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Immerse Yourself in Them

There are two ways to enter a pool: cannonball or creep.  Those who creep endure a slow, inch-by-excruciating-inch torture of cold water on their feet, ankles, legs, knees, etc. and usually complain loudly at each step of the way until they finally put their heads under and exclaim, “It’s alright once you get in!”  Those who jump right in skip the torture in a split-second shock … and usually splash (and annoy) those creeping in.

This is how it is with a living out of our faith (1 Timothy 4:15-16).

I.  Revelation 3:15-16.  We’ve all been around those who have truly realized the gospel, obeyed it, and then been “on fire” for God.  If we’re ones creeping into our Christian walk, then we might have even found ourselves splashed with a little more church or Jesus than we’re acclimated to.  Paul’s advice to Timothy is immerse himself into His Christian walk.  God does not like lukewarm Christianity!

II.   James 3:1.  Even the first duty of someone seeking to be a shepherd over God’s flock is to watch himself first (Acts 20:28-31).  That is Paul’s next piece of advice to the young evangelist, but it is not just for ourselves that we pay careful attention to how we walk.  We also are to be careful of what we teach to make sure that whether in word or deed we do all according to God’s Word (Colossians 3:17).

III.  James 1:2-12.  Anyone can do right as an event (even a stopped clock is right twice a day), but it takes someone truly committed to walking as Jesus did (1 John 2:6) to persist in living out God’s Word.  If we persevere, Paul tells Timothy that he will save both himself and his hearers.

This doesn’t happen by those inching their way into their Christian walk.  It’s time to cannonball in!

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The Lord Has Indeed Risen

A resurrection lesson just before Christmas?  It makes sense if we realize that Jesus was the baby born to die.  The angel declared to Joseph in Matthew 1:21 as Mary was with child that Jesus would save their people from their sins.  The second person of the Godhead took on flesh in Bethlehem so that He could die on the cross for our sins and be raised for our redemption.  Good news indeed!

I.  Luke 24:13-27.  Not all get this–even those who would call upon His name.  Like the two who were in Jerusalem and heard that Jesus was alive, we too trudge on to Emmaus, not realizing the implication of what His resurrection means for us.  We need to spend time with the risen Savior and let Him speak to us of how His sufferings were necessary for Him to overcome death for us.

II.  Luke 24:28-32.  Just like their eyes were opened with the breaking of bread, so must we be cut to the heart (Acts 2:36-41) like those at Pentecost.  We have to have a moment of awakening to what God has done for us through the gospel.  And no wonder the reenactment of the Lord’s Supper hit them.  No doubt that Jesus spoke of the Passover from their history in escaping slavery in Egypt and how the Christ was the Lamb of God, whose blood saved them from death (1 Peter 1:17-21).

III.  Luke 24:33-35.  Tired from their seven-mile journey no more, the disciples, hearts burning from the Scriptures made alive in them, returned to Jerusalem that same day, bursting in on the remaining Eleven with the good news that Jesus had indeed risen.  It was the same information that they had left Jerusalem with earlier that day, but this time they were convinced and could not contain the joy of that message.

Awakened to the good news of great joy, these two followers didn’t need to be told to tell others; they couldn’t wait to proclaim the gospel!  God’s plan has been there all along: He would be born a baby to grow up without sin to die on the cross and then be raised from the dead.  Do you truly know this?  Or are you trudging on your way to Emmaus?

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If You Are …

Who are you at the cross?  One who scoffs? Challenges God to prove who He is? Like a soldier just there out of obligation hoping to collect a paycheck?  A follower who deserted at the garden who has slunk back to the edges of the cross hoping not to be recognized?  One who weeps for the terrible way they treated Jesus?  Like the first criminal hanging beside him who doubts but turns to Him in desperation?  Or, are you like the second one who took accountability for his sins and turned to the One you know to be the Son of God to save you?

I.  Luke 23:32-39.  Jesus is the I Am whether we acknowledge Him or not.  In Psalm 22:12-18, those surrounding the cross are described as lions, dogs, and bulls.  If Jesus would have given in to earthly taunts, He would have saved only Himself, but He followed His Father’s heavenly plan and died to save us all.  Just because man couldn’t see the plan didn’t make Him any less God in the flesh.  Rather, His work on the cross gave those obedient to Him eternal life (Hebrews 5:7-9).

