10 "The Pharisee and the Tax Collector" (Luke 18:9-14)

 Matt. 6:1-6

9 "A Sinful Woman Forgiven" (Luke 7:36-50)

1) Vs. 36-38, "Two Hosts" Who are the two different hosts in this home that Jesus gets to know better?

In verse 36, we see a Pharisee asked Jesus to eat with him. This is the 3rd story in a row where we have found Jesus eating in peoples' home. 

In verses 37-38, we see another host invade the gathering. She is described as a woman of the city, who was a sinner. It was not her home, nor was she the one who invited Jesus to eat with her, but nevertheless she engaged the meal as a host. She brought a story of hospitality to the dinner that turns out to be in direct contrast with that of the home owner.

2) Vs. 39-43, "Two Kinds of Wisdom" How are two different view points of wisdom communicated here?

In verse 39, we see the home owner's perspective from a physical or human wisdom, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner." The homeowner knew the people of the town. He knew who had a checkered past or not. In his reasoning, he doubts the validity of Jesus being from God because He doesn't resist this woman's hospitality towards Him. He feels like Jesus should call her out and deal harshly and directly with her sins. If He is actually from God and here to do God's work, the home owner see no other possible right response than this one.

In verse 40, Jesus invites the homeowner into a dialogue concerning this issue. "Simon, I have something to say to you." What would you do if Jesus said this to you? We see that when Jesus engages people some respond in humble brokenness and others respond with a more confident posture sometimes because of self righteousness points of view and other times out of just not realizing Who He is. Simon then said "Say it Teacher."

In verses 41-43, we see the first part of the second kind of wisdom communicated from the perspective of Jesus which is described better as from a spiritual or Godly wisdom. Jesus starts with laying the foundation of the teaching with something His student can understand with common sense and or with human reasoning. "As certain money lender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which one of them will love him more?" Simon answered, "the one I suppose, for who he cancelled the larger debt." And He said to him "You have judged rightly." 

Now Jesus will continue in His own way to point this student to applying this physical story that he can understand, to spiritual matters like forgiveness and a heart of hospitality. He will direct Simon to think about how everyone needs forgiveness, no one is immune to the need for a forgiveness that reconciles their account of sins with God. Self righteousness blinds us to our need for forgiveness and make us unnecessarily harsh in our dealing with people that are worse off than us. We all need Jesus. If we saw someone physically starving to death, the natural response should be to get them something to eat, or if they were thirsty or cold, we would try to meet that practical physical need. In the same way, we need to have an eye to see spiritual starvation, spiritual dehydration and spiritual coldness. We need to understand and rightly steward a desire to respond to sinners with spiritual food, water and clothes. Don't let your logical thinking from human wisdom cause you to neglect real practical needs right in front of you.

3) Vs. 44-47, Two Styles of Hospitality" How does Jesus explain the two different styles of hospitality, He has been shown in this home?

In a practical way, when a person would have invited a guest to dinner in this culture, it would have been the custom to give a bowl of water and a towel to the guest upon entering the home to wash His feet from the journey of walking on dusty trails. It would be a refreshing gesture that would allow the guest to feel a sense of relaxation before dinner. It would have communicated a homey and friendly environment. Also, much like we hug or shake hands with guests we invite to our homes, their custom was to give a kiss. The oil could have been offered as a hospitable gift of refreshment for the guest's forehead, if he had been in the hot sun on his journey and his skin had began to get very dry. It also could have been offered to show spiritual respect.

With this idea of hospitality considered by the basic standard of the culture in this day, Jesus compares the actions of the two hosts. The homeowner that invited Jesus and the uninvited host. 

vs 44, I entered your house and you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair

vs 45, You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet.

vs 46, You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment.

As you walk through this list, be sure to go deeper than who was the best host. Ask why one was better than the other? Ask yourself how his or her perspective on who Jesus was changed the way they acted towards Him? When you see a person you really like or love, how does it change the way you act? You put on your best behavior, you are not casual and sloppy in your hospitality because you want the relationship to be rich. And why this description gets up close and personal, the teaching point is about how those who know they need forgiveness and cleansing act differently than those who don't realize the weight of the need for forgiveness of sin. Also, those who realize that Jesus is the only way to obtain this forgiveness also changes the way one responds to Him.

