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Welcome to Saturday, August 14th! This episode of The 7-Minute Cross Talk Bible Study is titled: Walking As The Wise! For this Bible Study, we are considering the words of this week's Epistle Lesson - Ephesians 5:15-20. If you desire further information, it may be requested from wordgiver@gmail.com. If the link to download the worksheet is not present within your podcast feed it may be downloaded at: https://servingjesuschrist.libsyn.com/ Scripture Quotations: New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995). This podcast is a ministry outreach of Our Savior's Lutheran in Argyle, Minnesota - United States. * * * * *   Walking As The Wise Take a moment now to pause the audio and download and print the 7-Minute Work Sheet before continuing. The link is located right below this audio player. For this Saturday Bible Study, we will consider the words of this week's Epistle Lesson: Ephesians 5:15-20. Hopefully, these studies encourage you to engage in a deeper analysis of the current passage. But, more importantly, I hope these studies deepen your love for the Word of God. * * * * * * Let's begin with the following thought: If someone walked up to you and told you to walk like a Christian, what would that mean to you? We could interpret this statement as meaning we should walk like a Christian since we claim to be one, or it could just be words of encouragement during a difficult time. If it is the former, it is a sad commentary on our Christian walk. The point is that as Christians, we should be readily identifiable by the world around us. No chasm should exist between our claim and the actions of our lives. Listen as I read this week's Epistle Lesson. Ephesians 5:15-20 NAS95 Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise,  [16]  making the most of your time, because the days are evil.  [17]  So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.  [18]  And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit,  [19]  speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord;  [20]  always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father. Though humble in its origins, the church at Ephesus grew rapidly and significantly affected their area in Asia. The word wise describes a person who has or shows good sense or good judgment. The word unwise describes a person who lacks wisdom or good sense. Since Paul admonishes the Ephesian believers to walk wisely, it must be possible to walk unwisely. So let's take a moment to illustrate these two options. How would we describe a believer who is walking unwisely? First of all, remember that as believers, God forgave us in Christ and has reserved a place for us in heaven. At face value, walking wisely means to remember that truth at all times. As believers, we are new creations in Christ. Therefore, God expects us to walk carefully and accurately, exactly as we should. An unwise person continues to allow their previous life to influence and at times invade his present life. As such, these individuals are not always concerned about being alert to every temptation and pitfall which comes their way. As a result, they struggle with staying on the path. Next, let's describe a believer who is walking wisely. A wise believer understands that there is no room in their life for what came before. Therefore, in light of what God did for them in Jesus Christ, they seek to live disciplined lives. From the moment they arise, they seek to walk in His presence. Part of walking wisely is to use our time to share the Gospel. Ephesians 5:16 NAS95 Making the most of your time, because the days are evil. In every avenue of life, we are encouraged to use our time wisely. However, as believers, we are to use our time for the cause of Christ. Have you ever commented, "Where did all the time go today?" Though we don't remember what we did, we assume or hope that we accomplished something of value. Making the most of your time means taking advantage of various ministry opportunities as they arise during the day. You might say, "What opportunities?" How about living as a Christian, witnessing, or even being a good employee? Persecution is increasing as Paul is writing these words. Soon it would be much more challenging to live as a believer and to engage in ministry. Our culture and society are also changing. Unfortunately, active persecution is right around the corner when ministry opportunities might be few and far between. Therefore, we are to take advantage of today. Verse 17 seems to imply that the Ephesian Christians were flitting around the edges of walking unwisely and wasting precious ministry time. Ephesians 5:17 NAS95 So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Paul admonishes these believers to stop the process they were engaging in or about to engage in. They were being foolish and needed to stop the process before it shipwrecked their faith. Bible historians date the Book of Ephesians to around 60-63 A.D. At the time, it seems that they responded to the warnings of the Apostle Paul. The church's influence stretched far and wide. However, thirty years later, as one of the seven churches of Revelation, this church is accused of leaving its first love. Christ was no longer first in their lives. Revelation 2:4 NAS95 'But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. They were as active as ever. The ministry was thriving from all accounts but became more attached to the church than to Christ. As a result, as its members walked unwisely, the ministry became mechanical and worshiped instead of being attached to Christ. May we walk as the wise! Let's Pray, Gracious Heavenly Father, We often walk as the unwise throughout the day. Prompt our hearts to fully understand who we are in Christ and to live as such. Strengthen our resolve to live joyful productive Christian lives. In the Name of Jesus, Amen!

Title: Worthy of suffering Text: II Timothy 2:8-13 FCF: We often struggle in the Christian life to endure suffering and trial. Prop: Because the gospel of Christ is worth suffering for, we must continually cling to the truth of the gospel. Scripture Intro: [Slide 1] Turn in your bible to II Timothy 2. Last week, Paul came back to some key concepts he mentioned Chapter 1. In different words now in chapter 2 Paul gives Timothy the same commands as before. He tells him to be ready to suffer for the sake of the gospel. Through illustrations he emphasizes that the Christian life is full of struggle. It is full of suffering. Not just the suffering of sickness, and pain, such is the human experience, but mostly suffering for the sake of the gospel of Christ. Paul is saying all this knowing that he is about to ask Timothy to join him in Rome. The place of his current confinement. Paul is calling on Timothy to suffer for Christ, not in the theoretical someday, but in the practical and close future. Having stated this, Paul now turns to emphasize how the gospel is worthy of suffering, both in its truth and in is promises. In its correctness and in its reward the gospel is worthy to proclaim despite the cost. The gospel is worthy to be clung to, no matter what. This is where Paul takes us next. He will show us that suffering for the gospel is a fitting activity for those who are in Christ. I'll start reading again in verse 1 of chapter 2. I am reading from the NET starting on page 1342 if you are in the pew bible, otherwise follow along in the version you have. Transition: I listened to a sermon recently. In it, the preacher conveyed a short illustration that I would like to use also. A friend of the famous martyr Jim Elliot once flew with a pilot over the site in Ecuador where Jim Elliot was killed. As they flew overhead, the pilot said “That is where Jim died.” The friend replied, “No it isn't.” The pilot, somewhat taken aback said, “Yes, it is , I was the one who flew him here and collected his body after. That is where he died.” The friend said, No. I was with Jim when he died. It was in a little church in the US several years ago. He was crucified with Christ that day. It wasn't him that was living after that. It was Christ living in him. To understand the gospel, and to truly know Jesus Christ in a personal way, is to have been crucified with Christ, yet live because Christ lives in us. So with Paul I say… I.) The gospel of Christ is worth suffering for, so we must keep the gospel at the front of our minds. (8-10) a. [Slide 2] 8 – Remember Jesus Christ, i. Paul calls on Timothy to exercise his memory. He calls on Timothy to recollect all that Paul has taught him regarding Jesus Christ. ii. The teaching he is supposed to entrust to faithful people who are competent to teach others also… the teaching that he heard in the presence of many others as witnesses, this teaching is… Jesus Christ. iii. About this Jesus Christ Paul wants to highlight two truths. iv. As we head into both of these items we need to recognize the order that Paul sets the title Jesus Christ. v. While I will say, that in most contexts, the difference between saying Christ Jesus and Jesus Christ is probably negligible. It seems that in this text it is done with purposeful intention. vi. Christ as we know is not Jesus' surname, but is a transliteration of the Greek word Cri;stoV which means anointed one or Messiah. vii. So when we say Christ Jesus we mean, The anointed one of God, Jesus. And when we say Jesus Christ, we are saying Jesus, the anointed one of God. viii. In subtle nuance it is generally accepted that placing Christ first gives slight emphasis on His deity, and placing Jesus first places slight emphasis on His humanity. ix. In our previous 7 verses, Paul uses the name Christ Jesus. x. In that section Christ is the source of grace for us, He is our commander, he is our prize. These are all roles of authority and divinity. xi. And so, when Paul switches to Jesus Christ in the middle of this and then back again in verse 10– it is a subtle indication to Timothy and us that Paul is going to shift his focus from Jesus the son of God to Jesus the son of man. xii. So, as we move forward here, we need to pay particular attention to the humanity of Christ and His work in that humanity. Since Paul is calling on Timothy to suffer, we should also view Christ's work through that lens. When we do, we see Paul make an powerful point. xiii. So right off the bat, before we move on, what do we need to remember about Jesus, this God-Man, who was the anointed one of God? xiv. What was He anointed to do? 1. He was anointed to be our Savior. 2. He was anointed to conquer sin. 3. He was anointed to be our prophet to teach us the ways of God and our priest to keep us clean of sin. 4. He was anointed to be the hope of the nations. 5. He was anointed to bring us into peace with God. xv. Jesus' humanity is central to His salvific work. If He was not truly human – our sins still condemn us, and God must still rightfully judge us for them. If He was not truly human – we have no prophet to teach us the truth of God's Word, and we have no priest to represent us before God. xvi. But what else must we remember about Jesus, the Messiah of God. b. [Slide 3] Raised from the dead, i. This is a HUGE statement for SOOOOO many reasons. ii. First, this is a fairly large stumbling block for Jews. Why? Because God cannot die. iii. It also brings up some pretty heady theological issues for US. If Jesus is God and Man. 100% of each. How could He die? iv. Is it possible for God to die? Of course not. For God to die would mean the universe would cease to exist. For God the Son to die would mean the universe would implode. v. So how is it that Jesus died? vi. His divine nature allowed his human nature to die. Again – the necessity of Jesus being human. vii. A second rather large item in this is that the Greek for this says something to the effect of “having been raised from dead ones” raised is a participle and dead is plural. What does this mean? 1. First, that Paul wants Timothy to remember Jesus as the “having been raised” one. As much as we love the cross and should speak of it often – any image of Jesus hanging there still is fundamentally opposed to how Paul commands Timothy to remember Jesus. He is not the dying savior. He is not the dead Savior. He is the risen Savior. Our crosses should always be empty along with our tombs. Because Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Paul wants to emphasize the risen-ness of Christ. He is a living Savior. This has particular significance as Timothy is being called to suffer for the gospel. The fact that Christ is the firstborn among many brothers to rise from the dead, gives Timothy hope that to suffer for His name is not to suffer in vain. 2. Second, when Paul uses this phrase “from the dead” dead is plural here. What does this mean? a. I've wrestled with this and in some ways, still am, but I think I am fairly confident that when Paul says that Jesus was raised from the dead – to get the full picture – we should translate this “having been raised out from among the dead” b. In the 1st century most people believed in a spiritual realm where your soul was imprisoned after you died. Even many Jews believed this. With that backdrop, Paul is saying that Jesus' spirit broke out of this realm. Or rather, that he was broken out of this prison. c. What does this mean? That Jesus as the human anointed one of God would experience death in every way that a human would. Not only pain and agony, not only his body expiring, Not only his body being buried in the earth but also his human spirit descending into the realm of the dead. But the realm of the dead had no power over Him. Why? Because He was not JUST a man –He was GOD! The true and eternal master of the realm of the dead. d. And so, God has freed us from death, he has freed us from Satan. By Jesus being raised up from among the dead, he has provided for us a path in that all that are in Christ are raised up with Him. e. And so, for us, death has died. It has lost its sting. It is not a prison, but rather it is merely a gate we must walk through to go into His presence. viii. Remember Jesus… the conqueror of death, the curse breaker, the firstborn among many brethren. c. [Slide 4] A descendant of David; i. Since he has been raised up from among the dead, he is now an eternal King. ii. The order Paul puts these two truths in is, perhaps, significant. Remember that he is raised and that He is still a descendant of David. This affirms Christ's continued existence as the God-Man. He is still united in two natures. It also paves the way for the Davidic Covenant to be fulfilled. iii. Inherent in this teaching is that He is Lord of all. All things are under His feet or are being put under His feet. iv. He is the King of the Jews, the covenant keeper, the fulfillment of many promises. He is the future for Israel. He is their redemption and their hope. He is the spring that will rise up in Jerusalem. They will remember the one whom they have pierced and they will mourn in repentance. v. It also means that He will come again. For to be raised from among the dead and be a descendant of David is to be the King forever. To reign over the whole of God's people. vi. Jesus, an actual, physical descendant of David, fulfills all of this. d. [Slide 5] Such is my gospel, i. The message that Paul has preached – this good news – this saving faith – is that Jesus has conquered sin and death and is the living King of all things. ii. This is significant groundwork for Paul to lay because the primary false teachers Timothy is opposing in Ephesus, which Paul will be addressing before the end of the chapter, not only are living lawbreaking lives but have concluded that the resurrection of all the dead has already occurred. iii. Meaning that the church is currently in the full-kingdom state and are free to live as they wish, possibly even concluding that if Christ is King, and they are able to do something, then it must be ok since He would stop it if it were not ok. iv. So, Paul begins with this groundwork that Christ has been raised and that He is King. But he will still deny the conclusions of these false teachers. More on that in the coming weeks. e. [Slide 6] 9 – for which I suffer hardship to the point of imprisonment as a criminal, i. These simple truths that mean much deeper things are the reason that Paul has been imprisoned. ii. They are the reason he has been regarded as a criminal. iii. Yes, HE is bound…but if death could not hold CHRIST… f. [Slide 7] But God's message is not imprisoned! i. Jesus, the message of God cannot be imprisoned in any Roman cell if even the realm of the dead could not keep Him. ii. Jesus the gospel of God cannot be bound. g. [Slide 8] 10 – So I endure all things for the sake of those chosen by God, i. So, Paul endures everything he has for the sake of those chosen by God. ii. Why? iii. If God would not spare His own Son. If the Son submitted to the will of the Father for the sake of His beloved, for the sake of His chosen ones, to suffer and die for them… iv. Should Paul endure anything less? Should it be a great tragedy for Paul to suffer for Christ's chosen bride? v. Indeed, there is but one choice. To endure for the sake of the elect. vi. To what end? h. [Slide 9] That they too may obtain salvation in Christ Jesus i. Paul makes it plain, that the elect to which He speaks are both those who have confessed Christ already and those who have not. ii. Paul's mission has always been to find God's people. iii. And just as Christ from heaven came to seek and save His bride… so Paul through suffering went to find her also. iv. But not just for conversion – but to the eventual eschatological salvation. The salvation Paul speaks of here most assuredly is salvation in the ultimate sense. Glorification. How do we know? v. He continues… i. [Slide 10] And its eternal glory. i. This is the end of it all. ii. This is the finish line. iii. Not just to be converted into Christ, but to reign with Him. iv. To be wed to Him. v. To inherit what He has. This is the future of the elect of God. And it is a future worth enduring all manner of suffering. j. [Slide 11] Passage Truth: So, Paul's primary teaching here for Timothy, as he prepares him to suffer for the gospel, is to emphasize to him that the gospel is worth suffering for. He has spent his life suffering for it and even though he is in prison for preaching it – its power continues to ripple through the world. Christ Himself has conquered sin and death. He is the current King. This is the gospel and it is worthy of full adherence. It is worth a little suffering to proclaim for the sake of the elect of God that they may obtain salvation in Christ. k. Passage Application: So, what must Timothy do? Remember. How important is this simple command? Timothy I am calling you to suffer for Christ. How do you prepare for that? Remember who Jesus is. Remember what He has done. Not even death could hold him. He has been raised from among the dead, Timothy. He is now the fulfillment of prophesies made thousands of years ago! He is the Son of David. The Son of Man. The Son of God! Timothy… Such a gospel is worthy of suffering. Remember. Call to mind the gospel of Jesus Christ. l. [Slide 12] Broader Biblical Truth: Looking to the rest of scripture we find that this gospel has been considered worthy of suffering by countless people. Even more as we trace back throughout the history of the church, those recorded and others unrecorded. Countless thousands have been massacred in the most disgusting ways by those who would not believe. IS IT WORTH IT? They certainly thought so. Not because these men and women were living for their best life now! But because they KNEW… that since they had been crucified with Christ, their life did not truly begin… until they were dwelling with Christ in His Kingdom. m. Broader Biblical Application: CBC, how can we prepare to suffer for this gospel? The writing is on the wall my friends. It is only a matter of time before the world rightly recognizes us as a threat to their way of life. We who would dare preach freedom from sin to someone who loves their sin and wants to keep it. Such teaching cannot and will not be tolerated. And the church will either have to equivocate and stop preaching these messages or they will suffer. And make no mistake the teaching of Christ conquering sin and death and being the King of Kings is central to that whole discussion. Christ died to free us of sin, not simply its penalty but its power and eventually its very presence. So how do we prepare ourselves to face certain suffering? Recall Jesus Christ. We must put His person and work at the forefront of our minds. May our days begin and end with a meditation on the God-Man and His conquering of sin and death for us. May our days begin and end with a mediation on His Lordship and Sovereignty over all things. When the beginning and end of our thoughts are tuned to this… suddenly, suffering for His name… is a joy. How could it not be? Transition: [Slide 13(blank)] And so we see that the gospel is worthy of our suffering. And to prepare for it to be so in our lives, we must continually keep the truth of the gospel at the forefront of our minds. But it is not enough to simply recall it. Indeed, we must cling to it. II.) The gospel of Christ is worth suffering for, so we must hold fast to the gospel. (11-13) a. [Slide 14] 11 – This saying is trustworthy: i. Paul will now take the opportunity to synthesize for us all that he has said into another one of his trustworthy sayings. ii. This is our last trustworthy saying of the Pastoral Epistles. iii. And it reads like a poem. This could mean it is a hymn, a creed, a confession, or some kind of well-known saying in the church at the time. b. [Slide 15] If we died with Him, we will also live with Him. i. Inherent in this phrase is the doctrine of substitution. Christ died our death – in the fullest way. So, we are baptized into His death. We die with Him. ii. If we are those who have died with Him… what is true? iii. We will also live with Him. Now what does this mean? iv. This is to be raised into a new life. This is the promised resurrection to come. v. Paul sets this in a future tense. That it has not yet happened. Already Paul begins to chip away at the teaching that the resurrection has already occurred. By putting this statement in the future tense, Paul shows that he is primarily talking about a physical resurrection. vi. Just as Christ has been raised from among the dead, so also, we are now raised spiritually to new life, and will soon be raised from among the dead. c. [Slide 16] 12 – If we endure, we will also reign with Him. i. So, Paul says in this saying that if we endure, if we finish the race, if we fight the good fight, if we keep the faith, then we will also reign with Christ. ii. Just as Christ is a descendant of David and rightful King eternal, so we, His chosen bride, will reign by His side. iii. His words of endurance transports us to the present. If we are enduring… what? iv. We will reign with Him. Again, in the future. We are not reigning with Him now. v. So, Paul says if we died with him (past) and are enduring (present) then We will (future) live and reign with Christ. vi. But now the hymn takes a negative turn. d. [Slide 17] If we deny Him, he will also deny us. i. As we saw in the first chapter, the same themes return. ii. God's true people, those who died with him and are enduring will live with him, and will reign with Him. iii. Those who do not endure are those who will deny him. iv. This is in the future tense. If we will deny Him… meaning that they are not denying him now but if, they sometime in the future, do deny him…. This is the only tense that Paul could use to express this thought. It is, from the author's perspective, the “possible” future. v. If we do deny him? Then what? vi. He will in the future deny us. vii. [Slide 18] But there is another layer here. The Greek language has 3 voices. In English we have active and passive voice. I bought the car vs. the car was purchased by me. But in Greek they have what is called a middle voice. Active voice emphasizes the action of the verb the subject is performing. Passive voice emphasizes the action of the verb the subject is receiving. viii. [Slide 19] But Middle voice emphasizes the subject and their participation in the action they are performing. ix. Oftentimes this means that they do the action to, for, or by themselves. x. [Slide 20] So, in this passage, the denial of Christ is something that will be done in a special sense toward themselves. They are certainly denying Christ, but their part in that denial is emphasized. xi. Indeed, to denounce, or deny is an action one must always do by themselves or even to themselves. Oftentimes middle voice is for an action used to their benefit – but here, certainly it is to their destruction. xii. So, when we deny Christ for ourselves, likewise, he will deny us for Himself. xiii. Yes – Christ's denial of the deniers is focused on His part in that activity as well. There is some reflexive element to His denial. xiv. Knowing this helps us enter into verse 13 and to understand it. e. [Slide 21] 13 – If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful i. If we are unfaithful, not believing, or without faith. ii. This is an action. It is a verb. iii. And in it we see this as a further expression of denial. But it is not in the future but rather in the now. In the present. If we are not believing, or, if we are without faith. iv. What is true? v. He remains or continues to be faithful. He continues to be trustworthy. This is not a verb. The verb here is remains. He remains what? The adjective – faithful. That is a characteristic of His that never changes. vi. So, what does this mean? vii. [Slide 22] There are three basic options for how to view this last line. 1. Certainly, the most popular view, is that this is meant to be a comfort. That despite temporary lapses in trust or faith, Christ is always faithful and will never deny Himself by breaking His promises to preserve His people. 2. A second, somewhat middle of the road interpretation, is that regardless of what men do, should every Christian on earth end up being unfaithful, Christ is still faithful. Meaning that the song breaks from God's response to men and focuses on His character at the end. 3. A third, and more ancient view is that Christ's faithfulness as the judge prevents Him from making exception for unbelief. If a person denies the Lord, or if a person does not endure in belief, Christ is faithful to keep His promise of judgment on such a person. To extend forgiveness in spite of their faithlessness would be to denounce Himself. viii. Certainly, each interpretation is true. So regardless of where we land this morning, it can be supported from the rest of scripture. ix. But looking strictly at the context of this book, I believe the third option seems to fit best for several contextual reasons. 1. The context of II Timothy is in regard to Paul passing on the mantle and for Timothy to take over, but peppered throughout are the warnings of men who were thought to be faithful but have turned out to be apostates. We have already seen this in Phygelus and Hermogenes. And we will see others, even before this chapter's end. To be unfaithful or not believing is not a condition that the saved are usually described as. In fact, the opposite. The believing ones are those who will not perish but inherit eternal life. And so, for the “unfaithful” or those “without faith” to be a reference to saved people who have stopped believing for a time or sinned in some way, would be odd here. It is far more likely to refer to these men whom Paul is singling out by name. 2. The preceding couplet begins with a past condition with a future promise of hope. It then moves to a present condition with a future promise of hope. This next couplet begins with a future condition with a future promise of punishment, so for it to finish with a present condition with a future promise of hope breaks the pattern abruptly. However, if it finishes with a future promise of punishment, it would complete the pattern. 3. The preceding line of this proverb very clearly has those who are apostates and their eventual outcome of being rejected by Christ. And as we noted, for Christ to deny us for Himself, seems to indicate that there is some Christward action of His denial of the deniers. This second statement of Him remaining faithful, seems to indicate what that Christward action is. Namely, to maintain His own faithfulness. x. For the final point, let's finish verse 13 f. [Slide 23] Since he cannot deny Himself. i. First, we do not know if this was included in the hymn. It actually seems like it is less of a hymn and more of Paul's explanation to the ending of that hymn. ii. Some translations have set off this poem but have excluded this line from it to show that they too see this not as part of the original poem or proverb. iii. It seems best to read this last phrase as giving us the answer to this question. Christ is faithful to God the Father and does not denounce Himself when He what? Keeps His promise of judgment to the faithless. iv. John 3:18 – The one who believes in Him is not condemned. The one who does not believe has been condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God. v. My friends – Jesus will not denounce Himself and give to those who are unbelieving life. Rather He will remain faithful and give to the unbelieving, condemnation. g. [Slide 24] Passage Truth: So, Paul, through this well-known hymn, continues his teaching that suffering for the sake of the gospel will not prove to be a fruitless cause. Indeed, within these promises of both having died with Christ and enduring in belief, there is promised reward. We will live with Him. We will reign with Him. On the other side though, for those who deny Him or are without belief, there is the certain expectation that He will remain faithful and rightly judge those who are still in their sin. h. Passage Application: So, Timothy must endure. He must hold fast and cling to the gospel of Christ. Not just to think about it and keep it at the forefront of his mind, but to rest in it, even when the suffering seems too much to bear. i. [Slide 25] Broader Biblical Truth: The bible is clear. Those who are believing are those who will not perish. Those who are enduring are those who will reign with Christ. This life is the proving ground. The furnace in which all the dross is purified from His people. But if all you are is dross… it will all burn away. Nothing will remain. j. Broader Biblical Application: So, my friends, how do we prepare ourselves for suffering, knowing that to suffer for the gospel is a worthy cause with rich promises and blessings to follow? How do we get ready to do this? Not only must we keep the gospel before us… but we must also keep the gospel under us. It is both our light and our path. It is the narrow way and our guide. Christ is both the prize and sustainer! Conclusion: [Slide 26(end)] So what does this all mean for us today CBC? How can we apply this text? We must remember and proclaim the death and resurrection of Christ. We must cling to and hold fast to His conquering of sin and death and His lordship over all things. He is both our light and our path. Our road and our bread. We who were baptized into His death will be raised in His life. We are sustained in His atonement and because of that, we will reign with Him someday. My friends, it is by providence of God that we celebrate the Lord's Supper today. A time when we not only remember Jesus Christ and all that He has done for us, but by this our faith is fed, filled, sustained by feasting on the reality of the atonement in physical signs. All our senses partake in the invisible truth of God's sustaining power in the gospel of Christ. So let us Remember Jesus Christ and all that He has done today. After I pray, we will sing two songs to prepare us to Remember Christ and partake in His sustaining atonement. Then we will have the men come forward and pass out the elements to each person. Remember that to eat and drink when your confession or your lifestyles do not conform to the gospel of Christ, is to eat and drink judgment upon yourself. But to eat and drink to be refreshed, sustained, and empowered to defeat sin and obey God is a marvelous reason to join us. Before we partake of the bread, we will have a testimony of how God miraculously saved one of us. I will comment on the bread and we will eat. We will do the same for the cup. Afterward we will have 1 more testimony and then open the floor for more testimonies. After which we will close with a prayer of thanksgiving. Because we are to eat and drink in THANKFUL remembrance. Once again – be sure to partake only if you know you are a follower of Christ, and desperately wish to be sustained by communion with Him and His bride. Let me pray.

On today's episode listen as Tom and Amber share one of the key turning points in Paul's life and ministry. Since Paul's conversion there was nothing greater as far as dictating his future than what Paul does here in Acts 25.

