Opening Prayer
Father God we ask your blessing on this study tonight, that you would open our minds and our hearts to your word. Help us to realize that we are the vessels that you use to further your Kingdom on this earth. Our prayer is that we learn from this study, what is the true desire of our heart. That we are to serve God and glorify him in all that we do. We pray that your peace and comfort be with those of us who are sick or disabled and cannot be here tonight. We ask that you share our blessing with them. Lead us now and give us understanding as we study the teachings of Jesus, The word of God..
In Jesus Name we pray Amen
Before we begin this our third study we will finish page 4 of our last study. This study tonight brings to us the seriousness of righteous conduct and reconciliation to God. While Jesus is approaching these matters differently than the Scribes and the teachers of the law, he also is adding Righteousness and morality and love for our fellow man into the equation.
Pg.4
Mat 5:
Our Lord Jesus here tells his disciples, 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. that the religion he came to establish, did not only exclude the badness, but surpass the goodness, of the scribes and Pharisees. We must do more than they, and better than they, or we shall come short of heaven. They were partial in the law, and laid most stress upon the ritual part of it; but we must be universal, and not think it enough to give the priest his tithe, but must give God our hearts. They minded only the outside, but we must be ever mindful of inside godliness. They aimed at the praise and applause of men, but we must aim at acceptance with God: they were proud of what they did in religion, and trusted to it as a righteousness; but we, when we have done all, must deny ourselves, and say, We are unprofitable servants, and trust only to the righteousness of Christ; and thus we may go beyond the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees.
1. Whose brand of righteousness does Jesus insult?
2. What matters of the law did they overlook in their quest for righteousness?
3. What “loophole” did they come up with regarding their parents in Matthew 15?
4. What were Jesus’ feelings about the Pharisees tithing according to the Law?
5. What does Jesus mean when he tells his followers to be the salt of the earth?
6. What does it mean to be the light of the world?
7. How were the Pharisees failing in these ways?
•Christians should reflect the light of Christ in the world about them and illuminate sin that it might be eclipsed by repentance and grace. •They must add savor to a world that is oblivious to it’s ultimate fate
8. Many thought that Jesus had come to change the Law of Moses. What is your opinion?
9. How can one exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees?
10. What are the fruits of the Spirit?
11. What is the basis Jesus uses to condemn the Pharisees and scribes effort at being holy?
Begin Study # Three for 9/24 Pg.1
Luke 18:9-14 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked
Mat 5:21 "You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.'
Mat 5:22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, 'Raca,' is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell.
The laws of God are not novel, upstart laws, but were conceived at the moment of creation for the protection of life, that life which God has created; The exposition of this command with which the Jewish teachers contended was that Whosoever shall kill, shall be in danger of the judgment. Now this interpretation of theirs upon this commandment was faulty, for it intimated that the law of the sixth commandment was only external, and forbade no more than the act of murder. There was not intimated any restraint upon the inward thoughts that men can conjure against each other. The divine law prohibited only the sinful act, not the sinful thought; they were disposed in the letter of the law, and they never enquired into the spiritual meaning of it. The care of God concerning his law extends itself even to those things that can be imagined as well as committed.
Q.1 What does our culture think of the message Jesus is conveying to us about the act of murder? Q.2 Even our thoughts are subject to the ultimate judgment of God. What does that tell us? Q.3 What consequences are posed if we are thinking bad or derisive thoughts about someone? Q.4 What are your feelings about “murder” and “being angry with your brother? Q.5 “Raca” means Worthless or good for nothing. How did Jesus rate that phrase?
Q.6 What are those things that provoke us to the level of “name calling”? Q.7 There are 66 “fool” references in the Bible, what are some you might remember?
Mat 5:23 "Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you,
Mat 5:24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.
We should carefully preserve Christian love and peace with our brothers and sisters, and that if at any time a breach happens, we should quickly seek a reconciliation, by confessing our fault, humbling ourselves to our brother, begging his pardon, and making restitution, or offering satisfaction for wrong done in word or deed. We should do this quickly for two reasons:
(1) Because, untill this be done, we are utterly unfit for communion with God in holy ordinances. One may not retain a sin nature and commune with God. One may ask forgivness, but one must also be willing to forgive.
(2) Because, untill this be done, we lie exposed to much danger, Mat_5:25, Mat_5:26. It is at our peril if we do not seek an agreement, and that quickly. One’s health and welfare are both subjected to the sin of anger and guile. Q.1 What is meant by Jesus’ reference to “offering your gift at the altar” ? Q.2 According to Jesus’ teaching, How are we to handle such matters ? Q.3 What about the sins of pride, envy, jealousy and covetousness that estrange us from God? Q.4 What on earth could anyone have against me? Q.5 Are there people in our world today that seem to want to avoid reconciliation? Q.6 Do we have problems today that involve conflict between the church and the state even between churches of the same denominations, that defy reconciliation?
