Chapter 18-The Great Sin

I now come to that part of Christian morals where they differ most sharply from all other morals. There is one vice of which no man in the world is free; which every one in the world loathes when he sees it in someone else; and of which hardly any people, except Christians, ever imagine that they are guilty themselves. I have heard people admit that they are bad-tempered, or that they cannot keep their heads about girls or drink, or even that they are cowards. I do not think I have ever heard anyone who was not a Christian accuse himself of this vice. And at the same time I have very seldom met anyone, who was not a Christian, who showed the slightest mercy to it in others. There is no fault which makes a man more unpopular, and no fault which we are more unconscious of in ourselves. And the more we have it ourselves, the more we dislike it in others.

The vice I am talking of is Pride or Self-Conceit: and the virtue opposite to it, in Christian morals, is called Humility. You may remember, when I was talking about sexual morality, I warned you that the centre of Christian morals did not lie there. Well, now, we have come to the centre. According to Christian teachers, the essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride. Unchastity anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere fleabites in comparison: it was through Pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind.

Does this seem to you exaggerated? If so, think it over. I pointed out a moment ago that the more pride one had, the more one disliked pride in others. In fact, if you want to find out how proud you are the easiest way is to ask yourself, `How much do I dislike it when other people snub me, or refuse to take any notice of me, or shove their oar in, or patronise me,. or show off ?' The point is that each person's pride is in competition with every one else's pride. It is because I wanted to be the big noise at the party that I am so annoyed at someone else being the big noise. Two of a trade never agree. Now what you want to get clear is that Pride is essentially competitive-is competitive by its very nature-while the other vices are competitive only, so to speak, by accident. Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man. We say that people are proud of being rich, or clever, or good-looking, but they are not. They are proud of being richer, or cleverer, or better-looking than others. If every one else became equally rich, or clever, or good-looking there would be nothing to be proud about. It is the comparison that makes you proud: the pleasure of being above the rest. Once the element of competition has gone, pride has gone. That is why I say that Pride is essentially competitive in a way the other vices are not. The sexual impulse may drive two men into competition if they both want the same girl. But that is only by accident; they might just as likely have wanted two different girls. But a proud man will take your girl from you, not because he wants her, but just to prove to himself that he is a better man than you. Greed may drive men into competition if there is not enough to go round; but the proud man, even when he has got more than he can possibly want, will try to get still more just to assert his power. Nearly all those evils in the world which people put down to greed or selfishness are really far more the result of Pride.

Take it with money: Greed will certainly make a man want money, for the sake of a better house, better holidays, better things to eat and drink. But only up to a point. What is it that makes a man with £10,000 a year anxious to get £20,000 a year? It is not the greed for more pleasure. £10,000 will give all the luxuries that any man can really enjoy. It is Pride-the wish to be richer than some other rich man, and (still more) the wish for power. For, of course, power is what Pride really enjoys: there is nothing makes a man feel so superior to others as being able to move them about like toy soldiers. What makes a pretty girl spread misery wherever she goes by collecting admirers? Certainly not her sexual instinct: that kind of girl is quite often sexually frigid. It is Pride. What is it that makes a political leader or a whole nation go on and on, demanding more and more? Pride again. Pride is competitive by its very nature: that is why it goes on and on. If I am a proud man, then, as long as there is one man in the whole world more powerful, or richer, or cleverer than I, he is my rival and my enemy.

The Christians are right: it is Pride which has been the chief cause of misery in every nation and every family since the world began. Other vices may sometimes bring people together: you may find good fellowship and jokes and friendliness among drunken people or unchaste people. But pride always means enmity - it is enmity. And not only enmity between man and man, but enmity to God.

In God you come up against something which is in every respect immeasurably superior to yourself. Unless you know God as that - and, therefore, know yourself as nothing in comparison -you do not know God at all. As long as you are proud you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking down on things and people: and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you.

That raises a terrible question. How is it that people who are quite obviously eaten up with Pride can say they believe in God and appear to themselves very religious? I am afraid it means they are worshipping an imaginary God. They theoretically admit themselves to be nothing in the presence of this phantom God, but are really all the time imagining how He approves of them and thinks them far better than ordinary people: that is, they pay a pennyworth of imaginary humility to Him and get out of it a pound's worth of Pride towards their fellowmen. I suppose it was of those people Christ was thinking when He said that some would preach about Him and cast out devils in His name, only to be told at the end of the world that He had never known them. And any of us may at any moment be in this death-trap. Luckily, we have a test. Whenever we find that our religious life is making us feel that we are good –above all, that we are better than someone else - I think we may be sure that we are being acted on, not by God, but by the devil. The real test of being in presence of God is, that you either forget about yourself altogether or see yourself as a small, dirty object. It is better to forget about yourself altogether.