So picture this sinner seeking forgiveness and recognizing Jesus is the only way. She first invades a home she is not wanted in and ushers in the hospitality that Jesus deserved in a place where He was not being properly respected and tended to. 

vs 44, I entered your house and you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair

She meets the needs of His feet by first falling at them and pouring out her great grief and sorrow over her sins that have bound her up for way too long. She, at His feet, lays down her burdens and leaves nothing held back. Whatever she is regretful for, she pours them out through tears that physically meet the need of wetting His dry, dusty feet. She then used something that is much more honorable and valuable than a common towel and with her precious well groomed hair, used it to clean His feet. She did it with something of value and honor to her. She demonstrated a surrendered life towards Him. She made all that she was available to serve at His pleasure. 

vs 45, You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet.

She then starts to kiss His feet to show her gratitude for Him. We may kiss someone's cheek or hand if we are semi fond of them and if we really like them our kiss may go to their lips. But anything other than that, it is usually not something we do with anyone other than a spouse. When we use a term like kissing someone's butt, that is figurative, but not something normally anyone does. It is a humiliating act that would devalue the person doing the kissing. But to kiss a persons dirty, stinky feet, that is a very humble and desperate posture and action. But here she is not actually kissing dirty, stinky feet because she has cleansed them with her tears and her precious hair. If you have ever had a foot massage, you know how comforting that can be. Here she massages and honors Him with something very few people will ever  enjoy: the kissing of feet.

vs 46, You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment.

If His feet were dry or stinky, she addressed that by applying ointment. If it would have been left up to the homeowner that invited Jesus to this dinner, He would have been mistreated, but because of this woman seeking to find forgiveness for her sins, Jesus was deeply cared for and made welcome. He physically had the cleanest, most cared for feet in the room. But more than that He was greatly honored and acknowledged as the only One worthy of worship.

In this woman's worship, she laid down her burden and confessed her sins with all her heart, surrendered her life, giving her very best to serve the Lord. She demonstrated an amazing amount of gratitude for His redemption and she gave of her wealth to add to His glory in this life.

4) Vs. 48-50, "Two Views on Forgiveness" How do these two hosts demonstrate the value of forgiveness?

So the uninvited guest believed that Jesus could forgive sins, while those who asked Him to come and have dinner, had not yet come to a place where they saw Him as the answer to their sin problem. Who is this who even forgives sins? Like we saw in story 4, here again we see an audience that is offended by a man talking about the forgiveness of sin because they rightly believe only God can do such a thing. Why do you think they do not realize who Jesus is? Why do you think the sinful woman believes Jesus can forgive her?

5) Who is Jesus? Can He forgive sins? Why do some people recognize He alone is the only hope for forgiveness, while others do not see this? Is there a form of self righteousness described and displayed in this story?

8 "Jesus and Zacchaeus" (Luke 19:1-10)

1) Vs. 1-2, "The Man" Who is Zaccheus? 

The first 2 verses describes him as a chief tax collector and a rich man. This points out the obvious outward perspectives a person could derive about Zaccheus. He would of not had the approval of the Jewish people by being a tax collector and he would not of had lack of worldly things because we know that he was rich. 

But what kind of person was he on the inside?

2) Vs. 3-4, "Seeking Jesus" What would this rich chief tax collector do when Jesus came across his pathway? Would he run and hide, would he be coy with Him. What would he do? 

In verse 3-4, we see that he wanted to see Jesus, but "because of the crowd" he found difficulty accessing him. Much like in story 4, where the friends made a way for the paralyzed man through the roof "because of the crowd", here Zacchaeus had to be creative to find a way to see Jesus. We get another description about the outward person of Zacchaeus that he was "small in stature". So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Jesus.

3) Vs. 5-6, "The Intersection" What will happen? Will Zaccheus see Jesus? Will he overcome the obstacles in front of him? He is so short and the crowd is blocking his way? Will Jesus just walk by? 

In verses 5-6, we see that Jesus noticed this little man that climbed a tree in order to see above the crowd. What happened next? What did Jesus do? Did He acknowledge Zaccheus? Yes, He not only noticed him, but He asked him to make dinner for Him at his home. Zaccheus, was over joyed with the opportunity to host Jesus at his home.

