redeemer men

Introduction

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God, in His infinite wisdom, grace, and love, has seen fit to provide His creatures with His very words. Although God's eternal power and divine nature are clearly perceived in all creation, He has spoken to us concerning Himself and His plan in Scripture. And His Word points us to His glory, our sinfulness, and salvation in Christ Jesus.

One of the most beneficial things that we can do as Christians is to learn to read the Bible well. Understanding and application of God's Word to our lives is commanded, but it is done so of necessity. Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. All Scripture is God-breathed, and vital to our well-being.

This Fall, the Men's Ministry will undertake two studies, the first of which is The Bible Overview: How to Understand the Bible as a Whole, that will provide a better understanding of the whole counsel of God. The second study, Six Steps to Reading Your BIble, consists of sessions that will promote better reading, understanding, and application of God's Word.

Please plan to join us at the church beginning September 17th at 7am, as we seek to better understand what God has spoken, and in doing so, praise Him all the more.

Chapter 2 - Why Did Christ Die?

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Why did Christ die? What are the reasons Scripture gives for his crucifixion?

This week we look at these reasons, and we find that they are both human and divine. He was given up, and he gave himself up; he died at the hands of sinful men, and he died according to the perfect plan and foreknowledge of his Father.

At bottom, as Stott states in the chapter, we must say, "I did it--my sins put him there." Thanks be to God, we can also say, "He did it--his love took him there."

Chapter 1 - The Centrality of the Cross

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[In contemplating Christ's cross]...Our sins put him there. We can stand before it only with a bowed head and a broken spirit. And there we remain until the Lord Jesus speaks to our hearts his word of pardon and acceptance, and we, gripped by his love and full of thanksgiving, go out into the world to live our lives in his service. (pg. 18)

The central message of the Christian Faith is the crucifixion of Christ. We are all, without exception, sinners in need of forgiveness. There is no forgiveness without the shedding of blood. And there is no name under heaven by which we must be saved other than the name of Christ Jesus.

Only God incarnate could provide the means for guilty sinners to be reconciled to himself. At the cross, we marvel at the wonderful and horrible, the wrathful and merciful, the free and the costly beyond price. And we will marvel into eternity, as we praise God for Christ and the cross.

Chapter 12 - Honest Self-Confrontation: Reaching into Bucket Four

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In Genesis chapter 3, we read of Adam and Eve hiding in the Garden after having sinned by disobeying God's word. When God confronted Adam about his sin, he pointed the finger at Eve. When Eve is confronted, she pointed the finger at the serpent. Thus began man's propensity to compound sin upon sin.

Sin is not rational. The wisest course of action after recognizing our sin would be to immediately confess the sin to God and ask forgiveness. But the very nature of sin is such that our inclination is to cover it up or deflect the guilt from ourselves to another, as Adam and Eve did.

But for the grace of God, we would be left in this cycle of piling up sins. We would deservedly perish and bear the wrath of God for our rebellion. However, the good news is that in spite of our rebellion and enmity towards God, Christ was made to be sin so that through our union with him we might be forgiven and even considered righteous.

Reaching into bucket four requires honest self-confrontation. And this is possible because we are new creations in Christ (2 Cor 5:17). We are enabled by word and Spirit to see our sin for what it is, and to address it in a manner that is God-honoring. Even when we sin and respond to that sin with further transgression, we are able to look back and see the oftentimes devastating effects that our actions had on ourselves and others, and seek forgiveness and reconciliation. We can learn and grow from our past failures, and we can know that there is hope, [f]or we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

(Hebrews 4:15-16 ESV)

Chapter 11 - The Person of Our Joy

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Over the past several weeks, we have been learning how to reach into the first 3 'buckets' in order to deal with our past in a biblical and God-honoring fashion. But what's the point? Are we merely learning tips and techniques on how to live our best life now? Or are we engaging in some sort of formalistic therapy that uses Scripture rather than a psychological text when addressing issues in our past?

We've talked about union with Christ at various points in many of our previous groups. Our being united to Christ by faith is what makes us Christians, and enables us to deal with our past in accordance with Scripture. But we are not united to a principle; we are united to a person. Given this, consider that Scripture speaks of Christians as members of one body, with Christ as the head:

Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

(Ephesians 4:15-16 ESV)

As we better understand that our only true source of joy is the person of Christ to the exclusion of everything (and everyone) else, we will be motivated and enabled to deal with our past as we "grow up in every way into him who is the head."

Chapter 10 - Joyful Remembrance: Reaching into Bucket Three

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This week, we begin looking at our guilty past when we responded well. As Rev. Viars states in the chapter, it may initially seem that we do not need to reach back into this 'bucket', given that we have already responded in a manner according to God's word.

However, we may not always feel forgiven, and we may continually revisit our past sins and failures. In doing so, we fail to truly understand what God has done in Christ on our behalf.

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

(2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV)

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,
(Ephesians 1:7 ESV)

In the chapter, we are also presented with four reasons we may be (or become) stuck in our past:

-Lack of genuine repentance
-Fear of man
-Unwillingness to forsake our sin
-Losing our awe of God's forgiving grace

In considering our guilty past, let us prayerfully seek to understand where we may be letting our feelings to take precedence over the promises in God's word; specifically, that he has granted us forgiveness in Christ. And where we may be continually revisiting our past and replaying our failures, let us hold fast to what Scripture says about the all-sufficient work of Christ and our standing in him as children of the Living God:

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
(Romans 8:1-4 ESV)

Chapter 9 - The Joy of Forgiveness

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"Please forgive me."

Not only is this the humble request of a person seeking reconciliation, it is a biblical imperative that, as Christians, we must regularly practice. As Paul states in Colossians,

Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

(Colossians 3:12-13 ESV)

Give thought to some of the reasons we avoid admitting that we may have responded sinfully when sinned against in the past:

Pride

Stubbornness

Fear

Foolishness

Misplaced Desires

Seeking forgiveness is not easy. It is not a pleasant thing to acknowledge your faults and failures. It is harder still to go to someone and humbly ask that they forgive you for your sin. But consider what our Heavenly Father has done. He has put forth his only Son to bear the punishment for our sin, so that we might be forgiven and walk in newness of life. There is true freedom in Christ, and no other. There is freedom from the guilt and shame of sin because Jesus Christ was made to be sin on our behalf.

As Rev. Viars states, "often this simple act of humble obedience [seeking forgiveness] leads to the beginning of a restored relationship." It's not easy, but the results can be magnificent.

Chapter 8 - Humble Analysis: Reaching into Bucket Two

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This week, we begin to look at those times in our innocent past when we responded sinfully. While it is certainly important for us to understand how to respond to these events in a biblical manner, it is also important for us to understand why we tend to act sinfully when we are wronged.

Through one man sin entered into the world and death through sin, so death spread to all men because all sinned (Rom 5:12). It is our nature to sin, because we are born sinners. But for us as Christians, there is a flip-side: Although one trespass led to condemnation, one act of righteousness leads to justification and life. Because of Christ and his work, we are no longer slaves to sin, but we are free to live in a manner pleasing to God. And this includes handling our innocent past in a way that accords with Scripture.

Rev. Viars asks 6 questions on pp. 147-148 to help us humbly analyze times in our innocent past when we may have responded in ways that were sinful. May we consider these questions as we seek to better understand how to deal with this aspect of our past and move forward in freedom and forgiveness.

Chapter 7 - Authentic Suffering and the Sustaining Gospel

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Have you ever forgotten to breathe? If you are reading this, then I would dare say you have not forgotten for any extended length of time. As Christians, the gospel is--in a sense--like the spiritual air we breathe. Christ's sacrifice on our behalf has made it possible for us to be made spiritually alive.

But do we too often treat the good news as we do breathing? Breathing is involuntary; we can stop and think about it, but we don't have to do so in order to continue taking in air. The fact that we take in oxygen makes it possible for us to do everything else in life. The gospel has made it possible for us to live our lives in a manner pleasing to God, even in the midst of suffering.

I won't push the analogy too far, because it's only a fair analogy at best; the point is that we are blessed to have the word of God which tells us what he has done through Christ on our behalf. We can and should appropriate that truth, especially when faced with suffering. We who were dead have been made alive. We who were orphans have been adopted as sons of the living God. We who were without hope now have assurance of eternal life.

As we seek to keep "Bucket One" empty, let us remember our Savior and the sufferings he endured on our behalf, and by the word and the Spirit, let us be transformed into his likeness so that he may be seen by others in our own lives.

Chapter 6 - Authentic Suffering: Reaching Into Bucket One

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What does it mean for us to suffer authentically? In this week's chapter, we look at what God's word says about dealing with events of our past from "bucket one" (our innocent past when we responded well).

Rev. Viars outlines four ways to view this part of our past through the lens of Scripture, and deal with specific events in a manner that puts them in their proper place and honors God:

1. Face it honestly--rather than ignoring the event or isolating ourselves, we should cry out to God and let other Christians help bear our burdens.

2. Face it biblically--how we understand God as he has revealed himself in his word, and how we understand our relationship to him is of utmost importance when dealing with the hurts of our past. As we genuinely acknowledge the sufferings of our past, God's word will properly frame our experience and enable us to suffer well.

3. Face it hopefully--we need not despair in the midst of our suffering. We serve a God who works all things together for good, who is for us, and who has justified us through Christ. In Romans 8:39 we are told that nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. "Nothing in all creation" is pretty comprehensive; surely it includes our sufferings.

4. Face it missionally--God's purpose in our past is not to provide us with material for extended periods of personal introspection; rather, he is equipping us to be able to reach out and comfort others who are suffering with the truths of Scripture. We are to be part of the body of Christ, rejoicing with those who rejoice, and weeping with those who weep.

Keeping these points in mind, let us think of how we can begin reaching into bucket one as we rely on God's word to guide us, and as we allow our sufferings to bring us closer to God and to prepare to serve others.

Chapter 5 - Bad Things Happen to Good People: Another Look

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In this week's chapter, we read of Rabbi Harold Kushner and his book, When Bad Things Happen to Good People. Rabbi Kushner's view of God and his sovereignty changed due to the events of his past; specifically, the news that his son had a disease that would likely lead to his death in his teen years. In wrestling with the implications of this news and his view of God, Rabbi Kushner concluded that he must 'sacrifice' God's sovereignty over all things in order to reconcile God's justice and his (Kushner's) own goodness.

While certainly not diminishing Kushner's suffering over the news of his son's disease and prognosis, we must call into serious question his conclusions about God, and we must do so based upon God's own words about himself.

In John chp. 9, we read of Jesus and the disciples coming upon a man who had been blind from birth. The disciples asked Jesus, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Christ's answer is profound and instructive: “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him." Jesus then proceeded to heal the man of his physical blindness and--most importantly--his spiritual blindness. From Scripture, we see that not only has God planned all things from before the creation of the world, but also that he providentially directs the specific events that occur throughout time. This man born blind was precisely so because God had determined to show his power and display his mighty works in him.

It is indeed dangerous ground we tread if we put ourselves in the place of judging the nature of God. Instead, we must humbly, carefully, and prayerfully search and hold firm to the whole counsel of God as revealed in Scripture, especially when dealing with suffering and difficulties in our past. While Kushner may not recognize the New Testament as God's word, let us not forget what God declares about himself in Isaiah 46:

Remember this and stand firm,

recall it to mind, you transgressors,

remember the former things of old;

for I am God, and there is no other;

I am God, and there is none like me,

declaring the end from the beginning

and from ancient times things not yet done,

saying, ‘My counsel shall stand,

and I will accomplish all my purpose,’

calling a bird of prey from the east,

the man of my counsel from a far country.

I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass;

I have purposed, and I will do it.

(Isaiah 46:8-11 ESV)

God is sovereign over all things. God is just. God works all things together for good for those who love him and are called according to his purpose. Our view of his word will profoundly effect our approach to the past. There is no other source of truth outside of God's word to which we can turn and find true comfort and peace in the midst (and aftermath) of our struggles.

Rabbi Kushner let his own experiences shape who he considers God to be. Consider your view of God's word, and let his word shape your experiences.

Chapter 4 - You Can Learn to Put the Past in Its Place

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In this week's chapter, we read that categorization of the events of our past can help us view them in a way that better enables us to apply Scripture to our lives.

Category ("Bucket") 1: An event occurred; you were innocent and responded well to the situation.

Category ("Bucket") 2: An event occurred; you were innocent but responded poorly to the situation.

Category ("Bucket") 3: An event occurred; you were guilty but responded well to the situation.

Category ("Bucket") 4: An event occurred; you were guilty and responded poorly to the situation.

There are likely various events in our lives where we can identify with each one of these categories. Think through your past and begin to identify events that you could place into each of these. As we progress through our study, we will unpack each of these "buckets" in order to further understand how we can use this categorization to put our past in its place, and respond to the events of our past in light of God's word.

Chapter 3 - Your Past Can Be One of Your Best Friends

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Our past, when viewed from God's perspective in Scripture, can be something upon which we can draw in time of need. The cumulative events of our lives are not necessarily something to be discarded because we consider them painful, shameful, or difficult to reckon with.

A biblical view of the past takes into account the fact that God is sovereign, that he foreordains whatsoever comes to pass, and that--because of our union with Christ--he works all things together for good, according to his perfect plan.

Do you regularly think back to how God has saved you in Christ?

Can you recall specific things that God has delivered you from?

As Christians, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, we are to grow into the likeness of Christ our Savior and Lord; however, we are still human--we falter and fail. But consider this:

In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

(1 John 4:9-10 ESV)

The eternally-firm foundation of Christ is the place from which we begin to see our past as a resource that God uses to enable us to walk in a manner pleasing to him.

Chapter 2 - Your Past Can Be One of Your Worst Enemies

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Unaddressed issues in our past can have detrimental and devastating effects on us, and on others in our lives. How should we approach these issues from a biblical perspective? Do we hesitate to bring our concerns to God? Do we recoil at the thought of questioning the Lord of Heaven and Earth? Let's take a look at how this might play out:

"God, how long are you going to let this situation go on? Have you forgotten that I am here in the midst of all this mess? Are you deliberately avoiding me?"

"Do I have to work this thing out on my own? It's tearing me up inside--and others are kicking me now that I am down!"

"God remember me and help me--restore me before all this kills me--those around me will laugh it up the further down I go!"

Does that seem a bit brash and irreverent?

If you answered in the affirmative, consider that the 'conversation' above is a (very loose) paraphrase of a text written by "a man after God's own heart." Here is the original:

How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever?

How long will you hide your face from me?

How long must I take counsel in my soul

and have sorrow in my heart all the day?

How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

Consider and answer me, O LORD my God;
light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,
lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,”
lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.
(Psalm 13:1-4 ESV)

But note how David ends his lament. After having poured out his heart to God, he then acknowledges his complete and utter reliance upon the unshakable foundation of God's love and salvation, and praises God for his generosity and abundant provision.

But I have trusted in your steadfast love;
my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
I will sing to the LORD,
because he has dealt bountifully with me.
(Psalm 13:5-6 ESV)

It is appropriate to bring our concerns and troubles to God. But we must also not forget that our God is faithful, and although we often cannot see his plan, we can trust that he will work all things for our good and his glory. Because of Christ, we can boldly approach the throne of grace and find help in time of trouble.

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

(Hebrews 4:14-16 ESV)

Chapter 1 - Can You Hear the Wheels Spinning?

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Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.
(Hebrews 1:1-2 ESV)

God is the God of History. He did not choose to bring about all of His purposes at once, but instead chose to unfold His eternal plan throughout time. Consider what a tremendous blessing (understatement) we as Christians have today in the completed revelation of God! By God's grace, we can see the fullness of God's plan of redemption in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ Jesus!

The past matters to God. Many of us can look back upon our past and see how God in His providence brought us to Himself. While we often hope and pray that God will immediately intervene in a given situation, whether illness, personal struggle or relational difficulties, He more frequently works over periods of time in our lives, and in such a way that we can look back with astonishment at how His sovereign plan has unfolded for our good and for His glory.

Does our past matter? If so, how should we view our past in way that honors God and enables us to grow as Christians?

How we approach these and other questions will have a profound impact on not only our own lives, but the lives of those around us. As Christians our aim should be to glorify God and make Christ known, and the handling of our own lives (which necessarily includes our past) can have a tremendous impact on these ends, for ill or good.

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
(1 Corinthians 6:9-11 ESV)

Chapter 14 / 15 - God Helps Those Who Help Themselves? / The End of the Road (Genesis 24 and 25:1-18)

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Trust in the LORD with all your heart,

and do not lean on your own understanding.

In all your ways acknowledge him,

and he will make straight your paths.

(Proverbs 3:5-6 ESV)

We see in this week's lesson that Abraham sends his servant to the land of his father to find a wife for Isaac. From the text, we do not see that he had any revelation from God in this matter, but notice that Abraham nevertheless trusts that God will provide:

"The LORD, the God of heaven, who took me from my father's house and from the land of my kindred, and who spoke to me and swore to me, ‘To your offspring I will give this land,’ he will send his angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there."

(Genesis 24:7 ESV)

Abraham's faith had grown from the self-reliance we saw in his attempt to fulfill the promise of God through Ishmael in Genesis 16 and 17, to unflinching obedience towards God in his willingness to offer Isaac upon the altar in Genesis 22. In this chapter, notice from the passage above--and from the servant's responses throughout the remainder of the chapter--the dependency upon God's providence and acknowledgement of God's faithfulness:

"And he said, “O LORD, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham.""

(Genesis 24:12 ESV)

"The man bowed his head and worshiped the LORD and said, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken his steadfast love and his faithfulness toward my master. As for me, the LORD has led me in the way to the house of my master's kinsmen.”"

(Genesis 24:26-27 ESV)

When Abraham's servant heard their words, he bowed himself to the earth before the LORD.

(Genesis 24:52 ESV)

And in Genesis 25:1-18 we see the end of Abraham's life. God had been faithful to keep the promise he made to Abraham of providing him a son through whom God would bless the nations. Abraham would not live to see the complete outworking of that promise, but he died at "a good old age" and was buried in the land of the promise with his wife, Sarah.

In Christ, we are the offspring of Abraham, heirs of the promise. (Galatians 3:29) But like Abraham, we are living in the gap between what God has promised to ultimately bring about and the realization of that promise. Note what the author of Hebrews says regarding the Old Testament saints:

These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

(Hebrews 11:13-15; Hebrews 11:16 ESV)

The road to the better country and to our Lord is not without toll. Christ paid the inestimable price on our behalf. But neither are we free to live our lives as we choose, according to our own plan and purpose. Having been declared citizens of Heaven, we must travel the straight path that comes only from acknowledging God, denying ourselves and following Christ, who will one day close the gap as history ends and eternity begins:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

(Hebrews 12:1-2 ESV)

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

(Revelation 22:1-5 ESV)

Chapter 13-Funeral for a Friend (Genesis 23)

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...[S]hare in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel...

(2 Timothy 1:8-10 ESV)

When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
“O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
(1 Corinthians 15:54-58 ESV)

In our text for this lesson, we see Abraham burying his beloved wife, Sarah. She who was with him from the beginning of his journey out of Ur was laid to rest in a cave in the land of promise. In verse 2, Abraham mourns and weeps for the loss of Sarah. And this is as it should be. Our Lord wept upon arriving at the tomb of Lazarus, even though he was about to raise him from the dead. As Dr. Duguid alludes to in our chapter, death is a result of sin; there is a sense in which death is not "how things are supposed to be." Death is profoundly saddening, on many levels, and it is right for us to grieve.

But consider the texts above. Christ has won the victory over sin and death. Therefore, we do not grieve as those who have no hope (1 Thess 4:13). This is not the end. As Christians, we have been born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Christ (1 Peter 1:3), and we know that not only will we see those whom we love that die in the Lord again, but that we will one day be with them in the presence of Him who set His love upon us from before the foundation of the world.

Chapter 12-Faith Put to the Test (Genesis 22)

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"...through Isaac shall your offspring be named."

This is the last time Isaac is mentioned in the text prior to chapter 22, where God then tells Abraham to sacrifice him on Mount Moriah. How do we then see Abraham respond to God's command? Do we see hesitancy on Abraham's part, as we saw Lot lingering in Sodom prior to its destruction? If we were not privy to the entire story from our perspective, we might not be surprised to see Abraham delay the journey to Moriah, or even intercede on behalf of Isaac, much like he did when he asked God to spare Sodom if ten righteous men could be found there; however, we see no trace of hesitancy or reluctance on Abraham's part in carrying out God's command.

He rose early. He cut wood for the burnt offering. He built the altar. He bound Isaac. He took the knife to slaughter his son.

Genesis 22 does not tell us what was going on in Abraham's mind during this time, but in Hebrews 11, we see that it was by faith that he offered up Isaac:

By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.

(Hebrews 11:17-19 ESV)

Abraham did not rely primarily on the promise, but on the God of the promise. He did not focus on his current circumstances in a manner that caused him to be rapt with doubt about the outcome. Only because Abraham understood Who it was that was asking him to sacrifice the son through whom the promise was to be fulfilled, did he unflinchingly set out to do so.

As Christians, we have been promised eternal life through our union with Christ. What things come our way that might make us shift our focus from the God of the promises to the "promises in jeopardy"? Illness? Job loss? Death? Consider what Paul states in Romans 8 regarding the God of the promise, our circumstances, and the assurance of our relationship with him through Christ:

He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;

we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

(Romans 8:32-39 ESV)

God has provided a sacrifice in our place. We who deserve wrath and fury have received mercy and grace. And by faith in Christ, we can know that God will never leave us or forsake us, and we can do whatever we have been called to do, not focusing on the present circumstances, but upon Christ and his finished work.

Chapter 11-Crossing the Rubicon (Genesis 21)

2010-11-15T17:58:00.003-05:00

Gentlemen,

My apologies, but there will be no formal entry this week. Please read the lesson and the text in preparation for your meetings.

Blessings

Richie

Chapter 10-Two Steps Forward, One Step Back (Genesis 20)

2010-11-06T11:38:00.009-04:00

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

(2 Corinthians 3:18)

In our text this week, we see Abraham once again lying to protect himself from danger. To be sure, the danger was certainly real, for it was not uncommon for those in a position of power to take from others in a weaker position. However, had not Abraham just served a meal to the Creator of the Universe? And hadn't God just shared with Abraham his plans for Sodom? How could Abraham have acted in this manner after all that God had said and done?

I have posed the same question to myself more times than I wish to recall. Do we, despite God's faithfulness and goodness to us, falter and fail at times?

Keep in mind, in Romans 4:19-21 Paul states that Abraham did not "weaken in faith" and that "[n]o distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God." How do we reconcile this with what we read in Genesis 20? It is important to remember that while Abraham was chosen by God, and was considered righteous, he was not perfect. However, the attitude of his heart was not that spoken of in James 1:6-8, the "double-minded man" who is "unstable in all his ways." While Abraham had his moments of weakness as a sinful human, he "believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness." By God's grace, the trajectory of his heart followed the path of the promise that ultimately led to the cross.

What we see here should be both sobering and comforting. Despite God's promises to us in his word, we sin. But because of God's faithfulness and our union with Christ, we can be assured that not only is God working in and through our failures for our good and his glory, but he is also working in us by the Holy Spirit to accomplish our transformation into the likeness of his Son.

