2018-04
2018-04
Wednesday Apr 25, 2018
Introduction to Isaiah
Wednesday Apr 25, 2018
Wednesday Apr 25, 2018
Introduction to Isaiah
Wednesday, April 25, 2018
“The vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.” (Isaiah 1:1, NIV)
“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple.” (Isaiah 6:1, NIV)
2 Chronicles 26:1–23 (NIV)
26 Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in place of his father Amaziah. 2 He was the one who rebuilt Elath and restored it to Judah after Amaziah rested with his ancestors.
3 Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-two years. His mother’s name was Jekoliah; she was from Jerusalem. 4 He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father Amaziah had done. 5 He sought God during the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God. As long as he sought the Lord, God gave him success.
6 He went to war against the Philistines and broke down the walls of Gath, Jabneh and Ashdod. He then rebuilt towns near Ashdod and elsewhere among the Philistines. 7 God helped him against the Philistines and against the Arabs who lived in Gur Baal and against the Meunites. 8 The Ammonites brought tribute to Uzziah, and his fame spread as far as the border of Egypt, because he had become very powerful.
9 Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, at the Valley Gate and at the angle of the wall, and he fortified them. 10 He also built towers in the wilderness and dug many cisterns, because he had much livestock in the foothills and in the plain. He had people working his fields and vineyards in the hills and in the fertile lands, for he loved the soil.
11 Uzziah had a well-trained army, ready to go out by divisions according to their numbers as mustered by Jeiel the secretary and Maaseiah the officer under the direction of Hananiah, one of the royal officials. 12 The total number of family leaders over the fighting men was 2,600. 13 Under their command was an army of 307,500 men trained for war, a powerful force to support the king against his enemies. 14 Uzziah provided shields, spears, helmets, coats of armor, bows and slingstones for the entire army. 15 In Jerusalem he made devices invented for use on the towers and on the corner defenses so that soldiers could shoot arrows and hurl large stones from the walls. His fame spread far and wide, for he was greatly helped until he became powerful.
16 But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the Lord his God, and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense. 17 Azariah the priest with eighty other courageous priests of the Lord followed him in. 18 They confronted King Uzziah and said, “It is not right for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord. That is for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who have been consecrated to burn incense. Leave the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful; and you will not be honored by the Lord God.”
19 Uzziah, who had a censer in his hand ready to burn incense, became angry. While he was raging at the priests in their presence before the incense altar in the Lord’s temple, leprosy broke out on his forehead. 20 When Azariah the chief priest and all the other priests looked at him, they saw that he had leprosy on his forehead, so they hurried him out. Indeed, he himself was eager to leave, because the Lord had afflicted him.
21 King Uzziah had leprosy until the day he died. He lived in a separate house —leprous, and banned from the temple of the Lord. Jotham his son had charge of the palace and governed the people of the land.
22 The other events of Uzziah’s reign, from beginning to end, are recorded by the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. 23 Uzziah rested with his ancestors and was buried near them in a cemetery that belonged to the kings, for people said, “He had leprosy.” And Jotham his son succeeded him as king.
Sunday Apr 22, 2018
“Sabbath Rest” (Exodus 20:8–11)
Sunday Apr 22, 2018
Sunday Apr 22, 2018
“Sabbath Rest” (Exodus 20:8–11)Pastor Cameron JungelsEastside Baptist ChurchSunday PM, April 22, 2018
Exodus 20:8–11 (NIV)
8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
1. The Sabbath’s Significance: What does the Sabbath mean and where did it come from?
a. Sabbath – derived from the verb šbt שׁבת – to cease/stop; be completed; to rest/celebrate.
