BibleTalk April 22, 2011
The Cure for April Fools: Repentance from Dead Works, Part 2: The Elementary Teachings Necessary for Spiritual Maturity
Matthew 7:13-14 (esv)
13 "Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.
14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
What is Jesus saying here? Why wouldn’t everyone want to be on the road to heaven?
It involves pain and hardship for one: persecution. Listen to Paul in 2 Timothy 3:12-13 (esv)
”12Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.” FOOLS
Intro: Well last month we talked about “March Madness” how there’s a broad road and a narrow road and most people, religious or not, are marching down the road to hell because of mental incapacitation brought on by clinging to various types of sin: impurity, idolatry, debauchery, sexual immorality, greed, bitterness, sentimentality, sorcery and witchcraft, demon deception, tolerating false doctrine, etc… This month we’re talking about April Fools and how we can be “fooled,” deceived, about who we are and where we stand before God.
We’re trying to avoid the situation described by Jesus in the “Sermon on the Mount,” Matthew 7:21-23
21 "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
22 On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?'
23 And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'
What’s going on here? What’s wrong with these people that Jesus is talking to here? They’re deceived aren’t they, in the cruelest sense of the word. Cast aside on the Day of Judgement. Why? Well a clue is found in verse 23 “you workers of LAWLESSNESS.” This brings to my mind 2 Thes 2:9-11 (niv)
“9 The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, 10 and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie 12 and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.”
How can we keep from being deceived? Just what it says above: do the will of the Father, love the truth and so be saved.
In John 8:31-32 (esv) 31So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
Become mature: Eph 4:11-14 (esv) “11And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.”
This brings us back to the elementary teachings that precede maturity in Hebrews 6:1-2 (esv)
”1Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, 2and of instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.”
Last week we talked about repentance, METANAH-E’O, which, as we saw, means more than just a simple change of mind, like a whim, but more of a heart-rending deliberation resulting in concrete action. What we didn’t spend very much time looking at was DEAD WORKS and we turn to that today.
DEAD WORKS
So are these works that cause death, works that the dead do, or works that have no life? The answer is YES.
A great place to start is Galatians 5:19-24 (esv)
”16But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”
Another word for these things is SIN.
There are sins of commission, like those above, James 2:8-13 (esv)
”8If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing well. 9But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. 11For he who said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not murder." If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. 13For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.”
Then there are sins of omission, James 4:17 (esv)
“17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.”
Faithlessness is sin, Romans 14:23 (esv)
“23But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.”
Even faith without action is dead, James 2:14-17 (esv)
”14What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? 17So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”
So that pretty much catches all of us, right? We’ve all sinned.
So what does that get us?
Romans 6:20-23 (esv)
“20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. 22But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Let’s try to understand the death he’s talking about here:
Who is the great deceiver? The Serpent, Satan, or the Devil (1Tim 2:14)
Where did this problem with sin all start? The Garden of Eden
Let’s go back in our mind’s eye to Genesis 2 and 3 and remember the story of the first sin. Adam and Eve were in the garden, sinless and innocent, and there was the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. God commanded the man, saying, "You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." and apparently told Eve, because she knew it. Then Satan asked Eve a question: "Did God actually say, 'You shall not eat of any tree in the garden'?" 2And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'" 4 But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. 5For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." 6So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked.”
The whole problem started with being deceived, doubting God—losing faith, indulging in sin: lust of flesh, lust of eyes and pride of life: disobedience, not seeking God’s will, being impatient, being deceitful: becoming fools.
Did they die? Did they physically die? Was that what sin brought, physical death? Or is there a more important death?
What was really happening when Adam and Eve sinned? What happens when we sin?
Isaiah 59:1-2 (esv)
Are we born with sin?
Matt 19:14
Matt 18:6
Ezekiel 18:20 (esv)
Romans 7:9
Deut 1:39
Num 14:29
Rom 5:12
Psalm 139:19
Why is this important? Because God did not make us sinners
If we inherit sin we are a VICTIM.
The fact is that we CHOSE to sin. It is our fault that we become fools and must repent. We choose death and God has to bring us back from the dead.
