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)

 

No Love No Excuse

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Recap of 1/27/13 (John 15:12-17):

1. Jesus’ command to “love each other” bookends this passage.  Out of this command come all the others.  As Oswald Chambers said: “Love is the beginning and the middle and the end—the first sign, stamp, and seal—of the saint.”  We are commanded to love not just those who love us but those who are seen as unlovable, ornery, the “porcupines” (Jesus in Matthew 5:43-48).

2.  James calls the command to “love our neighbor as ourselves” the “royal law.”  It was the law articulated by Jesus in Mark 12:28-31 and Matthew 22:34-40 thus it is the law decreed by the King…Jesus.

3.  Jesus was the standard and measure of that love, “as I have loved you.”  This love, based on the pattern of Jesus must be humble and sacrificial, as demonstrated by the cross (1 John 3:16).

4.  Jesus’ disciples (us included) are chosen by Him, not to retreat from the world, but “to go” (vs. 16) and reveal to those around us His character, His life, and His grace.

5.  William  Barclay cautions Christians: “We are sent out into the world to love one another.  Sometimes we live as if we were sent into the world to compete with one-another, or to dispute with one another, or even to quarrel with one another.  But the Christian is to live in such a way that h shows what is meant by loving his fellow men.”

The Christian Benchmark

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Recap of 1/20/13 (John 15:7-17):

1.  Concerning the Judgment Seat of Christ (also called the Bema Seat), Dr. Charles Ryrie writes: “The nature of the believer’s works will be examined in this judgment to distinguish worthy works from worthless ones.  These works are deeds done by the believer during his Christian life.  All will be reviewed and examined.  Some will pass the test because they were good; others will fail because they were worthless.  Both good and bad motives will be exposed; then every believer will receive his due praise from God.  What grace!  The outcome will be either reward or deprivation of reward.  Salvation is not in question…”

2.  To the one who abides in Jesus, He promises answered prayer but as Dr. Merrill C. Tenney warns:  “He was not promising to gratify every chance whim.  But as long as the believer was seeking the Lord’s will in his life, Jesus would grant every request that would help accomplish this end.”

3.  Another result of abiding is joy.  “The joy of the Lord is not the natural exuberance of youth.  It is not ordinary human enthusiasm.  It is not the exhilaration caused by favorable happenings and circumstances.  It is not the emotion whipped up by high-pressure hilarity.  All these may have their place, but the joy Jesus gives is different.  It outlasts youth.  It is more than human, it is Divine.  It is present, no matter what happens.  It is not worked up, it comes down.  It last, it remains.  And it is full, not partial.” (Vance Havner)

The Effective Christian

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Recap of 1/13/13 (John 15:5-6):

1.  In John 15 Jesus urges His disciples to be fruitful, productive by abiding in Him.  The words fruit (or fruitful) and abiding (or remaining) are key words in this passage.  Fruitfulness is the normal Christian life. To abide in Jesus is to have a close intimate relationship with Him.  As Oswald Chambers has said: “The dominant trait of a true saint is a personal, passionate, and overwhelming devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Devotions for a Deeper Life)

2.  Several scholars point out that three vital relationships can be discerned in this passage:  a relationship with Jesus (vv. 1-11); a relationship with others in Christ (vv. 12-17); and a relationship with the world (15:17-16:4).

3.  Fruitfulness or fruit-bearing will be seen in the Christian life in practical holiness (the “beauty and character of God displayed on our daily lives”) and Christian character (Galatians 5:22.23; 2 Peter 1:5-8).  The outworking of that fruit will be seen in sharing our material blessings with other, in doing good works as a response to salvation (not to earn salvation), praising and thankfulness to God, and witnessing to others.