b. Modeled in creation by God’s ceasing/resting from his creative work
“Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.” (Genesis 2:1–3, NIV)
c. Prefigured in Passover
““This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord—a lasting ordinance. For seven days you are to eat bread made without yeast. On the first day remove the yeast from your houses, for whoever eats anything with yeast in it from the first day through the seventh must be cut off from Israel. On the first day hold a sacred assembly, and another one on the seventh day. Do no work at all on these days, except to prepare food for everyone to eat; that is all you may do. “Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread, because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt. Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come.” (Exodus 12:14–17, NIV)
d. Granted by Redemption
“Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.” (Deuteronomy 5:15, NIV)
e. Practiced in the Gathering of Manna
“He said to them, “This is what the Lord commanded: ‘Tomorrow is to be a day of sabbath rest, a holy sabbath to the Lord. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning.’ ” So they saved it until morning, as Moses commanded, and it did not stink or get maggots in it. “Eat it today,” Moses said, “because today is a sabbath to the Lord. You will not find any of it on the ground today. Six days you are to gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will not be any.” Nevertheless, some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather it, but they found none. Then the Lord said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep my commands and my instructions? Bear in mind that the Lord has given you the Sabbath; that is why on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Everyone is to stay where they are on the seventh day; no one is to go out.” So the people rested on the seventh day.” (Exodus 16:23–30, NIV)
f. A sign of God’s special covenant with Israel
““Say to the Israelites, ‘You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the Lord, who makes you holy. “ ‘Observe the Sabbath, because it is holy to you. Anyone who desecrates it is to be put to death; those who do any work on that day must be cut off from their people. For six days work is to be done, but the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day is to be put to death. The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant. It will be a sign between me and the Israelites forever, for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’ ”” (Exodus 31:13–17, NIV)
2. The Sabbath’s Consecration: What does it mean to consecrate the Sabbath Day?
a. Set it apart as holy: separate, distinct, not treated as another normal day.
"Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy." (Exodus 20:8, NIV)
"For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy." (Exodus 20:11, NIV)
"Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done." (Genesis 2:3, NIV)
"There are six days when you may work, but the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest, a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; wherever you live, it is a sabbath to the LORD." (Leviticus 23:3, NIV)
b. The consequences for desecrating the Lord’s Sabbath demonstrate its holiness.
““ ‘Observe the Sabbath, because it is holy to you. Anyone who desecrates it is to be put to death; those who do any work on that day must be cut off from their people.” (Exodus 31:14, NIV)
“For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day shall be your holy day, a day of sabbath rest to the Lord. Whoever does any work on it is to be put to death. Do not light a fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day.”” (Exodus 35:2–3, NIV)
“While the Israelites were in the wilderness, a man was found gathering wood on the Sabbath day. Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron and the whole assembly, and they kept him in custody, because it was not clear what should be done to him. Then the Lord said to Moses, “The man must die. The whole assembly must stone him outside the camp.” So the assembly took him outside the camp and stoned him to death, as the Lord commanded Moses.” (Numbers 15:32–36, NIV)
c. Special Sabbaths in addition to the weekly Sabbath on the 7th day.
i. Passover (first and last days)ii. Day of Atonement
““This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: On the tenth day of the seventh month you must deny yourselves and not do any work—whether native-born or a foreigner residing among you—because on this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you. Then, before the Lord, you will be clean from all your sins. It is a day of sabbath rest, and you must deny yourselves; it is a lasting ordinance.” (Leviticus 16:29–31, NIV)
iii. Festival of Trumpets (Lev. 23:24–25)iv. Festival of Tabernacles (first and last days; Lev. 23:34–36)v. Sabbath years (7th year) and Jubilee year (50th year) (Lev. 25).
d. Sabbaths Reclaimed by Exile: The Lord will not be robbed of his honor by having his Sabbaths used for dishonorable and selfish purposes.
“He brought up against them the king of the Babylonians, who killed their young men with the sword in the sanctuary, and did not spare young men or young women, the elderly or the infirm. God gave them all into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. He carried to Babylon all the articles from the temple of God, both large and small, and the treasures of the Lord’s temple and the treasures of the king and his officials. They set fire to God’s temple and broke down the wall of Jerusalem; they burned all the palaces and destroyed everything of value there. He carried into exile to Babylon the remnant, who escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and his successors until the kingdom of Persia came to power. The land enjoyed its sabbath rests; all the time of its desolation it rested, until the seventy years were completed in fulfillment of the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah.” (2 Chronicles 36:17–21, NIV)
3. The Sabbath’s Remembrance: How does one remember the Sabbath?
a. By resting and doing no work – Sabbath is the day when a person suspends or ceases his normal routine of labor.
b. By refraining from buying/selling/trading with merchants on the Sabbath.
"When the neighboring peoples bring merchandise or grain to sell on the Sabbath, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or on any holy day. Every seventh year we will forgo working the land and will cancel all debts." (Nehemiah 10:31, NIV; cf. Neh. 13)
c. By extending this rest to everyone, slave and free, even to the animals of burden. This demonstrates the social justice and mercy concerns embedded in this fourth command.d. By observing the Lord’s special festivals/feasts.e. By worshiping the Lord through the giving of weekly Sabbath sacrifices.