Concerning our progressive sanctification and ultimate glorification, know this: "He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it." (1 Thessalonians 5:24)

Chapter 9-The Titanic Sinks (Genesis 19)

2010-10-30T10:48:00.005-04:00

...but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. (Romans 2:8)

We live in a world that deals in compromise. Compromise in itself is not evil. We all make compromises at some point, whether it be on the negotiated purchase price of a home or car, or giving up a Saturday afternoon of reading in order to stain a deck (that's mine, by the way). There are, however, compromises that are sinful and lead to sin. In our passage this week, we see the final outworking of Lot's compromise with the wicked city of Sodom.

Although Lot was considered righteous (2 Peter 2:7-8), he was 'in the world' and 'of the world.' He was a man of authority in the city, and may have been involved in some aspect of the city's government. He also refers to the men of the city as 'brothers'. He had compromised by living with the wicked inhabitants of Sodom, and we know from 2 Peter that what he saw tormented his soul.

What a study in contrast between these two righteous men! Lot sits in the gate of Sodom with the wicked, as Abraham stands in the presence of God. To be sure, both Abraham and Lot are far from perfect, but note at least one difference. As Abraham intercedes for the righteous in Sodom (i.e., Lot), read again what Lot did after having been told by the angels that he and his family needed to flee for their very lives from the impending destruction of Sodom: He lingered. (v. 16) God's messengers had to drag Lot and his family from the coming doom. And our text says that this was due to God's mercy.

Do we linger in our own 'Sodom'?

How can we remain friends with the world when God has befriended us in Christ?

Do we realize that our being transferred from death to life by our union with Christ requires a response of gratitude and obedience?

Praise God for his mercy in dragging us away from situations that we linger in when we should flee! Even so, as we see with Lot, there are still consequences for our having remained where we should not, and for not having ran away when we should. But our Covenant God is faithful, and he will never leave us or forsake us. Romans 8:39 says that nothing in all creation (including our own ignorance, foolishness, and sin) will separate those of us who are in Christ from the love of God. That is a great comfort, and one that should drive us headlong into a life of praise, gratitude, and obedience to Almighty God, who has set his love upon us in Christ Jesus.

Chapter 8-God's Friend (Genesis 18)

2010-10-23T10:48:00.013-04:00

...and he was called a friend of God (James 2:23)

In Genesis 18, we again see that God appeared to Abraham. In this passage, the appearance is specifically in the form of a man. But note that LORD is rendered in capitals, which means that the word could be translated YHWH ("I Am"), the name God reveals to Moses at the burning bush. And not only does God appear to Abraham in person, but indeed shares a meal with him. As Dr. Duguid states in our chapter, this is the only time Scripture records God eating food set before him prior to the incarnation of Christ. And given that no one has ever seen God the Father (John 6:46), many consider this to be an encounter with the pre-incarnate Christ. What a tremendous privilege to share a meal and be considered a friend of God, despite Abraham's faults and failures!

But consider this: While we were still enemies of God, he befriended us in Christ through his life, death and resurrection. (Romans 5:10-11) And furthermore, because of our union with Christ, we are called sons of God. (Romans 8:14, 9:26, Galatians 3:26) What unmerited favor! We who deserve eternal punishment for our sin against The Most High have been graciously given the gift of God himself! Do we too often neglect to remember that the same God who fashioned our bodies, and who keeps them functioning from moment to moment, dwells within us by his Spirit? Even our failure to keep the greatest commandment (Matthew 22:37) has been forgiven through the sacrifice of Christ!

As we see in Genesis 18:16 and following, God includes Abraham in the discussion of his plans for Sodom and Gomorrah. The intimacy of the covenant extends beyond Abraham's current and future part in God's plan, to include even God's plans for those who "sin is very grave." We then see that Abraham asks God to spare Sodom and Gomorrah if ten righteous men can be found in the city. We should not underestimate what God can do with a few righteous people in the midst of the unrighteous. Is this not what we see unfolding in the New Testament with the growth of the early Church? We must not forget whose righteousness the righteous have, and by whose power the gospel of Christ goes forth and bears fruit.

Colossians 2:8-15 encapsulates many of the themes we have been discussing over the past few weeks in a way that hearkens back to the covenant made with Abraham and its sign of circumcision, the futility, ignorance and evil seen in Sodom and Gomorrah, and the grace-filled majesty and sufficiency of the life, death and resurrection of Christ, by which the promises and purposes of God are fulfilled, in whom we are redeemed, and by whom evil is conquered.

See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

And viewing this present world--in which the sons and daughters of disobedience follow the prince of the power of the air and their own desires--as analogous to that of Sodom and Gomorrah, we can apply Redeemer's own vision: God's reason for tomorrow is our mission today--and as friends, sons, and daughters of God in Christ, we can boldly proclaim the good news with full confidence that our Covenant God will be faithful.

Chapter 7-Our Covenant God (Genesis 17)

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In our text for this week, we see that God appears to Abram and declares, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.” Abram promptly falls on his face, and God proceeds to expound upon the covenant promise He had previously made to Abram, including the changing of his name to Abraham, which was a common practice in ancient times following the the establishment of a covenant between a greater king and a lesser king. He then states the reason for changing Abram's name: "...[F]or I have made you the father of a multitude of nations." Not only is God sovereign in His establishment of the covenant, but He ensures that the covenant will be fulfilled according to His plan and purpose.

This is not the only instance in which God speaks of future fulfillment in the past tense. In Romans 8:29-30, Paul states, "For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified." God decrees His plans from eternity past, and carries them out in time (history). He declares the end from the beginning, from times past things not yet done. Scripture shows that He will accomplish all that He has purposed to do. (Isaiah 46:10)

As spiritual descendants of Abraham, recipients of the blessings promised to him, we are God's covenant people; ours is a circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit. (Romans 2:29) We are obligated to recognize that God has called us and set us apart from the world. We are to live our lives in a manner accordant with the God who did not spare His own Son, but gave him up for us that we might have eternal life through union with Him. We have been made alive together in Christ, and we are to direct others (spouses, children, friends) who have received the sign of the covenant to remember the God who called us into the covenant, in whom we can put our full confidence and trust, and by whom we will finally be brought into the resplendent presence of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ.

Chapter 6-Faith Stumbling (Genesis 16)

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For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,
for my hope is from him.
He only is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
On God rests my salvation and my glory;
my mighty rock, my refuge is God.

Trust in him at all times, O people;
pour out your heart before him;
God is a refuge for us. Selah

--Psalm 62:5-8

In this week's text, we see that Abram did not wait on God, but rather tried to move the promise of God toward fulfillment by his own means. And as is regularly the case, the outcome is less than desirable.

The temptation to lean (and act) upon our own understanding instead of trusting the Lord may sometimes come from those closest to us. In a strikingly similar picture of the temptation in the Garden of Eden, Sarai tells Abram to take Hagar as his wife, in order that Sarai might obtain children by her servant. Abram obeys, Hagar conceives, and strife follows.

However, it was God alone who had signified that He would fulfill the promises to Abram, and that He would bear the curse should the covenant be transgressed. His word alone is upright, and He alone is always faithful. While there were consequences for Abram and Sarai's disobedience, God would--in a very real and final manner, through Jesus Christ--be cursed on our behalf and fulfill His promises to Abram.

As stated on page 72 of our book, all of our sin, failure, and faithlessness has been poured out upon and punished in Christ our Redeemer. And his perfect righteousness and faithfulness has been credited to us. God has worked in and through the sin and failures of his people throughout history, culminating in His reconciling us to Himself in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Here is love, despite our stumbling faith: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Chapter 5-Faith Laying Hold of God (Genesis 15)

2010-10-02T14:59:00.000-04:00

Do you ever doubt the promises of God? On the one hand, it seems to be a ridiculous question to ask of people who believe in the infallibility (incapability of error) and sufficiency (providing everything needed for life and godliness) of Scripture. But on the other hand, what happens when we are in the midst of trials and temptations? Do we always respond in a way that accords with our beliefs?

In our text, we see that Abram had fears and doubts. He had no offspring to inherit the promised land, and furthermore, the promised land was not yet his! But what does Abram do? He brings his concerns to God. And in response, God further reveals His plan to make of Abram a great nation, pointing Abram to the night sky and stating that his descendants will be as numerous as the stars he sees.

What God does next was quite spectacular, both for Abram, and for us. God 'cuts a covenant' with Abram, but what is unique about this particular covenant is that it is God Himself who walks between the animals that had been cut, symbolizing that God would bear the curse on behalf of Abram and his descendants if the covenant was broken.

Indeed, in Christ, we see the curse associated with the breach of the covenant pronounced and carried out. God the Son bore the wrath that was rightly ours, so that we might be reconciled to Him. 2 Corinthians 5:21 perhaps states it best: "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." And because of this, even in the midst of fear and doubt, we can lay our concerns at the feet of Christ, and by faith lay hold of God's promise, knowing with certainty that He Who Is Faithful will surely bring His people to the eternal promised land.

Chapter 4-In the Days of Good King Abram (Genesis 14)

2010-09-27T17:14:00.000-04:00

In this week's text, we see that Abram gathers his trained men to rescue his nephew, Lot, who was captured by foreign forces. Lot's decision to live in Sodom had reaped its reward, and this would not be the last time he would need rescuing.

After the successful rescue, Abram was met by two kings, the King of Sodom, and Melchizedek, King of Salem. These two kings offered Abram quite different rewards, from quite different motives. The King of Sodom offered Abram material goods, while Melchizedek bestowed a blessing on Abram on behalf of God as His priest. Abram rejected the material posessions, and in gratitude for God's blessing, he gave ten percent of all that he had to Melchizedek. Abram's faith enabled him to trust God's provision and not his own or any other's.

Hebrews 7 speaks of the Levitical (Old Testament) priesthood submitting to a superior priesthood, through Abram's submission to Melchizedek. The writer of Hebrews goes on to state that the Levitical priesthood was inferior to the priesthood of Melchizedek, in that there was necessarily a continuous succession of priests because death prevented them from continuing in their office as priests. However, Jesus Christ, as a High Priest in the order of Melchizedek, is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

The outworking of the promised inheritance God made to Abram was fulfilled in Christ, and we are the recipients of that eternal inheritance through our union with Christ. How then should we respond when tempted to take a shortcut around the promises of God? When we are offered the "riches" of this world in their various forms? Like Abram, we should submit to our High Priest, recognizing that only through Christ will we be presented to God as righteous and acceptable.

Chapter 3-Take the Money or Open the Box (Genesis 13)

2010-09-20T11:30:00.000-04:00

“And he journeyed on from the Negeb as far as Bethel to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, to the place where he had made an altar at the first. And there Abram called upon the name of the Lord.” Genesis 13:3,4.

As we saw in our last lesson, Abram had journeyed to Egypt during a famine, and subsequently lied about his wife in order to save his own skin. Abram failed to fully rely upon the promises that God had made.

However, God has plans even for our failures, and we see from the passage above that Abram responded to his failure by going back where he began, and there he called upon the name of the Lord.

What do we do when we fail? How do we respond when we realize that we have not relied upon the promises of God? Do we understand that God will work through our circumstances--no matter how desperate the situation may seem, no matter how we may have botched it--to accomplish His purposes? He works all things together for good, for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Rom 8:28). All means all. As a very dear and godly friend of mine says, “God is not on coffee break.”

Because of the great love of God, He has made us alive in Christ Jesus. We are His children, and as His children, we live by faith and not by sight. But our faith is not blind, it is well-attested by God’s Word and the Holy Spirit. When we fail--and we will--we can "go back" and call upon the name of the Lord, resting assured in the fact of our salvation by grace through faith, which was purchased by the very wrath of the Father poured out on the Son, so that we would be forgiven and united to Christ.

“The steps of a man are established by the Lord,
when he delights in his way;
though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong,
for the Lord upholds his hand.”
--Psalm 37:23,24.

Chapter 2-Believing the Unbelievable (Genesis 12)

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"Now the Lord said to Abram, 'Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you'...So Abram went, as the Lord had told him." (Gen 12:1, 4a)

In our text, we see that God told Abram not only would his offspring possess a vast area of currently occupied land, but that through him, all families of the earth would be blessed. Upon arriving at Shechem, Abram built an altar to God and called upon His name, as other godly men in his line had done before him.

God called Abram, and he heeded the call without question, and without knowledge of how God would accomplish His purposes. But Abram had the promises of God upon which to cling. Of course, we see shortly thereafter that fear and doubt caused him to loosen his grip upon those promises, as so many of us have done. Nevertheless, how does Paul refer to Abraham in Galatians 3:9? The man of faith. Praise God that our very faith is a gift given to us by the Father, at the highest price of the death of His Son, and applied by the Holy Spirit, so that--though still imperfect and prone to wander off to our own 'Egypt'--we could be forgiven and become the righteousness of God.

How then should we respond to our own trials and tribulations, our fears and 'famines'? We should believe the unbelievable, thanking God that all of His promises find their 'Yes' in Christ. And because of the finished work of Christ and our union with Him, we can assuredly state with Paul, "So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal." (2 Cor 4:16-18)

Week 9: God's warriors March 15th

2010-03-09T18:05:00.002-05:00

See p. 37 for the full lesson.

Consider your your working life—your family life—your church life. Where would you like to see yourself in 10 years' time? What are the greatest threats to your growth in these areas?

The Apostle Paul warns that the Christian life will not be a nice, safe walk in the park, but rather, a deadly battle. According to the following passage, what kind of battles do we face? What are our weapons?

Ephesians 6:10-20 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, 19 and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.

Week 8: The faithful worker

2010-03-03T09:24:00.000-05:00

See page 31

Think about the different facts of your life where you have obligations or responsibilities. Which duties are the hardest to fulfill? How does the teaching of Ephesians 6:5-9 challenge your attitudes and behavior?

Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, 6not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, 7rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, 8 knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free. 9Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him.

Study 7 : The lost art of fatherhood

2010-02-22T22:37:00.002-05:00

See page 47

The Bible says that—
Fathers generate and sustain life.
Fathers are responsible for the lives of their children.
Fathers have authority over their families.

Fatherhood is our responsibility, and we need to take decisive, thoughtful action … what action are you going to take, in order to be a father to your family?

Week 6: The humble disciplinarian

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See page 27.

In your opinion, what is the hardest thing about being a father? Does raising children in the discipline of the Lord tend to make them angry? Why do you think the writer of Proverbs warns against provoking your children to anger?

Ephesians 6:4 “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”

Week 5 - The selfish man

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see page 24

Are men really the selfish sex, as women sometimes claim—self-absorbed and immature? If so, how do you tend to display that?
Now that we are 'in Christ' (study 2) and have received God's calling (study 3), how are we to think and behave in marriage? How does this apply to you if you are single?

Ephesians 5:21-33
… 21 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.
25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. 28In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30because we are members of his body. 31 "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." 32This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

Week 4 - Making the Most of Church

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Appendix A - See page 41.

"We go to church, not in order to get something out of it, but to put something into it ... of course, we too will be encouraged and taught and stimulated to good deeds, and we need this encouragement to keep going in the Christian life."

What are you supposed to put into church? How can you encourage and stir up others? Read Appendix A for specific, helpful suggestions.

Hebrews 10:24-25 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

Study 3: Friends and brothers

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See Page 17

Do most men that you know have good, close friends, with whom they share their joys and problems? How does God want us to live together as brothers in Christ? Take some time to think about how you can make a difference (question 4 in the lesson).

Ephesians 2:11-22; 4:1-6 11Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called "the uncircumcision" by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— 12remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 17And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. 18For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

1I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,2with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Study 2: The Man who makes a difference

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What is the solution to men’s problem? The solution—the remedy—is the subject of this week’s study. See page 13

Ephesians 2:4-7 4But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved— 6and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.…”

Study 1: The problem with men

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What’s the problem with men??? Read the quote in the study book. What do you think—is he right? (See Page 9)

What does God say?
Ephesians 2:1-3
1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

Study book: The Man who makes a difference, by Tony Payne. Matthias Media, 2001
Available at bookstore.

November 16 Chapter 10 Leaning on the Second Bookend

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Scripture: 2 Corinthians 4:18 …as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

Summary: We are constantly inclined to depend on our own abilities, strengths, and resources, and we must shift our dependence back onto the power of the Holy Spirit. Three focal points will help us to make this shift: 1) we must see our desperate weakness and helplessness so that we will stop trying to rely on ourselves and depend on the power of the Holy Spirit; 2) we must see the reliable power of the Holy Spirit to accomplish all his will in us; and 3) we must reject self-reliance and cultivate humility and godliness in its place. Humility and godliness grow when we meditate on what Christ did for us on the cross. Finally, when we depend on both the righteousness of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit, "we work hard in the strength he provides, not to earn merit but to glorify and enjoy him." (146)

Discussion: Do you believe the last two sentences on page 137 are true? If so, how can you apply this to your life?

What is godliness and how does it address our self-reliance at its roots? (143-144)

November 9 Chapter 9 Gospel Enemy #3: Self-reliance

2009-11-09T07:54:00.000-05:00

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 10:12   Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.

Summary:   At first glance, self-reliance seems to be an admirable quality. In fact, though, the person who is self-reliant is relying on himself instead of relying on Christ. Anyone who tries to live the Christian life in his own strength will fail eventually, falling into legalism, frustration, or ungodly living—no one can live successfully without relying on the grace of God. Self-reliance is a subtle, ever-present sin; we are all guilty of self-reliance when we fail to depend on the power of the Holy Spirit to live faithfully for Christ.

Discussion:   The last paragraph on page 126 states that all believers are inclined to fall prey to self-reliance every day! Do you agree? Why or why not?

What insights and applications do you find in the description of Paul’s thorn in the flesh? (132-133)

November 2 Chapter 8 The Help of the Divine Encourager

2009-10-31T21:24:00.000-04:00

Scripture: Romans 15:13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Summary: Placing our dependence on the power of the Holy Spirit provides hope for the battle against sin. The Holy Spirit encourages us in at least four ways: 1) He opens our eyes to the love of Christ for us, producing profound gratitude in our hearts; 2) He gives us an awareness of our sin and a greater love for God, which diminishes our appetite for sin; 3) He gives us a growing appetite for enjoying an intimate, satisfying relationship with God; and 4) He gives us the promises of God in Scripture—promises of truth, wisdom, strength, eternal life, and much more.

Discussion: What is gratitude for purchased grace? Why is it life-changing? (110-111)

What do you learn about enjoying your relationship with God from pages 116-117?

From the paragraph that starts at the bottom of page 118, describe how the Spirit uses the promises of God to equip us for our battle against sin.

October 26 Chapter 7 Dependent Responsibility

2009-10-26T19:19:00.000-04:00

Scripture: Romans 8:13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

Summary: As we live the Christian life, we must always be aware that we are both responsible and dependent. We are 100% responsible to work as hard and as effectively as we can, but we are 100% dependent on the power of the Holy Spirit to enable us to work. The Holy Spirit uses various "means of grace" to strengthen us and produce spiritual growth; these include the gospel itself, regular communion with God through Scripture and prayer, and the various circumstances he brings into our lives. All of these means contribute to our fellowship and communion with God.

Our fellowship with God is both objective and subjective: objectively, a believer always has the same relationship with God, whether he feels like it or not at any given time; subjectively, a believer's experience of his relationship with God varies, depending at least in part on his dependence upon the Holy Spirit as he works diligently at the spiritual disciplines.

Discussion: Explain the two sentences that start on the bottom of page 98: “There’s no conflict between our work and our dependence. In fact, the harder we work, the more absolute our dependence on the Spirit must become.”

Explain the differences between our union with Christ and our communion with Christ. (106; also see the quote on page 48).

October 19 Chapter 6 The Power of the Holy Spirit

2009-10-19T14:55:00.000-04:00

Scripture: Timothy 1:7 …for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

Summary: Just as a believer depends on the righteousness of Christ for his acceptance by God, he also depends on the power of the Holy Spirit for strength to live the Christian life day to day. The Holy Spirit's power is evident in two ways: 1) he supplies the power so that we can do the work of obeying God, and 2) he works alone in us when he gives us new life, when he gives us assurance of our faith, and when he gives consolation and gratitude. Bridges refers to these as the synergistic (working together) and monergistic (working alone) work of the Spirit.

Discussion: From the section titled, “The Spirit’s Synergistic Work” explain what is meant by the expression, “qualified synergism.” Describe how this relieves the burden of our having insufficient willpower and strength to obey God. (86-88)

Describe the similarities between the first and second bookends. (92, paragraphs 1-2); now describe the differences between the first and second bookends. (92, paragraphs 3-4)

October 12 Chapter 5 Leaning on the First Bookend

2009-10-12T16:09:00.000-04:00

Scripture: Luke 19:10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost."

Summary: The righteousness of Christ is all-sufficient for believers; it cannot be lost. But too often we tend to depend on something or someone else. Whenever we find ourselves depending on anything other than the righteousness of Christ, we must consciously shift our dependence back where it belongs. Three focal points will help us to do this: 1) seeing ourselves as desperately lost sinners, 2) seeing the righteousness of Christ as all-sufficient for us daily, and 3) seeing and rejecting our functional saviors. Functional saviors are anything that we depend on and turn to for our sense of security and significance. As we learn to identify and reject earthly things that we value too highly—things that we treat as more important to us than Christ—we grow in joy, love for God, and dependence on the righteousness of Christ alone.

Discussion: Read all of page 68 and the first half of page 69. In what ways does the list help you “see” Focal Point #1?

Read the first paragraph on page 70 and think about specific areas you desperately need the righteousness of Christ to substitute for your sin and failure. Is his righteousness sufficient for even that? How does this realization make you feel toward him?

September 28 Chapter 4 Gospel Enemy #2: Persistent guilt

2009-09-28T18:53:00.000-04:00

Scripture: Galatians 2:21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.

Summary: Our conscience is "our God-given inner voice, an internal witness that testifies to the level of our personal obedience ...." It warns us when we are about to sin and reminds us of our guilt when we do sin. When we repeatedly ignore our conscience, it becomes desensitized and no longer functions as God designed it to. On the other hand, when we listen to a guilty conscience and focus on our sin and failure—without remembering that God sees us clothed in the the righteousness of Christ—persistent guilt can incapacitate us. When we are justified by faith in Christ, God views us just-as-if we had always obeyed. The only way to escape persistent guilt is to acknowledge our sin and turn to the cross and remember the mercy, freedom, and peace that Christ provides by his righteousness.

Discussion: What have you used in the past to attempt to escape the voice of your conscience? Is this sinful? Why or why not? (55)

Explain how a healthy remembrance of our sin can be a blessing. (58, last paragraph; 59)

October 5 (week off because of NANC)

September 21 Chapter 3 Gospel Enemy #1: Self-righteousness

2009-09-21T10:13:00.000-04:00

Scripture: Romans 10:3-4 For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. 4For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

Summary: We are guilty of self righteousness any time we judge or measure ourselves on the basis of our own performance. There are two kinds of self-righteous Christians: 1) those who take pride, satisfaction and comfort in their Christian lifestyle or "goodness," and 2) those who are discouraged with themselves and struggle with a burden of persistent guilt. In both cases, the believer is focusing on his own performance rather than on the righteousness of Christ. Self-righteousness will eventually rob a Christian of the joy and assurance of salvation that comes from resting in the righteousness of Christ alone.