II.  Matthew 10:32-33.  There are so many ways we deny Jesus each and every day.  Notice Jesus forgave the people from the cross before they began.  Surrounding Him there were those who defied, those who were duty-bound, and those who doubted.  Sadly, Christians today often fall into these categories of those who wear His name while compromising with the world (2 Timothy 3:1-7).

III.  Luke 23:40-43.  There was one, however, the second criminal who hung beside Jesus who, even though under the sentence of death, acknowledged his sins and who Jesus was.  He was promised Paradise because of it.  This criminal rebuked the first that He did not fear God, which is our duty (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14).    We should all live as if we know we’re dying and obey the gospel (Acts 2:36-40).

Save yourself from this crooked generation’ is the same appeal today.  Save yourself from those surrounding the cross.  Be instead like the dying believer who was hanged next to Jesus.

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Bible.12: Rightly Handling the Word of Truth

I was in sixth grade when Atari came out with the first game system.  I never owned one until my kids got a Wii.  Even now if someone hands me a controller I spaz out-of-control because I have no idea what I’m doing.  Some are like that in their relationship with God.  Something goes wrong in life and they are like me playing Mario Karts.

It’s not enough to know the Word of Truth; you have to know how to use it!

I. 2 Timothy 2:14-15.  Several times in Scripture, God’s Word is described as a sword.  But, having a sword is not the same thing as knowing how to use it.  All the lessons on the Bible (see the sermonlines archive) leading up to this one gave great information about the uniqueness, inspiration, authority, and development of the Bible.  It is truth (John 17:17), yes, but it must be applied to be of any use (Psalm 119:11).

II. 2 Corinthians 3:12-16.  Knowledge is only the means to the relationship with God that we all strive to have.  A thorough and continual study of His Word, combined with an abiding prayer-life, will lift the veil on truly knowing the word of truth so that a person can truly know God.  As in any relationship, love is the key to intimacy.  God loves us.  It is our love in return that will draw us into intimacy with Him.

III. John 4:23-24.  Being a true worshiper should be our goal.  To be that, we must worship Him in spirit and in truth.  In other words, we must know God in a deep and abiding relationship with Him.  Therefore, we must be honest with the word of truth.  We must approach the study of His Word, not seeking justification for who we’d like God to be, but how He reveals Himself to us out the living and active pages of His Word.  Knowing the context and occasion of the passage helps as well.

Does your study of God found in the pages of His Word draw you into a deeper relationship with Him?  Do you know Him?

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Bible.11: You Search the Scriptures

Can you imagine a husband checking off a marriage list at the end of the day that included items like told her I loved her, kissed her, bought flowers, warmed her car ….  The very nature of a relationship defies a checklist.  It is intimate, deep, and abiding.  And, while you can gain knowledge about your spouse, it is the application of that knowledge in your marriage that makes it a good relationship.

So it is with God.  Knowledge of His Word is not the end but only the means to an end.  It is what we are doing with that knowledge that makes all the difference.

I. John 5:36-40.  Knowing the Bible isn’t the same as knowing God.  This is what Jesus tried to get the Jews who were seeking to kill Him to understand.  He does not refute that their Bible study was diligent.  Nor does He dispute that in the Scriptures can they find the way to eternal life.  Their struggle was in application.  They refused to obey to know God (1 John 2:3-6), live them out, and recognize that they testified about Him.

II. Matthew 7:21-23.  Bible study is the means to an abiding relationship with God.  Since Adam and Eve ate the fruit and became like God, knowing good and evil (Genesis 3:6-22), we have had to perceive the world through knowledge.  Animals have instincts; we must be taught.  This has many downfalls, but the biggest one is believing that if we are doing for God, then He knows us.  In our attitudes towards worship, attendance, serving, prayer, and His Word, are we “doing His will”?

III. Hebrews 4:12-13.  One of the reasons they, and we, refuse to come to Jesus to have eternal life is because we don’t like the double-edge on the Sword of the Spirit that cuts back on us as we try to wield this knowledge on others.  Neither do we like our deeds exposed by the light (John 3:19-21), so we keep from applying knowledge of God’s Word from becoming obedience.  We do not commit to an abiding relationship with God and so live in a state of quasi-light and quasi-darkness.