You were dead
Eph 2
Col 2
Sin is the problem, dead works, and repentance is one requirement in being freed from them.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Principles of Maturity
I am currently doing a series in my BibleTalk and in the WSU Campus and Young Singles Devo on the basic principles that precede maturity. Hebrews 5:11-6:2 tells us that God wants all of us to mature into teachers, perhaps not with the official title but definitely in teaching others the Gospel of Jesus. This maturity is exemplified by having one's faculties trained by practice to distinguish good from evil. This keenness of judgment flows, according to this passage, from a solid foundation in the spiritual milk: the six basic principles. I've rarely heard of anyone emphasizing these particular six principles but as I have reflected on them I do see why the Hebrew writer put such emphasis on them: they are the source of mast of the false doctrin that separates the churches. I will be publishing each of the sets of scriptures that I used over the past 3 weeks as I taught on: 1. Repentance from Dead Works and 2. Faith in God, and will teach on 3. Instructions about baptisms, 4. Instructions on the laying on of hands, 5. The resurrection of the dead, and 6. Eternal judgment. Internalize and enjoy!
Hebrews 5
11 About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. 12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, 13 for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. 14 But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.
Hebrews 6
1Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, 2 and of instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.
Hebrews 5
11 About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. 12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, 13 for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. 14 But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.
Hebrews 6
1Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, 2 and of instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.
Monday, November 29, 2010
The Solution to Kansas' Ed Funding Paradox
Excellent Teachers with Larger Classes and Lean, Excellent Leadership
Here’s the post that I made on “Voice for Liberty in Wichita” website which can be found here:
http://wichitaliberty.org/kansas-wichita-quick-takes/kansas-and-wichita-quick-takes-friday-november-26-2010/comment-page-1/#comment-216731
I watched KSN's Jessica Schlageck's report on the new survey results released Monday by the Foundation for Educational Choice regarding Kansan's erroneous perceptions of educational funding. Dave Trabert of the Kansas Policy Institute gave an excellent interview where he astutely pointed out that Kansans generally don’t realize just how much tax money Kansas schools already receive and that, as the schools ask for more and more, the schools nor the public have yet to define”How much is enough.” The fact is that if we increase taxes to 100% and give all the money to the schools we would destroy our economy and have no schools at all, so obviously there’s some upper limit to the necessity for school funding. It’s also interesting that the individual leading the vanguard in the court battle is not a parent or business person, the sort of person you think would be leading the way if more spending were necessary to produce greater economic growth—what businessman or parent would be against that?—but rather, John Morton, Newton’s school superintendent, one biased toward bloated school system overhead: the perpetuation of his own salary.
I was further interested to note that my comment to that article reflected the wisdom of Bill Gates shared just above on the WichitaLiberty site, that better teachers—who are rare—and larger class sizes are the keys to cost effective achievement. Further it’s time we shrank district staff overhead and dispensed with wasteful extravagances as it seems Lawrence schools are learning to do. With that as an introduction here was my response to the KSN report which can be found at http://www.ksn.com/news/local/story/Survey-results-fan-flames-in-education-funding/SplQIipXz02lMClBXF4cZA.cspx :
According to the "Trends International Math Science Study," students from Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Russia and England all score higher on the study's standardized test than the United States and yet the United States spends more than any of these as a percentage of GDP, except for England, and more than all in terms of real dollars according to the CIA World Factbook. There is no relationship between dollars spent on education and individual achievement as far as raw throwing dollars into school systems is concerned. Probably the best educational value in Wichita is the Classical School of Wichita which has one of the highest National Merit Scholar to student ratios at a fraction of the cost of public education by any measure. School funding advocates like superintendent Morton of Newton are clearly biased since they directly benefit from increased taxation for schools and yet there is no direct correlation in any available data of economic growth trending with educational expenditure. Quite to the contrary, some of the chronically poorest nations on earth, with the worst education, spend the highest percentage of GDP on education. What matters most is quality curriculum, quality leadership, and quality teachers that can be achieved with higher student-teacher ratios and fewer frills exactly as they have been doing and are doing in Hong Kong, Singapore, Korea, Japan and Russia. In order for class size to make any statistical difference in achievement the class must be smaller than 10 and then it would be virtually impossible, read astronomically expensive, to equip all such classrooms with excellent teachers, and so the achievement gain due to small classes would be reversed by poor teachers. The truth is that larger classes with exceptionally well qualified teachers and complete parental support with excellent lean leadership is the path to educational excellence for the masses as well as economic prosperity for the economy as a whole. At least that's what Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Korea have proved. The elite will have their “Roxbury Latin's,” of course, but it’s not good for anyone for everyone to have them.
