A few weeks ago I joked because I made my own quote…”Good theology gets you through tough times”
Here is some that got me through this week
-God’s ways are higher then my ways. Isaiah 55
-When I am weak Jesus is strong. 2 Corinthians 12:10
-This world is not my home. Phil 3:20
-The Gospel of Jesus meets every need I have because it gives us hope.
Today I am talking about more good theology “What happens when we die?”
Hebrews 9:27 Judgment issue (Well done)
When God created the heavens and the earth, death was not a part of it, this is why it never goes well with us, and that is why it will eventually will be conquered 1 Cor. 15:26 & Rev. 20:14
Three types of death that the Scriptures teach
1. Spiritual death - what we are before we trust Jesus Eph 2:1, John 3 “Born again”
2. Physical Death - Genesis 35:18-19
3. Eternal death- final permanent separation of non-believers from God Rev 20:14
Start with
The Death of those who do not Trust Christ. Results in Hell, describe
Some may say, that is harsh why would God want that for anyone? The answer is that He does not and He has for us a way of escape. Through Jesus Christ, see God means business 2 Peter 3:9
How to avoid Hell John 5:24 GOSPEL
You have no second chance
1 Peter 3:18-20 This is an interpretation from Augustine. Christ preached through Noah at the time of Noah and they are called the “Spirits in prison” because they were preached to in the past and now in the prison of Hell.
Understand the context of 1st Peter is Peter was writing to the righteous minority surrounded by hostile unbelievers like Noah was.
Luke 16:19-36 Parable (Talk about)
Another issue that always seems to come up is “Can our loved ones see us?” Nowhere in the Bible does it say that our loved ones can see us. I would venture to say based upon the parable they are aware of us but they and we will not posses the same attributes of God…all powerful, all knowing…all seeing.
The Death of a Believer
2 Cor. 5:6-8 Phil 1:23 Intermediate state, not in the new heavens yet. We go to be with Christ Ephesians 1: Acts 7 Stephen
-No soul sleep “fallen asleep is a metaphor for death”
-No purgatory (Catholic Church does not believe this either)
-We do not need to pray for the dead
Quick overview of the grand scheme of things so we have an understanding
1. Rapture 1 Thess 4:16, Dead in Christ
1 Corinthians 15:36-49 Does not matter what happens to the body of a person (Burial vrs Cremation)
Glorified Body Issue Christ’s resurrected body is the prototype
Philippians 3:21 “Transformed in to a glorious body”
2. Tribulation, all believers of all time in heaven Rev 4-19
3. Millennial Reign of Christ Rev 20,
4 Great White Throne Judgment.
5. New Heavens and Earth
Our salvation is not fully complete but at physical death 1 Cor 13:12 We will see things like God sees things
Death will touch you, so how do you cope?
-Time to Mourn, Jesus wept
-Makes us reflect on our lives. Not How much good do I do, but how much good in Jesus’ name do I do. Even the greatest people are forgotten. But Jesus is not
-The imperative nature of Gospel work, Death is not the end for anyone
-Find comfort in the Lord, where you find comfort will determine how comforted you are.
-What do we learn and take away from losing someone.
For me Strength is in Christ
What is next for us here at our church?
35 years ago a small group of people began this Gospel work in our community. A result of the obedience of those people was the salvation of many in this community among them was the one we physically lost this past week
1 Cor 15:58 Don’t lose focus
Monday, July 26, 2010
Difficulties Week 2
Difficulty: Why did Christ have to go to the cross, what did it accomplish and what were the implications.
How God meets our need then we in turn meet the needs of others.
Need 1:-Forgiveness - we have sin that needs to be forgiven.
Rom 3:23 “all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God”
Rom 6:23 “wages of sin is death”
Forgiveness is bearing the cost of someone else’s sin against you.
When we forgive we are paying the price for the wrong against us.
(example someone defames your character)
The other options are…
Revenge & Bitterness…if we respond like this the evil actually spreads. ---With Revenge we spread evil
-With Bitterness we kill ourselves from inside out.
Karl Menninger, the famed psychiatrist, once said that if he could convince the patients in psychiatric hospitals that their sins were forgiven, 75 percent of them could walk out the next day!
Tim Keller states in his book “Reason For God” Many people have said when we forgive and absorb the debt it can be as painful as death,
This is true but after that experience the only place we have to look is up, for the Christian that means resurrection. Instead of leading a life long death of revenge and bitterness we can be resurrected
Human forgiveness works this way because it points to what our Creator.
Jesus death for our forgiveness resulted in resurrection.