It is a terrible thing that the worst of all the vices can smuggle itself into the very centre of our religious life. But you can see why. The, other, and less bad, vices come from the devil working on us through our animal nature. But this does not come through our animal nature at all. It comes direct from Hell. It is purely spiritual: consequently it is far more subtle and deadly. For the same reason. Pride can often be used to beat down the simpler vices. Teachers, in fact, often appeal to a boy's Pride, or, as they call it, his self-respect, to make him behave decently: many a man has overcome cowardice, or lust, or ill-temper by learning to think that they are beneath his dignity - that is, by Pride. The devil laughs. He is perfectly content to see you becoming chaste and brave and self-controlled provided, all the time, he is setting up in you the Dictatorship of Pride-just as he would be quite content to see your chilblains cured if he was allowed, in return, to give you cancer. For Pride is spiritual cancer: it eats up the very possibility of love, or contentment, or even common sense.
Before leaving this subject I must guard against some possible misunderstandings:

1-Pleasure in being praised is not Pride. The child who is patted on the back for doing a lesson well, the woman whose beauty is praised by her lover, the saved soul to whom Christ says 'Well done,' are pleased and ought to be. For here the pleasure lies not in what you are but in the fact that you have pleased someone you wanted (and rightly wanted) to please. The trouble begins when you pass from thinking,, 'I have pleased him; all is well,' to thinking, 'What a fine person I must be to have done it.' The more you delight in yourself and the less you delight in the praise, the worse you are becoming. When you delight wholly in yourself and do not care about the praise at all, you have reached the bottom. That is why vanity, though it is the sort of Pride which shows most on the surface, is really the least bad and most pardonable sort. The vain person wants praise, applause, admiration, too much and is always angling for it. It is a fault, but a child-like and even (in an odd way) a humble fault. It shows that you are not yet completely contented with your own admiration. You value other people enough to want them to look at you. You are, in fact, still human. The real black, diabolical Pride, comes when you look down on others so much that you do not care what they think of you. Of course, it is very right, and often our duty, not to care what people think of us, if we do so for the right reason; namely, because we care so incomparably more what God thinks. But the Proud man has a different reason for not caring. He says 'Why should I care for the applause of that rabble as if their opinion were worth anything? And even if their opinions were of value, am I the sort of man to blush with pleasure at a compliment like some chit of a girl at her first dance? No, I am an integrated, adult personality. All I have done has been done to satisfy my own ideals - or my artistic conscience - or the traditions of my family - or, in a word, because I'm That Kind of Chap. If the mob like it, let them. They're nothing to me.' In this way real thoroughgoing pride may act as a check on vanity; for, as I said a moment ago, the devil loves 'curing' a small fault by giving you a great one. We must try not to be vain, but we must never call in our Pride to cure our vanity.

2-We say in English that a man is 'proud' of his son, or his father, or his school, or regiment, and it may be asked whether 'pride' in this sense is a sin. I think it depends on what, exactly, we mean by 'proud of'. Very often, in such sentences, the phrase 'is proud of means 'has a warm-hearted admiration for'. Such an admiration is, of course, very far from being a sin. But it might, perhaps, mean that the person in question gives himself airs on the ground of his distinguished father, or because he belongs to a famous regiment. This would, clearly, be a fault; but even then, it would be better than being proud simply of himself. To love and admire anything outside yourself is to take one step away from utter spiritual ruin; though we shall not be well so long as we love and admire anything more than we love and admire God.

3-We must not think Pride is something God forbids because He is offended at it, or that Humility is something He demands as due to His own dignity - as if God Himself was proud. He is not in the least worried about His dignity. The point is, He wants you to know Him: wants to give you Himself. And He and you are two things of such a kind that if you really get into any kind of touch with Him you will, in fact, be humble-delightedly humble, feeling the infinite relief of having for once got rid of all the silly nonsense about your own dignity which has made you restless and unhappy all your life. He is trying to make you humble in order to make this moment possible: trying to take off a lot of silly, ugly, fancy-dress in which we have all got ourselves up and are strutting about like the little idiots we are. I wish I had got a bit further with humility myself : if I had, I could probably tell you more about the relief, the comfort, of taking the fancy-dress off -getting rid of the false self, with all its 'Look at me' and 'Aren't I a good boy?' and all its posing and posturing. To get even near it, even for a moment, is like a drink of cold water to a man in a desert."

