Mat 28:18-20And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
How are we to “make disciples”?
Sowing the Seed
Luke 8:5,11“The sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell beside the road, and it was trampled under foot and the birds of the air ate it up … 11 “Now the parable is this: the seed is the word of God.
Rom. 10:17 So faithcomesfrom hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.
Sometimes Christians may become discouraged by the apparent lack of response to the direct telling of the gospel.
It is equally discouraging to see people respond to the gospel and then fall away some time later.
So there is a great temptation, at times, to try devious means to entice people to Christ!
But to employ such:
(i) is to practise deception (like the devil, Rev. 12:9), and
(ii) may cause people to be attracted to the wrong thing (i.e. not to Christ).
Let’s consider four (4) questions this morning:
What tricks may I use to bring others to Jesus?
How should we bring people to Jesus?
Why can’t we modify God’s word to please all people?
Hannah was married to Elkanah, but had been barren her whole life. But through much prayer, she was granted a child by the LORD, and so she became the mother of the child who was to become the prophet Samuel.
She had promised the LORD that once weaned, the child would be given over to the temple in Jerusalem to be raised there: surely a sad day for Hannah. But Hannah, inspired by the Holy Spirit, sings a song of thanksgiving to the LORD, which sets out her gratitude and exaltation in the LORD for this great blessings, and sets the scene for the coming events in the books of Samuel: evil men brought to destruction, the humble and good raised to glory, sin punished and wisdom rewarded.
Hos. 4:1-2 Listen to the word of the LORD, O sons of Israel, For the LORD has a case against the inhabitants of the land, Because there is no faithfulness or kindness Or knowledge of God in the land. 2 There is swearing, deception, murder, stealing and adultery. They employ violence, so that bloodshed follows bloodshed.
2. The danger of Bible ignorance in the home
Prov. 6:20-23 My son, observe the commandment of your father And do not forsake the teaching of your mother; 21 Bind them continually on your heart; Tie them around your neck. 22 When you walk about, they will guide you; When you sleep, they will watch over you; And when you awake, they will talk to you. 23 For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching is light; And reproofs for discipline are the way of life
3. The danger of Bible ignorance in the church
Heb. 5:11-14 Concerning him we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. 12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. 13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.
• Such ignorance leads to a lack of discernment = knowing right and wrong (v. 14)!
o Sadly, people can then fall back into “situation ethics” (i.e., allowing circumstances to justify
breaking God’s commandments).
• Are we growing spiritually as we should? If so … o Eph. 4:14-15 As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; 15 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ,
4. The cure for Bible ignorance.
Jesus gave two important principles: • Mk. 4:24 And He was saying to them, “Take care what you listen to. By your standard of measure it will be measured to you; and more will be given you besides. • Lk. 8:18 “So take care how you listen; for whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has shall be taken away from him.”
• After all, it was completed almost 2,000 years ago.
• And society has changed and progressed so much, even in just the last 50 years (calculators,
computers, phones, internet, etc.)!
• We certainly know that modern textbooks are constantly being updated!
1. The old covenant is obsolete because it has been replaced with the new covenant.
God never intended the OT to be permanent:
– Gal. 3:19 Why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator, untilthe seed would come to whom the promise had been made.
– Gal. 3:24-25 Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.
Heb. 7:12 For when the priesthood is changed, of necessity there takes place a change of law also.
2. The old covenant is obsolete but is not irrelevant.
-1Cor. 10:5-6 Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased; for they were laid low in the wilderness. 6 Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they also craved.
– Lk. 24:25-27 And He said to them, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! 26 “Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?” 27 Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.
3. The whole Bible is the word of God and has not changed.
2Tim. 3:16-17 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.
– 1Co 14:37 If anyone thinks he is a prophet or spiritual, let him recognize that the things which I write to you are the Lord’s commandment.
= Jude 1:3 Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints.
4. Mankind’s need for the word of God has not changed.
Ecc 7:20 Indeed, there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins. Eccl. 12:13-14 The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. 14 For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.
Is the Bible out of date?
• This has not changed today.
• i.e., Every person needs God’s commandments!
• God’s commandments for us today, as we have seen, are in the NT (new covenant).
• Our need for the word of God has not changed!
Rom. 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
• Mankind still needs salvation today.
• The gospel is still the only “power of God for salvation” today.
Zechariah 14 is almost universally used as a “second coming of Christ chapter” but it is a “destruction of Jerusalem (AD 70) and the nations” chapter instead.
In other words, rather than a “second coming of Christ chapter”, Zechariah 14 is a “first coming of Christ chapter”. The context is decisive in proving this.
The Christian walk isn’t always an easy one, the apostle Paul can testify to that, but it is a worthy one. In this sermon we will see that the hardships we encounter not only help strengthen us and build character, it can also help others. Paul compares the Christian with that of a soldier and how we should endure the hardships by putting on our armour in order to defeat the enemy.
Paul’s last written words that we have available to us are recorded in the letter of 2 Timothy. How do we know this was his last letter?
2 Timothy 4:6-8 “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; 8 in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.”
Possibly there were other letters written after this one, but they give no indication of being dated later than this, and it is fairly safe to assume this is Paul’s last recorded writing.
In Paul’s letter to Timothy, we find there to not be a lot of new teaching or complicated ideas. Because it is Paul’s last letter, it is more about final reminders and warnings rather than setting down fresh theology.
The main subjects that Paul goes through come under four main headings:
Remembrance of the ultimate message of the gospel;
Dedication to and suffering for the sake of the gospel;
Warnings against false teachers;
Paul’s personal circumstances; personal examples; and the comfort he took in God;