4.  “The closer you walk with Him and stay near Him, the more evident will be the luscious fruits.  …You won’t be looking at yourself and saying, ‘I wonder if I have any fruit?’ You won’t even be thinking about the fruit.  You won’t be thinking about anything else but Him.  If your life is controlled by Him, you will automatically bear fruit on the job, in the factory, in the office, in the shop, washing your dishes at home, taking care of the children.” (Dr. John Mitchell)

The Abundant Life

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Recap of 1/6/13 (John 15:1-4):

1.  The secret to the productive (ie.fruitful) Christian life is a close, intimate relationship with Jesus Christ (abiding or remaining in Him).  Productivity is seen in terms of character and relationship.  Galatians 5:22-24 see fruitfulness in terms of love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  In 2 Peter 1:5-8 Peter see productivity in terms of increasing goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love built upon the foundation of faith.

2.  Jesus calls Himself the “true vine,” the seventh of the “I am” statements in the Book of John.  The vine was a familiar symbol for the nation of Israel, but they became a corrupt vine which produced only rotten fruit (Psalm 80:8,9 & Isaiah 5:1-7).  God the Father is the gardener who cares for the vine, those who are in Jesus. 

3.  The branches of the vine are lifted-up off the ground and cleaned (pruned) to make them productive.  It is the Word of God which cleanses the believer.

4.  “7 Ways the Bible Can Make Your Life Better” from Psalm 119 (from the Daily Walk Bible).  The Bible will:

-keep us from sin, vs. 11

-lift our burdens, vs. 28

-guide our steps, vs. 105

-bring us joy, vs. 111

-lead us to wisdom, vs. 130

-give us peace, vs. 165

-bring us back to God, vs. 176

 

An Offer Of Peace

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Recap of 12/30/12 (John 14:18-31):

1.  Jesus offers peace to His disciples.  Something which the world cannot give.  The world can give fame, status, wealth, and pleasure.  It can offer the diversions of great cause or great sin but it cannot offer peace. 

2.  “the peace which the world offers us is the peace of escape, the peace which comes from the avoidance of trouble and from refusing to face things.  The peace which Jesus offers us is the peace of conquest.  No experience of life can ever take it from us and no sorrow, no danger, no suffering, can ever make it less.  It is independent of outward circumstances.”  (William Barclay)  This peace is not based upon “exemption from conflict and trial,” but on confidence in God’s love and care.

3.  “This peace was the quietness that would come to their hearts from trusting God and from knowing that He was in control of all events that touched their lives.” (J. Dwight Pentecost)

4.  Satan’s hold on men is established through sin and death (Hebrews 2:14-15).  Since Jesus was sinless, Satan had no hold over Him.

5.  We will have peace if we are…

-yielded to the Holy Spirit’s control

-being obedient to Christ’s Word

-living by faith and not by our wits

-resisting sin, confessing sin

You Mean This is True

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Recap of 12/23/12 (Matthew 1:1-17):

1.  Beginning with Genesis 3:14,15 God promised that One would come who would crush Satan and in so doing reverse the effects of the Fall.

2.  Matthew links Jesus with both the Abrahamic covenant(Genesis 12,15,22) and the  Davidic covenant (2 Samuel 7:8-16).  This is important because in the Abrahamic covenant God promised that all the world would be blessed through Abraham’s seed (Paul relates this promise of a “seed” to Jesus in Galatians 3:16,22,24).  Secondly, in the Davidic covenant God promises that one of the line of David would reign forever on David’s throne.

3.  Matthew’s genealogy carefully demonstrates that Jesus is of the royal line and has a legal right to the throne of David.

4.  Matthew’s genealogy also clearly demonstrates that Jesus is virgin-born in verse 16.  Matthew does not say “Joseph, the father of” but rather he changes the expression used in the rest of the genealogy to “Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom (in Greek, a feminine relative pronoun) was born Jesus. . .”  This is essential to God’s saving purpose.

5.  As with the human ancestors of God’s Son, though we are weak, sinful and often unfaithful, God deals with us in grace.

The Promised Holy Spirit

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Recap of 12/16/12 (John 14:17):

1.  “Christ recognized the weakness of these men [His disciples] and their inability to fulfill the ministry of revealing the Father that was entrusted to them.  Hence He said, ‘I will ask the Father and He will give you another Counselor’ (vs. 16).”  (Source unknown)

2. The work of the Holy Spirit in salvation includes (each of the following happen instantaneously at the moment of salvation and are true whatever a Christian’s spiritual condition:

-Regeneration (Titus 3:5; John 3), the giving of or imparting of eternal life to the one who believes. 92 Corinthians 5:17)

-Indwelling (1 Corinthians 6:19,20), the presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer which is the evidence of salvation (Romans 8:9)

-Baptizing (1 Corinthians 12:13), the act of the Holy Spirit placing the believer into the Body of Christ, the Church.  All believers are baptized by the Spirit at the moment of salvation.