4-Do not imagine that if you meet a really humble man he will be what most people call 'humble' nowadays: he will not be a sort of greasy, smarmy person, who is always telling you that, of course, he is nobody. Probably all you will think about him is that he seemed a cheerful, intelligent chap who took a real interest in what you said to him. If you do dislike him it will be because you feel a little envious of anyone who seems to enjoy life so easily. He will not be thinking about humility: he will not be thinking about himself at all.
If anyone would like to acquire humility, I can, I think, tell him the first step. The first step is to realise that one is proud. And a biggish step, too. At least, nothing whatever can be done before it. If you think you are not conceited, it means you are very conceited indeed.

Excerpt From: Lewis, C.S. "Mere Christianity." iBooks.
This material may be protected by copyright.

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Original Sin and Total Depravity

"Original sin," meaning sin derived from our origin, is not a biblical phrase (it comes from Augustine), but it does bring into focus the reality of sin in our spiritual system. Original sin does not mean that sin belongs to human nature as such; "God made man upright" (Eccl. 7:29). Nor does it mean that the processes of reproduction and birth are sinful; the uncleanness associated with sexuality in the Law (Lev. 12; 15) was typical and ceremonial, not moral. Rather, "original sin" means that sinfulness marks everyone from birth, in the form of a heart inclined toward sin, prior to any actual sins; this inner sinfulness is the root and source of all actual sins; it is transmitted to us from Adam, our first representative before God. The doctrine of original sin makes the point that we are not sinners because we sin, but we sin because we are sinners, born with a nature enslaved to sin.
The phrase "total depravity" is commonly used to make explicit the implications of original sin. It signifies a corruption of our moral and spiritual nature that is total in principle, although not in degree (for no one is as bad as he or she might be). No part of us is untouched by sin, and no action of ours is as good as it should be. Consequently, nothing we do is ever meritorious in God's eyes. We cannot earn God's favor, no matter what we do; unless grace saves us, we are lost.
Total depravity includes total inability, that is, being without power to believe in God or His word (John 6:44; Rom. 8:7, 8). Paul calls this universal unresponsiveness a form of death; the fallen heart is "dead" (Eph. 2:1, 5; Col. 2:13). As the Westminster Confession (IX. 3) explains, "Man by his fall into a state of sin, hath wholly lost all ability of will to any spiritual good accompanying salvation; so as a natural man, being altogether averse from that good, and dead in sin, is not able by his own strength to convert himself, or to prepare himself thereunto." To this darkness the word of God alone brings light (Luke 18:27; 2 Cor. 4:6).

Hermeneutic 10

10-Bear in mind the Bible's overarching story and its glorious outcome.  While the Bible contains innumerable complexities, in a sense it points to something basic and crystal clear: the story of God's creation and redemption of the world.  God will be enthroned, His people will exult in eternal fellowship with Him and with one another (Rev. 22), and His enemies will come to grief.  A sound hermeneutic works to understand this sacred story better for the sake of human welfare, faithful retelling throughout the world (mission), and God's eternal glory.

In conclusion, hermeneutics, properly understood and practiced, is key to understanding Scripture so that its truth is revealed to its best and highest effect.  To labor at hermeneutics is to acknowledge dependence on Scripture for our salvation.  For it is God's Word written--properly interpreted--that by God's Spirit brings us into fellowship with God through His Word made flesh (John 1:14, 1 John 1:1-3)

Hermeneutic 9

9-Pay attention to genre.  The Bible contains various types of written expression: law, prophecy, song, proverb, history, espistle, Gospel, parable, prayer, and more.  Some books combine more than one genre.  A sound hermeneutic recognizes the universal and binding nature of some biblical statements (such as "You shall not steal"; Deut. 5:19) and proverbial qualitiy of other statements (such as "The fear of the Lord prolongs life, but the years of the wicked will be short"; Prov. 10:27).  Proverbs are statements of general validity, not predictions of what will always happen in every imaginable case.  The symbols of the book of Revelation call for a different hermeneutic than the clear descriptions of ship travel in Acts 27;28.  The Gospel presents Christ in His historical ministry; the NT Epistles assume their readers have received the good news and believed in Jesus.  They do not, therefore tend to repeat or retell the narratives the Gospel relate.  This does not mean that the Epistles discount the importance of Jesus' earthly work and teaching, but that they belong to a different genre with a different aim.