Discussion: Describe the self-righteous moralistic believer. Based on your answers to the ten questions, do you tend to fit in this category? (47-49)

Why is persistent guilt actually a form of self-righteousness toward God? (50-51)

September 14 Chapter 2 The Motivation of the Gospel

2009-09-14T10:25:00.000-04:00

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:14 For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died;

Summary: This chapter presents three examples of people who were profoundly motivated by the gospel: the sinful woman who anointed Jesus' feet, the prophet Isaiah, and the apostle Paul. Each of these people had a powerful experience in their relationship to God, and their experiences had three elements in common with each other: 1) an acute awareness of their sinfulness and God's holiness, 2) an understanding and assurance that their sins were forgiven through Jesus' death on the cross, and 3) gratitude, love and commitment to God. All believers should respond in the same way to the mercies of God, with deep gratitude and lives of committed service to God. We should remind ourselves daily of the love and grace God has poured out on us, so that our gratitude and love for God grows, and does not diminish.

Discussion: None of us loves Christ the way he deserves to be loved. Discuss the two reasons for this identified in the first paragraph on page 34.

What were the three steps common to both Isaiah's experience and that of the sinful woman of Luke 7? (36, paragraph 2) When you think of the last paragraph in the section on Isaiah (37, paragraph 1), what can you do to grow in your experience of the motivating power of the gospel?

Fall Schedule for 2009

2009-09-06T15:31:00.003-04:00

Sept 7 Chapter 1 The Righteousness of Christ
Sept 14 Chapter 2 The Motivation of the Gospel
Sept 21 Chapter 3 Gospel Enemy #1: Self-righteousness
Sept 28 Chapter 4 Gospel Enemy #2: Persistent Guilt
Oct 12 Chapter 5 Leaning on the First Bookend
Oct 19 Chapter 6 The Power of the Holy Spirit
Oct 26 Chapter 7 Dependent Responsibility
Nov 2 Chapter 8 The Help of the Divine Encourager
Nov 9 Chapter 9 Gospel Enemy #3: Self-reliance
Nov 16 Chapter 10 Leaning on the Second Bookend

September 7 - Chapter 1 The Righteousness of Christ

Scripture: Romans 1:16-17 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, "The righteous shall live by faith."

Summary: Jesus lived a perfectly righteous life. He never sinned and he always obeyed fully and perfectly, in spite of being confronted with the most intense temptation. The epitome of his obedience was his willing sacrifice on the cross, in which he endured separation from his Father. Jesus endured the cross to take the guilt and punishment for our sin, so that we could be forgiven and credited with the perfect righteousness of Christ. That is justification. Once we are justified, God always sees us to be as righteous as Christ himself.

The righteousness of Christ is the first bookend of the Christian life. But sometimes we don’t live as though we have this bookend in place; instead, we act as though we have to earn God’s blessings by our obedience—or we think we’ve forfeited God’s blessings by our failure to live a good life. Both those attitudes are wrong; instead, we must continually, by faith, renounce any trust in our own performance as the basis of our acceptance before God, and we must rely entirely on the righteousness of Christ as the basis of our standing before God.

Discussion: Faith involves both a renunciation and a reliance. In terms of the first bookend, what kind of renunciation is required of us? (p. 28, paragraphs 1-2)
What does it look like when we stand in the present reality of our justification every day? What difference will it make in our day-to-day, moment-to-moment lives? (p. 27-30)

Fruit of the Spirit - Summary

2009-05-25T18:14:00.001-04:00

We have spent eight weeks considering the fruit of the Spirit as it is described in Galatians 5:22-23. Remember, if you are a Christian you have at least some measure of all these qualities, which were demonstrated by Jesus during his life on earth. By grace, you should grow in all of them by the help of the Holy Spirit.

Here is a summary of each of the qualities listed in Galatians 5. As you review them, consider the following questions and discuss the answers in your men’s group:

! In which of the qualities do you need to grow the most?
! Have you seen growth in these qualities over the last 8 weeks?
! What will you do over the summer months to continue to grow in the fruit of the Spirit?

Love is the sum and source of all the other qualities. It 1) is practical, 2) involves doing unpleasant things, 3) requires humility to do tasks that are beneath you, or not worthy of your time and talents, and 4) is not always welcomed (but that shouldn’t keep you from showing it).

Joy is "the spiritual buoyancy that comes from enjoying the privileges you have in Christ." Joy keeps us from giving in to the sorrows of life. Sadness seeps into our lives regularly, but when you remember the privileges and promises that you have in Christ, the joy overwhelm the sadness.

Peace is inner confidence and trust in God's wise and good control of your life.

Faithfulness is being trustworthy, reliable, true to your word, doing what you said you would do, keeping your promises, being a person someone can trust and rely on, being loyal even when the pressure is on.

Patience is the quality of being long suffering, to be long-fused rather than short-fused. It means that it takes a lot to get your dander up to the point where you lash out with your hand, tongue, or in your heart and will.

Kindness is a thoughtful, considerate disposition that a believer has toward a person; goodness is the concrete expression of that kindness in deeds. To put it another way, "goodness is the outgoing expression of a kind spirit."

Meekness is a quality that is a blend of humility, gentleness, and courage or boldness. Meekness has been described as “a quiet strength.”

Self-control is the mastery of your self. It is the ability to stay on the mission that God has given you (to love God and love people for God's glory) and not be derailed by temptation.

Fruit of the Spirit: Self-control

2009-05-18T16:27:00.002-04:00

In this men's ministry series we have been looking at the various character qualities that make up the fruit of the Spirit These are qualities that the Spirit produces and qualities that we ought to be prayerfully and purposely pursuing. This week we come to the last quality of the fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22-23, the quality of self-control.

Self-control is the mastery of your self. It is the ability to stay on the mission that God has given you and not be derailed by temptation. What is the essential mission God has given you? To love God and love people for God's glory. That means a lot of different things in every area of your life—work, relationships, church, money, etc. The opposite of self-control is self-indulgence, which is getting distracted from the mission. Self-indulgence is turning off the road by taking the exit ramp of temptation into sin. Paul gives examples of this in 5:19-21 (sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these).

In Matthew 4:1-12 we see the self-control of Jesus when Satan tempted him in the wilderness. The three temptations were the first major challenge to Christ's mission; Satan tried to derail him, but Christ exerted self-control and stayed on course.

Matthew 4:1-11

1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3And the tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread." 4But he answered,

"It is written,
"'Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,
"'He will command his angels concerning you,' and

"'On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.'"

7Jesus said to him, "Again it is written, 'You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.'" 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9And he said to him, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me." 10Then Jesus said to him, "Be gone, Satan! For it is written,

"'You shall worship the Lord your God
and him only shall you serve.'"

11Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.

Recall the events leading up to Christ's temptations. 1) Christ had just been baptized and anointed by John the Baptist for his ministry as the great High Priest; 2) he was baptized with the Holy Spirit in full measure; 3) the Spirit led him into the wilderness to be tested. God was testing his Son, just as he had tested his son Adam in the Garden and tested his son Israel in the wilderness, so that he might learn obedience (Heb. 5:8).

As God was testing Jesus, Satan was also at work, tempting him to be self-indulgent and disobey his Father. Satan didn't want Christ to get to the cross; he wanted him to avoid the hard path of obedience and suffering that was his as the Messiah.

First temptation: Don't trust your Father Satan tried to persuade Jesus to use his power to avoid starvation instead of trusting his Father to give him food after the fast was over. He wanted Christ to use his divine power, rather than obey in his human strength as the representative of mankind.

Jesus responded with Scripture, quoting Deuteronomy 8:3. In effect, he said, Satan, my Father said a long time ago to the children of Israel and I say the same thing to you: man is not ultimately dependent on bread, but on Him, the creative and sustaining power of all things. He is the only indispensable source of man's life and well-being. Christ intended, no matter how hungry and weak he was, to maintain self-control and wait until his Father provided food for him.

Second temptation: Test God Satan tried to lure Jesus into creating an artificial crisis, a situation which would not happen in the normal course of obedience service to the Father. The crisis would manipulate the Father into showing his dependability. Christ responded with self-control, quoting from Scripture: "You shall not put the Lord God to the test." He was saying I'm not going to dive off to see if my Father will save me. He hasn't commanded me to do so. I would be testing and experimenting with my Father.

Third temptation: Worship me! Satan made one final attempt to derail Christ. As one author described the temptation, "Satan presented Christ with a vision of the world in which nations stood ready to abandon their idols and accept Christ as Lord ... Christ could win the world without pain—no weeping over Jerusalem, no crucifixion ...." All Jesus had to do was bow and worship Satan, acknowledging his lordship over mankind.

Christ knew that the road God had placed him on had a cross at the end of it, and he had to go all the way to the end. So, with utter self-control (unlike the first Adam), Christ, the second Adam, stood above the wilderness and cried, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written, 'Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.'" At that moment, Christ triumphed over temptation and the Tempter.

What do we learn about temptation and self-control?
1. Temptation is an invitation to take a detour and disobey God—to indulge your desires. It is an exit ramp. And sometimes when you get off on an exit, it's hard to get back on the road. By the time you do, your marriage may be gone, you may be enslaved to drugs, you may be in financial hardship, etc. Don't get off the road.

2. Temptation is inevitable. Jesus was full of the Spirit and led by the Spirit, and he had an absolutely pure heart, and yet he experienced temptation. Don't be naive to think that you are beyond temptation. Don't think it's strange that you experience temptation to do awful things. You are in spiritual warfare with the world, the flesh, and the devil. Testing and trials are the way to holiness and heaven.

3. Satan doesn't always tempt you with bad things; he tempted Jesus with bread, not booze; with safety, not sex; and with power. These were good things. Today, he tempts you to put good things in the place of first importance over God—things like friendship, family, respect, romance, financial stability, etc. If any of these things are of greater importance to you than God, they will control you. You will not have self-control, and eventually you will take the exit ramp of temptation away from God.

• If you live for human approval, people will control you.
• If you live for money or power, your greed will control you.
• If you live for pleasure, your physical desires will control you.

How do we grow in self-control, so that we are able to stay on the road?

1. You must know the Word of God well, so it is right there to counter the temptation when it comes.

2. The love of Christ for you must control you. You need to see that Christ was not just resisting temptation for himself, he was resisting temptation for you. As the second Adam, he set out to undo the results of the first Adam's fall by living a righteous life and then dying on the cross to pay the price for all the times that you lacked self-control and went off the exit ramp of temptation and into sin.

Christ loves you. That truth needs to be real to you; it needs to hem you in so that you stay on the road and fulfill your mission to love God and love others for God's glory. The Redeemer's Word and love for you must be like a video, constantly playing in your life, so that you stay on the road.

How will you respond?
Growing in self-control requires discipline. If you lack self-control, it is hard to exercise discipline.

1. Read the Word and meditate on the love of Christ for you. Do this regularly. How can your men's group encourage one another to do this?

2. In what areas do you tend to struggle most with lack of self-control? What do you need to do differently? How do you need to think differently?

Fruit of the Spirit: Meekness

2009-05-11T11:31:00.002-04:00

We are examining the fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22-23. The fruit of the Spirit describes the kind of character and lifestyle you are to have as a person who has the Holy Spirit. If you are walking in step with the Spirit—that is, in step with his Word—you will have real love, joy, peace patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and the quality that we are looking at this week: meekness.

Meekness is a misunderstood quality. Many people think of a meek person as a person with no backbone, a pushover, a wimp. It doesn't mean that at all. Moses and Jesus were meek—but they were not wimps!

Moses was the meekest man on earth (Numbers 12:3). He went to Pharaoh and said, "Let my people go," and, in effect, told Pharaoh to give up his entire slave labor force, which was at the heart of Egypt's military and economic superiority, to give it up without remuneration, and to do it now!

Christ described himself as meek. In Matthew 11:28-30 he said, "Come to Me, all who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will refresh you. Put My yoke on you and learn from Me; I am meek and humble in heart, and you will discover refreshment for your souls. My yoke is easy to wear and My burden is light." But we know that Christ had tremendous strength and backbone.

What is meekness? The word is used to describe a wild, powerful horse that has been tamed and is now submissive to the rider. Meekness has been described as quiet strength. The Kid Zone, (our children’s after-school program) uses the definition that "meekness is being willing to give up my rights in order to put others first. Meekness waits for God to bring about justice." Meekness is a quality that is a blend of humility, gentleness and courage or boldness. We saw it last week in Luke 7:36-50, in the story of Jesus and the forgiven prostitute. Simon didn't approve of this woman; he wanted Jesus to reject her. But instead, Jesus paid attention to her, talked with her, and assured her of his forgiveness and her faith; He acted with humility, gentleness, and boldness. Jesus didn't treat her as beneath him, even though morally, she was. This is also how he treated Judas when he washed his feet, and the three disciples when they fell asleep in the garden.

Meekness is a quality that Jesus expects you to have in your relationships with others; it is much needed. The need for meekness is clear in Galatians 6:1-2.

Galatians 6:1-2

1 Brothers, even if a person is caught in some trespass, you who have the Spirit should restore him in a spirit of meekness, watching out for yourself so that you won't be tempted too. 2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill Christ's law.

You need to have meekness because you have the responsibility to restore those who have fallen into sin. Christians are susceptible to falling into sin, straying from God, and really messing up their lives. It happens more than it should, and it happens to younger and older Christians alike.

For example, believers may have marriage problems and need help; someone may fall into adultery; a person may become deeply depressed; others try to escape difficult circumstances through drugs or alcohol; and some get distracted by the world and simply drift away from God. You probably know someone in trouble. Perhaps you've been there yourself.

What does God want you to do when he puts a wounded Christian friend in your path? He doesn't want you to 1) ignore them, 2) gossip about them, 3) write them off, or 4) condemn them. Rather, God wants you to work to restore them.

In Bible times, the word restore was used by doctors about setting a bone. When a broken bone was set and healed, it would become useful again—restored. Also, fishermen would use the same word about mending their ripped nets. After the nets were mended they were useful again—restored.

When a brother that you know falls into sin and away from God, God wants you to go to him, extend your hand to pull him out of the swamp of sin that he has fallen into, and help him to become useful again in the body of Christ. He has God-given gifts to be used, and without him, the rest of the body suffers.

Isn't that the responsibility of the pastor and elders? Read the verses again: "you who have the Spirit ...." Some translations say "you who are spiritual" but that simply means "those who have the Holy Spirit," which means all Christians. Now, if you are stuck in sin yourself, obviously you can't help. But otherwise you should be willing and ready to go. (If you aren't successful at extricating the erring brother, then others must be enlisted, including the elders, but that is further down the road of church discipline.)

Where does meekness fit into your responsibility to restore a fallen brother? When you go to your brother in meekness, it means you go to him in humility. You go as one sinner to another, realizing you are no better than he is; but for the grace of God, you would be in the same place. In fact, because you know you are susceptible to falling into sin, you are very wise and careful in your effort to restore your fallen brother so you won't fall into sin with him. That is humility.

Along with humility, there is gentleness. You know that the way of the transgressor is hard; he is already beaten up enough from his sinful choices. A meek person doesn't kick a person who he is down. He is gentle in his speech and in his actions (2 Tim. 2:22; 1 Cor. 4:21).

In addition to the humility and gentleness, a meek person has courage or boldness. You need courage to go to an erring brother; it is just plain hard to do! You might be afraid of how he will respond to you. If it is a friend, you might be afraid he will end the friendship—but if you are meek, you go anyway, and you courageously speak the truth in love to your fallen comrade.
How do you grow in meekness? Meekness grows in the heart of a believer who is aware of his own sinfulness and is grieved by it. This awareness of sin fosters humility and gentleness.

Meekness grows also in the heart of a believer who knows he is loved and forgiven by Christ, who was condemned in his place. Since a believer is loved, forgiven, and accepted by the Father, he knows that God is for him and with him, so he has the courage to do the work of restoring his erring brother.

Finally, meekness grows in the heart of a believer who is learning to love his neighbor as himself. Love is other-centered, so the believer who loves his fallen brother will overcome his own fear and, instead of giving in to it, find the courage and gentleness to try to rescue that brother.

How will you respond?

Discussion: "Meekness is a quality that is a blend of humility, gentleness and courage." Which of these qualities do you most need to strengthen?

Do you know someone who is caught in sin and has fallen away from God, or is drifting away? Perhaps it's a family member or someone at work. God is asking you to go. Jesus said, "Love one another as I have loved you." Jesus loved you by bearing your burden of sin on the cross and dying for it. He didn't stand by and watch you suffer under the burden of your sin. He bore it so that you could be freed from sin and able to love him and others. So like Jesus, you go, and go with meekness.

Are there specific situations where you need meekness? Pray together with the men in your group for God to help you grow in meekness.

Fruit of the Spirit: Kindness and Goodness

2009-05-03T22:04:00.002-04:00

We are in the midst of a study on the fruit of the Spirit. Each week, from a different passage, we've looked at one facet of this jewel that is produced, ultimately, by the Holy Spirit. This week we will examine two closely-related facets of this beautiful jewel: kindness and goodness.
Kindness is a thoughtful, considerate disposition that a believer has toward a person; goodness is the concrete expression of that kindness in deeds. To put it another way, "goodness is out outgoing expression of a kind spirit."

The words "kindness" and "goodness" don't appear in our passage, but Christ and the Sinful Woman clearly and beautifully display them. Simon the Pharisee displays the opposite. Remember, love is the sum and source of the other qualities that make up the fruit of the Spirit, so when love is present, some measure of the other qualities is present also. Wherever real, Spirit-wrought love is found there will be kindness and goodness, and that is what we find in this story.

Luke 7:36-50
36 One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and took his place at the table. 37 And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, 38and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. 39Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner." 40And Jesus answering said to him, "Simon, I have something to say to you." And he answered, "Say it, Teacher."

41"A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?" 43Simon answered, "The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt." And he said to him, "You have judged rightly." 44Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. 46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. 47Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little." 48And he said to her, "Your sins are forgiven." 49Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, "Who is this, who even forgives sins?" 50And he said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."

To understand this story, we have to know some of the customs of that day. This was probably a nice home constructed around a central courtyard where formal meals were served. The guests were reclining around a table on low couches, their feet extended away from the table. As the host, Simon should have shown the following courtesies to Jesus: place his hand on Jesus' shoulder and give him the kiss of peace on the cheek; have his sandals removed and his feet washed; anoint Jesus with a touch of olive oil. Since none of these kindnesses was shown, so Simon showed himself to be a rude and unkind host.

Another custom was that visitors would come in off the streets and sit around the courtyard wall to observe the happenings and, perhaps, even carry on conversation with the guests. Typically, a lot of folks were coming and going. One such visitor was the woman in our passage. Luke calls her a "sinner." Either she was married to a prominent sinner, or she herself was notorious for some sinful lifestyle. Many believe she was a prostitute. Whatever the reason for her status as a sinner, she was not welcome in the Pharisee's home. You can imagine the shock and the whispers, "Oh, look who's here! Can you believe her audacity, to come in here?"

Why did she come? She was grateful! She had met Jesus before, she had heard the good news about how she could be cleansed of all her sin, and that's what had happened to her. So she went to Jesus and stood at his feet. The tears began to flow from her eyes onto his dusty feet. The tears kept flowing and flowing; then she fell to her knees, unbound her hair (a no-no for a Jewish woman), and wiped the tear-drenched feet of Jesus. The text says she repeatedly kissed his feet and then she took an alabaster vial of expensive perfume and anointed Jesus' feet.

Can you picture this woman? She was unashamedly crying, her nose was running, her hair was a mess. She was a wreck. But what she did was truly an act of goodness, flowing from a heart of kindness and love for Jesus, and out of the kindness of his heart, Jesus welcomed her goodness, which was given to him without any concern for what Simon and the others would think.

Simon the Pharisee, however, didn't like what he witnessed at all. He sat there and complained to himself. He assumed that if Jesus knew who the woman was he would have sent her away.

Jesus confronted Simon with a parable about two debtors who couldn't repay their debts. Simon understood that the debtor who was forgiven the most would love the most. Then Jesus drew the comparison, point by point, between Simon and the sinful woman. Simon didn’t wash Jesus’ feet, but the sinful woman washed his feet and wiped them with her hair; Simon didn’t give Jesus the kiss of peace, but the woman hadn’t stopped kissing his feet since she came in; Simon didn’t anoint his head with oil, but she anointed Jesus’ feet with expensive perfume.

Jesus drew the conclusion for Simon: The woman is the 500 denarii debtor. She recognized “her sins are many,” and because she was forgiven fully, she displayed such love and kindness to me. But the reason you don’t have any love for me and have been everything but kind is that you don’t recognize your sin, and you have never been forgiven. What a powerful blow to this religious conformist!

Jesus affirms the woman’s faith. Your sins have been forgiven (your love for me has made that clear); your faith has saved you. Then he sends her on her way.

Here are powerful and challenging truths:

Great love, kindness, and goodness flow from the realization that you have been forgiven a great debt by Jesus. If you appreciate the extent of your sin—and on the other hand know the extent of Christ’s love for you in forgiveness—you will love much. Acts of goodness flow from a heart mellowed with kindness.

Sometimes we don’t have a strong sense of our sinfulness because we don’t look below the surface. Outwardly, you may look pretty good, but what about the pride, selfishness, lust, bitterness, impatience, etc.? When you become aware of some of your heart attitudes, your sinfulness becomes apparent.

Being kind and doing good things are evidence of your faith, not the cause of it, and give one assurance of his faith. Notice in v. 50, Jesus says to the woman, “Your faith has saved you.” In v. 47 he says, “…her many sins have been forgiven, for she loved much ….” In other words, the evidence of her having been saved and forgiven was her great love and kindness.

Our world needs to see and experience your kindness and goodness. In many respects, you live in a harsh world. You hear of horrendous crimes regularly; you hear of political infighting and scandals; you hear of harshness, meanness, and spite everywhere. As those who have been shown the kindness and goodness of Jesus, we must follow in his steps and show kindness and goodness to others.

How will you respond?

Do you know someone who is an example of kindness and goodness? How can you imitate his or her example?

Can you think of times in the last week that you have been unkind? How have you fallen short ? How could you have behaved differently?

With the men in your group, discuss specific ways you can show more kindness and goodness to others—your spouse, your family, your co-workers, your neighbors.

Fruit of the Spirit: Patience

2009-04-27T07:59:00.002-04:00

We have been looking at the fruit of the Spirit as it is presented in Galatians 5:22-23. We've looked at love, joy, and peace, then last week we skipped over to faithfulness. This week we come back to the quality of patience.

Remember, since this fruit is produced by the Spirit in Christians, only Christians can have real love, joy, peace, patience, etc. There are counterfeits, but the real McCoy comes only from the Spirit.

Question: Since the Spirit is the one who produces the fruit, what does the believer have to do about it? Do not make the mistake of thinking we can be passive. We must pursue the fruit. In this week’s passage, the first two words are, “Be patient.” That's a command! Growing in Christ-likeness is a cooperative effort; the Holy Spirit produces the fruit and we are commanded to demonstrate the fruit. God works, so we work.