-Sealing (Ephesians 1:13; 4:30; 2 Corinthians 1:22), The Holy Spirit is placed as a seal upon the believer’s life, giving them security.  This seal can never be broken.

3.  The work of the Holy Spirit in the life and ministry of the believer:

-The Holy Spirit gives gifts (1 Peter 4:10,11), a spiritual gift is an ability for service given by the Holy Spirit to every believer for the purpose of serving the church.  It is not given for personal edification (I Corinthians 12:7-11).

-The Holy Spirit fills the believer (Ephesians 5:18), as believers deal with sin and yield to the Spirit they are controlled by the Spirit and the Fruit of the Spirit is produced in their lives (Galatians 5).  The filling relates to control.

-The Holy Spirit teaches (John 16:12-15); guides (Romans 8:14); gives assurance of salvation (Romans 8:16); and the Holy Spirit prays (Romans 8:26)

Thr Promise Of Peace

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Recap of 12/9/12 (John 14:17):

“During Jesus’ life on earth, He was His disciples’ ally, advocate, counselor, strengthener, and supporter.  When Jesus returned to the Father, He sent the Spirit to fill those roles (John 14:16).  The Spirit:

-reveals to us who Jesus is and what He wants us to know;

-convicts believers and unbelievers of guilt;

-unites us to Jesus in rebirth so that we are lims of His Body and sharers in His Kingdom;

-assures believers that we are God’s children and heirs;

-mediates our intimate sharing with the Father and the son, our first installment and guarantee of Heaven’s life;

-transforms us progressively through prayer and conflict with sin into Christ’s moral and spiritual likeness’—He gives us the power to love, to have joy and peace, etc. (Galatians 5:22-23);

-gives gifts (abilities to witness and serve) to build up Christ’s Body;

-prays in and for us when we feel unable;

-enables us to know what to say when others ask about Christ;

-enables missionary action, pastoral decisions, and leadership.”

(see John 14:15-27; 15:26-16:16; 20:19-23; Romans 8:1-27; 1 Corinthians 12:1-14:40)

(from A Compact Guide to the Christian Life by K.C. Hinckley)

Promises for the Troubled(part 4)

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December 9, 2012

Recap of 12/2/12 (John 14:16-17):

Five truths about the Holy Spirit from John 14:16,17:

1.  The Holy Spirit’s spiritual presence would replace Jesus’ physical presence with His disciples. He would be “another” Counselor for them.  Jesus would be taken from them in His crucifixion and subsequent ascension but they would not be left alone.

2.  The Holy Spirit presence with a believer is forever.  He is not an occasional helper but a permanent present.  He cannot be withdrawn from the believer in the church age as He was in the Old Testament.

3.  The Holy Spirit is characterized by truth.  He is literally the “Spirit of the Truth.” This is crucial since He will testify about Jesus (John 15:26), and guide the disciples into truth (John 16:13).

4.  The Holy Spirit is invisible, though real and active.  The Holy Spirit “cannot be seen by sight or comprehended by reason.”  The unbeliever has no spiritual life so they cannot know or see Him.  The are not “tuned in.”

5.  The Holy Spirit would indwell them in the future.  He would not only be “with” them but He would be “in” them. He would individually indwell believers.  This teaching about the Holy Spirit anticipates the coming of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost (Acts. 2). They were concerned that Jesus was leaving them, but the Holy Spirit would not only be with them but would live in them to reproduce the life of Jesus in their lives. 

6.  “How are you listening to God’s Spirit?  How are you making yourself available to His guidance and direction in your choices and relationships?  Reading Scripture is an important way to tune your heart to His voice.”  (NLT One-Year Study Bible)