We’re going to start with a Bible drill of sorts this
morning.
We will look at some verses in scripture to see what the
Bible commands us to do.
First up, Matthew 19:21==> “Jesus
answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the
poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
So that will be your first agenda item tomorrow morning when
the banks open.
Now what will you do when April 15th rolls around
and you have no money to pay your taxes because you’ve given your money and
possessions to the poor? Fortunately,
Jesus answers that for us.
Look up Matthew 17:27==> “But so that we may not cause offense, go to the lake and throw out your
line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a
four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.”
Anybody want to join me at the lake this afternoon to catch
some tax money?
But you know--we always talk about the upside of following
God. But to be fair and balanced, we
need to show both sides. Let’s look at Matthew
4:8-9==> “Again,
the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of
the world and their splendor. “All this
I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”
That sounds like a tempting proposal. Why don’t preachers tell us about this great
deal that Satan has for us?
Now, I don’t want to judge you if you decide to take Satan
up on his offer. Mostly because of Matthew
7:1==> “Do
not judge, or you too will be judged.”
Each of you needs to make your own choice. It’s too important for me to try to influence
you. I believe you should choose
God. But if you don’t, I really can’t
say that you are wrong. Why? Because of John 8:7==> “When
they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one
of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”
I will admit that I’m not perfect; I have sin in my
life. So I can’t recommend you do
anything. You can just figure it out on
your own.
I hope you enjoyed that concoction of quotes from scripture. No verse was harmed in this illustration. I did not alter any verse. I hope you got my point, though. When you pick out bits and pieces, you can
really alter what the Word says, can’t you?
The word for the day is "CONTEXT". The context of any scripture is vitally important to its' proper perspective on our lives.
For instance, in 1 Corinthians 11:6, Paul writes, "If a woman's head is not covered, her hair should be cut off."
Is the application of this text to mean that the women in our church
should wear hats to church every week or else shave their heads? NO!
Then
why did Paul say this to the church in Corinth? Well, in Corinth, the
women who publicly displayed their long hair were prostitutes. So
modesty is the truth here, not hair length. Like other passages in the
Bible, Christians are commanded to be different from the world. This is
just another example.
We
looked at four different styles of writing (or genres) in the Bible:
Historical Narrative, Wisdom Literature, Prophecy, and Letters. Each
must be filtered through the context of their authorship.
Douglas Moo had a great quote about the Letters of the New Testament: “As we read the letters of the New Testament, we
are hearing one end of the telephone conversation. We have Paul responding to
situations or answering questions a church has asked, but often we don’t know
what those situations or questions were. We need to read the New Testament
letters with an ear open to the questions or historical situations being
addressed.”
I want to introduce you to an organization called "I am Second". Its purpose is to inspire people to live for God and others.
If you go to their website--www.iamsecond.com--you'll see video testimonies from people like Joe Gibbs, Matt Barkley, Tony Dungy, Scott Hamilton, Kathy Ireland, Josh Turner, and Michael W. Smith. You can also see a video from one of our own class members. Just click on "Films" at the top right, or click here.
The movement utilizes small groups of 2 to 8 people to be
accountable to each other in studying the Bible and applying it to their lives.
Their meeting format has a great series of questions to ask
about any scripture passage you read. It goes like this:
Read a Bible passage.
Ask: What did you like?
Ask: What did you not like or find confusing?
Read the Bible passage again.
Ask: What does this teach about people?
Ask: What does this teach about God?
Read the Bible passage one more time.
Ask: How will I live this out?
Ask: Who will I tell about what I have learned?
It's a neat way of studying any scripture passage.
Two men were traveling by foot from Jerusalem to Emmaus. They were talking about
the crucifixion of Jesus when suddenly Jesus joined them on their journey. As
they walked, the conversation turned to Scripture. “Then beginning with Moses
and all the Prophets, He interpreted for them the things concerning Himself in
all the Scriptures” (Luke 24:27). In essence, the great Teacher gave them a
proper understanding of how God speaks through His Word.
We don’t have Jesus with us physically to explain the Bible
to us. But if we listen to the Holy
Spirit while we are studying scripture, we’ll stay on the right path.
If you are traveling for Thanksgiving, be safe. Enjoy time with your family and friends. You have lots to be thankful for.
Make it a great week!
Loyally yours,
Darren Bayne
“It is better to be prepared for an opportunity and not have one than to have an opportunity and not be prepared.” Whitney Young Jr.
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