Shalom Aleichem...
Reflections is a weekly Christian Teaching Ministry. Each week we will talk about the Bible and lessons we can put to use in our daily life. We will try to, on a weekly basis, provide to you stories, thoughts, and just easy ways to live your life on a straight path.
THIS WEEK'S TEACHING....April 6, 2020
Before we begin, I want to remind you to have your Bibles ready to look up the Scripture we are going to focus on this week. I want you to be able to have the Scripture in front of you and read it as you go through the teachings. In class we do this regularly and so it will be this week in Reflections. Please get used to having your Bible ready when you read these teachings as that is the only way you will be able to learn God's Word through the teachings we do each week:)
Sunday, is traditionally known as Palm Sunday, the Sunday before Jesus was crucified, buried and raised. This day is celebrated as the day of Jesus' Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem. I hope you have a Bible handy and will follow along. We will look at several passages of scripture in our lesson. The first part of this message is to build understanding and the second part is to make application.
Just a few days before the events of that Sunday (John 11 records) Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead.
The Jewish leaders are all upset and have decided to put Jesus to death. They see Jesus as a threat to themselves and to their delicate political relationship with the Roman authorities. Look at John 11:45-12:19.
Notice that during Jesus ride into Jerusalem many are bearing witness to the miracle of Lazarus being raised from the dead. What have the religious authorities concluded about Jesus?
It was official. In their minds Jesus had to die. Jesus knew this. This is why he came. It was his purpose. Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world was about to be sacrificed.
Knowing this, Jesus did what the Old Testament prophets said he would do. He rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. Look with me at Zechariah 9:9, 11:12-13, 12:10-11, 13:7-9. Look at Psalms 22:1, 7-8, 15-18. Isaiah 53:3-12. All these prophets wrote centuries before Jesus came to us as a baby. Jesus fulfilled them all.
Jesus was doing what the Father had planned, prophesied and prepared for him to do. Acts 2:22-32.
Ever since God delivered Israel from Egypt and set them free from slavery to Pharaoh, the Jews were to keep the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread to remember their redemption by God. This is still going on today! All over the world, Jewish people will gather this week to eat what they call the Seder meal, or Passover meal and celebrate seven days of the feast that follows. Exodus 12 records this event: when it began, what it means and how it was to be practiced thereafter.
Jesus arrived in Bethany and rode a donkey's colt into Jerusalem just at the prophets had said. He was celebrated by multitudes as the coming king! This all happened right as preparations were being made for the Passover and thousands of Jewish pilgrims were present. The King comes! The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!
Along with all these people there were hundreds or possibly thousands of lambs brought to be sacrifices for Passover. Jesus entered Jerusalem to be our sacrifice. The blood of bulls and goats could never take away sins. Jesus, the true Sacrifice, fulfilled the purpose of them all. They were a mere shadow of Him. Jesus is the one true sacrifice for sin pictured by all the rest.
So how can we apply this teaching to our own lives...
Please have your Bible at Luke’s record of this triumphal entry: 19:28-48. Take a few minutes and read the Scripture and then return to the teaching:)
For our application to this passage I want us to look at how we can be more like Jesus.
Jesus knows what he will face as he comes into Jerusalem. He knows who he is and what God wants him to do and he is willing to pay however much it will cost him. He is committed to the will of the Father above all else as he fulfills God’s word and gives his life for you and me.
Here are a couple of questions I would like to ask you all....
1. Do you know who you are?
Do you accept the full responsibility of being created in God’s image and likeness? Do you know any people who are in the darkness who need to see the light? Read Peter’s words: 1 Peter 2:9-12. Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt loses it’s saltiness, it is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trodden under foot by men. You are the light of the world… let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”
Do you know that you are the salt of the earth, the light of the world, the chosen people of God?
2. Do you know what God wants you to do?
Do you accept God’s mission for your life? The great commandments and the great commission sum up the whole purpose of God for your life and my life. Jesus declares them both to us and he expects us to put his words into practice. Jesus himself said, “Whoever hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man that built his house on a rock… Whoever hears Jesus words and does not do them is like a foolish man who builds his house on the sand…
The question is: what did Jesus tell us to do? That’s what God wants us to do.
3. Are you willing to pay the price?
Jesus was. He gives us an example so that we can follow in his steps. Read, Mark 8:34-38.
