God's Design for Marriage Part 1

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Recap of 5/12/13 (Genesis 1:26):

1.  Ethics offers two choices, Objective truth (seen in absolutes) or Subjectivism (seen in Cultural Relativism, Situation Ethics and Behaviorism).  One says that God is sovereign over life, death, and sexuality.  The other says that man is sovereign over life (abortion), death (euthanasia), and sexuality (gender).  Cultural relativism centers on culture, believes that culture has the power to decide what is right and what is wrong, thus culture (man) is sovereign, there are no absolutes to guide individuals, there are no universal moral standards, and cultural relativism leads to individual relativism, thus ultimately truth is determined by the individual.  As Christians we believe in ethical absolutes as found in the Word of God.  Ethical absolutes insure order and civility in civilization and bring joy, freedom from sin, and personal fulfillment.  Ethical relativism insures moral anarchy and is self-destructive personally and societally.  Christians need to be ready to give an answer in the area of Ethics because:  of the lack of absolutes in our society coupled with the desperate need for ethical standards to guide our abilities and technologies; of the ‘slippery slope’ nature of so many ethical questions (e.g. abortion leads to devaluing children at all stages of life); Christians must learn to think Biblically and Christianly about ethical issues; and Christians often know where they stand on ethical issues but cannot defend their position. (Source: Christian Ethics in a Postmodern World by Dr. James P. Eckman, Ph.D.)

2.  Any discussion about marriage, its’ definition, its’ participants, and how it works best, starts with a simple premise: society doesn’t define marriage…God does.  So we start a study of marriage with creation, Genesis 1:26-28; 2:18-25.

3.  Some diminish the Genesis account of creation by making it simply an allegory, but that doesn’t square with the teaching of the rest of the Bible.  Adam is listed in extensive genealogies in Genesis 5, 1 Chronicles 1, and Luke 3:23-28 where Luke begins with Jesus and goes all the way back to Adam.  If one is historical, the other is historical.  Jesus treats the Genesis account as historical in Matthew 19 and Mark 10.  Paul treats the Genesis account of creation as historical with references to Adam, Eve, the Fall, etc. in Romans 5; 1 Corinthians 11:8,9; 1 Corinthians 15:22,45; 2 Corinthians 11:3; and 1 Timothy 2:13,14. Jude and John do as well in Jude 14 and 1 John 3:12.  Hebrew treats the early chapters of Genesis the same way in chapter 11, citing it with other historical people and events.

How to Serve Without getting your nose out of Joint

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1.  Jesus restores Peter publicly, reassuring him of His love.  In the words of Dr. Edwin Blum: “No matter how great a person is [they] may fall (cf. 1 Cor 10:12).  But God’s grace and forgiveness will restore the repentant.” Regular examination of our lives should produce godly repentance and restoration.  A good prayer to pray in the process is:  “O God, search out the weak places in my life, the parts of me that are vulnerable and immature.  Establish Your rule there so that I may grow into wholeness, receiving Your strength and expressing it in the love You revealed in Jesus Christ. Amen.” (Eugene Peterson)

2.  Jesus’ challenge to Peter is to love Him above these other disciples, above his old life and vocation.  Out of love for Jesus should flow ministry to Jesus’ sheep.  All ministry flows from love for Christ (“wholehearted devotion to Jesus”).  The primary qualification, motivation and prerequisite for service is love for Jesus.

3.  “Just before Jesus left this earth, He instructed Simon Peter to care for the dearest object of His love—His sheep.  How could anyone care for them as Jesus cares?  Only out of love for Him.  There is no other way.  Three times Jesus asked Peter, ‘Do you love Me/’  He asked His questions to underscore the essential truth that only love for Christ would sustain Peter in the work that lay ahead—that arduous, demanding work of caring for people’s souls—perhaps the hardest work of all.  Jesus did not ask Peter if he loved His sheep, but if he loved Him.  Affection for God’s people in itself will not sustain us.  His sheep can be unresponsive, unappreciative, and harshly critical of our efforts to love and to serve them.  In the end, we will find ourselves defeated and discouraged.  The ‘love of Christ’—our love for Him—is the only sufficient motivation that will enable us to stay the course, to continue to feed the flock of God.” (Excerpted from Our Daily Bread)