Many books have been written about how to have a better marriage, and these are people’s best guesses at situations that vary from spouse to spouse.  But, only one Book has been written by God Himself that helps us have an abiding relationship with Him.  Do you study it to love Him more?

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Command & Teach These Things

Timothy was a young evangelist, and yet Paul told him to “command and teach” the things that he had been writing to him about (1 Timothy 4:11-14).  The bigger issue was how could Timothy (or us for that matter) be the kind of Christian that when he would command and teach that others would want to listen and learn?

I. 1 Corinthians 11:1.  The first thing to remember is that we are not asking others to follow the best version of ourselves that we can put forth.  No, we want others to follow us as we follow Christ.  So, Jesus is the example to others that we must follow ourselves, so that others in our sphere of influence can listen and learn from us.

II. Acts 2:42.  To ensure that our example of Christ is one to follow, we must be devoted to God’s Word.  We have the example of the early Christians who, among other things, devoted themselves to the public reading, exhortation, and teaching of Scripture.  When others we hope to command and teach see our devotion, then they will want to listen and learn from us.

III. 1 Corinthians 12:14-31.  The illustration of the church as a body with all of its parts working together and arranged just where God has placed them is a powerful one.  When others see us encouraging and ministering in whatever way God has blessed us to work for the whole of the body and not just ourselves, then they will want to listen and learn from us.

Whether young or old, rich or poor, educated or unschooled, God has a place for you and work that He has prepared in advance for you to do (Ephesians 2:10).  When we are about it, only then are we in a position to “command and teach these things.”

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New Covenant in My Blood

Apparently in the religious world at large, some suggest that Jesus’ plans to establish His Kingdom were thwarted by wicked men who put Him on the cross, and so He had to establish His church instead.  Ridiculous on so many levels, this false idea is easily refuted through a look at the new covenant that Jesus said He was establishing through His blood.

I. Acts 2:22-24.  How would you ever surprise an omniscient and omnipresent God with a surprise party?  Yet, at the base of this false teaching is the idea that man somehow tricked God, that the One who breathed everything into existence was derailed by wicked men who were too clever for Him.  The cross was done through God’s purpose and foreknowledge as evidenced by how often Jesus spoke of His impending death.

II. Luke 24:25-27.  What a Bible study the two disciples must have had when the resurrected Christ revealed ALL the Old Testament scriptures that spoke about His suffering, death, and resurrection!  Among them must have been the fulfillment of the Passover (Exodus 12:5-11) and the eyewitness-like descriptions of Him on the cross in Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53 recorded centuries before He came in the flesh.

III. Jeremiah 31:31-34.  Perhaps the most convincing was the prophet’s description of the new covenant that God would make with His people, its hallmark forgiveness of sins and knowing God.  Jesus announces that that is what is being established at the Last Supper (Luke 22:19-22) with plenty of time to avoid the cross if that truly indeed was what God was trying to do.  Indeed, the new covenant, as with the old one, was established through blood (Hebrews 9:16-28).

Many passages use Kingdom and church interchangeably, but the establishment of the new covenant through the blood of the perfect Lamb truly shows that the church is His Kingdom on earth.  Have you entered the new covenant with God through Jesus’ blood being shed for you?

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Stand Before the Son of Man

When coming to Luke 21, we can’t switch from preaching the gospel to reading the tabloids!  In the manual for life, Jesus, zeroing in on verses 34-36, gives us advice about how to live in this life so we can live in the next.

I. Matthew 14:27-30.  After Peter is invited to step out of the boat, he loses his focus on Jesus and begins to sink.  So do we when our hearts are weighed down by the struggles of this life.  We are to fix our eyes on the eternal (2 Corinthians 4:16-18), particularly on Jesus so we don’t grow weary and lose heart (Hebrews 12:1-3).

II. Mark 14:32-38.  At Gethsemane, Jesus asks his followers to watch while He prayed.  Why?  For Him or for them?  The question is answered when He returns and tells them to watch and pray to not be tempted.  Prayer is the church’s weapon of choice (Acts 12:4-5).  We do not wage spiritual war as the world does, and so must use heavenly weapons (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).

III. Ephesians 6:10-13.  At the end of all things, we must be able to stand before the Son of Man.  That’s what the decisions we make in this life are all about.  How good it will be to hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21), if we have stood our ground using the full armor of God to aid us.  If we persevere, God will hand us a crown of life as we stand before Him (James 1:12).