Since Paul arrived in Jerusalem he has gone from one trying experience to another. In this chapter we see that his faith is put into the frying pan of two more difficult experiences. What helped Paul endure? Sermon by Pastor Jim Stultz on June 20, 2021

Title: The Scandal of The Ages Text: II Timothy 1:8-14 FCF: We often struggle enduring and suffering for our faith. Prop: Because the God of our salvation is mighty to save, we must unashamedly endure, holding tight the gospel of Christ. Scripture Intro: [Slide 1] Turn in your bible to II Timothy chapter 1. Last week Paul laid the groundwork for his mantle to pass to Timothy. Paul confesses that he is thankful to God for Timothy's sincere faith. A faith that has an ancestral history in the family which God has raised in His Son. Because of this sincere and ancient faith, Timothy must stir up his gifting to preach the gospel, knowing that being timid or fearful of doing this is not what God has planned. But rather than God has given His Spirit to enable him to do this. Paul builds on this argument in the following section of scripture, where he will call on Timothy to endure in suffering unashamedly, and hold fast and keep the gospel he has been given in faith and love. And right in the middle, we see Paul describe the scandal of the ages. A scandal is an action or event regarded as morally or legally wrong and causing general public outrage. The scandal of the ages is the action that has caused general outrage throughout the world. In this scandal, Paul tells Timothy to not be ashamed of loving it. He tells Timothy to suffer for being a part of it. He tells Timothy to hold fast to the truth of it. The scandal, of course, is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Let's look at what Paul says. I am in verse 8 but will start reading in verse 6. I am reading from the NET which you can follow on page 1342 of the pew bible, or whatever version you have. Transition: How can I call the gospel of Jesus Christ a scandal? My view of that was heavily influenced by asking the question… why would Timothy be ashamed about of the testimony of our Lord? That rabbit hole led to something quite profound. Let me show you what I discovered. I.) The God of our salvation is mighty to save, so we must endure suffering for His name without embarrassment. (8-10) a. [Slide 2] 8 – So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, or of me, a prisoner for his sake, i. Paul's command here is two-fold. First, that Timothy must not be ashamed. ii. Ashamed means to be embarrassed. It means to be fearful. It is used throughout the New Testament to speak primarily about not being ashamed of our faith in Christ. Its other uses give us insight. 1. [Slide 3] God is said to not be ashamed to be called the God of those who trusted His words. (Hebrews 11:16) Those who were sure of what hope they were told and convinced of the promise they NEVER saw fulfilled. That each and every imperfect sinner needing mercy in this list of the hall of faith – God is still not ashamed to be called their God. But shouldn't He be? Do you realize that faith counting as righteousness is the scandal of the ages! That trusting God could be seen as enough to satisfy a holy God. Shall we say to the murderer, simply trust the lawmakers who wrote that murder is vile, and it will be counted as goodness to you? It is a scandal! Of the HIGHEST order. And yet… what… God is not ashamed to be called their God? 2. [Slide 4] Christ is not ashamed to call us brothers. (Hebrews 2:11) The God of the universe, who humbled himself to become one of us. To add, forever, human nature to His divine nature. To exist as one of His Creation – but more… to die a death reserved for the lowliest and most wicked of people. Cursed is anyone who hangs on a tree! He bore the wrath of God that was upon us! Then He ascended and sits now at the right hand of God. Holy and Glorified. All of this is as the scriptures testify. This God-Man… is not ashamed to call us… brothers and sisters. Of all the things that should bring Him shame – SURELY THIS WOULD BE ONE! Peons maybe. Peasants, perhaps. Lucky, fortunate, serfs, slaves YES all of these. But brothers? It is a scandal! It is an outrage! But He is not ashamed. iii. And so, as we understand this word, we begin to understand that this gospel, this Christ, this Lord which we have received in true faith, a foreign faith, given to us by the Spirit of God – what is this gospel to the rest of the world? A stumbling block to the Jews – and foolishness to the Gentiles. iv. My friends – we are a laughing stock. And we always have been. v. It is a scandal. It is deplorable! It is infamous! The whole world is upheaved because such a Lord should not be. Such a God should never be. His shame is too great to be a God. His filth is too much to be holy. He is not a God if He would become one of His own. He is not a God who would ordain before the foundations of the world, salvation to His people based on HIS WORK! This is SILLY! It contradicts every single thread of human wisdom. That man has no part in his own salvation and that God alone would act to save those who are His enemies! It is horrifying. Shocking! Shameful! vi. [Slide 5] Do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord… Of the great lengths to which He went to save us. Whom He foreknew and predestined before the foundation of the world. To the eyes of the world – we ought to be embarrassed to believe such foolishness. We ought to be ashamed to think God would do that without expecting us to earn it. vii. Timothy… because you have sincere faith in these teachings, and because the Spirit of God is in you to produce power, love, and self control – Do not be ashamed of this Christ. viii. And do not be ashamed of me. Because I am in prison because I was unashamed of Christ. ix. What is the second layer of Paul's command to Timothy? Do not be ashamed of Christ and His suffering servants and what else? b. [Slide 6] but by God's power accept your share of suffering for the gospel. i. Share with me in the sufferings of the gospel. ii. Take your part in suffering for His name. iii. Timothy it is time for you to be the next Paul. It is time for you to earn your stripes… pun intended. iv. It is time for you to be bold to speak and live in such a way that will cause the same world that hated Christ, that now hates me, to hate you. v. But how can he do this? Surely, he is not able to bear up such a heavy burden! vi. As with all things in this life that God calls us to do… it is by the Power of God that we do them. vii. What about that power? Why is it so trustworthy? Let's look to what it has done in His people! c. [Slide 7] 9 – He is the one who saved us and called us with a holy calling i. Let this be true and everything else a lie. ii. God alone acted to save His people. iii. He alone saved us and called us to this holy calling. iv. We have been set apart as His people from the foundation of the world. v. Furthermore… d. [Slide 8] Not based on our works but on his own purpose and grace i. We have absolutely no part in that salvation. None. ii. That is not to say we have no responsibility. That is not to say that there are no imperatives in scripture commanding us to do things. iii. But the fact of the matter is, that God acted first so that we could do all that He has asked of us. iv. From faith to love to hope to obedience and good works – all of these are only possible if God acts first. v. God did not look to anything we offered in order to save us and call us to a holy calling. vi. Rather, he consulted his own purpose for those whom He would call and He relied on His own power in grace for those He would save. vii. But how could God both be just and justify the wicked? viii. [Slide 9] Proverbs 17:15 – The one who acquits the guilty and the one who condemns the innocent, both of them are an abomination to the Lord. ix. How can God acquit the guilty? He cannot. x. So how can He give grace to save and purpose in His will to call His people when they were yet sinners? e. [Slide 10] Granted to us in Christ Jesus i. Jesus Christ's incarnation, obedient life, atoning death, life-giving resurrection, and advocation at the Father's right hand – fully vindicates God the Father to do this for His own. ii. And this question came up in Foundations recently. iii. What about those who lived before the cross? iv. In Hebrews 11 – what about that who trusted God but never saw His promises fulfilled? v. Are they lost? f. [Slide 11] Before time began i. My friends – Jesus Christ was crucified before Adam and Eve were created. ii. This stands as a great mystery that we see clearer now, but are still befuddled by its teaching. iii. God is not bound by time. He transcends it and can operate in it. But God acts in the past, present, and future. His will has been published from the end to the beginning. iv. He has decreed certain things to be and what God decrees, nothing can undo. v. Before God spoke anything into existence – God decreed that His Son Jesus was to be hung on the tree. vi. He was crucified before the foundations of the world. vii. You see – God's will cannot be moved. And no matter what measure of freedom we see in man's choices, one brick wall man's will always hits is God's will. NEVER can man's will undo God's. viii. Before time began, God's grace to save His people, and His purpose to call His people to their holy calling, was granted in Christ. ix. I do not pretend to understand it fully. x. But I must believe it for this is what the scripture says. And I rejoice and am glad in it. xi. And rather than spend all kinds of time trying to wrap our brains around it… we should follow Paul… g. [Slide 12] 10 – but now made visible through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus. i. The mystery has been revealed – at least in part. ii. We have seen the glorious appearing of the Savior, the Messiah of God who is Jesus, His Son. iii. Jesus, a name that means Yahweh saves… So HE is Yahweh who saves. iv. How? h. [Slide 13] He has broken the power of death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel! i. The power of death, that seed sewn in Adam's sin. ii. God did foretell to him that in the day you eat of this fruit you will surely die. iii. And on that day, he did die. iv. Spiritually he died and physically he should have died. v. But an animal took his place, and a promise was given to them, which they received in true faith, of a seed that would set it all right. vi. You see Adam did die that day… but when he walked from that garden, His spiritual death had been paid by the blood of Christ. vii. And now that Christ has appeared, all the debt that God promised to pay Himself, All the shame and abomination for God justifying His people who were wicked, He did pour out on the chosen one of God. So that death would die in the death of Christ. And that life and immortality and light could come through this… the good news. viii. My friends… it is a scandal! It is an outrage! It is foolishness! It is abomination! ix. But, do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord. But share in the suffering of it by His power! i. [Slide 14] Passage Truth: Paul's passion for Timothy is for him to know the greatness of this faith that he has received. To understand fully, as he has probably been told before, the greatness of our God in salvation for us. Our God is mighty to save. j. Passage Application: This message is scandalous though. It is wholly rejected by the world. It is foolishness, and it is abominable. But Timothy must not be ashamed of this scandalous gospel. Instead, he should prepare himself to suffer for this truth, knowing that He can endure with the power of God. k. [Slide 15] Broader Biblical Truth: In this text we cannot help but zoom out from it. Paul invites us to do this. He implores us to begin before time. To examine the truth he presents. That God has purposed to call, and save by grace His people. He did this before Adam was created. He did this in the counsel of His will, before anything existed save Himself. Before all things, God the triune met with Himself and decreed that God the Spirit would regenerate His people by grace. That God the Son would die to pay their punishment and make way for grace. And that God the Father would dispense this grace in Christ before the foundation of the world. To the world this is the stupidest thing they have ever heard. To us, His people, it is a marvelous mystery. l. Broader Biblical Application: And it is just the encouragement we here at CBC need to not be embarrassed by this scandalous grace. But to suffer willingly for it knowing that this life is but the space between. It is the plunge into the water as we wait to ascend and breathe again. Our grace in Christ was given in eternity past and will be realized in eternity future. Therefore, we can suffer now – knowing that the misery we experience now for His name is not worthy to be compared to the eternal purpose and glory afforded to us in our adoption. So what is a little laughing. So what is a little pain. So what is a little torture. What is a little death. They are nothing compared to the glorious grace by which we are saved and the holy calling from the purpose of God with which He has called us. Transition: [Slide 16(blank)] This great God and His great salvation for which He is mighty to save is our encouragement to face all that is before us, for a God who would decree all this to be, will certainly not leave us in the midst of the plunge. And that is what we see next. II.) The God of our salvation is mighty to save, so we must hold and keep His gospel pure. (11-14) a. [Slide 17] 11- For this gospel I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher. i. This is the message that Paul was appointed to preach. ii. This is the foundation on which Paul was appointed to build Christ's church. iii. This is the doctrine in which Paul was appointed to instruct others. iv. This is the call he received by the will of God. He was chosen for this purpose. v. The gospel. vi. And what did it gain him in this world's estimation? b. [Slide 18] 12- Because of this, in fact, I suffer as I do. i. He is in prison for preaching and teaching this gospel, and establishing the church in this gospel. ii. He has suffered much for the name of Christ – as God predicted he would when He spoke to Ananias to go and heal his eyes. iii. But even though He is suffering for the name of Christ – called a criminal by Jews and Gentiles alike. Among other names and opinions. What is His resolve? c. [Slide 19] But I am not ashamed, i. He is not embarrassed. ii. He is not afraid. iii. He is not concerned what others think or what others will do. iv. Why? d. [Slide 20] because I know the one in whom my faith is set i. You have to read this carefully. ii. Always, when we read faith we think of our belief, our choice, or our decision. iii. However, what is clear here is that Paul means trust. Hope. iv. He means what the writer of Hebrews defines faith as. v. The surety of something hoped for, the conviction of something unseen. vi. He has placed his surety of hope and conviction of promise in what… or rather… in whom… e. [Slide 21] And I am convinced that he is able to protect what has been entrusted to me until that day. i. God in general. For we could see His trust, hope, conviction all placed into God the Father, the Son, or the Spirit. All of which have been and will be spoken of in this passage concerning our great salvation. ii. God is able to protect what has been entrusted to me. What has been entrusted to Paul? iii. Follow his phrasing. iv. My faith is set on one who is able to protect what has been entrusted to me… v. This is the truth of the gospel. vi. Paul trusts God – not what He believes about God. He trusts God alone to protect the truth of the gospel within him. vii. Until when? viii. Until that day. Which day? ix. This is a short hand way of saying… until he dies or until he stands before God's throne. x. After this personal aside, and Paul's example set, he turns again to Timothy to command him. f. [Slide 22] 13 – Hold to the standard of sound words that you heard from me i. Since Paul is convinced that God is able to protect the truth of the gospel entrusted to him ii. He expects Timothy to hold fast to that same teaching. iii. Knowing that God is also able to protect the same truth in Timothy. iv. Teach what I taught Timothy v. Cling to the pattern that I set down for you. vi. Do not deviate to the right or left. vii. Hold fast to the sound words of doctrine. Do not speculate or invent. There is no room for creative license or novel approaches. viii. Keep the gospel pure. ix. But… how? This is a fool's errand. Just like enduring suffering for the name of Christ… how can he keep the gospel pure? g. [Slide 23] And do so with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. i. With the faith and love that are in Christ. ii. This faith and love is not possessive. And so, we cannot see the relationship here of whose faith and love this is. iii. But if we rely on the prepositions, we see that this faith and love are in Christ. iv. Timothy must cling to the love and faith that Christ has, that we can have, for we are also in Christ. v. This salvation is not just for our future days – but for now. To preserve us in truth. h. [Slide 24] 14 – Protect that good thing entrusted to you through the Holy Spirit who lives within us. i. Protect that good thing entrusted to you. ii. But wait – I thought God was the one able to protect it? iii. AH – there He is iv. Through the Holy Spirit who lives within us. v. The same Spirit of power, love, and self-control that helps us to rekindle our gifts and preach the gospel to the world – is one who will keep us in the truth of the gospel untainted and pure. vi. This is why for those who do not protect the truth they are entrusted with, and turn aside to false teachings, and never return… we must conclude that they never had the Spirit of God. For God is able to keep and protect that truth entrusted to us, and He is able to do that until that day. i. [Slide 25] Passage Truth: Paul tells his dear son that God is not just mighty to save in the eternal past and eternal future. He is not just on either end of this life. He is not just above the surface of the water. NO!. He is with us now! He is saving us now! He is keeping and protecting us… now! j. Passage Application: Timothy must hold fast to the sound teachings and keep what has been entrusted to Him, knowing that God is able to do this in him and through him. k. [Slide 26] Broader Biblical Truth: Have we not seen this my friends? As we have studied the scriptures together – have we not seen that those God lavishes grace and mercy upon are those He saves to the uttermost? Indeed, in all of scripture it testifies to the past, future AND present work of God in our salvation. “He is mighty to save” – is not just an expression of an eventual someday. It is not just an expression of a past decree. It is an expression of present reality. l. Broader Biblical Application: So we at CBC must not be entertained by flights of fancy, novel doctrines, or poetic license – but rather hold fast to our confession. We must cling tightly to the truth of God. We must do this in faith and love. Unwavering trust in God's promises and unconditional love toward God and our brothers and sisters in Christ. And we can surely do this in faith and love because it is not a self-conjured faith or love but a faith and love found in Christ. A gift given to all who have been united to Him. Conclusion: [Slide 27(end) But we think in our heads of course – what is the meaning of this text? Surely continuing to believe what I have believed is not a great thing? What is the apostle getting all excited about? What is the apostle so concerned with? Well next week we will see this fully and completely – but my friends, we only think that this is a message that could have been left unsaid because we are fools. As we are pressed on every side. As we are hounded by the forces of the evil one around us. As the noose tightens – no doubt for some who think “holding fast to my confession is no great work” they will be the first to recant to save their necks. The only reason the exhortation of Paul is no great thing to us is because we are soft and squishy. Fattened by spiritual idleness. We have had time to dispute the finer points of theology defining exactly how many angels can fit on the head of a pin, but in that time we have neglected the holding fast of our confession. We hold it, but loosely. We touch it but do not cling to it for life. Because of this, it is attacked on every side. But when the trumpet call rings out for the fight, we are left patting our pockets trying to locate where we left it. We are searching the nooks and crannies of our house to locate our faith so we can leave the house before it burns to the ground. My friends – do not be so careless with this gospel. Do not be so sure of your grasp of it. I have admitted to you in this very sermon, that I do not understand it fully. I have been to seminary. I have been to the school of Christ. I have been taught by His words every day for several years. I DO NOT UNDERSTAND IT ALL. My friends! I implore you, PLEASE – be ready to suffer for the gospel. And the first step to ready yourselves is to understand what it is. God. God alone. God without man's works, will, intentions, inclinations. God according to the purpose of His will. God according to the power of His grace. God in ages past before time began. God has decreed who are His. He has saved them, called them to a holy calling, has granted grace in Christ to them, has indwelled them with His Spirit. So that they may be holy. Upright. People of the Way. He has done this. That is the gospel. The gospel is… HE HAS DONE THIS FOR HIS PEOPLE. And this is foolish. It is scandalous. It is outrageous. It is deplorable! It is infamous! It is abominable. To those who are dying. But to the believing ones. To those who trust Him… It is good… news. Are you prepared to suffer for it? Are you ready to hold fast to it? If you aren't… remember that God is able to protect what has been entrusted to you through His Spirit that is in you. So draw courage from this, and prepare yourself for the fight.

Dissension in the Body of Christ. Bible Study with Jairus - 1 Corinthians 4   Rivalry in the Church. In 1 Corinthians 4:6, Paul urged the Corinthians not to idolize him or his coworker, Apollos. Paul said, "I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another." As I read this passage, the Holy Spirit highlighted the words puffed up. Why did Paul say that the Corinthians who picked sides, favoring Paul or Apollos, were puffed up?   In politics, we often see one politician exalt another for his own personal gain. Those who exalt others usually have ulterior motives. Their purpose is to use the people they exalt to achieve their goals.   Unfortunately, such scenarios also exist in the church. People who exalt others in the church often use the people they exalt to increase their own influence. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1:11-12, "For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. What I mean is that each one of you says, ‘I follow Paul,' or ‘I follow Apollos,' or ‘I follow Cephas,' or ‘I follow Christ.'”   Paul pointed out that there was rivalry between the Corinthian believers. These rivalries stem from the flesh. Paul clearly states in Galatians 5:20 that rivalry is an act of the flesh.   What is the purpose of a rivalry? The purpose of a rivalry is to pursue leadership, authority and influence. The people who were rivals in the Corinthian church were not really trying to exalt Paul and Apollos, but to gain their own influence. Paul and Apollos were just tools in their hands.     Stages of Church Decline. Why did some Corinthians exalt Paul and Apollos to advance their own status? To answer this question, we need to cite a pastor Ernest B. Gentile. In his book, Your Sons & Daughters Shall Prophesy: Prophetic Gifts in Ministry Today, he analyzed the famous German sociologist Ernst Troeltsch's theory of the degradation of the church. Based on his own experience, he proposed his own research on the "model of the degradation of the church." This model includes four stages.   The first stage is "an aggressive sect." At this stage, the leaders of the first generation of churches or denominations are usually very focused on God's mission and actively devote themselves selflessly to the Lord. The leaders and believers of the first generation are also full of energy. Leaders of the first generation often have prophetic guidance. They create new churches and are actively committed to correcting the mistakes of the past churches, purifying the ranks of believers, and actively playing the role of the church in society. There is often external persecution, but the persecution does not restrict them but instead makes them work even harder. The church achieves great growth and the number of people increases. The church achieves widespread gospel influence.   The second stage is“ an evangelistic movement.” At this stage, the church continues to expand and multiply. Not only do they maintain their enthusiasm for the gospel, but they also continue to maintain their uniqueness in preaching of the truth. This is a period of consolidation. Because the ministry has expanded, it is necessary to establish a certain organizational structure for management. After such an organizational structure is established, it gradually loses the flexibility of the first generation and instead relies mostly on organizations and institutions for management. At this time, prophetic experiences begin to become less common. Through the efforts of the first and second generations, vivid spiritual experiences and practices gradually morph into sectarian rules and traditions.     The third stage is "a recognized denomination.” People of the first generation usually lack a management structure. The management structure established by the second generation has begun to help the church or denomination continue to grow, but in the third stage, it will become a limit to the growth and spiritual vitality of the church. The church and believers begin to lose the enthusiasm of the first generation and begin to be more influenced by the world. At first, the church attached great importance to paying attention to the poor, but now the church and believers have become rich and gradually forget this mission. The church begins to focus on more academic and theological teaching and begins to ignore the use and practice of gifts. At this time, prophetic words and gifts begin to be gradually ignored. The church pays more attention to knowledge and reason.     The fourth stage is "A Spiritless Monument." In the fourth stage, the church slowly becomes a monument to the glory of the past, and the spiritual reality has been lost. Believers do not know and desire God as the believers did in the beginning. The church's interest in the gospel and ministry has also gradually declined. The Holy Spirit gradually loses any freedom, so the Holy Spirit leaves this church. The church continues to operate according to tradition and organization.     Ernest B. Gentile said that this cycle has been operating throughout the history of the church. After the fourth stage, the Holy Spirit will raise up a new apostolic church movement and start the cycle all over again. Because new wine can't be put into old wineskins and new spiritual movements often contain new wine, believers in traditional churches begin to leave the traditional church to seek the richness of God.[1]               The Arrogance of the Corinthian Church Although Ernest B. Gentile's observations apply to current-day Charismatic and Prophetic churches, the insights may apply to many churches, and even to Paul's ministry. Paul and Apollos were the first leaders of the Corinthian church. They both served in the Corinthian church. But the Corinthian church faced a difficulty: Paul and Apollos were not present in the church as permanent pastors.   We don't know who the pastor or leader of the Corinthian church was. But because Paul and Apollos were no longer there, nobody had enough authority to make others obey. Therefore, there were different leaders trying to exalt Paul and Apollos, using Paul and Apollos to establish their own leadership in the church. Fortunately, after Paul learned of these circumstances, he promptly wrote a letter to correct the situation. But we know that his letter did not prevent the eventual decline of the church. Perhaps the fall of the Corinthian church was delayed because of Paul's intervention. But in his later years, Paul said that all the Asian churches had abandoned him (2 Timothy 1:15).   One of the difficulties of the Corinthian church is that Paul was not there. Paul even mentioned that “Some are arrogant as though I were not coming to you.” (1 Corinthians 4:18). Here Paul clearly pointed out that the reason why some people are "arrogant" is that they think Paul will not go to the Corinthian church. A Chinese proverb says, "When there are no great tigers in the deep mountains, even a monkey can become king." This proverb describes the situation in the Corinthian church very well. Since Paul was gone, sin and rivalry were running rampant. “When the cat's away, the mice can play.”   Paul said in verse 19, "But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I will find out not the talk of these arrogant people but their power." In this book, the word “arrogant” is used three times (verses 6, 18, and 19). This shows that Paul was very concerned about their arrogance. God wants to teach us something through this word.   Why are these people arrogant? Rodney Hogue, a teacher in the "Deliverance Ministries,” will answer this question very well in his commentary on 1 John 2: 12-14. These verses say, “I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name's sake. I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, children, because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.”   Rodney Hogue said that from a spiritual perspective, there are three types of people in the church: children, young people, and old people. Older people are the spiritual fathers. They know the God who has existed from the beginning. What they care about is knowing God and who he is. To them, “being” is more important than “doing.” They will never be jealous of the spiritual progress of young people and children, but are instead happy for them.   Young people are those who have overcome evil to a certain extent. They are strong, know the word of God, and eagerly hope to do something for God. But their weak point is their jealousy when they see the progress of other children. They are not fathers, but elder brothers. They will be jealous of younger believers' progress. They resemble the older brother in Luke 15 who was jealous of the prodigal son. These kinds of people are characterized by an active desire to do things for God, and they care about their ministry (doing). The third type of person is a child. On the one hand, they simply trust the Heavenly Father. Because their sins have recently been forgiven, they urgently need the love of their spiritual brothers, and to be fed by their spiritual parents. They are characterized by the need to humbly accept spiritual offerings (receiving). Rodney Hogue said that the church needs spiritual fathers. Unfortunately, the church is full of spiritual brothers but lacks spiritual parents. On the one hand, these elder brothers are a little more spiritually advanced than the children, but they are often jealous of others because their lives have not matured into the mindset of spiritual parents. Many pastors and even elders are still at the level of elder brothers.     The situation in the Corinthian church resembles the plight of many modern churches. Why are some people arrogant? They are spiritual young adults. On the one hand, they aspire to be leaders of the church and accomplish more for God. But when they encounter opposition and interference from others, there will be rivalry. When they see that others also want to be leaders, they will feel jealous.   Paul knew their situation well. Paul longed for them to grow into spiritual parents. He knew that the way to become spiritual leaders was to help the Corinthians mature into spiritual fathers. Paul said, "I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. I urge you, then, be imitators of me.” (1 Corinthians 4:14-16)   Paul knew that the growth of the church required leaders, but the creation of leaders required maturity. The church leader must be a spiritual father, not a spiritual young person who will rival and contradict others at every turn. Paul was a spiritual father, so he said, "Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Without us you have become kings! And would that you did reign, so that we might share the rule with you!" (1 Corinthians 4:8) Although Paul was mocking them, Paul's heart really yearned for them like a father who had matured into spiritual life and reigned in a glorified spiritual abundance.     However, the lives of the rival Corinthian believers had not matured to this point. On the contrary, they were young people. Paul used himself as an example to let the Corinthians learn how to be a spiritual father.   He also sent Timothy to the Corinthian church. Paul specifically mentioned, "That is why I sent you Timothy my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ as I teach them everywhere in every church" (1 Corinthians 4: 17). Timothy would follow Paul's example as a spiritual father. Therefore, Paul's purpose in sending Timothy to the Corinthian church was to get them on the path to becoming spiritual leaders. He wanted them to imitate himself, just as he imitated Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1).   Living in God's Power When Paul talked about arrogant people in verses 19-20, he evaluated their spiritual power, rather than just looking at their words. Paul said, “For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power."   A man asked, “What does power mean here?” In my personal opinion, the power includes the power to cure the sick and cast out demons, but that is not the only power in view here. The real power lies in being able to give birth to other believers, just as Paul gave birth to the Corinthian church in Christ. Abraham's power lay in his ability to have as many descendants as the stars in the sky, and our power lies in fathering spiritual children.   I grew up in rural China, where we often dried food on the roof. We would tie a rope to a bucket so we could lift the grain to the roof. This task requires a lot of power. When I was a child, I didn't have enough muscle power to pull it up, and I needed to ask an adult to help me.   The Local Church Movement (LCM) often uses this metaphor to explain how you should not marry unbelievers because the Bible teaches that believers and unbelievers should not work closely together (2 Corinthians 6:14). A close association with an unbeliever could pull you down into sin, rather than pulling the other person up to salvation.   To illustrate, one man would stand on a chair, and another man would stand on the ground. One man tried to pull the other off the chair, and the other tried to pull the man up onto the chair. As a result, the person standing on the ground tended to pull down the person standing on the chair.   The person who gave this example said that it is very difficult for us to lift people up spiritually, but it is very easy to be dragged down by the world and sin. When two people get married, if one is an unbeliever, it is difficult for you to pull the other into belief, but the other person can easily pull you into unbelief. This is a good analogy.     In the same way, the real power lies in removing yourself from the attraction of possessions, the temptation of physical sin, and the uncleanness of the soul and life. Remove yourself from influences that will complicate your journey to heaven.   You can only lead someone to a place you've been yourself. If you're living in intimate fellowship with God (as if you were in the Holy of Holies), you can bring others with you into God's presence. If you're living at a distance from God (as if you were in the outer court), you can only bring people into the Outer Court.   Therefore, Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 4 demonstrate great power. He not only pointed out the spiritual problems of the Corinthian church, but also regarded himself as an exemplary spiritual father. He told the Corinthians that they must become spiritual fathers like himself in order to become the spiritual leaders of the church.   Becoming the spiritual leader of the church does not lie in exalting Paul or Apollos, but in the maturity of your own life. If your life is mature enough to resemble Apollos, you will have Apollos' authority. If your life is as mature as Paul's, you will have Paul's spiritual authority. The true power comes from the spiritual authority we receive from God after we mature in the spiritual life.   The book of 2 Corinthians tells us that the Corinthians repented and worried over their downfall, and Paul comforted them himself. This tells us that Paul's message to the church did its job and was effective. Later, the church in Asia rejected Paul, but the Corinthian church did not reject Paul.   Parallels in Today's Church. While studying this passage, a man asked, “What is the state of the church today? Is today's divided church puffed up, as well? Do you see situations in our current church today that mirror the situation in 1 Corinthians 4?” I said, “Yes, I do.”   In the church where I was saved, I saw Ernest B. Gentile's principles at work. The first generation of leaders experienced many struggles, and the second generation became more established. However, in the third generation, rules and regulations inevitably entered the church and slowly hindered the work of the Holy Spirit.   Therefore, some people began to seek more guidance from the Holy Spirit. Because of this situation, I began to study in the Charismatic Movement and the Prophetic Movement. Once I got in touch with the Charismatic Movement and the Prophetic Movement, I learned that the Holy Spirit has a lot of freedom among them and has done a lot of things.   According to Ernest B. Gentile, when the leaders of the second or third generation of churches are not trying their best to open themselves to the Holy Spirit's prophetic guidance, people will lack the manifestation of the authority and power of God. This makes it difficult to establish trust in the church. At this time, the leaders of the second or third generation will hold high some of the views or propositions of the leaders of the first generation. On the one hand, it solidifies the teaching of the first generation of leaders, but on the other hand, they use it to establish their own authority. Because they cannot get fresh prophetic revelation from the Holy Spirit and direct authority from God, their authority is often based on the inheritance and consolidation of the teachings of the first generation of leaders. Furthermore, they usually don't dare to break the restrictions taught by the first generation of leaders. Thus, they lack the ability to create a major breakthrough in the future. This pattern is not only found in the Charismatic and Prophet Movements as observed by Ernest B. Gentile, but also in many different denominations.     In addition to difficulties within a sect, there are often disagreements between sects. The struggles of different factions within denominations are often not necessarily known to outsiders. But the struggles between denominations are easily visible to the world. Struggles within churches and groups are often concealed in the name of unity. However, the struggles between sects can be seen by the world.   Both are from the flesh. Different denominations are like different brothers in the body of Christ. One group said that they belonged to Paul, and the other said that they belonged to Apollos. The struggle in the Corinthian church represents a struggle within a church, but the struggle between denominations represents an internal struggle with the universal church.     Imagine Paul speaking not only to the Corinthian church, but to the entire body of Christ. Imagine that the Apostle John was not speaking to the fathers, young people, and children in one particular church, but to the fathers, young people, and children in the entire body of Christ. We can see that the situation of the global church is similar to that of the Corinthian church. There are not many people who are truly fathers like Paul was. Most of them are young people or children. The problem with young people is that they cannot accept others. But spiritual parents can accept others. The brother in Luke 15 could not accept the prodigal brother, but his father was able to accept the return of the prodigal son.     Our God is our Father. Every snowflake he created is different. Everyone has a unique call from God. Every sect is born out of a truth received from God that the group adheres to. None of us are complete without our fellow believers. When we criticize each other and condemn other denominations, we make our Heavenly Father sad, just as the rivalry within the Corinthian church made Paul, their spiritual father, sad.   The Chinese church has experienced similar dissension. Many evangelical pastors, such as Pastor Stephen Tong, fight against the Local Church Movement (LCM), and neither Chinese evangelical churches nor LCM churches accept Charismatic churches. My personal study in both the LCM churches and the Charismatic churches, as well as my contact with churches under Tong's influence, has shown me that the teaching and practice of the LCM would be very helpful to ordinary Chinese churches and Charismatic churches. The LCM can provide insight into the importance of life maturity and spiritual practice, which can help many believers in the Chinese evangelical churches and Charismatic churches to grow up spiritually. In addition, the practice of Charismatic churches can inject more vitality into the LCM and other evangelical churches, giving them more freedom in the Spirit and keeping them from dying.   Because Tong strongly criticized the LCM and Charismatic churches, many believers were unable to learn the truth from these two groups. In addition, the LCM refused to accept the baptism of the Holy Spirit and tongues. They have not accepted God's work in other churches, especially Charismatic churches. Charismatic churches have weaknesses of their own. They generally tend to be immature and place too much emphasis on miracles and marvels, lacking pastoral teaching on the deeper spiritual life.   We should be eager to humble ourselves and learn from each other. God's calling for our time is to bring together different denominations and sects. As we come together, we can learn from each other's strengths.   Another controversy in today's church is the Hyper Grace Gospel. Many evangelical Chinese churches in China strongly oppose the Hyper Grace Gospel. A woman who studied the Bible with us was deeply hurt by legalism in her evangelical church. She said that her church taught her that she must always condemn herself for not repenting enough and not working hard enough. It was very painful for her to condemn herself over all those years.   As a result, she found that Pastor Joseph Prince and his message on the Gospel of Grace helped her. Joseph Prince is often accused of being the leader of the Hyper Grace Gospel. It's true that some believers go to extremes, overemphasizing grace and ignoring the law of God. However, the reason the Hyper Grace Gospel has become so popular in China is that in many traditional churches, legalism prevails. For believers who have been wounded by legalism, it is particularly easy to accept the teachings of the Hyper Grace Gospel. Because many evangelical churches in China have legalistic tendencies, the message of the Hyper Grace Gospel is like a cool breeze on a summer day for believers who have suffered from legalism.   This controversy has caused internal disputes in many churches, causing many church members to become estranged. The backlash from the church has been fierce, condemning the Hyper Grace Gospel as heresy.   But there is something commendable in the Hyper Grace Gospel, especially for believers who have been harmed by legalism. The Hyper Grace Gospel finds fertile ground for spreading widely in China. To a certain extent, this is due to God's desire to correct the mistakes of legalism.   Joseph Prince also had a great influence among American Charismatics. Therefore, some Charismatic leaders have begun to worry. For example, a Charismatic and Jewish spiritual leader in the United States, Michael L. Brown, raised concerns that the Hyper Grace Gospel was preaching the grace of God too much and ignoring the law of God. Therefore, he proposed a peaceful meeting with Joseph, and the two men had a genuine dialogue. But I don't know whether their dialogue had any specific positive effects.   Personally, I believe that the message of the Hyper Grace Gospel will be helpful to a person whose strict basic theological training has focused on legalism and external behavior. It will not cause them too much harm, because they need this strong correction to the teachings they've heard all their lives. But believers who have not received strict basic theological teachings will be more prone to extremes if exposed to the Hyper Grace Gospel.     There is an extreme example of the Hyper Grace Gospel circulating on the Internet. I have no way to know if it is true or not, but I have heard many similar reports among Chinese Christians. The Facebook post reads: "Now the Hyper Grace Gospel from Singapore has flooded China. They believe that once they are saved, they can never lose their salvation. There is nothing wrong with sin. A female Christian who keeps having an affair talked to a pastor, and the pastor asked her to repent. She told him that according to the teachings of the Hyper Grace Gospel she had received, this is not a sin. Even the Gentiles know that immorality is a shame! The Hyper Grace proponents regard Jesus as a consumer product, giving them heaven for free without holiness and repentance. It's a highway that leads straight to hell." [2]   People who have heard the Hyper Grace Gospel first-hand have told me similar stories. I don't believe that Joseph Prince truly teaches these extremes, but some of his followers excessively expanded the grace element of the gospel and ignored the teaching about repentance and confession of sin.   We must look at the Hyper Grace Gospel in a balanced way. The Hyper Grace Gospel is like any other movement. If it is not from God, it will not gain much traction. But Satan tries to destroy God-given movements by pushing their teaching to extremes, thereby stigmatizing these practices. This is Satan's, usual trick and it is called the Straw Man Fallacy.   Let me give another example of this tactic. Witness Lee, the leader of the Local Church Movement where I was saved, advocated "calling on the Lord's name." The practice of calling on the name of the Lord helped believers pray by meditating on the name of the Lord. This is a very good spiritual exercise, and I have benefited a lot from it.   But the enemy has tried to destroy this movement by raising up people in mainland China who twisted Witness Lee's teaching. Some heretical groups in China stole this practice. Instead of calling on the name of the Lord, they call on the name of "Witness Lee" as if he were a god. This is not Witness Lee's teaching or the LCM. The enemy has harmfully distorted this practice in order to discredit it. Unfortunately, because of the enemy's destruction, not only the practice of "calling on the Lord's name" was stigmatized, but the LCM and Witness Lee were also stigmatized. Similarly, the Hyper Grace Gospel may contain truth from God's word, as well as areas that need to be corrected. Believers who support the Hyper Grace Gospel, believers who oppose the Hyper Grace Gospel, and the church as a whole need to be humble enough to dialogue with one other. In some places, these conflicts are already very intense. Those who oppose the Hyper Grace Gospel call the Hyper Grace Gospel heresy. But perhaps those people should reflect on the legalism of the church. Believers of the Hyper Grace Gospel should also reflect on how to avoid the extremes shown in the above examples.     Instead, the two parties who support and oppose the Hyper Grace Gospel have become emotional and are unable to resolve the contradiction. Like in the Corinthian church, the modern church struggles with rivalry and division. Remember, when believers are immature, they will experience these contradictions and rivalries. True spiritual fathers imitate Paul, who can look at problems from different perspectives.   On the one hand, Paul was able to accept weak believers, and on the other hand, he was able to feel joy in seeing believers' progress. We must also look at this issue from both perspectives. Too much emphasis on grace and too much emphasis on the law are both wrong aspects. Legalism will harm believers and prevent them from fully realizing God's grace in Christ; the extreme Hyper Grace Gospel also hurts believers, preventing believers from understanding God's holiness and strict discipline. These two aspects of truth need to be held in balance.   [1] [1] Ernest B Gentile, Your Sons & Daughters Shall Prophesy-Prophetic Gifts in Ministry Today, (Chosen Books, Grand Rapids, MI), 1999, 247-249 [2] https://www.facebook.com/godjesusloveme/posts/2371476159599706/    

