the Lakers can do it". So my mind is somewhere else. I'm not at that time going; oh God oh God...
· And that's what it says; hey if you're going through a valley, seek God. It says if you're on a mountaintop, then sing to God. Remember that He's the one that created that circumstance too. And lift your hearts to Him. And some indicate that the phrase here, "to sing psalms", is to literally pluck on strings. In case you know anyone who says that instruments are not to be used in church, there is an indication here of that.
· ; 14 is interesting now, I'll read down to ;16 & we'll back up & look @ this. Now James moves on to those that are sick in the body of Christ & their responsibility to call for the elders to be prayed for. As we look @ this, we need to determine several things. Who are the sick in the church?
· And it uses a word there that is used by the man who was lying by the pool of Bethsaida, who was unable to move himself down to the waters when the angel troubled the waters. It's the word that is used of Lazarus when it says he was sick unto death. It's the word that's used of Dorcas in the book of Acts when it says she was sick unto death. The word means to be laid down & unable to get up & it actually indicates, some feel, to be in a position where no-one else can help. To indicated someone who's already gone to the doctor & they've said there's nothing we can do. It's not everybody w/ the flu calling for the elders of the church to come to their house.
· It's talking about a situation where it's really fallen to the church where it seems that life is falling away & the medical community says there's no hope that things have obviously fallen into the hands of the Lord. And it says in those circumstances, call for the elders, and the word call their means to call to one's self. I'm mentioning that because as we look @ this, it seems to be a private circumstance, it seems to be the elders plural, are called to the home of this individual there to pray for them as they're requested to come.
· This is not a verse that validates some of the sideshow shenanigans that we see in the name of Jesus, that are called healing on television, where on guy is @ the center of it, & claims to have this power that he can wield whoever he wants to, and he's knocking people down, and if you don't have enough faith, I felt it bounce off of you & come back onto me. We here all of this nonsense. This says that when someone is to that point in their health, that they then should request the elders to where they are, "to call to themselves=KJV", and that the elders plural, it indicates that this person is a part of this body of believers, or has been a part of this body of believers, the elders then should attend them, should come to them to pray for this person who is literally without strength, "and let them pray", the emphasis through here, is on the prayer of the elders & not of the prayer of the sick person.
· A lot of these sideshow hucksters that are on television, that's how they get around people who don't get healed, is they claim the person didn't have enough faith. Well the bible talks about the prayer of the elders, it puts the emphasis here,” let them pray for the person".
· It seems to me that is there's a problem in prayer, and I don't believe there is, it's not on the sick person's part, it's on the elders part.
· "Anointing them will oil" is interesting, it's not the phrased that's used for anointing a king or anointing a prophet. It's literally rubbing them w/oil or oiling them w/ oil. The only time we find it used in regards to praying for the sick is in Mark 6;13 where Jesus is sending out the 12 to 70 and then in one place it does say praying for the sick anointing them w/ oil.
· But it's used of the woman who was a harlot, who came to the house of Simon & began to weep @ the feet of Jesus & it says she anointed His feet w/ oil & wiped His feet w/ her hair & tears, that's the word anointing there. It's used of Mary, when there's a memorial made for her, the sister of Martha, how she took her bottle of Spikenard & broke it & anointed Him for His burial. It's used of the body of Jesus on resurrection morning; remember the women came back w/ spices to anoint Him. In that day they would rub the body w/ fragrant oil to prepare it for the burial. Spiro Zhodiates has a very thick commentary on the book of James, & he's left saying that in that culture, that it was the responsibilities of the elders of the church to come to the person's house & actually rub them down, it was a medicinal thing w/ oil.
· Remember as Jesus talked about the good Samaritan it said the innkeeper took & bound up his wounds w/ oil & w/ wine, he says that actually the elders early in the church would go & actually rub the person down w/ oil to sooth them in their affliction, when they come to the point where they're without strength, & then to pray for them, to care for them. There was no Hospice programs back then, that it fell to the elders of the church.
· Now I don't believe that this is laid out for us in a medicinal way, I really believe it's laid out for us in a symbolic way. Because then it talks about anointing them in the name of the Lord & the prayer of faith & the Lord raising them up & I do believe, when people come & want to be anointed, we will do that. It isn't the oil that straightens them out, & it isn't the prayer, it says,” the Lord will raise him up. There is no trick in the prayer itself. There is no emphasis in saying...It's the Lord.
· It was the Lord in the book of Acts, the Lord in the gospels, & if somebody get's healed today, it is the Lord. It's not the nut on TV. If you study the scriptures, you shall know the truth & the truth shall set you free. It does say the elders should go then anoint w/ oil, symbolically, and the prayer of faith, there are about four different words in Greek used for prayer in the NT, this word in ;15 means to wish. It doesn't mean to come & to offer supplication or intercession, it just means to wish & it gives us the indication that it's a submissive prayer.
· We've come to the home of this individual & death's door, he no longer has any strength, in a symbolic fashion we'll anoint him w/ oil, & then seek the Lord, and say Lord we just wish, Lord Jesus please & raise this person up & put the ball in Jesus' court. Because there lies the power & the wisdom of God to minister.
· "The prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven them." And the tense here is if he has been continually committing sin, the idea is this, and I think we have to watch it & be careful. All sickness is ultimately a result of sin. When Adam & Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden creation fell. And all sickness in the world today is a result of that sin, not necessarily as a result of the individual's sin.
· And so often we hear what is so wrong, particularly in the Word of Faith movement, when someone is ill, they'll blame that person for a lack of faith or sin in their life & that's why they're ill & that's ridiculous. We live in a world that's plagued w/ all kinds of illnesses. There are people that say about Joni Erickson, sure God is using her, but if she had enough faith, she'd get out of that wheelchair. It breaks your heart because how many of God's children that are ill for one thing or another, have been put under condemnation/needless heartache because some foolish individual has misrepresented God & told them there must be sin or unbelief in their lives.
· There was a little girl who died of cancer and her elders told her it was because of sin in her life & she died w/ that thought in her mind, a believer who loved the Lord.
· But it does seem that there are times when a believer in rebellion continually lives in sin, habitually takes up a course of rebellion & sin, that God may use illness to judge him. 1 Cor. 11 talks about those who come to the communion table who eat & drink unworthily, not discerning the body of Christ drinking damnation unto themselves. The problem in Corinth is they were suing one another, not discerning the body of Christ, getting drunk, and eating all the food before the poorer brethren got there, it was complete selfishness. And it says some became sick and fell asleep/died as the result of their sin.
· There are times when God will do that. And if you’re worried about it it hasn't happened to you. To say that all sickness is the result of sin is wrong. Here it indicates if that person had been continually sinning, those sins will be forgiven. So...
· ;17 So if that is the problem, we're to confess our faults to one another, by the way, this doesn't mean that married women are to be confessing their faults to someone else's husband...There are certain parts of the church that emphasize "the body ministry" & being open...You can't improve the unity in the body of Christ because the bible tells us that there's neither Jew nor Greek, neither bond-slave, neither male nor female. You're not going to improve on that.
· We are one in the Spirit & God will link us together w/ people in the body that we're to have friendships w/. You can't have friendships w/ everybody in the body of Christ. And if you're sensitive, God will give you meaningful relationships & I encourage you, as you build those relationships, build relationships w/ those that are godly, not
Prayer for the Nation (James 5:17–18)
· James cited Elijah as an example of a “righteous man” whose prayers released power. “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective” (James 5:16, NIV).
The background of this incident is found in 1 Kings 17–18. Wicked King Ahab and Jezebel, his queen, had led Israel away from the Lord and into the worship of Baal. God punished the nation by holding back the rain that they needed (see Deut. 28:12, 23). For three and one half years, the heavens were as brass and the earth unable to produce the crops so necessary for life.
Then Elijah challenged the priests of Baal on Mt. Carmel. All day long the priests cried out to their god, but no answer came. At the time of the evening sacrifice, Elijah repaired the altar and prepared the sacrifice. He prayed but once, and fire came from heaven to consume the sacrifice. He had proven that Jehovah was the true God.
· But the nation still needed rain. Elijah went to the top of Carmel and fell down before the Lord in prayer. He prayed and sent his servant seven times to see if there was evidence of rain; and the seventh time his servant saw a little cloud. Before long, there was a great rain, and the nation was saved.
Do we need “showers of blessing” today? We certainly do!
· “But Elijah was a special prophet of God,” we might argue. “We can expect God to answer his prayers in a wonderful way.”
“Elijah was a man just like us,” stated James (5:17, NIV). He was not perfect; in fact, right after his victory on Mt. Carmel, Elijah became afraid and discouraged and ran away. But he was a “righteous man,” that is, obedient to the Lord and trusting Him. God’s promises of answered prayer are for all His children, not just for ones we may call the spiritual elite.
· Elijah prayed in faith, for God told him He would send the rain (1 Kings 18:1). “Prayer,” said Robert Law, “is not getting man’s will done in heaven. It’s getting God’s will done on earth.” You cannot separate the Word of God and prayer, for in His Word He gives us the promises that we claim when we pray.
Elijah did not only believe in his praying, but he was persistent. “He prayed... and he prayed again” (James 5:17–18). On Mt. Carmel, Elijah continued to pray for rain until his servant reported “a cloud the size of a man’s hand.” Too many times we fail to get what God promises because we stop praying. It is true that we are not heard “for our much praying” (Matt. 6:7); but there is a difference between vain repetitions and true believing persistence in prayer. Our Lord prayed three times in the Garden, and Paul prayed three times that his thorn in the flesh might be taken from him.
Elijah was determined and concerned in his praying. “He prayed earnestly” (James 5:17, NIV). The literal Greek reads “and he prayed in prayer.” Many people do not pray in their prayers. They just lazily say religious words, and their hearts are not in their prayers.
A church member was “praying around the world” in a prayer meeting, and one of the men present was growing tired of the speech. Finally the man cried out, “Ask Him something!” That is what prayer is all about: “Ask Him something!”
Prayer power is the greatest power in the world today. “Tremendous power is made available through a good man’s earnest prayer” (James 5:16, PH). History shows how mankind has progressed from manpower to horsepower, and then to dynamite and TNT, and now to atomic power.
But greater than atomic power is prayer power. Elijah prayed for his nation, and God answered prayer. We need to pray for our nation today, that God will bring conviction and revival, and that “showers of blessing” will come to the land. One of the first responsibilities of the local church is to pray for government leaders (1 Tim. 2:1–3).

· Prayer for the Straying (James 5:19–20)
While James did not specifically name prayer in these verses, the implication is there. If we pray for the afflicted and the sick, surely we must pray for the brother who wanders from the truth.
These verses deal with our ministry to a fellow believer who strays from the truth and gets into sin. The verb err means “to wander,” and suggests a gradual moving away from the will of God. The Old Testament term for this is “backsliding.” Sad to say, we see this tragedy occurring in our churches regularly. Sometimes a brother is “overtaken in a fault” (Gal. 6:1); but usually the sin is the result of slow, gradual spiritual decline.
Such a condition is, of course, very dangerous. It is dangerous to the offender because he may be disciplined by the Lord (Heb. 12). He also faces the danger of committing “sin unto death” (1 John 5:16–17). God disciplined the sinning members of the Corinthian church, even to the point of taking some of them to heaven (1 Cor. 11:30).
But this backsliding is also dangerous to the church. A wandering offender can influence others and lead them astray. “One sinner destroys much good” (Ecc. 9:18, NASB). This is why the spiritual members of the church must step in and help the man who has wandered away.
The origin of this problem is found in the statement “wander from the truth” (James 5:19). The truth means, of course, the Word of God. “Thy Word is truth” (John 17:17). Unless the believer stays close to the truth, he will start to drift away. “For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it” (Heb. 2:1, NASB). Jesus warned Peter that Satan was at hand to tempt him, and Peter refused to believe the Word. He even argued with the Lord! When he should have been praying, Peter was sleeping. No wonder he denied three times.
The outcome of this wandering is “sin” and possible “death” (James 5:20). The sinner here is a believer, not an unbeliever; and sin in the life of a Christian is worse than sin in the life of an unbeliever. We expect unsaved people to sin, but God expects His children to obey His Word.
What are we to do when we see a fellow believer wandering from the truth? We should pray for him, to be sure; but we must also seek to help him. He needs to be “converted”—turned back into the right path again. Do believers need to be converted? Yes, they do! Jesus said to Peter, “When thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren” (Luke 22:32).
It is important that we seek to win the lost, but it is also important to win the saved. If a brother has sinned against us, we should talk to him privately and seek to settle the matter. If he listens, then we have gained our brother (Matt. 18:15). That word gained means “won.” It is the same word translated “get gain” in James 4:13. It is important to win the saved as well as the lost.
If we are going to help an erring brother, we must have an attitude of love, for “love shall cover the multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8). Both James and Peter learned this principle from Proverbs 10:12—“Hate stirreth up strife: but love covereth all sins.”
This does not mean that love “sweeps the dirt under the carpet.” Where there is love, there must also be truth (“speaking the truth in love” says Paul in Eph. 4:15); and where there is truth, there is honest confession of sin and cleansing from God. Love not only helps the offender to face his sins and deal with them, but love also assures the offender that those sins, once forgiven, are remembered no more.
While the basic interpretation of these verses is as I have explained, the application can be made to the lost sinner. After all, if a straying brother needs to be restored, how much more does a lost sinner need to be brought to the Savior? If the wandering believer loses his life, he at least goes to heaven; but the lost sinner is condemned to an eternal hell.
“Seeking the lost” is a common Bible picture of soul winning. In Luke 15, Jesus pictures the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son, all of whom needed to be found and brought back to where they belonged. Our Lord also compared winning souls to catching fish (Mark 1:17). Peter caught one fish individually with his hook (Matt. 17:24–27), but he also worked with his helpers and used the nets to catch many fish at one time. There is a place for both personal and collective evangelism.
Proverbs 11:30 compares evangelism to hunting: “He that catcheth souls is wise” (literal translation). Sin is out to catch and kill (James 1:13–15), but we ought to be out to catch and make alive.
The soul winner is also an ambassador of peace (2 Cor. 5:20). God has not declared war on this world; He has declared peace! One day He will declare war, and judgment will fall.
Both Zechariah 3:2 and Jude 23 picture the soul winner as a fireman, pulling brands out of the burning. John Wesley applied Zechariah 3:2 to himself, for when he was but a child, he was pulled from a burning house when it looked as though it was too late. Sometimes we must take risks of love to snatch people from the fires of judgment.
· Jesus compared evangelism to sowing and reaping (John 4:34–38) and Paul used the same illustration (1 Cor. 3:6–9). There are seasons of sowing and seasons of reaping; and many people are needed for the work. We are “laborers together with God” (1 Cor. 3:9). Both the sower and the reaper will receive their rewards, for there is no competition in the Lord’s fields.

2008-06-11T21:29:00.000-07:00

· Matthew 16; 24Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

· All of us to a certain degree, go through the analyzing of ourselves, centered on ourselves, always worried about ourselves=miserable

· Jesus said the key is to deny yourself & take up the cross=lay down your life redemptively/sacrificially for others

· The cross is not dealing w/ a cold, or battling the flu, or even dealing w/ cancer

· The cross is not being left by a loved one or being divorced from a spouse

· The cross=when you choose to lay down your rights like Jesus did, for the sake of others

· You do something that may cost you, that may be hard for you but, you choose to lay down your life for others, Jesus said that’s the key to life, dying to self for the sake of others

· And then He said whoever lays down his life or gives up his life will find life!

· Be of help to others, care about others, you’re going to find life

· Put yourself on the bottom and that’s the Y of Joy=Jesus first, others second, you lastly, on the bottom

· Not talking about yourself, not burdening others w/ your situations, your hurts, your problems but saying, “what can I do today to die to myself & to help others along the way?”

· That’s where true, real joy is to be found, Jesus, Others, You.

I Needed to Read This Today

2008-06-10T23:39:00.001-07:00

Heart Cleansing June 11

I consequently learned that the one important thing was to have the Lord possess the center and at the center He would possess all the rest and would guard and protect it all Himself. And I saw that the way to get Him to set up His throne in the center was simply to accept by faith that His precious blood really did cleanse my heart from all corruption, and make it pure in His sight, casting out the carnal nature and crucifying the old man of sin. So that one could truthfully say, “I have put off the old man which is corrupt etc.” “I am dead to sin” “I am crucified with Christ” etc.