Hermeneutic 8

8-Let Scripture interpret culture rather than the other way around.  Human experience and social conviction can result in distortion of the Bible's teaching.  Some interpreters in the pre-Civil War Southern United States justified slavery from the Bible.  Today, many interpreters, even in church leadership, deny that Christ is the only way to salvation, that the Bible is completely true, that Jesus rose from the dead, and that sexual activity condemned by the Bible is wrong.  In such cases, human cultural consciousness works to control the Bible's message.  Pushing back against such a tendency by following the hermeneutical rules listed here can lead to interpretation that is more faithful to God and His Word rather than to the whims of cultural change.

Hermeneutic 7

7-Be conscious of "the deceitfulness of sin" (Heb. 3:13).  Satan tempted Jesus with a twisted hermeneutic (Matt. 4:6).  Because He had a better interpretation of His situation and of God's Word, Jesus was able to avoid the evil path Satan offered.  Paul wrote to the Corinthians, "I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ". (2 Cor. 11:3).  He had warned them earlier "not to go beyond what is written" (1 Cor. 4:6), advice that many ignored.

Peter warned that "the ignorant and unstable twist" Paul's writings "to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures" (2 Pet. 3:16).  No one likes to be told they are wrong, yet a primary message of Scripture overall is "Repent!"  The Bible presents the major impediment to understanding God's Word as moral, not intellectual.  Our tendency is to suppress the truth by our unrighteousness (cf. Rom. 1:18). (1 Tim. 1:15; James 3:2).  Otherwise, hermeneutics can become and agenda for proving self-righteousness from Bible passages.

Hermeneutic 6

6-Put into practice what Scripture says as understanding unfolds.  The book of James and many statements of Jesus stress not only knowing Scripture but doing it (John 13:17, James 1:22-25).  The Bible poses very big questions and makes ultimate demands. If we insist on total understanding as the condition of commitment to the Lord, we may remain paralyzed indefinitely.  Jesus also said, "One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much"(Luke 16:10).  Even limited understanding may grow rapidly when it is diligently put into practice.  When it is not, both learning and the desire to learn can easily wither.

Hermeneutics 5

5-Let Scripture interpret itself (analogia Scriptura). Many biblical writers and Jesus Himself may be seen "proving" a teaching by appealing to the Bible. Jesus explained the doctrine of the resurrection from Moses (Ex. 3:6; Luke 20:37). He affirmed His identity as Lord by referring to Ps. 110:1 (Luke 20:41-44).  In Romans, Paul verifies and explains his gospel message (which came to be written in the four canonical Gospels) by referring to dozens of OT passages. 

Today, many Bibles have cross-references that point out similarities and convergences between various biblical passages. Cross-references illustrate the principle Scriptura sacra sui ipsius interpres (sacred Scripture interprets itself). When struggling with the meaning of one passage, seek help in related passages.  

Hermeneutics 4

4-Affirm the rule of faith (analogia fidei). Since God is truthful, and Scripture is His Word, the core doctrines of that Word provide a framework for properly interpreting it. A verse that affirms Jesus' humanity does not contradict but complements verses that affirm His divinity. The overarching rule of faith affirms both truths about the Son of God: He is fully man and fully God. 

In other words, there is a unified doctrinal framework within the Bible's claims and teachings hold together. Each passage or part of the Bible draws meaning from that framework, just as it feeds back into that framework to make it fuller and more detailed. There is no single worldwide rule of faith agreed on by all churches. But statements such as the Apostles Creed and the Nicene Creed are widely affirmed as accurate, overarching descriptions of the Bible's teachings. Many churches have confessions and catechisms that summarize their rule of faith. Examples in Reformed churches include the Heidelberg Catechism (1563) and the Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechism (1646). Such statements do not dictate what individual passages say, but they do provide a framework within which to seek Scripture's most likely meaning even as they summarize the teaching of God's Word. 

Hermeneutics 3

3-Let the known interpret the unknown. The correct interpretation of almost all Bible verses is disputed by someone somewhere. The impression arises that Scripture can mean whatever anyone wants it to mean. We may despair of arriving at the right meaning of any of it. 

A souind hermeneutic does not allow what might be unclear or uncertain to cancel out things that the Bible clearly states. The book of Job raises the problem of human suffering-where is God when people hurt? Yet God's seeming absence does not cancel out the biblical truth that He is always with His people, even in the woes. Mary, Jesus' mother, could not understand her pregnancy (Luke 1:34) but trusted in God's word to her through the angel (Luke 1:37).  Some of Jesus' followers doubted even when Jesus rose from the dead (Matt. 28:17), but that did not change Jesus' authority or His followers' commission (28:18-20). 

Difficult Bible passages or teachings are often illuminated by related passages that are less troublesome. In the course of time, understanding often comes that solves the difficulty. 