Here’s the post that I made on “Voice for Liberty in Wichita” website which can be found here:
http://wichitaliberty.org/kansas-wichita-quick-takes/kansas-and-wichita-quick-takes-friday-november-26-2010/comment-page-1/#comment-216731
I watched KSN's Jessica Schlageck's report on the new survey results released Monday by the Foundation for Educational Choice regarding Kansan's erroneous perceptions of educational funding. Dave Trabert of the Kansas Policy Institute gave an excellent interview where he astutely pointed out that Kansans generally don’t realize just how much tax money Kansas schools already receive and that, as the schools ask for more and more, the schools nor the public have yet to define”How much is enough.” The fact is that if we increase taxes to 100% and give all the money to the schools we would destroy our economy and have no schools at all, so obviously there’s some upper limit to the necessity for school funding. It’s also interesting that the individual leading the vanguard in the court battle is not a parent or business person, the sort of person you think would be leading the way if more spending were necessary to produce greater economic growth—what businessman or parent would be against that?—but rather, John Morton, Newton’s school superintendent, one biased toward bloated school system overhead: the perpetuation of his own salary.
I was further interested to note that my comment to that article reflected the wisdom of Bill Gates shared just above on the WichitaLiberty site, that better teachers—who are rare—and larger class sizes are the keys to cost effective achievement. Further it’s time we shrank district staff overhead and dispensed with wasteful extravagances as it seems Lawrence schools are learning to do. With that as an introduction here was my response to the KSN report which can be found at http://www.ksn.com/news/local/story/Survey-results-fan-flames-in-education-funding/SplQIipXz02lMClBXF4cZA.cspx :
According to the "Trends International Math Science Study," students from Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Russia and England all score higher on the study's standardized test than the United States and yet the United States spends more than any of these as a percentage of GDP, except for England, and more than all in terms of real dollars according to the CIA World Factbook. There is no relationship between dollars spent on education and individual achievement as far as raw throwing dollars into school systems is concerned. Probably the best educational value in Wichita is the Classical School of Wichita which has one of the highest National Merit Scholar to student ratios at a fraction of the cost of public education by any measure. School funding advocates like superintendent Morton of Newton are clearly biased since they directly benefit from increased taxation for schools and yet there is no direct correlation in any available data of economic growth trending with educational expenditure. Quite to the contrary, some of the chronically poorest nations on earth, with the worst education, spend the highest percentage of GDP on education. What matters most is quality curriculum, quality leadership, and quality teachers that can be achieved with higher student-teacher ratios and fewer frills exactly as they have been doing and are doing in Hong Kong, Singapore, Korea, Japan and Russia. In order for class size to make any statistical difference in achievement the class must be smaller than 10 and then it would be virtually impossible, read astronomically expensive, to equip all such classrooms with excellent teachers, and so the achievement gain due to small classes would be reversed by poor teachers. The truth is that larger classes with exceptionally well qualified teachers and complete parental support with excellent lean leadership is the path to educational excellence for the masses as well as economic prosperity for the economy as a whole. At least that's what Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Korea have proved. The elite will have their “Roxbury Latin's,” of course, but it’s not good for anyone for everyone to have them.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Offering Up A Thank Offering in the Lord's Supper
Communion Thoughts: Thanksgiving And The Crucifixion
It’s only fitting that in the season of thanksgiving we should give thanks for the greatest blessing anyone could ever give: a life, a body and blood, that brings forgiveness of sins, redemption of our souls, reconciliation of our relationship with our creator God, adoption as children of God, power to overcome sin and Satan, and eternal life with all the others who share this thankfulness in the perfect home of our loving and beautiful father sharing eternal happiness with our perfect husband Jesus.
Now if you can’t get fired up about that your wood is really wet!! I mean it would have to be way wetter than Elijah’s wood when he faced the prophets of Baal. Remember that story? Elijah was going to call down fire from God so he asked the prophets of Baal to pour water all over his wood, and they poured barrels and barrels on it, but when they called for their God’s to ignite their sacrifices the Baal did nothing but God poured fire from heaven on Elijah’s sacrifice and burnt up not only the offering but the wood, water and even the stones of the alter!! Now that’s the kind of fired-up we’re talking about here, AMEN??