““ ‘On the Sabbath day, make an offering of two lambs a year old without defect, together with its drink offering and a grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with olive oil. This is the burnt offering for every Sabbath, in addition to the regular burnt offering and its drink offering.” (Numbers 28:9–10, NIV)
f. By worshiping the Lord in gathering together to sing his praises.
“A psalm. A song. For the Sabbath day. It is good to praise the Lord and make music to your name, O Most High, proclaiming your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night, to the music of the ten-stringed lyre and the melody of the harp. For you make me glad by your deeds, Lord; I sing for joy at what your hands have done.” (Psalm 92:title–4, NIV)
g. By not treating the Sabbath as an empty day of religious ritualism.
“Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations— I cannot bear your worthless assemblies. Your New Moon feasts and your appointed festivals I hate with all my being. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them.” (Isaiah 1:13–14, NIV)
h. By not looking forward to the end of Sabbath so that more money can be made through commerce and work.
“Hear this, you who trample the needy and do away with the poor of the land, saying, “When will the New Moon be over that we may sell grain, and the Sabbath be ended that we may market wheat?”— skimping on the measure, boosting the price and cheating with dishonest scales, buying the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, selling even the sweepings with the wheat. The Lord has sworn by himself, the Pride of Jacob: “I will never forget anything they have done.” (Amos 8:4–7, NIV)
i. By taking joy in the Lord in true worship and celebration (not perfunctory or empty ritualism).
““If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord’s holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in the Lord, and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.” For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” (Isaiah 58:13–14, NIV)
The main idea of the Fourth Commandment: Celebrate God as the Creator-Redeemer on the Sabbath through rest.
Sunday Apr 22, 2018
“Not Guilty!” (Romans 8:33–34)
Sunday Apr 22, 2018
Sunday Apr 22, 2018
“Not Guilty!” (Romans 8:33–34)Pastor Cameron JungelsEastside Baptist ChurchSunday AM, April 22, 2018
Romans 8:33-34, NIV33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died-- more than that, who was raised to life-- is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.
1. There is no accusation that God will accept against his chosen ones…
Because God has justified them.
1 Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. 2 The LORD said to Satan, "The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?" 3 Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. 4 The angel said to those who were standing before him, "Take off his filthy clothes." Then he said to Joshua, "See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put fine garments on you." 5 Then I said, "Put a clean turban on his head." So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him, while the angel of the LORD stood by. (Zechariah 3:1-5, NIV)
2. There is no one who can condemn God’s chosen ones…
Because Jesus died for them, rose again for them, and is now interceding for them.
7 Because the Sovereign LORD helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame. 8 He who vindicates me is near. Who then will bring charges against me? Let us face each other! Who is my accuser? Let him confront me! 9 It is the Sovereign LORD who helps me. Who will condemn me? They will all wear out like a garment; the moths will eat them up. (Isaiah 50:7-9, NIV)
Sunday Apr 15, 2018
“Hallowed Be Thy Name” (Exodus 20:7)
Sunday Apr 15, 2018
Sunday Apr 15, 2018
“Hallowed Be Thy Name” (Exodus 20:7)Pastor Cameron JungelsEastside Baptist ChurchSunday PM, April 15, 2018
7 "You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name. (Exodus 20:7, NIV)
1. What’s in a Name?
2. What does it mean to “take” the name of the LORD?
3. How is the name of God taken in vain or misused?
4. What are the consequences of misusing the Name of God?
5. How should we obey this command as a NT believer?
We should live our whole lives in order to treat with honor the name of God as Jesus taught us to pray: “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name.”
Sunday Apr 15, 2018
“God for Us” (Romans 8:31–32)
Sunday Apr 15, 2018
Sunday Apr 15, 2018
“God for Us” (Romans 8:31–32)Pastor Cameron JungelsEastside Baptist ChurchSunday AM, April 15, 2018
Romans 8:31-32, NIV31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all-- how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?
1. If you are God’s child…
2. God is for us, not against us.
3. No living being or powerful force or created thing stands a chance against us.
4. God has already given us the greatest gift he could ever give.
5. So, to give us eternal life, resurrection bodies, a restored creation, and the honor of ruling over that creation with Christ…is no big thing.
Wednesday Apr 11, 2018
"Why Believe in Christianity Alone?" - Chapter 10 of "Know Why You Believe"
Wednesday Apr 11, 2018
Wednesday Apr 11, 2018
Know Why You BelieveBy K. Scott Oliphint
“Why Believe in Christianity Alone?” – Chapter 10
Introduction
Christianity is not simply one more religion. It has implications that apply to all of life and the entire world.