Hermeneutics 2

2-Seek a personal relationship with the God who gave the Bible and verifies its truth. The Bible is like other books but not completely so. As noted above, it is God's Word. It is holy, meaning it is distinct and set apart from other literature. It not only informs but makes readers who are willing submissive to its message "wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus" (2 Tim. 3:15)

One of Africa's earliest converts to the Christian Faith was baffled by a passage from Is. 53 (Acts 8:30-35). The early evangelist Philip was sent to aid his reading. He began with the problem verses, then "told" him the good news about Jesus" (vs. 35). Then the Ethiopian understood. He was baptized and became a follower of Jesus and "went on his way rejoicing" (v. 39). Scripture had presented him with a problem, which called for understanding that would lead to a personal encounter with the God who gave Scripture. 

Much in the Bible is clear to the well intentioned, literate reader who employs reasonable means to understand it. This is what we mean when we speak of the perspicuity of Scripture. But its deepest aim is to bring readers to the saving knowledge of God, and His Gospel is clear to any who approach the text honestly and in humility. Within this personal relationship, established by God's Spirit through the gospel, gratifying and increasing understanding of Scripture is ensured. 

Hermeneutics 1

1-Read the bible like you read any other book(but see also next point). The Bible is not written in secret code. Its message is saving and sublime, but Bible passages are rightly interpreted by attention to everyday matters like word meaning, grammar, literary structure, and context. We should read it in large blocks rather than snatching fragments here and there. If we want to understand it well, we should read it daily and with our full attention.  All these things are true of any book we would seek to understand closely and well. 

It is quite crucial to read the Bible in context. Taking Bible words out of their context can skew their meaning. If we go to scripture in need of comfort and fixate on Mic. 4:10, "Writhe and groan," we may feel worse needlessly. In context, those are words of rebuke to ancient Judah and only apply to us to the extent that we are rebelling against God like Judah was. The Bible often uses metaphor, hyperbole, and other literary devices to convey its message.  Again, the context helps us see when these devices are being used. A sound hermeneutic is alert to the literary conventions that come into play in the Bible as in all literary expressions. 

Two Types of People in "The Body"

1-The person who engages to much

2-The person who does not engage at all

1-Thinks their gift is the only one that matters (high view of self)

2-Thinks nothing I do can be of  any value (low view of God)

1-Plays God

2-Grieves God

1-Needs to learn humility

2-Needs to learn obedience

1-Doing good ideas, per your view, is not obedience to God

2-Not doing Godly ideas, that God has placed in your heart, is disobedience 

The Body of Christ (SS)

Prayer Request Challenge

Who do you want to see get involved in a person relationship with Jesus and get connect to a church family that can help them?

Opening question

What six descriptive things did the author mention the bible uses to describe the people of God in the New Testament?

(1-a temple, 2-a vine, 3-a flock of sheep, 4-the bride of Christ, 5-the family of God and today's topic the 6-body of Christ). 

What text un packs these ideas? How does our devotional address it?

What are the I AM statements?

Body Questions

A-What scriptures speak to us being the body of Christ?

1-The one the author uses are found in 1 Corinthians 12:12:30

(When we talk about the body we are almost always looking at different members and different gifts so what other 2 places does scripture speak about the gifts God gives the church and how we should steward them?)(Where does the bible speak about us being a good steward?)

2-Romans 12:3-8

3-Ephesians 4:11-16

(Do you see these points in the text? Acts 8:30-31)

1-Unity in Diversity 

We are not our own and God is the purpose giver. (1 Corinthians 12:4-7, 11-14)

There is no real unity in diversity outside of Christ. When God 1-adopts you into His family, 2-puts His seal on you, 3-by causing His Spirit to dwell in you, 4-making you the temple of God, you are a new creation, with new abilities. 

You now have abilities you never had and access to abilities in a way, you previously didn't. This event changes everything for you, now you have a purpose that is greater than anything you ever imagined in your old self. You realize you are part of something way greater than you and have been given and ability to engage in it like never before.  

2-Parabolic Directions

Physical teaching of elementary principles to drive us to understanding the same reality in a spiritual sense. (1 Corinthians 12:15-22)

(If your body was doing these things as an administrator of your body how would your resolve the conflict. )

A-Low View (1 Corinthians 12:15-16)

(Foot want to be like the Hand)(Ear wants to be like the Eye)(Have you ever wish you was like someone else?)(Have you every thought the grass was greener on the other side? had it ever been a struggle for you to be satisfied with what God supplied you with?)