4.  “Beware of any work for God which enables you to evade concentration on Him.  A great many Christian workers worship their work….A worker without this solemn dominant note of concentration on God is apt to get his work on his neck; there is no margin of body, mind or spirit free, consequently he becomes spent out and crushed.” (Oswald Chambers)

5.  Jesus instructs Peter to “keep on following Him.” This is the dominant issue in the life of every Christian.  We are not to look back, look around, look at others, look at the circumstances, or even look at ourselves.  We are not to deviate from concentration of Jesus and following Him.

Breakfast By The Shore

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Recap of 4/28/13 (John 20:30-21:14):

1.  “I know that today there are many people who say, ‘If only I could see Him, if only I could touch Him, then I would believe.’  The problem is not with the lack of available evidence of the death and resurrection.  The problem is in the human heart.  The Gospel is a record of signs—evidences—which the reader must weigh.  Its aim is to lead us to faith in Christ because in Him alone can we find life.”  (Author Unknown).

2.  The Bible is a book of evidences.  Faith is not a leap in the dark but a firm commitment to the evidence presented in the Biblical record, especially concerning the nature, life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

3.  “Unless Jesus Christ has invaded your life, you are lost in your sins: without God, without life, without hope of heaven.  Becoming a Christ is not simply joining a church, signing a card, or walking an aisle…. true faith comes as a result of believing on Jesus Christ, God’s Son, to solve your sin problem.  It is trusting Him to do something for you that you cannot do yourself.  Have you done that?  If not …open your heart to the Savior, Jesus Christ.”  (Walk Thru One-Year Bible)

4.  “Nowadays we drive and plan and put on courses galore trying to get Christians to do what should be their natural practice, not only with regard to reaching the lost, but with regard to church attendance, tithing, missions, and all other phases of service.  All of this should be spontaneous expression of our love for Christ and others.” (Vance Havner)

From Doubt to Faith

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Recap of 4/21/13 (John 20:19-29):

1. of Jesus’ ten appearances after the resurrection, John records four of them:

-To Mary Magdalene, 20:11-18

-To 10 Apostles with Thomas absent, 20:19-25

-To 10 Apostles with Thomas present, 20:26-29

-To 7 Apostles by the Sea of Galilee, 21:1-14

2.  Jesus appears bodily in a closed and locked room where the disciples hid for fear of the authorities.  He announces peace.  In the words of G. Campbell Morgan: “[Jesus words] had behind them the authority of His death and resurrection.  He had faced and defeated all the forces which destroy the peace of man.  He was making a declaration…bestowing a benediction…imparting a blessing.  The things you fear are powerless to harm you.  Death is not the end; … Be at peace, for whether in life or death you are safe.”

3.  Jesus commissioned them again to spread the gospel, He empowered them with a temporary filling of the Holy Spirit (anticipating the Day of Pentecost); and gave them authority to announce the forgiveness of sin.  “Jesus was giving the apostles (and by extension, the church) the privilege of announcing heaven’s terms on how a person can receive forgiveness.  If one believes in Jesus, the a Christian has the right to announce his forgiveness.  If a person rejects Jesus’ sacrifice, then a Christian can announce that that person is not forgiven.” (Dr. Edwin Blum)

4.  “Have you ever wished you could actually see Jesus, touch Him, and hear His words?  Some people think they could believe in Jesus if they saw a definite sign or miracle.  But Jesus says we are blessed when we believe without seeing.  We have all the proof we need in the words of the Bible and the testimony of believers.” (The NLT One-Year Study Bible).

Risen? Risen...Risen!