And to believe further that having made the heart pure, and a fit dwelling place for Himself, He does indeed come in and take up His dwelling there and sets up His kingdom and possesses all things. So that I can go on to say, “And I have put on the new man which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. I am dead it is true, but also I am alive to God in Jesus Christ my Lord.” “I am crucified indeed, but nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me!”
I took this step of faith, and I’m standing firm. Discouragements are all around, but I don’t dare pay any attention to them. God’s unalterable plan is that “according to your faith, it shall be unto you.”
—Journal, September 3, 1871

Christianity 201 James 3;1-18

2008-06-03T21:24:00.000-07:00

James 3
James 3;1-12=Faith Controls the Tongue James 3;13-18=Faith Produces Wisdom

· James has explained to us two characteristics of the mature Christian: he is patient in trouble (James 1) and he practices the truth (James 2).
· In chapter two we read that faith w/o works is dead
· It's not faith & works that brings salvation, it's not faith or works=salvation
· But it's faith that works, true faith works.
· In chapter 3, James begins talking about the tongue, it would seem @ first glance that these two things are a bit disconnected, why would he go from faith that works right into speaking & words? If indeed chapter 2 is stressing that words are not the issue, it's not what you say, it's how you live that is the proof of your salvation.
· Even though words are not the sign of our salvation, it doesn't mean that words aren't important in our spiritual life.

A pastor told about a member of his church who was a notorious gossip. She would “hang on the phone” most of the day, sharing tidbits with any and all who would listen.
She came to the pastor one day and said, “Pastor, the Lord has convicted me of my sin of gossip. My tongue is getting me and others into trouble.”
The pastor knew she was not sincere because she had gone through that routine before. Guardedly he asked, “Well, what do you plan to do?”
“I want to put my tongue on the altar,” she replied with pious fervor.
· Calmly the pastor replied, “There isn’t an altar big enough,” and he left her to think it over.
·
· 3:1. 1 DEAR BROTHERS AND SISTERS,* NOT MANY OF YOU SHOULD BECOME TEACHERS IN THE CHURCH, FOR WE WHO TEACH WILL BE JUDGED BY GOD WITH GREATER STRICTNESS.

Again addressing brothers, a sign that a new topic is being considered, James suggested moderation and restraint in the multiplication of teachers. Too many of the new Jewish Christians aspired to teach and thereby carry some of the rank and admiration given to Rabbis. These are the unofficial teachers (didaskaloi) in the synagogue meetings of the church family where much latitude was given for even strangers to speak. Paul frequently used this courtesy given visitors. James’ complaint was simply that too many believers were overly anxious to speak up and show off (cf. John 3:10; 9:40-41).
·
· He says don't desire/be too eager to be a teacher, it's inevitable that we're going to offend in the words that we speak. A teacher talks a lot & sets yourself up for condemnation/controversy.
· We should desire to be learners more than we desire to be teachers. And one of the chief things to learn, as Paul would say, is to learn to be content. Be content wherever the Lord has placed you. Many people say they wish they could be behind the pulpit. But James says to be careful about that because when you teach, you occasionally cause people to become unsettled. When you're sharing a teaching, oftentimes that teaching will cause there to be a great deal of conviction in the heart of the hearer. And conviction can either cause the hearer to repent when they hear the message or it can cause them to retaliate against the messanger.
·
· That's what happened to Jeremiah, who brought a message to the people in Israel & they didn't like what he was saying. 18;18. He's saying these prophets & priests & wise men are not speaking truth. "Come let us strike him w/ our words"...So what did they do? They talked bad about him. They found fault w/ him & they raised accusations against him, so much so that in chapter twenty, Pashur the priest struck Jeremiah literally & put him in stocks. And it came to pass that they brought him into the prison. We read 20;7=Lord I'm tricked. Here I became a teacher, a preacher, a prophet & I end up in the pit. They're not responding, they're not receiving, but they're retaliating/hostile towards him. I'm in ridicule daily Jeremy complains, everyone mocks me. 20;8-29 He says I've had it, the people are striking me w/ their tongues, & now they've placed me in stocks & put me in a dungeon. I'm not gonna speak anymore. But there's a problem w/ those that are called to teach. Even though sometimes there's retaliation/condemnation, people who feel like," how dare you tell me what to do," there becomes temptations for the teachers that tickle the ear by saying,"Let me just be normal, let me just sit comfortably in a pew for awhile." The problem was the Word of God was burning in his bones & he could not shut up.
· And he starts preaching & prophesying again. And that's the thing; if you really are called to teach the Word in that way, now not many are called, but if you are called, you'll find the Word burning in your bones & you just can't keep quiet. Even though it might mean that you're in controversy or condemned by people or placed in a dungeon, yet there's no other alternative than to share the word.
·
· 3;2-6 We all make many mistakes, but those who control their tongues can also control themselves in every other way. 3 We can make a large horse turn around and go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its mouth. 4 And a tiny rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot wants it to go, even though the winds are strong. 5 So also, the tongue is a small thing, but what enormous damage it can do. A tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. 6 And the tongue is a flame of fire. It is full of wickedness that can ruin your whole life. It can turn the entire course of your life into a blazing flame of destruction, for it is set on fire by hell itself.

· Teachers are not the only ones who are tempted and sin; every Christian must admit that “we all stumble in many ways” (James 3:2, NIV). And sins of the tongue seem to head the list. The person who is able to discipline his tongue gives evidence that he can control his whole body. He proves that he is a mature (perfect) man.
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· Is James making a mistake by connecting sins of the tongue with sins committed by “the whole body”? No, because words usually lead to deeds. During World War II people were accustomed to seeing posters that read LOOSE LIPS SINK SHIPS! But loose lips also wreck lives. A person makes an unguarded statement and suddenly finds himself involved in a fight. His tongue has forced the rest of his body to defend itself.
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· This little thing called the tongue, weighs about 20 ounces, it controls your whole life.

· James presented two items that are small of themselves, yet exercise great power, just like the tongue. A small bit enables the rider to control the great horse, and a small rudder enables the pilot to steer the huge ship. The tongue is a small member in the body, and yet it has the power to accomplish great things.
Both the bit and the rudder must overcome contrary forces. The bit must overcome the wild nature of the horse, and the rudder must fight the winds and currents that would drive the ship off its course. The human tongue also must overcome contrary forces. We have an old nature that wants to control us and make us sin. There are circumstances around us that would make us say things we ought not to say. Sin on the inside and pressures on the outside are seeking to get control of the tongue.

· This means that both the bit and the rudder must be under the control of a strong hand. The expert horseman keeps the mighty power of his horse under control, (one of the most powerful ‘machines’ of James’s day) and the experienced pilot courageously steers the ship through the storm. When Jesus Christ controls the tongue, then we need not fear saying the wrong things—or even saying the right things in a wrong way! “Death and life are in the power of the tongue,” warned Solomon (Prov. 18:21). No wonder David prayed, “Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips. Incline not my heart to any evil thing” (Ps. 141:3–4). David knew that the heart is the key to right speech. “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh” (Matt. 12:34 When Jesus Christ is the Lord of the heart, then He is Lord of the lips too.
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The bit and rudder have the power to direct, which means they affect the lives of others. A runaway horse or a shipwreck could mean injury or death to pedestrians or passengers. The words we speak affect the lives of others. A judge says “Guilty!” or “Not Guilty!” and those words affect the destiny of the prisoner, his family, and his friends. The President of the United States speaks a few words and signs some papers and the nation is at war. Even a simple yes or no from the lips of a parent can greatly affect the direction of a child’s life.
Never underestimate the guidance you give by the words you speak or do not speak. Jesus spoke to a woman at a well, and her life and the lives of her neighbors experienced a miraculous change (John 4). Peter preached at Pentecost and 3,000 souls came to salvation through faith in Christ (Acts 2).
On April 21, 1855, Edward Kimball went into a Boston shoe store and led young Dwight L. Moody to Christ. The result: one of history’s greatest evangelists, a man whose ministry still continues. The tongue has the power to direct others to the right choices.
It would do us all good to read frequently the Book of Proverbs, and to note especially the many references to speech. “A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger” (Prov. 15:1). “Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord” (Prov. 12:22). “In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise” (Prov. 10:19). Yes, the tongue is like a bit and a rudder: it has the power to direct. How important it is that our tongues direct people in the right way!

· In Proverbs 26;20 Fire goes out for lack of fuel, and quarrels disappear when gossip stops. When you're hearing gossip, hearing words that are putting down, even subtely, humorously, sophisticatedly, when you're hearing words, you can pray in the Spirit to keep your tongue busy, lest you join in on the hellish conversation, & you can also refuse to respond.when you're Because here it says in Proverbs, where there is no fuel/wood, the fire goes out. If you & I don't respond when somebody is gossiping or putting down or burning somebody else, whoever it might be, if I don't respond the conversation just sort of fizzles out. There can be an awkwardness or an embarassing silence, good! Because it says quarrels disappear when gossip stops or when there is no talebearer! Talebearer=one who is allowing the tale to go on. If I listen to gossip, to put-downs, to burns, I'm actually involved in that fire that's ingnited by hell. I mustn't listen.

·

· 3;7-12 People can tame all kinds of animals and birds and reptiles and fish, 8 but no one can tame the tongue. It is an uncontrollable evil, full of deadly poison. 9 Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it breaks out into curses against those who have been made in the image of God. 10 And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right! 11 Does a spring of water bubble out with both fresh water and bitter water? 12 Can you pick olives from a fig tree or figs from a grapevine? No, and you can’t draw fresh water from a salty pool.

Warren Wiersbe in his Bible Exposition Commentary had this to say," Not only is the tongue like a fire, but it is also like a dangerous animal. It is restless and cannot be ruled (unruly), and it seeks its prey and then pounces and kills. My wife and I once drove through a safari park, admiring the animals as they moved about in their natural habitat. But there were warning signs posted all over the park: DO NOT LEAVE YOUR CAR! DO NOT OPEN YOUR WINDOWS! Those “peaceful animals” were capable of doing great damage, and even killing.

· Some animals are poisonous, and some tongues spread poison. The deceptive thing about poison is that it works secretly and slowly, and then kills. How many times has some malicious person injected a bit of poison into the conversation, hoping it would spread and finally get to the person he or she wanted to hurt? As a pastor, I have seen poisonous tongues do great damage to individuals, families, classes, and entire churches. Would you turn hungry lions or angry snakes loose in your Sunday morning service? Of course not! But unruly tongues accomplish the same results.

· There's something else that the bible teaches here. He's drawing upon an analogy by saying, can a fountain yield salt water & fresh? Reminds of 2 Kings 2. Elisha the prophet had just been anointed for ministry, his master Elijah had been taken up to heaven, & so he goes to Jericho. And when he gets to Jericho, the people there say, hey Elisha, we've got a problem. You can see that this is a pleasant area but, we're in trouble because the plants are barren. The crops aren't coming. The fruit isn't growing because the well in Jericho has becomed poisoned. The water isn't pure & sweet. And it's affecting the fruit in the region. So Elisha asks for a bowl, tells them to put salt in it & he pours salt into the fountain. And it says the waters became sweet.
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· He poured salt water into polluted water because in Colossians 4;6 it says let your speech always be seasoned w/ salt that is grace. Let your speech always be w/ grace, seasoned w/ salt. What does that mean? In any given moment at any given time, I have the opportunity to not only not listen, to not become a box of kindling for that person's gossip, and get my tongue involved, not in hellish fire, but in heavenly fire/praying in the Spirit quietly, but I can also do something else.
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· In that water that's going to cause a lack of fruit to be produced, I can actually bring about healing to the water like Elisha did that day by speaking grace. By talking grace. By sharing grace. Grace=God's riches @ Christ's expense. I just keep talking about how God loves to be gracious. How God has been gracious to me & how He'll be gracious to that person in that situation, you talk grace! Because inevitably, what the person or people are doing, who are polluting the water, they're talking law.
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· The law? In some way, those people or that person is not living up to their expectations. Whether it's spiritually, intellectually, socially, educationally, whatever it is, it's the law. They say,"How could they"=the law/judge. So what do you do? You just start speaking grace & love.
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· I want this badly in my own life. I'm not there, not where I should be, I'm not what I used to be, praise the Lord!But I see the wisdom of James, I see what this does in people's lives. I've known a few that have refused to listen to gossip. There is a beauty & a refreshment that comes from their lives. The great danger to the church today is not the tongues movement, it's the movement of the tongue. That's what divides churches.

· `Again, in concluding this section entitiled Faith Controls the Tongue, I'd like to share another excerpt from Wiersbe's Bible Expostition Commentary:

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As I close this chapter, let me suggest that you start using the “Twelve Words That Can Transform Your Life.” If you use these words and sincerely mean what you say from your heart, you will find that God will use you to be a blessing and encouragement to others. There are only twelve of them, but they work.
“Please” and “Thank you.” When you use these three words, you are treating others like people and not things. You are showing appreciation.
“I’m sorry.” These two words have a way of breaking down walls and building bridges.
“I love you.” Too many people read “romance” into these words, but they go much deeper than that. As Christians, we should love the brethren and even love our enemies. “I love you” is a statement that can carry tremendous power.
“I’m praying for you.” And be sure that you are. When you talk to God about people, then you can talk to people about God. Our private praying for people helps us in our public meeting with people. Of course, we never say “I’m praying for you” in a boastful way, as though we are more spiritual than others. We say it in an encouraging way, to let others know that we care enough for them to meet them at the throne of grace.
Yes, the smallest but largest troublemaker in all the world is the tongue. But it does not have to be a troublemaker! God can use our tongues to direct others into the way of life, and to delight them in the trials of life. The tongue is a little member, but it has great power.
Give God your tongue and your heart each day and ask Him to use you to be a blessing to others.

· James 3;13-18=Faith Produces Wisdom

· 13-16 If you are wise and understand God’s ways, live a life of steady goodness so that only good deeds will pour forth. And if you don’t brag about the good you do, then you will be truly wise! 14 But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your hearts, don’t brag about being wise. That is the worst kind of lie. 15 For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and motivated by the Devil. 16 For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and every kind of evil.

· Wisdom was an important thing to Jewish people. They realized that it was not enough to have knowledge; you had to have wisdom to be able to use that knowledge correctly. All of us know people who are very intelligent, perhaps almost geniuses, and yet who seemingly are unable to carry out the simplest tasks of life. They can run computers but they cannot manage their own lives! “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom” (Prov. 4:7).

· Read from KJV-3;13 KJV=asks the question, who is a wise man among you? “Wise” (sophos; cf. sophias in 1:5) describes one with moral insight and skill in the practical issues of life. “Understanding” (epistēmōn) refers to intellectual perception and scientific acumen.
Let him show it. Here is an original “show and tell.” Wisdom is not measured by degrees but by deeds. It is not a matter of acquiring truth in lectures but of applying truth to life. The good life and deeds are best portrayed in the humility of wisdom, or “wise meekness” (prautēti sophias). The truly wise man is humble.

3:14. True wisdom makes no room for bitter envy (“zealous jealousy”) or for selfish ambition (“factious rivalry,” erithian, from eritheuō, “to spin wool,” thus working for personal gain). This is nothing to glory about. To boast (lit., “exult,” katakauchasthe) in such attitudes is to deny, or “lie against,” the truth.
· 3:15-16. Envy and strife are clear indicators that one’s so-called wisdom is not from above (cf. 1:17), but is earthly, unspiritual (“natural, sensual,” psychikē), and of the devil (“demonic,” daimoniōdēs). Envy and selfish ambition, or rivalry, can only produce disorder, or confusion, and every evil practice. A truly wise person does not seek glory or gain; he is gracious and giving.

· 17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and good deeds. It shows no partiality and is always sincere. 18 And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of goodness.