I did a study on thanksgiving recently and I found an interesting bit of trivia. I say trivia because it won’t make any difference in our eternal salvation if we don’t know this little fact or not, but we all like to learn fascinating insights into the scripture don’t we? Amen?
Well, the Bible talks a lot about thanksgiving:
1. Sanctifying power in thanksgiving 1 Timothy 4:1-5 ESV
1Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, 2through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, 3who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. 4For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, 5for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.
2. Thanksgiving is a kind of sacrifice to God Ps 50:23 ESV
23The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me;
to one who orders his way rightly
I will show the salvation of God!"
(Jer. 31:31-34; 33:10-12 In the new covenant thank offering will be made.)
3. We are to make sacrifices to God 1 Peter 2:4-5 ESV
4As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
4. One of the sacrifices we are to make is of our bodies. Rom 12:1-2
1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
This brings us to the interesting piece of trivia that I told you about:
Jesus is recorded giving thanks to God on only 4 sets of occasions:
1. When he feeds the 5,000 and the 4,000 (Matt. 14, 15; Mk. 6, 8; Lk. 9; Jn. 6)
2. When he is about to raise Lazarus from the dead. (John 11)
3. At the last supper (Matt 26; Mk. 14; Lk. 22;
4. With the disciples in Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35)
Let’s look at the account of the Lord’s Supper in Luke 22:14-20
14 When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. 15 And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.”
17 After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. 18 For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”
19 And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
20 In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.
In a sense, Jesus is preparing his body for sacrifice in the sanctifying prayer and setting up a thank offering for us to remember him by continually
Let’s look at 1 Corinthians 10:16-21 to see Paul’s thoughts on these things:
16 Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf.
18 Consider the people of Israel: Do not those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar? 19 Do I mean then that food sacrificed to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything? 20 No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons.
So today we partake with our Lord Jesus in his memorial feast and in it we make an offering of thanksgiving to our Lord for all that he accomplished for us on that cross and when he presented himself as an offering in the presence of God in heaven. Indeed, it is not on any earthly alter that we offer this offering of thanksgiving but on the very throne of God in heaven, for the sacrifices we offer are not earthly but they occur in heaven itself.
Let us pray.
Communion
It’s only fitting that in the season of thanksgiving we should give thanks for the greatest blessing anyone could ever give: a life, a body and blood, that brings forgiveness of sins, redemption of our souls, reconciliation of our relationship with our creator God, adoption as children of God, power to overcome sin and Satan, and eternal life with all the others who share this thankfulness in the perfect home of our loving and beautiful father sharing eternal happiness with our perfect husband Jesus.
Now if you can’t get fired up about that your wood is really wet!! I mean it would have to be way wetter than Elijah’s wood when he faced the prophets of Baal. Remember that story? Elijah was going to call down fire from God so he asked the prophets of Baal to pour water all over his wood, and they poured barrels and barrels on it, but when they called for their God’s to ignite their sacrifices the Baal did nothing but God poured fire from heaven on Elijah’s sacrifice and burnt up not only the offering but the wood, water and even the stones of the alter!! Now that’s the kind of fired-up we’re talking about here, AMEN??
I did a study on thanksgiving recently and I found an interesting bit of trivia. I say trivia because it won’t make any difference in our eternal salvation if we don’t know this little fact or not, but we all like to learn fascinating insights into the scripture don’t we? Amen?
Well, the Bible talks a lot about thanksgiving:
1. Sanctifying power in thanksgiving 1 Timothy 4:1-5 ESV
1Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, 2through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, 3who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. 4For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, 5for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.
2. Thanksgiving is a kind of sacrifice to God Ps 50:23 ESV
23The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me;
to one who orders his way rightly
I will show the salvation of God!"
(Jer. 31:31-34; 33:10-12 In the new covenant thank offering will be made.)