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Recap of 4/14/13 (John 20:9-18):

1.  “John closes his profound gospel with a particularly detailed account of the post-Resurrection appearances of the Lord. The Resurrection is the ultimate sign that points to Jesus as the Son of God.” (Wilkerson)

2.   John authenticates the resurrection and by it the deity of Jesus Christ, by:

-the empty tomb (20:1,2)

-the position and order of the grave clothes (20:3-8)

-the repeated surprise of the disciples over the resurrection (it was not something they were expecting)

-the appearances of Jesus after the crucifixion to Mary (20:10-18), to the Disciples without Thomas (20:19-25), to the Disciples with Thomas present (20:26-29), to some Disciples on the shore of the Sea of Galilee (21)

-the change in the disposition of Mary (20:10-18) and the Disciples (20:19-28) from fear, gloom, and sorrow to rejoicing

3.  Mary’s devotion, her heart is wrapped up in the Savior, she wouldn’t be distracted from the desire to be with Him.  She is a model to believers today who are distracted too many times from devotion to Jesus by career, material things, life’s circumstances, even family and friends.

4.  “How did [Mary] respond [to Jesus freeing here from 7 demons]?  By becoming a devoted follower of Christ who not only talked the talk, but walked the walk.  She put her money where her mouth was in support of the ministry of Christ and His disciples.  Her life, values, priorities—all had been changed, radically transformed by the grace of Jesus Christ!”  (Bill Crowder, The Path of His Passion)

Living With Joy in Christ

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Sermon by: Steve Plank

Recap of 3/31/13 (John 19:31-20:8):

1.  John emphasizes the literal fulfillment of prophecy.  Repeatedly in his gospel he cites Old Testament passage fulfilled in Jesus Christ as in 19:35-37.  Jesus as the Passover Lamb did not have a bone broken (Exodus 12:46; Numbers 9:12; Psalm 34:20) and as prophesied in Zechariah 12:10, the Jews would look on the One they had pierced (which will be fulfilled completely at His Second Coming.  Scripture, prophecy included, should always be interpreted literally, plainly, allowing for figures of speech.  “When the plain sense makes good sense seek no other sense." (Dr.

2.  On the surprising courage of Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus: “Their faith is like a glow of sunset at the close of the dark day of cruel and murderous unbelief; but as we turn from its shadows let us remember that Jesus does not ask for secret disciples; He bore the painful cross for us, and He expects us openly, courageously, willingly, to take up the cross and follow Him.” (William Erdman)

3.  On the empty tomb and the grave-clothes as evidence for the resurrection: “For the moment Peter was only amazed at the empty tomb; but things began to happen in John’s mind.  If someone had removed Jesus’s body, if tomb-robbers had been at work, why should they leave the grave-clothes?  Then something else struck him—the grave-clothes were not disheveled and disarranged.  They were lying there still in their folds—that is what the Greek means—the clothes for the body where the body had been; the napkin where the head had lain.  The whole point of the description is that the grave-clothes did not look as if they had been put off or taken off; they were lying there in their regular folds as if the body of Jesus had simply evaporated out of them.  The sight suddenly penetrated to John’s mind; he realized what had happened—and he believed.”  (William Barclay)

4.  On salvation: “A saint is one, who, discovering himself at Calvary, lies in despair with the nature of sin uncloaked to him.  Then, rising in the glamour of amazement and discerning Jesus Christ as a substitute for sin, calls out, ‘Jesus, I should be there.’  To his astonished spirit, he receives justification from all his sinfulness through the atonement at Calvary” (Oswald Chambers)

A Tale of Two Gardens

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He Did It For Me, He Did It For Love

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Recap of 3/24/13 (John 19:4-30):

1.  The Jews insist on Jesus’ death.  Their charge against Him was blasphemy because He claimed to be equal to God, thus making Himself God.  He had indeed made that claim and if His claim were not true He would indeed be guilty of blasphemy.  But it is true He is God incarnate.  “He is either an imposter or Divine” (Erdman).  Those are the only choices.

2.  Pilate, out of self-interest, and in the interest of His position with Rome, condemns Jesus to death though he knows Him to be innocent.  Jesus had often warned in His teaching about the temptation to choose worldly success and acclaim over God’s approval.  This is a temptation we all face, especially those at the start of their careers.  A question we must ask ourselves is: “What am I willing to sacrifice for worldly success?”  It boils down to a question of priorities, choices, and goals.

3.  Jesus was crucified between two thieves, one of whom came to faith during the hours on the cross.  As he saw Jesus’ demeanor through-out the ordeal, an ordeal Jesus did not deserve, and as he heard Jesus repeatedly forgive those who treated Him so, he came to faith.