So, is your heart weighed down by the temporary struggles of this life?  Where are your eyes fixed?  Are you watching and praying?  Are you wearing the full armor of God daily?

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Bible.10: May Be Thoroughly Equipped

With so many translations of the Bible to choose from, how can a Christian know that what he is reading will make him or her thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17)?

I. Acts 12:4.  Recognize that the problem with every translation is that it’s a translation.  Therefore, the perfect translation does not exist.  Unless you can read ancient Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, you are reading a translation of copies of the originals that no longer exist.  An example is “Easter” in this verse of the often touted KJV of 1611 (language revised in 1769) but is rendered closer to the Greek Pascha as “Passover” in the NIV.  The NIV was translated in an era with more access to research but may have other struggles.

II. Genesis 6:13-17.  Three schools of translation put every Bible on a sliding scale.  Translations in the word-for-word school like the KJV, in addition to often challenging readability, will give us measurements like cubits while one from the idea-for-idea or dynamic equivalent school in the middle, like the NIV, will give them to us in terms we can better understand, like feet.  A thought-for-thought or paraphrase translation like The Message will be very readable but will melt Scripture down and present it in the translator’s own words.  That can be very interesting when looking at figurative language in the ESV, a very popular word-for-word translation known for its readability, in verses such as Amos 4:6.  Compare how the NIV and The Message translate this.

III.  2 Timothy 3:16-17.  The struggle today versus 1611 is too much access to information.  How does a Christian cut through the confusion to become thoroughly equipped?  Reputable study helps help, but so do some common sense considerations for choosing a translation.  The preface of any Bible will tell you how it was translated.  Those done by committee are preferred over an individual to help eliminate bias.  Those done by various groups are preferred over one group for the same reason.  How did the translators deal with various languages, thought patterns, syntax, figures of speech, etc.?  What was their use of early and ancient copies that are so available today?  And finally, how did they deal with thorny translation issues?

God preserved His Word throughout the centuries.  We have it available to us today.  Our job is to become thoroughly equipped by the most accurate portrayal as is possible.

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Put Our Hope in the Living God

Most work hard for a paycheck, but if the company can no longer give us money for our work, we no longer show up.  We have a certain amount of loyalty but largely are not intrinsically invested in our jobs.  This is just the opposite of our walk with Christ–and good thing!  We must obey God, but heaven is not given to us because of our obedience.  We cannot work for our salvation; it is a gift.  In some ways, this seeming disconnect makes it harder for Christians to persevere and be faithful unto death if we must rely on grace through Jesus’ work on the cross that has nothing to do with us.

This is why we are left with one of the three big gifts (1 Corinthians 13:8-13)–hope!

I. Hebrews 6:17-20.  Hope is our motivator.  God, who never lies, confirmed eternity for us with an oath, so we might flee our old life of sin and selfishness and take hold of the only thing that can save us–His unchangeable promise of heaven!  It was this hope or the “joy set before him” that got Jesus through the cross to motivate us to throw off hindrances and sin and not grow weary in the Christian walk (Hebrews 12:1-3).

II. 1 Timothy 4:7-10.  We labor and strive because of hope in the living God.  When asked if he wanted to leave Him too, Peter replied that there was no one else to turn to (John 6:66-69).  Before the Sanhedrin, he declared that salvation was found in no one else (Acts 4:8-12).  But, the very nature of hope is that it is always just out of reach, and it is so hard to wait (Romans 8:23-25).  Yes, it is!

III. Mark 14:66-72.  There was a time when Peter had let go of hope.  It was Thursday through his talk with the resurrected Christ while eating some fish (John 21:15-19).  Having denied Jesus, the very thing he swore he would not do, Peter slunk back to huddle with those who had deserted their Master while Jesus was crucified and buried.  On the resurrection Sunday, the omniscient God calls him out when He, through the angel, tells the women at the tomb to tell “his disciples and Peter” (Mark 16:7).

When we sin, we let go of the hope that we have taken hold of to return to that which we have fled from.  We become like Peter, even pretending to fit in with His disciples today at church.  We must repent and re-grasp this great gift of hope, letting it be our motivator to walk as Jesus did (1 John 2:6).