Philadelphia is known as the “City of Brotherly Love.” The motto references the Greek word phileo which means “brotherly love” or the love between friends. Christians revolutionized the way this term was used. In Paul’s day, the word was used only to reference actual family relationships. Only Christians called one another “brother” or “sister” when it wasn’t literally true. Loving one another is an essential part of Christian discipleship and pleasing the Lord. One might say that living to please the Lord is the vertical dimension of the greatest commandment while loving one another is the horizontal dimension (see Matt. 22:37–39). In yesterday’s reading, sexual immorality was condemned as sinful in part because it involved harming a brother or sister in Christ (1 Thess. 4:6). In other words, Christian love is our best defense against the temptation to give in to lust and other selfish desires. Paul encouraged the Thessalonians by recognizing that they’d been doing very well in the area of loving one another (vv. 9–10). In fact, they had earned a reputation throughout the region for this virtue (see 1 Thess. 1:8). Since Paul and his team had been forced to leave, the apostle concluded that the young church had been “taught by God” Himself! God would accomplish His will for the Thessalonians despite pagan hostility and persecution and despite the absence of His chosen missionaries. So they could now rest on their laurels, right? No.  As is true so often in the Christian life, the reward for faithfulness is more opportunities to be faithful. So Paul exhorted the Thessalonians to grow “more and more” in love (v. 10). We’ve already noted that sanctification is progressive—spiritual growth should be ongoing! >> Today, identify a specific act of Christian love that you can do for a specific brother or sister in Christ. If you’re unsure, pray about who and what. Then, make plans to act on it!

Hello and welcome again to Lechem Panim. Today we will be continuing to take a look at one of the most remarkable early Christians we find in the book of Acts; a man by the name of Stephen, whose life was characterized by “fullness”.  In Acts 6:5 he is first described as being a man full of faith. And that faith was foundational to his life. Full of The Spirit— And flowing from that fullness of faith was also a fullness of the Holy Spirit (cf. 7:55). And it was the Holy Spirit who empowered him, taught him, and re-made him in the image of Christ so that he lived like Jesus. And that is always the mark of somebody filled with the Spirit; not miracles or prophecy or any other dramatic gifts, but whether or not they look like Jesus. And Stephen apparently did, which is why he ended up facing much of the rejection and persecution that Jesus Himself had experienced. Full of Grace— Now the third spiritual reality that Stephen had fullness of was grace; a lovingkindness that flowed from his trust, obedience, and submission to the Holy Spirit. And it was probably for this characteristic that the Church chose him to help minister to the widows. But nowhere do we see the grace of Stephen more graphically lived out than in the final moments of Stephen's life when (as he is being pelted with stones in 7:60) he looks up to heaven and (just as Jesus had done on the cross) asks God that this sin might not be held against them. Now I don't know what I would say if faced with similar circumstances. But in those moments his heart didn't burn with anger, or even fear or terror. He was both at peace with the death coming upon him in those moments and also able to (even then) demonstrate the love of God in a way that no doubt shook the hearts of many who were watching. Because that kind of grace doesn't happen naturally. That is a God-empowered, Holy Spirit filled kind of love which can only come from a heart that has been transformed by the reality of what Christ did for us on the cross. And it is that kind of grace that will most draw people to Christ through us as well. Full of Power— Now the last thing Stephen was full of was power. [Stephen was full of power. That was a direct result of his being filled with the Spirit (cf. Acts 1:8). That he was performing great wonders and signs among the people suggests he was far more than simply a deacon. Instead, his deeds of power show his close link with the apostles. In the New Testament church only the apostles, Stephen, Philip (Acts 8:6–7), and Barnabas (15:12) performed miracles. {And} The imperfect tense of poieō (was performing) shows Stephen was continually doing those mighty works, no doubt with the same impact as the apostles (5:12–14). {Now} Taken together, verses 5 and 8 give both the Godward and man-ward sides of Christian character. {Stephen was} A man full of faith toward God, and yielded to the Spirit's control,]. And anybody who is like that [will be gracious toward others and manifest great spiritual power.] Under God's Control— So [The emphasis in Stephen's life is on fullness: He was full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom (Acts 6:3,10), full of faith (v. 5), and full of {grace and} power (v. 8).]. What a great description for a person. Are any of you full today? Stephen was a guy who was full; able to be used by God because He was completely surrendered to Him. Now in the midst of his proclaiming the Gospel, Stephen encounters a few different groups of religious leaders. It says in… Acts 6:9 (ESV)— 9 Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen. The Role of Synagogues— Now synagogues were places of worship that began during the inter-Testamental period all the way back to in and around the Babylonian captivity.  Remember that Jews who were dispersed (of the dispersion) (usually Hellenists) (Because they did not have access to the temple in Jerusalem) needed a place to worship and read the Old Testament. Hence synagogues were developed. And because you had [Jews from many nations {who} resided in Jerusalem in their own “quarters,”…some of these ethnic groups had their own synagogues.] 3 Synagogues— And here we likely have mentioned [3 synagogues: {the first being} the Synagogue of the Freedmen, a second composed of Cyrenians and Alexandrians, and a third composed of those from Cilicia and Asia. Cultural and linguistic differences among the 3 groups make it unlikely they all attended the same synagogue.] Freedmen— But let's look at these groups one by one just to give us an understanding of who these guys were. First, we have a group known as the Freedmen (“libertines”). You will remember from your history books about the city of Pompeii in western Italy, southeast of Naples. Mount Vesuvius would later erupt in AD 79 and the volcanic ash would perfectly preserve the remains of buildings, mosaics, furniture, the personal possessions of the people, and many of the people themselves in that city. Well the freedmen mentioned here were [Descendants of Jewish slaves captured by {the city of} Pompeii (63 B.C.) and taken to Rome. They were later freed and formed a Jewish community there.] Cyrenians— Now for the second group; the [Cyrenians. {The Cyrenians were} Men from Cyrene, a city in North Africa. {You will remember that} Simon, the man conscripted to carry Jesus' cross, was a native of Cyrene (Luke 23:26).] Alexandrians— Now next we have the [Alexandrians. Alexandria, another major North African city, was located near the mouth of the Nile River. The powerful preacher Apollos {(whom we will encounter later in Acts 18)} was from Alexandria (see note on 18:24).] Cilicia and Asia— Now the last group of men were from [Cilicia and Asia. {These were} Roman provinces in Asia Minor (modern Turkey). Since Paul's hometown (Tarsus) was located in Cilicia {(Acts 21:39)}, he probably attended this synagogue.] And [it is possible that he heard Stephen in the synagogue and may have {even} debated with him.] We don't know. Formal debate— So you have these men from each of these synagogues beginning to dispute with Stephen. Now [The word translated “disputing” signifies a formal debate. {It doesn't say what they debated about, but} They no doubt focused on such themes as the death and resurrection of Jesus, and the OT evidence that He was the Messiah.] And though they no doubt disagreed with much of what Stephen was saying (particularly about Jesus) it says… Acts 6:10 (ESV)— 10 But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. Stephen's Victory— And so we see that they were making arguments, but at every point Stephen proved victorious. And the text says that this was first because of his superior wisdom (which no doubt includes knowledge of the scriptures; but more importantly, understanding what the scriptures mean and how Jesus Christ had fulfilled them). And secondly, because he was full of the Spirit. He was being empowered by God Himself to deliver His message to these Jewish leaders. And so it says that none of them could withstand his wisdom and power of the Holy Spirit in which he was speaking. And this (in and of itself) was a fulfillment of prophecy; because Jesus had said to his disciples all the way back in… Luke 21:15 (ESV)— 15 for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. And that is exactly what we see here. They could not withstand his arguments. And we know that this will eventually lead to Stephen's death. But even that was a fulfillment of prophecy. Because in the very next verse of Luke 21 Jesus had said… Luke 21:16-17 (ESV)— 16 You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death. 17 You will be hated by all for my name's sake. {And we definitely see here some of that hatred. It says…} Acts 6:11-14 (ESV)— 11 Then they secretly instigated men who said, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” 12 And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council, 13 and they set up false witnesses who said, “This man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law, 14 for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us.” Stephen Like Jesus— Now because they could not win against Stephen with rational argument, we see that (because of their unwillingness to accept where the evidence pointed) they decided that their only remaining option was to kill Stephen. And so these men intentionally instigate others to make false accusations; skewing what Stephen was saying and obviously adding things that he himself had never said. And you know, their treatment of him closely resembles how the Jewish leaders had treated Jesus Himself. They hired false witnesses (as they had done with Jesus) and stirred up the people (as they had done with Jesus), who accused Stephen of attacking the law of Moses and temple, just as the Jewish leaders had done with Jesus (Matthew 26:59-61). And the reason this [group falsely accused Stephen of wanting to change Moses' customs…{was}… because they knew that the Sadducees, who controlled the council, believed only in Moses' laws.] And they would be highly offended by that. And they also knew the Sadducees' love of the temple (which was their primary focus); and so they say that Stephen has been claiming that [Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place. {This was} Another lie, since Jesus' words (John 2:19) referred to His own body (John 2:21).] But it was the same lie the Jewish leaders had used at Jesus' own trial. Now you would expect that especially in light of what had happened to Jesus, Stephen might be afraid. But it says in… Acts 6:15 (ESV)— 15 And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel. Face of An Angel— And what this means was the Stephen was demonstrating [Pure, calm, unruffled composure, reflecting the presence of God (cf. Ex. 34:29–35).] Moses' face had shown with the presence of God after encountering Him in and intimate way. And here we see Stephen reflecting that same glory that had been on the face of Moses; a glory that flowed from his intimacy with Jesus. And that shows that he was at one with God and even at one with Moses. Now I don't know what word you thought of when thinking about the central defining characteristic of your life. I kind of like “angel-face”; having a face that reflects the presence of Jesus. You know we talked last week a bit about waves. Most waves start off pretty small. They don't become large right away. And a wave that might become a large wave will have no idea the significance it could have later down the road. But you know, that is the same with us. Stephen had the steady breath of God on blowing upon his life; and in later chapters (after his death) we will see the incredible impact of this simple man's life; this simple man who was called to wait on tables but who ended up moving mountains. If you think God can't do the same through you, you're wrong. He can. All you need is to be full; to be full of faith, to be full of the Spirit, to be full of wisdom and grace, and in so doing you will be filled with the very power of God. Be full today.