B-Selfish View (1 Corinthians 12:17-19)

(If it was all about the eye where would be the hearing) (If it was all about the hearing where would be the smelling?)(Do you ever wish the world revolved around you?)(Who does it really revolve around?)

C-High View (1 Corinthians 12:20-22)

(The eye tells the hand I don't like you) (The head tells the feet I don't like you)(Have you ever thought if we could get rid of this person or this ministry, we could really thrive?) 

3-TMI

Keep private what needs to be private and make public what needs to be made public. 

(1 Corinthians 12:23-24a, 24b-27) 24b, But God

(Do not neglect your service to neither the private call or the public call God has for you. )

Physical private areas for the Christian is around the waist down toward the knees and the chest. The world is diligently working to encourage liberty in exposing these areas of our physical body. God uses some parts of the body for private building up and other parts for public building up. 

(Charleigh's finger and daddy' belly button.)

Privately our family has fun with her fascination with daddy's belly button, but daddy's belly button isn't for public viewing. )

(We are all in the same boat in one way or another (vs 25). We all have vulnerabilities and one way are another need the help that God supplies through the "ordinary" means of grace that flows through His church that He built upon His rock and His firm foundation.)

(Read two types of extreme mentalities in the body of Christ)

http://dlt-explore.blogspot.com/2015/03/two-types-of-people-in-body.html

B-What does our devotional say about the body?

Who is our author and what points of emphasis does he pull from his text?

C-What do we need to hear from the words of scripture this morning?

What do we need to hear from our devotional?

What do we need to hear from our testimony?

D-Urge to respond faithfully. 

If God is not working in you, you can't do His work, but if He is, you are more than qualified. 

If He is drawing you, respond to that, don't harden your heart. 

The Body of Christ (Devotional Outline)

1-The body of Christ is united in the Spirit (1 Cor. 12:12-20)
(John 17:20-23)
2-The body of Christ is united in suffering and rejoicing (1 Cor. 12:21-26)
(Prov. 18:1)
3-The body of Christ is united in service (1 Cor. 12:27-30)
(Rom. 12-4-8; Eph. 4:4-7, 15-16, 1 Peter 4:10, Mark 10:45)

Author Geoff Ashley, group pastor at The Village Church in Flower Mound, Texas
Memory verse 1 Cor. 3:16-17

David Dockery
Ambrosiaster (circa 315-397)
Augustine (354-430)
Peter Walpot (1521-1578)
Theodoret of Cyr (circa 390-457)

History, timeline, picture

100-500
1517-2017

What is the true church? Are we it? Are part of us it? Who is not it?

Israel Camp

What is the Primary Instrument of God?

If giving two choices is, someone saved by:
1-Someone persuading someone to choose God or
2-by God opening one up to a right understanding of how He saves.

Or consider it this way is someone born again by
1-Choosing to do what God wants them to do or
2-by being created into something new by the work of God, so that they desire to do what God desires, because their nature has become more like Him.

When Jesus spoke about being born again, in John 3, was the reality of it important? Did born again mean (1) in of yourself getting really committed to long term change and discipline of yourself or (2) did it mean that your desires would be changed by God's Spirit bringing forth new life that drives you to acts according to God's precepts, not contrary to them?

If we care about people an we want to be persuasive because we do not want them to perish, how do we do that? How does the bible direct us here? Does it tell us to sell Jesus or share Him? If we don't share Him, what does the scripture teach us that God thinks about that? If we do share and the person doesn't respond positively to God, what do we do? Do we choose to become more persuasive and share more often, pray? Can we save others or is that something God alone is able to do?

Finally in the beginning, I asked is someone's salvation based more on their persuasion of them self, our persuasion of others or God's persuasion. As I consider the big picture of what I know of the bible, I conclude that scripture does not direct us to sell Jesus, but to share who He is and what He has done and can do for us.

I personally love lead pencils. It is my preferred hands on writing device over pens, markers or chalk. But my favorite pencil is of no good to write, if it runs out of lead. I have more and more come to conclude that God saves people by writing on their heart a love letter that radically changes who they are forever. He over and over again does this through the spiritual led pencil of His word and the Church. He also, uses in the same way His Son and the blood.

Going to church (the lead pencil) without the word of God (the lead), is not eternally helpful.  It just serves as a social instrument for temporal benefits.

In the same way, knowing about Jesus (the lead pencil) is not the same as being covered by His purest, redeeming, precious blood, (the permanent lead) that writes God's love story on all that we are.

By what instrument do you see that God primarily used to rescue His people?