God expects you to be patient. To be patient is to be long suffering, to be long-fused rather than short-fused. It means that it takes a lot to get your dander up to the point where you lash out with your hand, tongue, or in your heart and will. Consider this passage in James:

James 5:7-11 7Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. 8You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. 9Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door. 10As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

God expects you to be patient with his timetable. James uses the example of the ancient farmer who had to wait for the early rains to soften the ground, and for the latter rains to mature the crop. If he became impatient and harvested his crop too soon, before the latter rains, his crop would not be mature. Any good farmer would patiently wait for the right time to harvest the crop. In the same way, you must be patient with God's timetable and agenda for your life.

1. You can become impatient with God’s timetable. For example, let's say you're on the way to an important meeting and get caught in a traffic jam. Would you become impatient?
Or, say you're really tight financially, but you're in line for a promotion that would provide what you need. Then you find that you were skipped over and didn't get the promotion. Would you become impatient?
You make your plans and set your goals for a project, for a family, for school, for a career, etc., but God has different plans and a different timetable. It's difficult not to become impatient with God and His plan.

2. You can become impatient under trial. James' readers were being taken advantage of by rich landowners, who were withholding their wages and mistreating them. There are also many other examples of believers being mistreated:
● Jeremiah was beaten, put in stocks, held in prison, and finally,
into a muddy cistern.
● Job lost his wealth, his family, his health, and his friends.
God does test and try his people to see if they are for real, and if they are, to purify their faith by removing the dross — pride, unhealthy dependence on something or someone else, etc.
Are you under trial? Are you saying, "How long, O Lord, how long?" Or, perhaps you're saying, less eloquently, "Life stinks!"
If that's you, then beware! When impatience is a temptation, so is self-pity. Self-pity is when you feel sorry for yourself and believe that you deserve better. It is dangerous! When self-pity sets in, you can justify any sin—and I mean ANY sin. You reason to yourself, "This is too hard for me. I deserve some relief and some pleasure," And then you go out and do ....

3. You can become impatient with someone else’s weaknesses and sins. This can be a big problem in a church family, where God brings together people from different backgrounds, experiences, idiosyncrasies, and styles of sinning, and says, get along, love each other, and be patient with one another. That's a big challenge for us all.

God expects you to say wholeheartedly,

● "God, your timetable is better than mine. It's hard to wait, but who am I to think that I know better than you?"
● "God, this trial is long and difficult, but I know you are in control and at work in my life to make me more like your Son. Thank you.
● "God, this person is awkward to be around, but you have put us together in the same church family. I need to wash his feet and be patient with him, and he will have to be with me. Thank you, Lord."

How can you cultivate patience in your life? By strengthening your heart, the inner you, where you think, believe, decide, feel, and value things. You need to think of, delight in, and believe the truth of God for patience to be produced in your heart and life.

1. Remember who is making you wait — God. Not your boss or your spouse, but the sovereign and majestic God of heaven and earth, the one person who has perfect wisdom and loves you.

2. When you’re under trial or being mistreated, remember that Christ will right all wrongs when he returns. For now, he is using the trial to produce growth in you, and the process of growth into Christ-likeness is valuable. Remember also that God hasn’t left you alone. He is compassionate and merciful, and will provide for you as he did for Job.

3. When you are dealing with the sins and weaknesses of others, remember how patient God has been and is with you. Jesus endured his suffering patiently, and his suffering of the crown of thorns, the nails, the mocking and the scorn, were far worse than anything you have to endure. He patiently took it for you, and he never lashed out.

Remember how patient and forgiving God is with you. Think of the parable of the unmerciful servant, who forgot the king's patience and kindness to him (Matthew 18:23-35). The next time you feel like tearing into someone who has blown it with you, remember God's patience with you. (Patience doesn't mean saying nothing or being indifferent. It means that you say the truth in love and you lend a helping hand.

Discussion

1. When are you most tempted to be impatient? Which of the three occasions listed in the blog are most challenging to you?
a. when your timetable is disrupted;
b. when you are undergoing a trial;
c. when you have to deal with someone's weaknesses and sins.

2. What thoughts will help you to overcome impatience and respond with genuine, God-pleasing patience?

3. What will you do—specifically and concretely—to help yourself remember how to respond patiently in the future?

Fruit of the Spirit: Faithfulness

2009-04-20T08:59:00.000-04:00

We have been looking at the fruit of the Spirit as it is presented in Galatians 5:22-23, where Paul says, "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control ...." We've looked at love, joy, and peace. This week we are skipping ahead to the quality of faithfulness, and we will look at faithfulness from Mark 14:32-42:

32 And they went to a place called Gethsemane. And he said to his disciples, "Sit here while I pray." 33And he took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be greatly distressed and troubled. 34And he said to them, "My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch." 35And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. 36And he said, "Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will." 37And he came and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, "Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour? 38 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." 39And again he went away and prayed, saying the same words. 40And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy, and they did not know what to answer him. 41And he came the third time and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? It is enough; the hour has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 42Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand."

What is faithfulness? It means being trustworthy, reliable, true to your word, doing what you said you would do, keeping your promises, being a person someone can trust and rely on, being loyal even when the pressure is on.

Jesus was faithful par excellence, and this week's passage describes the culmination of a whole life of fidelity. When Jesus went into the Garden of Gethsemane with his disciples to to pray, he knew the crucifixion was imminent, and the reality of it began to weigh on him. He saw the horror and felt the weight as never before. Listen to the depth of his emotion: "...he began to be distressed and troubled. And he said to them, 'My soul is very sorrowful, even to death.'" Jesus did not exaggerate; the life was being sucked out of him by the horror of what he faced.

Jesus mentions the cup he would have to drink. This was a metaphor used by the Old Testament prophets to picture the wrath and judgment of God being poured out on sin. In the Garden, Jesus saw the cup. He saw the sins of his people swirling around; he saw the deception and lies, the unfaithfulness, the adultery, the hatred, the gossip, the abortions—all the acts of sin committed against his Father. And he saw, and smelled, and tasted, and felt the horror of hell. One commentator, William Lane, says, "Jesus came to be with the Father for an interlude before his betrayal, but found hell rather than heaven opened before him, and he staggered.

As horrible as all that was, something even more devastating was happening. His becoming sin for us meant alienation from his father. Jesus was all alone as the sins of his people were poured over him. Heaven was closed to the Son of God. What happened in the Garden anticipated the cry of Jesus on the cross, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" He began to hear the judgment from his father, "Depart from me, ye cursed, from the presence of the Lord and his glory."

Jesus was faithful under infinite pressure. The waves of utter horror and astonishment at the coming judgment came crashing upon him, yet he was like a rock on the shore and didn't crack or give way. He remained faithful in the dark, when he was all alone. He remained faithful to his Father and to his people—faithful to you.

Jesus didn't change when thorns, the whip, and the nails inflicted their pain. No, Jesus took the chalice of sin and wrath from the hands of his Father and drank it all and staggered into the flames of hell. His beautiful body was broken and precious blood was spilled out down his body onto the cross and to the ground below, and he died. What faithfulness! He kept his word. He kept his promise.

The disciples were unfaithful. Three times Jesus asked Peter, James, and John to stay awake and pray for themselves lest they succumb to the temptation to be unfaithful to Jesus when the betrayer appeared. Each time, they fell asleep. The spirit was willing, but the body was weak.

How could they do that, with Jesus right there with them, suffering and writhing in painful horror? Their unfaithfulness seems incredible! Or are the disciples a picture of you in your relationship to Jesus and others?

• How many times have you been unfaithful in your relationships—not doing what you said you would do, not being a true and faithful friend, husband, wife, child, or brother or sister?

• How many times have you given in to the temptation or invitation to be untrue to Jesus by choosing to sin, doing the very things that Christ convulsed over as he peered into the cup of judgment and suffered the alienation of his father?

• Are you someone entirely different under the cover of darkness? Are you different around certain people than you are at home or at church? What do you watch on TV when you're alone in the hotel room? How do you carry out your job when the boss is away?

How do we become more faithful like Jesus?

1. Own up to your lack of faithfulness to Jesus. Don't deceive yourself; acknowledge it and ask God to forgive you.
2. Contemplate and cherish this:
• Jesus came to be faithful to the Father for you because you couldn't be.
• Your unfaithfulness was attributed to him; Jesus prayed and got hell and was ignored so that you could pray and get heaven and be heard.
• God considers you forgiven and faithful, now and forever.
• Paul says in 2 Cor. 3:18 that when you see the glory of Christ you are transformed from one degree of Christ-likeness to another. So when you see Jesus being faithful for you, that will change you.
3. Out of gratitude for his faithfulness, you need to make a disciplined, prayerful effort to be faithful to God and others.
• Identify areas in your life where you need to be more faithful.
• What will you do to change?
• Pray for God's help, for yourself and your brothers.

Fruit of the Spirit: Peace

2009-04-13T10:22:00.003-04:00

We are looking at the fruit of the Spirit—the fruit produced in a believer's life by the Holy Spirit in coordination with the believer's own pursuit of it. We have looked at love and joyfulness in recent weeks, and now we look at the quality of peace, which is closely related to joy. The very same eternal realities that are the basis of your joy are what the Spirit uses to produce peace—the reality of your salvation in Christ and your relationship with him.

Peace is inner confidence and trust in God's wise and good control of your life. It is an attitude that is constant, solid, and confident no matter what the conditions. The natural man doesn't know true peace. Some people have the counterfeit of true peace—they are laid back and easygoing, but only because they are apathetic or indifferent or self-centered; they don't have true Spirit-produced peace. True peace has confidence and trust in God's control, and it also loves and cares for and is engaged in the lives of other people.

The natural man, on the other hand, is worried to death. Inside, he is torn apart with worry about the economy, terrorism, moral decay, etc. Worry in the heart of a pagan is like a weed growing wildly, out of control. He worries because he doesn't know God; he worries because he is oriented only to the material world and yet he can't control it. He is like the rich fool in Luke 12, who was busy laying up treasure for himself on earth and was not rich toward God:

13 Someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me." 14But he said to him, "Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?" 15And he said to them, "Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." 16And he told them a parable, saying, "The land of a rich man produced plentifully, 17and he thought to himself, 'What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?' 18And he said, 'I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.' 20But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' 21So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God."
22And he said to his disciples, "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. 23For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. 24 Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! 25And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 26If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? 27Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 28But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! 29And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. 30For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.
32 "Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

The rich fool was self-centered and greedy. Though he worked hard and was blessed by God, he gave no thought to God or others; his life consisted in having an abundance of things.

What does it look like today when someone is busy laying up treasure for himself on earth?
You see it every day. You know someone whose primary ambition is to accumulate money and possessions, or to travel the world, to head up his own company or to buy out his competitors, to build his reputation., to succeed, earn human approval and acceptance, fame and power. Or maybe you know someone who is determined to have physical health and be young forever.

This ambition for treasure on earth is a prescription for worry and dissatisfaction. It is the soil out of which the weed of worry flourishes and takes over a person's heart. Just look at the market for prescription drugs! People crave relief from the worry and anxiety that come from a life centered on the material world, the world without God. And their worry is justified! Everything they are living for will be lost, and they know in their hearts that they have no security.

Are you a believer? Do you have the Holy Spirit? Then you shouldn't resemble the worry-filled pagans in the world. You should possess a confidence and trust and rest in God's wise and good control of your life, resulting in an inner calmness—the peace of God. Why? Because you have a personal relationship with God. He loves you and is concerned about the very details of your life, and he promises to provide for your needs. Jesus has already met the greatest need in your life by giving you peace with God when he was your enemy. If God has met your greatest need, won't he meet the other, lesser needs that you have?

What prevents you from having the peace of God? The roadblocks to peace are simple (though serious):
• a focus on laying up treasures on earth - "Where your treasure is there will your heart be also" (v. 34). When treasures on earth are too important to you, you worry over them.
• unbelief - You don't trust God's good and wise control; you don't really believe his promises.

How can you remove the roadblocks to peace?
• Repent for your worry and unbelief, and for your inordinate desire for treasures on earth.
• Seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness with all your heart. How do you seek that? You seek the kingdom of God when you try obey his word. That includes being salt and light in the world, serving in the church, your family to know God, enjoying and sharing with others the material wealth God provides, in the promises of God, praying with thankfulness, and seeking to spread the gospel and bring others into the kingdom.

What issues in your life sometimes threaten the peace of God that you should have?
When you indulge in the sin of worry, what is the impact on those around you? On yourself?
What will you do to cultivate peace in your life in the next week?
Have you grown in love and joyfulness as a result of the first two weeks' studies?

Fruit of the Spirit: Joyfulness

2009-03-30T08:22:00.000-04:00

Remember from last week that the fruit of the Spirit is a unity. The qualities listed in Galatians 5:22-23 are not nine fruits; they are nine facets of one fruit. For example, in the story of Jesus washing his disciples' feet, we saw him showing love to his disciples—but his love also displayed humility, patience, kindness, etc.

The same evening that Jesus washed his disciples' feet, Jesus talked to them about joy. Even while the ordeal of his own suffering grew nearer and nearer, he was focusing on preparing his followers for the ordeal that was approaching for them. He wanted them to know that after the sorrow, joy would come, and the joy would last forever. This week, let's look at the quality of joy, from John 16:16-22

16"A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me." 17So some of his disciples said to one another, "What is this that he says to us, 'A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me'; and, 'because I am going to the Father'?" 18So they were saying, "What does he mean by 'a little while'? We do not know what he is talking about." 19Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, "Is this what you are asking yourselves, what I meant by saying, 'A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me'? 20Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. 21When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. 22So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.

That last evening with his disciples, after Jesus washed his disciples' feet, he pointed out Judas as the betrayer, he predicted Peter's denial, he comforted the disciples with the reality of heaven, and he spent a good deal of time preparing them for his departure. He warned them that he was going to have to leave them in a little while, but that they would see him again. Jesus told them that they would weep and mourn. Their grief would be overwhelming, like a mother suffering in labor and childbirth, but afterward they would have joy.

What does this tell us about joy?
1. Joy is essential for a follower of Jesus. Jesus told them, " I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice...." The apostle Paul was very direct when he exhorted the Christians to have joy: "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God" (1 Thessalonians 5:16); and again, "Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice" (Philippians 4:4). Why? Because Jesus returned from the grave, and he rescued us from death and hell. Nothing can diminish the joy of this reality!
2. Joy and sorrow coexist in this world. Sin brings sorrow in this life, and we all have many trials. When you become a Christian, the fact is that you become gladder and sadder at the same time. You are glad because of the joy of the gospel, and you are sad because of sin. You mourn over your own sin and the sin that brings so much pain and sorrow to everyone; you also suffer difficult trials for righteousness' sake. But for the believer, there should always be joy in the midst of sorrow.
3. Joy overwhelms sorrow. Joy is like a furnace. When the cold seeps in from outside, the furnace kicks in and the heat overwhelms the coldness. One definition of joy is "the spiritual buoyancy that comes from enjoying the privileges you have in Christ." Joy keeps us from giving in to the sorrows of life. Sadness seeps into our lives regularly, but when you remember the privileges and promises that you have in Christ, the joy overwhelm the sadness.
4. Joy is permanent. Jesus said, "No one will take your joy from you." Joy is permanent because the basis of your joy is eternal. Happiness based on happenings comes and goes. When you focus on happenings you forget your joy. When you focus on Jesus you will be joyful.

How can you cultivate your joy? Jesus is the key! He said, "I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice."
1. You must know Jesus as your personal Savior. you must believe the joyful news of forgiveness and salvation.
2. You must love Jesus. Joy is found in knowing Jesus, not just loving the gifts he gives. In this life, there will be trials as well as blessings, but loving Jesus gives us the ability to consider even the trials a joy for the sake of following Jesus.
3. You must obey Jesus. In John 15:10-11, Jesus said, "If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full."

How is your furnace of joy?
1. What tends to dominate you more, joy or sorrow? If sorrow dominates, try to identify the source of your sadness. What are you thinking about that produces sadness? How do you need to change your thinking?
2. How is your lack of joyfulness manifested? Whining and complaining? Depression? Anger and resentment? What else?
3. Assuming that you struggle to be joyful (at least sometimes!) , consider who else is negatively affected by your lack of joyfulness. Your wife? Your children? Your co-workers? Your neighbors?
4. Consider the three ways to cultivate your joy listed above. Which kind of "cultivation" do you need most? What specific, concrete actions can you take to cultivate joy?

The Fruit of the Spirit

2009-03-22T16:10:00.002-04:00

We know that all Christians have the Spirit living within them and, therefore, all Christians have some fruit of the Spirit. But we can’t take that fruit for granted. Second Timothy 2:22 says, “Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” Fleeing and pursuing are not passive words—so we are not to be passive, but to work diligently at cultivating the fruit of the Spirit. How? Well, primarily by prayerful, regular study of the Word of God, including meditation on it and obeying it. And, of course, that’s why you’re part of the Men’s Ministry, isn’t it—to pursue the fruit of the Spirit in your own life?

Galatians 5:22-23 lists some qualities of the fruit of the Spirit. The nine listed in Galatians are: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Remember that “fruit” is singular. There are not nine fruits, but only one, with many facets or aspects. That means that when the fruit is present in your life, you can’t have only one or two of the qualities without any of the others. You can’t have joy and peace, but no self-control. You will have at least some measure of all the qualities. Taken together, as a unity, they represent Christ-likeness. And Christ-likeness is worth pursuing.

We are starting this first week with the quality of love, which is the sum and source of all the other qualities. Let’s examine love as we see it in John 13:1-7, which tells of an event in the life of Jesus when the Spirit’s fruit was ripe. Jesus showed love, the kind of love we all need to have for others.

1Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him, 3Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, 4rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. 5Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. 6He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, do you wash my feet?" 7 Jesus answered him, "What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand." 8 Peter said to him, "You shall never wash my feet." Jesus answered him, "If I do not wash you, you have no share with me." 9Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!" 10Jesus said to him, "The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you." 11 For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, "Not all of you are clean."
12When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, "Do you understand what I have done to you? 13 You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. 14If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. 16Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.

Men, we can learn a lot by studying Jesus’ behavior. Although he was God, he was also a man—a man who was tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin. A man who “learned obedience through what He suffered.” Think about the love he showed here as he faced Gethsemane and the suffering of the cross.

Remember that this was his last evening with his disciples. Jesus knew that Judas was lost and full of hate for Jesus and would betray him. Jesus knew that the disciples were weak and confused and that they would fail him. Jesus knew too that he would soon—within hours—undergo the greatest suffering and agony that any man would ever face. In that circumstance, he chose to show the extent of his love for his disciples by washing their feet, including the feet of Judas, his enemy.
Why was foot washing such a big deal? Because it was a task that only the most menial, inferior slaves did. It was so demeaning that Peter was embarrassed by what Jesus was doing. But Jesus had a point to make, and when he explained it to them afterward, he said: I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.

Jesus taught them that they were to be known by the same kind of self-sacrificing love toward one another. Jesus’ followers are here to love God and love other people for God’s glory. You can make God look great by what you do!
Here are some pointers to keep in mind when you are looking for ways to show love:

1. Love is practical. Look for simple things that need to be done for someone else, and do them.
2. Love involves doing unpleasant things (like washing feet). Look for things that need to be done that perhaps no one else wants to do. Or, perhaps, show love to someone who is difficult to love, who has done wrong to you.
3. It requires humility to do tasks that are beneath you, or not worthy of your time and talents. Be willing to do things that might bring disapproval. Maybe something is needed that you ordinarily wouldn’t do yourself—but that might just be an opportunity to show love.
4. Love is not always welcomed, but that shouldn’t keep you from showing it.

Love is not self-seeking; don’t show love expecting your kindness to be appreciated. One example of this is giving constructive criticism to a friend when it is needed—your loving rebuke may not be appreciated, but love will motivate you to overcome your reluctance or fear. Be satisfied with knowing that God is the One who sees and rewards our good deeds.

In your men’s group, talk about ways to show love that imitate Christ’s “foot washing.” Deeds of love will be different for each of you, of course, depending on your situation. Here are some ideas to get started.

• Helping aged or infirm folks with physical chores they can no longer physically do, like cleaning gutters, changing light bulbs, moving furniture, etc. Or, if needed, help with their physical care.
• Clean the bathrooms or refrigerator for your wife.
• Take an interest in someone who is not especially interesting to you, but who may need your friendship. This might be someone you think is boring, or needy, or whining complainer, etc.
• Talk to a friend lovingly about an area of sin you are aware of that he needs to overcome. Be prepared to follow through and help him change if he wants you to.
• Take time (outside of work hours) to listen to a co-worker who is struggling and give some helpful counsel.

WEEK NINE — Radical Amputation and Accountability

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You will need to apply the previous procedures regularly, to various temptations. Sometimes you will find it difficult, and you may even find yourself failing in the battle against temptation. Now, let’s give some further consideration of this matter.

Read Matthew 5:29-30, and ask yourself these questions:
1. Am I avoiding all unnecessary situations, contacts, etc., in which I will be tempted? Be honest!
2. Do I find myself, instead, purposely frequenting those contexts? If so, what must I do?
3. When I cannot avoid contact, possibly dangerous situations, and the like, what should I do then?
[Check out Job 31: 1 for one such initial solution.]
4. If the problem is extreme, what must I do?
5. How would you apply the words about tearing out the eye, etc., to this problem?
6. Last. If for some reason there is still a problem in this area that you find more difficult than you can handle along, speak to the pastor or your elder about it. They will be glad to help.

As you engage in this battle with temptation, remember the encouragement of Christ in Matthew 5:6:

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

You must not only learn to radically amputate, you must also learn to radically hunger and thirst for God’s righteousness.

WEEK EIGHT — The Stages of Temptation

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How to win the fight!

Read James 1:13-15. This passage in James takes apart the stages in which temptation works its way from the heart outward. Temptation can be resisted at any point along the way. As long as you live, it is never too late to repent. However, the further you go in the process of temptation, the harder the consequences are likely to be. How can the temptation be checked at various points?

Point 1. When you experience the appeal of sinful desires:

Point 2. After you have decided to give in to sinful desires:

Point 3. When you are experiencing the consequences of giving in to temptation—the growth of sin that brings forth death:

WEEK SEVEN How to avoid becoming involved in temptation

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This week's assignment is short. However, if you follow it carefully, it could change your life by helping you defeat temptations and sins that may have plagued you for years.

Read Proverbs chapters 2-5 in their entirety, and write down in your own words what the writer is saying about how to avoid becoming "involved" in temptation.

1. Specific ways to pursue wisdom:

2. Specific warnings and consequences of neglecting wisdom:

3. Benefits of wisdom:

WEEK SIX - facing sexual temptation

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[Write out your answers to the questions in the blog.]

Now that you know how to face temptation, let’s take up one that you probably have struggled with from time to time—sexual temptation. I don’t need to describe what it is; you know already. In addition to the matters you have already covered in the process sketched out above which, presumably, you have been following, apply the same procedures to this temptation as well.
a. Talk to God about the problem and repent of it.
b. Find a verse that opposes the problem.
c. Memorize the verse
d. Use the verse to oppose temptation.

Now, ask yourself :

1. How is the temptation of my heart the prelude to the temptation to follow through physically? Look at the Sermon on the Mount for Jesus’ comments about adultery in the heart (Matthew 5:27-30).