Title: Unstoppable Grace, Relentless Love Text: Titus 2:11-15 FCF: We often struggle connecting faith and works. Prop: Because God’s grace given in Christ’s substitution is an assured means of our conformity to Christ, we must live in a way that is fitting with the gospel. Scripture Intro: [Slide 1] Turn in your bible to Titus chapter 2. Last week we completed Paul’s exhortation to Titus to teach and insist upon behavior from the Cretan church that fits with the gospel. This behavior effects every walk of life, every age, both genders, every social economic status. In short, the gospel produces the same effect in all those who have actually received it. In a word – they are like Christ. They are radically different than the world. But what is the link between gospel and behavior? Paul insists that there is an inherent link. What is the theological proof of this? It is nice to say to Titus – teach your people to live differently as an expression of their faith… but why is he to expect these Cretans to behave this way? Haven’t we observed that all Cretans are liars, evil beasts and lazy gluttons? Why should their reception of the gospel have changed all of that? That is where Paul goes next. He wants to show Titus the connection between faith and obedience. I am in Titus 2, I’ll start reading in verse 11. I’ll be reading from the NET, and you can follow along in the pew bible on page 1346 or whatever version you prefer. Transition: What is the link between faith and works? Why is it all or nothing? Two things… the unstoppable grace of God to save His people to the uttermost, and the relentless love of Christ to purify a particular people of His own. Let’s look. I.) God’s grace saves His people from sin now, so we must live in a way that is fitting with the gospel. (11-13) a. [Slide 2] 11 – For the grace of God has appeared i. As we noted last week, 3 times Paul brings up how when each of these groups of people demonstrate behavior that fits the gospel, it reflects positively on outsiders. ii. Paul now sets out here in this section to explain why behavior that goes with sound doctrine decorates the gospel. iii. Why is it that love and obedience are linked? Why is it that faith that is alive produces good works? iv. The grace of God. v. We have spoken much of God’s grace in the last several weeks. I’m convinced that it is the most significant theological word in the New Testament that no one really understands. OR – they confuse it with God’s Mercy. vi. We have defined grace as God’s divine power coming to someone to enable them to do what He desires them to do, for which they had no capacity to do prior to His gifting of grace. vii. When someone asks what wind is, oftentimes people begin describing what wind does. Afterall, so many of our senses are unable to detect wind’s existence, but observe its effect. viii. Gravity is the same. We cannot define what gravity is by holding an apple and dropping it and saying – That’s gravity. No, it isn’t. That is gravity’s effect. You didn’t see gravity. You saw what gravity does. ix. Paul here does not define for us what grace is. Because I am convinced that it is not as simple as we have made it to be. x. Rather Paul goes on to define what grace does. xi. First of all, it has appeared. xii. When? We don’t know. The tense of the verb only tells us it has happened and it isn’t very much concerned about telling us when. xiii. All that matters is that it has appeared. xiv. Why has it appeared? b. [Slide 3] Bringing salvation to all people i. Grace brings salvation. ii. We know that this is the case – Ephesians 2 tells us that salvation is by grace. iii. Grace is what brings salvation or what gives salvation its power. Grace, God’s supernatural empowering, doesn’t just enable men to be saved… no, it saves men. iv. Every single person who is saved, has been saved because God’s grace invaded their lives. v. [Slide 4A] But we have to address something theologically problematic. Did God’s grace bring salvation to all people? Well, the text says it, so we have to say yes. But in what sense is this true? There are three basic options 1. Yes. God’s grace brought salvation to all men. Therefore, all men will be saved. 2. Yes. God’s grace brought salvation to all men. In the sense that God’s grace brought potential salvation to all men, so all men are able to believe. 3. Yes. God’s grace brought salvation to all men. In the sense that God’s grace brought effective salvation to all kinds of men without distinction. vi. [Slide 4BOption 1 fails for many reasons. Which leaves us with really only two options to consider. vii. [Slide 4C] Is it true that God has given grace to all men so that all men are able to choose to be saved? Those who believe this would teach that the grace that God is bringing to all men cancels their depravity to the extent that they are now able to choose God. viii. [Slide 5] There are several problems with this view. 1. The first is a textual one, in that it seems to disagree with scripture. In Romans Paul quotes the Old Testament when it says “no one seeks after God” “no one is righteous.” He quotes the Old Testament, not to suggest that something is different now, but rather to reinforce the concept that man is unable to seek God. Of course, we know that Romans was written after Christ’s work was completed. And so, if God has given some kind of grace enabling all men to be able to choose God – we have to wonder – when did that happen? It would have to have been sometime after Romans was written but before Titus was written, if indeed this is what this passage is teaching. So, between 56AD and 63AD is when this grace appeared. The obvious dilemma being that there is no scripture that records anything happening in that time period that would bring this grace. 2. The second major problem with this teaching is another textual one. Again, from Romans, Paul says that those whom God has foreordained, he has also predestined, those He predestined He has also called, those whom He called He has also justified, those whom He justified He has also glorified. We have to wonder where this kind of grace fits into all this. Where does God stop this process to wait for man to choose Him? And if they don’t choose Him, this text in Romans is lying. Because there may be some to whom God has foreordained, predestined and called – that will choose not to be justified, and glorified. So Paul lies to us in Romans 8. 3. A third problem I have with this view is a logical one. If God gives grace to all men, enabling them to choose Him, what happens if they don’t? They would go to hell. Ok. But what happens if they do choose Him? They would go to heaven. Ok. So, the only difference between God’s grace that saves a man and doesn’t save a man is that man’s choice? So, when this says that God’s grace brings salvation… it should say God’s grace can, could might, bring salvation. Ephesians 2 should say “For by grace you may be saved.” Some within this camp reason that perhaps God does a second work of grace for those who believe. To this I cautiously agree with 1 caveat. What role does man’s choice play then, if they are offered a second saving grace? You see if there is any role at all, then it is no longer grace. It is reward. And if there is no role of man choice at all… then there is no real need to believe in a first work at all since it is irrelevant without the second. 4. A fourth problem I have with this view is a contextual one. There is an unbroken chain here of God’s grace bringing salvation to all people. I don’t want to spoil our exposition of the text, but may I simply put it this way. The Grace of God bringing salvation changes a person forever. They become Righteous. So, if this speaks of a grace that offers potential saving for all men – it actually undermines rather than enforces Paul’s point. Paul is telling Titus to expect people to live differently because they have received the truth. If this grace that has been given is only potential, then that cannot be a reasonable expectation placed upon them since it is uncertain. ix. [Slide 6] In the end, we cannot establish that this passage of scripture, and really any passage of scripture, teaches that God has given salvation to all men waiting for them to choose to believe. The view simply cannot stand up to the scrutiny of the rest of scripture. So as much as we may not like it, the only real option that remains for us is to interpret this in the third form. x. We’ve seen in other texts that sometimes the word “all” can mean “all kinds”, or a large group. Contextual clues should be present to tell us how to view the word “all”. xi. What has Paul just finished teaching? That Older men, Older women, younger women, younger men, and slaves, all must demonstrate behavior that goes with the gospel. xii. So, what then is the meaning of all people? xiii. Simply put, it is all people without distinction, not all people without exception. xiv. The grace of God has not been given to one gender, nation, age or social status. It has been given to all kinds of people bringing them salvation. What does that salvation look like? c. [Slide 7] 12 – it trains us to reject godless ways i. First the word trains – it means to teach or discipline. It instructs us how to put down actions and lifestyles that are without God’s law – they are wickedness. ii. We need to recognize here that this instruction is not a “how to” instruction. It is instead a discipline instruction. It is less like a lecturer in a classroom and more like a physical therapist, rehabilitating what has been broken. It doesn’t show us how, it succeeds in changing us. iii. The “us” here needs to be stressed. Who is Paul talking about? iv. Well as we noted he cannot be talking about mankind in general. To do so would lead to universalism so that all men are saved and trained to reject godless ways. v. So, to who must the us refer? vi. It must be those who have received grace that appeared, bringing salvation. vii. This seems like a silly exercise to determine who “us” is – but it won’t be silly in a few verses. d. [Slide 8] And worldly desires i. Not only does grace bring us salvation and teach us to reject wicked lifestyles, but it also teaches us to reject worldly desires. ii. Desires of an earthbound nature. iii. Desires that are not heavenly, not holy. iv. Grace teaches us to unwant what we have wanted our whole lives. v. If you are in Christ, no doubt you have experienced this. Sins that had brought you a certain level of satisfaction and happiness – now are empty and even hated. e. [Slide 9] And to live self-controlled i. Grace also teaches us to live self-controlled. ii. It trains us to avoid sin, run from sin, control our emotions, reign in our natural desires. iii. Grace kills off sin. iv. Grace brings power to withstand temptation. v. So that we may be… f. [Slide 10] Upright i. Righteous! Just! ii. Grace teaches us obedience. iii. Grace trains us to be law abiding citizens. iv. It doesn’t just show us how, nor does it simply enable us to be upright, rather it guarantees that we will be upright. v. To the extent that… g. [Slide 11] And godly lives in the present age. i. We are not ungodly, but godly. ii. Not wicked, but holy. iii. Not lawbreakers, but law keepers iv. This is the nature of the grace that brings salvation to us. v. It is a present salvation. A salvation that has impact on us RIGHT NOW. vi. And it is not potential. It is assured. It is with us until we are perfected. When will that be? h. [Slide 12] 13 – as we wait for the happy fulfillment of our hope in the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. i. Until our salvation is complete and the Lord returns for His people – God’s grace is training us to be like Him. ii. His grace is making us godly. iii. His grace roots out sin and raises up righteousness. iv. This is why Paul speaks so confidently about behaviors that should come from those who have received faith. This is why Paul says that godly living decorates the gospel. v. Because GRACE powers it all. vi. Grace makes us like Christ presently. vii. And grace assures our continued faith in our future salvation in Christ. viii. Grace has appeared to transport us to when Christ appears. i. [Slide 13] Passage Truth: So, Paul undergirds all of what he had said in verses 1-10 with the theological proof as to why Titus must insist on behavior that is changed by the gospel. Paul tells Titus, God’s grace brings salvation to all kinds of different people with the same result. They are saved to the point that they become trained by grace to be law keepers in the present world as they wait to be saved completely at the return of Christ j. Passage Application: So, Titus must teach the behavior that goes with the gospel. He must expect the Cretans to conform to the ordinary effect of grace. Otherwise, they are not in Christ. k. [Slide 14] Broader Biblical Truth: Zooming out from this text, we discover in the Old Testament and the New, God’s grace was assigned to help His people. Grace along with love, mercy, kindness, favor – they all come to God’s people in a special way. Certainly, God even gives grace to wicked people. But those to whom God lavishes grace, are His people, and in that abundance, we find them live a life of righteousness. l. Broader Biblical Application: So, for us, it is incumbent upon the Elders of this church to teach the behavior that goes with the gospel as if we expect it. Why? Because it is the ordinary, the normal, the expected effect of God’s grace. It conforms us to Christ. It disciplines us to be righteous. And for all of us here, Elders included, that means that we must live righteously. It takes two to train both a teacher and a student. So, Grace disciplines us and we learn and grow in grace. And we certainly cannot dismiss teaching that demands righteousness flowing from true faith. We must agree, and we must obey. Transition: [Slide 15(blank)] Paul probably could have stopped right here – but perhaps he doesn’t want to simply talk about God’s grace as an impersonal teacher. Rather, carrying on from the thought of Christ’s return, we see Christ’s work on earth sharing the role of grace. II.) Christ’s substitution purifies His people now, so we must live in a way that is fitting with the gospel. (14-15) a. [Slide 16] 14 – He gave Himself for us i. Paul moves into talking about Christ. Who is not only our eventual savior, but was, is, and will be our Savior. ii. Jesus Christ gave Himself for us. iii. He was the gift. He substituted Himself for us is what this is saying. iv. He gave his righteousness for our unrighteousness. He paid our penalty and we received His reward. v. Because He is our great God, as Paul so clearly teaches in verse 13 – This exchange was perfect and effective. vi. His exchange is not potential it is effectual. It is not possible it is assured. Indeed, it is upon this which our faith rests. We receive and rest (faith) in His work, not to potentially save us if we choose Him, but to effectually save us by His grace. vii. The us here is still talking with reference to those who have been brought salvation by God’s grace. viii. But why did Christ do this? Why did he give himself for us? Why did he exchange His perfection for our failure? b. [Slide 17] To set us free from every kind of lawlessness i. Inherent in the purpose of His incarnation, life of obedience, death on the cross, descent into death, resurrection from the tomb, and ascension and ongoing work on our behalf is… ii. So that we may be set free from every kind of lawlessness. iii. So that we might stop sinning. iv. And what? c. [Slide 18] And to purify for himself a people who are truly his i. To claim a bride for himself who has been purified. ii. To take our adultery and make us clean and new. iii. To exchange the rebellion and faithlessness with eternal faithfulness and sonship. iv. We were foreknown. We were predestined. We were called. We were justified. We are being sanctified. We will be glorified. v. He gave Himself for us. vi. To make us a pure people that are truly His. The word here means chosen, particular, special. Jesus gave himself to purify a particular people. vii. The reason many translations say something to the effect of “a people for himself or that are truly his” is because this expression is very rare. The idea is that Jesus did all this to purify for himself a treasured people that would be His forever. viii. But the betrothal starts today… d. [Slide 19] Who are eager to do good. i. We desire His will and His ways. ii. We are zealous for good works. iii. My friends. This is the beauty of the gospel. It is not the potential for salvation. It is not the potential for purity. It is the certainty of it! iv. Jesus did not die so that he had a chance of getting for himself a group of people. He died to make certain of it. v. I understand that this is probably the hardest thing to accept that I have ever taught. vi. You have no doubt been taught all your life that Christ died to give everyone a chance to choose Him. But listen to me. Christ gave himself to get for Himself a particular and treasured people. He did not die for the potential of getting an undefined group of people who chose Him. He died to get purified people. A people whom HE chose. A particular people. People who, by God’s grace, are being saved from sin… NOW, as they wait to be saved completely from sin and death when He returns. e. [Slide 20] 15 – so communicate these things with the sort of exhortation or rebuke that carries full authority. i. Titus must then teach the Cretans to live a life that fits with the gospel. ii. Why? iii. Because that is what the gospel does. It does not potentially save – it saves to the uttermost. iv. All to whom God’s grace has appeared, it brings salvation from sin and enduring change. v. Having expressed the theological certainty – Titus must now teach with authority. He must insist upon this. vi. He must demand full adherence. For that is what grace does. That is what salvation brings. That is what Christ died to do. To make a particular people pure and love doing good. f. [Slide 21] Don’t let anyone look down on you. i. In this exhortation, in this rebuke – Titus must not allow any to look down on him. ii. It is difficult to know where this is pointed. iii. One layer of this is that the word despise means to think around. iv. Therefore, it has a positive, negative and ultra-negative application. 1. Positively it can mean to contemplate or examine carefully. Certainly, this is not what this word means here. 2. Negatively it can mean to ignore or disregard. To consider yourself above someone’s thoughts. This is possibly what Paul means. 3. Ultra-negatively it can mean despise or disrespect. Which is also a possibility. v. Paul does not use this word in reference to Timothy in I Timothy chapter 4. He uses a different word meaning think against. vi. Since Paul no doubt wrote these letters at the same time or thereabouts, I lean more toward the negative rather than the ultra-negative expression. vii. Meaning that Paul is telling Titus not to allow anyone to ignore him. Let no one disregard him. viii. So, this reiterates the concept with speaking with authority but adds a layer of passion and urgency. Don’t let them tune you out. g. [Slide 22] Passage Truth: And so, Paul expands his exposition of the theological underpinnings of this demand for behavior that goes with the gospel. It is not just about grace training us to be righteous – but also Christ’s work and His intention to purify a particular people for Himself. h. Passage Application: So, Titus must continue to insist, demand, exhort, rebuke, and speak with authority that cannot be ignored. Those who have received true faith, live lives changed by Christ and by the grace of God. i. [Slide 23] Broader Biblical Truth: Zooming out of this text to the entire context of the scriptures is incredibly easy. The coming of Christ and things concerning Him are found in every single context of the writings of scripture. Both old and new testaments. This bride has been set aside for Him before the foundation of the world. And he has come to claim her for His own. He has betrothed her and will one day return for her. This is who we are in Christ. j. Broader Biblical Application: So here at CBC, again, the Elders, whoever they may be, must continue to teach this message. If we are in Christ, we are a new creation. Old has gone and NEW has come. And for all of us here including these men – we must obey. We must be the purified people that Christ came to bring to Himself. This begins in this life and will be perfected when He returns for us. Conclusion: [Slide 24] So why is Paul so sure? Why can Paul expect the Cretans to be these kinds of people? Why is Paul urging Titus to expect them to behave righteously? This is the nature of our faith. This is the nature of the gospel. It doesn’t work any other way. Have you ever wondered why Church discipline’s outcome is to treat people like unbelievers? How does that logically flow? If they have been sinning and have no desire to repent – wouldn’t our response just be to trust God to get them? Why isn’t it the church’s response to simply say – well they aren’t living a fulfilled life in God? Why wouldn’t we just say – well they can’t be in a teaching position? What logical connections force us to consider a Christian who sins with no repentance – an unbeliever? This is it! Right here in this passage. This is the theological framework for it. The grace of God has appeared, and to those to whom it has appeared it brings salvation. Salvation to the uttermost. Salvation that is complete. That in this life it trains us for righteousness. The Son of God has given us Himself. Why? To acquire for Himself a special, treasured people whom He purifies to love doing what He commands. So, what do you call a person who is not learning righteousness, is not rejecting wickedness, is not being purified, and is not loving doing what Christ commands? Because you cannot say with any certainty that the grace of God has appeared to them. You cannot say with any certainty that Christ gave Himself for them. Which means what? You cannot call them a Christian. Therefore, you treat them as an unbeliever until they show the ordinary effect of grace. But this text does not hold over our heads perfection. It does not whip us forward to slog the difficult terrain of holiness. It does not encumber us with a yoke that is burdensome. Rather, it is a yoke, it is journey, it is our goal but we have the unstoppable grace of God training us for this. We have the Relentless love of Christ our Savior purifying us in this. He implores us to come to him if we are weary and heavy laden because His yoke is easy. We learn from this text that God’s people are all assured of their growth in grace and their identity in Christ! What a marvelous promise! What an amazing assurance! What a great salvation! We do not wait for the bus for Christ to pick us up – but we are disciplined and trained by grace and perfected by Christ until He comes again to complete that work. This is why we preach a gospel that necessarily produces certain behaviors. This is why we expect those who receive sound truth to live in predictable patterns of life. This is why we expect the fruit of the spirit and the killing of sin. Because it is not totally up to us. Indeed, Christ and God’s grace have guaranteed it for His beloved. Take courage my friends! Walk in the obedience of faith, knowing that Grace and Christ will provide all you need! We cannot say “I can’t” without partially lying ourselves. For God says with His grace and His son, not only that you can… but that you will! He will purify a particular people for Himself. So, if you are truly His, you will be purified. Walk then in purity and obedience. Trust Him. Rely on His grace. It is sufficient for you.

Episode 667 | Adriel Sanchez and Bill Maier answer caller questions. Show Notes CoreChristianity.com   1. In Matthew 12, what is the difference between the blasphemy that “will be forgiven” and the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit? 2. Are Christians in the New Covenant required to tithe? 3. Since Paul was not one of the 12 apostles during Jesus’s ministry, are his writings still inspired by the Holy Spirit? 4. What are the best scriptures about physical healing? 5. Weren’t the scribes and the Pharisees the priests from the tribe of Levi, what happened to them to make them so far from Jesus during his time on earth? Today’s Offer More Than a Carpenter Request our latest special offers here or call 1-833-THE-CORE (833-843-2673) to request them by phone. Want to partner with us in our work here at Core Christianity? Consider becoming a member of the Inner Core. Resources Core Christianity’s, “Jesus is God: Bible Study”

Bible Study with Jairus – Romans 15 As we read Romans 15, we especially prayed that God would speak timely words to us and lead us in our current lives. Today is December 6, 2020 and the US election results have not yet been released. The coronavirus pandemic is still raging in the United States, and there are various negative news reports and comments spreading beyond the USA. Scores of people have been working at home for a long time, and there are still many uncertainties. We don't know when the pandemic will end; when we can go back to work; whether it is safe to get a COVID-19 vaccine; who will be the president of the United States; what the future of the United States will be; and how China-US relations will develop. These questions and many others invoke and weaken the hearts of many people, including the hearts of Christians. Many feel confused and are even living in fear. Christians are no exception. Under such circumstances, what timely words can Romans 15 provide us to comfort our hearts? Let me first point out that the context of the book of Romans is somewhat similar to our society today. The gospel of the Roman church was very prosperous and believers had strong faith. However, serious racial conflicts occurred in Rome. The conflict between Jews and Gentiles escalated to the point that that all Jews were forced to leave Rome during the reign of Claudius (Acts 18:2). These serious racial conflicts within their society inevitably penetrated the church leading to conflicts between Jewish and Gentile believers within the Roman church. During the time the Jews were ordered to leave Rome, Priscilla and Aquila had arrived in Corinth from Rome where they met Paul. All three of them were tentmakers. I assume Paul gradually learned about the situation regarding the Roman church through his contact with these two which led him to become burdened with visiting the Roman church. Since the church in Rome had not been founded by Paul and he had never visited it before, we may wonder why Paul was so burdened for them. In my recording of the reading of the book of Romans, I mentioned many times that Paul may have learned about the situation of the Roman church–the conflicts between Gentile and Jewish believers–through Priscilla, Aquila, and others. Therefore, he was particularly burdened to visit them in Rome. He hoped that on his way to preaching the gospel in Spain, he would visit Rome (Romans 15:23-24). Although Paul had such hopes, he was not sure whether he would make it to Rome since he was mostly determined to go to Jerusalem to bring the financial offering of the Gentile church to the Jewish believers. Paul's purpose in doing this was to increase fellowship between the Jewish and Gentile believers. Since the Gentile believers had received spiritual blessings from the Jews and Christ and the gospel came from them, Paul also believed that Gentile believers should bring material blessings to the Jews, especially the poor among the saints at Jerusalem (Romans 15:25-27). However, it was revealed through the prophecy of Agabus and others that if Paul arrived in Jerusalem he would be bound, and his life would be in danger. Therefore, Paul is unsure whether he will really have the opportunity to go to Rome, visit the church there, and go on to Spain through Rome. These were uncertainties for him. Under such circumstances, Paul wrote the book of Romans which is composed of sixteen chapters. Paul wrote to expose the truth of the gospel to the people of the Roman church. In the book of Romans, he specifically mentions that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Jews and Gentiles are both sinners, but all are justified by faith (Romans 3:24). Romans is like an exhortation letter written to the Jews and Gentiles. It talks about the sins of the Jews and the Gentiles but that God first revealed himself to the Jews (Romans 3:2) and that the ancestry of Christ can be traced back to the Jewish patriarchs (Romans 9:5). In other words, God blesses the Gentiles through the Jews, and Paul uses this illustration to exhort the Gentiles to accept the Jews. On the other hand, Paul also exhorts the Jews to accept the Gentiles because God accepts them. Romans 15 is the penultimate chapter of the book of Romans. One more chapter and the book is finished. Therefore, at the beginning of this chapter, Paul once again talks about "how Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God's truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs" (ESV, Romans 15:8); and how God accepted the Gentiles (Romans 15:9-12). We can envision the conflict between the Jewish and Gentile believers in the Roman Church. Perhaps it is no less than the racial conflict in American society today. The serious racial conflicts between African Americans and Whites in American society are also reflected in the church. Although I personally don't think that the former president Donald Trump is racist, he is portrayed as such by some media outlets and, therefore, opposed by most African American churches and believers. I personally believe that Trump was a vessel chosen by God to bring America back to the foundations of a Christian nation. But because racial conflicts penetrate the church, many Christians clash over whether to support Trump or Biden. Some Christians who support Trump say, “Isn't it obvious that God has chosen Trump to bring the United States back to its foundation of a Christian nation? Biden and left-wing supporters condone abortion and homosexuality. Shouldn't every Christian oppose this? If you support Biden, wouldn't it be like murdering babies and accepting homosexuality? Do you still need to think about this? Shouldn't you support Trump who favors protecting lives and opposes abortion?” Since many people who oppose Trump believe that Trump is a racist, they claim he does not accept immigrants and even encourages white supremacists trends. They point out his sarcasm when talking about immigrants as leverage for their argument. I know a lot of African American pastors and believers that oppose Trump, some of whom are my seminary classmates and friends on Facebook. According to statistics, in the 2016 presidential election, only 8% of African American voters voted for Trump. Chinese immigrants have split into two factions. One group supports Trump are are called "Trumpists;" the other party is termed "Anti-Trumpists". The two factions often criticize each other on the internet. Coupled with the raging pandemic, we Christians live in such an environment. Many people worry about their lives and do not know what the future holds. A lady in our meeting recently commented, “In this situation, how can we hear God's voice clearly and know what to do?” She admitted that she can't hear God's voice clearly and is often confused. It can be comforting to see that Romans 15 is showing us that even an apostle like Paul, a person living in the center of God's will, did not fully understand God's leading. The Bible tells us that we know in part, and we prophesy in part (ESV, 1 Corinthians 13:9). In other words, even if we are prophets and God has spoken to us, what we hear and the pictures we see are not comprehensive. There's a lot that may still be unclear. Many prophecies were given that Trump would serve a second term of presidency and even that he will eventually win again. However, many things in the natural do not line up with this. Regardless, I firmly believe this will come to pass, but I know many Christians are still in doubt. We have the prophetic words, but we are not sure of their details. Paul's situation was similar. He insisted on going to Jerusalem, but Agabus and others told him through the Holy Spirit that he might be bound when he gets there. Still, Paul insisted on going, even if it meant  sacrificing his life. Since Paul was not clear about whether he would eventually go to the church in Rome, so he wrote the book of Romans. But when he was in Jerusalem, the Lord stood beside him during the night and encouraged him: "Take courage, for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome." (ESV, Acts 23:11) This was something Paul didn't know before he went to Jerusalem. When he was imprisoned in Jerusalem, then the Lord appeared to encourage him. It's through the confirmation of Lord's prophetic words that Paul became sure he would reach Rome. He still hoped to travel from Rome to Spain, but the Bible and historical records unfortunately do not record in detail whether he had eventually arrived in Spain. Perhaps, he was already martyred in Rome before he arrived there. Even after receiving confirmation from the Lord, Paul still did not know about every step of his life. Therefore, people expecting us (Christians) to know everything today is impossible. We don't know when the coronavirus will end. We don't even know who the president of the United States will be. But this is not important. The important thing is that Paul lived completely by faith and hope in God during his process, and he also encourages believers today to live by faith and hope during theirs. This is the inspiration I received when I read Romans 15. I encourage you brothers and sisters joining our Bible Study, not to focus on the difficulties and perplexities of the environment around you, but to focus on God's laws and His loving nature. We should focus on His promises as well. Just as God opened a path for the Israelites through the Red Sea and saved the Israelites from the hand of the Philistines, He will also save us from today's Pharaohs and enemies. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). He is eternal. He saved us in the past, He will also save us now. Since He loves us, He will save us to the end (Hebrews 7:25). Paul had experienced a great deal of suffering in his life, but he was full of endurance and hope in his suffering. He said, “Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame.” (ESV, Romans 5:3-5) In his suffering, Paul developed faith, joy, endurance, character and hope. Hope did not put him to shame, but rather elevated him to stand victoriously before God. Today, we Christians experience suffering. We may not fully understand God's will and His presence in our society. Therefore, during these times, God wants us to learn how to endure and have faith amidst crises. We need to know God's laws and His loving nature. We need to also know and trust that He will save us even to the end. If we are rooted in Him and if we rest in Him, we will be saved because God's word tells us, “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.” (ESV, Isaiah 30:15) Paul also said in Romans 16:20 (ESV), “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet." At this time, we Christians should live out our faith with endurance and be full of hope for God's promises and salvation. We should also be full of peace and should not be restless with the changes happening around us including uncertain rumors. Remember, our victory lies in resting in the Lord! The result of certain things according to God will be manifest, but the process is also important. It is a process of maturing our faith and endurance. We cannot overlook the process. The verses I prayed and sang this week were Romans 15:5-6 and 15:13. These are Paul's exhortations in this chapter. Verses 5-6 (ESV) say, "May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." Here, Paul identified God as the God of endurance and encouragement! When the Jewish and Gentile believers in the Roman church were in conflict, Paul encouraged everyone to endure and accept each other in love. He prayed that the God of endurance and encouragement would allow Jewish and Gentile believers to accept each other in Christ Jesus that they may live in harmony with one another. This is also good encouragement for the American Church today. Verse 13 of Romans 15 (ESV) says, "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." I spent time this week praying this verse. This verse again mentions that God is the God of hope. Because of our faith, we are filled with joy and peace. We will also abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Several of us who read this verse felt that this is what the Holy Spirit is really saying to us today. In the current, difficult atmosphere of the United States, we must learn to be rooted in the Lord, exercise our faith and endurance, and be full of joy and peace. Let us be filled with the Holy Spirit and be full of hope for God and the future. I recall hearing a preacher state that when the great revival is approaching, God will allow turmoil to happen in society. The turmoil includes plagues, wars, and disasters. The purpose of these is to shake people's hearts and shake everything that can be shaken, so as to produce an unshakable kingdom (Hebrews 12:28). At this time, churches and Christians are like medical teams prepared by God. They are called and trained by God to find the injured, bind up their wounds and preach the gospel to them. The best time to preach the gospel is during times of turmoil. Turbulent environments are environments set up by God to shocks unbelievers by allowing them to see that believers are living in peace, joy, endurance and hope amidst the turbulence. Although Christians are touched by it, they demonstrate a trust in God thus showing unbelievers that God does exist. These unbelievers will therefore trust and accept the Lord. Unfortunately, many Christians are as panicky and fearful as the people of the world, thus they cannot fulfill God's call and become a witness for Jesus Christ. Instead of rushing out to the battlefield to heal the wounded and rescue the dying, some people are hiding in the trenches because of fear. I recall jokingly hearing that the people who hide in the trenches because of fear of death often cannot escape the cannonball attack. The turbulent atmosphere raised up by God is not for the purpose of judging the church, but the world. The church brings salvation and is a lighthouse and a doctor when the world experiences turmoil. If we, Christians, are afraid and anxious, how can we be a lighthouse in the storm? In one of my prophetic dreams, I saw an angel stretching out a huge stick from heaven to the ocean on earth. He began to stir it and after which, I saw the waves surging. Many people's houses were destroyed and people were running for their lives. I found myself, however, miraculously swimming to a safe place. My interpretation is that the time of turmoil is just beginning. The purpose of turmoil is to shake people's hearts and bring in the great harvest of the gospel. Those who are living God's will, who testify to the Lord and preach the gospel, will receive His miraculous protection. We must seize the opportunity to preach the gospel. We must especially live in peace, joy, endurance and hope so that the God of peace can crush Satan under our feet. Peace is our greatest weapon during chaotic times. John Wesley once preached the gospel to American Indians. His results were not good and instead very frustrating. On his way back to England, the ship encountered a huge wave during its voyage. The passengers on the ship screamed in terror, and Wesley was also very frightened. He then saw a group of Moravian brothers gathered very quietly in the front singing hymns. Their faith in God moved Wesley deeply and it caused Wesley to recognize his lack of faith. This became a spiritual turning point in Wesley's life. Later, Wesley became a devoted servant of God and brought great revival to England. This shows that Christians living in faith and peace in God are a very strong testimony. I still have countless prophetic dreams. In some of these dreams, God has told me that this world will go through a lot of fierce turmoil and immense spiritual warfare. But God has a beautiful purpose. Countless people will enter the unshakable Kingdom of God because of this. We should not simply hope that the turmoil will pass. We should learn to endure, have faith, and be full of joy, peace, and hope during the turmoil. Peter said, "In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” (ESV, 1 Peter 1:6-9) Paul also had the same experience as Peter. His life was full of trials and hardships, but he lived in joy, peace, endurance and hope. Paul continually urges believers to pray and live out this same experience. This is the inspiration and the timely words of the Holy Spirit that we received when reading Romans 15 in our group time. I hope these words will encourage any Christians who are currently dealing with anxiety. Don't worry, God sits on the throne and reigns. He controls everything. We just need to turn our hearts to Him. If we sin, we should repent and. We may also pray that the world repent and be saved. God will surely guard us amidst our difficulties! Since He loves us, He will save us to the end. Because Jesus Christ, our high priest, lives forever! We should become ministers of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit (ESV, Romans 15:16). This is God's will for us! May we receive endurance and encouragement from the God of endurance and encouragement! May we get hope from the God of hope!

Study Notes Ed Underwood 2 Thessalonians Prophetical Expectations Now regarding the arrival of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to be with him... (2 Thessalonians 2:1) The thirteen Pauline Epistles develop the foundational truths of Christianity introduced in the Gospels. Paul wrote nine letters to churches and four to individuals. He writes from the perspective of the Apostle to the Gentiles, church-planter, pastor, and friend. His letters contain instructions, exhortations, and corrections that were real-time—messages to real people, gathered in real churches, with real problems as they endeavored to follow Christ and make a difference in their world. One consistent theme undergirds all of Paul’s teaching—the reality of every believer’s position in Christ. Since Paul wrote his first letter to the Thessalonians, false teachers have confused the believers in a way that shook their faith. He had told them that the Lord could return at any moment (1 Thessalonians 4:15-18) and that the Day of the Lord would come suddenly, as a thief in the night—unexpectedly (1 Thessalonians 5:2). Now, due to the heavy persecution the church was experiencing, some were teaching the error that the Tribulation was upon them, and they had somehow missed the gathering together with the Lord in the air (the Rapture). Paul wrote his second letter to his beloved friends to correct these erroneous ideas with comforting prophetical truths. More specifically, to distinguish between the Lord’s imminent return for His church and the Day of the Lord that would be preceded by the short-lived reign of the man of lawlessness, the anti- Christ. “Both Thessalonian epistles are very pastoral. The epistle[s] deals with the hope of the Lord’s return as this relates to Christian experience.” (Tom Constable, 1 Thessalonians, p. 5) The Apostle also addresses one of the most common excesses of those who understand the soon coming of the Lord. Some of the Thessalonians were using their prophetic hope as an excuse to live irresponsibly: In the progression of revelation, 2 Thessalonians reveals new information about the Day of the Lord. I. Paul exhorts the Thessalonian believers to persevere by clarifying events prior to the Day of the Lord and instructs the leaders to deal with lazy Christians. Paul thanks them for their growing faith and love, assures them of their ultimate deliverance from their persecutors who will be judged by Jesus. (1) Paul explains to them that their severe suffering does not mean that Day of the Lord has already come. He had taught them in his last letter that believers are not destined for wrath and now tells them that the Day of the Lord will not come unannounced. A worldwide spiritual rebellion must take place before this Day, and that rebellion will be climaxed by revealing the satanically empowered man of lawlessness. (2, See also: Daniel 9:27; 12:11; Matthew 24:15; 1 John 2:18; Revelation 11:7; 13:1-10). This spirit of lawless rebellion is already at work in the world. Paul asks the church to pray for him as they wait patiently for the Lord and tells them to confront those who are living irresponsibly using the excuse of the soon return of the Lord. (3) OUR INTERPRETATION OF 2 THESSALONIANS 2: Why we believe the Rapture is imminent, but the Day of the Lord cannot begin immediately. The central message of 2 Thessalonians is the truth about the Day of the Lord. An important distinction in 1 Thessalonians is that the Lord’s return for believers will take place suddenly (4:13-18), but that the Day of the Lord would come as a thief in the night. Believers should therefore remain alert, looking forward to both events because we will be delivered from the wrath of the Day of the Lord. (5:1-11) 2 Thessalonians: Remain faithful until Jesus returns! In 2 Thessalonians 2 he teaches them to distinguish between these two events—the moment of our being gathered together with him (v 1) and the period of the Day of the Lord (v 2). In verses 3-12 he demonstrates the difference between the first event (the Rapture) and the second period (the Day of the Lord). Even now the “hidden power of lawlessness” is at work (7a). I take this to be the trajectory of humanity—rebellion against God the Creator. In the future God will remove what is now restraining this lawlessness (7b). This probably refers to the Holy Spirit and suggests that this could be church-age believers who are indwelt by the Spirit (Romans 8:9). Inthefuturetherewillbeacrisis:“thelawlessonewillberevealed”(2:8a).Ibelievethatthebest view of how this will happen is that God will withdraw the church from the world at the Rapture. After that this human leader of lawlessness will lead the world in unrestrained rebellion against God. I believe this is the Antichrist and this rebellion is described in the events of the Tribulation period. After this crisis, Jesus Christ will return to earth to set up His kingdom (2:8b). He will destroy this Antichrist and curtail this rebellion (Psalm 2). II. 2 THESSALONIANS AND YOU: To live responsibly for Christ in a world in rebellion against Him it’s vital that we can discern the times according to prophecy. Dr. Keith Krell does an awesome job of distinguishing between what we believe are the next three future events taught in prophecy: The Rapture: Who: The Lord Jesus snatches His church away. What: An instantaneous event where believers receive new bodies. When: The rapture could occur at any moment. Where: Jesus meets His church in the air. Why: To protect His bride from the wrath to come. The Tribulation: Who: God pours out His discipline and wrath on Israel and the Gentile nations. What: A seven-year period of unprecedented worldwide affliction. When: Following the rapture of the church. Where: Planet earth. Why: To persuade Israel that Jesus is the Messiah. The Millennial Kingdom: Who: The Lord Jesus sets up His earthly kingdom. What: A 1,000-year period to demonstrate how world history could have been. When: Following the seven-year tribulation period. Where: Jerusalem. Why: To fulfill Old Testament promises made to Israel.