4.  From the cross just preceding His death, Jesus said “It is finished,” a Greek term found in the papyri of that day which meant “paid in full.”   The work of redemption was complete.  The price of sin had been fully paid.  As the innocent Lamb of God, Jesus suffered and fully paid the penalty of sin, our sin.  “the Greek word translated “It is finished!” was a familiar word in that day.  Bankers used it when the final payment had been made on a debt. Jesus completely paid the debt we owed, and it will be remembered against us no more forever. “  (Wiersbe)

Deny Him?

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Recap of 3/17/13 (John 18:24-19:3):

1.  John (as the synoptic gospels do) records Peter’s failure.  Peter’s denial of Jesus engenders a wide array of reaction as the following quotes show:

-“I feel inclined to spend some time on Peter, because he has such a great place in my heart.  He is so much like the rest of us, and we’re so much like him.” (Mitchell)

-“The Lord never said to Peter, ‘I’m sorry, but because you failed Me, I just can’t use you anymore.’ No, He appeared personally to Peter after His resurrection, and He elected Peter to preach the first sermon on the Day of Pentecost.  There has never been a sermon like it!  Thank God for a Savior and a Lord like that.  He will always take you back!” (McGee)

-“The essence of the matter was that it was the real Peter who protested his loyalty in the upper room; it was the real Peter who drew his lonely sword in the moonlight of the garden; it was the real Peter who followed Jesus, because he could not allow his Lord to go alone; it was not the real Peter, who cracked beneath the tension and denied his Lord.  And that is just what Jesus could see.  A tremendous thing about Jesus is that beneath all our failures He sees the real man.  He understands.  He loves us in spite of what we do because He loves us, not for what we are, but what we have it in us to be.” (Barclay)

-“Since all men fail and even many noted Christians stumble greatly, the record of Peter’s denials (and his subsequent restoration; cf. Ch. 21) is of great pastoral comfort.” (Blum)

2.  Jesus had predicted Peter’s recovery at the “Last Supper” according to Luke 22:32 when he told Peter that when he returned he should strengthen his brothers.

3.  Peter had to fail so that he could succeed.  For his future usefulness to God he had to: now his limitations, to know God’s forgiveness, and to know the wideness of God’s mercy and grace.\

Of Swords and Silence

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Recap of 3/10/13 (John 18:2-23):

1.  In John 18:1-11, John recounts the arrest of Jesus in the Garden.  Judas leads the Roman soldiers (up to 600 of them, a cohort) and the Temple guard, to the spot very familiar to him and all the disciples.  The Garden of Gethsemane is where Jesus would typically stay in the evenings when He was in Jerusalem.  Jesus was “hiding-out” or trying to avoid capture.  He knew that His hour had come when He would become the sacrificial lamb, slain for our sin.

2.  Judas had prearranged a signal by which they would know who to arrest, a kiss.  Though John doesn’t mention this, we know it from the synoptic gospels.  Vance Havner soberingly writes: “Judas betrayed the Lord with a kiss, not a slap.  Our Lord is betrayed with a show of affection perhaps more often than in any other way.  We call Him Lord, Lord, and do not do what He says.  He who keeps His commands is the one who loves Him, not just he who sings ‘O, How I love Jesus.’”  Again it’s important that we live out what we say we believe.

3.  Though Jesus willingly gave Himself up to the soldiers, Peter mounted an anemic (as it turns out) attempt to prevent Him being taken.  He slices off the servant ear (“right ear” John tells us).  Jesus reattaches the ear and rebukes Peter for his action.  Jesus came from the Father for the express purpose of going to the cross.

4.  “The church has never made advances by physical warfare, and every time it has tried, the cause of Christ has been severely harmed.  There are no holy wars.  Every war fought in the name of Christ has been utterly unholy, contradicting and undermining everything His word teaches.  The kingdom of God does not advance with fleshly weapons or by fleshly strategy.  The battleground is spiritual, and it makes no sense to fight with physical weapons.” (MacArthur)

“Prayer, Treachery, & Valor”

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Recap of 3/3/13 (John 17:20-18:1):

1.  In John 17:20-26 Jesus prays for future disciples (us!).  He is vitally concerned for the unity of believers.  It would be the oneness of the church predicated upon love which would be its (our!) greatest witness in the world.