3. We are to make sacrifices to God 1 Peter 2:4-5 ESV
4As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
4. One of the sacrifices we are to make is of our bodies. Rom 12:1-2
1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
This brings us to the interesting piece of trivia that I told you about:
Jesus is recorded giving thanks to God on only 4 sets of occasions:
1. When he feeds the 5,000 and the 4,000 (Matt. 14, 15; Mk. 6, 8; Lk. 9; Jn. 6)
2. When he is about to raise Lazarus from the dead. (John 11)
3. At the last supper (Matt 26; Mk. 14; Lk. 22;
4. With the disciples in Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35)
Let’s look at the account of the Lord’s Supper in Luke 22:14-20
14 When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. 15 And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.”
17 After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. 18 For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”
19 And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
20 In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.
In a sense, Jesus is preparing his body for sacrifice in the sanctifying prayer and setting up a thank offering for us to remember him by continually
Let’s look at 1 Corinthians 10:16-21 to see Paul’s thoughts on these things:
16 Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf.
18 Consider the people of Israel: Do not those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar? 19 Do I mean then that food sacrificed to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything? 20 No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons.
So today we partake with our Lord Jesus in his memorial feast and in it we make an offering of thanksgiving to our Lord for all that he accomplished for us on that cross and when he presented himself as an offering in the presence of God in heaven. Indeed, it is not on any earthly alter that we offer this offering of thanksgiving but on the very throne of God in heaven, for the sacrifices we offer are not earthly but they occur in heaven itself.
Let us pray.
Communion
Saturday, October 9, 2010
BibleTalk Notes- We Believe Therefore We Speak, 1
BibleTalk September 24th, 2010
God’s Compelling Good News—We Believe Therefore We Speak!
Part 1, The First Moment: Jesus’ Birth
You know, when you have a great discovery or you’re struck with a brilliant idea don’t you just have to talk about it? Remember the story of Archimedes and density? The king wanted to know whether his crown had actually been made out of all the gold he sent to make it with and when the water displacement test hit Archimedes in the public bath he ran naked to the palace shouting Eureka!!
Have you ever been so excited about something that you just HAD to run and tell somebody?
I found 4 Great “Moments of Discovery” about Jesus where we see bursts of talking about Jesus: Jesus’ Birth, Jesus introduction to the world (the epiphany), the inception of the church (Pentecost), and the conviction based maturing speech of those who hear the word and hold it in their hearts. We’ll consider each of these moments briefly and finish with an ancient warning to the watchmen of Israel.
Good news about Jesus’ Birth
Luke is filled with stories of people rejoicing over baby Jesus!!
Elizabeth Luke 1:39-45
39At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, 40where she entered Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth. 41When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42In a loud voice she exclaimed: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 43But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!"
Mary Luke 1:46-49
"My soul glorifies the Lord
47and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
49for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
holy is his name.
Zechariah Luke1:67-75
68"Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,
because he has come and has redeemed his peple.
69He has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of his servant David
70(as he said through his holy prophets of long ago),
71salvation from our enemies
and from the hand of all who hate us—
72to show mercy to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant,
73the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
74to rescue us from the hand of our enemies,
and to enable us to serve him without fear
75in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
The Angels (God) Luke 2:8-14
8And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ[a] the Lord. 12This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
13Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14"Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."
The Shepherds
Anna and Simeon Luke 2:28-32
28Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:
29"Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
you now dismiss[d] your servant in peace.
30For my eyes have seen your salvation,
31which you have prepared in the sight of all people,
32a light for revelation to the Gentiles
and for glory to your people Israel."
Matthew also mentions the Wise Men who came from afar and brought gifts for the baby.
This is the Jesus most people are willing to believe in and talk about, but just like a baby: if your faith doesn’t grow from this point something is wrong. It’s comfortable to stay at this stage of faith, however: there’s no challenge, no sacrifice, just rejoicing and music and lights and gift-giving. But did Jesus ever command us to give him a birthday party? That idea grows more by the opportunism of merchants who see it as a way to boost sales than because people are trying to please God.
Are we at the baby Jesus level of faith? Are we comfortable just talking about and enjoying the baby Jesus or are we committed to Jesus the man, the son of God who conquered Satan and takes on the sin of the world??
That’s the BibleTalk this week! Next week The Second Moment: Jesus the man, revealed to the world!!
God’s Compelling Good News—We Believe Therefore We Speak!