· The only true protection against this false wisdom and the evil in the tongue is God’s wisdom. James gives a list of the characteristics of this true wisdom which is very similar to the one that Paul gives for the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22–23). It is pure, which means that the person is sincere in obeying God, not having any twisted motives in their desire for holiness. It is peace-loving (Pr. 3:17; Heb. 12:11), meaning that it produces peace in the church. It is considerate or ‘gentle’ (Phil. 4:5; 1 Tim. 3:3), which means that it is non- combative. It is submissive, which speaks of a person who is willing to learn, be corrected, or will otherwise gladly respond to godly leadership. It is full of mercy and good fruit, which refers to the charitable giving that is so important to James. God, of course, is always merciful and giving, so those filled with his wisdom will be that way as well. Finally, it is impartial and sincere, which means that the person has a heart which is set solely on following God, unlike the ‘double-minded’ person of 1:8. The term sincere means that there is no falseness or play-acting in the person’s actions. As the person is to one’s face, so they are when one’s back is turned.

· James sums up this whole paragraph with a saying which sounds like a proverb. Some scholars believe he may have got this saying from Jesus. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness. This is the solution to the problem noted in 1:20; human anger does not produce God’s righteousness, but peace-making does. This is what Jesus said as well, ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God’ (Mt. 5:9). They are God’s sons because they are acting like their true Father, producing the type of righteousness of which God is proud. This is very different from the anger and struggle of merely human ways of producing what human beings call ‘right’. God’s way of doing things requires his wisdom, his Spirit.
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Christianity 201 James 2;14-26

2008-06-03T21:22:00.000-07:00

James 2;14-26 Faith Proves Itself by Works

· Faith is a key doctrine in the Christian life
· Faith is like calories, you can't see them but you can see their effect
· The sinner is saved by faith (Eph. 2:8–9),
· And the believer must walk by faith (2 Cor. 5:7).
· Without faith it is impossible to please God (Heb. 11:6)
· Whatever we do apart from faith is sin (Rom. 14:23).
· Someone has said that faith is not “believing in spite of evidence, but obeying in spite of consequence.”
· When you read Hebrews 11, you meet people who acted on God’s Word, no matter what price they had to pay.
· Faith is not some kind of nebulous(hazy/indisticnt) feeling that we work up; faith is confidence that God’s Word is true, and conviction that acting on that Word will bring His blessing.
· We need the in your face impact of James
· Jerusalem brothers(Southern)Peter, James, John(to a lesser degree)tended to be a little more in your face
· Paul, Barnabas, Silas, from Antioch/up North, their emphasis was definitely grace,
· In 1;19-27, we looked @ how faith obeys the Word.
· Remember we said that James has a pattern to his writing; he begins w/ a principle/concept
· Then he uses illustrations to amplify his teaching
· In 1;22 he said be doers of the Word=faith proving itself, not just hearers only
· He illustrated it by using the example of the man who looks @ himself in the mirror
· He said in 1;26 if you think you have the faith but, you cannot excercise verbal self-control, once again, you're not a doer
· In1 ;27 he says as an example, doers visit orphans, minister to widows, and are not worldly=more illustrations
· In chapter two he lays out the next practical principal of partiality, he says don't do it=gives an illustration
· He tells us about how to treat and not treat people that come to church, not to become a judge of others, based upon their clothes or appearance.
· In 2;8 he goes to a biblical illustration: Leviticus 19;18 “Never seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord. He says if you can do this, you do well/fulfilling the royal law=
· affirmed by Christ (Matt. 22:39): Love your neighbor as yourself. The law is royal or regal (basilikon, from basileus, “king”) because it is decreed by the King of kings, is fit for a king, and is considered the king of laws. The phrase reflects the Latin lex regia known throughout the Roman Empire.
· Turn to Galatians 5;14 For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”* 15 But if instead of showing love among yourselves you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another. Read thru ;21
· It's interesting to note that God, thru the pen of the Apotle Paul, lists adultery & murder in the same list as as quareling, selfish ambition, jealousy & envy, which become our comfortable sins.
· And then the last verse we looked @ last time, actually gives us some practical perspective on our actions. If we show mercy to others, mercy will be shown to us & vice-versa. Mercy has been defined as=to abstain from inflicting punishment upon an adversary or a law-breaker. That compassion which causes one to help the weak, the sick or the poor, showing mercy is one of the cardinal virtues of a true Christian and is a part of the "fruit of the spirit"(Gal. 5;22,23).
· If you've not been giving mercy/you won't be given mercy
· So in this next session, James discusses the relationship between faith and works.
This is an important discussion, for if we are wrong in this matter, we jeopardize our eternal salvation. What kind of faith really saves a person? Is it necessary to perform good works in order to be saved? How can a person tell whether or not he is exercising true saving faith? James answers these questions by explaining to us that there are three kinds of faith, only one of which is true saving faith.
· Faith #1=Dead Faith=2;14-17-Even in the early church there were those who claimed they had saving faith, yet did not possess salvation. Wherever there is the true, you will find the counterfeit. Jesus warned in Matt. 7;21 “Not all people who sound religious are really godly. They may refer to me as ‘Lord,’ but they still won’t enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The decisive issue is whether they obey my Father in heaven.
· People with dead faith substitute words for deeds. They know the correct vocabulary for prayer and testimony, and can even quote the right verses from the Bible; but their walk does not measure up to their talk. They think that their words are as good as works, and they are wrong.
· Your life testifies your belief so no works, claim faith=self-decieved,
· Your words cannot make somebody warm or fill their stomach
· The works don't save me, they only prove that I have saving faith
· A lot of people have gone forward & said sinners prayer, went on living the same way
· Bible says a fool doesn't believe in God/devils said in the gospels to Jesus, we know who You are, You're the holy one of God, it was only intelectual
· What good does it do if there's no change of life?
· Evidence proves the heart has been changed
· You can look @ our lives & see if there's evidence
· There's nothing more powerful than that testimony
· It draws the broken hearted to Christ
· Paul also understood the necessity of works in proving the character of our faith. He wrote: 10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.Ephesians 2:10). He also wrote: 8 These things I have told you are all true. I want you to insist on them so that everyone who trusts in God will be careful to do good deeds all the time. These things are good and beneficial for everyone.(Titus 3:8)
Real faith, and the works that accompany it, are not made up of only “spiritual” things, but also of a concern for the most basic needs - such as the need for comfort, covering, and food. When needs arise, we should sometimes pray less, and simply do more to help the person in need. We can sometimes pray as a substitute for action.
· Food and clothing are basic needs of every human being, whether he is saved or unsaved. “And having food and raiment let us be therewith content” (1 Tim. 6:8). “Therefore take no thought, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or, ‘What shall we drink?’ or, ‘Wherewithal shall we be clothed?’... for your Heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things” (Matt. 6:31–32). Jacob included these basic needs in his prayer to God: “If God will be with me... and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on” (Gen. 28:20).
· like the common Jewish farewell, Go, I wish you well (lit., “Go in peace,” cf. Jud. 18:6; 1 Sam. 1:17; 2 Sam. 15:9; Mark 5:34; Luke 7:50).
· As believers, we have an obligation to help meet the needs of people, no matter who they may be. “As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith-Gal. 6;10 Whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone, especially to our Christian brothers and sisters.
· Also in Matt. 25;40 And the King will tell them, ‘I assure you, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters,* you were doing it to me!’
Faith #2=Demonic Faith (James 2:18–19)-James wanted to shock his complacent readers, so he used demons as his illustration. When Jesus was ministering on earth, He often cast out demons; and He gave that power to His disciples. Paul often confronted demonic forces in his ministry; and in Ephesians 6:10–20, he admonished the early Christians to claim God’s protection and defeat the spiritual forces of wickedness.
· What do they believe? For one thing, they believe in the existence of God
· They also believe in the deity of Christ. Whenever they met Christ when He was on earth, they bore witness to His sonship (Mark 3:11–12). They believe in the existence of a place of punishment (Luke 8:31); and they also recognize Jesus Christ as the Judge (Mark 5:1–13). They submit to the power of His Word.
· But it is not a saving experience to believe and tremble. A person can be enlightened in his mind and even stirred in his heart and be lost forever. True saving faith involves something more, something that can be seen and recognized: a changed life. “Show me thy faith without thy works,” challenged James, “and I will show thee my faith by my works” (James 2:18).
· How could a person show his faith without works? When you trust Christ, you are “created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10). Being a Christian involves trusting Christ and living for Christ; you receive the life, then you reveal the life. Faith that is barren is not saving faith. The Greek word translated “dead” in James 2:20 carries the meaning of “barren or idle,” like money drawing no interest.
· James has introduced us to two kinds of faith that can never save the sinner: dead faith (the intellect alone), and demonic faith (the intellect and the emotions). He closes this section by describing the only kind of faith that can save the sinner—dynamic faith.
· Dynamic Faith (James 2:20–26)-Dynamic faith is faith that is real, faith that has power, faith that results in a changed life.
James described this true saving faith. To begin with, dynamic saving faith is based on the Word of God. We receive our spiritual rebirth through God’s Word (James 1:18).
· James used Abraham and Rahab as illustrations of dynamic saving faith, since both of them heard and received the message of God through His Word.
· Faith is only as good as its object. The man in the jungle bows before an idol of stone and trusts it to help him, but he receives no help. No matter how much faith a person may generate, if it is not directed at the right object, it will accomplish nothing. “I believe” may be the testimony of many sincere people, but the big question is, “In whom do you believe? What do you believe?” We are not saved by faith in faith; we are saved by faith in Christ as revealed in His Word.
· Dynamic faith is based on God’s Word, and it involves the whole man. Dead faith touches only the intellect; demonic faith involves both the mind and the emotions; but dynamic faith involves the will. The whole person plays a part in true saving faith. The mind understands the truth; the heart desires the truth; and the will acts upon the truth. The men and women of faith named in Hebrews 11 were people of action: God spoke and they obeyed. Again, “Faith is not believing in spite of evidence; faith is obeying in spite of consequence.”
· True saving faith leads to action. Dynamic faith is not intellectual contemplation or emotional consternation; it leads to obedience on the part of the will. And this obedience is not an isolated event: it continues throughout the whole life. It leads to works.
· Many different kinds of works are named in the New Testament. “The works of the Law” (Gal. 2:16) relate to the sinner’s attempt to please God by obeying the Law of Moses. Of course, it is impossible for a sinner to be saved through the works of the Law. “The works of the flesh” (Gal. 5:19) are done by unsaved people who live for the things of the old nature. There are also “wicked works” (Col. 1:21) and “dead works” (Heb. 9:14). Where there is dynamic faith—saving faith—you will always find good works.
· James then illustrated his doctrine in the lives of two well-known Bible persons: Abraham and Rahab. You could not find two more different persons! Abraham was a Jew; Rahab was a Gentile. Abraham was a godly man, but Rahab was a sinful woman, a harlot. Abraham was the friend of God, while Rahab belonged to the enemies of God. What did they have in common? Both exercised saving faith in God.
· You will want to read Genesis 15 and 22 to get the background facts for this illustration. God called Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldees to lead him into Canaan and to make out of him the great nation of Israel. It was through Israel that God would bring the Saviour into the world. Abraham’s salvation experience is recorded in Genesis 15. At night, God showed His servant the stars and gave him a promise, “So shall thy seed [descendants] be!” How did Abraham respond? “And he believed in the Lord, and He [the Lord] counted it to him for righteousness” (Gen. 15:5–6).
· The word counted is a legal or financial term; it means “to put to one’s account.” As a sinner, Abraham’s spiritual bankbook was empty. He was bankrupt! But he trusted God, and God put righteous on Abraham’s account. Abraham did not work for this righteousness; he received it as a gift from God. He was declared righteous by faith. He was justified by faith (read Rom. 4).
· Justification is an important doctrine in the Bible. Justification is the act of God whereby He declares the believing sinner righteous on the basis of Christ’s finished work on the cross. It is not a process; it is an act. It is not something the sinner does; it is something God does for the sinner when he trusts Christ. It is a once-for-all event. It never changes.
· How can you tell if a person is justified by faith if this transaction takes place between the sinner and God privately? Abraham’s example answers that important question: the justified person has a changed life and obeys God’s will. His faith is demonstrated by his works.
· James used another event in Abraham’s life, an event that took place many years after Abraham’s conversion. This event is the offering up of Isaac on the altar (Gen. 22). Abraham was not saved by obeying God’s difficult command. His obedience proved that he already was saved. “You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did” (James 2:22, NIV). There is a perfect relationship between faith and works. As someone has expressed it, “Abraham was not saved by faith plus works, but by a faith that works.”
· How was Abraham “justified by works” (James 2:21) when he had already been “justified by faith”? (see Rom. 4) By faith, he was justified before God and his righteousness declared; by works he was justified before men and his righteousness demonstrated. It is true that no humans actually saw Abraham put his son on the altar, but the inspired record in Genesis 22 enables us to see the event and witness Abraham’s faith demonstrated by his works.
· D.L. Moody often said, “Every Bible should be bound in shoe leather.” He did not say that because he had been a successful shoe salesman; he said it because he was a dedicated Christian. Dynamic faith obeys God and proves itself in daily life and works. Alas, we still have church members today who fit the description given in Titus, “They profess that they know God, but in works they deny Him” (Titus 1:16). Paul also writes, “This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works” (Titus 3:8).
· His second illustration is Rahab, and the background for her is found in Joshua 2 and 6. Israel was about to invade their Promised Land and take the city of Jericho. Joshua sent spies into the city to get the lay of the land. There they met Rahab, a harlot, who protected them and affirmed that she believed in what God had said and what God was going to do. When the men departed, they promised to save her and her family when the city was taken; and this they did.
· It is an exciting story. But in it is one of the Bible’s great examples of saving faith (see Heb. 11:31). Rahab heard the Word and knew that her city was condemned. This truth affected her and her fellow citizens so that their hearts melted within them (Josh. 2:11).
· Rahab responded with her mind and her emotions; but she also responded with her will: she did something about it. She risked her own life to protect the Jewish spies, and she further risked her life by sharing the good news of deliverance with the members of her family.
· The Hebrew word translated “harlot” in Joshua 2 can also have the wider meaning of “an innkeeper.” Rahab ran a guest house, so it was normal for the spies to go there. The Greek word “harlot” in James 2:25 definitely means an immoral person.
· This is also the meaning in Hebrews 11:31. Matthew 1:5 indicates she married into Israel and became an ancestress of our Lord. What grace! Rahab is one of the first soul winners in the Bible, and you can compare her with the “bad Samaritan” in John 4.
· Rahab could have had dead faith, a mere intellectual experience. Or she could have had demonic faith, her mind enlightened and her emotions stirred. But she exercised dynamic faith: her mind knew the truth, her heart was stirred by the truth, and her will acted on the truth. She proved her faith by her works.
· When you realize the small amount of information Rahab had, you can see how truly marvelous her faith really was. Today we have the full revelation of God through His Word and His Son. We live on the other side of Calvary, and we have the Holy Spirit to convict and to teach us the Word. “For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required” (Luke 12:48). Her faith is an indictment against the unbelief of sinners today.
· James 2 emphasized that the mature Christian practices the truth. He does not merely hold to ancient doctrines; he practices those doctrines in his everyday life. His faith is not the dead faith of the intellectuals, or the demonic faith of the fallen spirits. It is the dynamic faith of men like Abraham and women like Rahab, faith that changes a life and goes to work for God.
· It is important that each professing Christian examine his own heart and life and make sure that he possesses true saving faith, dynamic faith. “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves” (2 Cor. 13:5a). Satan is the great deceiver; one of his devices is imitation. If he can convince a person that counterfeit faith is true faith, he has that person in his power.

Blessed are Those Who Haven't Seen

2008-05-13T21:41:00.000-07:00

1 John 1
1That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;

I was talking to some friends last night and one guy was sharing how a kid in his class was wondering about God. The kid asked how we can have a relationship w/ a person we've never seen? He said my girlfriend is easy to talk to and I can know what she's thinking right away, so, how can I have that w/ Christ?

Immediately my mind began to fly to the response and what I thought made the most sense in a way that was easily accessible. But, since then, I've had more time to really ponder that mystery. We believe in a person that we've never shaken hands w/. I've not been introduced to His parents, so to speak, and I haven't had the chance to spill coffee on His bible on the dashboard of His 1990 Ford Taurus, just yet.

It made me think of the children of Israel who, while wandering in the wilderness, had a visible God protrusion in the sky,(pillar of fire/cloud by day) every waking moment for 40 years. And yet, once they enter into the promised land, they revert back to worshipping false gods. So I guess I'm inclined to think that even if we could meet at Jesus' apartment tonight, w/ the opportunity to put drink rings on his coffee table and maybe even say something offensive about the lack of NFL Israeli football players that His nation has been able to produce, that seeing in the natural wouldn't in fact, improve upon my relationship w/ Jesus.