4) Vs. 7, "The Crowds Response" What did the crowd think about this intersection between Jesus and Zaccheus? 

In verse 7, we see that they all grumbled. He has gone in to be a guest of a man who is a sinner. This is much like our story 7 last week when Jesus had dinner in Matthew's home. I have always thought that in this home there would have been a bunch of Zaccheus friends, but unlike with the dinner at Matthew's home the text doesn't specifically say that, so it is possible that this dinner was a quite dinner with just Zaccheus and Jesus or a very small crowd. It could have been a small intimate setting just like when Nicodemus came to Jesus in John 3.

5) Vs. 8, "The Response of the Chief Tax Collector" How will this dinner impact the life of this chief tax collector? Will he like the Rich young ruler turn away from the call to "Follow Me". Will he deny his sins? Does he care about righteousness? Does he want to be reconciled to God?

In verse 8, we see 2 specific things that come from this dinner. 

The first thing, we see is that he offers half of his goods as and offering to give to the poor. I don't know how Zaccheus felt about the poor before meeting Jesus. I would assume being a chief tax collector, he was not overly concerned about them. But after having dinner with the Lord something changed. From his own mouth and by his own accord, Zaccheus offered to help the poor. He may have always know that what he was doing was wrong. He may have come to the conclusion that all his power and money was not what he really wanted. He may of clearly seen that it was not right to live over comfortable while his kinfolks where struggle to make ends meet. But whatever the reason, being with Jesus changed his life and how he would manage his money going forward.

The second thing, we see is that he says if I have defrauded anyone of anything I will restore it fourfold. He was not just thinking about meeting the needs of the poor, he wanted to make right those matters where he gained wealth dishonestly. 

6) Vs. 9-10, "The Response of Jesus" What did Jesus conclude here?

"Salvation has come to this house" I can't think of a more comforting thing than to have Jesus come to your home and based on your interaction with Him, He makes a statement like this. What we seen 2 weeks ago in story 6 in the Rich ruler, we see Zaccheus doing. Investing in the poor and surrendering all to Jesus.

"You are a son of Abraham" I think what is being communicated here is that Jesus sees the Romans 4:16-25 description of faith here. The Gen. 15:6 faith Abraham demonstrated in the promise God made to him to give him not only an offspring, but as many offspring as the stars in the sky.

"For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost" Like we covered last week in story 7, the mission of Jesus is to build His Kingdom by changing the sinners heart that drives them to be blind and a slave to the darkness and death of sin. He brings light and life to what man's wisdom deems unredeemable. 

7 "Jesus Calls Levi" (Luke 5:27-32)

 1) vs. 27, "After this", What is the after this? 

On our timeline this week is story 7 that we are looking at. 

In week 4, we looked at the story in vs. 17-26. Where we saw that "because of the crowd" the friends of a paralyzed man had to lower him down in front of Jesus from the roof of the building He was in. In this, Jesus shocked the Pharisees with a statement in vs. 20, "Man, your sins are forgiven you." The Pharisees immediately had logical thoughts that He was blaspheming. Their reason was based on their belief that only God can forgive sins, which is 100% right. As the dialogue continued, Jesus asked them what is easier to say "your sins are forgiven or rise and walk? He then tells them so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins, he said to the man "rise, pick up your bed and go home."

"After this" we see that Jesus went out of that building and went to a tax collector's booth.  All we are told by Luke here is that Jesus said to him "Follow ME". A very simple two word statement. There was no sales pitch of any kind. We have no details about his thought process. It is just short and sweet. "Follow Me."

2) In vs. 28, we see the Tax Collector's response. "Leaving everything, he rose and followed him." 

Last week in our story 6, we looked at Luke 18:18-30, The Rich Ruler. in vs 22 of that story Jesus tells him, "One thing you lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor and you will have treasures in heaven; and come and follow me."

This week in the first two verses we see Jesus give the same call that he gave to the rich ruler to a tax collector. The Rich ruler's response is recorded in Luke 18:23, But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. 

What made these two people different? Why did one respond with joy and one with sadness? Scripture does not go on and on with childhood stories or endless background details. It is to the point, short and sweet. "Follow ME" That is it. Nothing seeker friendly. No great campaign speech. Not even really an evaluation about how important this decision is, Just "Follow Me". One did and another did not.