Does Jesus really mean this? Is this just something he wanted those disciples back then to do or does this apply to you and me today? Are we to pick up our cross eacd day? Jesus’ gave his life… he gave his life. If Jesus is my example, what am I supposed to do? What is the price of my being a follower of Jesus Christ?
Jesus fulfilled everything God willed for him to do. He knew who he was, he knew his Father’s will, and he paid the price… he performed the will of God… he fulfilled the mission and became our Lord and Savior by dying on the cross, being buried, and raised to eternal glorious life.
Jesus invites you and me to join him. All who will hear and obey may come and receive salvation.
May God Bless you all this Easter Season:)
DID YOU EVER WONDER???
Children's Prayers....
A mother was teaching her 3-year-old the Lord's prayer. For several evenings at bedtime she repeated it after her mother. One night she said she was ready to solo. The mother listened with pride as she carefully enunciated each word, right up to the end of the prayer. "Lead us not into temptation," she prayed, "but deliver us some e-mail, Amen."
A woman invited some people over for dinner. At the table she turned to her six-year-old daughter and said, "Would you like to say the blessing?" The girl replied, "I wouldn't know what to say." "Just say what you heard Mommy say," the mother answered. The daughter bowed her head and said, "Lord, why on earth did I invite all these people to dinner?
A 5 year old boy was sitting down to eat when his mother asked him to pray for his meal. He replied, "Mom we don't have to. We prayed over this last night." His mother had prepared leftovers from the day before.
A 4-year-old boy who was asked to return thanks before Christmas dinner. The family members bowed their heads in expectation. He began his prayer, thanking God for all his friends, naming them one by one. Then he thanked God for Mommy, Daddy, brother, sister, Grandma, Grandpa, and all his aunts and uncles. Then he began to thank God for the food. He gave thanks for the turkey, the dressing, the fruit salad, the cranberry sauce, the pies, the cakes, even the Cool Whip. Then he paused, and everyone waited--and waited. After a long silence, the young fellow looked up at his mother and asked, "If I thank God for the broccoli, won't he know that I'm lying?"
A daddy was listening to his child say his prayer "Dear Harold," At this, dad interrupted and said, "Wait a minute, "How come you called God, Harold? The little boy looked up and said, "That's what they call Him in church. You know the prayer we say, "Our Father, who art in Heaven, Harold be Thy name."
One night Mike's parents overheard this prayer. "Now I lay me down to rest, and hope to pass tomorrow's test, if I should die before I wake, that's one less test I have to take."
A five-year-old said grace at family dinner one night. "Dear God, thank you for these pancakes." When he concluded, his parents asked him why he thanked God for pancakes when they were having chicken. He smiled and said, "I thought I'd see if He was paying attention tonight."
A little boy's prayer: "Dear God, please take care of my daddy and my mommy and my sister and my brother and my doggy and me. Oh, please take care of yourself, God. If anything happens to you, we're gonna be in a big mess."
Johnny had been misbehaving and was sent to his room. After a while he emerged and informed his mother that he had thought it over and then said a prayer. "Fine," said the pleased mother. "If you ask God to help you not misbehave, He will help you." "Oh, I didn't ask Him to help me not misbehave," said Johnny. I asked Him to help you put up with me."
A little boy was overheard praying: "Lord, if You can't make me a better boy, don't worry about it. I'm having a real good time like I am!"
A little boy was saying his bedtime prayers with his mother: "Lord, bless Mommy and Daddy, and God, GIVE ME A NEW BICYCLE!!!" Mom: "God's not deaf, son." Boy: "I know, Mom, but Grandma's in the next room, and she's hard of hearing!
Little Johnny was softly saying his night prayers kneeling down, and his mother was beside him. "Say your prayers louder, darling, I can't hear you," Said Little Johnny's mother. "But I'm not talking to you" was the instant reply.
One Sunday in a Midwest city a young child was "acting up" during the morning worship hour. The parents did their best to maintain some sense of order in the pew but were losing the battle. Finally the father picked the little fellow up and walked sternly up the aisle on his way out. Just before reaching the safety of the foyer the little one called loudly to the congregation, "Pray for me! Pray for me!"
And this particular four-year-old prayed: "And forgive us our trash baskets as we forgive those who put trash in our baskets."
BOOKS OF THE BIBLE...A TEACHING
This week we begin to look at the many questions I have been asked over the past several months...