One of the most offensive teachings of Christianity is that belief and eternal life.
“The Universality of Relativism”
Relativism and Postmodernism
Relativism and Religious Pluralism
Relativism and Tolerance
Reasons
How should Christians assess these three siblings?
Do Christians consider themselves a part of this family of siblings?
Do we see Christianity as true only because we believe it?
Do we think that Christianity “sees” a limited part of the same elephant that Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and others “see”?
Is tolerance a proper Christian attitude toward other “truths” and other religions?
Relativism & Christianity
“Is Christianity true for me, or is it true whether or not I believe it?”
The truth of Christianity is not dependent on whether or not I believe it. Christianity is true whether it is believed or not believed.
Subjective vs. Objective Truth
The Inescapability of Objective Truth
The “Unlivable” Nature of Relativism.
What is the best way to understand the world?Naturalism?Naturalism cannot escape complete relativity.
In full relativism, no idea can be intrinsically better than other ideas.
Hitler’s fascism and anti-Semitism, Stalin’s communism and barbarism, and the West’s freedom and democracy are all relative.
Christian Theism?Christian Theism recognizes that truth does not come from within us; it comes from outside of us.
All truth originates with God.
As creatures of God who are meant to reflect God, who is himself the truth, human beings are supposed to recognize and affirm the truth of who we are (God’s image) and of what the world is (created and sustained by God).
Truth cannot be relative. There is no way to account for it if it is.
The only way to account for truth is to see it as something that is both beyond us (because it is in God himself) and is given to us (in God’s revelation).
That way, we can affirm objective truth and, at the same time, recognize that the truth that we have is, in the first place, not ours, but God’s.
Religious Pluralism & Christianity
Relativism is the “big brother” of its smaller, more religious sibling, religious pluralism.
It reasons that we ought to affirm that all religions are at least partly correct because we can only “see,” or “sense,” in a limited way. Religious pluralism recognizes the finitude of human existence.
Religious pluralism rightly recognizes our limitations in “seeing,” but it does not account for gracious divine revelation.
Christianity gives a transcendent reason to recognize the world as created, and human beings as specially endowed with God’s image at creation.
It is a transcendent reason because, as Scripture begins, we recognize that before all things began, God was.
God, who transcends creation, creates all other things.
Christ as the only way to God is the story of the whole Bible. It actually begins in the Garden, immediately after the entrance of sin in the world (Genesis 3:15).
The rest of the Old Testament testifies to this one exclusive Redeemer who will come to solve the problem that people produce and propagate (Luke 24:24-27).
Christ has been the only way to God since sin entered the world.
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)
No clearer statement of the exclusiveness of Christianity could be given, and it comes in the context of all of Scripture.
What separates us from God is not that we don’t perform the proper religious functions, or that we don’t live good enough lives.
What separates us from God is our sin.
And the only way that our sin can be overcome is if someone takes on the penalty of our sin, including death, and conquers it.
Only Christ can do that. No one else can.
“Jesus is…the cornerstone. Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:11-12)
Tolerance & Christianity
The central question with tolerance is why someone would extol its virtues.
It is very often thought that the reason we are to be tolerant is because truth is relative. No one religion, or position, is able to describe anything exhaustively.
We should be tolerant of anyone else’s view because it’s just another version of truth.
But tolerance doesn’t have to be linked to relativism and religious pluralism.
Instead, tolerance can be what it is in the context of the exclusive claims of Christianity.
Christ said that he was the only way to the Father, but he lived a life that was marked by love and compassion, even to his enemies.
The way of Christianity is a way of tolerance.
But that tolerance has its roots in the God who made and controls all that is.
It is a tolerance that has its foundation in God’s comprehensive control of all things, including the fact that his gospel is a gospel that alone brings and produces peace, not war.
Christianity can hold to the exclusive truth of the gospel while demonstrating love to others.
Responses
Probably the most prominent response to Christian exclusiveness is some kind of inclusiveness.
To be so exclusive, some will think, is to exclude so many others and all other religions.
However, many other religions are equally as exclusive as Christianity (ex. Islam).
Why can Christianity not just include everyone, in whatever way, who is trying to follow a path?
Complete inclusivity ultimately leads to complete relativism – no truth is better than any other truth.
For someone to be truly “inclusive” means that even those who believe that Christianity is exclusive have to be “included” in the universal religion.
But that is not what those who want to be inclusive believe.
Those who think that everyone should be included also think that everyone should think that everyone should be included!
