Bible Study

19 My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back,

20 let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins. - James 5:19-20

2 And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

3 And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. - Daniel 12:2-3

18 She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her; those who hold her fast are called blessed. 

19 The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding he established the heavens; 

20 by his knowledge the deeps broke open, and the clouds drop down the dew. 

21 My son, do not lose sight of these- keep sound wisdom and discretion, 

22 and they will be life for your soul and adornment for your neck. 

23 Then you will walk on your way securely, and your foot will not stumble. 

24 If you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet. 

25 Do not be afraid of sudden terror or of the ruin of the wicked, when it comes, 

26 for the LORD will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught. 

27 Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it.  - Proverbs 3:18-27

18 What then is my reward? That in my preaching I may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.

19 For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them.

20 To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law.

21 To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law.

22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.

23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings. - 1 Corinthians 9:18-23

Allow God to Use You

BIBLE MEDITATION

“Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him.” Acts 8:35

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT

Philip was participating in a large revival in Samaria. People were being saved and baptized. But suddenly he is called away—Acts 8:26-29 tells what happened:

“Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” …So he arose and went. And behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, and had come to Jerusalem to worship, was returning. And sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet. Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and overtake this chariot.”

Philip ran to him, heard him reading a prophecy in Isaiah about the coming Messiah, and explained the passage to him. Read the rest of the account in Acts 8:30-37.

Returning home from to Jerusalem, the most religious city on earth, the Ethiopian had come away empty. Now when the Holy Spirit sees he's ready, He looks for a man, in this case Philip, whose heart is committed to the Spirit’s mission. And the Holy Spirit gets Philip and the Ethiopian together. Salvation takes place!

ACTION POINT

The Bible says the eyes of the Lord are searching, looking for men, women, boys, and girls He can use. Are some folks being used of God, but you're not? Get yourself usable. Be completely available to Him, and God will wear you out.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Church Growth God’s Way

It is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. (Romans 9:8)

Picture the Old Testament Abraham as a pastor. The Lord says, “I will bless you and prosper your ministry.” But the church is barren and bears no children.

What does Abraham do? He begins to despair of supernatural intervention. He is getting old. His wife remains barren. So he decides to bring about God’s promised son without supernatural intervention. He has sex with Hagar his wife’s handmaid (Genesis 16:4). However, the result is not a “child of the promise,” but a “child of the flesh,” Ishmael.

God stuns Abraham by saying, “I will give you a son by her [your wife Sarah]” (Genesis 17:16). So Abraham cries out to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!” (Genesis 17:18). He wants the work of his own natural, human effort to be the fulfillment of God’s promise. But God says, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son” (Genesis 17:19).

But Sarah is 90 years old. She has been barren all her life, and she has already passed through menopause (Genesis 18:11). Abraham is 100. The only hope for a child of promise is stunning, supernatural intervention.

That is what it means to be a “child of the promise” — to be born “not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:13). The only children that count for children of God in this world are supernaturally begotten children of promise. In Galatians 4:28 Paul says, “You [Christians], like Isaac, are children of promise.” You are “born according to the Spirit,” not according to the flesh (Galatians 4:29).

Think of Abraham as a pastor again. His church is not growing the way he believes God promised. He is weary of waiting for supernatural intervention. He turns to the “Hagar” of mere human devices, and decides he can “attract people” without the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit.

However, it will not be a church of Isaacs, but Ishmaelites — children of the flesh, not children of God. God save us from this kind of fatal success. By all means work. But always look to the Lord for the decisive, supernatural work. “The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the Lord” (Proverbs 21:31).

John Piper 

Bible Study

23 and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive.

24 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see."

25 And he said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!

26 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?"

27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. - Luke 24:23-27

2 And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures,

3 explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, "This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ." - Acts 17:2-3

27 And when he wished to cross to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, he greatly helped those who through grace had believed,

28 for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures that the Christ was Jesus. - Acts 18:27-28

And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus. - Acts 5:42

You Are a Temple

BIBLE MEDITATION

“Epaphras, who is one of you, a bondservant of Christ, greets you, always laboring fervently for you in prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.” Colossians 4:12

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT

To “stand perfect and complete in all the will of God” will mean you are not only under His control, but subject to Him. Some people think being filled with the Spirit is like being filled with a substance, like intelligence, or enthusiasm. Or like a vessel being filled with water; that God’s Holy Spirit is poured into the vessel and the vessel is filled.

That’s not quite the idea in the Bible. The Holy Spirit is not a substance; the Holy Spirit is a Person. When the Bible says “being filled with the Spirit,” it means our bodies are a temple, a dwelling, and the Holy Spirit is the person possessing every room, holding the key to every closet. It means we are in submission to the Holy Spirit.

ACTION POINT

Some people don’t understand this. They talk about wanting more of the Holy Spirit. The problem is not for you to get more of the Holy Spirit, for the Bible says God doesn’t give His Spirit by measure. You have all the Holy Spirit you’re ever going to get. At salvation, you have Him within you. But when you’re filled, He has all of you. Let the Holy Spirit have full sway in you. Turn everything over to the Holy Spirit.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Six Things It Means to Be in Christ Jesus

[God] saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began. (2 Timothy 1:9)

Being “in Christ Jesus” is a stupendous reality. It is breathtaking to be united to Christ. Bound to Christ.

If you are “in Christ” listen to what it means for you:

In Christ Jesus you were given grace before the world was created. Second Timothy 1:9, “He gave us grace in Christ Jesus before the ages began.”

In Christ Jesus you were chosen by God before creation. Ephesians 1:4, “[God] chose us in [Christ] before the foundation of the world.”

In Christ Jesus you are loved by God with an inseparable love. Romans 8:38–39, “I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

In Christ Jesus you were redeemed and forgiven for all your sins. Ephesians 1:7, “In [Christ] we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses.”

In Christ Jesus you are justified before God and the righteousness of God in Christ is imputed to you. Second Corinthians 5:21, “For our sake [God] made [Christ] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

In Christ Jesus you have become a new creation and a son of God. Second Corinthians 5:17, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” Galatians 3:26, “In Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.”

I pray that you will never grow weary of exploring and exulting in the inexhaustible privilege of being “in Christ Jesus.”

John Piper 

Bible Study

13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,

14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. - Colossians 1:13-14

To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. - Colossians 1:27

4 Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?

5 But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed.

6 He will render to each one according to his works:

7 to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life;

8 but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.

9 There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, - Romans 2:4-9

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. - Romans 3:24-25