3) In vs. 29, we see the natural response of the tax collectors experience with the call of Jesus. The call of Jesus to follow Him is not a cheap prize. It is not a gift that gets you really excited. Once you unwrap the pretty wrapping you find the real content of it is not truly satisfying. For the rich ruler, he didn't see the wrapping of "follow me" as appealing enough to open the present. But for some reason, the tax collector did open the present. He did respond to the gift and it radically changed his perspective. It was so valuable to him that his first response was to tell everyone he knew. He had a party at his house and invited everyone he knew to come and meet Jesus.

4) In vs. 30. We see the Pharisees bothered by this gathering. They complained and grumbled because they could not understand why a man pursing holiness like Jesus and calling others to the way of righteousness would be associating with people that walked down dark paths and rejected the cultural ways of righteousness.

5) In vs. 31&32, We see Jesus's response to the Pharisees struggle to understand and accept His actions. He gives physical and practical pictures of something they can process with common sense and understand. Then He stretches their minds to think beyond the physical realm and into the spiritual realm. This idea is further explained in John 3, when Jesus is teaching Nicodemus. If you look at vs. 9-13, He unpacks this speaking in the physical realm to help understand the things of the spiritual realm. In vs. 12, He says "If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?"

In these verses, 31 gives us the physical and 32 gives us the spiritual.

vs 31, Those who are well have no need for a physician, but those who are sick.

vs 32, I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.

In these two statements, we have a land mine of gems to find out the high value of a sinners heart. A sinner's heart needs the treasure of Jesus. If the treasure of Jesus is placed in the sinner's heart, everything changes. Just as when we are sick we need a physician to determine what we need to be made well, the only solution for a sinner's heart is Jesus. Only He can restore the soul. 

As you read and ponder this story, realized that the wrapping of the present of Jesus is simple. It is not flashy. It is "Follow ME." If you are too busy in life, are too engaged in the comforts of this life, you will struggle to open the gift of Jesus. You will have many reasons not to follow Him. But if you do open the gift of Jesus, unlike so many other gifts you have opened in this earthly realm, you will find that He is from above. He is not limited by physical things and He can heal an area of our lives that no physician can. He can do exceeding above and beyond anything we can ask or think of.

We tied in two stories this week from our journey together. Story 4, points out a truth that "only God can forgive sins". Story 6, points out why some can not follow Jesus's call to Follow Me. We see that in story 4 and story 7 where the Pharisees struggle with understanding the actions of Jesus. They think He is blaspheming in story 4 and they can't understand why He would take the time to teach people that, in their opinion, are not interested in what is best for those people who are looking to God for guidance.

Jesus was very clear on the needs of people. He understood the impact of spiritual blindness on a person's life. And He taught everyone on the cure to it. For the sinner, they needed information on God's love for them and that there is a way for reconciliation. There is a way for forgiveness of sins. For the Pharisees, they needed to know how to put the pieces they knew in the right perspective. It was true that only God could forgive sins, but they need to realize who Jesus was. It was true that we should walk in righteousness, but we can't do that apart from Jesus. It is the gift of Jesus that causes both sinners and Pharisees to walk in righteousness. No one is able to do it with out Him. The command is "Follow Me," not figure it out on your own.

6 "The Rich Ruler" (Luke 18:18-30)

 Luke 18:18-30

1. Vs. 18, 

What shall I do to to inherit eternal life?

This is the most import question anyone can ask and Jesus is fixing to answer it. What will He say?

Why do you call me good? Is that the evangelistic approach you thought Jesus would take to this seemingly amazing opportunity?

In answering the question Jesus first challenges the man's view of God and what is goodness.

2. Vs. 20,

Here He unpacks what Biblical goodness looks like and challenges the man to honestly evaluate himself in order to have the right perspective on eternal life. The man's answer showed in his perspective he felt like he had accomplished all these things.

3. Vs. 22,

Here Jesus gives 4 things.

1-You still lack one thing

2-Sell all that you have and give to the poor

3-You will have treasures in heaven if you do this

4-Come and follow me

4. Vs. 23,

He became very sorrowful.