When that is not true, then it turns out that the inclusive person is just as exclusive as the exclusive person.
In the end, the inclusive person is just as exclusive as the ones they seek to oppose.
Conclusion
It is important to know—from a Christian perspective eternally important—what, or in whom, we believe.
The fact that our belief is exclusive is no argument against it. It shows it to be in some ways like beliefs that all people hold.
The important and central question is not what do I believe and who does it include. The central question is, Is my belief true?
Christianity says it is true only when it has its focus in Jesus—the One who himself is the Truth.
Questions
Can you think of a religion or person whose beliefs truly include all people? Why or why not?
If all people are exclusive in their beliefs, why is Christianity’s exclusiveness so offensive to many people?
Aside from those given in the book, can you name other examples of God’s tolerance toward those who are his enemies?
Sunday Apr 08, 2018
“The Invisible God” (Exodus 20:4–6)
Sunday Apr 08, 2018
Sunday Apr 08, 2018
“The Invisible God” (Exodus 20:4–6)Pastor Cameron JungelsEastside Baptist ChurchSunday PM, April 8, 2018
Exodus 20:4–6 (NIV) 4 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
1. The Command: You shall not make or worship images/idols
2. The Reason: For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God.
3. The Consequences for Disobedience
4. The Blessings for Obedience
5. How Should Christians obey the 2nd commandment?
a. Why Idolatry is wrong:
i. An idol is a physical representation of God or a god. ii. Making an idol of worship destroys the Creator/Creature distinction. iii. Worshiping an idol reverses the order of the created realm. iv. When we worship an idol, we treat with contempt the incarnation of Christ. v. When we worship an idol, we are lifting up something as worthy of worship that we ourselves have made.
b. How does a NT Christian obey the second commandment?
Main Idea: God’s people must worship their one, true God in the way that he has required, without the aid of visual objects of worship or aids to worship, because He is the Invisible God who is Jealous for our exclusive love and devotion.
Sunday Apr 08, 2018
“God’s Unshakable Purpose” (Romans 8:29–30)
Sunday Apr 08, 2018
Sunday Apr 08, 2018
“God’s Unshakable Purpose” (Romans 8:29–30)Pastor Cameron JungelsEastside Baptist ChurchSunday AM, April 8, 2018
Romans 8:29-30, NIV29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
1. God loved his children before the creation of the world.
2. God determined from eternity past to glorify his children in the image of his Son, Jesus Christ.
3. At a point in time, God graciously and effectually called his children to salvation.
4. God’s gracious and effectual calling awakened faith in his children justifying them before God on the basis of Christ’s redemption.
5. Every beloved, predestined, called, and justified child of God will infallibly be glorified.
Wednesday Apr 04, 2018
"Why Believe in God Despite the Evil in the World?" - Chapter 9 of Know Why You Believe
Wednesday Apr 04, 2018
Wednesday Apr 04, 2018
Know Why You BelieveBy K. Scott Oliphint
“Why Believe in God Despite the Evil in the World?” – Chapter 9
Introduction
The Pervasiveness of Evil
The Root of Evil
The Problem of Evil for the Christian FaithIs there a God?
Is He good?
Is He powerful?
Then, why is there evil and suffering?
The Problem
Christians should be “ready to give an answer” regarding the problem of evil, because it directly relates to our belief in God and to the character of our God.
Secularists also have a “problem of evil.” They have no way of explaining what evil is.If everything is chance, then shouldn’t we expect “accidents” and “tragedy”?
If everything is chance, then how can there be moral categories of good and evil?
The character of our God and the presence of evil.God is omnipotent, omniscient, and wholly good.
There is a vast amount of evil in the world.
How do we reconcile these truths?
The problem of evil is not only philosophical; it is also personal.
What are the solutions to the philosophical and personal dilemma of the presence of evil in the world?
Potential solutions cannot create bigger problems.We can’t deny one of God’s attributes.
Atheists suggest we give up our belief in God because they attempt to show the direct conflict between our belief in God and the presence of evil in the world.
But, is there another way? Is there a way to maintain faith in the God of Scripture while holding to a compelling explanation for the presence of evil in the world?
Reasons
We can’t deny the existence of God or one of his core attributes; so, the challenge is put to Christians to come up with a “God-justifying” reason for evil.Theodicy – what reasons or justification God could have in creating a world that contains so much evil.“Greater Good Defense”
The “non-existence” of evil – Augustine
The “Free Will” Defense
Biblical Reasons
The ultimate explanation for why evil is in the world must come from Scripture.