Study Notes Ed Underwood 1 Thessalonians Christ Is Coming Soon!   And so we will always be with the Lord (1 Thessalonians 4:17). The thirteen Pauline Epistles develop the foundational truths of Christianity introduced in the Gospels. Paul wrote nine letters to churches and four to individuals. He writes from the perspective of the Apostle to the Gentiles, church-planter, pastor, and friend. His letters contain instructions, exhortations, and corrections that were real-time—messages to real people, gathered in real churches, with real problems as they endeavored to follow Christ and make a difference in their world. One consistent theme undergirds all of Paul’s teaching—the reality of every believer’s position in Christ. In one of the warmest of Paul’s letters he writes his beloved church at Thessalonica to encourage them to walk with Christ until He returns. Enemies of the gospel had forced Paul to flee the city, but they couldn’t prevent the Apostle from loving these people he had poured his life into and praying for them. Paul sent Timothy to check on his friend and was so encouraged by Timothy’s good report of their growing faith that he sent this letter we know as 1 Thessalonians from Corinth. Paul arrived in Thessalonica, the capital of Macedonia, on his 2 missionary journey. For three successive Sabbaths he preached the gospel and many believed (Acts 17). When the unbelieving Jews heard of the conversion of so many of their Greek proselytes, they agitated ruffians on the street to attack the house of Jason, the family that had taken in Paul and his team. “Paul wrote this epistle primarily to comfort and encourage those who were suffering for their Lord. Their hope was an essential emphasis in view of this purpose. Both Thessalonian epistles are very pastoral. The epistle deals with the hope of the Lord’s return as this relates to Christian experience.” (Tom Constable, 1 Thessalonians, p. 5) This book teaches the most practical and illuminating discourses on the Lord’s return (4:13-5:11). All five chapters refer to this next great event in prophetical history: 1:10; 2:19; 3:13; 4:13-18; 5:1-11, 23. “Far and away the largest theological contribution of the Epistles [1 and 2 Thessalonians] lies in what they say about eschatology.” (Leon Morris, The Epistle of Paul to the Thessalonians, p. 19) The other great contribution of 1 Thessalonians to the church is the insight it gives us into the warm pastoral heart of the Apostle Paul. I. Paul exhorts the Thessalonian believers to remain steadfast under the pressure of persecution, and consoles them concerning their loved ones who have died in Christ by reminding them of the hope of the soon coming of the Lord Jesus. Paul’s personal feelings toward and remembrance of the Thessalonian assembly. (1-3) 1. PaulgivesthanksfortheThessaloniansfortheirrenownedfaithfulnesstotheLordJesus. 2. Paulremindsthemofthelovingwayheandhisteambroughtthegospeltotheircity. 3. Paulrevealshisheartconcernforthemanddeepdesiretoseethemagain. Paul’s personal instructions and assurance to the Thessalonian assembly. (4-5) Paul reminds them of their responsibility to continue growing in Christ by remaining sexually pure and united in love. He also assures them that Jesus is coming for His own and exhorts them to continue serving Him diligently. Paulteachesthemspecificcommunityresponsibilitiesintheirassembly. 1 Thessalonians: When serving Christ seems too hard, think about His soon return! OUR INTERPRETATION OF 1 THESSALONIANS 4:13-5:11: Why we believe in the Rapture. In th the 19 today is one of the primary evidences that Christ is coming for His church before the events of the Tribulation (the seventieth “week” of Daniel) begins. Since Paul’s authority is from God (4:1-12), believers should listen to him when he tells them to maintain proper relationships in the church in light of the imminent return of Christ. (4:1-5:22) You know that the Lord Jesus told me to teach you how to live responsibly in the church (4:1-12). Keep in mind the urgency of living responsibly in the church—all of you will be resurrected/raptured imminently—before the Day of the Lord begins (4:13-5:11). Be encouraged (4:13-18): You and your dead believing loved ones are destined to be with Christ forever. We who are alive will “suddenly be caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air” (4:17). I take the word harpazo, snatched up (Latin translation, rapio, from which we get the word rapture) literally. It occurs 13 times in the New Testament with a literal meaning. I believe it means the actual removal of believers from earth to heaven—the “rapture” of the church. I also believe this will occur simultaneously with the resurrection of those who are dead “in Christ,” Christians—who trusted in Him from the day of Pentecost will be translated “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye” (1 Corinthians 15:52; v. 16). Therefore, comfort one another in this truth (v. 18). Stay alert (5:1-11): Since we are sons of light and the Day of the Lord will come suddenly, we should look for signs of His coming, as we are not destined for the coming wrath. I believe this is the assurance that church-age saints will not be a part of the tribulation period when the wrath of God is poured out. II. 1 THESSALONIANS AND YOU: Paul simply presents the Lord’s return as a fact. He doesn’t try to prove it. No honest reading of 1 Thessalonians can deny that Paul taught that Jesus is coming back for His own, regardless of one’s personal convictions on when and how that might occur. Paul believed that the same Jesus who lived among us, died, was buried, rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven (4:16) would come again. My personal view is that Paul is speaking of the Rapture, the snatching up of the living saints prior to the Great Tribulation. That’s the when of the Lord’s return, in my opinion, but whatever your convictions, we can all agree that He will return. I see four practical ways an understanding of the soon return of the Lord Jesus is vital to our walk with Him every day: Understanding the return of the Lord encourages faith in Him (1:9-10). Notice that Paul included the hope of the return of Christ in his gospel proclamation. As Christians our hope comes from our personal redemption that is ours due to His first coming and the redemption of creation that will result from His second coming. Understanding the return of the Lord encourages diligence in following Him (2:19-20). The sure prospect of being rewarded by Christ when He returns motivates Christians to do the hard, messy work of disciplemaking. Paul looked forward to the joy of seeing those he had led to Christ and mentored sharing in his joy at the Judgment Seat of Christ (1 Corinthians 15:58). Understanding the return of the Lord encourages patience during times of stumbling and hope during times of suffering (3:13, 5:14). We can be patient with ourselves and others, knowing that eventually, in spite of our failures and weaknesses, we will be glorified together with Him. We can endure suffering, knowing that eventually Jesus will vindicate Himself and bring justice to this world. century, teaching concerning the rapture of the church spread widely. We believe that our passage

Yup, Cody finally got it.  Since Paul had it already and typically we dont listen to the news anyway we did the podcast across the table from each other... Truely's, Beer, Vegas, and the current state of our union.  Giddy up!

Close that door seal and relax that stilsuit, we've made it to Sietch Tabr. Mike and Derek reflect on just how damn long that took to get here with Farok. Meanwhile Paul is lead by Harrah to check out his Fremen Preoder Bundle. Paul's got a servant, a house, coffee service, not to bad for an outcast Duke. Since Paul's busy we get spice coffee with Farok and talk Tabr... -Farok's Sweeping -That big kids your dad -Dune's Old Ben -Then Earl Gurney is a man who lives inside the faufreluches Episode Guide 04:05 Chapter Summary Begins 01:08:10 Silgar Ben Fifrawi 01:49:00 Gurney, Gurney, Gurney 01:54:30 The Ruling Class 02:21:25 Distrans Wine https://www.cavalieredoro.com/ (Cavaliere D'Oro) Campanile Pinot Grigio "Its delicious super smooth... its got the perfect blend of sweets and dry." Need More to Read? "The Complete Fiction of H.P. Lovecraft" by H.P. Lovecraft Support this podcast

We left Paul asking the centurion if it was legal to scourge him without trial since he was a Roman. This news came to the captain, what is his response? Isn't God's plan perfect from start to finish? Only He would know that Paul would need to be born a Roman to most effectively communicate the gospel. Since Paul talks to the captain and the council is called, does God have a perfect plan for Paul? He also has a perfect plan for you that is unfolding. Trust in Him and His planning skills!

Title: Fit to Serve Text: I Timothy 3:8-13 FCF: We often struggle underestimating the importance of godly leaders and the overall impact of the gospel. Prop: Because God has given Deacons who are above reproach to assist Elders, we must look for Deacons who are above reproach. Scripture Intro: [Slide 1] Turn in your bible to I Timothy chapter 3. Last week we discussed the primary office of the church tasked with teaching and exercising authority. That is the office of the Overseer or the Elder. We noted how these men are indeed godly men. They are stable in their faith and walk. And they are examples that all wish to follow. And yet we realized last week that we here at CBC do not have Elders, and that even if I do qualify to be an Elder, I am only one. So we ended with a plea for ongoing prayer that God would raise up from among us, men who would be qualified to lead. So that we may obey the Lord. Today, we’ll see the other office in the church. It is a rather obscure office – but an office that has almost unlimited applications and quite a promise of gain and reward for exercising it well. Let’s look, starting in verse 8 of chapter 3. I’ll be reading from the NET which you can follow in the pew bible on page 1338. Transition: So what is the office of a Deacon, and who is qualified for such a position? I.) Deacons are linked to the Overseers of the church in qualifications, so we must look for Deacons who are above reproach. (8-10) a. [Slide 2] 8 – Deacons likewise must be i. It may shock you to know that in all of the New Testament, there are only 4 passages that speak of the office of the Deacon. Of those 4 passages: 1. 1 is contested, meaning it may not be speaking of the office of a Deacon. In Romans 16:1 the women Phoebe is called a Deacon. But the word deacon means servant. So. does that mean she is a Deacon or a servant? It is very difficult to determine. 2. 1 says nothing about the office, only that it exists in distinction from the office of Elder. This is Philippians 1:1 where Paul addresses his letter to the Elders and the Deacons at Philippi. 3. 1 never mentions the word Deacon. That is Acts 6. We will be going there next. Go ahead and turn there. 4. The last passage is our text from today, which is by far the most definitive. ii. What I find absolutely curious, is how many churches have assigned so much authority, leadership, direction, and watch care to the office of a Deacon, when so little is actually taught about them in scripture. From role and function to character and qualifications… the Deacon has very little to go on in scripture. iii. Equally curious is how many churches have virtually ignored the office of an Elder raised up from within the congregation, and have turned to the Elder being a hired hand and employee of the church. The Pastor. Who becomes either a CEO of the church or a hireling for all the tasks no one wishes to do. iv. It is alarming how badly we’ve bungled this. v. I do not say this to bash our predecessors. I am laying no sin to their charge. I am simply astounded that we could reach such conclusions, with the scripture being right there in front of us. vi. So if we are to move forward, we must seek what scripture says about how God’s church should be cared for and administrated. vii. READ ACTS 6:1-6 1. In this passage, no title of Deacon is assigned. Therefore, there is some uncertainty as to the application of this text to the Deacon. 2. However, I believe we can conclude that this is talking about a predecessor to the Deacon office based on three strong arguments. a. This is the early church. In its infant stage. The title of Deacon may not have even been in existence or developed yet. b. The characteristics laid out by the apostles by which the church was to select these men are very similar to the list of qualifications we will see in I Timothy 3. c. The roles that are inhabited by the apostles and these 7 men seem to correspond to the Elder and the Deacon respectively. i. Elder roles as given by several New Testament passages always involve praying and teaching as well as exercising authority over the church. All of which are present in this passage toward the apostles. ii. For the role of Deacon we can look no further than the title itself. Deacon comes from the Greek word for servant. And in this text, they are servants of the apostles. They are serving tables at the direction and assignment of the apostles. They are caring for food distribution. So this would fit the role of a Deacon. 3. So, in this passage, the church was caring for those among them who could not care for themselves. In this, some were being neglected or forgotten. 4. What is clear is that some administrative help was needed. 5. However, the apostles, the predecessors and forerunners of the Elder, did not wish to take time away from prayer and studying God’s Word to see to this. 6. So, they had the church appoint 7 men who were qualified for the role. 7. Once the church appointed these 7 men, the Apostles would install them into a position of authority over certain tasks to be completed. Not authority over people necessarily, but over task completion. 8. Notice they selected 7 men and the apostles prayed over them, placing hands on them. They commissioned them to make sure these widows were cared for. 9. This means that the Deacons were servants, to the people of the church, but primarily at the discretion of and to assist the elder/apostle. viii. [Slide 3] This is the closest thing we have to a job description of a Deacon in scripture. What are the highlights? 1. They are appointed by the church 2. They are servants and assistants of the Elders. The Elders approve and commission them into their necessary task. 3. They are given authority over necessary tasks. 4. They have spiritual qualifications. ix. What are those qualifications? You keep your text open to Acts 6 and we’ll compare the lists from I Timothy 3 to it. b. [Slide 4] Dignified i. Respected and honored ii. This is a person who is serious and grave. In control of his life with the right priorities. iii. This fits extremely well with Acts 6:3 – that they are well-attested. c. [Slide 5] Not two-faced i. The Greek is double tongued ii. The meaning is the same. They do not say one thing and mean another. iii. They are not one person to some and another to others. iv. They are not liars nor are they hypocrites. d. [Slide 6] Not given to excessive drinking i. In word – the Deacon’s standard in reference to wine seems slightly less than the elder’s qualification. ii. An elder is not to be addicted to anything that may inhibit his ability to make decisions or be peaceable with people. iii. This prohibition is against a Deacon being given, or captivated by much wine or much addiction. iv. But in meaning, we really have different words saying the same thing. Deacons ought not be addicted to anything either. e. [Slide 7] Not greedy for gain i. This corresponds well with the Elder qualification of not being overly fond of money. ii. However, this is a different way of saying it. iii. The word means eager for base gain. Or eager for earthy or worldly wealth. iv. Again, the meaning is the same. A Deacon ought not think that money solves all problems nor should he be desirous to hoard or unwisely spend it. f. [Slide 8] 9 – holding to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. i. The summation of what this is saying is that this person clings to the revealed teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ. ii. They are not simply hard workers, have made a profession of faith, or are frequent attenders of church. iii. No, they cling to the gospel and have assurance of their hope firmly rooted in Christ and His atoning work. iv. Furthermore, a clear conscience points to a working conscience. One that hates sin and follows after God’s commands. v. This qualification would fit well with the qualification set forth in Acts 6 for the Deacons to be full of faith, the Spirit and wisdom. g. [Slide 9] 10 – And these also must be tested first and then let them serve as Deacons if they are found blameless i. The nature of the appointment of an Elder in contrast to the nature of the appointment of a Deacon gives us clarity here. ii. An Elder is appointed by Elders. An Elder is scrutinized and observed by a group of men who are already qualified overseers. He is appointed to the congregation for installation into the role of overseer. iii. A Deacon, however, as we saw in Acts 6, is selected by the church body. iv. So, this is a necessary addition to the qualification of a Deacon. They must be tested. v. Not as Deacons. We don’t test someone with the office before appointing them to the office. vi. Instead, the act of service, the role of a Deacon ought to already be a part of who they are. vii. They ought to already be servants. viii. And in that service – they ought to be above reproach. Again, Paul uses a different word here for above reproach but with almost the identical meaning as the elder qualification. ix. In their service, those who pass the test to be a Deacon, are those who no one can find credible fault with. h. [Slide 10] Passage Truth: Paul to Timothy instructs on the qualifications for the office of Deacon. A role that is not defined in this text, but is closely related to the role of Elder given the number of similarities in their qualifications. i. Passage Application: Timothy must look for tested servants who are found to be blameless to serve as Deacons. j. [Slide 11] Broader Biblical Truth: Zooming out doesn’t quite help us as much as we’d like it to specifically to Deacons. However, we do see Moses’ father in law convey to him the necessity of delegation. We also see God’s highly ordered temple system which not only afforded the Levitical tribe to be priests, but to also care for the temple upkeep and management. So there has been a long history of delegation with regard to the worship of God. And the church is no different. Elders are to teach and exercise authority in the church, but they cannot meet all the needs of the church alone. They will need help seeing to the more menial tasks and even to the teaching and administrative tasks. This is the role of a Deacon. But they must be qualified. k. Broader Biblical Application: Although we are only a little way through the qualifications, we must see that the governing quality, like Elders, is that they must be blameless. They must be above reproach. They must have a history of tested service. So however we land when we appoint and install Elders here at CBC, we must then look for tested servants in whom we cannot find fault. We recognize those men and appoint them to the office of Deacon and allow the Elders to approve and commission them to serve as the Elders see need. Transition: [Slide 12 (blank)] Why did we stop where we did? Seems like we stopped in the middle of a list of qualifications for deacons. Did you just arbitrarily decide to take a break Chris? Well, actually, Paul interrupts himself. With what? Well that is the rub… II.) Deacons gain reward and courage for serving well, so we must look for Deacons who are above reproach. (11-13) a. [Slide 13] 11 – likewise also their wives must be i. Thus, opens a whole new can of worms. ii. Here is the dilemma. The word for wives is the same word for women. The word “their” is not present in the Greek text, nor is there any sign of possession to indicate that these women belong to these Deacons. iii. If we were to translate this literally – it would say – “Likewise, women must be, dignified, not slanderous, temperate, faithful in every aspect.” iv. [Slide 14] So what are the options for what Paul is talking about here? 1. He certainly could be talking about the Deacon’s wives. a. Grammatically this is totally permissible. It is odd that no possession is shown, but not so odd to make it impossible. b. It is quite odd to have qualifications on the wives of Deacons but not for the wives of Elders – but that could be because the wives were expected to the help the Deacon in their tasks. In fact, if the “likewise” indicates some kind of submission as it does with Deacon to Elder, this may indicate that these women are in some way submitted to the authority and direction of the Deacon. And the first thought would be – their wives! c. However, is a wife of an Elder truly not permitted to help her husband teach or lead? We see Pricilla and Aquilla both teach Apollos. Is it unreasonable to conclude that an Elder’s wife has no place in helping her husband to make decisions? Indeed the very concept of marriage and the wife taking the support role, seems to indicate that the wife of an Elder ought to do this. So why isn’t she given qualifications? d. The transition back to the Deacons after this aside makes a lot more sense if it is speaking about the Deacon’s wives. 2. Paul could be talking about the women in the church as a whole. a. All women in the church ought to be this way. All the women should be qualified to assist the Deacons. b. This certainly is possible and all these qualities are good for women to adhere to… c. However, the context being in the middle of the qualifications of the Deacons seems to mandate it has something to do with the two specific groups in the church. Not just women in general. 3. Paul could be talking about the wives of both the Elders and the Deacons. a. Again, this certainly could what he is saying which is logically and theologically consistent. b. However, contextually this seems difficult because he is literally in the middle of talking about Deacons. c. To bring up a requirement for both sets of wives and then to return to the Deacons seems difficult. 4. Paul could be talking about women Deacons. a. Perhaps Paul in the middle of speaking about male Deacons now wishes to address female Deacons. b. Therefore, everything said before this would apply specifically to men who hold the office of Deacon and everything in verse 11 has to do with women Deacons only. c. After this Paul returns to speaking of male Deacons. d. In this case, Women Deacons would assist the Male Deacons in acts of service toward the church. This would fit quite naturally if they were the wives of a deacon, but without forcing them to be so. It also opens a way for women to serve the church in an official capacity and not be married to someone who holds the office of Deacon. e. This is, of course, not without its own set of problems. i. If Paul returns to the male Deacon in verse 12, are female Deacons not to be faithful in marriage? Why is this a male only qualification? ii. Why would Paul divide them into Deacons and women? Could he not have used an expression to say women who are Deacons? iii. Why such an abbreviated list? It is so small compared to the Deacon’s qualifiers. And many of them, as we’ll see, are simply repeats. iv. And in Acts 6, the Apostles asked the congregation there to appoint 7 men. Not 7 people but 7 men to help serve tables. This doesn’t prove that women cannot be Deacons. Again, this was the early church and we must be careful not to adopt it as prescriptive when it could simply be descriptive. v. So, what is the proper interpretation of this text in regard to women being Deacons? vi. Each interpretation has its merits and problems. Each interpretation is supported throughout church history. We see early church fathers implementing women Deacons, which they called Deaconesses, and we see others not permitting it. vii. Therefore, it is a matter we must leave – unfortunately – unsettled for now. viii. Normally I would tell you what I think at this point. The truth of it is… I have come to a conclusion, but I am not in any way dogmatic on it. I believe that this is speaking of a group of women, known as Deacons, who assist the male Deacons in their role to assist the Elders. However, I am so uncertain of this, that although this may be my conclusion, this may not be what we at CBC eventually decide in regard to our policy and offices. We will wait until our Elder board is established and see what the Lord leads them to collectively decide. ix. So as we move forward, keep in the back of your mind that this could be talking about the wives of Deacons. b. [Slide 15] Dignified i. This is the exact same word used previously. ii. It means honorable and well respected. iii. This mimics the same qualification from Acts 6 to be well attested. iv. So a female Deacon must also be well-attested, just like the male Deacon. c. [Slide 16] Not slanderous i. The word here is the same word we use for devil. ii. It means to falsely accuse, slander, or malicious gossip. iii. Just like the male Deacon, female Deacons must keep their tongues in check. Specifically, in reference to others. Making sure not to spread around false information or accusatory information. d. [Slide 17] Temperate i. This is the exact same word used of an Elder. ii. We noted, however, when we discussed this in regard to Elders, that there was a component of this which is in reference to wine. Since Paul addressed the Elder and wine further down the list we interpreted it this as sober minded or clear headed. Meaning the Elder was able to make sound judgments without being influenced or clouded by emotion, circumstance, passion, or vice. iii. Here though, there is no further statement on wine, and if you have been noticing, there is a symmetry to the previous qualities of male Deacons and to this list applied to female Deacons. And so, here, I think we should apply this more toward the use of wine. iv. Therefore, a female Deacon ALSO must not be addicted to anything. They ought not be drunks or addicts. e. [Slide 18] Faithful in every aspect. i. Trustworthy in all things. Full of Faith. ii. This not only mimics the quality full of faith, the Spirit, and wisdom from Acts 6, and the holding of the mystery of faith from the male Deacons qualities in this text, but also could include fidelity in marital relations. iii. Therefore, female Deacons must be faithful in all things. iv. The next statement is that male Deacons must be faithful in marriage. If this can mean fidelity in marriage it would provide complete symmetry to the male Deacon with the exception of household management – or exercising authority. Which would provide a contextually consistent difference between male and female Deacons and the reason that female Deacons assist the male Deacons like the male Deacons assist the Elders. f. [Slide 19] 12 - Deacons must be Husbands of one wife i. Deacons are held to the same standard as Elders. They must be faithful men, not pursuing any sexual dalliance, but being satisfied in their one wife. ii. Again, this does not necessarily limit a Deacon role to a married man or to a man who has never been divorced. There are more factors to be considered in these cases. iii. This does seem to be the proof that Paul is not discussing women Deacons previously… however, as we noted, if faithful in all things would include fidelity in marriage (which you’d be hard pressed to conclude it doesn’t) then we have parity between them in all qualities except for the next one… g. [Slide 20] And good managers of their children and their own households. i. This is the exact same qualification of the Elders. The Elders do have an additional caveat of doing it with dignity. ii. However, I don’t think Paul implies that a Deacon can rule his house as a tyrant. iii. Rather we see the same quality in Deacons as in Elders. They are men that have the respect, honor, and submission of their wives and their children. iv. This is another proof for female Deacons. Why would Paul not have mentioned submission to her husband if he was talking about Deacons’ wives? That would have been an ideal place for Paul to have emphasized their need to submit to their husbands. v. Like the Elders this is a lesser to greater argument. If they cannot manage their home they cannot manage the church. vi. But have you ever considered – why is this required of Deacons? They are not authority figures, are they? vii. This is true, they do not take charge of people but rather, tasks. However, to accomplish tasks, they may need people to help them. So, to those helping to accomplish their task, they must be good managers. And if they are poor managers at home, they will probably be poor managers in their given task as well. viii. In fact, just because Deacons are servants does not inherently mean that they are not teaching or exercising authority. Remember, they are servants to the Elder. If the Elder needs assistance in teaching and exercising authority, the Elder can give that to a Deacon. Interestingly enough – that would mean that Deacons and Deaconesses would not be exactly identical since women cannot teach or exercise authority. Hence the reason that Paul shifts back to male Deacons for this qualifier. ix. This s why I have concluded that if we have female Deacons, like male Deacons are assistants to the Elders so the female Deacons are assistants to the male Deacons. Male Deacons cannot give teaching or authority roles over men to female Deacons, but they can look to female Deacons to assist them in the care of the body and service to the Elders. h. [Slide 21] 13 – For those who have served well as Deacons gain a good standing for themselves i. This is a promise to all who are Deacons (male or female) that serve well. ii. This could imply that being a Deacon is not a lifetime appointment. Meaning that there is a time that their service ends. iii. However, this is not something we can press to hard into the text. iv. Still, if it can be said that a Deacon has served well, they gain something for themselves. v. A good standing. What does this mean? Popularity? Power? Clout? Respect? vi. No, none of these. vii. Jesus talks about those who would lead being servants. And certainly, Elders are servants, but also Deacons. And being the lowly waiters of tables would seem to be a fairly lowly job. In fact, serving the governing body of the church is not a job that will get a lot of credit. But Paul assures the Deacon that although this office lacks in the flash and prestige of the Elder – he will gain a good standing in the Kingdom of God. i. [Slide 22] And great boldness in the faith that is in Christ Jesus. i. But not only a good standing in the kingdom but also great boldness. ii. Serving as Christ served will put a man in the right place. iii. He will see the faith of Christ, the faith he has from Christ, and the faith he has placed in Christ, as something with which he can continue to act on in this life. iv. Christ was a servant of God and of His bride whom He shed his precious blood to redeem. v. So also, Deacons serve that bride, caring for their physical needs above their own. vi. So with these two offices we see the two sides of Christ ministry continued. 1. Christ taught and preached and saved His people 2. Christ ministered to the physical needs all people including His people. 3. So we have a spiritual and physical side to Christ’s ministry. And we have Elders and Deacons. j. [Slide 23] Passage Truth: So Paul instructs Timothy further that Deacons inhabit a role that may not be as preeminent as the Elder role, but is certainly a noble work in its own right. Perhaps even more so. k. Passage Application: Deacons, male and female, must be people of blameless character who are tested and blameless. l. [Slide 24] Broader Biblical Truth: Zooming out from I Timothy we see men and women both being used of God to help one another serve Him. Many men and women throughout the Old and New Testaments are highlighted for their acts of service and help – even if they were not leaders. And to some degree, they are given even more honor and respect because they serve those who lead. m. Broader Biblical Application: Although it is difficult to know for certain if this applies to wives of Deacons or women Deacons, in either case, women are included in the service of the Elders and the church to perform necessary tasks that the Elders are unable to do. And they are included in an official capacity. Deacons as a whole are indispensable in the church. The Elder simply cannot care for the congregation’s full array of needs while also devoting themselves to prayer, teaching, and exercising authority. So they need assistants. They need helpers. The Deacon then, becomes that helper of the Elder to serve the body of Christ in whatever capacity the Elder deems necessary. And the male Deacon cannot hope to do this on their own. They will need the assistance of female Deacons to minister effectively. Conclusion: [Slide 25(end)] Of course, the application to us here at CBC is to begin looking for men and possibly women who meet these requirements for the role of Deacon. So that we may be ready to present them to the future Elder board for approval and commissioning. But why are these requirements so exacting? Why must these men and possibly women be above reproach? What is at stake? My friends remember the context of this. Paul is writing to Timothy – a new Elder of the church in Ephesus – sent to right the ship. He opens up by telling Timothy to squash false teaching. He commands Timothy to preach the gospel. And then he commands the church there to see the globality of the gospel. The borderless gospel. The gospel that goes out and changes the hearts of all kinds of people. That they ought not pray for only Jews, or only the wealthy, or only men… but instead should pray for all kinds of people to be saved. But where else does the gospel go? Round the world and also deep into our souls. Devout and peaceable men ought to be praying in the congregation. Humble and submitted women ought to be learning in the congregation. Women ought not to teach or exercise authority – but those who are permitted to exercise authority ought to be above reproach. Friends we have not left the context of the gospel. The gospel transcends not just what we believe but how we live. In essence, Paul says – the gospel reaches everywhere… make sure it reaches your hearts too. Make sure it is changing you. Men and women, Leaders and servants. May God’s grace be changing you to be godly, holy, acceptable unto God. Because being holy, being godly, is your expected worship. That is what God requires of His own. If this list has us saying – wow, we’ll never find these people – then we have to wonder if we truly know or understand the power of God in salvation. This is who God makes us to be. This should not be uncommon in God’s church. How alarming then to see that it is uncommon. Yes God’s gospel reaches the tribes in Indonesia – but has it changed your quarrelsome spirit? Yes God’s gospel reaches to the cold of Siberia – but has it kept your eyes from wandering away from your wife? Yes God’s gospel can save the cannibal in Ecuador – but has it broken your pride? Yes God’s gospel can save the prostitute in the Dominican Republic – but has it subdued every thought in your mind? My friends… the gospel goes far and wide, that much is true… but it also comes near and deep. From the top down, from the inside out, from near to far we should see the devastating and glorious effect of the gospel. Elders and Deacons… you might as well call them Christians. For that is what the Church of God is. And this is what Paul will lead us to next… but, alas, we are out of time. But may I just read… read what he says next. “I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these instructions to you in case I am delayed to let you know how people ought to conduct themselves in the household of God. Because it is the church of the LIVING GOD, THE SUPPORT AND BULWARK OF THE TRUTH. And we all agree, our religion contains amazing revelation! He was revealed in the flesh, Vindicated in the Spirit, Seen by Angels, Proclaimed among gentiles, Believed on in the world, Taken up in glory! Amen! We have a high calling my friends. That is why we must have this caliber of leaders. We can expect these kinds of people because that is what the gospel does. It makes these kinds of people. Is that what it is doing to you?