I think for many of us that have found our way into the safe harbor of Christ, we fail to realize the primary instrument God used to rescue us. You may ask why do we need to remember it? Well, I am glad you asked that question. We need to remember it because it is how God removed the veil so you could come to Him. It is how He made peace with you a wicked sinner who was His enemy literally hating His ways. The devil would do all he can to get you to forget where the door of rescue was so that you can not point any one else to it. The reason we need to remember the instrumental door God used to rescue us is because it is the only door of hope for others.

Called

1-Do not be ashamed of the Gospel and share in its suffering.

Rely on God's power through it all.

2-No one will serve in something they are ashamed of. 

God does the saving not us, we are just sometimes the conduit. 

3-Submit to sound teaching and guard the freedom to do that for others. 

Favorite Question:

How will you respond when you struggle with submission to the pattern of sound teaching found in God's word?

(my answer-call for an emergency quiet time)

In reality the gospel is foolish to those, who are perishing. It is an offensive thing to submit to. When it is proclaimed in simple terms people either make fun of it and run from it or they are exposed by it and run to it for healing. God never called us to persuasively convince others to come to Him. He commissioned us to spread His message. What they do with it is between them and God, but our job is to be faithful to making the message available in clear and simple terms for as many as possible. 

As believers, we can come to places in our life where, we are ashamed of the Gospel. We can begin to wonder if it has the power to save others like it did us. We can become lazy in renewing our mind in the gospel and His word, opening the door for us to personally devalue the power of the Gospel. We can fail to fully realize that the power of the Gospel far exceeds the power to save us from hell, but also the power to save us from anything. It is not just an admission to be a part of the family of God, but the power to bring Glory to the family of God through our lives. 

Guarding what God has entrusted us with is preserving a glorious foundation for generations to come after you and I. We owe a debt of gratitude to those who were found faithful before us to pass down the purity of the gospel to us. When the history books of God in Heaven or written about you and I, what will it have to say about how we guarded that which was given to us to steward? Will it say that we were men who like Caleb and Joshua rose up to defend the the great ability of God to save among our peers? When everyone else has turned away from the Gospel, what will we do?

Word Count

Reformation Bible Notes

Lev. 13:1–14:57 These chapters contain God's laws concerning unclean skin diseases referred to as "leprous disease" (13:2, 8). Modern physicians recognize here the symptoms of various modern complaints, but we should remember that the biblical classification is based primarily on spiritual rather than hygienic or medical considerations. The key principle in identifying a skin disease as "unclean" was whether the skin seemed to be rotting away, suggesting the spiritual principle of death. Patchy complaints amounted to uncleanness (vv. 9, 10), but a complaint affecting the whole body did not (vv. 12, 13). Stable conditions were clean, but deteriorating ones were unclean (vv. 5–8, 18–37). Similar principles applied to the diagnosis of uncleanness in clothing: progressive mildews were unclean (vv. 47–52), but stable ones were clean (vv. 53–58). The close association of uncleanness with death is shown in 13:45. The person afflicted with a serious skin disease behaved as a mourner (21:10). He was excluded from the camp, not to protect the health of Israel, but because God was in the camp and uncleanness (death) had to be separated from the presence of God (life). See Num. 5:1–4; 12:14–15.

14:2 cleansing. These ceremonies conducted by the priest did not cure skin disease. A diseased person came to the priest after he had been healed (Luke 5:14). The task of the priest was to make the person who had been excluded from the camp, from his people, and from God, ceremonially clean. Through these ceremonial cleansings, which took place in two stages a week apart, the diseased individual was restored to fellowship with God and with His people.
14:3–8 The first stage of cleansing took place outside the camp. The man washed himself and his clothes, and shaved. Two birds were taken. The blood of one was used to purify the man. The death of that bird portrayed the end of the man's old life outside the camp, and the flight to freedom of the other pictured his liberation from the effects of the disease. Then the man might enter the camp again.

14:9–20 In the second cleansing stage, the Israelite was brought back into full communion with God. The ceremonies here resemble the consecration of the priest (ch. 8). The Israelite was daubed with blood and anointed with oil, being linked to the altar, the symbol of God's presence. A variation on this restoration procedure is prescribed for the poor in vv. 21–31.

Clean and Unclean

Unclean, clean, holy. Leviticus also often uses the language of "unclean," "clean," and "holy" differently than today. With "unclean" and "clean," for example, most modern readers are tempted to think of that which is "nonhygienic" or "hygienic." In Leviticus, however, these words do not refer to hygiene at all. Rather, they refer to "ritual states." (The word "holy" is also used in many contexts to describe a ritual state.) Understanding the concept of ritual states is very important to understanding Leviticus as a whole.