Three central teachings of Scripture that provide clarity on this issue:GodThe Creator and Sustainer of Creation
God’s Eternal Decree – Evil was not a “surprise” to God. It was all a part of his all-inclusive, eternal, sovereign decree.
Image of GodHuman beings are created in the image of God with dignity and dominion.
Humanity had a responsible relationship to God, with responsibility that included dominion over what God had made.
Their dominion was not exhaustive; there were limitations. God is still sovereign.
Adam and Eve sought to extend their dominion beyond God’s boundaries.
These actions had consequences for humanity and all of creation.
God and Image of GodEverything that happens in the world was initiated by God in eternity past.
Even the remedy for the problem was guaranteed before creation ever was.
It was planned by God that those made in his image would be responsible agents in God’s world.
When Adam and Eve sinned, God judged them for their disobedience.
Their sin brought real consequences, both to themselves and to all creation.
God with UsGod himself sees the incompatibility of his character and evil as a serious problem.
God determined to deal with it in a way that deeply involves him.
God is not “outside” the problem of evil.
God involves himself in dealing with the problem of evil in the Garden in Gen. 3.
“Theodicy” is solved by “Theophany.”
God comes down to his creation to solve the problem of evil.
The ultimate and permanent “theophany” of God is Jesus Christ, who is God with us.
Jesus Christ, as fully God and fully man as one person, came into this world to set right what we ruined.
The cost that Christ paid to deal with our problem of sin was high – it involved death and taking on himself the wrath of God against evil.
The problem of evil could be conquered only if the penalty we should pay was paid by him, the innocent one.
God, in the person of his Son, comes to us to solve the horrendous problem that we started and that only he could finish.
No greater concern for the “problem of evil” could God show than the sending of his only Son to be forsaken by him and to die.
The problem of evil, which is our fault, finds its solution only when God solves it.
Responses
Why did God create then, knowing that sin and evil would follow?We don’t have all the answers; we can’t see all things as God sees them. We must not “condemn God in order to justify ourselves.” (Job 40:8)
God didn’t provide answers to Job, but he did remind him of his character.
But that still doesn’t answer the question! Why would God plan this kind of a world?This is the wrong focus.
A better question would be: “Why would God, from eternity past, plan and create a world where he himself, in the person of his Son, would come and suffer and die, being forsaken by his Father on the cross, to bring rebellious human creatures to himself?”
His plan, from all eternity, included suffering in it—the suffering and death of his Son.
And this is where the Bible requires that we stop asking the question.God has given us all we need to know about the solution to the problem of evil.
We stop asking because of the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God. He is God and we are not.
God has solved the problem of evil. The solution is working itself out in history until the most obvious indication of the problem—death itself—will finally be destroyed.
In the meantime, the proper response to the problem of evil is to trust him.
Since God is God, we can place ourselves in the hands of the one who knows the end from the beginning, who through Christ has provided our deliverance from evil for eternity.
Questions
Why is God’s solution to the problem of evil not satisfactory for some people?
What do you know of how other religions deal with the problem of evil?
Why do you think Paul calls death the “last enemy” (1 Cor. 15:26)?
Sunday Apr 01, 2018
"On the Emmaus Road" (Luke 24:13-35)
Sunday Apr 01, 2018
Sunday Apr 01, 2018
“On the Emmaus Road” (Luke 24:13–35)Pastor Cameron JungelsEastside Baptist ChurchEaster Sunday AM, April 1, 2018
Luke 24:13–35 (NIV)
13 Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. 15 As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; 16 but they were kept from recognizing him.
17 He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”
They stood still, their faces downcast. 18 One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”
19 “What things?” he asked.
“About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. 20 The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; 21 but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. 22 In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning 23 but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. 24 Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.”
25 He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
28 As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. 29 But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.
30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. 32 They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”
33 They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together 34 and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” 35 Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.
1. It’s Over…
a. Going home…b. We were hoping…c. It’s now the third day…d. They did not see Jesus…
2. It’s Not Over; It Is Finished!
When he had received the drink, Jesus said, "It is finished." With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. (John 19:30, NIV)
After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. (Hebrews 1:3, NIV)
a. The Scriptures have been Fulfilled.
25 He said to them, "How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?" 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. (Luke 24:25–27, NIV)
For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12, NIV)
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. (Romans 1:16, NIV)
b. God’s Plan has been Accomplished.c. God’s Purpose has been Realized.
Main Idea: We come to know the risen Christ through the Holy Scriptures and through the eye-opening grace of God.