When he became very sorrowful we do not see Jesus chasing him down trying to convince him to respond correctly

5. Vs. 26,

At this point all that had seen how Jesus handled this evangelistic opportunity was discouraged wondering who could even be saved.

Things to Consider,

The means you use to evangelize is also the tool you use to disciple. 

What you save some one with is the same thing you keep them with.

In seeker friendly gimmicks of conversion the evangelist tries to sale the convert on his product.

It has been said that if you can convert a person in 15 mins. someone else can unconvert them in 15 mins.

The Bible does not direct us to sale and manipulate people into salvation, it directs us to share with them what the scriptures say and trust in the fact that the scriptures are actually able to save the convert. 

If you notice in Matt. 28, when the great commission is giving Jesus does not give specific instruction for evangelism but for discipleship. "Teach them to obey My commands" If the disciples are converted by the commands of Jesus they will be able to submit to them also. If they are converted by unbiblical concepts they will be unfamiliar with submitting to discipleship concepts. We disciple converted people not unconverted. The acceptance of the authority of scripture is an evidence of conversion and until that is present their is no assurance that the heart is in Christ.

5 "The Rich man and Lazarus” (Luke 16:19-31)

1)Luke 16:19-21, Two Men

Here we see two types of men described. In our time together we considered what their life on earth was like. One was a life of comfort and the other lived a life of suffering.

2)Luke 16:22-23, Heaven and Hell 

Here we see a picture of two different destinations after death. 

3)Luke 16:24-25, Torment OR Comfort

Here we see a description of what the quality of life is in these different destination. In this story the one who suffered in the physical life was comforted in the eternal life and the one who was comforted in the physical life was tormented in the eternal life.

4)Luke 16:26, The Great Chasm

Here we are told that no can cross the great chasm that separated the two eternal destinations.

5)Luke 16:27-31, A False Gospel or A True Gospel

Vs. 27-28, The eternally doomed man that lived a comforted life pleads for a evangelistic message to be presented to those he loves.

Vs. 29, Abraham reminds the doomed man of what evangelistic message has been made available to them.

Vs. 30, The doomed man that rejected the evangelistic message available to him, still sees fault in its ability to save and recommends another message to convince them.

Vs. 31, Abraham says if they can’t hear Moses and the Prophets nor will they be convinced if someone rises from the dead. 

Seeker Friendly Evangelism

Rich Man Reading (Luke Series)

 

• Luke 12:13-21 

“The Parable of the Rich Fool”

• Luke 14:7-11

“The Parable of the Wedding Feast”

• Luke 14:12-24

“The Parable of the Great Banquet”

• Luke 16:1-13

“The Parable of the Dishonest Manager”

• Luke 16:19-31

“The Rich man and Lazarus”

• Luke 18:18-30

“The Rich Ruler”

• Luke 19:11-27

“The Parable of the Ten Minas”

• Luke 21:1-2

"The Widow's Offering"

4 The Pharisees Perspective (Luke 5:17-26)

 Luke 5:17-26 

3 The Unclean Spirits Perspective (Luke 4:31-41)

 Luke 4:31-41

2 The Centurion's Perspective (Luke 7:1-10)

 Luke 7:1-10

1 The Disciples Perspective (Mark 4:35-41)

 Mark 4:35-41

The Proper Distribution of the Word (Mark 4:26-29)

 Mark 4:26-29

The Key to the Parables (Mark 4:13-14)

 Mark 4:13-14

The Hidden Nature of the Word (Mark 4:10-12, Mark 4:33-34)

 Mark 4:10-12

Mark 4:33-34

The Armor of God (Eph. 6:10-20)

 Eph. 6:10-20

I laid these out for us to think 🤔 about some what systematically over next few days. 

Brain storm on above pictures and let the Lord guide you to fill in the blanks. Think through your knowledge of God and scripture and color in the picture to some degree as you ready your heart for this Sunday morning. 

Notice the framework of how one is the means to a gift. The Gospel brings about our salvation. The truth brings about our righteousness. And the word gives life to our faith. 

As we fail to share the gospel less people come to know salvation. As we fail to share truth less people know how to walk in righteousness. As we fail to interact with the word less people have faith. 