2. Am I avoiding all unnecessary situations, contacts, etc., in which I will be tempted to sexual sin, including pornography either in print or online? Be honest!

WEEK Five – I Am a Liar

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All right! As you’ve been working through various passages on temptation, you’ve been thinking about your own life, I am sure. Great! And now, perhaps, you’ve come to an important conclusion; you’ve decided, “I am a liar!” That may not be exactly what you concluded, but let’s take it as an example.

You have thought about how often you are tempted to lie your way out of difficult circumstances. How often the lie comes to mind, even when you don’t use it. How, at times, even when there is no pressure to lie to get out of some scrape or another, you have been tempted to lie about ordinary things simply to exaggerate them, stress your capabilities or importance, and so forth. Lying is a definite temptation to be faced throughout your day.

OK. Let’s assume that you agree that it is. Now, what are you going to do to rectify this? First, you ought to talk to God about the problem. What will you say? Write it out: __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

(I’m assuming you are printing out these pages to use and keep them).
Second, having repented, you will need to find at least one verse that opposes lying. If you’re having trouble with this, may I suggest that one such verse may be found in Ephesians 4. It (or another verse that you’d rather use) is____________________________. Now that you have your verse that opposes lying, the next step (that we suggested in the week 2 study) is:

Third, memorize the verse.

Good. Now what is the next step?

Use the verse to oppose temptation.

You have just been through a practical application of the process that you learned previously. Does it help you know what to do to counter temptation? If so, then I suggest the following:

1. Now determine what is the most serious temptation that you regularly must face. Don’t fudge here—be excruciatingly honest!

2. Good! Now go through the process that we have suggested.

WEEK FOUR - Concordance Study

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Come prepared to discuss your concordance study.

To facilitate the discussion, just look for examples in James 1:2-15.

Refer back to the post on Week 3 for details.

WEEK THREE

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Come prepared to discuss the “it is written” lists as well as this blog.

It’s about time that we defined temptation, don’t you think? If you look into various Bible translations you will discover that the words tempt, try, and test appear in temptation contexts. Why is it that such a variety of translations exists? Which is the correct term to use in each place? Well, here’s the reason—the very same Greek word can be translated any one of these three ways. There is only one way, therefore, to determine which word best fits a context.

That being so, you will translate the New Testament this week! (I don’t mean the whole thing!) Haven’t you always wanted to do that? You see, you have as much right to use one of these words or another depending on the context, as I said. So, here’s what you’ll do:
1. Get out your trusty concordance. If you don’t have one larger than the one that you find right before the maps in the back of your Bible, you ought to get one.
2. Now, look up the passages where each of these words appears in the New Testament (If you want to look at the Old Testament as well—then that’s OK too. But don’t bite off more than you can chew!).
3. Next, determine which word should be used in each instance according to the context.

Well, how did it go? Was it fun? Biblical translators have not always agreed on how the original word ought to be translated, so you were free to decide for yourself. And, since context alone must determine the way it is used on a particular occasion, your translation is as valid as anyone else’s.

4. The final thing that you will want to do is to write out the reasons why you think that the particular word you decided to use is a better translation in any given context than the others.

Homework for next week: do the concordance study assigned in the blog.

WEEK TWO

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Come prepared to discuss this blog on how to meet temptation. Note that you are also given some homework to prepare for Week 3.

Last week we took up the first question: why Jesus/you are tempted. We saw that the devil wanted to divert Jesus from His work. How often has he diverted you from doing things for the Lord?

This week we take up the second question: How ought we to meet temptation?

There are several factors to consider in response. First, we ought to meet it head on. Jesus certainly did. He understood the temptations—all three of them—and dealt with them head on. If we minimize them, as people sometimes do, we can avoid the direct response that is necessary. He acknowledged the temptations as such and met them for what they were—attempts to lead Him into sin. Sometimes people will say such things as, “Oh, I don’t think that’s what she meant . . .” thus minimizing the temptation. Minimized in that fashion, it is easier to fall into it. After all, if what she said isn’t what she meant, then it may be something less than a temptation to sin. Let’s stop kidding ourselves and others by minimizing what, down deep, we know is a temptation to sin. If there’s any question it is better to err on the side of caution!

Now, how did Jesus meet the three temptations? I Peter 5: 9 provides the clue. Jesus did precisely what Peter tells you to do. What was that? write out the key word in the verse___________.

OK. So now you know exactly what to do. How do you go about doing it? That’s the question. The word you wrote down can mean many things. What are some of them?
You probably thought of such things as oppose, refuse to do, defy, stand firm against, fight, withstand, refuse, and the like. OK. Most of those terms speak about some aspect of what to do. But look at what Jesus did. How, exactly, did He withstand, defy, refuse and so on? There was one thing He did in respect to each of the temptations. What was it? Three times (in vv. 4, 6, 10) we see Him refer to something, using three words: Write them here “:__ __ ______________.”

If you are going to meet temptation head on you too will need to be well-versed in the proper passages of Scripture that refer to the temptation. But, notice, He countered not with verses that warned against the temptation, as sometimes we are prone to do, but with verses that asserted the opposite to it. “Yes,” you say, but how do you expect me to be able to come up with such passages on the spot? Here are two suggestions to do before next week’s meeting:

Homework for next week:

A. Make a growing written list of verses that set forth the opposite of all the things that you are tempted to do.

B. Memorize the verse that opposes your most severe temptation, and refer to it in times when the temptation arises.

What is the result of opposing the temptation? Turn again to the verse in I Peter to find the answer. It also occurs in the account of Jesus’ temptation in Matthew 4: 11.
There, two things are stated. What are they?
List them 1_____________________________________________________
2_____________________________________________________

Can you also expect these two results of resisting temptation in your case? Certainly you can expect the first, as I Peter clearly asserts. The second may or may not happen in precisely the same way. But surely, you can expect some sort of help in the outcome—whether angels are employed or not. And, in addition, you will be stronger for having overcome the roaring lion!

Think about the last time you faced temptation successfully—did you receive help? Did you find that for a time thereafter temptation fled from you? Were you stronger after that? If not, why not? Did you become overconfident? If you have questions about this you might want to consult your elder and get assistance from him. At any rate, you will want to instruct and support others who face temptation so that they, too, may experience these same results.

Week 1: Why are you tempted? (Matthew 4:1-11)

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Redeemer Men

For the next several weeks Jay Adams will be providing a series of posts on the subject of temptation. This is an opportunity to learn from someone with rich biblical understanding about something that each of us face every day.

Men . . .
Over the next few weeks we will be studying the biblical teaching about temptation. Pastor Slattery thinks that this is an important subject to consider since we are all tempted all the time in any number of ways. So . . . here we go!
WEEK ONE We’re going to begin by looking at the supreme example of how temptation ought to be met. As we see Jesus in the desert, dealing with the wiles of the devil, we can understand at least three things about temptation:
1. Why temptation comes to us;
2. How we ought to meet it;
3. What the outcome of properly handling temptation is.
Before going further, read Matthew 4: 1-11 and see if you can find the verses referring to the three matters mentioned above. Having looked up the passage and reached your conclusions, let’s talk a little more about these questions.
1. Notice the first sentence in this section: Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. The devil is “the accuser” of the brethren. How do we know that? [Use a concordance or Bible dictionary if necessary.] Scripture verse:_______________ What do you think that means?

2.Answer:______________________________________________________________________________________________
We are tempted for the same reason Jesus was—God sees fit to test us just as He saw fit to lead Jesus into temptation. It was at His weakest point, after fasting 40 days that the temptation took place. Certainly, we ought to be especially on guard at times of physical weakness. But we shall see also that such weakness doesn’t mean that we will necessarily be overcome when tempted. Indeed, Jesus, Who was far weaker than you will probably ever be (when did you fast for 40 days?), shows that succumbing for this reason is far from inevitable. He shows also that we cannot use physical weakness as an excuse for giving in to temptation.

But, again, why are we tempted? First, let’s ask, why was Jesus tempted? The Lord had just been baptized as the “Anointed One” (Hebrew: “Messiah”; Greek: “Christ”) for His ministry. According to prophecy (Daniel 9), He was to be baptized (“anointed”) precisely on the date promised to Daniel. This happened. The devil seemed to know something about this schedule (perhaps he reads Scripture) and came to divert Him from the death that would take place, (also according to Daniel 9, exactly 3 ½ years later in the midst of the last “week” or 7-year period predicted). He wanted to keep Him from the cross. So, he tempted Him to take a shorter route to possessing “all the kingdoms of the world,” as prophecy had predicted He would. The temptation was arranged by God’s Spirit, who led Jesus into it. God and the devil each had a purpose in the temptation. The devil wanted to keep Jesus from His mission, the Father wanted to prove (test) Him for it.

OK, then. The first thing we see is that it’s when the devil knows that you intend to do something for God he is likely to tempt you. He will do this in order to keep you from accomplishing the task. And, it is especially true that you seem vulnerable if you are physically exhausted or otherwise weakened. Remember, God wants to test you for the work. If you pass the test, you will be stronger in the wake of it. The devil wants to stop you.

Think about it for a while. Are you about to do something for God? Are you also tired or physically weak? If so, then especially at this time you may be most subject to temptation. In surviving it you will be strengthened. But if you fail you will probably mess up royally in attempting to serve Christ—unless you repent. You may even give up on your best intentions. Think about this the next time you set out to achieve something for Christ. That’s one time to especially be on guard for temptation.

Next week we’ll take up the second matter.

Men's Ministry Groups Start week of Jan. 11th

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Week 13 John 4:27-30, 39-42 The Savior of the World

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27Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, "What do you seek?" or, "Why are you talking with her?" 28 So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, 29 "Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?" 30 They went out of the town and were coming to him.
39 Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, "He told me all that I ever did." 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. 41 And many more believed because of his word. 42 They said to the woman, "It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world." ESV

… Once [the woman at the well] had been born again, instead of being ashamed of what she had done, she blurted out that Jesus knew all about it. This is one of the most important signs that people have truly come to faith in Christ; instead of covering their sin and resenting the subject, true Christians publicly admit their sin—in fact, they delight to do so—in order to show that Jesus is the Savior of sinners. This is how the new birth changes us into witnesses for Christ, and it is because people notice this change that they listen and come. In this way the new birth both causes and empowers our witness to Christ …

Jesus applied this as a general principle: “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work” (John 4:34). These two priorities consumed His mind and heart: He was committed to acting in conformity with God’s will and to completing the task God had given Him to do. This commitment on Jesus’ part sets an agenda for how we, too, can lead fulfilling lives despite hardships or trials—by committing ourselves to godly living and faithful service to God.

The divergence between Jesus’ focus and our own explains the unhappiness and lack of fulfillment many of us experience, even as Christians. Do you realize that the more self-centered we are, the more unhappy and unfulfilled we are? Are you trying to feast on an unwholesome diet of worldly amusements, earthly success, or sinful pleasure? You will never be satisfied that way! Too many Christians can recite details of all the sit-coms on television but do not know what to say to lead a sinner to Christ. Many others feed richly on God’s Word, but because they do not serve—and especially because they do not witness—they find themselves strangely unfulfilled.

The way to lead a joyful, meaningful life is not to pursue your own pleasure but to do everything to the glory of God. …It means delighting to do God’s will and to serve His kingdom. Above all else, as Jesus shows us, our chief delight should be playing a role in the salvation of other people … What Jesus said should be true of us as well: “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.” (Phillips, 158-161)

We have come to the end of this study of Jesus the Evangelist. Rick Phillips leaves us with a powerful description of Christ as the Savior of the world. He is not just your Savior or my Savior. He is the Savior of all who will come to know God and inhabit heaven. The Samaritans in John 4 make a stunning connection. They understood that this man standing before them, dressed like them, covered with dust like them, was the Savior of the world. They understood this not because he spoke about grand political theory, nor how bad the Romans were, nor how he was going to bring more water to their village. They understood this because he spoke about the unquenchable thirst of their souls. Jesus talked about the sins of the woman at the well (just as the villagers themselves often did), but he spoke with compassion and offered reconciliation. The Samaritans became convinced that this common man who had walked into their village could do something no human could do. He could heal the human heart! He was the Savior of the world.

Phillips then proceeds to challenge us. Do we have the same clear perception of Christ that these ordinary Samaritans did? Is Christ the Savior of the world or is he merely our “get of jail free” card? What is more important to you than telling others about the Savior of the world? Do you fit into one of the two categories that Phillips lists above? Are you preoccupied with the pleasures of this world, especially those that are not sins in and of themselves? Or are you content to know God’s Word yourself, without telling it to your family and to others whom you know?
When there are economic concerns, as there are now, the first instinct is for self-preservation. But on balance that can be a deadly concern. Notice what Jesus says in John 12:24-26:
I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.

Men, do you love this life and its pleasures? If you do, you will lose. To be an effective leader for Christ in your family, you cannot view your commitment to Christ as one of several things you must prioritize. You cannot fit serving Christ into a schedule of sports, the outdoors, business, etc., and still be committed to him. You cannot love this life more than you love Christ. Your life is your most effective evangelistic statement to others, especially to your family. Consider the challenge Rick Phillips makes to you on Jesus’ behalf: what is your “food”?

May your discussions in your groups this week bear much fruit for the gospel of Christ.

We will be on break until January. Merry Christmas!

John 4:16-19, 27-30 Confession of Sin, Confession of Faith

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16 Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come here." 17 The woman answered him, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You are right in saying, 'I have no husband'; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true." 19 The woman said to him, "Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.
27 Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, "What do you seek?" or, "Why are you talking with her?" 28 So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, 29 "Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?" 30 They went out of the town and were coming to him. ESV

Confession of Sin

Why should Christians dwell on sin? James Montgomery Boice answers: “It is simply because Christians are realists. They recognize that sin is an everyday experience and the number one problem of mankind. What is more, they recognize that the Bible everywhere insists upon this.” …

There can be little doubt that many of us experience difficulties because of our sins. That is true not merely because of the natural consequences of sin, but because God chastens us, so that many of our hardships are sent by God in direct response to our sins. Hebrews 12:6 says, “The Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” So even those whose sins have been forgiven through the blood of Christ nonetheless suffer in this life because of their sins. If we want God’s kindness toward us to have a free reign, we will not present God with sins that require Him to discipline us. The path of obedience is ever the path of blessing …

Jesus confronted [the woman at the well] with her sin because He loved her, because He knew her sin, and because her sin stood between her and God. How fitting it is that Jesus spoke to her about her sin, and that He was the One to set this example for us, because Jesus came into the world to deal with the problem of our sin …
If sin was so important to God that He sent His only beloved Son into the world to deal specifically with it; if sin is so great a barrier between God and man that only the precious blood of Christ could remove it; and if Jesus was so committed to the salvation of sinners that He was willing to go to this horrific length to achieve it, how dare we cover up the topic of sin as some embarrassment to us or an impediment to the success of Christ’s church! Do you see why we must be willing to ask people to confess their sins in worship that is offered up in Christ’s name? Do you see why we must preach a gospel not just of cheery sentimentality but of the true and bad news of sin for which Christ paid so great a cost? …

It is unreasonable for us to expect to match Jesus’ skill, since we lack His perfect knowledge and grace. But His example shows us that we should exercise care in bringing people to conviction of sin—as Nathan did when he confronted King David for his sin with Bathsheba—and that we should seek the Holy Spirit’s help through prayer both for our own conduct and for the response of the one whom we hope to bring to conviction of sin and faith in Christ.

Confession of Faith

When a doctor delivers a baby, the first thing he wants to hear is the baby’s cry. This tells him that air has entered the baby’s lungs and that the child has started to breathe. So it is with the spiritual rebirth. When the Spirit enters the heart, the new life He brings causes the spiritual infant to cry out, confessing his or her faith in Jesus Christ. This is the first clear sign that true salvation has occurred …
… the woman at the well, having beheld Jesus’ deity when He revealed Himself as the Messiah, responded with a public confession of faith that clearly showed her new birth. John 4:28-29 tells us, “The woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, ‘Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?’” From her subsequent conduct, it is evident that she was saying, “I have found the Messiah,” and her public confession to her neighbors demonstrated her rebirth. (Phillips, 132, 135, 140, 147-148)

Rick Phillips talks freely about confession of sin. Yet, we would rather talk about politics, weather, sports or our least favorite restaurant than to talk about sin. Or if we must talk about sin, let's talk about the sin of other people. But Phillips shows us from John 4 that Jesus wants us to be interested in our own sins. Failure to discuss our own sin is a failure to discuss the obvious. If you have a rip in your pants that you are blissfully unaware of it doesn’t mean that the rip is not obvious to others. The same is true of our sins. Despite all of our attempts to rationalize our own sins, these sins are still painfully obvious to others around us.

Men, let’s stop pretending that our sins are trivial. They are not. Our flesh is deceptive. It has been skillfully trained by a deceptive heart to cover up the most obvious of realities--our own sin! You would be grateful to a friend for mentioning the embarrassing rip in your pants. You must also learn to value the observations of your family and friends who would point out the even more embarrassing sins that you unthinkingly display. Brothers, it is time to act like men who are serious about loving God.

Go to your wife and ask her to tell you the five most obvious sins that you are oblivious to. Do the same with some close friends. Don’t fight back or offer reasonable explanations about why their observations are wrong. Rather, be thankful that you can begin to address the most obvious things that others notice about you. Like the woman at the well, our sins are all too obvious. By God’s grace, let’s get to work. This is how we can lead our families to take their own sins more seriously.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Men, enjoy this Thanksgiving Week! The blog will resume next week.

John 4:10-15 Living Water

2008-11-17T11:27:00.003-05:00

10 Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water." 11 The woman said to him, "Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock." 13 Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." 15 The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water." ESV

This week Rick Phillips has some challenging thoughts for us as men about why our witness is often ineffective. Chapter 10 of Jesus the Evangelist pivots on Jesus’ encounter with the woman at the well. The Samaritan woman was captivated by the idea of living water that would forever quench her thirst. Jesus was offering something that commanded her attention. Here are excerpts from the chapter.

"The souls of men and women are thirsty for God, whether they know it or not. Nothing except God can satisfy the soul made by God for Himself. St. Augustine wrote at the beginning of his Confessions: “You have made us for yourself and our heart is restless until it rests in you.” Psalm 42:1 speaks for us all: “As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God.”

This was true for the Samaritan woman and it is true for you. You may have all this world can offer—riches, rank, place, and power—yet be utterly unfulfilled. Isn’t this the story of our time? Amidst gaudy affluence and every-ready entertainment, ours is a generation aching with thirst …

This was Jesus’ message to the woman at the well. He told her that as long as she continued drinking from worldly troughs, she would always thirst again. But, He added, “whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty forever. The water that I will give him well become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:14) …

…Jesus spoke of a change that would result … new life from the Holy Spirit. To be born again is to have a spiritual fountain welling up within you, as God Himself lives and moves in your heart.

The results of this change … are faith, godliness, and unfailing spiritual joy … If you are a Christian, are you experiencing this?… Tragically, far too many Christians have found the true fountain of eternal, spiritual life but know little of its blessings of righteousness, peace, and joy. This is one reason our witness is often ineffective.

There are a number of explanations for this. Some Christians live close to the world and fill their hearts with worldly things. Are you like that? … If so, wean your heart from earthly pleasures and start serving Jesus at home, in your work, and in your play. Stop craving for worldly success, stop drinking from worldly troughs, and renew your commitment to Christ, and you will find refreshing waters flowing freely once again. Other Christians have stopped up the spring of the Holy Spirit with sinful habits or attitudes. If you are truly a Christian, you can never ultimately block God’s Spirit, but how much better for you to repent or forgive as needed and to walk in the light, cleansed by Christ’s blood and refreshed by His fellowship." (Phillips, 125-129)

Perhaps the reason that your witness for Christ is not compelling to others is that it is not compelling to you. Do you stand out in relief from the world around you? What is it that makes you different from those with whom you hang out? Jesus offered something more than just a list of “don'ts.” Jesus offered this woman what she didn't have– something that would forever quench the thirst for satisfaction. You can share common interests with others, but do you represent something beyond that commonality? For example, you can share being a fan of a particular team with friends, but is your mood dominated by that team’s performance? If your common bond with these fans is “wait till next year,” you offer nothing more than what they already have. You offer water that will soon leave them thirsty again. Perhaps you share a love of the outdoors and hunting with others. If your common interests focus on the beauty of the woods and the stillness of the early morning as you wait for a buck, you offer only water that satisfies for the moment, but lacks true satisfaction. Or perhaps your area of commonality with others centers on financial stability. But do those others see you as someone whose true stability has nothing to do with the ups and downs of the economy?

As men we are called to be leaders. Where are we leading our families and friends? To be men who have something truly valuable to offer, we must be finding our own satisfaction in the living water. When we are, we will want to offer it to others.
Take some time to consider why your witness for Christ is not as effective as it should be. Do you live so close to the world that your friends think you drink from the same water that they do? Think carefully about how you can offer living water to those around you. Make this a matter of prayer. Talk about this in your ministry group.

Dr. Gore’s Notes
Here is the link to R.J. Gore’s notes from our retreat. Why not take a moment and drop Dr. Gore an email of appreciation for his time with us.

rgore@erskine.edu

Witness to Ordinary People - Week 9

2008-11-09T01:56:00.001-05:00

John 4:1-10
1Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John 2(although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples), 3he left Judea and departed again for Galilee. 4 And he had to pass through Samaria. 5So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.
7A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink." 8 (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, "How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?" ( For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water." (ESV)

The following paragraphs are excerpted from Jesus the Evangelist – Chapter 9

What approach characterized Jesus’ witness to ordinary people? What was His attitude to sinful people in need of the gospel? What logic did Jesus employ in seeking a hearing for His message of God’s grace? Jesus’ witness to the Samaritan woman is a gold mine in our search for an evangelistic method, for here our Lord Himself sets us an example of speaking the truth in love …

Many of us are ineffective evangelists simply because we are too lazy and self-centered. We are not willing to cross the street to meet people. We do not care enough for the eternal destiny of friends, family members, and co-workers to risk the social hazard of talking about the Lord. Our lives are focused on our own needs and those of our children, so we have no time to participate in outreach ministries. For many of us, the first step in doing evangelism is simply to care enough for the lost to become weary in the gospel. Those who do tire themselves in gospel outreach have sweet fellowship with the Savior who rested at the well…

Evangelism requires a caring motivation. But as Jesus’ example shows, the next step in sharing the gospel is crossing the boundaries that separate people from God. This Samaritan woman never would have come to Jerusalem, where Jesus had been preaching and working miracles; she knew she would not fit in among the Jews. So Jesus crossed the boundaries and went to her …

Jesus crossed three barriers. The first was that which separated Samaritans from Jews … [the second was that] this Samaritan was also a woman. It may not seem scandalous to us for a man to sit at a well with a woman, but it certainly was in Jesus’ day … Third, Jesus overcame a social and religious taboo by asking for a drink. Jews did not share utensils with Samaritans; doing so risked separation from the fellowship and worship of God’s people under the temple rules …

Why did Jesus cross these barriers? Because He cared for the woman’s soul. We, too, have to cross barriers to reach people for Christ … Many people are kept from God simply because they think they don’t belong at church. They assume that believers will look down on them. Moreover, they feel uncomfortable in religious surroundings, the way a Samaritan would have felt in Jerusalem. For all these reasons, they are not likely to come to us, so we have to take the gospel to them. (Phillips, 109-114)

In this chapter Rick Phillips reminds of the evangelistic opportunities that occur in ordinary life with ordinary people. Pursuing ordinary people may not seem particularly motivating. But that is exactly with Jesus did with the woman at the well. You see, ordinary people who are spiritually lost are headed for an eternity of excruciating pain and agony—just like famous lost people. Finding ways to have conversations about Jesus Christ and how he runs his world will take forethought and planning. It may even mean crossing uncomfortable barriers. But it will also mean giving the most important message on earth to ordinary people. These people are your friends, your neighbors, and your coworkers. These are the people in the checkout lane at where you shop. These are guys that you hunt, fish, and watch football with. These are ordinary people who do not know Christ. They may be exasperating at times, but like you, they need to know Christ.