In fact, it could very well put a damper on it, if the truth be told. If I'm honest in recalling many of the friendships & family relationships I've had personally over the years, I can pretty well attest to the fact that I have the ability within me to say the wrong thing at any given time, in a style that's not unlike that of "Uncle Buck". Having said that...

The apostle John did see Jesus. John saw the many expressions on his face when He uttered words that have blessed, molded, and shaped our lives and continue to do so on a daily basis. When we read in the gospel that Jesus looked at Peter after Pete had denied Him three times, John knew that look, we can only surmise/speculate. But it was a look of love as John will go on to write in his epistle. God is love.

Now I know what this young man is saying, it's difficult to have the most important relationship in your life to be faith based. In our limited faculties, life would appear much easier if we could have what John had, and yet, we have much more than John had. We have a complete Old and New Testament, don't we? Heck, all you have to do is spend a night in a hotel in the U.S. and you can snag a free King James Gideon bible, it happens. Most people have Grandma Gertrude's family Bicentenial bible that is collecting dust in an attic or in the corner of someone's bookcase. The question I guess then I want to leave you w/ is, what do you have?

I know for myself, that I can say to somebody," you need to have a personal relationship w/ Jesus" faster than I can be contributing to my own. My mouth is pretty quick. Someone said last week that they probably spend more time talking to Christ than they do listening to Christ. It occured to me that, towards our friends, not to mention close personal friends, that it's kind of rude to do so, to talk more than to listen to them. And it has made me want to listen more and talk less.

Not that I want to pray less, not a chance. But listen more. I find that a line, a verse, a spiritual principle that is consistent w/ the character & nature of God gets me started. Once that begins, I can mull it over in my mind. "John touched Jesus". He spoke w/ God. The gnostic belief that Jesus was a phantom is bogus, Jesus left footprints when He walked. And Jesus wants to talk to Chuck. Amazing, but wait, there's more. Jesus wants me to listen to Him talk to Chuck.

Get out! No it's true. And what's more, Jesus wants to talk to Amber, Todd, Bill, Phil, Crystal, Kyle, Jesse, Aunt Gertrude & cousin Beatrice. Yea, just like that. When I let that simmer in the mental cooker for awhile, I like what makes for tasty mental broth. My Jesus, the creator of the universe, the One who has given my life purpose, meaning, and direction, wants my attention. I guess Jesus was right when He told doubting Thomas, blessed are those who have believed without seeing.

John 20;27 Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.
28And Thomas answered and said unto him, My LORD and my God.
29Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.
30And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book:
31But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.

Who Cares?

2008-05-12T10:21:00.000-07:00

1 Peter 5;7 Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.

All a believer's anxieties can be cast on Him. Christ sustains because He cares.A Christian's confidence rests in the fact that Christ is genuinely concerned for his welfare. Cast "all your cares", personal cares, family cares, cares for the present & for the future, for yourselves, for others, for the church, on God. Our worries can be very burdensome when they arise from unbelief &distrust and they end up torturing & distracting the mind.

The remedy is to cast our care upon God & leave every event to His wise &gracious disposal. Firm belief calms the spirit of man.It takes humility however, to turn everything(lit. throw your anxieties)over toGod & trust that He cares. God is not indifferent; He knows what He's doing in our lives. Sometimes we think that struggles caused by our own sin & foolishnessare not God's concern. But when we turn to God in repentance, He will bear the weight, even of those struggles.

Letting God have your anxieties calls for action, not passivity. Don't submit to circumstances, but to the Lord who controls our circumstances.And maybe even try to carry this verse on a notecard to remind us when the microsecond trials of life enter our mind, that we need to continually keep giving them over to Him and not to our "worry centers", our melancholic sofa bed of mental/I told you so's and you'll never amount to a hill of bean's troughs of ill carnage. To trust the seen to the unseen, and to see through the unseen lens of faith what the seen lense of doubt can easily dismiss.

How to Develop a Quiet Time

2008-05-08T13:31:00.000-07:00

How to Develop a Quiet Time

1. Begin w/ prayer. As you open God’s Word, pause and ask Him to “ open your spiritual eyes to see wonderful things and open your ears to hear His voice “.
2. Always remember,” There is therefore now, no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.” Although I want to encourage you to protect your personal time in the Word every day—we all have our low times—we all fall off the path.
3. Hop back on. When you do miss, whether it is just a few days, or a few weeks—don’t try to catch up. Just start reading for your current day(this is written with the assumption that you’re following some kind of a read the bible in a year or some kind of devotional plan) and keep going from there. You might have time to backtrack later on, do not stress over it. Remember—“This is not a notch on your belt”. Our goal is FELLOWSHIP—not accomplishment.
4. Personalize the pace-Be realistic about your journey. For those new to Bible reading, mothers of young children, and students w/ a lot of homework, you may decide to read just through the New Testament portion this year. This reading segment can take just 5-7 minutes. It is much better to be consistent w/ a smaller portion, than to be overwhelmed w/ too much.
5. Paper and pen-If you pick up a pen and write the date in your notebook, you have put yourself in the mode to “ pay attention “. What you are saying to God and yourself is that you expect God to show you something or say something in His Word that is worth writing down and remembering. When you write something down you more than double your retention. As you write one thought, often you will see other facets of it expand and grow to sweet, deep understanding.
6. Find a time-Everyone has personal rhythm. Some are morning people, some are night owls. Both types can buy an inexpensive alarm clock and set it for a certain time each day. This small action can help you protect your “ personal appointment w/ Jesus”.
7. Prepare a place-Keeping your Bible, notebook and pen in a certain place, all the time is a tremendous help. You can right there and just jump in. You will find that you start viewing that place as special and hly.
8. The Search for answers-A quick review of the following question before you read every day will help you anticipate and be excited about your reading.

#1 What did I learn about God today in my reading?
#2 What did I learn as lessons about life?
#3 What did I learn about myself, my attitudes, my priorities, fears, failures, desires, mission, destiny?
#4 Is there a lesson that I can apply today?
#5 What can I take from my reading and pray back to God for understanding, instruction or help?

Building Your Life on the Rock Matthew 7;22-25

22 On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ 23 But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’
24 “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. 25 Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock.

Unrealistic Expectations

2008-04-29T19:02:00.000-07:00

Unrealistic Expectations

1 Kings 19
Elijah Escapes from Jezebel
1 And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, also how he had executed all the prophets with the sword. 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, "So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time." 3 And when he saw that, he arose and ran for his life, and went to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. 9
9 And there he went into a cave, and spent the night in that place; and behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and He said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

In the book of First Kings, chapter Nineteen, we find the mighty prophet Elijah, hiding in a cave from an evil woman named Jezebel. Elijah has just come off an intensely high spiritual experience and found circumstances in his life to be different than what he had hoped for.

Elijah is not that different from you and I, according to James 5;17, he's a guy that we can relate to, he reacted emotionally and not always in a rational manner. I think that inside each & everyone of us, is a picture of somebody that doesn't do such things. And it seems like in ways that are subtle, usually; we strive to be like whoever or whatever that pic is in our minds.

Elijah was upset because his actions didn't bring about change, not to the extent he would have liked. Even though he did what God pretty much wanted him to do, he was disappointed, discouraged, and disillusioned.

Sometimes friends of ours will say something coy like," well, what did you expect?" That's got me thinking, because we're seldom disappointed if we didn't expect much to begin w/. Think about it. When you get a surprise amount of money in the mail that you didn't expect, are you ever disappointed? How about when unexpected circumstances cause you to, miracle of miracles, lose weight without your realization, are you disappointed? Never, unless you're bulimic and if you are, that's a little disappointing.

Doesn't it make you wonder if maybe our perspectives are a bit skewed? Why not expect your car to break down, your kids to lose their minds in front of your boss, and your favorite shirt to excrete extract of cherry tomato?

Where should our hope lie? In whom should we place it? And if we do that, and I mean trusting it into Jesus' hands, what does that look like? Should we expect pain free living? No, that's unrealistic but, what changes us? What causes you and I to seek God like sweet potatoes on a Kansas hitchhiker?

I want to suggest to you that it's what He gives us. What does Christ give us? Sometimes for me, it's perspective. A glimpse that my worries are often out of proportion. Other times, it's the realization that we can make it; we can get through this drudgery, and maybe even get some joy along the way. One of the ways I know this is that I almost always find some poor schmuck along the way, who's encountering what I've encountered. And my attitude tends to be very gracious when I realize I'm not there today, where I used to be yesterday. Expect it.

Some Clear Signs that Your Spouse Could Be in Fact, Addicted to Bibles

2008-04-29T19:01:00.000-07:00

Some Clear Signs that Your Spouse Could Be in Fact, Addicted to Bibles

· Your anonymous spouse, that in no way has a name similar to that of Chuck, Charles, or Charley, refers to his bible in the feminine pronoun

· Your spouse without a name has a certain proclivity towards carrying a bible to places that don't indeed warrant the presence of the aforementioned book, namely the carwash, turtle races, or your child's sandbox

· Your loving dovey has a tendency to caress the pages, spine, and or cover of the said bible in the grocery store and or methadone clinic

· Your living term of endearment budgets bibles right up there w/ toiletries, your children's college fund, and possible birth-control devices

· When your child inquires about a future sport in which the two of you are to bond in harmonious father-son paternal bliss, you ask," Old or New Testament?"

· You find your smoochie whoochie debating over potential friends, who could, one day inherit said bibles due to accidental death, and he or she ranks them in categories such as NIV worthy

· You find yourself after buying the one true love of your life bible, complete w/ one of a kind bible cover, maybe one that others have the inability to obtain themselves, and yet two days later, asks the anonymous spouse," Sweetums, uhmmm, how do you feel about the 1909 edition, I mean, could we relive every waking marital, chick flick, just between us, a moment in paradise exchange, I mean, if the off chance of such a trivial textual purchase coincides w/ your heart that truly loves, honors, and cherishes my greater advancement in sweet biblical knowledge?

· Imagine.

The Bible; A Blessing to Choose or...

2008-04-29T18:59:00.000-07:00

The Bible; A Blessing to Choose or
A Before Bedtime Snooze?

Before I became a Christian, when I was working w/ other alcoholics, I knew that they would experience insomnia when they would try to sleep at night. So I told them to read a boring book at night to help them sleep. I told them to read the bible.

Some time after that, different people would come to my apartment & share different things out of the bible and I would really get a lot out of what they told me. After they would leave though, I'd go to read my own bible and still find it lifeless and difficult to understand.

One of the things that showed me God had changed my life when I became a Christian was that I had a desire to read the bible. It clearly had not been the case prior to me meeting Christ. Since that time, January of 94, I find that I go through seasons.

There are times when I want to start in the book of Genesis and read all the way through. Other times, I look for particular books and I slowly digest chunks of those scriptures, a little bit at a time. What makes me wonder though, is that I run into a lot of Christians, teens & adults alike, that don't really seem to desire reading the bible very much. Does anybody have any insight into why that may be?

A Handful of Cat Poo by Chuck Rhein

2008-04-29T18:57:00.000-07:00

A Handful of Cat Poo by Chuck Rhein

· I accidentally grasped a handful of cat poo
· This was not due to a lack or a void of cat poo in my life
· I did not subscribe to any cat poo activities that would somehow fulfill my civic minded duty to the town in which I currently reside
· I did not participate in any type of a counseling scenario where options were presented to me so I could in fact better my life or that of my families' life by securing a firm grasp on a large deposit of cat poo
· To my knowledge, I did not better the environment nor aid in the reduction of Hydroflurocarbons in the atmosphere by firmly adjoining my finger tips to the cat deposit of pure love
· The organization in which I am currently employed, did not have it's cause advanced by my medieval method of being connected to cat poo
· There was no greater closeness achieved between myself & the cat of which my fingers bathed themselves in essence of Rosie and or Figaro
· I was not given any new revelation or insight as to why through the ages, man has lost his opportunities to advance, breakthrough unforeseen barriers, to somehow embrace the essence of what the Egyptians so wonderfully understood as cat worship, by my having embraced the textured mass of cat poo
· I was not given a valuable business commodity as to one day potentially burn cat poo in our cars as a fossil fuel by grasping the fantabulous handful of shared cat blessings
· No my friends, I grabbed a handful of pure colorful joy simply to get the proper perspective of how short & fleeting a vacation in this life is, and that if I'm truly given the gift of cat poo, I should happily leap for joy and make lemonade, post cat poo.

Bullet-Proof

2008-04-29T18:56:00.000-07:00

When We're Feeling Less than
Bullet-Proof
I have found when circumstances, problems, people,
Expectations, disappointments, family let-downs,
Finances, affairs of the heart, or just because it
Happens to be a Tuesday, even if I just happen to
Be breathing and it hurts just to be in your own skin,
There is One and I mean only One, who knows about
Your suffering. And this is what He has to say about
It: If God is for us, who can be against us? He who
did not spare His own Son, but
delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with
Him also freely give us all things? 33
Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? 34 Who
is he who condemns? It is Christ
who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even
at the right hand of God, who also
makes intercession for us. 35 Who shall separate us
from the love of Christ? Shall
tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or
nakedness, or peril, or sword?
For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor
angels nor principalities nor powers,
nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height
nor depth, nor any other created
thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of
God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Daniel

2008-04-29T18:54:00.000-07:00

How many ways is Daniel a type of Christ?

* Ezekiel 14;14 says the three most righteous OT saints were; Job, Noah, and Daniel

* Daniel actually fits into an even smaller category, as there is nothing negative written about him in scripture. This refers to people who's characters are developed, excluding people like Enoch.

· 1;6 says he's from the lineage of Judah, like Christ
· Both Jesus and Daniel saved the lives of their friends while in captivity by an action that nobody else could do, Jesus died for our sins, the perfect sinless sacrifice. While Daniel interpreted the dream of Nebuchadnezzar that no one else could.
· It's interesting that Daniel wrote his book in both Hebrew and Aramaic; Hebrew being the language of the God's chosen people, Aramaic the language of the Gentiles. Jesus died and by doing so, grafted in us Gentiles to become part of the Jew & Gentile church of Christ
· Both Jesus and Daniel magnify the Father; Dan. 2:20="Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever, For wisdom & power belong to Him."
· I find it interesting that Daniel is missing while his three friends are in the fiery furnace, the only time in the book where Daniel is mysteriously gone from the scene without explanation. But, when Nebuchadnezzar looks into the fiery furnace, he sees one like the "Son of God" inside.
· Both guys wear a purple cloak, Dan from interpreting a vision, Jesus when He was being chastised
· In Chapter four verse eight we read that in Daniel is a spirit of the Holy gods
· It's interesting to note that Chapter nine of Daniel predicts the entrance of the Messiah, Jesus predicted," destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up"
· Let me know if you have anything to add

Random Thoughts

2008-04-29T18:52:00.002-07:00

Random Thoughts

* Martyred missionary Jim Elliot said it best:
"He is no fool to give what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose."
* It was when Lot stopped being a sojourner, and became a resident in Sodom (Ge 13), that he lost his consecration and his testimony and everything he lived for went up in smoke! (Ge 19)
· Keep reminding yourself that you are residing as an alien in this present evil age
· "and do not be conformed to (poured into the mold of) this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect." (see note Romans 12:2)
Spiritual Christians keep themselves "loosely attached" to this world because they live for something and Someone far better. We need to remember that our stay on earth is temporary until they were called
Webster says an "alien" is one "belonging to another person & place", a good description of believers who are not their own and don't call this world their home. Christians should be different, not odd. When you are different, you attract people; when you are odd, you repel them.
The saint should understand that although he or she is just "passing through" and this world which is not our home, it does not suggest that we are to withdraw from the world. What this great truth does mean is that the sojourning saint should view all circumstances and all people in the light of eternity.

The way we think about eternity will determine the importance we attach to people and things. It is true that as a man thinks in his heart, so he (or she) is and so will his conduct be. It is because a saint sees all things in the light of eternity that he is the best of all citizens, for it is only in the light of eternity that the true values of anything can be measured.

Letting People Be

2008-04-29T18:52:00.001-07:00

Letting People Be

One of the hardest things for us to do, as I see it, is to let people live with decisions that you know are bad for them. I imagine all of our parents went through that, watching us like Ted Koppel & Donald Trump tried on hairpieces. They had plenty of choices and still decided on that which is hard to look at.