Just as a seed planted doesn’t grow overnight neither do we fully grasp the word of God. Start thinking 🤔 through these ideas 💡 today. Pray over them. Go find those scriptures that come to mind and have them ready for Sunday morning to share.

The Gospel and Our Salvation 

Remember how the gospel message broke through in your life? How did that simple illogical Bible message that you once either mocked or didn’t understand change everything for you?

Notice the gift of Our salvation. We once where tossed to and fro with no real hope or security in this world. But that all change when we became a child of God. Our salvation is a gift that hold us grounded and anchored to the creator of all things. No matter how crazy our lives get we are held by the keeper of all things. 

Jot dow some notes about how you came to salvation by the gospel and maybe a experience where you realized the way Our salvation keeps us. 

Romans 8:(ESV): 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Hey sorry late on this. We have been running hard to try and get away to the Lake House this weekend. 

So thoughts for days 2, to consider is the pair “The Truth” and “Our Righteous”

When I consider the role of the “Breast Plate of Righteousness” I can’t help but to think of being conformed into the image of Christ. That He is our righteousness. And just as the armor of the breast plate protects our heart and soul in the same way the righteousness acquired at the Cross from the perfect “Lamb of God” makes us righteous. It is not our own acquired righteousness by our works, obedience or stewardship, but a gift from the Lord that we find refuge in. His righteousness is a hiding place for our weary broken hearts and protection for our souls. 

When I consider “The Belt of Truth” I think of “speak the truth in love”. It is through the gospel that God has spoken the truth about our condition. It is not positive to look in the mirror and see ourselves in sin. It is a shameful and hurtful thing to bear. But it is by that truth that we see our need for the righteousness of Christ to protect, cover, save and redeem us. 

Think about what the righteousness of Christ means to you?

Think about how you are yielding to the work of and His means to conforming you into His image?

Think about how He conformed and radically changed Paul, Peter, Stephen and Apollo’s. They were never the same. 

Think about how your have to submit to certain truths to find the love of God. To find His directions. We can’t do it our way. We wrestle in the flesh and in the spirit to surrender to His truth. Where are you struggling to submit to God? Where is He knocking at the door calling for you to come? What is stopping you? What do you have to lose? 

Pen some things down. Where do you need to change? What do you need to release? 

Here is some scripture 

Romans 3:21–26 (ESV): 21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. 

Romans 6:15–19 (ESV): 15 What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. 19 I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification. 

So hope you guys have had a great week and have taken a few moments to ponder the armor of God these last few days. 

On day one we took a head to toe look with the roles of the gospel and our salvation. How the gospel brings us into salvation and how salvation protects us from being tossed to and fro mentally. How it calms the raging storms in our minds. 

On day two we took a look at the truth and our righteousness and how that plays a role in conforming us into what God designed us to be and how is protect the core of who we are. 

Today on day 3 we come to the pair “The word and Our Faith”. A sword and a shield. As on day one the armor was shoes and a helmet and day 2 essentially pants and a shirt covering the core of the body, today the armor is at the hands to be yielded. In the right hand a sword and in the left a shield. One to block the attacks and another the destroy strongholds and to loosen bondage.  

The word is consider to be our sword. And our faith is considered to be our shield   Consider these things today and jot down some notes. What role does the word play in your life? What victory does it bring about? What about faith, how do you actively use it to defend the attacks you face daily?

Hope you guys have a great day. We are traveling this morning to Houston, but I look forward to joining you in the morning by Lake Livingston to visit one another and unpack this picture Paul has penned down for us so that we can find an anchor to hold on to in the attacks we come into in this Christian life.

Galatians Overview of First Four Chapters

We had some technical difficulties with Zoom application, but were able to get on a bridge call.

We prayed for covid 19 victims

Opened with a verse from 1 Chronicles 12:32, "Of Issachar, men who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do."

We prayed that, we would be a people who both understand the times and know what to do.

We did an overview of the flow of the book of Galatians

One of the main points was Paul dealing with people falling away from the purity of the gospel by adding to it or trying to accomplish the work of the gospel in the flesh.

In chapter 1, he points out how the gospel was taught to him. It was not by man but by God Himself.
He then goes on to talk about a 3 year period of time and a 14 year period of time that only God directed his steps.