Leviticus sets forth three basic ritual states: the unclean, the clean, and the holy. On the one hand, these categories guide the community with reference to the types of actions a person may (or may not) engage in, or the places that a person may (or may not) go. Those who are unclean, e.g., may not partake of a peace offering (7:20), while those who are clean may (7:19). (A modern analogy might be that of registering to vote: a person who is "registered" may vote, whereas a person who is "unregistered" may not.) There is a distinction to be made between "ritual states" and "moral states." One who is in the ritual state of holiness is not necessarily more personally righteous than a person who is simply clean or unclean (just as a person who is "registered" to vote is not necessarily more righteous than a person who is not).

The Holy of Holies

The Ark of the Covenant and the Mercy Seat

Ark of the Covenant

Function and Significance:

A golden rectangular box that contained the Ten Commandments

Symbolized God's covenant with Israel's people

Located in the Most Holy Place

Mercy Seat

Function and Significance:

The lid to the ark of the covenant

Symbolized the presence of God among his people

Exodus Alter of Incense and Veil

Altar of Incense

Function and Significance:

An altar in the holy place in front of the veil

Used for burning God's special incense and symbolic of acceptable prayer

Veil

Function and Significance:

The curtain that divided the two sacred rooms of the tabernacle—the holy place and the Most Holy Place

Symbolized how the people were separated from God because of sin

The Holy Place

Lampstands and Showbread

Lampstands and Lamps

Function and Significance:

A golden lampstand located in the holy place, which held seven burning oil lamps

The lampstand lit the holy place for the priests

Table of Showbread

Function and Significance:

A wooden table located in the holy place of the tabernacle. The showbread and various utensils were kept on this table

Showbread

Function and Significance:

Twelve loaves of baked bread, one for each tribe of Israel

Symbolized the spiritual nourishment God offers his people

Exodus Lavar and Anointing Oil

Laver

Function and Significance:

A large bronze laver outside the tabernacle used by the priests to cleanse themselves before performing their duties

Symbolized the need for spiritual cleansing

Anointing Oil 

Function and Significance:

A special oil used to anoint the priests and all the pieces in the tabernacle

A sign of being set apart for God

The Exodus Altar of Sacrifice

Altar of Burnt Offering

Function and Significance:

The bronze altar outside the tabernacle used for the sacrifices

Symbolized how sacrifice restored one's relationship with God

Exodus Temple Big Picture

KEY TABERNACLE PIECES

KEY TABERNACLE PIECES

Exodus 37:1-29

Ark of the Covenant

Function and Significance:

A golden rectangular box that contained the Ten Commandments

Symbolized God's covenant with Israel's people

Located in the Most Holy Place

Mercy Seat

Function and Significance:

The lid to the ark of the covenant

Symbolized the presence of God among his people

Veil

Function and Significance:

The curtain that divided the two sacred rooms of the tabernacle—the holy place and the Most Holy Place

Symbolized how the people were separated from God because of sin

Table of Showbread

Function and Significance:

A wooden table located in the holy place of the tabernacle. The showbread and various utensils were kept on this table

Showbread

Function and Significance:

Twelve loaves of baked bread, one for each tribe of Israel

Symbolized the spiritual nourishment God offers his people

Lampstands and Lamps

Function and Significance:

A golden lampstand located in the holy place, which held seven burning oil lamps

The lampstand lit the holy place for the priests

Altar of Incense

Function and Significance:

An altar in the holy place in front of the veil

Used for burning God's special incense and symbolic of acceptable prayer

Anointing Oil 

Function and Significance:

A special oil used to anoint the priests and all the pieces in the tabernacle

A sign of being set apart for God

Altar of Burnt Offering

Function and Significance:

The bronze altar outside the tabernacle used for the sacrifices

Symbolized how sacrifice restored one's relationship with God

Laver

Function and Significance:

A large bronze laver outside the tabernacle used by the priests to cleanse themselves before performing their duties

Symbolized the need for spiritual cleansing

Ezra Chart

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B0l8NwKdy76mVGQ1Wk9RekROd28/edit?usp=docslist_api

Gen. 23-24

How old was Isaac when Sarah died? What specific thing did Abraham want for his son's wife? How did Abraham comfort his servants concerns about success in finding a worthy bride? What was the prayer of the servant? How did God answer it? Was Rebekah God's best for Isaac? Was she a snob or a servant? Was Rebekah sensitive to the call of God on her life? Did she feel unfairly forced to marry Isaac? Did both Isaac and Rebekah feel good about the arranged marriage? Who actually arranged it?