"Nevertheless let each husband in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband" (Ephesians 5:33). Husbands are commanded to love their wives, but wives are commanded to respect their husbands. Learn why there are two different commands, and what this difference means for men and women. Can a wife love her husband without respecting him? Also learn what it means for a wife to respect her husband and what it means for a wife to disrespect her husband. https://youtu.be/wAsCrQgBVAI "Let the wife see that she respects her husband" (Ephesians 5:33). What does it look like for wives to respect and disrespect their husbands? This is the fifth message I deliver at Marriage God's Way Conferences.Receive a FREE copy of my book, Seven Biblical Insights for Healthy, Joyful, Christ-Centered Marriages.Visit my speaking page for conference and speaking information, including testimonies, endorsements, and contact info.Have a Marriage God's Way Conference in the privacy of your own home. Download and print the handout that's given to attendees. Table of ContentsMessage Lessons for Wife See that She Respects Her HusbandDiscussion Questions for Wife See that She Respects Her HusbandMessage Notes for Wife See that She Respects Her HusbandLesson 1: husbands must feel like their wives respect themLesson 2: wives can love their husbands without respecting themLesson 3: disrespect can change a husband's feelings toward his wifeLesson 4: husbands can make respecting them easierLesson 5: wives respect their husbands by making their spiritual leadership easier Message Lessons for Wife See that She Respects Her Husband Lesson 1: Husbands must feel like their wives ______________ ________ (Ephesians 5:33; Proverbs 31:11–12, 23).Lesson 2: Wives can ________ their husbands without ____________________ them (1 Samuel 18:20; 1 Peter 3:5; 2 Samuel 6:16, 20–22).Lesson 3: Disrespect can ____________ a husband's ________________ toward his wife (2 Samuel 6:23, 3:12-13).Lesson 4: Husbands can make respecting ________ ____________.Lesson 5: Wives respect their husbands by making their _________________ _____________________ easier. Discussion Questions for Wife See that She Respects Her Husband Husband asks wife:Do you feel like my feelings toward you have changed in a positive way from you respecting me, or in a negative way from you disrespecting me?What do I do that makes it easier for you to respect me?What do I do that makes it harder for you to respect me?Do you feel like I withhold affection from you like David did with Michal?Wife asks husband:Do you feel like I respect you?What do I do that makes you feel respected?What do I do that makes you feel disrespected?Do you feel like I talk down to you like Michal did with David? Message Notes for Wife See that She Respects Her Husband Let's look at Ephesians 5:33… 33 Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband. Because most of us are pretty familiar w/ this verse, we lose some of the impact of what it's saying. So let me try to establish what we would EXPECT it to say if we weren't so familiar w/ it… Since Paul just finished commanding husbands to love their wives, so you would expect verse 33 to say… Let each one of you in particular love his own wife as himself, and LET THE WIFE LOVE HER HUSBAND AS HERSELF. That's what you'd expect the verse to say, but notice it doesn't say anything about wives loving their husbands. Even though husbands are commanded to love their wives, wives are not commanded to love their husbands. Now before we go any further, let me make an important point… I'm not saying men don't want to be loved and I'm not saying women don't want to be respected. Men want to be loved and women want to be respected, and there are verses in the NT commanding wives to love their husbands and commanding husbands to ...

Paul has just finished nailing shut the lid on the coffin of the Law. He has told us in no uncertain terms that the Law cannot save, and that salvation comes only through faith in the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. You and I believe this truth and we rejoice in it. In fact, I still haven't fully recovered from the message last Sunday evening. What a blessing it is to be able to deal with concepts like justification, redemption, propitiation, remission of sins, forgiveness of sins and the grace of God.Unfortunately, not every one believes the cardinal doctrines of the faith. Many of the people who would read Paul's letter to the Romans would not accept these things as fact. Therefore, Paul calls a witness to the stand as he continues to defend his message of salvation by grace through faith.Paul's witness is none other than Abraham, v. 1. This man is revered by over one-half the world's population. In our day, Abraham is held in high esteem by Jews, Muslims and Christians. In Paul's day, many people, but especially the Jews, considered Abraham almost worthy of their worship. So, if Paul were going to appeal to anyone person to support his case, it would be Abraham.Since Paul felt lead to use Abraham as an example of a one who lived by faith, it is only appropriate that we take the time to consider this fact as well. Therefore, as we have the opportunity this evening, let's look into these eight verses and witness firsthand The Faith Of Abraham. As we do, check up on your own faith! Be sure that your's is a salvation that is based entirely in faith, because anything less is not salvation at all, but is at best deception and at worse damnation.Let's notice the Faith of Abraham.

God's promise to write the Torah on our hearts throws our current lives into stark contrast. Since Paul calls us "letters of Christ," how can we show Christ's love? First, we need to accept the love letter God has already sent us.Pastor Ben Masters preached "You Are Christ's Letter" on August 23, 2020, at Hector Presbyterian Church.Scripture readings: 2 Corinthians 3:1-11 & Jeremiah 31:27-37Download the sermon transcript.Did you catch the first sermon in this series? We didn't get audio, but you can read a transcript of "Plant Gardens, Pursue Peace."

Paul Byrne is by all accounts a builder of companies. Between 2007-2016 Paul built and sold three companies and during this time he developed a playbook to scale businesses successfully. In 2016 he planned on going into semi-retirement to help startups apply some of the concepts from his playbook. That work led him to CurrencyFair, where his initial one-day per week advisory role quickly transitioned into a full-time CEO role. Since Paul took over the leadership role at CurrencyFair in 2016 they turned their first profit and are now aggressively expanding in the Asian Market. This episode is hosted by Patrick McAndrew

Upon Jesus’ ascension, a task was given to the church: to go and teach all nations, baptizing them. To accomplish such a task, Christ gave the church five distinct types of ministers: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers (Eph 4:11). Such offices should not be confused with spiritual gifts, as listed in 1 Corinthians 12 or Romans 12. All believers possess spiritual gifts; yet, only a few hold an office of the church. Holding an office is a privilege, not a right, and one which requires exceeding accountability and seriousness. Of the five offices of the church, there subsist a variety of opinions and interpretations. For example, are these offices reserved only for men? The answer to that question will vary greatly depending on the hermeneutic of the one answering (and some more informed perhaps than others). Rather than outlining my own reasons for holding my view, suffice it to say that I believe these offices are not reserved only for men; yet, I am certainly able to see the perspective of one who believes so. Another question asked by many believers is whether all five churches offices Paul lists continue to exist today, primarily the role of apostle and prophet. Some reference Paul’s letter to the Church at Corinth to argue that tongues and prophecy (often including apostleship) do not exist. “…but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away” (1 Cor 13:10). Since Paul speaks of prophecy and tongues in this context, the assumption could be that such abilities existed only for an ordained interval of time and not any further. I believe that such a claim is a stretch and, yet, do not discount its credibility. While different in function, the goal of all five offices of the church is the same: namely the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry and building the body of Christ (Eph 4:12). For the following, I will operate under the view that all five offices subsist today. How then should Christians understand the roles of apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, and teacher? My aim is to examine each office and how it should appear in current contexts.

Upon Jesus’ ascension, a task was given to the church: to go and teach all nations, baptizing them. To accomplish such a task, Christ gave the church five distinct types of ministers: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers (Eph 4:11). Such offices should not be confused with spiritual gifts, as listed in 1 Corinthians 12 or Romans 12. All believers possess spiritual gifts; yet, only a few hold an office of the church. Holding an office is a privilege, not a right, and one which requires exceeding accountability and seriousness. Of the five offices of the church, there subsist a variety of opinions and interpretations. For example, are these offices reserved only for men? The answer to that question will vary greatly depending on the hermeneutic of the one answering (and some more informed perhaps than others). Rather than outlining my own reasons for holding my view, suffice it to say that I believe these offices are not reserved only for men; yet, I am certainly able to see the perspective of one who believes so. Another question asked by many believers is whether all five churches offices Paul lists continue to exist today, primarily the role of apostle and prophet. Some reference Paul’s letter to the Church at Corinth to argue that tongues and prophecy (often including apostleship) do not exist. “…but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away” (1 Cor 13:10). Since Paul speaks of prophecy and tongues in this context, the assumption could be that such abilities existed only for an ordained interval of time and not any further. I believe that such a claim is a stretch and, yet, do not discount its credibility. While different in function, the goal of all five offices of the church is the same: namely the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry and building the body of Christ (Eph 4:12). For the following, I will operate under the view that all five offices subsist today. How then should Christians understand the roles of apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, and teacher? My aim is to examine each office and how it should appear in current contexts.

To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/603/29 Romans 5:12 -How can we be sure of the meaning of Scripture? Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones begins this message by giving out a few tips for proper reading and studying of the Bible. Since Paul began this verse with the word therefore, Dr. Lloyd-Jones draws our attention back to the previous messages and shows how Paul is going to tie things together. In the chapters leading up to this passage, Paul has emphasized that all men fall under the wrath of God because all have sinned. Why is this so? It is because we are all united as one in Adam. Because of what happened in the Garden of Eden, we are all guilty of sin and born into sin. In the same exact manner, because of Christs sacrifice on the cross, we are not only saved by Christ but we are saved in Christ. There have been two great heads to the human race: Adam and Jesus Christ. In Adam, we all sinned, and in Christ, we have all been saved. As Christians, we should be so thankful that we have not only been saved from the impending wrath but we are also engrafted into Christs body. While we were once enemies, we are now safe and secure inChrist!

Happy Monday, friends! How was your celebration of the resurrection yesterday? Ours was obviously radically different. For one, the quarantine, for two, all of us lived in Alabama until the Summer of 2018, so this was our second Easter apart from our family back home in Dixie. Our church was not able to gather together in person in one room or place, but two interesting things happened. First, for the live-stream of our church's Easter celebration, we had so many people play a role. Three different worship teams - one a husband, wife and friend who led from our church building, another one of our deacons leading from his home, and then my wife and our two eldest daughters leading from our house, with an assist from my son reading Scripture. In addition to that, we had testimonies and encouraging words and Scriptures from at least seven other families, and then a short message from me. I was exhilarated and encouraged by hearing from so many of our church family. As we discussed last week, the church isn't just made up of a pastor and worship team, but a whole family gifted to reach the lost, build each other up, and serve the King. And then, we had an extra treat in the afternoon. My wife and daughters, joined with our pastor neighbor and his family for a time of worship outside in the afternoon. They played and sang from their yard, and we from ours, maintaining more than six feet of distance. Other neighbors came and joined in - all maintaining distance, with one family across the street. Four churches were represented. It wasn't a huge crowd, and it wasn't the most polished worship set ever, but it was really amazing and exhilarating to experience. Our together-celebration was lowered, but our proclamation was increased in a variety of ways. Thanks be to God. As you might have noticed, I sometimes steer clear of controversy on this show. There is a reason for that, and it is not that I want to avoid controversy. The main reason I avoid it is because biblical controversy is best handled in a local church setting, in the midst of relationships and leadership and pastoring. Where questions and discussion can happen face to face and unfold via relationship. A podcast just doesn't allow that to happen. I don't avoid every controversial passage, but do dance around a few that I'd be much rather cover in our local church context. That said, we're not going to steer so broadly around controversy today. We're going to turn the bow of this ship into the storm. We're not going straight into the middle of this storm, and by that metaphor, I mean I am not going to answer every possible objection and issue some might have with 1 Timothy 2, but I do want to give at least the beginnings of an answer. Batten down the hatches! 1st Timothy 2 is quite the controversial passage. Who does Paul think he is to tell women how to dress and to be quiet? Well, I'm not going to dive deep into this, but I will share a couple of things. In 1st Timothy 2, Paul does indeed tell women to dress in Kosmios/κόσμιος apparel. This is a difficult word to translate well, because it only appears twice in the Bible. The other time it appears is in 1 Timothy 3:  An overseer, therefore, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, self-controlled, sensible, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not an excessive drinker, not a bully but gentle, not quarrelsome, not greedy. 1 Timothy 3:2 The same word that is translated as 'modest' in 1 Timothy 2 is translated as 'respectable' in 1 Timothy 3. So, Paul in one passage tells women to dress in this way, and in the second passage tells church leaders to behave and have this kind of character. Sensible/modest/appropriate. Who does this guy think he is? And the answer is that he is, under the inspiration and direction of the Holy Spirit, writing the Words and commands of God. That's what the Word of God is for. It is to tell us how God wants us to live, how to please Him. Sometimes that manifests itself in how we dress, sometimes in how we behave. We are followers of God, and we follow Him via His Word: 16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. 2nd Timothy 3:16-17 Ok, I hear you saying - I guess some of that makes sense, but what about this WOMEN MUST BE SILENT business. That just sounds ridiculous, sexist, and old-fashioned. I can appreciate where you are coming from, but I don't think that 'sexism' is the right conclusion, and I think I can come pretty close to proving that. First, allow me to say that I am what is called a biblical Complementarian theologically. That means I believe that God has given men and women equal worth and value, but different roles in the earthly Kingdom of God. Not everybody agrees with that, but I believe that it is beautiful when practiced biblically, with no hint of selfish sexism. Take Ephesians 5: 22 Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord, 23 because the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of the body. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives are to submit to their husbands in everything. Ephesians 5:22-24 WHOA! How can it NOT be sexist to ask wives to submit to their husbands?! Have you met men?! Yeah, I get it. But, let's back out a little bit and see the verse in its context: 21 submitting to one another in the fear of Christ. 22 Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord, 23 because the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of the body. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives are to submit to their husbands in everything. 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her with the washing of water by the word. 27 He did this to present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or anything like that, but holy and blameless. 28 In the same way, husbands are to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hates his own flesh but provides and cares for it, just as Christ does for the church, 30 since we are members of his body. 31 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. 32 This mystery is profound, but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 To sum up, each one of you is to love his wife as himself, and the wife is to respect her husband. Ephesians 5:21-33 So - this gives us a little bit of a clearer picture as to what is going on here. Paul calls wives to submit to their husbands, and I believe that is the Word of God. Keep reading - Paul then calls husbands to love their wives like Christ loved the church - by providing and caring for her. How did Christ take care of His church? BY DYING for it!! So - wives are called to SUBMIT. Husbands are called to SACRIFICE. Which of those two 'S' words are easier? Is it easier to sacrifice your wants/needs/desires/safety/physical well-being for another? To endure pain for them so that they don't have to? To utterly give yourself for them? OR is it easier to submit to a person - an imperfect person?! The fact is that BOTH of those things are hard. You might believe that husbands and wives should EQUALLY submit to each other and EQUALLY sacrifice for each other. You're entitled to your opinion, but that's not how the Bible lays it out. Husbands must sacrifice themselves for their wives. Wives are called to submit to their husbands. Is that sexist? I think a husband demanding submission who is unwilling to sacrifice is indeed sexist and sinful and abhorrent and a perversion of marriage. The greatest possible perversion of marriage is husband to wife physical or mental or emotional abuse. That a man could be called to sacrifice himself for his wife, and rather than do that, he abuses her? That is an abomination, and it is infuriating, and such men will face incredibly harsh judgment. They should be in JAIL on earth, and tortured in eternity. Likewise, I think a wife who demands her husband sacrifice himself for her (in the way Christ laid down His life for the church) and then refusing to follow His Godly leadership is also sexist, in a way. Husbands are to bear the bulk of sacrifice in the relationship, though wives should sacrifice for their husbands from time to time. Wives are to bear the bulk of the submission in the relationship, though husbands should certainly submit to their wives in things from time to time, as is fitting in an Ephesians 5:22 sort of way. That is what I believe the Bible teaches. Does that make me sexist? I don't think so, but you can feel free to think of me that way. Ultimately, I want to please God and love my wife well. Back to the silence thing. First of all, let me say that I believe the translators of the KJV somehow missed it when they translated the Greek word 'ἡσυχία hēsychía' as 'silence.' I think the translators of the CSB got the sense of the word much better by using the word 'quiet.' I do not believe that Paul is here forbidding women to speak in the least. First of all, etymologically, it comes from a root word that means to 'be settled.' For instance, consider a passage that uses the same word: 12 Now we command and exhort such people by the Lord Jesus Christ to work quietly and provide for themselves. 2 Thessalonians 3:12 Is 2 Thessalonians 3:12 - directed at men and women - a command to be silent? It certainly doesn't appear that way. 'Silent' doesn't make any sense whatsoever in that passage. Quiet does. Being settled does. Since Paul is writing to Timothy about pastoring, and since he is about to introduce the topic of elders/pastors, I believe the context is 1 Timothy 2 in about how women should act during a church gathering when they are being taught. I note here that the same word is used of the men in Acts 22: “Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense before you.” 2 When they heard that he was addressing them in Aramaic, they became even quieter Acts 22:2 In other words, the men were listening and being quiet - which seems somewhat appropriate for some church services. (Although I actually like interaction in teaching quite often - as did Jesus, Paul and others) So - is Paul telling women to dress modestly, be quiet and submit? It all depends on how you frame it. Framed in a biblical way, those commands make sense and are lovely and beneficial for all. Paul does indeed tell men to be work in a quiet/sensible matter, to submit to all governing authorities, to sacrifice for their wives, to be gentle to them and never harsh, to not ever be bitter with her, and to love/take care of her in the same way the husband takes care of himself. Beloved: There are commands in the Bible from God. Some of them are written to women. Some to men. Some to children. Some - many - to pastors/shepherds/leaders. Some to followers. Some to moms. Some to fathers. Some to bosses, some to workers. This is what is meant by the Lordship of Christ. This is what is meant by 'following Him.' If you don't want to be told how to live life and what to do, you are going to struggle with the Bible and following Jesus completely. If you think you can pick some verses and commands to really love and follow and then rule the others as archaic and dated, then God isn't Lord -you are. You are the arbiter of your behavior in that scenario. This sort of approach doesn't work as workers in the workplace, nor as law-abiding citizens under traffic laws, etc., or as students in school, nor soldiers in the military, and it sure doesn't work under the authority of the King of Kings. Is He good? Do you trust Him? Is He really working all things for the good of those who know Him and are called according to His purposes? He is - so follow Him and trust His ways and commands. It's not easy to sacrifice for my wife, but I must. I'm sure it can often be difficult for her to follow my leadership, but I can sure help with that by sacrificing for her, by being gentle, taking care of her, loving her, listening to her, cherishing her, and by never being bitter or harsh with her, or the kids. One more thing: The beginning of this passage is important and often ignored by Christians. I can't think of a time in my lifetime that it has been more important for Christians to walk in and embrace the whole truth and counsel of the beginning of 1 Timothy 2: First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, 2 for kings and all those who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. 3 This is good, and it pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2:1-4 This is an hour to pray for our leaders. Whatever you think of our president, vice president, governor and congressional leaders - HIT YOUR KNEES and pray for them! Let me be very clear - this is not a partisan text in the least. It means that Christians should have been crying out to God for Barack Obama and Bill Clinton with the same amount of vigor and fervor as they cry out to God for Donald Trump and George W. Bush. There is not a president beyond the reach of God's hand, nor is there a world leader that we should not pray for. Allow me to close with some thoughts from a younger John Piper on our calling as Christians to pray for our world leaders, and allow me to challenge you to raise the level of your prayers for our leaders - in these desperate times, we must pray that they repent, that they listen to wisdom, that they seek the Lord and that God would work mightily through them. Not just our favorites, but all of them. If I'm a sailor on a boat going through a terrific storm, and I have a number of disagreements with our ship's captain, you'd better believe I'm going to be rooting for him and praying for him in the midst of the storm, because I don't want to go down with the ship. That's logical. Plus, we have this clear command to do so, and it has no exceptions! After Paul has stressed that we pray for all men, he singles out kings “and all in high positions” to make sure that we include them. Why? It is clear from verses 4–7 that what Paul wants to emphasize is that nobody be excluded from our good will, for nobody is beyond the grace of God. Why then do kings and those in high positions come in for special mention? I can see at least two reasons. The first is that these people had characteristics that made it especially difficult for the early Christians (and for us) to pray for them. For example, they were so distant, so remote, if not in actual miles, then at least in accessibility. It is hard to pray earnestly for someone you don’t know, and especially hard to pray for somebody you never see. Yet, this difficulty must be overcome, Paul says. You must pray for them: emperors like Nero, proconsuls like Gallio, governors like Pilate, kings like Herod. They may seem remote and inaccessible, but remember, they are not remote and inaccessible to God. And by prayer you can get as close as one of their intimate advisers. Another characteristic that makes rulers hard to pray for is that they are often godless men, insensitive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. This was almost universally true in Paul’s day. And in most countries around the world today I think it would still be true. I am not automatically enthused when a politician claims to have had a religious experience. It does not matter where or when we have lived, to obey God’s command to pray for all in high positions will involve us in praying for many people indifferent or hostile to our faith. But this should not cause us to hesitate one moment to pray for them, first, because God may save them and bring them to a knowledge of the truth, and second, because God uses rulers to accomplish his purposes whether they believe in him or not. When God wanted to punish his rebellious people, Israel, he turned the haughty king of Assyria into the rod of his anger (Isaiah 10:5) and stirred him up to attack Israel. Once Nebuchadnezzar, the great king of Babylon, said to himself: Is not this great Babylon which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty? (Daniel 4:30) And God took away his reason and made him eat grass like an ox until he learned this lesson (Daniel 4:34, 35): The dominion of the Most High is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing; and he does according to his will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand, or say to him, “What doest thou?” No king, no president, no premier, no Ayatollah can stay the hand of the Lord when he has purposed to do a thing. “The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will” (Proverbs 21:1). “Many are the plans of the mind of a man (of a king!), but it is the purpose of the Lord that will be established” (Proverbs 19:21). Therefore, we have strong encouragement to pray for kings and for all in high positions, whether they are believers or not, because our God reigns, and none can stay his hand! John Piper, Sermons from John Piper (1980–1989) (Minneapolis, MN: Desiring God, 2007).