This is what appears to have made Paul the greatest theologian of biblical record next to Jesus Himself. When comparing Peter to Paul, Peter was not as skilled in theological understanding as Paul was and for Peter and us today, when reading Paul, we must slow down to understand where he is coming from.

But Paul is always fundamentally right and taking the time to understand correctly his teachings paves the way to us getting a firm grasp on the gospel. This is important because it determines the type of resurrected life you will experience. When we depart from the gospel the result is the absence of resurrected life.

In the book of Galatians we see a masterful shepherd and teacher laboring to preserve the gospel and to guide his sheep into a prosperous resurrected life.

In Galatians 2, We see Paul confront Peter over a group that was trying to add to the gospel circumcision. Here he points out how we are justified by faith alone.

We pointed out how in Galatians 1:6, 3:1, and 4:8-9, Paul confronts the Galatian believers for falling away from the purity and completeness of the Gospel.

In Gal. 3:1-6, we see 6 questions. If you look close at them, you can notice they work together in pairs. The odd number question 1, 3, 5 are what I call the "come on man" questions. They are of a nature that jars us to recognize our errors and too vow to focus on the right thing. The even number questions are what I call the "think about it" questions. They are of a nature that points us to take the time to think a bit deeper about what is really going on and what is really the truth.

So in these 6 verses, Paul speaks 3 couplets of questions to jar his audience to both wake up, think about what they are doing and pursue the purity of the Gospel zealously.

This frame work is important to notice because it is the overall spirit of how he communicated throughout the whole letter. He has sections where he talks plainly to them, but other sections where he calls them to deeper theological understanding so that, they will experience the resurrected life and they would be a people that will preserve the gospel for the next generation.

As we work through chapter 3&4, Paul unpacks some theological concepts.

1-By Faith or By Works
2-The Law and The Promise
3-Hagar and Sarah

It takes some time to process each one of these concept, but remember this is a writing from possibly the greatest theologian on the greatest topic. He weaves these 3 theological concepts together to give his audience a firm understanding of what God promised to Abraham and how it was fulfilled in Christ.

We briefly discussed, what I look forward to more carefully looking at in the future is
1-The difference between the covenant with Abraham and the covenant at Mt. Sinai.
2-The difference between the child heir and a heir that has come to the age set by his father.
3-The difference between circumcision of the flesh and circumcision of the spirit.

Our goal for next week will be to pick back up in Galatians 3:10 and journey through chapter 3 line by line making sure we all have a good understanding of text and are on the same page with what Paul is teaching his audience.

Hope you all have a great week.

Day 2, of "stay in home" for State of La

I got with Pastor Ryan at Hpc, this morning to touch base via Zoom. Thankful for him to be finding way to stay connected to the men of his church.

Caught up on ESV reading plan and cut some yards. Finally drying up, to do something. Been rain for about a month in such a way that yards to wet to cut.

Nehemiah 9, stood out for me today. I love the OT recaps. We forget all that God has done for us all so easily. When you see the record of it in writing it is hard to confess He is not faithful.

Today at 5pm, State of Louisiana "Stay at Home"

Puritans audio message ending with Richard Sibbes

Daily Notes

What happened today?

What Scriptures were read in annual reading plan? 

Anything stick out?

Any goals to pursue?
Outline on Josiah's  Reformation and make power point for Bible Study.
Also, implement a engaging study on the Feast that God commanded and intent of them.

Corona Virus

So this is the second Sunday, we have not been able to meet at Church.

Starting Monday at 5pm, the whole State of Louisiana is staying at home to try to save lives from this virus. I thought in the Flood of 2016, we would never have to go through another event that bad, it was unprecedented. But now here we go again.

So we all are trying to find ways to live life in unusual circumstances. For me in the past it has been helpful to journal daily events and thoughts and over time review them. The writing it down helps me to process things and to be more focussed in my efforts. So, why I have put down journaling for about 5 years now, I am ready to start again.

I am hopeful that the task will help me focus on what matters most and also that it creates a avenue to better communicate with others.

In times like we are walking in now, we need creative ways to connect with one another. I am learning in this life we live, we have to schedule time with one another and commit to doing something together with purpose.

I have found my site and how to make the post. So now, it is time to start studying, praying and learning together.

(Puritan study of Richard Sibbes)