I suppose that the greater a person's penchant for control results in a greater pain from what others do. I read in a book called "the Calvary Road", Roy Hesson says we don't lose the peace of God over another person's sin but our own. For me, that can be what differentiates me from simply hurting for others and a recurring resentment.

It's interesting to me as to what kind of input we can have in people's lives. Being teachable is a critically important trait to exhibit as a Christian; one of the greatest pitfalls we can face is self-deception. One of the healthiest things we can do for each other is to have spiritual friends that we love and respect to keep us in check.

We read in Jeremiah 17: 9 " The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? 10 I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings.

I guess a good test to go by is this; have you ever made a decision that you felt was God leading you towards, only to find that it was a mistake? Did you do it, as you were young in the Lord? Midway or late in you're walk w/ Jesus? The bible says "1 Corinthians 10:12

Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall." This means Chuck, Pat, Amber, and Beatrice all need to have people in their lives that they respect enough to trust their input in the event that they miss something.

If pride is one of the most dangerous foes that we face, what checks and balances do we have in place to prevent errors? Am I teachable? If I am and someone close to you has been blinded, what do you do?

You pray and you pray some more and then you keep praying. And you let the peace of God that rules your heart like a referee's whistle trust in Him who holds our very breath in His hand. We trust in Him we cannot see physically w/ those that we can see in the realm of the unseen prayer. And we can know they're in the greatest most loving hands of all, our Father's.

Alone with God

2008-04-29T18:50:00.002-07:00

Alone with God Prayer=Friday March 14th

For Christians prayer is like breathing. You don’t have to think to breathe because the atmosphere exerts pressure on your lungs and forces you to breathe. That’s why it is more difficult to hold your breath than it is to breathe. Similarly, when you’re born into the family of God, you enter into a spiritual atmosphere wherein God’s presence and grace exert pressure, or influence, on your life. Prayer is the normal response to that pressure. As believers we have all entered the divine atmosphere to breathe the air of prayer. Only then can we survive in the darkness of the world.

Unfortunately many believers hold their spiritual breaths for long periods, thinking brief moments with God are sufficient to allow them to survive. But such restricting of their spiritual intake is caused by sinful desires. The fact is, every believer must be continually in the presence of God, constantly breathing in His truths to be fully functional.

Because ours is such a free and prosperous society, it is easier for Christians to feel secure by presuming on instead of depending on God’s grace. Too many believers become satisfied with physical blessings and have little desire for spiritual blessings. Having become so dependent on their physical resources, they feel little need for spiritual resources.

When programs, methods, and money produce impressive results, there is an inclination to confuse human success with divine blessing. Christians can actually behave like practical humanists, living as if God were not necessary. When that happens, passionate longing for God and yearning for His help will be missing—along with His empowerment. Because of this great and common danger, Paul urged believers to "pray at all times" (Eph. 6:18) and to "devote yourselves to prayer" (Col. 4:2). Continual, persistent, incessant prayer is an essential part of Christian living and flows out of dependence on God.

Wednesday March 19th Chuck’s Daily Devo Matthew

2008-04-29T18:50:00.001-07:00

19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21 for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. 23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!

This excerpt is from Jesus’ most famous sermon," the Sermon on the Mount". It’s interesting to note that historically, people traveled as far as a one hundred miles to see and hear Jesus of Nazareth. That’s committment. It reminds me of that old 70’s/early 80’s commercial for the Brokerage Firm called E.F. Hutton. In the commercial, a man typically says," My broker is E.F. Hutton", and after he says that, no matter where they are, people stop everything they do to a moment of stunned silence, and then the commercial ends shortly after this moment. I like to think that the same is true for me when God wants to communicate a message to me. As I said, I would like to think so, but I know me, all too well.

If the truth be told, I need a reminder to be listening for what God is trying to say to me. Sometimes daily, hourly, and minute-by-minute. We were saying in class on Sunday night that we’re so busy/so technologically modern, that we have to have everybody turn off their electronic devices in order to possibly have a one and a half hour class w/ minimal interuptions. That in mind, in our text, Jesus uses a word that is so perfectly generic, it’s application reaches far into our lives and makes for wonderfully large applications to us. Simply put, we treasure things! We do! You do, I do, your cousin Beatrice from Albequerque does, we’re all busted.

To prove my point, I’ve got two words and a hyphen for you, fifty-five!!! Sammy Hagar sang it in the 80’s and it still rings true today. We can’t drive fifty-five, we treasure speed. We treasure whatever we can get quickly. And it’s no surprise at all that Jesus put’s it in the perspective of the eye gate for us because that’s the entry point for our treasures. We see things and we say," hot-dog", I want that. I do that w/ bibles, food, clothes, the list goes on, ad infinitum...

So, what to do? The first thing that occurs to me is God’s anticipation of our human excuse realm. He says, very perceptively," where your treasure is", present tense. He knows our excuse maker will say things along these lines," Well Lord, I’ve looked at_______________ for so many years, what’s the use in stopping now?" And God says to us,"where your treasure is" right now/where is your eye gate focusing on right now?" You see as our Creator, He’s at a certain vantage point. He knows us, knows what we did, what we’re doing, what we will do, and how we’re created to do what those things entail.

So, just for today, what do I treasure? What do I allow my eyes to see, reflect on, anticipate, or even worse, when I’m most vulnerable/susceptible to temptation, i.e.=tired, stressed, hungry, lonely,bored, the beat goes on. Not only that, but am I considering what is really treasure compared w/ what is invariably fool’s gold? Personally speaking, treasure equates to people, people are treasure in God’s estimation. He makes that clear in parables like the one where the man sells all they he has for the pearl, that’s Jesus. He gave everything up to become a man so He would draw pearls of human hearts to Himself, and I trust that He’s continually doing that in your life as well as mine. Where’s your heart my friends? Where do you allow your eyes to travel? Where’s your heart on this fine spring day, and when God speaks, are we becoming E.F. Hutton clients for the kingdom of heaven?

Matt 6:25-26

2008-04-29T18:49:00.001-07:00

Matthew 6; 25-26Do Not Worry
25 "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

Worry= to torment oneself with or suffer from disturbing thoughts; fret.

God says not to worry about my life, the implication is that I do/I will worry. He uses examples that relate to all people groups throughout time; we’re not to worry about food & clothing. Jesus uses the example of how God takes care of the animals, He meets their needs. Therein lies a neat example of what we can do when we do become worried/troubled about our needs in this life, we can go to a park or a backyard where we can watch animals. The idea is that we’re to slow down, relax, and realize that God’s creations are taken care of.

My favorite part in this section of teaching is in regards to our value to God. That’s important to me and one that I like to meditate upon. The creator of all of time, matter, and eternity values little o’l me. It’s important to know that of all the people in this life that we matter to, God sees value in our existence. It is an example to really hone in on and internalize, not just to regard intellectually and then meander on through our day, never giving it a second thought.

Since we’re important to God, it means that all His other personal thoughts and attitudes toward us, mean that much more. If He truly values me, when He tells me that He’ll never leave me or forsake me, it’s for real. When He includes do not fear or that He who has begun a good work in me is faithful to complete it, it’s true!
Words in our culture really having a bearing on Who utters them, how they’re uttered, and the context in which they’re uttered. When I worry, in a sense, I’m going against God’s best for me. His best is to trust that He is capable of looking out for me. To think otherwise is a poor reflection of who I think He is. If really has the ability to transcend my family’s need for reliable transportation, to make sure that we have money coming in for the family’s food and clothing, to make sure that I can survive the temptations in this life that we face daily, by the thousands, and finally, that I’m worth all these things and more, I want to believe Him.

His value of me grows my faith and I can, if I so choose, to repeat His words to me over continually today. He values me, I’m worth a great deal to my Jesus. My God has saved me for a purpose and no matter what comes my way today, His hands are big enough, strong enough, reliable enough, and valuable enough to hold me in them.

Matt 6:33

2008-04-29T18:48:00.000-07:00

Matthew 6;33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

We’re to seek first that which is contrary to our human/sinful nature. The kingdom of God=is that which pertains to God’s will here on earth. To be in the world but not of the world. Righteousness is a good way to describe right living. In order to do so, I must become washed in the living water of Christ’s Word. I need to be immersed in the selfless perspective.
It’s easier to do, I believe, in lieu of His fine example. When I read of His cleansing of the temple or of his not reviling back when He was reviled, I have a model to work from. But when I’m stuck in the moment of my present circumstance, unable to keep from over-reacting to whatever life’s lunch plate is being served up daily, it’s sufficient then of it’s own daily trouble. It’s at that point that I hope that I have God’s Word hidden in my heart that I might not sin against God.

I’m reminded of the disciples situation after the Mount of transfiguration. They were confronted w/ a child that was demon possessed and they could not cast out the demon. Jesus was able to do so and when the disciples asked Him why they could not do so, He said that kind only comes out by prayer & fasting. The implication is that they needed to have been fasting ahead of time.

So today, am I looking ahead to godly priorities? Am I anticipating what Jesus would do in my situation? I find that when I ponder over what He has done, I have an example, a blueprint, a direction to walk and it’s all about seeking first that which is right living.

Matt 7

2008-04-29T18:45:00.000-07:00

1Judge not, that ye be not judged.
2For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
The margin in my King James bible says the word for judge=condemn. We are not to condemn others. In Matthew chapter five, we are told not to call somebody a fool. In the bible, a fool is somebody who doesn’t believe in God. In a simplistic sense, which is the way I so often need the Word of God, we are not to take the position of being God, for only He knows the heart of people/Jeremiah 17;9.
You would think that it would in a sense, be a relief for us not to take on the roll of God. I mean, talk about job stress! "Shnook-ums, how was your day today?" "Well honey bunny, I had to control the universe again today", I tell you those Bolivians really bring me down". I mean really, who wants that job? We do. I do, you do.
We do because we invariably see what others clearly are not doing in their lives. While, at the same time, exhibiting extreme blindness into our own shortcomings and failings. It’s a slam dunk and we hone this gift to a maniacal proficiency. It’s like people’s opinions regarding religion, politics, and our abilities to drive better than most NASCAR drivers. We inherently know what’s best for others and often feel compelled to play out their scenarios in our minds, only the way they should act. Well, maybe you don’t, but I sure do. I did so yesterday while I had my first experience using the manly power tool known as a chainsaw.
It’s funny because my intentions were to meditate on my poverty of spirit from Matthew 5;3. But by the time I had finished gathering all the tree limbs from the St. Joe ice storm carnage, I had figured out pretty much all of my friends problems and was chock full of the lack of peace that passes all understanding.
The moral to the story is found in James. He says in his short little epistle, don’t plan too much ahead, because today’s’ troubles are sufficient to keep you in check for the moment. And I need that direction. It’s not that I can’t understand what can and will viably help other people. It’s a heart issue.
The bible says that when we are to correct others, we are to do so in a meek and gentle/loving spirit, lest we also be tempted. That’s the heart of what Jesus wants for our hearts. God designed us to be spiritual "spirit-filled" creatures, and to show others the error of their ways, is to be done as Jesus did when He lived His life as an example for us. "Woman where art thou accusers? Neither do I condemn thee, go thy way and sin nor more". " I am meek and lowly in spirit. Take My yoke upon you, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light". "Jesus looked at him and loved him. Jesus looked upon them as sheep in need of a shepherd. Jesus wept."

Thursdaily Devo Psalm 51; 17

2008-04-29T18:42:00.000-07:00

Psalm 51; 17
17The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

Brokenness, what a concept! At times it can sound equivalent to putting a sharp stick in your eye. Lord I want to be totally devoid of ability and talent in such a way, as to be completely dependent upon You. Knowing my bent towards distractions, frustrations, disappointments, and everyday life situations, I still come to You w/ humbleness and childlike faith, mixed w/ need & a tendency towards procrastination.

I remember reading in the amazing book," Imitation of Christ", to beware of the need "to know things". As I thought about it, I was taken back by the pitfall that approaches each & everyone one of us in relation to pride. Pride shows up in my life and says," I did it my way" like the oh so humble ones that sang it; Frank Sinatra & Sid Vicious. Pride. What a gas. What a poisonous vain imagination that I somehow have superior knowledge in a world that is diametrically opposed to the will of Jesus Christ.

No my friends, when we come to Christ, we come as beggars. I’m reminded of the one time in my life when I experienced as a child, the phenomenon of drowning. My brother & I were in a small river and before we knew it, we were taken over by the current. At one point, my body involuntarily had to get to a source of air & I found myself climbing on my brother to do so. Had I been any more desperate, I could have fought my own flesh & blood to get to that source of life, involuntarily.

And that’s where the analogy ends. Pride is a choice. And even if I realize it’s working in me, it can change clothes and I all of the sudden become proud of the fact that I recognized pride. I can wear it like a bad velour shirt from the 80’s or I can assume the rightful, life giving position of getting on my hands & knees before my Jesus. I find in the context of Psalm 51, needing God not to despise me. Needing His power & His love to prevail when I gasp for air because I wrongly take things upon myself & my talents instead of kneeling at the cross of grace & mercy.

I’m finding that His ways, not my resourcefulness are so much more satisfying, it’s like breathing fresh air when I realize I need to humbly seek Him without any agenda, or plan on how my life should go for this day. When I, like the tax collector,

Luke 18;3 And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ’God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

come to God not by comparison to other men, but as a child to a loving Daddy, there comes a peace and a purpose for my life that I want more than anything. No sin, despite it’s painful price tag, pleases like our heavenly Father does. And today, without knowing when our next automobile or finances or transportation for my mother-in-law, or studying for Sunday night, or discipleship of our children, or Jacob’s learning to read, or people pleasing, or being anymore than my heavenly Father can prepare me to be, I lay at the feet of the cross, needy, vulnerable, and loved. And that’s where I have to be right now.

ATF Friday Night Phil Joel

2008-04-29T18:41:00.000-07:00

· Phil was at a place in his life where he said to his pastor," if the God of the universe is able to be known, how can I get to know him?"
· His pastor gave him a read thru the bible in a year program.
· He and his wife set their alarm clocks an hour early, to pray & he kept a notebook were he wrote questions he had for the Lord, as well as the things God revealed to him.
· After 3 months of doing that every day, he & his wife looked @ each other and said," it’s working".
· Why does God love us so much?
· Phil found that he couldn’t stop writing down the things that he was learning from God.
· He pointed out that it takes time to become real friends w/ someone.
· The plans/purposes for our life from Christ are phenomenal.
· Jesus Himself would draw away from others to be w/ the Father.
· Now he comes every morning to feed/to feast w/ God.
· God says," Let’s spend time together."
· To God Phil says," whatever it takes, whatever You want, bring it on!"
· Ask yourself if you’re willing to sacrifice sleep or time on the computer or ___________, to be w/ the Lord.

Saturday Morning Phil again

2008-04-29T18:40:00.000-07:00

· You may not feel like it, but God never changes
· Tragedy on Pleasure Island-"We’re bored so we want to be entertained. We’ve become addicted to pleasure.
· Obesity=results in an increased risk of heart disease, increased risk of diabetes; suicide is the third leading cause of death in this country in people ages 15-24.
· Every 16 min. somebody commits suicide.
· Do an inventory over the last thirty days; how much time have you spent on sports, music, clothes you bought, on the computer, etc…
2 Timothy 3;1 You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. 2 For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. 3 They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. 4 They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. 5 They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!
· Acts 20; 35 And I have been a constant example of how you can help those in need by working hard. You should remember the words of the Lord Jesus: ’It is more blessed to give than to receive.’"
Matthew 16
· 25 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.
· Thru the various Christian Missions available, via, ATF, you can set a child free from slavery, $1 a month to sponsor a child.
· How much value do I add to those around me?
· It’s time to get off Pleasure Island.
· The Drama=the sin is in the choice, it always has repercussions.