Why not make a list of the ordinary people in your life? Then, after each person on the list, jot down a way to begin a conversation that will lead to talking about Christ. For example, if the person at the checkout seems down, you could say something to encourage him or her. Always make it a point to show appreciation for their help, especially when it seems like they are having a tough day. Then, as the relationship begins to grow, you can find opportunities to mention how Christ is an encouragement to you. Do this same exercise which each of the ordinary people on your list. Ordinary people need to know your extraordinary God!

Week 8 - Who’s Listening?

2008-11-02T16:21:00.001-05:00

I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. John 5:24a

Romans 10:14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? (ESV)

This week’s blog is condensed from pages 51-55 of Ken Priddy’s book, The Silent Church. Priddy’s work makes a good counterpoint to Rick Phillips’ book, Jesus the Evangelist. Phillips does an excellent job of laying out the content of the gospel message. Priddy, on the other hand, discusses the effectiveness of how that gospel is presented. This is, in some ways, the classic issue that committed Christians have faced down through church history—first, getting the gospel message right and then, getting the gospel message out. Notice how Priddy addressed this in working with the leadership of a national church. The same issues apply to us at Redeemer.

“With over 80% of American Protestant churches in plateau or decline, every regional and national church entity needs to provide resources to return the majority of its churches to health and growth. This was the intent when I presented our ministry to a particular national board. I emphasized that our approach to church revitalization is built on two platforms, spiritual renewal and strategic initiative. I explained that most churches tend to emphasize one or the other. Those that emphasize only spiritual renewal experience a “spiritual pep rally.” Interest and excitement flare up for a short season, but without backing the spiritual with the strategic, the fire dies out and ministry returns to status quo. Those that emphasize only strategic initiative chase the new methodology of the moment. This creates some energy and short-term gains, but without spiritual renewal the church’s ministry will soon return to status quo.

Later, I sat with the board’s revitalization committee. I soon discovered that this group resonated strongly with spiritual renewal, but wasn’t really appreciating the value of strategic initiative. I was asked: “I know there’s a place for strategy, but isn’t it really all about the power of the proclaimed Word of God?” Well, it’s hard to argue against the power of God’s Word proclaimed, yet I needed to defend strategic initiative. I knew they would respect a thoughtful, biblical and theological response, but it was time to break for dinner. So I asked, “Do most of the pastors in your denomination proclaim the Word of God?” They answered, “Yes.” I continued, “Then if it’s all about the power of the proclaimed Word of God, why are most of the churches in your denomination in plateau or decline?” Point – Game – Match!

That night I couldn’t sleep. I felt that I had made my point, but had hardly rallied these leaders to embrace strategic initiative. I prayed into the early hours of the morning, reading here and there in Scripture. Suddenly it hit me. It’s not just the power of the proclaimed Word of God—it’s the power of that proclamation when it falls on the ears of the unbeliever. Strategic initiative is the commitment of a church to put unbelieving ears within reach of Gospel proclamation.
The next morning this new insight was very well received. The riddle asks, “If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” The answer is, “Yes.” Sound, by definition, is vibration and as the tree falls, vibration occurs whether anyone hears it or not. However, if a Gospel proclamation is made and there are no unbelieving ears to hear it, has the Gospel truly been proclaimed? No. Webster defines the word proclaim as, “to announce or declare in an open or ostentatious way, to indicate or make known publicly or openly, to extol or praise publicly,” and defines the word proclamation as, “something that is proclaimed; a public and official announcement.” A strategic initiative will put an unbelieving public within range of the proclaimed Word.

Churches that choose to preach and teach the Word of God without employing strategies to penetrate their communities will continue to talk only to themselves. The strategic question is not, “What’s being proclaimed?” The strategic question is, “Who’s listening?””

Priddy is assuming that the content of the message must be clear and biblically orthodox. But once this is in place, who is going to hear the message? The truth of the gospel can be affirmed by those who already know it, but it can only be proclaimed to those who don’t know it. Thus, Jesus told his followers to go and proclaim this message among the nations to those who do not know it. Few of us have the opportunity to travel the globe proclaiming the gospel message. However, there are those in our daily lives who need to hear this proclamation. God has sovereignly placed you on this planet to proclaim the wonder of the gospel to those whom you know. There are men with whom you come in contact who are enslaved to Internet pornography; who are flirting with drunkenness; who are looking for excitement outside of their marriages; and, who are more committed to their sports team than they are to their families. You will meet others whose lives are tied to the value of their 401k or who are embittered by the nation’s political climate. These people need to hear the gospel proclamation. Yes, invite them to church, but also tell them why: proclaim Christ to them.

John 3:16-18 The Gospel of Love & Faith

2008-10-28T13:11:00.001-04:00

16"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. ESV

Notice these important comments from Rick Phillips in Chapter 7 of Jesus the Evangelist. Love and Faith are two of the most used words in our culture. For this reason it is important to understand the meaning of these words as God intended. Phillips provides this help in this chapter.

"John 3:16 is a verse beloved by evangelists because it answers an essential question, namely, “What is the gospel?” This is not a trivial matter. The fact is that the witness of many Christians is greatly hampered by confusion over the content of the Christian gospel. To some, the gospel is simply an invitation for a person to allow God to come into his or her heart. But what does this mean? Is this what God offers the world? Given this kind of confusion, it is essential for those who witness the gospel to know what the gospel is.…

John 3:16 presents us with the Bible’s greatest theme: God’s love for us through Jesus Christ. This is a message that the world needs to hear and that our witness must proclaim. …What can Christians say about God’s love?

· The apostle Paul writes that God’s love is great … (Eph. 2:4-5a) …
· Paul elsewhere describes God’s love as unfathomable (Eph. 3:18-19a) …

· Moreover, as God is sovereign, so is His love … This was God’s explanation to the Israelites for the love He showed them in the exodus: “It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the Lord loves you” (Deut. 7:7-8a). …
· The greatness of God’s love for the world is seen most clearly in the gift that He gave: “his only Son.” …

If God loved us by giving us His son, we ought to love Him with all that we have in return … And we should express that devotion by loving others with the same kind of love God has shown to us. We are to show a love the world does not know—a love not based on getting, but a love that says, “God has given to me, so I want to love Him by giving to others.” This giving love should beautify our marriages, enliven our friendships, glorify God in the church, and inspire in us a loving fervor in evangelism. This was John’s own application in his first epistle, having spoken first of God’s love for us in the giving of His Son”: “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” (1 John 4:11).

John 3:16 … is also very instructive about this greatest of all possessions—faith. The Christian witness is an appeal for faith, both in the loving God who gave His Son and in Jesus Christ, the Savior who gives eternal life. Because of this, Christians need to be able to explain just what faith is. This is an important question that is bound to come up in conversations about the gospel. What, then, is saving faith? …

Until we are born again, we cannot and do not believe, because our sinful nature is opposed to faith. Therefore, to realize that you believe in Christ—that you accept what the Bible teaches, trust it as saving truth, and have personally committed yourself to Jesus—is to receive wonderfully good news. It means that you have been born again, since Jesus says that without the new birth you cannot even see, much less enter, God’s kingdom." (Phillips, 83-98)

Faith and love are words you hear your unsaved friends, co-workers and family use constantly. Use Phillips’ definition of these terms to consider the differences between how others use these terms and how God uses them. Plan now how to engage these folks with whom you are close when they use these words. You could say something like – “I really agree with you that we need faith more than ever these days. But the object of our faith is what really matters. I would really enjoy talking about it over a cup of coffee.” Ask God to help you use common, everyday words to bring the gospel to those around you.

John 3:9-10, 14-21 The Answer

2008-10-19T23:31:00.004-04:00

9 Nicodemus said to him, "How can these things be?" 10 Jesus answered him, "Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things?

14And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. 16"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God." ESV

Nicodemus was not born again and therefore was not able to understand. But his questions were sincere and, starting in verse 14, Jesus gave him a series of glorious answers. These answers should be included in our witness to unbelievers.

How can one be born again? Jesus’ first answer was that the new birth is possible because of the sacrifice of the Son of Man. This is the cause of the new birth … Because Jesus died for us, the Holy Spirit comes to make us born again. Through faith in the Son of Man lifted up, sinners gain eternal life.
Jesus’ next answer to Nicodemus comes in John 3:16. Having named the Son’s sacrifice as the cause of the new birth, Jesus gave the love of the Father as the reason for the new birth: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” How simple, profound, and wonderful this is. The reason we can be born again, receiving eternal life, is that God loves the world …

Jesus’ first answer to Nicodemus was the sacrifice of the son and His second was the love of the father, so we would expect His third answer to deal with the Holy Spirit. This is right …How is it that you can be born again? Because the light of Christ is shining today through the illuminating work of God’s Spirit. This is the means of the new birth; this is how people are born again today …

Nicodemus was right that Jesus’ teaching on the new birth was stupendous. He asked, “How can this be?” It was a very good question. Jesus answered with very good news. There is life through His death, there is love from the heart of God, and there is light shining in God’s Word through the Holy Spirit. This is why we can be born again. (Phillips, 75-79)

Phillips identifies three answers from John 3 in Jesus’ response to Nicodemus’ question. Since John was written that people would come to believe, these answers are significant! There must be a satisfying response to the evil of men. Despite all of man’s attempts to dodge responsibility for sin and shift blame to others, people know deep in their hearts that there must be an accounting for the wrongs they have done. As Christians, we can address that deep reality – Jesus made that accounting right on the cross. Jesus sacrificed himself for others. He made this sacrifice because of the love of his Father and thus made his Father’s love effective for those for whom he died. The Holy Spirit completes the mission by bringing illumination to those who have been given this sacrificial gift of divine love.

Brothers, this is Phillips’ point: You have the answers that those around you who are lost so desperately need! What then will you do with these precious answers? Here are three suggestions:

First, pray earnestly for those you know who are lost. Make a specific list of people with whom you have regular contact. Pray for them by name. Pray that God would give the opportunity to give these answers to the questions they secretly ask themselves.

Second, plan your conversations with these folks so that you could 1) address the seeming hopelessness of the shallow answers of this world, and 2) speak of the love of God where there is no hope.

Third, believe that God’s Spirit will provide you with opportunities to provide these answers. Ask God for an attitude of optimism and eagerness to give these powerful answers to others.
· Tell your group about this list of folks.
· Pray for them as a group.

You have the answers!

Week 5 Acts 4:29 Religiously Correct

2008-10-12T23:32:00.002-04:00

And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness. esv

Here is another excerpt from Ken Priddy’s book, The Silent Church. It fits well with the emphasis that Richard Phillips makes regarding being born again. Our culture is accepting of a politically correct Jesus. This Jesus is the one that shows up around Christmas and Easter and hides out the rest of the year. This Jesus doesn’t offend anyone. This Jesus is a product of what Priddy says is the religiously correct, or RC. Listen to what Ken has to say about this:

Twenty-first century USA has greeted the American church with numerous point-counterpoint realities that might be summarized as, “I’ve got some good news and some bad news.” Let’s start with the bad news. Christianity has been marginalized by current culture, losing much of its mainstream influence. Out with prayer in schools. Out with displays of the Ten Commandments in public places. Out with creationism in the classroom. The current culture’s concept of “tolerance” on steroids means no morals, no rules, no restraints, no limits, no boundaries, no authority and no absolute truth. And to think it wasn’t all that long ago that planned parenthood meant that if you’re planning to have sex, you’d better plan on being a parent.

So what’s the good news? The good news is that pushing Christianity to the margins has made our faith counter-cultural. The once prevalent Cultural Christianity is on the wane, with its replacement becoming potentially more intense, more real and more authentic.

Here’s another scenario, starting with the good news. The good news is that twenty-first century USA is more spiritually minded than its predecessor. The emerging generation having seen the bankruptcy of external achievement and egocentricity, is turning more and more toward the mystical, the invisible, and the spiritual. In this renewed interest in things spiritual there is opportunity for the American church.

However, the bad news is that the draw toward the spiritual has not necessarily been a draw toward Christ. There are many spiritual options to be pursued these days that don’t lead to truth, don’t lead to repentance, and don’t lead to eternal life.
So what is the church to do? It seems to me that we have the advantage. For starters, we have the truth, the real thing. Every other faith, worldview or belief system is standing on a faulty foundation and is sure to fall eventually. We have the Holy Spirit going before us as He wills to regenerate those who will receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. We have the promise of God that He will build His church. We have the biblical and historical record of the New Testament that compels us to share our faith and that gives us examples such as the Apostle Paul who becomes all things to all men that he might save some.

Yet, despite all these advantages, the Christian church in many cases remains strangely silent. Why? In several instances the answer that has surfaced when this question was asked is something akin to political correctness. Our P.C. culture has found resonance in the church with what might be called R.C., Religious Correctness. Many Christian churches, surrounded by communities embracing spiritual diversity, are afraid to press the Christian faith because it might appear prideful or it might offend someone of another faith. It’s not the “loving” thing to do. We must be accepting of other faiths or we appear arrogant and exclusive.

So, apparently, the loving, accepting and humble thing to do, in some Christian circles, is to allow our neighbors of other spiritual persuasions to go to hell without a fight. Though they might be eternally damned, we will be religiously correct as we keep the Good News to ourselves.

Excerpted from The Silent Church: 39 Reasons We Keep the Good News to Ourselves, by Kenneth E. Priddy (unpublished manuscript, 2007) 39. Used by permission.

Here are some challenging questions to consider and discuss:
· Which Jesus do your family, friends and coworkers think that you love – the biblical Jesus or the RC Jesus?
· Do you have family, friends and coworkers who are a part of the RC establishment? Are you:
a. Glad that they at least acknowledge something is spiritual in life?
b. Concerned that they may be misguided but not concerned enough to warn them of hell?
c. Glad that they are not offended that you go to church?
d. Worried that you will be viewed as judgmental, backwards, or a Bible thumper if you present the biblical Jesus to them?
e. Committed to bring the biblical Jesus to them even though they may think less of you?

· Concerning this same group of people, consider the following questions, especially in light of this Scripture verse: And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness. Acts 4:29 esv
a. Are you praying that they will know the biblical Jesus?
b. What specific plans could you make to help them see the dangers of believing in the RC Jesus?

c. How could you get to know their areas of personal struggle? What difference could it make to them if you could explain how the biblical Jesus differs from the RC Jesus?

d. Are you bothered that their belief in the RC Jesus will lead them to hell itself?

Week 4 John 3:1-3 Born Again

2008-10-06T15:29:00.002-04:00

1Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him." 3Jesus answered him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." ESV

…Nicodemus may have come to Jesus with good will, but his approach was that of an equal or a patronizer, not that of a believer in his Savior or a worshiper before his God
It is significant that Jesus did not welcome Nicodemus’s advance. Had Jesus been a mere teacher, a mere man, these words would have been music to His ears. He was being recognized, accorded access, and promised support! But Jesus bluntly stated that Nicodemus did not know what he was talking about. Indeed, he could not know. “Truly, truly, I say to you,” Jesus replied, “unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).

A comparison of others’ encounters with Jesus helps us to see this as the reproof it was. To the rich young ruler, so devoted to his money, Jesus commanded, “Sell what you possess and give to the poor” (Matt. 19:21). To the woman at the well, He offered “living water” (John 4:10). Jesus always directs us away from our worldly sources of confidence to the spiritual realities of heaven. So to the confident Pharisee, who was so proud of his lineage, He said, “You must be born again” (John 3:7). Leon Morris observes, “In one sentence he sweeps away all that Nicodemus stood for, and demands that he be remade by the power of God.” We can learn from this reproof to think about what false sources of confidence people we know are relying upon. These are pressure points where we should prayerfully apply the challenges of God’s Word. (Phillips, 61)

Consider where your confidence lies.

To illustrate – if your favorite football team is leading its conference or is in the top 10 in the polls, is there an extra spring in your step? Do you feel just a little superior to others around you? Then what happens when the wins turn into losses? You get the point. If your confidence is rooted in the wrong place, then even as a Christian, your confidence is uncertain and shaky.

Here are some questions that may help to identify misplaced confidence:
· When things don’t go well at home or at work or with your team, are you less confident?
· Are you anxious about the outcome of the presidential election?
· How much confidence does being born again bring to your everyday life?

What about the unbeliever? As a Christian, you know that the unbeliever has a false source of confidence. Only Christ provides true and genuine confidence.
· How might you use this insight in talking to an unbelieving friend?

Week 3 - Behold, the Lamb of God

2008-09-28T01:48:00.004-04:00

John 1:29-34
29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is he of whom I said, 'After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.' 31 I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel." 32 And John bore witness: "I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33 I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' 34 And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God." ESV

A Christian witness is first and foremost about Christ.

We tell people what the early church enshrined in the Apostles’ Creed: that Jesus is God’s only Son and our Lord; that He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary; that He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; that He experienced death for three days and then rose from the grave; that He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; and that from there He will come to judge the living and the dead. …

[The message of John the Baptist] was not about his experiences or what he felt about God, but about Jesus. When he saw Jesus, he declared, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” We, too, must testify that Jesus is the One who came to do God’s will by God’s power. John the Baptist said, “I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God” (John 1:34), and we must, too … (Phillips, 12-13; also, see chapter 3)

In chapter 3, Phillips points out the powerful connection between Jesus, the Lamb of God, and the Passover lamb of Exodus 12. He says, “So calling Jesus the Lamb of God was John’s way of saying that his blood causes God’s wrath to pass over all those who trust in him.” The imagery of the Lamb of God wonderfully unites the typical symbol (the Old Testament sacrifice of lambs) to the ultimate reality, Jesus. Just like the Passover lamb, the blood of Jesus protects fully all of those for whom he died. What an encouragement to know that your sins—past, present and future—are covered by the blood sacrifice of Jesus.

What does this mean in daily life? It means that you don’t have to live a life of constant excuse-making for your sins, because Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away your sin. It means that you can extend kindness and mercy to friends and coworkers who mistreat you because the Lamb of God takes away your sin. You have a message of hope to give to others, that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of all those who ask in faith. It means that you can face each day with joy and peace because the Lamb of God has paid the price for your sin. It means you are not like the unbelievers around you because the Lamb of God has been slain in your place.

What does it mean to you that Jesus is the Lamb of God?

· For each day this week think of a particular way that you are blessed because Jesus is the Lamb of God.

· Thank God in prayer for this reality.

· Tell your wife about this blessing from the Lamb of God. Tell a friend or a co-worker. Start with some ideas from the paragraph above and then add your own life experiences to the mix.

· Finish your week by praising God in prayer for a particular way in which the Lamb of God has brought comfort to your life because you no longer bear the guilt of your sins. Ask God to make this personal application grow in importance to you. You have been blessed by Jesus the Evangelist.

Think where you would be if the Lamb of God had not taken the punishment for your anger, your greed, your lust, your selfishness. Praise God that he did. Because of that personal sacrifice you don’t have to live under a cloud of guilt and defensiveness. The Lamb of God has taken away your sin.

Facing the Challenge of Evangelism

2008-09-22T15:39:00.002-04:00

Week 2 2 Timothy 4:5, 17-18

5 But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardships,
do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.

17 But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the lion's mouth. 18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen. —2 Timothy 4:5, 17-18 ESV

The following article, “Evangephobia,” is excerpted and adapted from an unpublished manuscript written by Ken Priddy, Director of Church Renewal for Outreach North America, the home missions agency of our denomination.

Evangephobia

But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardships, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. —2 Timothy 4:5
A phobia is a fear and we all have fears; fear of heights, fear of public speaking, fear of failure, to name a few. In observing the American church, I have discovered a fear that is running at epidemic proportions, the fear of evangelizing, or as I have come to call it, evangephobia. This fear has paralyzed the American church, making it one of the least effective at evangelizing of all the national churches in the world.

I find this both tragic and embarrassing. Every second of every day God is building His invisible, eternal church as He brings the world’s lost men, women and children to Himself. The Christian church in many countries of the world is exploding with growth, and yet the American church, with the world’s best-educated clergy, the world’s most resources, and the world’s most political freedom, declines. Why? The American church seems afraid to share its faith, caught in a sweeping outbreak of evangephobia.

When questioned about their evangephobia, American Christians list many causes, but several are cited with great frequency:
• They lack the spiritual gift of evangelism.
• They don’t want to offend people.
• They fear rejection.
• They don’t know what to say.

It seems odd that so many Christians can easily communicate their personal experiences at having read a great book, seen a great movie, dined at a great restaurant, or received great service from an auto mechanic. Recommendations and testimonies flow freely in regard to these everyday occurrences, yet when it comes to sharing our personal experiences with our great Savior, we suddenly lose all ability to communicate.

Sharing the faith, or witnessing, is born in personal testimony. Recommending a book, movie, restaurant or auto mechanic begins with our giving testimony to our personal experiences. We say that we found the book to be entertaining, educational or full of meaning. We report that the movie was hilarious or dramatic and know that others would love it as well. The food was delicious and well presented and so we rave about the dining experience. The mechanic did a great job in a timely manner at a reasonable price. We have benefited through these personal experiences so we urge others to benefit as well.

Why is it that we give such effective testimony about so many things in our lives but go mute when it comes to giving testimony to the most important thing? Perhaps another reason is that our faith is more intellectual than experiential, so that we really don’t have much of a testimony to share. What if we never read the book, never saw the movie, never ate the meal or never took the car in for service? What kind of testimony could we give? Regardless of the causes, evangephobia continues to spread through the American church, and we continue to keep the Good News to ourselves.
• In what ways have I succumbed to the widespread spiritual disease of evangephobia?
• What is my testimony, my personal eyewitness account of who Jesus is and what He means to me?

Redeemer men, think about the charge Paul gives in 2 Timothy 4:5. Timothy seems to have been somewhat timid, and Paul urges him to work hard at the task of evangelism. Meditate also on the verses at the end of the same chapter (vv. 17-18), where Paul reflects on his own experience. Evangelism did not come easily to Timothy, or even to Paul. Be encouraged! The same strength they received for their task is available to you also. You have the same God!

John 1:6-14 A Witness to the Light

2008-09-12T23:47:00.001-04:00

6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.
9 The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. — John 1:6-14 ESV

As John introduces the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, it is clear what he considers to be the great need of our world: belief in Jesus Christ. John wrote his Gospel to show that “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31).