Pg.2
Mat 5:25 "Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still together on the way, or your adversary may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison.
Mat 5:26 Truly I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.
Jesus reference here is in terms we can surely understand. This is very applicable to the serious business of our reconciliation to God through Christ; The great God is an Adversary to all sinners, he has a controversy with them, an action against them. It is our concern to agree with him, to acquaint ourselves with him, that we may be at peace, It is our wisdom to do this quickly, while we are alive, after death, it will be too late. They who continue in a state of enmity to God, are continually exposed to the arrests of his justice, and the most dreadful instances of his wrath. Christ is the Judge, to whom impenitent sinners will be delivered; for all judgment is committed to the Son; he that was rejected as a Savior, cannot be escaped as a Judge. It is a fearful thing to be thus turned over to the Lord Jesus, when the Lamb shall become the Lion.
With the advent of the Internet and instant world communication, not to mention our ability to blow up the entire planet with our nuclear armaments, we are living in unique and unprecedented times in which the potential for good or evil has been exponentially multiplied.
On top of all this is the fact that we all have only one life to live, and then we step into eternity.
For me, this means increased sobriety, increased commitment and increased faith. Nothing else makes sense.
Q.1 Why would Jesus bring such a topic into his discourse, isn’t that up to the law?
Q.2 When Jesus speaks of, a settlement with our adversary, To what does he refer?
Q.3 How should we as Christians interpret these verses today?
Q.4 When considering these matters what must be foremost in our mind and in our heart
Q.5 What are the implications should we forego the advice of Jesus teaching?
Q.6 Are these considerations Jesus advises, also to be considered on a national basis?
Q.7 What relative significance do these verses have for us today?
As individuals?………………………As a Nation under God?
Q.8 You will not get out until you have paid the last penny. How do you think this statement
applies to individuals today?……………………….. Or Nations of the world today?
Meditation Pg.3
There are times when one feels closer to God. Mostly it is when we go through some sort of crisis which threatens our life or our lifestyle, our health or our well being. Or it could be something which threatens those whom we love. Those times we realize are more dramatic than most of our life, which in most cases is lived out in relative ease. But suffice it to say, we have experienced serious drama in life either with friends or acquaintances or even with total strangers. Most of the time our faith will bear us up and we can respond with Christian words acts or deeds. These serious moments belie our true feelings toward one another when we are in adversarial stressful situations. That is because we are called out to take responsibility for something we have said or done to someone else or because we are driven out of our comfort level. Our response is often very negative. We do not hesitate to call our adversaries by derogatory names, wishing the worst of circumstances upon them. This is simply our coping mechanism doing its job. We are born with the fight or flight response as a built in safeguard when we feel threatened. Some of us respond in kind, but the Christian is advised just as Jesus advised his disciples, to settle matters amicably before the situation is taken out of our hands and our consequent decision is made by someone else and the results are not to our liking.
If you recall the matter of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, their actions actually created an adversarial relationship with God. Then while they realized their guilt and went into hiding, God simply responded by making restitution for them by killing an animal, taking it’s skin as a covering for their sin. and banning them from paradise. God was the Judge and jury. What would have happened had they sought God and confessed their sin and pleaded their case against the Devil. We do not know, but we do know that they put the blame for their actions on the Snake being in the Garden.
I suspect that Eve had some choice words for that snake. After all, she and Adam were just doing what anyone else would have done. It was a matter which had much more serious consequences than anyone could imagine. Shouldn’t what God did in response to their sin have been a startling lesson for humanity? Apparently not, so here’s Jesus telling us what we should do to make it into Paradise. Good advice, from one who knows.
Closing Prayer ………and prayer requests
God our Father, be with us now as we leave this place, continue in fellowship with us and guide and protect us as we go on our way. Be with those of our group who need your healing touch. And be with those, who are suffering persecution for the sake of their faith in You and your Son Jesus our savior. We ask that you would bring peace into our troubled world and hold harmless those innocent souls being put to death for their belief in a Supreme God and his Son Jesus, our resurrected savior. Bring us to the realization of those matters that cause sadness and grief, and make us to be a positive influence for peace in our daily walk with thee. Help us in our struggle to be useful vessels to further your Kingdom on this earth. We pray that you will teach us to be examples in our daily lives that lead others to You through Jesus.
In Jesus Name we pray Amen
No comments:
Post a Comment