ATF Part 4 Sniglets

2008-04-29T18:39:00.000-07:00

Sniglets
· How do we get our voice out there?
John 12
· 49 I don’t speak on my own authority. The Father who sent me has commanded me what to say and how to say it.
· Go into the entire world & preach the good news.
· God so loves, He wants to reintroduce you to that strength & power.
1 Corinthians 13
· 1 If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
· Whenever you speak, do it in love.
1 Corinthians 16
· 14 And do everything with love.
Ephesians 4
· 15 Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.
· God told us how to say it, how can I best reach those around me?
· How do you get people to listen to you?
· Who do I listen to?
· The world has nothing to say, but says it so well.
· The church has everything to say, but says it badly.
Jeremiah 1
9 Then the Lord reached out and touched my mouth and said,
"Look, I have put my words in your mouth!
Luke 21
· 15 for I will give you the right words and such wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to reply or refute you!
· 1) Is my voice motivated by love?
· 2) Is my message relevant/relatable?
· 3) Is my message what the world needs to hear?
· Ephesians 3; 20 Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.
· Jesus wanted to put them in the middle of the miracle.
· In your school, every time you dream the dreams of God, you reflect God’s light.
· We were born to dream, made in His image, & everyone has the potential to dream.
· Your dream is your voice; there are a lot of forces that want to kill us (our dreams).
· Every time we watch TV or movies we’re participating in someone else’s dream.
· Culture hypnotizes us; it causes our reading to be "dumbed down".
· And they really represent dream killers, distractions from our dreams.
· 98% of people follow somebody else’s dreams while only 2% of people actually shape culture.
· What is your dream?

ATF 2008 Notes Friday Night- Phil

2008-04-29T18:36:00.000-07:00

· What does it mean to magnify the Lord?
· It’s like looking @ Him thru a telescope & He keeps getting more magnificent, larger, and easier to see.
· We love Him as we’re magnifying Him.
· As you focus on Him more & more, He becomes clearer & clearer.
· Pray to God," if you’re real, show Yourself to me."
· Ask Him to give you one word.
· God inhabits our praises; He comes & lives in our praises.
· During the "fish" demonstration, he says that the fish doesn’t live in a breathing environment.
· The fish would die in this world.
· God created this environment for us, to be His kingdom.
· Matthew 18; 3 Then he said, "I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. 4 So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.
· Little kids trust God wholeheartedly.
· Little kids are honest.
· Little kids are totally dependant upon Him.
· He wants us dependant upon Him, to love Him as a parent.
· We need to realize/tell Him that we don’t have it all figured out, & the right response for us is to be humble.
· Children need a ton of love.
· The Failure to Thrive Syndrome=a baby literally dies from a broken heart.
· Our culture is infatuated w/ love.
· 1 John 4; 8 But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
· We get weird when we don’t have love.
· Without love we: fail to thrive, are insecure w/ an arrogant shell, try to get attention/exhibit attention seeking behavior, or we try earning approval.
· There is a God who loves you no matter what.
· Immerse yourself in God’s love like a fish lives in water.
· As Christians, we stay in shallow waters while God has deep things/treasures for us.
· The only thing God asks us to do is to stay in the water.
· The problem is that we keep jumping in & out, it causes us to gasp for air when we’re in the world.
· That’s also how God feels when you take yourself out of His environment.
· We might have asked ourselves at some point, the universe is so big, how can God love me?
· Have you ever smelled a wafting wall of cookie goodness, like fresh baked chocolate chip cookies?
· If not, there’s probably something wrong, your senses haven’t been awakened.
· God wants to get pictures of you awakening.
· He wants pics of you trusting, depending, having honesty of heart towards Him, so tell Him when it’s hard to understand how He can love you.
· We only see stars that are in our galaxy/Milky way.
· Isaiah 48;13 It was my hand that laid the foundations of the earth, my right hand that spread out the heavens above. When I call out the stars, they all appear in order."
· We feel small because God is so big.

I Wonder

2008-04-29T18:35:00.000-07:00

I Wonder

2 Timothy 2; 23But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes.

Pastor Chuck Smith is one of my favorite bible teachers. It seems as though God has given him the ability to go through several chapters of the bible during a study, while enabling him to hit the points that really speak to me.

I remember listening to him talk about the scripture in Matthew where it says to agree w/ your adversary lest he take you to court and applying the verse to situations in his life where men were trying to sway him to their particular beliefs. Chuck didn't agree w/ the guys but, he also didn't engage them in arguments that they wished him to do so.

I find a lot of wisdom in that. I've heard Chuck say that he hates to argue over the bible and man I agree. It's so much more edifying to share w/ each other truths in God's Word that we're excited about. I love hearing about pictures of Christ in the Old Testament, the fulfillment of verses found in the New Testament, and even history from the time of Christ that explains cultural terms like the "salt being good for nothing but to be tread upon".

I can remember being a brand new Christian and not really knowing hardly anything about the bible. It was kind of freeing actually. Every study was new and I can't remember any arguing over positions or whether somebody was pre or post trib or any of that stuff. I can remember the excitement of talking to others about what Christ has done in my heart, it was awesome.

I think there's something to be said for just loving the Lord & looking for someone who doesn't know Him yet. Praying for them and reading the Word of God because we love Jesus, we love how He speaks through His love letters to us, and we can't wait to spend time w/ Him. Honestly, I can't wait until that day when we get to meet face to face.

I wonder what that will be like? Will we reminisce over past songs, Him speaking, or the amazing works He did all around us? How long will we get to hug Him? How much time will we get to just talk and be filled w/ so much wonder that we can't stop asking Him questions? Will He have questions as well?

I wonder if He'll ask what we thought about the gospels or Isaiah or David Crowder worship or the Revelation song by Kari Jobe? I can't wait to find out. I wonder if we'll laugh over our kids, or our grandkids, or the times when we fell down & He was so quick to pick us up & restore us? I can't wait. I hope it's soon.

Gleanings from George Mueller

2008-04-29T18:33:00.002-07:00

According to my judgment the most important point to be attended to is this: above all things see to it that your souls are happy in the Lord. Other things may press upon you, the Lord's work may even have urgent claims upon your attention, but I deliberately repeat, it is of supreme and paramount importance that you should seek above all things to have your souls truly happy in God Himself! Day by day seek to make this the most important business of your life. "Think you have responsibilities? George Mueller was a man of immense responsibility, overseeing care for more than 2000 orphans - all this accomplished without government assistance, personal wealth or corporate sponsorships. Despite his many noble responsibilities, he placed as his highest priority to have his heart happy in God, each and every day
How did he go about pursuing and practicing this? He offers an important hint by the following quote:"But in what way shall we attain to this settled happiness of soul? How shall we learn to enjoy God? How to obtain such an all-sufficient soul-satisfying portion in him as shall enable us to let go the things of this world as vain and worthless in comparison? I answer, This happiness is to be obtained through the study of the Holy Scriptures. God has therein revealed Himself unto us in the face of Jesus Christ." If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.Buried in the Book of Psalms, is this wonderful gospel picture, speaking of God's holiness, our depravity and his provision of forgiveness. I'm meditating on those verses together with 2 Cor 5:21:
"For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. "Today, I'm focusing on that bit of good news till I get happy in God.I'm applying this by looking to God to reveal himself through his word. In particular, I'm looking for the portrait of Jesus Christ in the passages I read, reminding myself of his work of sacrifice on the cross, meditating on his love. I'm doing so with confidence that my lethargic heart is no match for God's inspired words to me. Here's what God graciously turned up for me in Psalms 130:3-4:
If You, LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? 4 But there is forgiveness with You, That You may be feared.
I seek at the beginning to get my heart into such a state that it has no will of its own in regard to a given matter. Nine-tenths of the difficulties are overcome when our hearts are ready to do the Lord's will, whatever it may be. When one is truly in this state, it is usually but a little way to the knowledge of what His will is. Having done this, I do not leave the result to feeling or simple impressions. If so, I make myself liable to great delusions.I seek the will of the Spirit of God through or in connection with the Word of God. The Spirit and the Word must be combined. If I look to the Spirit alone without the Word, I lay myself open to great delusions also. Next I take into account providential circumstances. These plainly indicate God's will in connection with His Word and Spirit. I ask God in prayer to reveal His will to me aright. Thus through prayer to God, the study of the Word and reflection, I come to a deliberate judgment according to the best of my ability and knowledge, and if my mind is thus at peace, and continues so after two or three more petitions, I proceed accordingly. In trivial matters and transactions involving most important issues, I have found this method always effective."And did this plan work?--one asks. Let Mr. Muller's testimony answer:"I never remember," he wrote three years before his death, "in all my Christian course, a period now (in March 1895) of sixty-nine years and four months, that I EVER SINCERELY AND PATIENTLY sought to know the will of God by the teaching of the Word of God, but I have been ALWAYS directed rightly. But if honesty of heart and uprightness before God were lacking, of if I did not patiently wait upon God for instruction, or if I preferred the counsel of my fellow men to the declarations of the Word of the living God, I made great mistakes." (Italics his.)

Chuck Smith on Job

2008-04-29T18:33:00.001-07:00

Chuck Smith on Job

Intro: Bildad has been declaring the justice of God, and saying in effect
if Job will only plead his cause before God, God would help him
if he were right.
I. "HOW CAN A MAN BE JUST WITH GOD?" OR PLEASE HIS CAUSE BEFORE GOD, IN
ORDER TO BE JUST."
A. Job conscious of the greatness of God.
1. This consciousness born out of his observation of
nature.
a. "He spreads out the heavens, He made Arcturus,
Orion, and Pleiades."
b. His presence is obvious, by His work, but I
can't see Him.
B. Job conscious of the sovereignty of God.
1. Who can hinder Him?
2. Who can say, what are you doing?
C. Job conscious of the nothingness of self.
1. Could not answer one out of a thousand questions.
2. Rather than try to argue his case Job would cast
himself upon God's mercy.
a. Yet God seems so far away.
b. The suffering is so close.
3. Talk of my strength is absurd.
4. In trying to justify myself I would only condemn myself.
5. If I said I were perfect He would prove my words
perverse.
D. Job Conscious of the great gap between.
1. All wise, almighty, sovereign God .
2. Foolish, weak, nothingness of man.
a. How can an ant communicate his problem or his
suffering to you?
b. How can a man plead His case before God?
II. JOB'S POSSIBLE SOLUTION.
A. A daysman or mediator between us.
1. One who could bridge this gap.
2. One "who could lay His hand on us both."
B. Man through the ages has been conscious of this gap.
1. David in our Ps. 8.
2. Man has attempted to build a bridge.
a. This religions of the world reflect this
attempt.
b. The philosophy of existentialism is just that:
You must take your leap of faith, build your
bridge from this side and hope when you get out
there you can find something to anchor to.
c. Man's attempts to build his towers to God have
all failed and ended in confusion. Why? The
gap is too great.
1. We need a daysman , a go-between.
C. God is conscious of this gap, He has created a bridge.
1. "For God so loved the world."

2. "For there is one God and one mediator between God and
man."
3. Our great High Priest who has gone into heaven for us
was in all points tempted like we are so that He can
help us & minister to us and understand our trials.
4. He was God, one with the Father He became man, one
with us. He can lay His hand upon God. He has laid His
hand upon me, and has joined me to God.
Through Him I can touch God. Through Him God touches me.
JOB 9:2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 23, 33
I TIMOTHY 2:5

How do you receive comfort?

2008-04-29T18:30:00.000-07:00

How Do You Receive Comfort?

When things are the most difficult in your life, when the finances aren't there, when the weight you've gained is,

When the car perpetually breaks down, and the cost to run it makes it worth it, how do you receive comfort?
Do you find that when the spaces in between trials & tribulations cease, does comfort come in a different package or presentation than it used to come?

I wonder about these things as I myself long to comfort those around me that are struggling with seasons of life and trials. I like to think of the closeness of Christ and how important that is both to realize & to draw strength from.

We read in the both the Old & New Testament how the closeness of God to people was offered for comfort. Joshua needed to hear that several times in his book & so we read that verse as being a key verse in the book of Joshua," I (the Lord), will never leave you or forsake you." I'm also reminded as to why John the Baptist was considered the greatest of men born among women, as it was his close proximity to Jesus.

I think, as this weekend continues to unfold as it has, that the best thing any of us can do tonight, tomorrow, on Mother's day, leap year, and Saint Bernard's day, if it in fact exists, is to get close to Jesus. Taking that little bit of time to praise or listening during our prayer time, making his actions our role model for the day or reading His words in such a way to be able to brag upon Him w/ the neighbors is best for all of our lives.

Ray Davies of the Kinks sang it best when he asked," how can I get close?" For you and I today, there's not a better question.

The Source of Temptation James 1;13-18

2008-04-28T07:10:00.000-07:00

James The Source of Temptation 1;13-18

· We're at James 1;13 & we've been looking at the idea of trials. James is writing to the dia-spora, those Jews that were by persecution driven out of Jerusalelm, those Jews that had come on Pentecost, that first Pentecost, & had been saved, they had taken Christ in the hearts back to their homeland. They were experiencing a hardship in that they were discovering grace, they were discovering that Christ had fulfilled the law, & in that there was a hardship within itself in being around their family members that were still religious Jews.
· So James is writing & initially encourages believers as they face certain trials to realize that there are certain things that are accomplished within us, in regards to being conformed into the image & likeness of Christ that only take place in trials. And even in trials where we fail, I find that I learn much more in my failures than in my successes. And that the Lord does allow certain trials to come to us & those testings as it were, to prove us. To conform us into the image of His Son.
· And James is encouraging the believers to take heart & to count it joy when they face certain of these experiences & again I think James, in an interesting way, having grown up in the house w/ Jesus as an older bro, was a strange experience on one side but on the other realizing this one who I knew & observed & really understood so little of, I know when believers experience pain, that it's not His heart to cause them pain. He must have known in an interesting way from looking into the eyes of Jesus, as he grew in the house w/ Him, as He sees now believers in trials across the world, he's able to say, when these things come, God isn't mad @ you, God isn't getting you, what He's doing is He's allowing certain pressures in your life to conform you into the image of Christ so let those trials, let patience & your ability to endure have it's perfect work thru those circumstances when they come.
· So the first section is on trials and I believe he is taking up on God's part saying when these things come, He's not getting you, He's not vindictive, He's not angry @ you. There are certain things that come in our life that ultimately work for our benefit & He certainly has different values than we do because He looks at our lives thru the lense of eternity. And He desires then to do certain things in & thru us. And sometimes we need to approach Him for wisdom & say Lord, why is this happening? How do I get it? How do I do this in a way that honors you? And in ;12 He says there is a blessing for those who endure those things into eternity because there's a crown of life & righteousness given to us. God uses trials as tools to bring us up. They are to give us patience as it said in ;3-4, it's the word endurance, it's sticking out that commitment to the Lord even though times are tough. And so the purpose of trials is to strengthen us, to make us grown in Christ so we can have perseverance. We cannot have strong endurance in our Christian walk unless we have adversities. They don't come from reading a book, they come from tough times.