"Can a Christian lose salvation?"
First, the term Christian must be defined. A “Christian” is not a person who has said a prayer or walked down an aisle or been raised in a Christian family. While each of these things can be a part of the Christian experience, they are not what makes a Christian. A Christian is a person who has fully trusted in Jesus Christ as the only Savior and therefore possesses the Holy Spirit (John 3:16; Acts 16:31; Ephesians 2:8–9).
So, with this definition in mind, can a Christian lose salvation? It’s a crucially important question. Perhaps the best way to answer it is to examine what the Bible says occurs at salvation and to study what losing salvation would entail:
A Christian is a new creation. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). A Christian is not simply an “improved” version of a person; a Christian is an entirely new creature. He is “in Christ.” For a Christian to lose salvation, the new creation would have to be destroyed.
A Christian is redeemed. “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect” (1 Peter 1:18–19). The word redeemed refers to a purchase being made, a price being paid. We were purchased at the cost of Christ’s death. For a Christian to lose salvation, God Himself would have to revoke His purchase of the individual for whom He paid with the precious blood of Christ.
A Christian is justified. “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). To justify is to declare righteous. All those who receive Jesus as Savior are “declared righteous” by God. For a Christian to lose salvation, God would have to go back on His Word and “un-declare” what He had previously declared. Those absolved of guilt would have to be tried again and found guilty. God would have to reverse the sentence handed down from the divine bench.
A Christian is promised eternal life. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Eternal life is the promise of spending forever in heaven with God. God promises, “Believe and you will have eternal life.” For a Christian to lose salvation, eternal lifewould have to be redefined. The Christian is promised to live forever. Does eternal not mean “eternal”?
A Christian is marked by God and sealed by the Spirit. “You also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory” (Ephesians 1:13–14). At the moment of faith, the new Christian is marked and sealed with the Spirit, who was promised to act as a deposit to guarantee the heavenly inheritance. The end result is that God’s glory is praised. For a Christian to lose salvation, God would have to erase the mark, withdraw the Spirit, cancel the deposit, break His promise, revoke the guarantee, keep the inheritance, forego the praise, and lessen His glory.
A Christian is guaranteed glorification. “Those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified” (Romans 8:30). According to Romans 5:1, justification is ours at the moment of faith. According to Romans 8:30, glorification comes with justification. All those whom God justifies are promised to be glorified. This promise will be fulfilled when Christians receive their perfect resurrection bodies in heaven. If a Christian can lose salvation, then Romans 8:30 is in error, because God could not guarantee glorification for all those whom He predestines, calls, and justifies.
A Christian cannot lose salvation. Most, if not all, of what the Bible says happens to us when we receive Christ would be invalidated if salvation could be lost. Salvation is the gift of God, and God’s gifts are “irrevocable” (Romans 11:29). A Christian cannot be un-newly created. The redeemed cannot be unpurchased. Eternal life cannot be temporary. God cannot renege on His Word. Scripture says that God cannot lie (Titus 1:2).
Two common objections to the belief that a Christian cannot lose salvation concern these experiential issues: 1) What about Christians who live in a sinful, unrepentant lifestyle? 2) What about Christians who reject the faith and deny Christ? The problem with these objections is the assumption that everyone who calls himself a “Christian” has actually been born again. The Bible declares that a true Christian will not live a state of continual, unrepentant sin (1 John 3:6). The Bible also says that anyone who departs the faith is demonstrating that he was never truly a Christian (1 John 2:19). He may have been religious, he may have put on a good show, but he was never born again by the power of God. “By their fruit you will recognize them” (Matthew 7:16). The redeemed of God belong “to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God” (Romans 7:4).
Nothing can separate a child of God from the Father’s love (Romans 8:38–39). Nothing can remove a Christian from God’s hand (John 10:28–29). God guarantees eternal life and maintains the salvation He has given us. The Good Shepherd searches for the lost sheep, and, “when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home” (Luke 15:5–6). The lamb is found, and the Shepherd gladly bears the burden; our Lord takes full responsibility for bringing the lost one safely home.
Jude 24–25 further emphasizes the goodness and faithfulness of our Savior: “To Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.”
Next Week, we continue to visit the questions you have asked in hopes of bringing you all closer to the Lord:)
HAVE A SAFE AND BLESSED WEEK:)
Ho'omaikaʻi ka Pua iā kākou