Part 1, The First Moment: Jesus’ Birth
You know, when you have a great discovery or you’re struck with a brilliant idea don’t you just have to talk about it? Remember the story of Archimedes and density? The king wanted to know whether his crown had actually been made out of all the gold he sent to make it with and when the water displacement test hit Archimedes in the public bath he ran naked to the palace shouting Eureka!!
Have you ever been so excited about something that you just HAD to run and tell somebody?
I found 4 Great “Moments of Discovery” about Jesus where we see bursts of talking about Jesus: Jesus’ Birth, Jesus introduction to the world (the epiphany), the inception of the church (Pentecost), and the conviction based maturing speech of those who hear the word and hold it in their hearts. We’ll consider each of these moments briefly and finish with an ancient warning to the watchmen of Israel.
Good news about Jesus’ Birth
Luke is filled with stories of people rejoicing over baby Jesus!!
Elizabeth Luke 1:39-45
39At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, 40where she entered Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth. 41When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42In a loud voice she exclaimed: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 43But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!"
Mary Luke 1:46-49
"My soul glorifies the Lord
47and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
49for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
holy is his name.
Zechariah Luke1:67-75
68"Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,
because he has come and has redeemed his peple.
69He has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of his servant David
70(as he said through his holy prophets of long ago),
71salvation from our enemies
and from the hand of all who hate us—
72to show mercy to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant,
73the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
74to rescue us from the hand of our enemies,
and to enable us to serve him without fear
75in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
The Angels (God) Luke 2:8-14
8And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ[a] the Lord. 12This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
13Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14"Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."
The Shepherds
Anna and Simeon Luke 2:28-32
28Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:
29"Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
you now dismiss[d] your servant in peace.
30For my eyes have seen your salvation,
31which you have prepared in the sight of all people,
32a light for revelation to the Gentiles
and for glory to your people Israel."
Matthew also mentions the Wise Men who came from afar and brought gifts for the baby.
This is the Jesus most people are willing to believe in and talk about, but just like a baby: if your faith doesn’t grow from this point something is wrong. It’s comfortable to stay at this stage of faith, however: there’s no challenge, no sacrifice, just rejoicing and music and lights and gift-giving. But did Jesus ever command us to give him a birthday party? That idea grows more by the opportunism of merchants who see it as a way to boost sales than because people are trying to please God.
Are we at the baby Jesus level of faith? Are we comfortable just talking about and enjoying the baby Jesus or are we committed to Jesus the man, the son of God who conquered Satan and takes on the sin of the world??
That’s the BibleTalk this week! Next week The Second Moment: Jesus the man, revealed to the world!!
Friday, July 30, 2010
Message of Hope for Disciples of Jesus
Hebrews and 1 John are both great epistles of love and hope. It's interesting that in Hebrews 2:1 the Spirit, through the writing, adjures us to "pay more careful attention" to Jesus' message, the New Testament, lest we "drift away" from it and Heb. 4:11 to “make every effort to enter that rest so that no one may fall by following the Israelite’s example of disobedience” and at the same time he tells us that, in Heb 3:6, “we are his house if we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope!” He’s saying “Don’t be overconfident” at the same time that he is saying “Be supremely confident!”
This can only be done by living like Jesus, who the spirit further says that in the days of his flesh he, first, did not exalt himself to be made high priest but was appointed to that office(Heb 5::5-6(Phil 2:5-11)--he was humble, and second, he offered up prayers to God with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard (not because he was God, the son, co-creator of the Universe, the one who holds all things together by his word of power, blameless and innocent, but) for his reverent submission.
So we can have confidence because we have a high priest who can relate to us and feels for us, and with that confidence we can enter the most holy place and draw near to the throne of God--the throne of grace, where Jesus is seated right now--and receive mercy and find grace to help in our time of need. (Heb 4:14-16) This confidence--cemented in the God’s double eternally unchanging and irrevocable promise--serves for a steadfast anchor for our soul, a hope that enters into the Holy of Holies as well. (Hebrews 6:13-20) Our confidence is our hope: the anchor of our soul.