As human beings, we are alienated from God because of our sin. God is holy, and the guilt of our sin has placed us under His just condemnation. Meanwhile, the power of sin works evil in and through our lives, so that John could say in his first epistle that “the whole world lies in the power of the evil one” (I John 5:19). If these are our great problems—God’s condemning judgment and the insidious effects of sin—the answer is the Savior whom God sent as a light to this dark world … the true answer to the world’s true problems is Jesus Christ, an answer we receive through belief in Him [emphasis added].

Richard Phillips, in Jesus the Evangelist, goes on to discuss how necessary it is to have witnesses to establish the truth, and how many different witnesses are presented in the Gospel of John. He further concludes that, just as Jesus sent out the disciples to be witnesses, now we are to carry on the work of witnessing to the world.

Christians understand the problems of the world as no one else can. Those who are spiritually dead cannot comprehend the truth. How many people do you know who live in darkness? How many people do you know who have the light … but keep it hidden?
Men, your role as a leader—in your home, at church, at work, and in your community—includes this most important task: to lead in evangelism. You must lead your family in witnessing; you must be a witness at work; you must shine the light of the gospel in the community; and you must work together with the rest of the church to spread the good news of the gospel.
• What is the content of your witness for Christ in evangelism? (What are the facts that people must hear?)
• How do you need to grow in your practice of witnessing?
• What will you do to equip yourself to be a better witness?

Gas Prices & Leadership

2008-05-12T01:12:00.000-04:00

The law from your mouth is more precious to me
than thousands of pieces of silver and gold. Psalm 119:72

Leadership that honors God must be consistent with what God says about himself in Scripture. As you grow in your Christian walk, your appreciation and awe for God and his Son must increase, not decrease. In any relationship, if you begin to take someone for granted the strength of that relationship begins to decrease. Taking God for granted, as in not having growing love for him, will lead to inconsistency in the things you say and the things you do. Children show particular expertise in detecting inconsistencies in parents. If you talk to you children about a God who is wonderful, about a Savior who means everything to you, but then you are down and discouraged about some event that didn’t go your way, you are being inconsistent. Your testimony about the wonder of God is diminished your children’s eyes.

For example, you may speak glowingly about the sovereignty of God but then be quickly discouraged by rising gas prices. This discouragement may spill over into worry and short tempers as the price of gas marches upward. Complaints begin about the price of food going up because of high gas prices. Trips to the gas station become an exercise in anxiety as you peek to see how high the gas price has risen since yesterday. You may hear yourself saying things like, No children we can’t go to the park today. It is too expensive to drive there and I don’t want to hear any whining about it. Then when you speak to a friend or coworker you say, “I just can’t believe the price of gas! This is outrageous. I can’t even go to the store without having to take out a loan to pay for gas!”

What difference does the sovereignty of God make to you? God is no less gracious to you now than when gas was selling for $1.95 per gallon. However, your children might think otherwise. Do they hear constant complaints and worry—or short, irritated responses?

To be sure, the rising price of gas presents significant budget challenges to your family. But Colossians 1:15-20 says that Jesus Christ has authority even over the price of gas. Romans 8:28 teaches that all things work together for the good of those who love him. If you teach your children that the control of God is a good thing, then you must also come to terms with rising gas prices. This does not mean that you must pray for the price of gas to go higher! But it does mean that even in this difficult situation and the financial hardships that may come, God is still the wonderful Lord of Creation. He is bringing these events about so that you will look more to him and less to yourself. It is important to teach your children to adjust to the lifestyle changes that may come with rising fuel costs in a way that honors God. God is still a good God even if gas prices continue to rise.

It may well be that rising gas prices are the result of poor governmental planning, trouble in the Middle East, and an over dependence on foreign oil. But none of these factors detracts one bit from the glory of God and the priceless gift of salvation found in Jesus Christ. Psalm 119:72 says:

The law from your mouth is more precious to me
than thousands of pieces of silver and gold.

Every trial is an opportunity to live out this reality in front of your children, your wives and the community around you. Rising gas prices will no doubt have a significant financial impact for many, perhaps your family. As Psalm 46 says, you can take comfort and refuge in the knowledge that the God of Jacob is for us. The Bible does not ignore hard times. It tells us to expect them. The difference between the wise and foolish builders in Matthew 7 is not that one faced storms and the other one did not. Storms came to the lives of both men. The difference was the foundation upon which their lives were built. May God grant grace to us as parents, and the ability to present God as faithful in both pleasant times and difficult times. The world can easily complain about high gas prices and fall into despair. God calls you to be different from the world. Use this opportunity to offer praise to the Lord of heaven and earth, and yes, have confidence in God even in the face of gas prices.

Have you reacted to the rising price of gas with irritation or anxiety? Remember, just last week we talked about the sufficiency of Scripture, and our commitment to growing in reliance on the Bible in areas of our lives where we fall short. As you grow in reliance on the Bible, you will respond to trials—such as the gas prices—with more wisdom and consistency.

Summer is almost here; vacations will begin. Don’t take a summer vacation from your leadership responsibilities. Plan some goals now for this summer.

Do you have specific, measurable goals for growing in your knowledge of the Bible? If you don’t, why not discuss this with your group, and set at least one specific goal for yourself for the summer months?
Remember to include what, when, and how. Your plan should have specific steps to do at least weekly.

The Bible, Leadership & You

2008-05-05T23:56:00.001-04:00

I run in the path of your commands,

for you have set my heart free. —Psalm 119:32

Certainly one thing that can be said about the teaching at Redeemer is that the Bible is central to all that we do in life. This belief is the cornerstone of our counseling program. The challenge for us as men is to extend this reliance upon the Scriptures to all areas of our lives. On the basis 2 Peter 1:3-4 and other passages, summarized in our confessional standards, we affirm that the Bible is the only perfect or infallible rule for faith and life.

It is important for us to examine how consistent we are in applying this truth to our lives. With the time pressures and many responsibilities of everyday life it is easy for us to unwittingly add to the standard of the Bible as our only infallible rule for faith and life. For example, do our wives and children see us consistently appealing to the Bible as the basis for our day to day decisions? Or do they see us relying on some homemade combination of dad's conventional wisdom and common sense?

We must not let the Bible be crowded out by day to day pressures. Our world is so full of competing philosophies and perspectives that we have to make an intentional effort to start with Scripture. While it is often easier to do things the way we've always done them, or the way friends at work say to do them, or whatever the popular conventional wisdom says, God wants us to do the hard work using his word as our source of wisdom. Although challenging, this approach provides great freedom.

Let's explore this theme for a moment. The goal is not to quote Scripture locations with every sentence that we speak. Rather, our goal should be to have the principles of Scripture be so familiar to us that they flow freely and naturally out of our mouths. As John says in his first epistle, the commands of God are not burdensome. Psalm 119:32 puts it this way:

I run in the path of your commands,

for you have set my heart free.

This verse accurately reflects the mindset of someone who believes that the Bible really is our only perfect rule of faith and life. Here, intimate knowledge of the word of God produces a genuine heartfelt freedom. This verse does not describe someone struggling with a heavy burden, but someone who moves with eagerness and freedom along the path of life. This is what the Bible is designed to do for the people of God. Psalm 19 says that the word of God revives the soul, makes the simple wise, gives joy to the heart, gives light to the eyes and is much more valuable than precious gold.

Men, if this is what the word of God is to you, then your attitude and behavior will encourage those around you. You will find yourself being excited about discovering new ways to apply the Scriptures to your life.

Since last fall, we have covered a lot of ground in our discussions about leadership. In the next couple of weeks, as we approach the summer break, let's specifically thank God for the sufficiency of his precious word. Let's pray that God would produce in us the reality of having our hearts set free, as we run in the path of his commands.

Remember, if we think the word of God is restrictive, our children will think the word of God is restrictive. If we act as if obedience to Christ is a heavy burden, then we will not be the encouragement to our wives that God calls us to be. If following Christ is drudgery to us, then others will have no desire to serve the God that we serve. Men, does your life reflect the joy of Psalm 119:32?
List some areas in which you do not rely sufficiently on Scripture for wisdom.
List at least two areas in which you commit to grow in your reliance on Scripture.

What will you do to accomplish this? Include what, when, and how. To whom will you be accountable?

Why?

2008-04-27T22:27:00.002-04:00

19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these… Galatians 5:19-21

1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. Ephesians 2:1-3

Fathers, let’s consider one basic question regarding the issue of protecting our children from the entrapment of the world: Why? As in Why do they want to sin? Why can’t they see that it is more blessed to give than to receive? Why can’t they see that they don’t always have to be first? Why can’t teenagers see that sexual sin is wrong, always wrong? Why can’t they see that parents must be obeyed? The answer, of course, should not really be a mystery.

How did children begin their lives? Many would have us think that our children begin life neutrally with regard to obedience. It is easy to think that if I, as a parent, would be more patient and kind my children would respond more quickly to my instructions. While it is true that parents should be patient and kind, that by itself will not help children to be more obedient. The problem goes much deeper than that. The two passages quoted at the top of this post state the problem powerfully.

These two passages describe both the actions and the motivation of children. Children sin because it is what they deeply desire from birth. It takes faith to look at an infant and then believe that Galatians 5 describes the things that he wants to do naturally. It takes trust in God’s word to believe that your child’s natural motivation is to indulge his fleshly passions and follow the ways of the Evil One. Yet this is precisely what these two passages teach. No amount of kindness, gentleness and evenness on the part of parents will dislodge the natural passion in children to live for themselves and gratify their flesh. Only a new heart can make that difference.

Tim Challies has a helpful and insightful post on his thoughts about his children’s sin. He rightly compares his own battle with sin to his children’s:

But I’m like a kid. I like that sin and I hate the authority that places itself over me and tells me to let that sin go. I roll my eyes, I grind my teeth, and I feel my heart rebel. In my heart I tell God that I’d rather sin than obey Him; I effectively tell Him that right now I’d rather have my sin than have Him. This sin is more important to me than my relationship with the Creator of the universe. Oh, I love that sin so much.

Tim’s honest assessment of his own affection for sin puts the cards on the table. I believe that he provides an accurate picture of what goes into a child’s thinking when he refuses to obey. I am humbled by Tim’s honesty and transparency. I am also grateful because I believe his words give you a glimpse into the heart of children struggling with obedience and wanting what they want.

You see, being even and kind to a child dominated by these thoughts will not make a dent in the real issue. That is why your focus in parenting must be directed at the heart. As a Christian parent trying to lead your child to Christ you are, in effect, interrupting a love affair between a child and his natural passions. Children are by nature focused on what they want. What they naturally want is not pretty! Look at Galatians 5:19-21 again. When you tell your child he should share his toys, you are challenging a deep, passionate desire for self-gratification. As parents we think, it is just a toy truck, what’s the big deal? The big deal is that your child is naturally controlled by the desire to please himself. That toy truck is his connection with happiness and you want to take it from him! No wonder there is such a negative reaction when you tell him to give it up.

This is why only the gospel and the word of Christ can help your children. The word of God must be deeply valued by our children. Tim’s comments provide some background to the truth of Proverbs 6:20-24 that we have been examining in the last several posts. Tim also demonstrates a parent’s biblical response to his child’s natural love for sin when he recognizes the similarity between himself and his child:

So I guess I’m not too different from my children. The remedy they need is the same one I need. Like me, they need to see that authority is given to us as a gracious gift from God. They need to learn to honor authority and to see it as something given to restrain us rather than annoy us. And they need to honor that authority and to obey it joyfully, willingly, immediately and with a joyful heart. This is what I need to do with my sin—I need to hear and heed God’s Word. And this is what they need to do with their sin—hear and heed my words as I seek to teach them what God would have them do.

This is the point of Proverbs 6:22 when it speaks of how the word of God is to live within us.

When you walk, they will guide you;
When you sleep, they will watch over you;
When you awake, they will speak to you.

You and your children have the same issues. The answers to those issues are the same for each of you. Hearts must be directed to Christ and his word. Sin needs to be seen for what it is. The next time you wonder why your children don’t respond well to your direction, think about what is really going on inside. Consider the battles of the heart. Consider the hope that Christ alone offers. Urge your children, as Solomon did, to bind the words of Christ upon their hearts forever.

· What behaviors and attitudes do you see in your children (or yourself) when they can’t have what they want? (Anger and defiance? Self-pity and sulking? Obedience?)

· How do you usually respond to their behavior? (Do you label their behavior/attitude biblically, or do you try to “manage” it or appease them?)

· What changes do you need to make in the way you confront sin in your children?

If you don’t have children at home (or even if you do) what changes do you need to make in the way you confront sin in yourself?

Be Strong and Courageous

2008-04-21T11:07:00.002-04:00

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go." — Joshua 1:9

Here are some recent headlines from newspapers & Internet sources:

America faces food rationing?

Oil nears $118 per barrel – could top $125 soon!

Gas at all time high

Dollar continues slide against Euro

Economic Recession already here

After-shocks continue from mid-west quake

More troops killed in car-bomb in Iraq

Housing crisis deepens

These headlines are typical of the news these days. While these headlines are nothing new, they represent constant themes that are before the American public. Taken as a whole these headlines present an attitude of concern and worry. They indicate an undercurrent that is increasing in our culture – gloom and doom. These themes work their way into the lives of our families. While they don’t represent imminent danger, they contribute to a general mood of discouragement.

As husbands and fathers, you may or may not be bothered by these headlines. You may just dismiss them as media hype. However, our culture is discouraged and even fearful of these warnings. Our children interact with other children whose families may “stressed” by the daily onslaught of depressing headlines.

God’s words to Joshua are the only true source of hope and courage in this world. Without trusting in God’s sovereign control the barrage of worrisome headlines does provide reasons for discouragement. This is important for us to communicate to those around us. The reason things will not fall apart is that God is in control—not because we have the good sense to recognize media sensationalism.

Strength and courage come from God. The world is intimidating. It is important to take time to encourage your family with the truth of Joshua 1:9. We can be strong and courageous because God is with us. Make a point to take a headline from the news and examine it with your family in light of God’s providence and control. Help your families be encouraged by the truth of Scripture.

Also, examine your own heart in light of this changing world and culture. Some of you, perhaps, are facing downsizing at your job. Some are concerned about rising housing and fuel prices. Food prices are going up. In these situations, fear can show itself by increasing irritation and shortness with others. You may find yourself doing the finances over and over again in your mind. Perhaps the headlines are beginning to take their toll, now that you have thought about it. The answer is still the same. Be strong and courageous for I am with you!

What type of issues concern you most for the future? Economic? Morality? Terrorism?
What issues tempt you to worry and anxiety?
What will you do to replace fear with courage and strength?

Why do you work?

2008-04-13T23:45:00.001-04:00

Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.

And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him. Ephesians 6:5-9

Why do you work? A number of answers seem obvious: to pay the bills, to get out of debt, to build the 401-K, to buy a house, to use personal abilities, to advance professionally, and other reasons. For many in American culture, work is a means to an end. In other words, some people endure work, but what they really live for is some activity outside of work. Few think of work as a religious activity unless one happens to be in some sort of full time religious service.

Take a few moments to consider what you think about work and why you work. Since work often occupies the single largest block of dedicated time in life, having a clear idea of why you do what you do is good important.

This passage in Ephesians 6, plus the parallel passage in Colossians 3, makes a very personal claim upon the lives of Christians. Christians are told to work to do the will of God. You are even told to obey your supervisor or boss just as you would obey Christ. It might seem that it would be easy to obey Christ if he were your boss at work. He would always be fair, his criticisms would be just and helpful, and he would always be looking out for your best interests. What’s not to like about this situation? However, verse five says that you should obey earthly supervisors as if they are the Lord. Here is the rub: human supervisors are not always fair, their criticisms are at times unjust, and often they are more concerned with their own interests than with yours. Yet Paul says to obey these earthly authorities as if they were Christ, himself. Why? For the answer, take a look at verse 16 in Colossians 1:

For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.

Notice the relationship between this verse and verse five above. Your supervisor, with all of his or her faults, was still handpicked by Christ for the job. Jesus Christ determined who your supervisor would be and made you accountable to him. This accountability is not based upon how well your boss performs, but upon the placement of that individual in your life by the Lord of the Universe. All authorities were created at his pleasure.

Work – it is an opportunity to bring honor to the name of God. Do your families see you thinking this way about your work? Your work provides a powerful leadership opportunity to live out true reality in front of those whom you are to lead!

· What things does your boss or supervisor do to make it difficult to obey him as if he were the Lord?

· If you have employees under your authority, what do you do that might make it more difficult for them to obey you?

· What changes do you need to make at work in these areas?

· How can the other men in your group help hold you accountable to be a better leader at work?

But the one who does the will of God lives forever…

2008-04-07T01:37:00.001-04:00

Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever. —1 John 2:15-17

In our studies since the fall we have examined the Beatitudes together. We have been challenged concerning our responsibility to know the Scriptures in order to be able to answer the questions our families may have. The Proverbs have called us to have courage, to fear God, to be discerning, to listen well, to invest in heavenly treasure, to love a rebuke. All these studies are different facets of one great common theme—if we are God’s men we must not love the world, its ways, and its things. What we have studied together is not compatible with loving the world.

This week’s passage in 1 John tells us that the things connected with this world are not worthy of our love, our affection, our longings. The world is passing away. The deceptive plan of the evil one is to entice us to love things whose value is literally a fleeting shadow. The world promises much but delivers only bitter fruit. The things in the world do not bring any lasting satisfaction, only craving for more of those same things.

Certainly none of us wants to see our families pursue the futile desires of this world. We don’t want to see our children say, in the words of Proverbs 5:14, that they have come to the brink of ruin. But are we prepared to lead by example as well as by word and intent? All of the good things we have learned in the men’s ministry will come to naught if our affections are set on the world and things in that world. John is clear: do not love the world. He then identifies three things that distinguish the love of the world: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life.

John is telling us that the things we crave for human satisfaction—things that our eyes are attracted to, worldly things that we long for, and finally, accomplishments that only the world will recognize—take us away from doing the will of the Father. These things cause us to be poor examples to our wives and children. Men, do you have things in one of these three categories that you will not give up? Perhaps they are secret things that you believe only you know about. If there are such things that you will not give up, you are not only heading in the wrong direction yourself, but you are also setting a bad example for your children. Ephesians 4:17-19 teaches that this pursuit will never satisfy, but only lead to lusts that can never be satisfied. The opposite pursuit is to do the will of the Father, which leads to eternal life.

This week as you look at our passage, ask God to help you see where you have a love for the world. God offers us a rich reward for turning from the world. If we pursue his will, revealed in Scripture, we will live forever. No, this is not something we earn. Living forever is the gift of God. However, we can choose not to live for this world, but instead, pursue with courage the will of God. Men, this is a great gift to give to your children, to your grandchildren, to your wife, and to all those whom you love most dearly.

What activities in your life reveal a love for the world?
What can you do today to turn away (repent) from this and do the will of God instead?

Authority for building up

2008-03-31T01:43:00.001-04:00

He who answers before listening—
that is his folly and his shame. Proverbs 18:13

Men, God has charged us with leading our families. The biblical basis for our leadership is found in such passages as Eph. 5:25-33 and Eph. 6:4. This leadership is an awesome responsibility. We are to represent Christ to our wives and children. In 2 Cor. 13:10 we learn that biblical leadership is to have the focus of building others up and not tearing them down. Paul says in Ephesians 4:29 that our words are rotten if they don’t build others up. Each of us can think of examples of leadership that are not especially building or encouraging. Perhaps our fathers appeared to tear us down more than they built us up. Perhaps you have had a supervisor who led by intimidation. God, however, has called us to be different than that. Our leadership is to build up those under our care. We are to lead with understanding and compassion. Thankfully, God has given us specific directions in his word to help us be leaders who build others up. In this post we will look at one of these directives – not to answer without listening.

One common temptation is to think that we know exactly how to solve a problem before we even hear what the problem is. For example, you hear two of your children fussing over a favorite toy. You walk in and dispense judgment based upon previous disputes over this toy. You just assume that the cause of the upset this time is the same as the last time. Or, perhaps you believe you know the reason for your wife’s apparent discouragement as soon as you walk in the house after work. You look at your wife and you are sure you have seen that look on her face before. You believe you know what the problem is, so you tell your wife that she needs to have a better attitude and not be so easily discouraged. Thinking you have been especially observant, you are not even aware that your wife is miffed at your “encouragement.” These are two examples of answering before listening.

These two examples illustrate a severe problem. Pride leads us to think that we can solve problems by making educated guesses about the reason for problem. But Proverbs 18:13 makes the rather startling statement that answering before listening is a foolish and shameful thing. When we answer before we listen we act as though we don’t need input from others to make a wise judgment. Over time this attitude can lead to bitterness and resentment from those we lead. This is one sin whose bitter fruit may take years to mature. Little children seldom have either the ability or the opportunity to address the damage you cause by answering before listening.

“Josh, I see that you still have not learned to share your toy with Ryan.”

“But, daddy, this time I didn’t….“

Now Josh, you know that you must respect daddy and not talk back to me.”

“But, daddy.…”

“Josh, I said no back talking! It is not right before God to be disrespectful to daddy. Not another word!”

What Josh was trying to say was that Ryan was not upset with Josh about sharing the toy. Ryan was actually fussing because he rolled the toy over his finger. Even though Josh had been guilty of not sharing in the past, this time he was actually sharing with Ryan when Ryan hurt his finger.

Josh knew that if he said any more in his defense he would be disciplined, so he just went along with the Dad’s faulty assessment. Over the years Josh said less and less when Dad answered before listening. By the time Josh reached his teen years he wasn’t really interested in hearing what Dad had to say about anything. For his part, Dad wondered what happened to his relationship with Josh. Why was Josh “suddenly” distant and non-responsive? Dad is unaware that the withdrawal started years ago because Dad had become an expert at answering before listening. To be sure, Josh is not an innocent bystander; he had done much to provoke his father. But dad had lost the opportunity to find out what Josh really thought, because he answered before he listened.

This is why this sin is shameful. It can rob you of the relationships you hold most dear. Why not take some time now to examine your habitual responses to your children and to your wife? Ask your wife if you answer before you listen. It is not too late to reclaim the ground you may have lost. God is a gracious God. However, if you persist in answering before listening, you will only push away those closest to you.

Do you build up or tear down with your words?
Do you answer before you listen?

God can help you change. Your family needs you to be a listener who really hears them out. Think carefully about this issue.

What are some ways you can find out if you answer before listening?

If you have been answering before listening, how does God want you to solve the problem?

What is Sin?

2008-03-25T01:31:00.001-04:00

The fear of the LORD leads to life:
Then one rests content, untouched by trouble. —Proverbs 19:23

USA Today, on March 19^th, reported on the state of sin in America. In an article titled “Has the notion of sin been lost?” the Nations’ Newspaper explores what people think about sin. The article highlights a study done by Ellison Research about sin. For purposes of the study, sin is defined as “something that is almost always considered wrong, particularly from a religious or moral perspective." We will examine this definition in a moment. First, here are some acts that Americans classify as sin. Next to each “sin” is the percentage of those surveyed who agreed that the action really is sin.