HOW TO HANDLE TEMPTATION
James 1:13–18
· The mature person is patient in trials. Sometimes the trials are testings on the outside, and sometimes they are temptations on the inside. Trials may be tests sent by God, or they may be temptations sent by Satan and encouraged by our own fallen nature. It is this second aspect of trials—temptations on the inside—that James dealt with in this section.
·We may ask, “Why did James connect the two? What is the relationship between testings without and temptations within?” Simply this: if we are not careful, the testings on the outside may become temptations on the inside. When our circumstances are difficult, we may find ourselves complaining against God, questioning His love, and resisting His will. At this point, Satan provides us with an opportunity to escape the difficulty. This opportunity is a temptation.
·There are many illustrations of this truth found in the Bible. Abraham arrived in Canaan and discovered a famine there. He was not able to care for his flocks and herds. This trial was an opportunity to prove God; but Abraham turned it into a temptation and went down to Egypt. God had to chasten Abraham to bring him back to the place of obedience and blessing.
·While Israel was wandering in the wilderness, the nation often turned testings into temptations and tempted the Lord. No sooner had they been delivered from Egypt than their water supply vanished and they had to march for three days without water. When they did find water, it was so bitter they could not drink it. Immediately they began to murmur and blame God. They turned their testing into a temptation, and they failed.
·Certainly, God does not want us to yield to temptation, yet neither can He spare us the experience of temptation. We are not God’s sheltered people; we are God’s scattered people. If we are to mature, we must face testings and temptations. There are three facts that we must consider if we are to overcome temptation.
Consider God’s Judgment (James 1:13–16)
· This is a negative approach, but it is an important one. James said, “Look ahead and see where sin ends—death!” Do not blame God for temptation. He is too holy to be tempted, and He is too loving to tempt others. God does test us, as He did Abraham (Gen. 22); but He does not and cannot tempt us. It is we who turn occasions of testing into temptations.
·A temptation is an opportunity to accomplish a good thing in a bad way, out of the will of God. It's not wrong to want to pass a temptation; but if you cheat to pass it, then you have sinned. The temptation to cheat is an opportunity to accomplish a good thing (passing the examination) in a bad way. It is not wrong to eat; but if you consider stealing the food, you are tempting yourself.
·We think of sin as a single act, but God sees it as a process. Adam committed one act of sin, and yet that one act brought sin, death, and judgment on the whole human race. James described this process of sin in four stages.
·Desire (v. 14). The word lust means any kind of desire, and not necessarily sexual passions. The normal desires of life were given to us by God and, of themselves, are not sinful. Without these desires, we could not function. Unless we felt hunger and thirst, we would never eat and drink, and we would die. Without fatigue, the body would never rest and would eventually wear out. Sex is a normal desire; without it the human race could not continue.
·It is when we want to satisfy these desires in ways outside God’s will that we get into trouble. Eating is normal; gluttony is sin. Sleep is normal; laziness is sin. “4 Give honor to marriage, and remain faithful to one another in marriage. God will surely judge people who are immoral and those who commit adultery.(Heb. 13:4).
·The secret is in constant control. These desires must be our servants and not our masters; and this we can do through Jesus Christ.
·Deception (v. 14). No temptation appears as temptation; it always seems more alluring than it really is. James used two illustrations from the world of sports to prove his point. Drawn away carries with it the idea of the baiting of a trap; and enticed in the original Greek means “to bait a hook.” The hunter and the fisherman have to use bait to attract and catch their prey. No animal is deliberately going to step into a trap and no fish will knowingly bite at a naked hook. The idea is to hide the trap and the hook.
·Temptation always carries with it some bait that appeals to our natural desires. The bait not only attracts us, but it also hides the fact that giving in to the desire will eventually bring sorrow and punishment. It is the bait that is the exciting thing. Lot would never have moved toward Sodom had he not seen the “well-watered plains of Jordan” (Gen. 13:10ff). When David looked on his neighbor’s wife, he would never have committed adultery had he seen the tragic consequences: the death of a baby (Bathsheba’s son), the murder of a brave soldier (Uriah), the violation of a daughter (Tamar). The bait keeps us from seeing the consequences of sin.
· When Jesus was tempted by Satan, He always dealt with the temptation on the basis of the Word of God. Three times He said, “It is written.” From the human point of view, turning stones into bread to satisfy hunger is a sensible thing to do; but not from God’s point of view. When you know the Bible, you can detect the bait and deal with it decisively. This is what it means to walk by faith and not by sight.
·Disobedience (v. 15). We have moved from the emotions (desire) and the intellect (deception) to the will. James changed the picture from hunting and fishing to the birth of a baby. Desire conceives a method for taking the bait. The will approves and acts; and the result is sin. Whether we feel it or not, we are hooked and trapped. The baby is born, and just wait until it becomes a toddler!
·Christian living is a matter of the will, not the feelings. I often hear believers say, “I don’t feel like reading the Bible.” Or, “I don’t feel like attending prayer meeting.” Children operate on the basis of feeling, but adults operate on the basis of will. They act because it is right, no matter how they feel. This explains why immature Christians easily fall into temptation: they let their feelings make the decisions. The more you exercise your will in saying a decisive no to temptation, the more God will take control of your life. “ For God is working in you, giving you the desire to obey him and the power to do what pleases him.(Phil. 2:13).
·Death (v. 15). Disobedience gives birth to death, not life. It may take years for the sin to mature, but when it does, the result will be death. If we will only believe God’s Word and see this final tragedy, it will encourage us not to yield to temptation. God has written this in His Word because He loves us. “(23 “Do you think, asks the Sovereign Lord, that I like to see wicked people die? Of course not! I only want them to turn from their wicked ways and live. Ezek. 18:23)
·These four stages in temptation and sin are perfectly depicted in the first sin recorded in the Bible in Genesis 3.
·The serpent used desire to interest Eve: “For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil” (Gen. 3:5). Is there anything wrong with gaining knowledge? Is there anything wrong with eating food? Eve saw that “the tree was good for food” (Gen. 3:6), and her desire was aroused.
·Paul described the deception of Eve in 2 Corinthians 11:3. “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” Satan is the deceiver, and he seeks to deceive the mind. The bait that he used with Eve was the fact that the forbidden tree was good and pleasant, and that eating of it would make her wise. She saw the bait but forgot the Lord’s warning: “In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Gen. 2:17).
·Eve disobeyed God by taking the fruit of the tree and eating it. Then she shared it with her husband, and he disobeyed God. Because Adam was not deceived, but sinned with his eyes wide open, it is his sin that plunged the human race into tragedy (read Rom. 5:12–21; 1 Tim. 2:12–15).
Both Adam and Eve experienced immediate spiritual death (separation from God), and ultimate physical death. All men die because of Adam (1 Cor. 15:21–22). The person who dies without Jesus Christ will experience eternal death, the lake of fire (Rev. 20:11–15).
Whenever you are faced with temptation, get your eyes off the bait and look ahead to see the consequences of sin: the judgment of God. “For the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23).

Faith Obeys the Word 1;19-27

9 My dear brothers and sisters, be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. 20 Your anger can never make things right in God’s sight.
21 So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the message God has planted in your hearts, for it is strong enough to save your souls.
22 And remember, it is a message to obey, not just to listen to. If you don’t obey, you are only fooling yourself. 23 For if you just listen and don’t obey, it is like looking at your face in a mirror but doing nothing to improve your appearance. 24 You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. 25 But if you keep looking steadily into God’s perfect law—the law that sets you free—and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.
26 If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are just fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless. 27 Pure and lasting religion in the sight of God our Father means that we must care for orphans and widows in their troubles, and refuse to let the world corrupt us.

Question #1-What are the possible hindrances & dangers which may prevent God's Word from taking root & bearing fruit in our lives?
· Lack of listening
· Speaking impatiently without thinking
· Anger/Quick fuse
· Everyday filth/evil
· Pride/disregard for God's message
· Listening and not doing
· Lack of verbal self-control
· Lack of taking care of the forsaken
· Worldly values

Question #2-Humble acceptance/;21/meekness is not to be confused w/ inactivity. What lessons does James illustration enforce concerning our reaction to God's Word & His law? We should walk in such a reaction to God's Word as to be continually walking as w/ a mirror w/ us, to where we're seeing ourselves through the mirror of God's Word & changing accordingly. It should humble us so as to cause our size in the mirror to diminish/"He must increase that I must decrease". And the blessing of the Lord will bring about a reflected mirror of peace & inner joy.
Question #3-How does your religion stand up to James' practical tests?

The Purpose of Tests James 1;1-12

2008-04-21T07:52:00.000-07:00

James 1;1-12 Christianity 201 The Purpose of Tests

· Considered one of the General Epistles, James, like the epistles of Peter, John, and Jude, is an encyclical addressed not to individual churches or persons but to a larger sphere of believers. The teaching in these general letters complements the doctrine of Paul. Paul emphasized faith; James stressed conduct; Peter, hope; John, love; and Jude, purity
· There was but one James in the early church who was well enough recognized to be able to use such a simple greeting and that was James the son of Joseph, the brother of the Lord. John 7;3-5 indicates that Jesus' family did not believe He was the messiah prior to His resurrection. This is the man who was personally visited by Jesus after the resurrection (1 Cor. 15:7), and it was probably at this time that he was converted.
· Tradition tells us that they called James "camel knees". Camels have those big wads of calluses on their knees so they can get down & carry a person on their back, along w/ all that water in their humps. They say James had calluses from spending so many hours/days on his knees.
· James, along with Peter and John were missionaries to the Jews. James ministered in Jerusalem, Palestine, and Syria; Peter in Babylon and in Rome; and John in Ephesus and Asia Minor. Peter addressed the Jewish Christians scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, while James wrote to the Jewish Christians in general.
· The letter is filled with the teaching of Jesus. No other letter of the NT has as many references to the teaching of Jesus per page as this one does. It is not that James quotes Jesus directly, although he sometimes does (see in 5:12), but he normally simply uses phrases and ideas which come from Jesus. His readers would have memorized much of the Lord’s teaching, so they would recognize the source. Most of these phrases come from the teaching of Jesus now in Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount (Mt. 5–7) (see the chart). There is no better example in the NT of a church leader taking the Lord’s teaching and applying it to church problems. The letter of James, then, becomes a model for the modern church on how to apply the teaching of Jesus.

· James 1;1 This letter is from James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.
· It is written to Jewish Christians scattered among the nations.*
· Greetings!
· James identifies himself as a doulos-a bond slave. A slave, not a servant that received a wage, had no rights, no ownership of property, all their needs, cares, and concerns, were met by their master. A bond-slave lived completely for his master, everything he had belonged to his master. He was there only to serve. And in Exodus 21 a slave in the seventh year had the opportunity to go free, if they loved their master, could choose to serve them for life and would receive a golden earring as an outward sign that this slave was property of their master for life.
· He uses the typical Greek greeting here which is the word for grace.
· James 1;2 Dear brothers and sisters,* whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy.

·To persecuted Jewish believers scattered among pagan peoples, James gave the surprising advice, Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds. Trials should be faced with an attitude of joy. Trials should not be seen as a punishment or simply" our lot in life" type of cynicism, which is easy to do. They are designed to produce “pure joy” (lit., “all joy”; i.e., joy that is full or unmixed), not just “some joy” coupled with much grief.
·Though James’ command was direct and forceful, he did not preach at his audience. He identified with them. He addressed them warmly as “my brothers.” This mode of address is characteristic of the epistle. He used this familiar form no less than 15 times. James’ direct commands are coupled with deep compassion.
·It is important to note that James did not say that a believer should be joyous for the trials but in the trials. The verb translated “face” might more literally be expressed as “fall into,” peripesēte, much as the poor man “fell among robbers” (Luke 10:30). The “trials of many kinds” (peirasmois . . . poikilois) were also referred to by Peter, who used the same Greek words, though in reverse order (1 Peter 1:6). When surrounded by these trials, one should respond with joy. Most people count it all joy when they escape trials. James said to count it all joy in the midst of trials (cf. 1 Peter 1:6, 8).
· It is clear that the reference here is to external trials, or tests of stamina (peirasmois) whereas later in the same chapter (James 1:13) the verb form (peirazomai) of that noun is used to speak of inner temptations, or solicitations to sin.
· James, having the advantage of grown up w/ Jesus, knew His kindness, the expressions on His face, etc...So often we misinterpret who Jesus really is when we go thru trials & hardships, & we're thinking," if You really loved me, why would you allow this to happen? Why is thing taking place? And James knows that & he seems to be desiring to communicate to those believers, those that have been scattered abroad about trials, by devoting the first twelve verses to trials.
· It was a difficult time in the history of the church, it seems to be in the mid forties AD, before the conference in Jerusalem, in Acts 15 where James presided as the head of the church, it seems to be earlier on than that. There was persecution mounting against the church, there had been many of those who were converted @ Pentecost, three thousand on the day of Pentecost & 5,000 in response to Peter's sermon in Acts chapter three. Persecution had begun in Jerusalem, many Jews had been driven out, & he addresses them as those that are scattered. In Greek, diaspora is two words; dia=scatter throughout & spora=seed, where we get the word spores from.
· It's interesting to note that James doesh't see the people as children of God under great pressure, though they were, but he sees them as the seed of God scattered throughout the Roman empire. That God so loved the world, that He filled every one of those believers & they became living epistles & they returned to their homelands, & were driven out w/ the living Christ, his older brother in their hearts.
· Again, to count it all joy is not the attitude where we're glad that difficulties are happening, we're to rejoice instead that God is working in our lives.
· He's not wanting us to say," this hurts so much, thank-you Lord"!!!But you can rejoice in the trial, Lord I know you have a plan, I know You're involved.
3 For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything.
·
· It's the trying or proving of our faith that's needed.
· James says you believe in God? Demons do to. The goal is for us to see where we are in our faith. God already knows. We dissapoint ourselves because we often think we're farther along than we are.
· Patience is a needed quality. So often our failure is neglecting to wait upon God.
·Trials can be faced with joy because, infused with faith, perseverance results, and if perseverance goes full-term it will develop a thoroughly mature Christian who lacks nothing. He will indeed be all God wants him to be.
·James’ argument may seem logical, but it is still difficult to see how trials can be welcomed with an attitude of joy. Where does one turn for help to understand this paradox?
·
5 If you need wisdom-if you want to know what God wants you to do-ask him, and he will gladly tell you. He will not resent your asking. 6 But when you ask him, be sure that you really expect him to answer, for a doubtful mind is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 People like that should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 They can’t make up their minds. They waver back and forth in everything they do.

·1:5–8 Prayer. But what is a person supposed to do if they are not ‘mature and complete’? What if one fears failing the test? Paul’s answer would have been that they should live, or be led, by the Spirit (e.g. Gal. 5:16–18, 25). James’s answer is for them to ask God for wisdom, because divine wisdom is the power which James believes counteracts evil in human life. Such a prayer would not be useless, for God is a generous giver. Nor is his generosity hemmed in by a critical spirit: ‘What? You again! What did you do with what I gave you last time?’ Far from having that attitude, God simply gives to all who ask, time after time.
·Yet there is one requirement if we are to receive wisdom: the asking must flow out of faith in, or rather commitment to, God. The ‘doubting’ James warns about is not that of a person who wonders whether or not God will answer this particular request, or that of an introspective doubter who struggles with faith. Instead it is that of a person who is double-minded, a phrase with a close equivalent in the Psalms (Ps. 12:1–2), and which is the opposite of trusting God from one’s whole heart (Dt. 6:5; 8:3). In other words, this kind of a doubter is the person who is not wholly committed to God, but ‘plays safe’ by praying. Their real interest is in advancement in this world, but they also want to enjoy some of God’s blessings now and go to heaven when they die. Such a person will not get wisdom, James says.
·
· 9 Christians who are* poor should be glad, for God has honored them. 10 And those who are rich should be glad, for God has humbled them. They will fade away like a flower in the field. 11 The hot sun rises and dries up the grass; the flower withers, and its beauty fades away. So also, wealthy people will fade away with all of their achievements.
· What the poor person can rejoice in is that there is a place reserved for them in heaven. He is a son or a daughter of the most High God. Yes there are struggles in this world but we can rejoice in that we have an inheritance that is undefiled, that doesn't fade away, it's reserved, kept for us in heaven, it's worth more than any earthly treasure.
· The rich=here's the person who's wealthy according to the standards of men, he thought he was above, he could look down on others, all of the sudden that person get's saved, then they realize they're just a sinner saved by grace. And it says in Deut., God gives one man the ability to get wealth & He doesn't give it to another. Paul says we need to learn to be both abased & abound. So let those who are rich be glad in that God has brought life into perspective. He or she is not better than the poorest person on the planet, they are also a sinner saved by grace, & it's remarkable that they're saved because it says that it's harder for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to get into heaven.
· It doesn't say it's impossible, it says it's harder. Jesus says all things are possible w/ God. So let the rich person rejoice that life has come into perspective, he's been made low. Because They will fade away like a flower in the field. 11 The hot sun rises and dries up the grass; the flower withers, and its beauty fades away. So also, wealthy people will fade away with all of their achievements. They will die, rich or poor, we're all going there. "All of their achievments" are not in the achievments of Christ.
· 12 God blesses the people(rich or poor) who patiently endure testing. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. Whatever trials they may face & there are a host of trials that the rich endure, that those who are struggling go through. So when he is tried=tested out to completion is the idea. And Paul said at the end of his life, I kept the faith, I fought the good fight, I finished my course. There is within the course that God has designed for each of us, trials that we don't even know about today, we will face in God's grace, & in God's time. And a design within that to continue to conform us to the image of His Son.
· And it means blessed is the man who is tested out to completion. And none of this is to destroy. Ps. 121 says : 1 I look up to the mountains—
· does my help come from there?
· 2 My help comes from the Lord,
· who made the heavens and the earth!
· 3 He will not let you stumble and fall;
· the one who watches over you will not sleep.
· 4 Indeed, he who watches over Israel
· never tires and never sleeps.
· 6 The sun will not hurt you by day,
· nor the moon at night. Is speaking of the fact that when they traveled in the wilderness God had the pillar of cloud during the day to shade them, they never took the full brunt of the heat of the sun. The pillar of fire by night to warm them & to protect them & whatever trial they faced in their wilderness journey was what God allowed to happen. It was the restrained version of trial. And the idea is in our life, whatever comes is under what God allows and His protection of us & it will work to our benefit & it proves out to us who we are & what He is.
· Not because He needs to know but because we need to know. When a wedding is going on & you're reading," for richer or poorer", the couple is thinking about the reception & the honeymoon, they have no idea that as the years go by, those terms will define themselves in reality. But the interesting thing is, that is when the value of the relationship becomes evident, that we have something here that has endured years.It has withstood not only the good things but also the pressures of life.
· The idea also is the proving out till the end to realize His goodness, His faithfulness. You're ability to endure, once Christ has moved into your heart. Remember the commercials when they threw the luggage to the gorilla's & they banged them around? The message was this luggage is tough stuff. They're not trying to destroy luggage, they're trying to prove what it's worth.
· "Blessed", there is a blessing, a prosperous position to be in, not w/ worldly wealth or poverty, a blessed position to be in for the person who patiently endure testing. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