How do we meet the needs of others in this area?
-Forgive as we have been forgiven Matthew 6:12
-we don’t hold grudges
-we absorb the cost
-we turn the other cheek
-we resurrect
How it was accomplished…
Need 2: Redemption: Forgiveness is costly and the price had to be paid. Jesus is our Substitutionary Atonement
That means that death is the payment of sin and Jesus was willing and able to pay the price for us. we call in “Redemption” we have to be bought back into a right relationship to God.
Sin is the slave driver and our master and if we live in un-forgiven sin we will be separated from Jesus for eternity in hell.
Jesus death buys us back Revelation 5:9
Why does there have to be payment for sin? Why can’t God just say…”its all good” God’s justice is at stake.
We inherently understand this:
In C.S. Lewis’ Essay Humanitarian Theory of Punishment he speaks about the conservative view of retribution, “people have to pay”. And then he speaks of the liberal view of “rehabilitation”, “people have to be cured”
The substitution of Jesus Christ does both,
God is the victim in every sin and justice dictates that we pay, Jesus pays for us.
We are broken and need to be cured, when we trust Jesus the Holy Spirit comes and begins the work of sanctification. And in eternity we are fully rehabilitated.
A question that comes up a lot is “Did Christ go to Hell when He paid for our sin?” Based on the Apostles Creed “He descended into Hell” the answer is NO Ephesians 4:8-10
Christ’s Cost
-Philippians 2:5-11 Emptied Himself “Christ emptied Himself of His preincarnate position, yet did not diminish His person” The self emptying permitted the addition of humanity and did not involve the subtraction of Deity or the use of the attributes of His Deity. There was a change in form and not in content” Ryrie Isaiah 53:12 “He poured Himself out to Death”
The main point we want to remember here is that this was a willful decision that Christ made (Phil 2:7) it was not debated but it was God plan before the foundation of the world (Rev 13:8)
I like to think of it as Jesus decided to confine Himself in space and time but was not confined, He stepped down for us.
-Forsaken This is one of the issues that keeps coming up when people hear Jesus say this…what did He mean?
2 Cor. 5:21 Jesus became sin for us, so He felt the loneliness and abandonment that sin always produces, except in this case it was our sin and not His own.
If we have been redeemed by Jesus how do we in-turn redeem others?
Truthfully only Christ can redeem, but there are things that we can do so people see His redemptive work. It costs us everything
-Philippians 2 consider others more important then yourself, doing good to others for the sake of the GOSPEL
-We have to be around other people Niebur “Christ of Culture” This is a huge cost to us because that means we live among this sinful world that rejects the Lord. Our kids go to school, we go to work etc. when we do those things we are no longer insulated in our own bubble. What good can we do if the world around us if we just create our own little safe haven? Paul says we would have to leave this world.
What the motivation was….
Need 3:-Love- We all need Love,
-you may be bouncing around from relationship to relationship.
-maybe you are currently in a relationship and your spouse is not meeting your needs
-maybe you are not receiving the love you need from your parents
-maybe you are not getting love from friends that you need
With my kids I fish for compliments
Silah “Because you loved me first”
The type of love we need is given to us in Jesus
1 John 4:19 - He first loved us
Rom 5:8 - While we were sinners
Gal 2:20 - His love inspires life change
John 15:13 The greatest Love
Romans 8:35-39 Nothing can come in between His love for us.
How does that play out in everyday life? Jesus tells us that it is easy to love those who love you. Jesus’ Love (2 Cor 5:14) Compels us
Eph 5:2 walk in love because Christ loved
How God meets our need then we in turn meet the needs of others.
Need 1:-Forgiveness - we have sin that needs to be forgiven.
Rom 3:23 “all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God”
Rom 6:23 “wages of sin is death”
Forgiveness is bearing the cost of someone else’s sin against you.
When we forgive we are paying the price for the wrong against us.
(example someone defames your character)
The other options are…
Revenge & Bitterness…if we respond like this the evil actually spreads. ---With Revenge we spread evil
-With Bitterness we kill ourselves from inside out.
Karl Menninger, the famed psychiatrist, once said that if he could convince the patients in psychiatric hospitals that their sins were forgiven, 75 percent of them could walk out the next day!
Tim Keller states in his book “Reason For God” Many people have said when we forgive and absorb the debt it can be as painful as death,
This is true but after that experience the only place we have to look is up, for the Christian that means resurrection. Instead of leading a life long death of revenge and bitterness we can be resurrected
Human forgiveness works this way because it points to what our Creator.