WHAT AMERICANS CALL SIN
• Adultery: 81%

• Racism: 74%

• Using "hard" drugs, such as cocaine, LSD: 65%

• Not saying anything if a cashier gives you too much change: 63%

• Having an abortion: 56%

• Homosexual activity or sex: 52%

• Not reporting some income on your tax returns: 52%

• Reading or watching pornography: 50%

• Gossip: 47%

• Swearing: 46%

• Sex before marriage: 45%

• Homosexual thoughts: 44%

• Sexual thoughts about someone you are not married to: 43%

• Doing things as a consumer that harm the environment: 41%

• Smoking marijuana: 41%

• Getting drunk: 41%

• Gambling: 30%

• Not attending church or religious services regularly: 18%

• Drinking any alcohol: 14%

Taken as a whole it is striking to see “sin” discussed in terms of human qualification. There appears to be no awareness of God and his holiness in this list of sins. Apparently, the fear of God is not relevant to sin.

Why is this important? It is important because this article reflects our culture; it highlights for us the influence of the enemy on our world. Consider the definition of sin used in this article: something that is almost always considered wrong, particularly from a religious or moral perspective. Considered wrong by whom? This definition reveals deference to man rather than reverence for God. God does not give us categories like “almost always wrong.” The Bible does not define sin by taking opinion polls. On the contrary, the Bible gives us unequivocal, explicit statements about the way things are. For example, our proverb this week says that the fear of God leads to life and contentment. What simple, clear wisdom! Our culture craves contentment with an oxymoronic passion.

Men, your wives and children are active participants in a culture that understands sin as described above! How will you define sin for them? How will you help them recognize sin when they see it?

After studying the Scriptures, particularly Romans 1:18-25, Tim Keller describes sin this way: “Sin is building your life and meaning on anything, even a very good thing, more than on God.” This definition includes breaking God’s law, but it also provides us with the opportunity to show how pervasive and deceptive sin is to those who have no concept of biblical morality or authority.

Men, we have the charge from God to teach and protect our families in this culture . Sin is wrong because God says it is. Building one’s life on anything other than the fear of our awesome God will lead to destruction (Matthew 7:24-27).

This week give specific thought as to how you are preparing your family to deal with a culture that defines sin as “acts that are almost always wrong.” This attitude leads to 55% of the culture believing that sex before marriage is not a sin.

How will you prepare your children to address this issue (and many more)?
How is the fear of God influencing the things you do every day?
What are some specific ways the fear of God leads to contentment?

Criticism – Something to Value

2008-03-17T07:46:00.002-04:00

11 My son, do not despise the LORD's discipline
and do not resent his rebuke,

12 because the LORD disciplines those he loves,
as a father the son he delights in. Proverbs 3:11-12

Criticism would make few top 10 lists of favorite gifts. While the Proverbs don’t use the term criticism, there are many passages that talk about receiving a rebuke. Almost surprisingly, the Proverbs teach that receiving a rebuke is often a good thing. Chapter 9 goes so far as to say that a wise man will love you if you rebuke him (9:8). Since the Garden, our natural tendency is to avoid blame and shift responsibility to others when our actions are challenged. It is easy to think we have been unfairly assessed. Yet if we do not welcome rebuke (criticism), we are not acting wisely.

Leadership is about building people up (2 Cor. 13:10b). To be an effective leader, one must understand that he himself needs to be built up as well. If we are honest before God, we must acknowledge that the person we see in the mirror has many flaws and weaknesses that make it difficult for others to follow our direction. In fact, it is truly amazing that anyone would want to follow our direction! This is a why a wise man loves a rebuke. He knows he needs help. He also knows that God is committed to providing this help. That is the point of this week’s passage (Proverbs 3:11-12). If we bristle at the rebuke of others we will also bristle at the rebuke of God.

God rebukes us because he loves us—because he delights in us. This is contrary to what seems natural. Too often we discipline out of frustration and exasperation. (For example, have you ever said, “How many times have I told you not to do that?”) There is an inner weariness that accompanies direction given in frustration rather than delight. God, on the other hand, delights to discipline us because he knows that we need correction and he is committed to helping you and me become more complete in Christ.

If we reject God’s rebuke we are, in fact, implying that we don’t need a rebuke; we are fine the way we are. I can hear someone saying, “But I wouldn’t resist a rebuke from God, but my wife—that’s a different story.” This is where wisdom comes in. The wise man knows that God, who is in control of all things—even a wife’s speech—is committed to bringing about godly change in your life. A wise man knows he is far from perfect. Therefore, he is eagerly looking for the ways that God will show him where he needs to change. Thus, the wise man loves a rebuke, especially from his wife, because he knows he needs to hear it. Even if a rebuke is not given in the kindest way, the wise man still learns from it. He knows that his heavenly Father is delighting in him when he receives a rebuke. He knows that this rebuke is a sign that he is God’s son.

Brothers, how do you respond to a rebuke? How do you give a rebuke?

Here are some questions to help you think about how you can grow in wisdom

· to love a rebuke and

· to give direction from an attitude of delight.

How do you typically respond to criticism or rebuke? Be honest and specific with your answers.

· Do you defend your behavior and explain it away?

· Do you counter-attack?

· Do you clam up? Do you merely say, “I’ll think about it”?

· Do you agree in a way that is designed to get past the critique as quickly as possible?

· Do you try to understand the ways in which the criticism is accurate?

· Do you humbly ask others for insight and feedback?

When you correct your children or subordinates, do they sense that your correction is given because you delight in them and want to help them grow wise—or because you are frustrated with them?

Think about these things. Bring your thoughts to your group this week. Better still, bring these thoughts before God and ask him to make you a wise man who loves a rebuke.

Leadership & Criticism

2008-03-10T10:27:00.001-04:00

Like a coating of glaze over earthenware
are fervent lips with an evil heart. Proverbs 6:23

A lying tongue hates those it hurts,
and a flattering mouth works ruin. Proverbs 6:28

Let another praise you, and not your own mouth;
someone else, and not your own lips. Proverbs 27:2

Wounds from a friend can be trusted,
but an enemy multiplies kisses. Proverbs 27:6

The section of Proverbs from 6:23-27:6 has some profound things to say about effective leadership. One theme of this passage is to warn against living for the praise of others.

The wise man is motivated by the fear of God and the pursuit of wisdom (Proverbs 1;7; 3:11-18). When we are motivated by the praise of others we lose the ability to be biblically objective. We lose our ability to be effective leaders. If a husband is focused on receiving praise he will be angry or disappointed when he receives criticism. If his wife does not praise him he may become discouraged and even angry because he believes he is not being appreciated. Here is the warning: if you live for praise your leadership will not be productive. Let’s see how these four verses illustrate this.

Like a coating of glaze over earthenware
are fervent lips with an evil heart. (Proverbs 6:23)

The glaze over a piece of earthenware may conceal some inward flaws. This analogy shows that fervent lips (smooth lips) conceal an evil heart. Don’t trust smooth sounding praises; they often cover an evil intent.

A lying tongue hates those it hurts,
and a flattering mouth works ruin. (Proverbs 6:28)

In this proverb flattery is likened to a lying tongue. Don’t trust flattery. Flattery brings disaster upon those who listen to it as well upon the flatterer.

Let another praise you, and not your own mouth;
someone else, and not your own lips. (Proverbs 27:2)

This proverb instructs the wise man to not seek praise from those close to him. Both Bruce Waltke and Tremper Longman in their respective commentaries on Proverbs translate this verse this way:

Let a stranger and not your own mouth praise you, an outsider and not your own lips.

Godly leaders should not be looking for praise from those they serve. It is too easy for us to drop hints that we would really like some appreciation for our efforts. Something like, “Well dear, it took me all day and I had to give up what I really wanted to do, but I just wanted to do this for you anyway.” The use of the word stranger indicates that if a man really is focused on honoring God, even a stranger will hear of his wisdom and bring praise when it is least expected. There is no need to prompt others to herald our praises.

You shouldn’t trust the lying tongue of flattery, but you should “let another praise you and not your own mouth.” How do you distinguish between flattery and legitimate praise?

Wounds from a friend can be trusted,
but an enemy multiplies kisses. (Proverbs 27:6)

This last proverb sums it up for us. Although we can’t trust the flattery and praise of others, we should trust the hard things we hear. For example, one of the ways wives can help their husbands most effectively is to tell them the difficult things they need to hear—the wounds from a friend. If a husband is looking for praise he will not welcome his wife’s criticism. But constructive criticism (even when it hurts) that comes from our wives and children is to be welcomed. Why? Because a man who is motivated by the fear of the Lord and the pursuit of wisdom will rejoice at information that will make him a better husband and father.

So there is no need to fear the criticism of others. Because the wise man is dominated by his love of God and wisdom he takes every opportunity to grow in these areas. How valuable are the wounds of a friend to you? Such wounds are gifts from God.

Do you have friends who give you “faithful wounds”? How do you respond when a friend who gives you such a wound? Does your reaction discourage them from doing it again?
Are you a friend who is willing to give loving wounds? If not, what holds you back? Is there someone you know right now who needs your constructive criticism? What are you going to do about it?

A Wise Man has Great Power

2008-03-03T12:39:00.000-05:00

A wise man has great power,
and a man of knowledge increases strength;
for waging war you need guidance,
and for victory many advisers. —Proverbs 24:5-6

Great power. You have great power?

Often, life does not “feel like” we have great power. Men are often burdened by the responsibilities of leadership in the home. How can I be a better husband? How can I help my kids when they struggle? How can I lead my family to trust God more each day? Instead of great power it may seem that we have no power.

This passage in Proverbs teaches that wisdom and knowledge produce power and strength. How does that happen? The second part of the couplet above provides the answer. Victory is achieved through the guidance of many advisors. But not just any advisor will do here. Power comes from trusting the wise counsel of those who themselves are trusting God.

One of the special things about our men’s ministry is the opportunity each week to seek power from the counsel of many advisors. The time we have spent together so far should be yielding benefits—the experience of the power of godly wisdom in your life. As you prepare for your meeting this week, think about how you can tap into the wisdom of the many advisors God has provided for you. As you do, why not post a comment on how God is blessing you in this way?

And why do you worry …?

2008-02-25T14:38:00.001-05:00

28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

— Matthew 6:28-34

Last week we examined the exhortation that we should not wear ourselves out to get rich. Rather, as leaders of our homes, we should invest ourselves in the things that producing lasting treasure. In response, some might say, “I’m not trying to get rich; I just want to put food on the table, put clothes on our backs and a roof over our heads.”

Stated this way, worry can seem almost noble. “As the head of my home, I have to be concerned about the basics. I am not thinking about getting rich. I am just trying to survive.” But It is a huge temptation for the responsibility of financial provision to crowd out responsibilities that are even more important.

Someone is probably asking—what is more important than providing for my family? Well, Christ says later in Matthew that the most important commandment is to love God and your neighbor. So your work must be done in the context of loving God most. Jesus puts it this way: “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.” Providing for your family is certainly part of seeking God’s kingdom, but it is not the major part.

We live in an unstable, unpredictable world. Jobs can be lost overnight through corporate mergers. The economy is uncertain. Our ability to work may be terminated around the next corner. Yet Jesus still says, “Do not worry about what you will eat or wear.” He will provide these things for you. He wants, instead, for your main focus to be seeking life that is truly life (I Timothy 6:19).

Here is one definition of worry: Worry is attempting to take responsibility for things that can only come from God. For example, God has commanded us as men to work and in so doing provide for our families (I Timothy 5:8). But in Matthew 6 Jesus is teaching that food and clothing come from him. It is easy to think that I go out and earn a paycheck, and that puts food on the table. God is so intimately involved in our lives that we easily lose sight of just how dependent we are on him. The apostle Paul tells the people in pagan Lystra, “God has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy." So even though these people worked their fields and harvested their crops, God actually provided the food on their tables. If this is true for those who don’t know God, how much more is it true for those who do know him?

You are responsible to work, as God has called you to do. But he is responsible to provide your food and clothing. We become worriers when we are dominated by taking that responsibility upon ourselves. Christ makes a direct promise that he will provide for our basic needs (vs. 33 above).

This passage helps you to determine your priorities. Is it wise leadership to pursue things that, while good for the moment, can lose their value in a heartbeat? What is the real value of these good things when you find out that your wife is leaving? That your teenager has a sexually transmitted disease? What is really important? Jesus says his kingdom and his righteousness are most important.

Fathers, when we don’t have time to invest in our children to prepare them for the teenage years, because we think we have to work long hours to provide food for the table, we are taking on a responsibility that belongs to God and, at the same time, neglecting a responsibility that is ours. We become worriers. Your teenager will be thrown into a culture where sexual contact, masturbation, and pornography are the norm. Destructive language and the music of self-gratification will fill his mind. The pressure to enter the flow of the culture is enormous. How much time are you investing to prepare your children for this? Are you depending upon your children being involved in soccer, dance class, music lessons, Little League and extra curricular activities to keep them from the dangers of the world? Are you perhaps thinking that your wife, or perhaps teachers at church and school, will be the ones to get the job done? Fathers, your relationship with your children must be so vital that they will look to you for help when the teenage culture attempts to pull them away from God.

If you are not currently raising children in your home, what are other ways this passage applies? What are some ways you can seek God’s kingdom and his righteousness in your home? In your community? At work? At church?

This week in your meetings talk about the priorities of life. Whose kingdom are you pursuing? How much of your self-worth depends on providing by your own hard work the physical necessities that God has promised to give when we seek his kingdom and righteousness?

Invest Wisely

2008-02-18T19:15:00.001-05:00

Do not wear yourself out to get rich;
have the wisdom to show restraint.
Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone,
for they will surely sprout wings
and fly off to the sky like an eagle. —Proverbs 23:4-5

T. Rowe Price … Chuck Schwab … Ameritrade … Scottrade … Fidelity

These investment firms are frequent visitors in your home. No, they aren’t invited guests. They attach themselves to the televised sporting events that are the favorites of American men. So, just after your team scores, Chuck Schwab shows up, encouraging you to make wise investments using his brokerage firm. Just as Chuck is saying goodbye, the owner of Scottrade flies by in his helicopter to let you know how his firm makes investing affordable. These commercials are then followed by a commercial for Lexus. The message is clear: security and peace of mind come from making wise investments and making your money grow. Things provide accomplishment and stability. While it is good to save and plan for the future, your security lies elsewhere.

The above passage from Proverbs gives very different advice than your friendly investment broker does—Solomon reminds you that the future is not as secure as you are led to believe. Luke 12:13-34 also talks about making wise investments. Christ urges his hearers to invest in things that will not wear out.

This warning from Proverbs is a sharp, pithy reality check The vivid language evokes startling mental images—imagine your 401K account suddenly sprouting wings and flying off into the sunset! Again, these Proverbs are not warning against wise saving and investments (see Proverbs 13:11); what they are warning against is trusting in savings or investments to be your security. Many folks have strong portfolios but are relationally and spiritually bankrupt.

These proverbs say, Don’t spend your energy to become rich!!! Or, as the TV commercials say, don’t wear yourself out for financial security. The balance here is to identify what you are investing yourself in. As Paul teaches in Philippians 4, neither wealth nor poverty has any real value of its own. As men we often think in the long-term. So we justify not investing time with our wives and children because we are building for the future—for their future. The warning is that all of our efforts can fly off in a heartbeat. The greatest and most secure gift that you can give your wife and your children is taking the time to show them the love of Christ in the middle of your busy, hectic life.

Use this passage to think about your investments. What are you giving yourself to (wearing yourself out for)?

Closer than you might think!

2008-02-11T12:47:00.000-05:00

Proverbs 8:32-36

32 "Now then, my sons, listen to me;
blessed are those who keep my ways.

33 Listen to my instruction and be wise;
do not ignore it.

34 Blessed is the man who listens to me,
watching daily at my doors,
waiting at my doorway.

35 For whoever finds me finds life
and receives favor from the LORD.

36 But whoever fails to find me harms himself;
all who hate me love death.

How would you respond with biblical wisdom to situations like the ones presented below? The article is from the Boston Globe, January 31, 2008

BOSTON—A federal appeals court on Thursday upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit filed by Lexington parents who objected to same-sex families being discussed in their children's elementary school classrooms.

Tonia and David Parker of Lexington sued school officials in April 2006 after their son brought home a book from kindergarten that depicted a gay family. Joseph and Robin Wirthlin joined the suit after a second-grade teacher read the class a story about two princes falling in love.

In a ruling Thursday, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with a judge who ruled in February 2007 that parents' rights to exercise their religious beliefs are not violated when their children are exposed to contrary ideas in school.

"Public schools are not obliged to shield individual students from ideas which potentially are religiously offensive, particularly when the school imposes no requirement that the student agree with or affirm those ideas, or even participate in discussions about them," the court said in its ruling.

Suppose your child came home from school and reported these events? How would you respond? How would you help your children and your wife deal with issues like this? This is not a situation in which a one sentence answer will do.

How can you apply the wisdom of Proverbs 8? Specifically, what will you tell your children about what was read to them at school? What actions should you and your wife take to prepare your children for these events? Is there anything that can be done in your community to alert people to the real possibility that this could happen here? How can your church help you with this situation? What resources and study tools do you need to wisely respond to these issues? Note the implications given in verses 35&36. Life and death, favor and harm depend on finding wisdom or not finding wisdom.

Spend time thinking about this so you can have a good discussion in your ministry group for this week. Also, why not take a moment to comment on our blog as well. These events are closer to us than we would like to think!

The Super Bowl

2008-02-02T19:17:00.000-05:00

7 I saw among the simple,
I noticed among the young men,
a youth who lacked judgment.

8 He was going down the street near her corner,
walking along in the direction of her house …

24 Now then, my sons, listen to me;
pay attention to what I say … (Proverbs 7:7-8, 24)

Do not love the world or the things that belong to the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him. Because everything that belongs to the world— 16 the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one's lifestyle—is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17 And the world with its lust is passing away, but the one who does God's will remains forever (1 John 2:15-17).

Proverbs 7 shows a parent looking out his window at the world around him. This father used the view from his window to instruct his son about the dangers of life. The window of your television affords you the same opportunity to see and evaluate the world. The Super Bowl is a good example, in both the game and the commercials. The commercials cost approximately 3 million dollars for a 30 second spot (and that does not include the production costs). The companies who sponsor these commercials believe that they will appeal to what motivates Americans.

I John 2 carries a strong warning: do not love the world. The enemy of your soul is doing his best to make the world attractive to you and your children. He wants you to love the world! You can learn a great deal about the motivations of our culture by observing the commercials in this game thoughtfully. Analyze them. Then, like the wise father in Proverbs 7, give this analysis to your children.

How do you react to the Super Bowl? What does that reveal about your priorities? Will you be overly discouraged and disappointed if your team loses? Or, if your team wins will you experience a joy that appears only at moments like that? How does your enthusiasm for a sports victory compare to your response when Bill preached on what heaven will be like? If you have children, what are you teaching them by your responses?

If you don’t even watch the Super Bowl, that’s fine. But is there something else that captures your interest in the same way the Super Bowl does for many? If there is, then evaluate your priorities relative to that activity.

What are examples of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one's lifestyle?

Can you enjoy the Super Bowl without “loving the world or the things that belong to the world?”

Make Level Paths!

2008-01-28T08:19:00.000-05:00

So, you've been studying how to become wise enough to answer your wife's questions. Great! But,

1. Have you really begun in earnest--or have you only done so in a spotty manner?

2. Have you allocated time to do so? What are some good times?

3. Have you really been learning new truths? if not, what seems to be wrong?

Read Proverbs 4: 26—

Make level paths for your feet
and take only ways that are firm.

Do not swerve to the right or the left;
keep your foot from evil.

Making level paths requires some work, but it’s worth the effort. What do you need to do to “make level paths for your feet”?

a. Have sports and entertainment occupied too much time for such study?

b. What should/will you do about this problem--if it is one? Suppose your wife asks "Where did Cain get his wife?" What's your answer?

c. What about differences in the gospel accounts? Haley's Alleged Difficulties in the Bible is still in print and published by Baker. It is full of answers. Are you familiar with it?

d. There is a lot to help you--are you using these helps?

Digging Deeper

2008-01-20T23:54:00.000-05:00

This week, in addition to a Bible dictionary or systematic theology text, what about obtaining a good commentary from the bookstore while studying (not merely reading) some book of the Bible? Or, you could buy a commentary that follows the passages the pastor is preaching about.

Discuss . . .

1. What a commentary is and what it does for you.

2. How to know if it can be trusted throughout.

3. Which ones it might be best to obtain first.

4. How you should use it.

Establishing habits—such as regular Bible study—takes a daily commitment. Don’t give up, and don’t forget to encourage one another. Remind yourself how important this is:

Proverbs 3:15 “[Wisdom] is more precious than rubies;
nothing you desire can compare with her.”

Psalm 119:72 The law from your mouth is more precious to me
than thousands of pieces of silver and gold.

Searching for Wisdom

2008-01-14T10:02:00.001-05:00

Did you read the introduction to Proverbs last week, about how to gain wisdom (vv. 1 - 7)? Good. Now read Proverbs 2:1-10.

Now, consider again:

How much time and effort will you need to devote to becoming knowledgeable in spiritual things?
What can you expect to gain?

OK. So, last time you considered becoming knowledgeable enough in spiritual things to be able to answer your wife's questions. And, presumably--if your time was profitable and you determined to do something about any weaknesses in such ability--you have begun to take steps to increase that knowledge.

1. What have you done (determined to do)?

2. How's it going?

3. If nothing, what suggestions do the others in the group have to help you get underway?

Perhaps you bought a Bible dictionary and are systematically looking up subjects where your knowledge is insufficient. Great!

Or, maybe you bought the new paperback, revised edition of Charles Hodge's Theology, or Berkhof's Systematic theology and are reading it. Fine. You have got to know theology to answer questions. After all, your wife may wax theological and ask, "Where was God before He created the universe?' How would you answer? Or maybe she'll ask. "Can God make a square circle?" How about that one?

There are excellent books in our church bookstore to help you.

Welcome to 2008!

2008-01-06T23:55:00.000-05:00

We have exciting news about the Redeemer Men’s blog. Jay Adams has agreed to do the first several blogs for this new year! Dr. Adams will challenge us with our responsibility to be leaders in our homes and to take spiritual care for our wives. The format is a little different than last fall’s but it still provides a spiritual challenge.

Brothers, how do we care for our wives? Listen to this scriptural challenge.

This week’s Scripture portion is I Corinthians 14:34, “The women are to keep silent in the churches; for they are not permitted to speak, but are to subject themselves, just as the Law also says.” Women are not permitted to speak in worship services — either to teach (I Tim. 2) or to ask questions. To do so is “disorderly” in God’s sight (v. 33). So, how are they to get answers?

You — their husbands — are to be able and prepared to answers their questions!

1. Are you able to do so?

2. If not, what do you intend to do about it?

3. How (specifically) will you do this?

4. When will you begin?

Why not read the first seven verses of Proverbs to gain wisdom to help you get under way in thinking about meeting the obligation you have to spiritually care for your wives.

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-12T07:57:00.000-05:00

Redeemer men's ministry group meetings will be on break until the week of Jan. 7, 2008. However, we should never be on break from the qualities of leadership that we learned from our studies in the Beatitudes.

May your appreciation of Christ and his love for you deepen this Christmas season.