Christianity 101 The Last Class

2008-04-14T22:45:00.001-07:00

21 “Not all people who sound religious are really godly. They may refer to me as ‘Lord,’ but they still won’t enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The decisive issue is whether they obey my Father in heaven. 22 On judgment day many will tell me, ‘Lord, Lord, we prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ 23 But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Go away; the things you did were unauthorized.* ’
· He is calling for a relationship here because He's saying be gone I'm going to say to them I never knew you.
· If you read in Amos & different places, that word "knew" is sometimes used for a husband knowing his wife, it's used of intimacy, what Jesus is saying is He is asking for a genuine relationship.
· This is not about religion, this is about relationship. And He's gonna say there are many who did many works in My name, they build hospitals, orphanages, they went out & did things, maybe they even had the facts straight.
· Maybe they have their creeds in the proper place, maybe they have their liturgy right in the church. But what Jesus is saying is there was never a relationship.
· There was never a new birth. There was never the entering of the narrow gate by brokenness & repentance & asking forgiveness of sin.
· Think of how God describes Himself as the Father & us as His children. For myself as a dad, I don't want my children just to see pics of me. I want to get on the floor & wrestle w/ them & be w/ them, they're my kids, wanna look in their faces, talk to them, walk w/ them. It was knowing Him & meeting Him & walking w/ Him & being forgiven by Him that changed my life.
· And He's saying many are gonna come & say didn't we do these works in Your name, many will say didn't we do miracles in Your name, didn't we do signs & wonders? Didn't we cast out devils, that's important because what it's saying is, just because you see a miraculour ministry, that does not endorse what you're seeing as an act of God.
· Now what does this mean & how does it apply to us? Let's turn to Acts 8 & see one who fell into this category.
· Chapter eight, Jesus of course @ this time had already died, resurrected from the dead, & ascended up into heaven. The book of Acts deals w/ the story of those first believers, the early chuch.
· At this time there was a man named Saul in ;1-3 who's going around persecuting Christians. He was a man devoted to God, He was a pharisee, a scholar, into Judaism radically who thought Christians were dangerous, a sect/cult. He thought he was doing God a favor as he was going house to house where Christians lived & he would drag them out & beat them & inprison them.
· Saul brought havoc upon the believers. H would soon become converted on the road to Damascus...But this is before that conversion experience. Saul is going around persecuting the church & the church is fleeing that persecution.
· 4 But the believers who had fled Jerusalem went everywhere preaching the Good News about Jesus. 5 Philip, for example, went to the city of Samaria and told the people there about the Messiah.
· One of those who went=;5 was Phillip & he went to Samaria. This must have confounded the Samaritans. They were confounded in that Phillip would come to them. They were half Jew & half Assyrian. Samaria was located between Jerusalem in the south & Galilee in the north. And the Jews avoided going thru no matter how great the delay might be. But Jesus went there. Years earlier in John four. And now we see Phil going there who's also a Jew, a Christian, it must have blown their minds as they saw Phil coming to Samaria.
· 6 Crowds listened intently to what he had to say because of the miracles he did.
· Not only confounded that he came to them, but they were also convicted by what he said to them. He preached Christ & it stirred something within them & he freed those who were also possessed w/ demons.
· 7 Many evil spirits were cast out, screaming as they left their victims. And many who had been paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was great joy in that city.
· They were convinced by what they saw, confounded that he came, convicted by what he said, convinced by what they saw; the lame were healed, the oppressed were delivered...Whole city filled w/ joy.
· 12 But now the people believed Philip’s message of Good News concerning the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ. As a result, many men and women were baptized.
· Confounded that he came, convicted by what he said, convinced by what they saw, but they were converted by the message that he brought. When they heard the preaching of the kingdom of God & the name of JC, that's when they were converted. Miracles, deliverances of demons, good deeds/good works, don't convert people. What does is the message of the kingdom of God, in the name of JC.
· We live in a time where people are increasingly fascinated by signs & wonders & miracles. What converts a person is the sharing of God's word. J the Baptist was called the greatest of all the OT prophets, & in John 10, we see why John was called the greatest.
· 41 And many followed him. “John didn’t do miracles,” they remarked to one another, “but all his predictions about this man have come true.” 42 And many believed in him there.
· That encourages me. Because I might not be able to confound people w/ my works or convince people w/ signs, wonders, & miracles. But I can see the conversion of people as I share the simple gospel. Jesus loves you & died for you & wants to live inside of you. And John was the greatest of all prophets; greater than Elijah who called down fire, greater than Moses who parted the Red Sea, John was the greatest though he did no mighty miracle. All things that he spoke of that man, JC were true. And every one of us can do that.
· You might not be able to call down fire, raise the dead, to heal the leper but, you can speak about Jesus. And that's where conversion takes place. They were converted when they heard the preaching of the kingdom in the name of Jesus, they were baptized, an outward sign of an inward acceptance but, there was one among them most interesting.
· 9 A man named Simon had been a sorcerer there for many years, claiming to be someone great. 10 The Samaritan people, from the least to the greatest, often spoke of him as “the Great One-the Power of God.” 11 He was very influential because of the magic he performed.
· Many traditions revolve around Simon the sorcerer. It is alleged: (a) that he was the founder of the Gnostic heresies, (b) that he went to Rome and perverted Christian doctrine there, and (c) that he became involved in a miracle contest with Peter and lost. At any rate, this Simon of Samaria did practice sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. Because of his “sorcery,” the ability to exercise control over nature and/or people by means of demonic power, people called him the Great Power. They may or may not have thought of him as possessing deity. At any rate Simon boasted that he was someone great, and the people of Samaria believed him. Furthermore, he accepted their adulation.
· Simon’s magic means his sorcery, his demonic powers (the Gr. words for “practiced sorcery” and “magic” are related).

13 Then Simon himself believed and was baptized. He began following Philip wherever he went, and he was amazed by the great miracles and signs Philip performed.
14 When the apostles back in Jerusalem heard that the people of Samaria had accepted God’s message, they sent Peter and John there. 15 As soon as they arrived, they prayed for these new Christians to receive the Holy Spirit. 16 The Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them, for they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then Peter and John laid their hands upon these believers, and they received the Holy Spirit.
18 When Simon saw that the Holy Spirit was given when the apostles placed their hands upon people’s heads, he offered money to buy this power. 19 “Let me have this power, too,” he exclaimed, “so that when I lay my hands on people, they will receive the Holy Spirit!”
20 But Peter replied, “May your money perish with you for thinking God’s gift can be bought! 21 You can have no part in this, for your heart is not right before God. 22 Turn from your wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive your evil thoughts, 23 for I can see that you are full of bitterness and held captive by sin.”
24 “Pray to the Lord for me,” Simon exclaimed, “that these terrible things won’t happen to me!”

· Simon prophesed that he believed in the Lord, was baptized & yet we see him ending tragically: evidently Peter was given a supernatural word of knowledge regarding Simon. He ends without us knowing exactly what happened but, this is what we do know: The allusion to bitterness (lit., “gall of bitterness,” cholēn pikrias) seems to refer to Deuteronomy 29:18, which speaks of idolatry and bitter apostasy (cf. Heb. 12:15)
·

Discuss the Differences Between the Eunuch & the Sorcerer

24 “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. 25 Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. 26 But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. 27 When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.”

So there needs to be hearing & doing, okay two builders, we're all builders. Even without JC you may be building a career, studying @ the university, learning a trade, building a business, you're a builder. You're building towards retirement or going to the gym=building muscle, chasing a person of the opposite sex, all of us are building. The wise person is the person who hears the sayings of Jesus & then does them. The foolish person is the one who hears the sayings of Jesus, & then doesn't do them.

No doubt there are many that listen and walk out & continue to live in sin. Or they continue to ignore, they like the vibe of church, it's a different thing but, it does not impact their life or their heart. Jesus is now telling....Now this is simply it, are you building on the narrow way? When you listen to teachers or prophets, men who claim to be prophets, are they dircting you to the narrow way? Is it towards healing or prosperity or some other thing? There is a narrow way that leads to eternal life, it is the rock/JC. Jesus Christ & Him crucified. Paul said I have determined to know nothing among you, except Christ crucified.

And are we hearing His words & building our house upon the rock? You see He doesn't say if the wind blows & the rain falls, He says when. As God's children, He loves us, He has given His Son for us. But in this world, if it aint rained on you yet, it will. The winds of life will blow over us & the storms will come. It may just be the storm of age, as certain organs start to go & the eyes start to go. And the hair starts to go, you know the ultimate storm is death. The ultimate thing that blows over us is the end of life.

And for those that have been to Israel, it's very interesting to see the wilderness of Judea & how dry it is & how barren it is & they would build their homes there, these little adobe or stone buildings or mud-brick buildings sometimes, & they would build them but, it wasn't till the rainy season came & the "waddies" these waddies would fill w/ water & begin to flood down, that they would know whether they had really built upon rock, unless they had dug down first or if they had built on sand. And when the water would come & beat upon the house, if it was on the rock it would stand, if it was on the sand & the mud, it would get undermined & it would collapse. And you know by observation, both houses look the same.

And you know people that don't know Christ, that's what's important to them. The house, there's no foundation but above ground, it looks the same. And some people, that are all they care about, what other people think. "My house looks like the Christian’s house, my life looks like the Christian's life, in fact I make more money than the Christian does. I can have any girl I want. And I enjoy life more than the Christian does.” And all of that is fine, until the wind blows. And until the storms come. And the person who's a non-Christian if their child dies, you see a vast difference between them & the Christian whose child they know, has departed from this world & is waiting for a reunion, because that is rock solid.

You see a vast difference between the non-Christian who gets cancer & their life begins to disintegrate & they end up bitter, angry, or eating brown rice. And the Christian who gets cancer & turns to the Lord & certainly goes thru all the struggles but their comes a point where there's a relinquishing," okay God, You're in control. Worst-case scenario is my physical body dies & my soul & spirit come right into Your presence & I look into Your face. " That is rock solid.

28 When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, 29 for he taught with real authority-quite unlike their teachers of religious law.

They were astonished or troubled at His teaching. Because He did not speak like the Pharisees & Sadducees but He taught as one having authority. Because the Ph's & S's always quoted somebody else. Jesus said this is the way it is. If someone we know doesn't know Christ, pray that His words would cause him or her to be agitated/troubled because that's what it says. It says they were troubled when they were listening because they understood in their hearts, there was authority that what was being said was true. And if you're troubled today/tonight because you don't know Christ & you're not sure where your going to spend eternity, that's good because that means you know in your heart that what we're talking about is true. What I want you to do is pray to receive Him today. If you're feeling that in your heart, these crowds were troubled, they sensed that what they heard was true. And maybe you're one whose seen the false teachers on TV & you've seen the false prophets & you said to yourself," if this is Christianity I don't want it". Well Jesus said the same thing, He doesn't want it either. He's going to say be gone, I never knew you.

He's more repulsed by what's being done in His name than you are! If you're a non-believer & you've seen some of these shenanigans, & you look @ that & think, how can people believe that? I think the same thing, how can people believe that? It is wrong. And it is a farce. It is nonsense. But there wouldn't be a counterfeit unless there was the genuine. And Satan wouldn't bother to set up the false prophet as the pseudo prophet, the counterfeit. He wouldn't produce a counterfeit unless there was something genuine, worth counterfeiting, that he was trying to steal people away from.

And that is this: that God's only Son died on the cross for your sins & shed His own blood, that you can be washed & cleansed. He has taken your place in death & punishment, that you can take His place in life & forgiveness. That is the genuine thing. In this church building, we cannot guarantee that you'll always be healthy like so many of these health & wealth ministries do. We can't guarantee you that you'll always prosper, we can't do that. And we pray that you're healthy & that you prosper, that's wonderful & it's a blessing from God.

This is the guarantee we can give you & listen to it it's a guarantee: if you ask Jesus Christ to forgive your sins & to be your Lord & Savior, we can guarantee you, you will be forgiven & spend eternity in heaven. That is the guarantee we have. That is building your house, your life on a rock or you can listen to the things that are said & ignore them & discover in your own strength when the winds & storms of life blow, that beneath you, all you thought was worthwhile was only sand & washes away. That's your choice. For us as God's children, be wise, always take heed, look out for those phonies, you don't have to be afraid of being fruit inspectors. And have those guys are fruits, believe me. Fruits & nuts. You don't want to be judgmental without a cause. You should be discerning, you don't want to judge somebody in a different way than you expect to be judged when it comes your turn, so error on the side of mercy, not judgment.
You don't want to spend your life looking @ your brother or your sister's eye & it really bugs me when Christians are so hot on pursuing another Christian to demonstrate their flaws to the world. What will we do, have a party if their brother or sister is wrong? Like the world does, when they mock the church when they discover our flaws? Can't we do our laundry in-house, & deal w/ it in a biblical fashion? Don't spend your life judging other Christians, pray for them, and take the beam out of your eye. Pigs & dogs=another story. We need wisdom, we need discernment so we ask, we seek, we knock, and we go after God. We ask Him & He gives good gifts to us because we're His children. We're evil, we know how to take care of our kids, and He will give better things to us. And however we want to be treated, to sum it all up, that's the way we should treat others. Now, there's a narrow way & there's a broad way related to all this. And on that broad path there are many false teachers, false prophets & they imitate what is genuine or they imitate paths to God.

There's but one, that's Jesus Christ. And the easy way to tell them is they're after your money, you can see all the shenanigans, you know in your heart it's wrong. And you look @ the fruit of their ministry, it doesn't produce anything lasting. The fruit of the ministry of reconciliation of the cross of Christ produces a house that even when the ultimate storm of death comes, the house is not shaken, it stands.

Christianity 201 Overview

2008-04-13T20:27:00.000-07:00

Christianity 201
James
Calvary Chapel St. Joseph
Sunday Evenings at 6:30pm
Pastor Chuck Rhein

April 20, 2008
Prayer Potluck at 4:00p.m Theme “bring your best”

· The Purpose of Tests
James 1:1-12

April 27. 2008.

· The Source of Temptation
James 1:13-18

· Faith Obeys the Word
James 1:19-27

May 4, 2008

· Faith Removes Discrimination
James 2:1-13

May 11, 2008
Mother’s Day- There will not be a class tonight

May 18, 2008
Prayer Potluck at 4:00p.m Theme “Soul Food i.e. Cooking from the Heart”

· Faith Proves Itself by Works
James 2:14-26

May 25, 2008

· Faith Controls the Tongue
James 3:1-12

· Faith Produces Wisdom
James 3:13-18

June 1, 2008

· Faith Produces Humility
James 4:1-12

June 8, 2008

· Faith Produces Dependence of God
James 4:13-5:6

June 15, 2008
Father’s Day we will not be having class

June 22, 2008
Prayer Potluck at 4:00p.m Theme “To be Announced”

· Faith Endures Awaiting Christ Return
James 5:7-12

· Faith Prays for the Afflicted
James 5:13-18

· Faith Confronts the Erring Brother
James 5:19-20

June 29, 2008
Make up if needed