Jesus death for our forgiveness resulted in resurrection.
How do we meet the needs of others in this area?
-Forgive as we have been forgiven Matthew 6:12
-we don’t hold grudges
-we absorb the cost
-we turn the other cheek
-we resurrect
How it was accomplished…
Need 2: Redemption: Forgiveness is costly and the price had to be paid. Jesus is our Substitutionary Atonement
That means that death is the payment of sin and Jesus was willing and able to pay the price for us. we call in “Redemption” we have to be bought back into a right relationship to God.
Sin is the slave driver and our master and if we live in un-forgiven sin we will be separated from Jesus for eternity in hell.
Jesus death buys us back Revelation 5:9
Why does there have to be payment for sin? Why can’t God just say…”its all good” God’s justice is at stake.
We inherently understand this:
In C.S. Lewis’ Essay Humanitarian Theory of Punishment he speaks about the conservative view of retribution, “people have to pay”. And then he speaks of the liberal view of “rehabilitation”, “people have to be cured”
The substitution of Jesus Christ does both,
God is the victim in every sin and justice dictates that we pay, Jesus pays for us.
We are broken and need to be cured, when we trust Jesus the Holy Spirit comes and begins the work of sanctification. And in eternity we are fully rehabilitated.
A question that comes up a lot is “Did Christ go to Hell when He paid for our sin?” Based on the Apostles Creed “He descended into Hell” the answer is NO Ephesians 4:8-10
Christ’s Cost
-Philippians 2:5-11 Emptied Himself “Christ emptied Himself of His preincarnate position, yet did not diminish His person” The self emptying permitted the addition of humanity and did not involve the subtraction of Deity or the use of the attributes of His Deity. There was a change in form and not in content” Ryrie Isaiah 53:12 “He poured Himself out to Death”
The main point we want to remember here is that this was a willful decision that Christ made (Phil 2:7) it was not debated but it was God plan before the foundation of the world (Rev 13:8)
I like to think of it as Jesus decided to confine Himself in space and time but was not confined, He stepped down for us.
-Forsaken This is one of the issues that keeps coming up when people hear Jesus say this…what did He mean?
2 Cor. 5:21 Jesus became sin for us, so He felt the loneliness and abandonment that sin always produces, except in this case it was our sin and not His own.
If we have been redeemed by Jesus how do we in-turn redeem others?
Truthfully only Christ can redeem, but there are things that we can do so people see His redemptive work. It costs us everything
-Philippians 2 consider others more important then yourself, doing good to others for the sake of the GOSPEL
-We have to be around other people Niebur “Christ of Culture” This is a huge cost to us because that means we live among this sinful world that rejects the Lord. Our kids go to school, we go to work etc. when we do those things we are no longer insulated in our own bubble. What good can we do if the world around us if we just create our own little safe haven? Paul says we would have to leave this world.
What the motivation was….
Need 3:-Love- We all need Love,
-you may be bouncing around from relationship to relationship.
-maybe you are currently in a relationship and your spouse is not meeting your needs
-maybe you are not receiving the love you need from your parents
-maybe you are not getting love from friends that you need
With my kids I fish for compliments
Silah “Because you loved me first”
The type of love we need is given to us in Jesus
1 John 4:19 - He first loved us
Rom 5:8 - While we were sinners
Gal 2:20 - His love inspires life change
John 15:13 The greatest Love
Romans 8:35-39 Nothing can come in between His love for us.
How does that play out in everyday life? Jesus tells us that it is easy to love those who love you. Jesus’ Love (2 Cor 5:14) Compels us
Eph 5:2 walk in love because Christ loved
Monday, July 12, 2010
Difficulties Week 1
It has been very obvious by our time together that Christians sin (1 Cor 3), there is no debate there, but the difficulty that comes to our attention is: What about the “Christian” who continues in their sinful ways?
Paul says the root of the difficulty is that we live to the “flesh” and not to the Spirit
Galatians 5:16-26 is a reminder to believers from Paul that they are in the Spirit and should not follow the desires of the “Flesh”
What do we do with the habitually sinning Christian?
Luke 17:1-4, Warn, confront, forgive, GRACE & GOSPEL
They are unrepentant. Extreme cases:
Matt 18:15-20 (going to need to exegete this)
How do you treat unbelievers?
1 Cor 5 (quick explanation then look at verses 9-13)
Why the harsh stance? Because sin is serious business to the Lord Jesus wants us to speak truth in a compassionate way and be involved in the wake up calls of stubborn individuals. & He knows what is good for us and sin is not.