2.  “A world characterized by selfishness, greed, strife, and division needed to have evidence that believers were rightly related to the Father and to the Son by the unity they displayed in their relationships with each other.” (J. Dwight Pentecost)

3.  The unity of which Jesus speaks is not unity of organization, or of worship styles, or of government, or of philosophy of ministry.  It is rather spiritual unity which is meant, not uniformity or organic union.  It is a unity expressed in love, patience, gentleness, humility, meekness, and long-suffering exhibited toward other believers. The question for each of us is “what is our tipping point?”  What is it that can cause us to act unlovingly toward other believers, others in general? Is it a perceived slight to us, our spouse, our children?  It is not getting our own way?  Do I want the good of others or just to have my own way?

4.  John 18 begins the fourth division of the book of John.  There is: Prologue (1:1-18); Public Teaching and Miracles (1:19-12:50); Private Teaching (13-17); Passion and Resurrection (18-20); and Postlude (21).

5.  John’s account of the Garden of Gethsemane differs from the other gospels in that He does not include Jesus’ agony, His sweating great drops of blood, telling His disciples to pray, or taking Peter, James and John further into the garden with Him.  In character with John’s purpose, he focuses on Jesus’ deity and power in His encounter with those coming to arrest Him.  It was He who was in charge of the situation, not them, despite the overwhelming force arrayed against Him and their weapons.. 

The Lord's Prayer

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Recap of 2/24/13 (John 17:1-19):

1.  John 17 is the Holy of Holies of the New Testament. “If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million enemies.  Yet distance makes no difference.  He is praying for me.” (Robert Murray McCheyne).

2.  Jesus’ willingness to go to the cross would bring glory to God the Father.  His “hour” had come, the hour of His death, burial, and resurrection. By His obedience God would be honored;sin, death and Satan would be vanquished.  Jesus chose the glory of God despite the suffering.

3.  “Every sorrow, every pain, every bit of suffering, every circumstance, every joy, everything that comes into your life is going to be for the glory of God.  Do you ever think of it that way?  There’s no place for self-sympathy, growling, and grumbling.  Why?  Because it is all going to ‘redound to the glory of God’ (2 Corinthians 4:15).”  “Whatever the past may have been between you and the Lord, dear reader—whether you see only failures and weaknesses in the years behind you—may I suggest something?  Get down before the Lord and say, ‘Lord, from here on I desire to live for the glory of Christ.’” (Mitchell)

4.  Eternal life is a personal, intimate relationship with God through His Son, Jesus Christ.  To know Him intimately is have eternal life, not just endless existence but abundant life here and life with God through all eternity.  Everyone will live forever, the only question is where and with whom; with God in His presence, or with Satan and his angels in the lake of fire.

5.  Believers are “set-apart” to God (sanctified), that is separated from the world and set-part for God’s special use.  We are set-apart by the Word of God which is truth.  As we read, study, and meditate upon the Word, God applies it to our lives and uses it to make us useful to Him, as well as productive in our spiritual life.

6.  Jesus completed the work God the Father had given Him to do.  All who make God’s glory and will central in their lives can say the same.  “How few of us feel, under the shadow of death, that life is complete, that its work is finished!  What a pathetic series of beginnings and failures and imperfect endeavors it does seem to be.  Yet, if one does the will of God, the symbol of life need not be a broken column.” (Erdman)

Peace in a World Of Hurt

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Recap of 2/17/13 (John 16:12-33):

1.  Jesus would be taken away from the Disciples but they wouldn’t be left alone, so He tries to encourage them with four truths:

-The Holy Spirit would minister to them and be with them in Jesus’ stead (vv. 12-15)

-They had been prepared for what would come because Jesus told them in advance what was to come.  Their confidence in Jesus would be bolstered by His knowledge of the future (vv. 16-22)

-They would have access directly to the Father in prayer (vv. 23-28)