Happy Monday, friends! How was your celebration of the resurrection yesterday? Ours was obviously radically different. For one, the quarantine, for two, all of us lived in Alabama until the Summer of 2018, so this was our second Easter apart from our family back home in Dixie. Our church was not able to gather together in person in one room or place, but two interesting things happened. First, for the live-stream of our church's Easter celebration, we had so many people play a role. Three different worship teams - one a husband, wife and friend who led from our church building, another one of our deacons leading from his home, and then my wife and our two eldest daughters leading from our house, with an assist from my son reading Scripture. In addition to that, we had testimonies and encouraging words and Scriptures from at least seven other families, and then a short message from me. I was exhilarated and encouraged by hearing from so many of our church family. As we discussed last week, the church isn't just made up of a pastor and worship team, but a whole family gifted to reach the lost, build each other up, and serve the King. And then, we had an extra treat in the afternoon. My wife and daughters, joined with our pastor neighbor and his family for a time of worship outside in the afternoon. They played and sang from their yard, and we from ours, maintaining more than six feet of distance. Other neighbors came and joined in - all maintaining distance, with one family across the street. Four churches were represented. It wasn't a huge crowd, and it wasn't the most polished worship set ever, but it was really amazing and exhilarating to experience. Our together-celebration was lowered, but our proclamation was increased in a variety of ways. Thanks be to God. As you might have noticed, I sometimes steer clear of controversy on this show. There is a reason for that, and it is not that I want to avoid controversy. The main reason I avoid it is because biblical controversy is best handled in a local church setting, in the midst of relationships and leadership and pastoring. Where questions and discussion can happen face to face and unfold via relationship. A podcast just doesn't allow that to happen. I don't avoid every controversial passage, but do dance around a few that I'd be much rather cover in our local church context. That said, we're not going to steer so broadly around controversy today. We're going to turn the bow of this ship into the storm. We're not going straight into the middle of this storm, and by that metaphor, I mean I am not going to answer every possible objection and issue some might have with 1 Timothy 2, but I do want to give at least the beginnings of an answer. Batten down the hatches! 1st Timothy 2 is quite the controversial passage. Who does Paul think he is to tell women how to dress and to be quiet? Well, I'm not going to dive deep into this, but I will share a couple of things. In 1st Timothy 2, Paul does indeed tell women to dress in Kosmios/κόσμιος apparel. This is a difficult word to translate well, because it only appears twice in the Bible. The other time it appears is in 1 Timothy 3:  An overseer, therefore, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, self-controlled, sensible, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not an excessive drinker, not a bully but gentle, not quarrelsome, not greedy. 1 Timothy 3:2 The same word that is translated as 'modest' in 1 Timothy 2 is translated as 'respectable' in 1 Timothy 3. So, Paul in one passage tells women to dress in this way, and in the second passage tells church leaders to behave and have this kind of character. Sensible/modest/appropriate. Who does this guy think he is? And the answer is that he is, under the inspiration and direction of the Holy Spirit, writing the Words and commands of God. That's what the Word of God is for. It is to tell us how God wants us to live, how to please Him. Sometimes that manifests itself in how we dress, sometimes in how we behave. We are followers of God, and we follow Him via His Word: 16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. 2nd Timothy 3:16-17 Ok, I hear you saying - I guess some of that makes sense, but what about this WOMEN MUST BE SILENT business. That just sounds ridiculous, sexist, and old-fashioned. I can appreciate where you are coming from, but I don't think that 'sexism' is the right conclusion, and I think I can come pretty close to proving that. First, allow me to say that I am what is called a biblical Complementarian theologically. That means I believe that God has given men and women equal worth and value, but different roles in the earthly Kingdom of God. Not everybody agrees with that, but I believe that it is beautiful when practiced biblically, with no hint of selfish sexism. Take Ephesians 5: 22 Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord, 23 because the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of the body. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives are to submit to their husbands in everything. Ephesians 5:22-24 WHOA! How can it NOT be sexist to ask wives to submit to their husbands?! Have you met men?! Yeah, I get it. But, let's back out a little bit and see the verse in its context: 21 submitting to one another in the fear of Christ. 22 Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord, 23 because the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of the body. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives are to submit to their husbands in everything. 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her with the washing of water by the word. 27 He did this to present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or anything like that, but holy and blameless. 28 In the same way, husbands are to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hates his own flesh but provides and cares for it, just as Christ does for the church, 30 since we are members of his body. 31 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. 32 This mystery is profound, but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 To sum up, each one of you is to love his wife as himself, and the wife is to respect her husband. Ephesians 5:21-33 So - this gives us a little bit of a clearer picture as to what is going on here. Paul calls wives to submit to their husbands, and I believe that is the Word of God. Keep reading - Paul then calls husbands to love their wives like Christ loved the church - by providing and caring for her. How did Christ take care of His church? BY DYING for it!! So - wives are called to SUBMIT. Husbands are called to SACRIFICE. Which of those two 'S' words are easier? Is it easier to sacrifice your wants/needs/desires/safety/physical well-being for another? To endure pain for them so that they don't have to? To utterly give yourself for them? OR is it easier to submit to a person - an imperfect person?! The fact is that BOTH of those things are hard. You might believe that husbands and wives should EQUALLY submit to each other and EQUALLY sacrifice for each other. You're entitled to your opinion, but that's not how the Bible lays it out. Husbands must sacrifice themselves for their wives. Wives are called to submit to their husbands. Is that sexist? I think a husband demanding submission who is unwilling to sacrifice is indeed sexist and sinful and abhorrent and a perversion of marriage. The greatest possible perversion of marriage is husband to wife physical or mental or emotional abuse. That a man could be called to sacrifice himself for his wife, and rather than do that, he abuses her? That is an abomination, and it is infuriating, and such men will face incredibly harsh judgment. They should be in JAIL on earth, and tortured in eternity. Likewise, I think a wife who demands her husband sacrifice himself for her (in the way Christ laid down His life for the church) and then refusing to follow His Godly leadership is also sexist, in a way. Husbands are to bear the bulk of sacrifice in the relationship, though wives should sacrifice for their husbands from time to time. Wives are to bear the bulk of the submission in the relationship, though husbands should certainly submit to their wives in things from time to time, as is fitting in an Ephesians 5:22 sort of way. That is what I believe the Bible teaches. Does that make me sexist? I don't think so, but you can feel free to think of me that way. Ultimately, I want to please God and love my wife well. Back to the silence thing. First of all, let me say that I believe the translators of the KJV somehow missed it when they translated the Greek word 'ἡσυχία hēsychía' as 'silence.' I think the translators of the CSB got the sense of the word much better by using the word 'quiet.' I do not believe that Paul is here forbidding women to speak in the least. First of all, etymologically, it comes from a root word that means to 'be settled.' For instance, consider a passage that uses the same word: 12 Now we command and exhort such people by the Lord Jesus Christ to work quietly and provide for themselves. 2 Thessalonians 3:12 Is 2 Thessalonians 3:12 - directed at men and women - a command to be silent? It certainly doesn't appear that way. 'Silent' doesn't make any sense whatsoever in that passage. Quiet does. Being settled does. Since Paul is writing to Timothy about pastoring, and since he is about to introduce the topic of elders/pastors, I believe the context is 1 Timothy 2 in about how women should act during a church gathering when they are being taught. I note here that the same word is used of the men in Acts 22: “Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense before you.” 2 When they heard that he was addressing them in Aramaic, they became even quieter Acts 22:2 In other words, the men were listening and being quiet - which seems somewhat appropriate for some church services. (Although I actually like interaction in teaching quite often - as did Jesus, Paul and others) So - is Paul telling women to dress modestly, be quiet and submit? It all depends on how you frame it. Framed in a biblical way, those commands make sense and are lovely and beneficial for all. Paul does indeed tell men to be work in a quiet/sensible matter, to submit to all governing authorities, to sacrifice for their wives, to be gentle to them and never harsh, to not ever be bitter with her, and to love/take care of her in the same way the husband takes care of himself. Beloved: There are commands in the Bible from God. Some of them are written to women. Some to men. Some to children. Some - many - to pastors/shepherds/leaders. Some to followers. Some to moms. Some to fathers. Some to bosses, some to workers. This is what is meant by the Lordship of Christ. This is what is meant by 'following Him.' If you don't want to be told how to live life and what to do, you are going to struggle with the Bible and following Jesus completely. If you think you can pick some verses and commands to really love and follow and then rule the others as archaic and dated, then God isn't Lord -you are. You are the arbiter of your behavior in that scenario. This sort of approach doesn't work as workers in the workplace, nor as law-abiding citizens under traffic laws, etc., or as students in school, nor soldiers in the military, and it sure doesn't work under the authority of the King of Kings. Is He good? Do you trust Him? Is He really working all things for the good of those who know Him and are called according to His purposes? He is - so follow Him and trust His ways and commands. It's not easy to sacrifice for my wife, but I must. I'm sure it can often be difficult for her to follow my leadership, but I can sure help with that by sacrificing for her, by being gentle, taking care of her, loving her, listening to her, cherishing her, and by never being bitter or harsh with her, or the kids. One more thing: The beginning of this passage is important and often ignored by Christians. I can't think of a time in my lifetime that it has been more important for Christians to walk in and embrace the whole truth and counsel of the beginning of 1 Timothy 2: First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, 2 for kings and all those who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. 3 This is good, and it pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2:1-4 This is an hour to pray for our leaders. Whatever you think of our president, vice president, governor and congressional leaders - HIT YOUR KNEES and pray for them! Let me be very clear - this is not a partisan text in the least. It means that Christians should have been crying out to God for Barack Obama and Bill Clinton with the same amount of vigor and fervor as they cry out to God for Donald Trump and George W. Bush. There is not a president beyond the reach of God's hand, nor is there a world leader that we should not pray for. Allow me to close with some thoughts from a younger John Piper on our calling as Christians to pray for our world leaders, and allow me to challenge you to raise the level of your prayers for our leaders - in these desperate times, we must pray that they repent, that they listen to wisdom, that they seek the Lord and that God would work mightily through them. Not just our favorites, but all of them. If I'm a sailor on a boat going through a terrific storm, and I have a number of disagreements with our ship's captain, you'd better believe I'm going to be rooting for him and praying for him in the midst of the storm, because I don't want to go down with the ship. That's logical. Plus, we have this clear command to do so, and it has no exceptions! After Paul has stressed that we pray for all men, he singles out kings “and all in high positions” to make sure that we include them. Why? It is clear from verses 4–7 that what Paul wants to emphasize is that nobody be excluded from our good will, for nobody is beyond the grace of God. Why then do kings and those in high positions come in for special mention? I can see at least two reasons. The first is that these people had characteristics that made it especially difficult for the early Christians (and for us) to pray for them. For example, they were so distant, so remote, if not in actual miles, then at least in accessibility. It is hard to pray earnestly for someone you don’t know, and especially hard to pray for somebody you never see. Yet, this difficulty must be overcome, Paul says. You must pray for them: emperors like Nero, proconsuls like Gallio, governors like Pilate, kings like Herod. They may seem remote and inaccessible, but remember, they are not remote and inaccessible to God. And by prayer you can get as close as one of their intimate advisers. Another characteristic that makes rulers hard to pray for is that they are often godless men, insensitive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. This was almost universally true in Paul’s day. And in most countries around the world today I think it would still be true. I am not automatically enthused when a politician claims to have had a religious experience. It does not matter where or when we have lived, to obey God’s command to pray for all in high positions will involve us in praying for many people indifferent or hostile to our faith. But this should not cause us to hesitate one moment to pray for them, first, because God may save them and bring them to a knowledge of the truth, and second, because God uses rulers to accomplish his purposes whether they believe in him or not. When God wanted to punish his rebellious people, Israel, he turned the haughty king of Assyria into the rod of his anger (Isaiah 10:5) and stirred him up to attack Israel. Once Nebuchadnezzar, the great king of Babylon, said to himself: Is not this great Babylon which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty? (Daniel 4:30) And God took away his reason and made him eat grass like an ox until he learned this lesson (Daniel 4:34, 35): The dominion of the Most High is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing; and he does according to his will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand, or say to him, “What doest thou?” No king, no president, no premier, no Ayatollah can stay the hand of the Lord when he has purposed to do a thing. “The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will” (Proverbs 21:1). “Many are the plans of the mind of a man (of a king!), but it is the purpose of the Lord that will be established” (Proverbs 19:21). Therefore, we have strong encouragement to pray for kings and for all in high positions, whether they are believers or not, because our God reigns, and none can stay his hand! John Piper, Sermons from John Piper (1980–1989) (Minneapolis, MN: Desiring God, 2007).

"I've had many requests from listeners over the years to flip the show around and have someone interview me, Coach Chris, for an episode of KookCast...I never liked the idea of being in the hot seat myself, but I guess it just took the right circumstances! Paul Maddison, Surf Continuum student and host of the podcast, Secret Famous asked me to be to be a guest on his show. Since Paul is such a rad dude, I couldn't say no. This week on the KookCast, it's me! (Copped straight from the Secret Famous podcast!)"

In this episode Paul and Leslie discover Paul can't stop whining about owners lying about money in baseball, peel back a few Nats position battles, discover Madison Bumgarner's version of Clark Kent, talk about the end of baseball on the radio, and much more!

Chris Thomas speaks with substitute teacher Paul Dawson about Friends being removed off of Netflix before moving to the HBO Max streaming service. Since Paul doesn’t teach students the materials and instead screens episodes of Friends off of Netflix, he is horrified about what he can do to take up class time in the upcoming semester. Listen to Paul fail miserably on a basic knowledge test, and also hear him describe how he violated himself to a student’s charcoal drawing of Jennifer Aniston with the “Rachel haircut.” Paul is seriously a total mess!

The Beloved Church – Steve Cassell pt 4   (https://kcrpodcast.com/?attachment_id=98811) When Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, the Holy Spirit descended like a dove upon Him and then there was voice from Heaven when God said, in Mark [1:11], “You are my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” We can also read in Ephesians [5:23]-24 where the Apostle Paul likens Christ to the “head of the body.” A body with no head is, basically, dead. Since Paul used the illustration of Christ as the head of the Church just like the head is in charge of the body, we can then liken the church as “the body of Christ.”  We, the Christians who make up the Body of Christ, are one with Him, we can then say that WE are “The Beloved Church!” AMEN! I have the blessed privilege of having an on fire man of God on our program today. Pastor Steve Cassell, of the “Beloved Church” in Lena, Illinois, is our guest today. Steve and I attended JSMI Bible Institute and School of World Evangelism way, WAY back in the 1990’s. Steve was one year ahead of me but we were there, sitting under the teaching of Dr. Jerry Savelle. Help me welcome to the program, Pastor Steve Cassell. Steve, it is so good to talk to you again, my friend! How did you end up opening a church in Lena, Illinois? Now, not only do you have the church, but you also have your personal ministry as well. Can you tell us about your vision for your personal ministry? What is your next “big project?” Steve, your story is so inspiring to me. I know our listeners will get a lot of out this interview as well. How God never gives up on us. That is something that I had to learn, as you did. What can you share with someone, listening right now, that may be going through some thing. They feel as if God has given up on them. Speak to the person right now… Steve, if someone wanted to reach out to you, to ask a question or perhaps even to do an interview such as this, how can they do that? How can someone get in touch with you? Folks, Pastor Steve Cassell is the real deal. He’s been where some of you have been – and where some of you may be at right now! I know I’ve been there, too. We are here to tell you that Jesus never gives up on you! If you are in or traveling near Lena, Illinois, you need to stop by or get in touch with Steve Cassell. Stop by the church and be ministered to in a powerful way! Amen! If you have any questions or if you would like to ask Steve to come out and speak to your leadership team, business or ministry, get in touch with him! Praise God! Just click the links in the show notes below to check out his personal ministry or the church website! Do it today, while you are thinking about it! Amen! Steve, thank you for taking the time to come on the program and share with us today. It was a blessing to talk with you. AND, I don’t want to forget this, either. But we are working on getting you on our radio station, Evangelism Radio! Amen!  So folks, you need to be looking for that coming soon as well. Praise God! That’s all the time we have for today. For Pastor Steve Cassell and myself, this is Pastor Bob reminding you to BE BLESSED IN ALL THAT YOU DO! CONTACT INFORMATION Website:  www.belovedchurchillinois.com (http://www.belovedchurchillinois.com/) Website: www.stevecassell.com (http://www.stevecassell.com/) LinkedIn:  Steve Cassell (https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-cassell-92678958/) The post Kingdom Cross Roads Podcast (https://kcrpodcast.com) .

The Beloved Church – Steve Cassell pt 3   (https://kcrpodcast.com/?attachment_id=98811) When Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, the Holy Spirit descended like a dove upon Him and then there was voice from Heaven when God said, in Mark [1:11], “You are my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” We can also read in Ephesians [5:23]-24 where the Apostle Paul likens Christ to the “head of the body.” A body with no head is, basically, dead. Since Paul used the illustration of Christ as the head of the Church just like the head is in charge of the body, we can then liken the church as “the body of Christ.”  We, the Christians who make up the Body of Christ, are one with Him, we can then say that WE are “The Beloved Church!” AMEN! I have the blessed privilege of having an on fire man of God on our program today. Pastor Steve Cassell, of the “Beloved Church” in Lena, Illinois, is our guest today. Steve and I attended JSMI Bible Institute and School of World Evangelism way, WAY back in the 1990’s. Steve was one year ahead of me but we were there, sitting under the teaching of Dr. Jerry Savelle. Help me welcome to the program, Pastor Steve Cassell. Steve, it is so good to talk to you again, my friend! Steve explains how Andrew Womack confirmed God’s Call for Steve to leave the Corporate world and start serving Him fill time. This is a fascinating story and one that you will want to hear! How did you end up opening a church in Lena, Illinois? Now, not only do you have the church, but you also have your personal ministry as well. Can you tell us about your vision for your personal ministry? What is your next “big project?” Steve, if someone wanted to reach out to you, to ask a question or perhaps even to do an interview such as this, how can they do that? How can someone get in touch with you? CONTACT INFORMATION Website:  www.belovedchurchillinois.com (http://www.belovedchurchillinois.com/) Website: www.stevecassell.com (http://www.stevecassell.com/) LinkedIn:  Steve Cassell (https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-cassell-92678958/) The post Kingdom Cross Roads Podcast (https://kcrpodcast.com) .

The Beloved Church – Steve Cassell pt 2   (https://kcrpodcast.com/?attachment_id=98811) When Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, the Holy Spirit descended like a dove upon Him and then there was voice from Heaven when God said, in Mark [1:11], “You are my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” We can also read in Ephesians [5:23]-24 where the Apostle Paul likens Christ to the “head of the body.” A body with no head is, basically, dead. Since Paul used the illustration of Christ as the head of the Church just like the head is in charge of the body, we can then liken the church as “the body of Christ.”  We, the Christians who make up the Body of Christ, are one with Him, we can then say that WE are “The Beloved Church!” AMEN! I have the blessed privilege of having an on fire man of God on our program today. Pastor Steve Cassell, of the “Beloved Church” in Lena, Illinois, is our guest today. Steve and I attended JSMI Bible Institute and School of World Evangelism way, WAY back in the 1990’s. Steve was one year ahead of me but we were there, sitting under the teaching of Dr. Jerry Savelle. Help me welcome to the program, Pastor Steve Cassell. Steve, it is so good to talk to you again, my friend! And how did you end up at JSMI in Crowley, Texas? Tell us about “Destiny.” After Bible School, what did you do? I know I worked in a few different ministries that, basically, formed the foundation for what I am doing now – although I had no idea at the time this is what I would be doing. What was life like for you after graduating from JSMI? Steve, if someone wanted to reach out to you, to ask a question or perhaps even to do an interview such as this, how can they do that? How can someone get in touch with you? CONTACT INFORMATION Website:  www.belovedchurchillinois.com (http://www.belovedchurchillinois.com/) Website: www.stevecassell.com (http://www.stevecassell.com/) LinkedIn:  Steve Cassell (https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-cassell-92678958/) The post Kingdom Cross Roads Podcast (https://kcrpodcast.com) .

The Beloved Church – Steve Cassell pt 1   (https://kcrpodcast.com/?attachment_id=98811) When Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, the Holy Spirit descended like a dove upon Him and then there was voice from Heaven when God said, in Mark [1:11], “You are my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” We can also read in Ephesians [5:23]-24 where the Apostle Paul likens Christ to the “head of the body.” A body with no head is, basically, dead. Since Paul used the illustration of Christ as the head of the Church just like the head is in charge of the body, we can then liken the church as “the body of Christ.”  We, the Christians who make up the Body of Christ, are one with Him, we can then say that WE are “The Beloved Church!” AMEN! I have the blessed privilege of having an on fire man of God on our program today. Pastor Steve Cassell, of the “Beloved Church” in Lena, Illinois, is our guest today. Steve and I attended JSMI Bible Institute and School of World Evangelism way, WAY back in the 1990’s. Steve was one year ahead of me but we were there, sitting under the teaching of Dr. Jerry Savelle. Help me welcome to the program, Pastor Steve Cassell. Steve, it is so good to talk to you again, my friend! Now, I always start with this question first. So, Steve, tell us in your words, “Who is Steve Cassell?” I find your story fascinating and we relate on so many different levels. Can you share your testimony with our listeners? My testimony is similar to your experience as well. I likened it to oil flowing over me. And it is amazing how each of us remember exactly where we were at and what we said. How did you meet your wife, Kay? And how did you end up at JSMI in Crowley, Texas? Steve, if someone wanted to reach out to you, to ask a question or perhaps even to do an interview such as this, how can they do that? How can someone get in touch with you? CONTACT INFORMATION Website:  www.belovedchurchillinois.com (http://www.belovedchurchillinois.com/) Website: www.stevecassell.com (http://www.stevecassell.com/) LinkedIn:  Steve Cassell (https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-cassell-92678958/) The post Kingdom Cross Roads Podcast (https://kcrpodcast.com) .

John Farley Pastor-Teacher Sunday, August 4, 2019 Summer break: Monday August 5th through Sunday August 11th No Bible study on Thursday August 8th No service Sunday August 11th Run in such a way that you may win 1Co 9:13-27 Our love for God and one another will require us to give up our rights and freedoms at times. Don't just listen to what I tell you; see it in action in my life. Since Paul and Barnabas had given up so much for the sake of the gospel, ... ...the saints should be willing to give up eating certain meat for the sake of the brethren. When he preaches the gospel, he is only doing his duty. He is after all a slave of Christ. We would do well to adopt this same attitude toward our Christian service. Luk 17:7-10 Paul says that if he... for full notes: http://www.lbible.org/index.php?proc=msg&sf=vw&tid=1264

Because he was such a violent persecutor of the Christian church, the witness of the apostle Paul to having seen the risen Christ remains one of the strongest confirmations that Jesus of Nazareth truly did physically rise from a tomb on the third day of his death. In addition, Paul's standing in the Jewish community as one of the most zealous and knowledgeable students of the Old Testament scriptures lends additional weight to the legitimacy of his encounter with the risen Christ. Since Paul was a highly educated, rational, and logical individual, his testimony of meeting the risen Christ bears heavy weight that cannot be easily dismissed.

The boys steal their pro tip from Paul Elliot’s website simplebjj.com this week. Since Paul will be on next weeks show we figured it’d be pertinent anyhow. Paul talks about why we should learn to focus on the control aspect of Jiu Jitsu before we try for submissions or escapes. It might seem counterintuitive for some, but he gets into the weeds on why this should be the case. There are a few aspects of the use of control. One being before a submission. Make sure that you don’t give up a superior position when attempting a submission. He uses top mount going for a cross choke as an example. Next he talks about escape attempts. He explains that when they are solely focused on controlling you, you may have to wait until he/she tries to advance their position and free up room for said escape. Paul sums it up by saying:Defense before escape Escape before control Control before submission He goes on to say how you shouldn’t be in a rush to escape or submit someone, rather take your time and gain control of the roll. When you gain control, everything else becomes subsquentially (see what I did there) easier. We also tangented a few times during this podcast, so if you don’t care about whiskey or speaking other languages and stuff....sorry not sorry.

The boys steal their pro tip from Paul Elliot’s website simplebjj.com this week. Since Paul will be on next weeks show we figured it’d be pertinent anyhow. Paul talks about why we should learn to focus on the control aspect of Jiu Jitsu before we try for submissions or escapes. It might seem counterintuitive for some, but he gets into the weeds on why this should be the case. There are a few aspects of the use of control. One being before a submission. Make sure that you don’t give up a superior position when attempting a submission. He uses top mount going for a cross choke as an example. Next he talks about escape attempts. He explains that when they are solely focused on controlling you, you may have to wait until he/she tries to advance their position and free up room for said escape. Paul sums it up by saying:Defense before escape Escape before control Control before submission He goes on to say how you shouldn’t be in a rush to escape or submit someone, rather take your time and gain control of the roll. When you gain control, everything else becomes subsquentially (see what I did there) easier. We also tangented a few times during this podcast, so if you don’t care about whiskey or speaking other languages and stuff....sorry not sorry.

Paul Derengowski, PhD The Apostle Paul opens his letter to the Roman church in typical fashion with one exception: the length of his salutation. Since Paul had never been to Rome, nor had he met some of its members, he wanted to make sure they knew him indirectly in the best way he knew how. So, his opening statement is lengthy, but informative. Paul is an apostle intent on preaching the gospel, even to those who already had a firm grip on it. The gospel, though, meant more to Paul than merely preaching "good news," for that news was very personal. In this podcast, the personality is discovered, with later development in coming episodes, as Paul elaborates on the theme. @import url(https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Open+Sans|Oswald); #wonderpluginaudio-18 { box-sizing: content-box; } #wonderpluginaudio-18 div { -webkit-box-sizing: content-box; -moz-box-sizing: content-box; box-sizing: content-box; } #wonderpluginaudio-18 .amazingaudioplayer-image { display: block; position: relative; float: left; margin: 4px; overflow: hidden; -webkit-box-shadow: 0 8px 6px -6px black; -moz-box-shadow: 0 8px 6px -6px black; box-shadow: 0 8px 6px -6px black; -webkit-border-radius: 4px; -moz-border-radius: 4px; border-radius: 4px; } #wonderpluginaudio-18 .amazingaudioplayer-image-clear { } #wonderpluginaudio-18 .amazingaudioplayer-text { display: block; position: relative; overflow: hidden; padding: 4px 12px; height: 100px; } #wonderpluginaudio-18 .amazingaudioplayer-text-clear { clear: both; height: 8px; } #wonderpluginaudio-18 .amazingaudioplayer-title { display: block; color: #333; font-family: "Oswald",Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 20px; font-weight: bold; } #wonderpluginaudio-18 .amazingaudioplayer-title-clear { } #wonderpluginaudio-18 .amazingaudioplayer-info { display: block; display: block; color: #666; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: italic; } #wonderpluginaudio-18 .amazingaudioplayer-info-clear { } #wonderpluginaudio-18 .amazingaudioplayer-bar { background-color: #333; margin: 4px; border: 1px solid #222; -webkit-border-radius: 2px; -moz-border-radius: 2px; border-radius: 2px; -webkit-box-shadow: inset 0 1px 0 rgba( 255, 255, 255, 0.15 ), 0 0 3px rgba( 0, 0, 0, 0.5 ); -moz-box-shadow: inset 0 1px 0 rgba( 255, 255, 255, 0.15 ), 0 0 3px rgba( 0, 0, 0, 0.5 ); box-shadow: inset 0 1px 0 rgba( 255, 255, 255, 0.15 ), 0 0 3px rgba( 0, 0, 0, 0.5 ); background-image: -ms-linear-gradient(top, #444444 0%, #222222 100%); background-image: -moz-linear-gradient(top, #444444 0%, #222222 100%); background-image: -o-linear-gradient(top, #444444 0%, #222222 100%); background-image: -webkit-gradient(linear, left top, left bottom, color-stop(0, #444444), color-stop(1, #222222)); background-image: -webkit-linear-gradient(top, #444444 0%, #222222 100%); background-image: linear-gradient(to bottom, #444444 0%, #222222 100%); } #wonderpluginaudio-18 .amazingaudioplayer-bar-buttons-clear { clear: both; } #wonderpluginaudio-18 .amazingaudioplayer-bar-clear { } #wonderpluginaudio-18 .amazingaudioplayer-bar-title { position: relative; float: left; color: #eee; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0 8px; } #wonderpluginaudio-18 .amazingaudioplayer-playpause { position: relative; float: left; } #wonderpluginaudio-18 .amazingaudioplayer-play { position: relative; } #wonderpluginaudio-18 .amazingaudioplayer-pause { position: relative; } #wonderpluginaudio-18 .amazingaudioplayer-stop { position: relative; float: left; } #wonderpluginaudio-18 .amazingaudioplayer-prev { position: relative; float: left; } #wonderpluginaudio-18 .amazingaudioplayer-next { position: relative; float: left; } #wonderpluginaudio-18 .amazingaudioplayer-loop { position: relative; float: left; margin: 0 2px; } #wonderpluginaudio-18 .amazingaudioplayer-progress { position: relative; background-colo...

Romans 5:12 — How can we be sure of the meaning of Scripture? Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones begins this message by giving out a few tips for proper reading and studying of the Bible. Since Paul began this verse with the word “therefore,” Dr. Lloyd-Jones draws our attention back to the previous messages and shows how Paul is going to tie things together. In the chapters leading up to this passage, Paul has emphasized that all men fall under the wrath of God because all have sinned. Why is this so? It is because we are all united as one in Adam. Because of what happened in the Garden of Eden, we are all guilty of sin and born into sin. In the same exact manner, because of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, we are not only saved by Christ but we are saved in Christ. There have been two great heads to the human race: Adam and Jesus Christ. In Adam, we all sinned, and in Christ, we have all been saved. As Christians, we should be so thankful that we have not only been saved from the impending wrath but we are also engrafted into Christ’s body. While we were once enemies, we are now safe and secure in Christ!

Today we are going on our Journey into Romans and we will be on this very short series for a few weeks. Today when we stop in Romans we will be talking about Strength. Romans 8:31-39 may be the most comforting and encouraging passage in the entire Bible.1 These verses definitively declare that: Security leads to stability and productivity. Paul offers three hopeful assurances: (1) There is no opposition (8:31-32); (2) there is no condemnation (8:33-34); and (3) there is no separation (8:35-39). 1. There Is No Opposition (8:31-32) In spite of who or what comes against you, God is for you. In 8:31a Paul writes, “What then shall we say to these things?” This is the first of seven questions in this passage. Seven is the number of completion and perfection in the Bible. Throughout this passage, Paul’s goal is to exhaust any and every objection. “These things” (tauta) likely refers to the previous contents of his letter (1:18-8:30).This section is the Cliff Notes on Romans 1-8. Since Paul is astounded by God’s unconditional love he writes in 8:31b, “If God is for us, who is against us?” Notice Paul doesn’t ask the question, “Who is against us?” Rather, he qualifies the question with the phrase: “If God is for us . . .” The Greek word “if” (ei) is not a term of uncertainty, but of certainty. Paul is saying, “If God is working on our behalf (and He is), then who could succeed in opposing us?” His point is that no adversary or enemy is of any account when God is for us. Romans 8:31 was John Calvin’s life verse because it brought him much comfort and confidence. Today you may feel defeated, but Paul’s encouraging truth is that evil will never ultimately prevail. You will always be led to victory in Christ because God is for you. Today personalize the verse by adding your name: “If God is for ________, who is against__________?” In the movie, The Lion King, the young cub Simba is being surrounded by hyenas, and he gets ready to defend himself, when his father jumps up behind Simba and roars. At that great roar, the hyenas scatter. Now the truth is, sometimes hyenas do gang up on and defeat adult male lions. But, if every created being in the universe were to gang up on God, they still would not be able to defeat Him. With that kind of God for you, who can possibly be against you? Who or what do you have to fear? No one. Nothing. Security leads to stability and productivity. 2. There Is No Condemnation (8:33-34) Although you may feel condemned from time to time, God’s love for you is timeless and He will never condemn you. Paul writes in 8:33, “Who will bring a charge against God’s elect?17 God is the one who justifies.” This is a rhetorical question, equivalent to an emphatic denial. So the question is: Who would dare “bring a charge against God’s elect?” The answer, of course, is no one. This question is from a courtroom setting. No one can charge you with sin crimes because God has justified you. God has acquitted you and declared you righteous before His perfect justice. If God pronounced this verdict, who can resurrect the charges of wrong doing that would bring you before Him again? There is no double jeopardy in God’s legal system! As a believer, you can be sure you are eternally secure because there is no sin that has not already been dealt with by Christ. Therefore, if God the Father went to all this work to save you, it is nonsensical to contemplate the remote possibility that you could somehow be lost. If “God is the one who justifies,” who is able to “unjustify” you? Absolutely no one! There Is No Separation (8:35-39) Since God set His love upon you in eternity past, He will continue to love you for all eternity. Paul makes this point inextricably clear by emphasizing the love of God or Christ three times in this section (8:35, 37, 39; cf. 5:5-8). Furthermore, the verb “separate” (chorizo) bookends this section (8:35, 39), confirming that there is no separation in your relationship with God. Paul begins with the question that is potentially the most critical question a Christian can ask: “Who will separate us from the love of Christ?” (8:35a) Of course, the answer is: No one can separate us from the love of Christ. However, you may say, “But I don’t feel like I love Christ all the time.” No, you misread 8:35a. It’s not who is going to separate us from our love for Christ, but who is going to separate us from Christ’s love for us. I don’t know about you, but my love for Christ can fluctuate between hot and cold. If my salvation depends upon the fervency of my love for Christ, I would have already been cast into hell. Thankfully, my salvation does not depend upon my love for Christ; rather, it depends upon Christ’s love for me. His life, death, resurrection, and intercession have secured my eternal destiny. The only reason that I will spend eternity with God is because of the person and work of Jesus Christ. In closing There are three pairs in 8:38-39: (1) Death/life: Nothing in this life and nothing in death can separate a believer from God’s love. The two things we fear most, living and dying, are not threats to our eternal life. Whether we live or die, we are in God’s love. (2) Things present/things to come: Nothing in our present experience, nor anything to come, can separate us from God’s love in Christ. (3) Height/depth: If we were to travel to the “highest” or “lowest” points in the universe, or anywhere in between, we would never arrive at a place where we could escape Christ’s love. There is nowhere we can go where anyone or anything can take our eternal salvation away from us. By using these three pairs Paul could not be any plainer or clearer. Eternal life is eternal: Nothing in life or in death, nothing in our present or in our future, nothing in the entire universe, no matter how “high” or “low” we might go—nothing can separate us from His love. Paul selected these pairs because each represents the extreme of something dear to us (i.e., existence, time, and location). Just like we can’t cease being the children of our earthly parents once we are born, so we can’t cease being children of God once we are born again. We can no more be unborn spiritually than we can go back and be unborn physically. When we trust in Christ for salvation, by His grace, at that very moment, we become members of God’s family forever.