Similarly, in I John 1 the spirit encourages us saying that “if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of his son Jesus Christ continually purifies us from all sin.” But "if we claim we have no sin, we lie and do not live according to the truth." In other words: Be confident but not over-confident. Our confidence in Christ is in our humility. By maintaining this humility we will sin less; we will not walk in darkness.(Remainder of I John)
The grasshopper flew down the road but he didn’t hot-dog and show how he could ride the wind waves on his windshield wiper surfboard with no legs hanging on. And we don’t have to be quite as blind as the grasshopper about our destination. We have a destination that is the fulfillment of the dreams of all the men of faith, hope and love of all time. The eternal Mt Zion, the innumerable angels in festal gathering!! (Heb 12)
To get to our eternal dwelling we must endure discipline though. (Heb 12) Some days that discipline seems tough. But those tough times are our hope of sonship, our guarantee of it, the ground of our boasting. I know I have tough times and that's part of how I know, in addition to my obedience of the gospel, that I’m a son of the king and I’m on MY way to heaven!
This can only be done by living like Jesus, who the spirit further says that in the days of his flesh he, first, did not exalt himself to be made high priest but was appointed to that office(Heb 5::5-6(Phil 2:5-11)--he was humble, and second, he offered up prayers to God with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard (not because he was God, the son, co-creator of the Universe, the one who holds all things together by his word of power, blameless and innocent, but) for his reverent submission.
So we can have confidence because we have a high priest who can relate to us and feels for us, and with that confidence we can enter the most holy place and draw near to the throne of God--the throne of grace, where Jesus is seated right now--and receive mercy and find grace to help in our time of need. (Heb 4:14-16) This confidence--cemented in the God’s double eternally unchanging and irrevocable promise--serves for a steadfast anchor for our soul, a hope that enters into the Holy of Holies as well. (Hebrews 6:13-20) Our confidence is our hope: the anchor of our soul.
Similarly, in I John 1 the spirit encourages us saying that “if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of his son Jesus Christ continually purifies us from all sin.” But "if we claim we have no sin, we lie and do not live according to the truth." In other words: Be confident but not over-confident. Our confidence in Christ is in our humility. By maintaining this humility we will sin less; we will not walk in darkness.(Remainder of I John)
The grasshopper flew down the road but he didn’t hot-dog and show how he could ride the wind waves on his windshield wiper surfboard with no legs hanging on. And we don’t have to be quite as blind as the grasshopper about our destination. We have a destination that is the fulfillment of the dreams of all the men of faith, hope and love of all time. The eternal Mt Zion, the innumerable angels in festal gathering!! (Heb 12)
To get to our eternal dwelling we must endure discipline though. (Heb 12) Some days that discipline seems tough. But those tough times are our hope of sonship, our guarantee of it, the ground of our boasting. I know I have tough times and that's part of how I know, in addition to my obedience of the gospel, that I’m a son of the king and I’m on MY way to heaven!
Saturday, July 10, 2010
More On A Growing Summer--with Less Art
We just got back from a great little vacation up in Lawrence. We had never been there before but were very happily surprised!! There was great food, lots of neat stores, beautiful landscaping, a nearby tennis court where Christopher could beat his dad for the first time!! 4th of July was great although Uncle Larry was not handling the humidity well: got to spend wonderful time with Paul and Brenda, my mom, and the David Lawrence family--everyone of them: David, Sharon, Ryan, Carrie, Aaron and the other one! Tinka, Christopher, Catherine and I had great fun!!!! The fireworks were some of the best ever. The ballgame was rained out but the kids and I took in the stand-in movie, Cars: moving with a good message. Our Pacifica blew up so we bought a new Prius--good bargain. BibleTalk at WSU is going well with regular visitors and Dr Fox and Joshua Lutz helping to crank it out. David Bryant and I are in a good study with two fine men. Looking forward to attending the Jubilee in LA. Football season is underway for Christopher and so he may have to cut back on tennis. We will be going with our undefeated Cowboys football team to Dallas for a 5th grade tournament August 12th-14th, taking in Six Flags and visiting the Lawrences down in Weatherford, OK, on the way. Daily phonics class with Catherine, Dillon Bryant and Malia Levy, with Dr Caryn Bryant assisting, comes alive daily from 9:30-11:30. Classics class has moved from Augustine to Boethius with Dante next. Koine Greek is coming along...supposed to be into chapter 4 this week. Still need to find time for econometrics, more reading with Christopher and Catherine and time with my wfe and brothers. The Lord is providing for us through our business as we strive to grow as and make disciples of Jesus! Now if Lewis Hamilton can just find a way to win the British Grand Prix!!!
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