-They would have victory and peace despite their faltering faith and failure (vv. 29-33)

2.  The Holy Spirit, when He came, would glorify Jesus, not Himself.  “When a person claims to be filled with the Holy Spirit, look for the evidence of the heart and character of Christ in that person.” (Mitchell)

3.  In 16:13, Jesus, authenticates the yet to be written New Testament.  It would be the product of the promptings of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the Disciples and others. (2 Peter 1:18-21; 2 Timothy 3:16,17)

4.  Knowing the coming failure of the Disciples Jesus challenges them about their faltering faith.  G. Campbell Morgan comments:  “Two lessons of great importance may be learned here.  The first is that our faith is a poor foundation; indeed that it is no foundation.  We do verily believer to-day, but to-morrow may bring storms which will for the moment strain faith to the breaking-point, and make it of no value.  The other is that He is faithful, and that is the foundation.  In the fiercest hour of upheaval, He it is Who creates some possibility for our failing faith to gather strength.”

The Dynamic Duo

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Recap of 2/10/13 (John 15:26-16:11):

1.  The theme of the hatred and opposition of the world to the Christian begun in John 15:18 continues into John 16 verses 1-11.  The Lord is telling His disciples that these are the facts of the Christian life.  ‘I have suffered.  You will suffer as well.  You can’t expect any better treatment from the world than I received.’  The moment you take a stand for the Savior, you have opposition.” (Mitchell)

2.  Though it seems counter-intuitive, the proper response to the world’s opposition is to witness as to who Jesus is and what He came to do in conjunction with the ministry of the Holy Spirit (John 15:26,27).  We too often seek escape from the world or are silent about our commitment to Jesus.  “As the Apostles witnessed, the Holy Spirit persuaded, and people were saved” (Blum).

3.  Jesus warns believers about the world’s hatred and opposition so that we will not be thrown by it.  That it will not trip us up or cause a crisis of faith or a weakening of faith.  He tells His disciples in advance what is coming so that they can have even greater confidence in Him.

4.  Jesus enunciates a Biblical principle when He tells the disciples that what was painful for them now, would turn out for their good later.  This is a principle seen throughout the Word of God.  Some examples are: Jacob (Genesis 42:36); Joseph (Genesis 50:20); and Moses (Exodus 2-4). The principle is expressed in Rpmans 8:28.

5.  The Holy Spirit would work in conjunction with our witness to convince unbelievers that they are guilty of sin because of their rejection of Jesus, that they lack the necessary righteousness to enter Heaven and that unless they turn to Christ they will share Satan’s judgment and fate.

Not Feeling The Love

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Recap of 2/3/13 (John 15:18-25):

1.  Starting in John 15:18 the topic of Jesus’ teaching changing dramatically.  He had commanded them to love each other, the reason this love was so necessary was because believers would be hated by the world. The words “hate” or “hatred” replaces the word “love” as the topic of this section.

2.  “One thing is certain—no Christian who was involved in persecution could say that he had not been warned.  Persecution came to the Christians because they put Christ first.  Persecution always comes to the man who does that.” (Barclay)  Friendship with Jesus brings the hatred of the world.  The world treats us as it treated Jesus. The reason for this hatred is clear: the more we are like Jesus the more the world will hate us.

3.  Believers are different once coming to Christ.  We are being transformed by the Word of God (Romans 12:2), we no longer think like the world (1 Peter 4:4).  People hate those who are different, whose lives are a rebuke to their own lives.

4.  Believers must be careful not to compromise in order to be popular with the world.  James warns against friendship with the world which he says makes us an enemy of God (James 4:4).

5. The world in ignorance hates Jesus and rejects His words, life, works, and miracles which clearly mark Him out as from God, God incarnate, the God-man.  “…-the revelation of the Father that Christ had given to the world—rendered the world inexcusable (vs. 22).  Christ’s life and words revealed the righteousness of God and provided a pattern of the kind of life that a man must live in order to be acceptable to God.  Before Christ came, the world might have pleaded ignorance of God’s demands as an excuse for their sins; but now that Christ had come and spoken, the world had no excuse for their sin.” (Pentecost)