On our website, you will find teaching on different areas of faith. The audio podcast series, “Removing Doubt from the Heart,” addresses numerous vital aspects of faith. These articles address another part to faith, one that is by no means less important. Why are we doing this? We are contending earnestly for the faith! Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ (Jude 1:3-4 NET). There was a faith that was once for all delivered to the saints, and in these articles, we are contending earnestly for it. Do you know how faith was viewed in apostolic times? You may think you know, but allow this series to challenge you, and possibly, to bring you additional light to whatever concept of faith you may have. Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified (2 Corinthians 13:5 NKJV). These articles have to do with examining and testing yourself to see whether the faith you and me have is genuine. …That the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ… (1Peter 1:7 NKJV) We need some solid information properly drawn from the Scripture to know about this genuine faith in order to function and live by it. For the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel from faith to faith, just as it is written, “The righteous by faith will live.” (Romans 1:17 NET) Real Bible faith is not commonplace. Actually, before the coming of the Lord, it may be in comparatively short supply. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth? (Luke 18:8 NET) What a question! It's there as a challenge to you and me in Christ. I want to be among those that Jesus says when He comes, “I found faith in him.” Don't you? I am doing my part earnestly so that the message of faith gets out to the Body of Christ. Are you doing it too? You can help spread the word by forwarding these articles and the audios on the subject of faith on our website. We need this message of faith today  because we are closer to His coming!   The key that unlocks Paul’s own views and interpretations Here is how we will begin to study this side of the subject of faith. We begin with a question.   How did the great apostle Paul (and others) use the word faith? How can we be 100% positive as to the apostolic interpretation of that word 2000 years ago? Wouldn’t that be the most important consideration when reading the epistles? We do not want to take our modern idea of the definition of faith and read it back into the New Testament. Yet, that is precisely what is done on many fronts. The key that unlocks Paul’s own views and interpretations can be found in the many quotations, references, and allusions from the Old Testament in his epistles. But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:14-17 NKJV). Paul was not filling up space when he quoted Old Testament Scripture. It was the basis for his teaching. Paul’s doctrine (teaching) was centered on the Old Testament, the Holy and inspired-by-God Scriptures. The New Testament wasn’t yet written in his day. All that existed in his day was the Old Testament. For some reason, many believe that Paul’s doctrinal position came uniquely via a special revelation unrelated to the Hebrew Old Testament. Paul’s doctrine or teaching was constructed out of that already revealed in Holy Scriptures, according to 2nd Timothy 3:15 and 16. The Hebrew Bible was his foundation even though he wrote in Greek, and quoted from the Greek Septuagint translation of the Old Testament. We will say much more about all that in the next article. To make it even harder to swallow for those in the grip of modern interpretations, Paul stated that the OLD TESTAMENT Hebrew Bible (The Holy Scriptures) was “able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” Paul was solidly basing the salvation message he taught through faith in Christ Jesus on the Old Testament Holy Scriptures. What? Paul was preaching Jesus and salvation through faith by using the Old Testament? That alone, throws some traditional thoughts into a tailspin, and we are just getting started! Paul’s doctrine was rooted and grounded in the Hebrew Holy Scriptures. Yet, some foolishly throw out the Hebrew Holy Scriptures in favor of Paul’s epistles viewed according to new interpretations that have nothing to do with the apostle’s doctrine. Some even throw out the words of Jesus in the Gospels, and have proclaimed Paul the “savior” of the Gentiles. It is truly disgusting how some deny the words of our Lord today. Not only is it repulsive, it is deeply anti-Christ to reject the words of our Master, Jesus. If anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which accords with godliness, he is proud, knowing nothing, but is obsessed with disputes and arguments over words… (1Timothy 6:3, 4 NKJV) We must consent to the words of Jesus in the Gospels (and Acts and Revelation), and to the doctrine which accords with godliness. [1] Those that reject these are full of pride, they don’t know anything, and they are obsessed with disputes and arguments. Have you come across any people like that? They believe that the words of Jesus and the Old Testament are irrelevant for believers today because they believe His words were contrary to grace and were under the law. Is that teaching anti-Christ and anti-God? Yes it is. It is also anti - the Holy Scriptures. To present this study properly, a few things must be addressed before we begin a discussion on the subject of faith and believing. It is vital to understand the immense importance of the Old Testament to New Testament word studies. According to David H. Stern’s translation, The Jewish New Testament, there are 695 verses of the Old Testament quoted from Matthew to Revelation.[2] Those are direct verse quotations (or parts of verses), but there are many more references and hints to Old Testament passages in the New Testament. Roger Nicole, in the The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, [3] stated that some of the quotations and references in the New to the Old Testament could be as high as 4,105: “The New Testament contains an extraordinarily large number of Old Testament quotations. It is difficult to give an accurate figure since the variation in use ranges all the way from a distant allusion to a definite quotation introduced by an explicit formula stating the citation’s source. As a result, the figures given by various authors often reflect a startling discrepancy…. C. H. Toy lists 613 such instances, Wilhelm Dittmar goes as high as 1640, while Eugen Huehn indicates 4105 passages reminiscent of Old Testament Scripture. It can therefore be asserted, without exaggeration that more than 10 per cent of the New Testament text is made up of citations or direct allusions to the Old Testament. The recorded words of Jesus disclose a similar percentage. Certain books like Revelation, Hebrews, Romans are well nigh saturated with Old Testament forms of language, allusions and quotations.”[4] Did you get that? Certain books like Revelation, Hebrews, and Romans are well nigh saturated with Old Testament forms of language, allusions, and quotations. My question is simple. How could we possibly understand books like Romans, Revelation or Hebrews without looking closely at the Old Testament verses quoted and alluded to in them? If we don’t study the Old Testament, especially the sections or verses quoted in the New, we are left with a huge doctrinal and interpretational void. Many have made up new interpretations because they have completely ignored the Hebrew Biblical text. So that we are clear, ignoring the original Hebrew of the Old Testament is not a new problem, but one that has dogged the Church relentlessly for centuries. We will tackle that issue on a basic level in these articles. If so many verses, references, and allusions to the Hebrew Scripture are all over the New Testament, does that make the Old Testament obsolete, or does it grant the Old Testament a place of prominence in the New Testament? Yes, the Old Testament has a highly visible and prominent place in the New Testament. It has a place of honor and respect, and it is indispensible to gain a right doctrinal perspective in the New Testament. Since Paul quoted profusely from the Old Testament Holy Scriptures, should we pay close attention to these quotations? Here’s a verse I quoted above to start our study of faith. Paul cites an Old Testament verse as a proof text for what he was teaching. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:17 NKJV) Paul quoted a part of Habakkuk 2:4 in the second half of Romans 1:17.[5] Where was Paul’s definition of faith coming from? Was it from some special revelation only given to him? No! His definition of faith was from the Old Testament, written centuries before he wrote Romans 1:17. If Paul quoted from an Old Testament verse, then he was relying on its definition and message. More to come!   NOTES: [1] Doctrine is the same Greek word in 2nd Timothy 3:16 and 1st Timothy 6:3. [2] Lederer Messianic Publications; 1st edition (September 1, 1989) [3] Zondervan, Grand Rapids, 1979, Vol. 1, p. 617 [4] Roger Nicole, “New Testament Use of the Old Testament,” Carl F.H. Henry, ed., Revelation and the Bible. Contemporary Evangelical Thought. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1958 / London: The Tyndale Press, 1959. pp.137-151. See also: https://biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/rev-henry/9_ot-in-the-nt_nicole.pdf . [5] Galatians 3:11 and Hebrews 10:38 also repeat, “the just shall live by faith.”   So you hear another audio teaching on "Removing Doubt from the Heart", here is Part 28: "ONLY BELIEVE."

Prayer and Preservation1 Thessalonians 1:1-5This letter from Paul is written to encourage the Church. In his introduction he doesn't even feel the need to underscore his apostleship, as he does in his letters to the Galatian, Philippian and Ephesian Churches. He simply introduces the letter as from “Paul, Silvanus and Timothy”. This letter does not contain major correction or reprimand like the Corinthian and Galatian letters. This letter does not center on theological discourse like the letter to the Romans. This is a letter of encouragement to a young Church that is doing things right. Paul acknowledges there is much they need to learn yet (2:10) and he encourages them to continue doing what they are already doing (5:11).There is much that we can learn from this letter. As I was pondering what to study during the summer months, I really wanted to encourage you to continue to do what you are doing. Our Church has no need of correction or reprimand, there are no problems lurking and there is a welcoming atmosphere. Then 5:11 caught my attention: Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. This summer we will delve into this letter and be reminded of some basic truths that encourage our faith, stimulate our love and strengthen our hope. We ought to resolve to continue as we are doing.Paul offers his customary greeting, a hybrid of Greek (blessings to you) and Jewish (shalom) greeting, which drips with gospel truth: grace precedes peace and it is through grace that we have peace with God. This grace has come through Christ Jesus and God the Father.BOUND TOGETHER IN PRAYER (1:2)This letter is probably one of the first letters penned by Paul. The date of its writing is most likely 51 AD. In Acts 17 we read of Paul's second Missionary Journey. A number of doors had closed in Asia Minor and Paul had a vision of a man calling until him to come over to Macedonia (modern Greece). Thessalonica was one of the first cities to be evangelized. It was a bustling city center in those days with an estimated 200.000 inhabitants. It was located on the major Roman trade route called the Via Egnatia that connected Rome with the East. It also was a prime harbor location, that offered a more quiet haven from weather. The city had been granted freedom to govern itself by the Roman empire and so it retained a Greek culture. There was a strong Jewish presence that became jealous at the successes of Paul and his companions. They instigated a riot in Thessalonica and ran them out of town. We are not sure how long Paul spent in Thessalonica, but it was shorter than he would have liked. The Church was young and would have to mature among a hostile city.This is what lead to his exuberant declaration of continual prayer for these believers. He thinks of them often, remembers them fondly and prays for them a lot. I would simply like to pause here and encourage you in this spiritual discipline. Do you pray for one another? Can you describe it as continual? During the summer months we all end up going our separate ways wherever our vacations take us. Will you remain bound together in Prayer? Will you pray for each other as you travel? Will you remind your children to pray for the other kids in the Sunday School classes? Stay fervent and faithful in praying for one another.EXEMPLARY IN GROWTH (1:3)Paul remembers their spiritual growth. There is some debate as to the placement of “continually”. Does it belong with prayer (praying continually) or with remembering (continually think of). Since the thought belongs together, I'm not sure it matters per se. Since Paul often speaks of praying unceasingly, I place it with the preceding.As Paul thinks of these young believers it is their rapid spiritual growth amid persecution that sticks in his mind. He combines his thoughts into a triad that will pop up more often in his letter: faith, hope and love.He attaches these nouns to specific verbs that describe their nature.Work of faith, labor of love, and steadfastness of hope. I love this.Paul agrees with James that Faith that does not result in works is dead and useless. It is because we believe that works, actions, doings should proceed. Not for salvation, but because of salvation. When we come to faith our lives change.Love causes us to labor. The word here carries the idea of intense exertion to the point of weariness. Because of love we labor and toil for one another. Willing to work hard and invest in each other's lives.Hope produces steadfastness. It is the future expectation of Christ's return that awakens in us a willingness to endure difficulties and persecution.Someone has said: faith looks back at Christ's sacrifice, love looks up for Christ's approval, and hope looks forward to Christ's return.What is your plan to continue to develop and exercise your faith, hope and love this summer? It is a solemn reminder that life is lived under the watchful eye of God the Father.CHOSEN IN LOVE (5-6)The original strongly connects verse four with verse five. The verb `knowing` is placed in first position. It is verb in the perfect tense signifying completed action. This is something that they know, because it is already completed. He identifies them as beloved by God. Lovely words for a Church dear to Paul´s heart. They are beloved by God. This beloved status underscores their election. There is not a single more divisive theological term than this one. Honestly, this is due to some very wrong interpretive thoughts and the influence of philosophical thinking on Scripture. And because of this, a very dear and positive and encouraging truth of Scripture is stolen from the believer.Their election of God is certain. Did you notice that? Paul knows it and he says they know it. That is how this doctrine of election is supposed to work. As you remember, which is what Paul is doing, he thinks back to when the gospel was preached and the affect it had on these people. They believed. The preaching was powerful, lead by the Spirit and thorough. And they believed it. But as you remember, you must also connect this verse with the preceding and as you look back on your life you look for the fruit of God's work in your life… faith, hope and love… what has it produced?Every single time Paul speaks of election in (cf. Eph. 1, Rom. 8) it is a source of encouragement to the believer. Why? Because as you hear the gospel and are convicted of sin, acknowledge your lost estate and throw yourself upon the mercy of God and the work of Christ on your behalf, you choose to accept His grace and you might think that your salvation was due to your acceptance. It is once you are saved and study Scripture you discover that you love, because He first loved you. His chose you. He elected you before the foundation of the earth… and it is encouraging the first time you fall into sin again, that you salvation is not lost, because it is His sovereign grace that keeps you saved. God's loving choice to elect is a doctrine to be cherished not feared.Where people go wrong is they philosophically start wondering if God then also chooses who will spend eternity in hell. And if these things are true… did we really have a free choice?Scripture does not warrant this thinking… it simply gives us the security of knowing that in love God sovereignly chose us… and He will keep us.Does your life show forth faith, hope, and love? Do others see your way of life and conclude: He is loved by God... you can see it!

There are few things in this world that will give me actual cool status and interviewing Paul Oakenfold for my podcast is definitely at the top of the list. For those unaware, he has been an influential part of the electronic music scene since the 80's where he eventually earned the nickname "Perfecto." He has worked with just about every major artist and band from U2 and Justin Timberlake to Ice Cube and The Rolling Stones. And after this interview I'm fairly certain we are going to be friends for life. So yeah, cool status achieved. Photo by Michael Bezjian/Getty Images for Friends N Family So why on earth is this legendary EDM pioneer and music icon on my podcast? Good question. I have to thank my friends at LA Travel Magazine for connecting us at their recent Taste of the World event at Madame Tussauds in Hollywood. Paul was making an appearance at the event to showcase his new tequila, Perfectomundo. He's invited me to try it and I have to admit that makes me nervous. Tequila is a bit of a truth serum for me. I start getting super honest with people when I'm drinking tequila. No holds barred. So that should be a fun tasting! I'll keep you posted if this actually happens because that will be a fun night. He tells me he recently took Perfectomundo Blanco to the top of Mt. Everest to raise money for Nepal earthquake victims. I love it when celebrities give back and think of creative ways to help others. Since Paul is from London, I had to ask him about the recent terrorist attacks that seem to be plaguing England.  He tells me that London has been through far worse than what these terrorist are doing. I could tell he felt strongly that the Brits are resilient and they will not be swayed by terrorists. We also talked about his worldwide tour "Generations." He says fans can expect a mixture of new and old style electronica. In my mind, I'm imagining a 3-hour long dance party with sweaty club kids, which of course sounds amazing! Honestly after chatting with Paul I realized we should be friends. He loves music, I love music. He's British, I love British people. We both look dope in sunglasses. If that's not the making of a lifelong friendship I don't know what is. Bring on the Perfecto Perfectomundo! If you'd like more info on Perfectomundo visit perfectomundo.club for details. And visit pauloakenfold.com for tour dates and info on his new album. And don't forget to subscribe to MIH on iTunes!    

In this week’s episode of the Media Bullseye Radio Roundtable, I’m joined by Paul Gillin of the content marketing firm Gillin + Laberis. In addition, Paul is the author of several books on social media marketing. As always, we cover 3 topics in 30 minutes or less: The future of the newspaper industry, spurred by a 19-minute segment on John Oliver’s HBO show over the weekend. (Since Paul started the website Newspaper Death Watch nearly a decade ago, he’s a great guest to cover this topic.) The business model of The Information and what it tells us about the ability of the media to develop successful economic models moving forward. The prospect that Facebook might be able to put a dent in clickbait headlines by changing its news feed algorithms. (And my apologies for my own audio quality. For some reason Skype used my laptop microphone rather than my fancy-pants audio setup.)Continue Reading → The post Media Bullseye Roundtable 2016.11: The Future of Media with Paul Gillin appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

Comedian AJ Giorgi joins hosts Sean, Bob and Josey this week. Since Paul is on tour so we decided to invite AJ back on the show for another episode missing a host. Don’t think there is fun missing without Paul though as we discuss Fabio dickspiracies, AJ the soccer star, and Subway flatbread. We also conclude the podcast with one of the most entertaining endings including DJ skills ever. This weeks topics include: School janitors, White Michael, Sean is America against Expediters.

Sor Juana     Juana Ramirez y Asbaje had a lot going against her from the beginning. She was born to unmarried parents and her father took off after two siblings were born. Being illegitimate with no dowery in 17th century Mexico was not a recipe for an easy life, but Juana had one thing going for her—she was very, very talented. Her overall brainyness was evident form her eariliet childhood. She used to sneak off to go read, in a time and culture when few people of her class and sex were literate, and she even learned to read and compose in Latin.   ** But because “boys don’t make passes at girls who wear glasses,” Juana was also helped out by her intense physical beauty and charm. These helped get her noticed by the king’s representative in Mexico, who patronized her studies.   One of the moments that I’d love most to observe in the Wayback Machine would be when Juana’s patron arranged for her to publically field questions from learned men. I can just imagine it: charming and beautiful Juana, still in her teens, surrounded by greybeards stroking their grey beards as she gives wise, thoughtout and pithy analysis on all sorts of erudite subjects. It must have been a rush for her, as well as the observers. **   But remember how Juana had no money, no power and no rich husband? All that braininess and no where in 17th century Mexico to use it. She was convinced to join religious orders, even though she didn’t particularly feel a vocation to it. It was a place where she believed she could read, write and continue to study.   And she did, but the circumstances were not as favorable as they might have been. Sor Juana, as she was now, put together the biggest library in New Spain, complete with musical instruments and scientific objects as well as books and manuscripts. Her own writing, especially her volumes and volumes of poems, were prized by her patrons, one of whom, the Countess de Paredes, brought her writing to Spain, where Sor Juana became a literary sensation. In fact, all across the Spanish colonial world, Sor Juana’s wisdom, wit and skill as a writer were being acclaimed. Except in Mexico.   ** In Mexico, both the religious authorities directly around and the community as a whole was antsy about Sor Juana’s immense rhetorical prowess. Her astute observation and skill with language, the very things that they were praising in Spain and the other Spanish colonies were being held against her as not becoming a woman, and a nun at that. In fact, Sor Juana’s detailed letter of theological exposition was published without her consent as an example of her brilliance—but also as a criticism of her misusing her time. It’s hard to know how Juana felt when she discovered the publication of “Letter Worthy of Athena,” but we know what she did—she fought back with all of her brilliance and rhetorical power. She wrote a response letter that defended her own education and promoted women’s education in general.   ** Sor Juana gives examples of the many educated women in both secular and scriptureal accounts: Deborah the prophetess and the Queen of Sheba, Esther who persuaded a king and Aspasia, Pericles’ teacher, and all the Muses. And what about St. Paula and Queen Isabella?   These examples aren’t the only arrows in Sor Juana’s quiver. She also uses the perhaps misogynistic words of Paul the Aposotle against her accusers. Since Paul says that women should be silent in the church, he also describes “The aged women, in like manner, in holy attire, teaching well.” For the commentary Sor Juana cites, it becomes clear that women may not be preachingin public places, but participating in a private sphere where education among and within women is more edifying. As she says “What impropriety can there be if an older woman, learned in letters and holy conversation and customs, should have in her charge the education of young maids?” St. Jerome himself, Sor Jauna points out, thought ti was important to teach young girls the geneology of the prophets and the poetry of the psalms.   ** In fact, women can teach other women in ways that men can’t. If a male teacher might pressure his young female charges to impropriety, a female teacher can teach her charges more safely. “for if there were no greater risk than the simple indeceny of seating a completely unknown man at the side of a bashful woman[…] even so the modest demanded in interchange with men and in conversation with them gives sufficient cause to forbid this. Indeed, I do not see how the custom of men as teachers of women can be without its dangers” except, she adds quickly “in the strict tribunal of the confessional or the distand teachings of the pulpit or the remote wisdome of books” But for intimate teaching, the kind of one-on-one instruction that makes young people intimate with their tutors, women are best.   ** And Sor Juana posits that we definitely need teachers. Scriptures are not always very clear because of the metaphoric language used throughout. For example, she says, consider the injunction to “honor the purple” which means “obey the king” Without a tutor, a young girl might not pick up the metonymy and think about redecorating or dressing in purple more often, like the Unicorn Club in Sweet Valley Twins. And it’s not just parts of speech that young women need a tutor for—there are questions of culture and custom in understanding scripture too. Sor Juana points out that the kiss of greeting or the washing of feet or the phrase that a strong woman’s “husband is honorable in the gates” can’t be understood unless someone who has a lot of careful learning can instruct in the correct interpretation. Otherwise, “for lack of any Christian teaching” these “young girls go to perdition.”   Whether this remarkable defense of women’s rhetorical education had any impact on her detractors or whether they responded to it as all is unknown, but she kept learning and kept writing, gaining far more acclaim in Spain than in her native Mexico where pressures on Juana kept mounting. She sold her wonderful library, denounced her old life and died of disease. She was only in her forties. **   Sor Juana’s life and writing stand as somber testiments that even talented rhetors who make strong arguments in beautiful language aren’t always successful in winning over their audiences. Like Cicero, who was beheaded despite his rhetorical genius, Sor Juana’s brilliance was unable to save her from her destractors. But also like Cicero, Juana’s reputation has only shone brighter with time, long after her critics have turned all to dust.    

Pastor Jared Longshore continues his series on 1 Thessalonians with a message on Chapter 5, Verses 1-11 entitled “The Day of the Lord.” The Bible clearly teaches a coming day of judgment. Whether we believe it or not that day is coming. Since Paul...

The StoryMen welcome back author and blogger Paul Asay. Since Paul's new book, Burning Bush 2.0, is all about how to interpret pop culture, we tackle the new MARVEL film AGE OF ULTRON.

How can you intuitively know the right decisions to make in every area of your life? Visionary entrepreneur Paul O'Brien explores insights from his profoundly powerful new book Great Decisions, Perfect Timing: Cultivating Intuitive Intelligence. Have you missed an exceptional opportunity because your timing was off? How do you know a risk is worth taking? How can you tell the difference between wishful thinking and a path to pursue? An intuitive approach to strategic decision making will enable you to take your life, your business or your career forward with confidence, free from the stress and confusion so often accompanying the crossroads we encounter in life. The founder of the Divination Foundation, Paul O'Brien invented a new category of multimedia software in 1989 which evolved to into the world's largest astrology and divination web sites. Since Paul strategically sold his business in 2007, he has authored three books, including The Visionary I Ching: A Book of Changes for Intuitive Decision Making. For 30 years, Paul has hosted the Pathways radio show focusing on personal and cultural transformation. Paul is generously offering a free download of his book at Divination.com/Frontier. If the link is no longer available, use the Contact Us link at Divination.com to request a book and mention the show. Paul's web sites: GreatDecisionsPerfectTiming.com   Divination.com Frontier Beyond Fear music copyrighted by Grammy award winner Larry Seyer, www.larryseyer.com, included in this podcast with his permission.

Congratulations to Paul and Bree on their Marriage! Since Paul is gone on his honeymoon. My other co host is lazy and didn't want to do anything for this week. I have been left in charge of everything. Including trying to find the "Best" material to put together for a "Best of Show". Believe me that wasn't easy. Hopefully this doesn't sound bad and allows you to get a taste of who we are as a show. Enjoy! Clips Featured in the Show: Show #15 - An Acapella version of the theme song Show #10 - The Introduction to The Bum Triad Show #6 - Ying Yang Twins Recap Show #5 - Road Hazards on the Turnpike Show #3 - Fireworks Straight From Japan Show #11 - Jesse Sold Into Sex Slavery Show #4 - Ghost Better Learn Movie Show #2 - On Air Meltdown

One day late and a man down, but we are still here to deliver that W2M goodness you know and love. Paul is out this week due to being sick with the flu, but at least we have Indy wrestling commentator and one half of The Reaction, Harry Broadhurst, on with us to review RAW, we also have the debut of Antonio "Pacman" King on here as a guest as well. We then go solo to review NXT and two week's worth of TNA as well. Plus all the news of the week in "Quick Hits." Since Paul is not here, we go back to our old Superstar of the Week format for one week. There's a whole lot more as well. Enjoy the Show!!!

One day late and a man down, but we are still here to deliver that W2M goodness you know and love. Paul is out this week due to being sick with the flu, but at least we have Indy wrestling commentator and one half of The Reaction, Harry Broadhurst, on with us to review RAW, we also have the debut of Antonio "Pacman" King on here as a guest as well. We then go solo to review NXT and two week's worth of TNA as well. Plus all the news of the week in "Quick Hits." Since Paul is not here, we go back to our old Superstar of the Week format for one week. There's a whole lot more as well. Enjoy the Show!!!

The church at Colossi was comprised of a vastly different group of people. Rich, poor, aristocrats, commoners, learned, simple Jews, and Gentiles were all part of the church. Paul had a burden for all of them and truly believed that they could enjoy the full blessing of God. He had a burden for the down trodden and for those who were persecuted because of their race, position in life or background. He believed that every man could be perfected in Christ. He wanted every man to know Him in the fullest of His blessing and glory. He came against arrogance and the exclusivity that some felt belonged in the church. He came against halfhearted living for God. He was against whatever would limit the effect of the gospel in people’s lives. God’s grace extends to all people regardless of where they are from, what they have done, or what they may look like. Paul preached that every man is entitled to know the Lord. Since Paul had this attitude, he had trouble understanding how people could settle for a life that was less than it could be by their refusal to submit totally to God. Paul wanted every man to know the joy and blessing of a relationship with God. The only thing that limits God’s blessing in our life is our desire to reach for more.

True leadership presents itself as an example for others to follow. Since Paul followed the example of Christ, he was a good example for others. In the same way, we should be controlled by the spirit and not by the flesh.