The Local body of believers is a reminder because most people intrenched in sin are not opening their Bible
What if it is you?
When you continue in sin this is what you do to yourself.
The Consequences we will face when we continue in sin.
1. Jer 5:25 Withholds good
2. Heb 12 Discipline Tedd Tripp “Discipline is a rescue mission”
3. 1 Cor 3 hinders spiritual growth (milk)
4. 2 Tim 2:21 limits our service (sin disqualifies)
5. 1 Cor 10&11 Pollutes the fellowship
6. Eph 4:30 Grieves the Spirit
7. 1 Peter 3:10 Hinders prayers (God does not want to hear you)
8. 1 Cor 11:30 & 1 John 5:16 Brings sickness and death
What to do if you are in habitual sin?
Many times we make the mistake of modifying behavior. “I will substitute this word for that word”. “Or instead of doing this I will do that”. Things like that do work for a time but the problem is our heart and its condition.
-Realize it. what are the benefits of this habit? why is it a detriment and what does God say about it? Romans 12 says “Renew our Mind”
-Repent “Godly Sorrow” 2 Cor. 7:9-11 You need to really care about what Jesus thinks about this. (How do you know if someone has Godly sorrow? They confess w/o being caught)
-Stop John 8:10-12 Stop it.
James 4:8 tells us that solution is getting closer to Jesus
How do you do that?
Personally I do not think it is a step by step process of things to do, it is about your theology (what you believe about Jesus and then responding to that) “Good theology gets you through tough times” (my quote)
-Have a right perspective about who you are. Romans 7:14-25 Describes Christian maturity, Paul is realizing that he in his own strength and power cannot live the Christian life.
-Remember your standing in Christ Romans 6
-Romans 8:15-17 Rely on the Spirit “You are weak He is strong”
-Remember the Gospel Rom 8:11 Remember the resurrection
-Matt 13:44 Give Him everything (If Jesus doesn’t get your attention then not much will)
Paul says the root of the difficulty is that we live to the “flesh” and not to the Spirit
Galatians 5:16-26 is a reminder to believers from Paul that they are in the Spirit and should not follow the desires of the “Flesh”
What do we do with the habitually sinning Christian?
Luke 17:1-4, Warn, confront, forgive, GRACE & GOSPEL
They are unrepentant. Extreme cases:
Matt 18:15-20 (going to need to exegete this)
How do you treat unbelievers?
1 Cor 5 (quick explanation then look at verses 9-13)
Why the harsh stance? Because sin is serious business to the Lord Jesus wants us to speak truth in a compassionate way and be involved in the wake up calls of stubborn individuals. & He knows what is good for us and sin is not.
The Local body of believers is a reminder because most people intrenched in sin are not opening their Bible
What if it is you?
When you continue in sin this is what you do to yourself.
The Consequences we will face when we continue in sin.
1. Jer 5:25 Withholds good
2. Heb 12 Discipline Tedd Tripp “Discipline is a rescue mission”
3. 1 Cor 3 hinders spiritual growth (milk)
4. 2 Tim 2:21 limits our service (sin disqualifies)
5. 1 Cor 10&11 Pollutes the fellowship
6. Eph 4:30 Grieves the Spirit
7. 1 Peter 3:10 Hinders prayers (God does not want to hear you)
8. 1 Cor 11:30 & 1 John 5:16 Brings sickness and death
What to do if you are in habitual sin?
Many times we make the mistake of modifying behavior. “I will substitute this word for that word”. “Or instead of doing this I will do that”. Things like that do work for a time but the problem is our heart and its condition.
-Realize it. what are the benefits of this habit? why is it a detriment and what does God say about it? Romans 12 says “Renew our Mind”
-Repent “Godly Sorrow” 2 Cor. 7:9-11 You need to really care about what Jesus thinks about this. (How do you know if someone has Godly sorrow? They confess w/o being caught)
-Stop John 8:10-12 Stop it.
James 4:8 tells us that solution is getting closer to Jesus
How do you do that?
Personally I do not think it is a step by step process of things to do, it is about your theology (what you believe about Jesus and then responding to that) “Good theology gets you through tough times” (my quote)
-Have a right perspective about who you are. Romans 7:14-25 Describes Christian maturity, Paul is realizing that he in his own strength and power cannot live the Christian life.
-Remember your standing in Christ Romans 6
-Romans 8:15-17 Rely on the Spirit “You are weak He is strong”
-Remember the Gospel Rom 8:11 Remember the resurrection
-Matt 13:44 Give Him everything (If Jesus doesn’t get your attention then not much will)
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