Luke 10:38-38 – “Devotion and Distraction”

My sermon notes for Sunday morning, November 12th, these are my personal study notes and not a manuscript of the sermon. They are provided as an outline each week for our Tabernacle Church family. The church provides a live stream of the service each Sunday at 10:30 on Facebook. We also provide the services through YouTube by Sunday afternoon.  You can find Sermon Notes, Family Devotional Guides, Prayer List, and other resources at our Church Website.

Luke 10:38-42

INTRO

  • Follow up on the good Samaritan.
  • Priorities in life
  • Serving and loving
  • Devoted and Distracted

Mary – Devoted

At the feet of Christ

  • Her position
    • Student to a Rabbi
  • Her proximity
    • Listening intently
    • Not questioning like the lawyer Luke 10:25

Listening to His Words – THE WORD

Don Whitney writes,

No Spiritual Discipline is more important than the intake of God’s Word. Nothing can substitute for it. There simply is no healthy Christian life apart from a diet of the milk and meat of Scripture. The reasons for this are obvious. In the Bible God tells us about Himself, and especially about Jesus Christ, the incarnation of God. The Bible unfolds the Law of God to us and shows us how we’ve all broken it. There we learn how Christ died as a sinless, willing Substitute for breakers of God’s Law and how we must repent and believe in Him to be right with God. In the Bible we learn the ways and will of the Lord. We find in Scripture how to live in a way that is pleasing to God as well as best and most fulfilling for ourselves. None of this eternally essential information can be found anywhere else except the Bible. Therefore if we would know God and be Godly, we must know the Word of God—intimately.

Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life [Colorado Springs, Colo.: Navpress, 1991], 24

Love, Listen, Learn, Live

  • Luke 6:47 – Comes, listens, and acts
  • Luke 8:21 – Hear and do.

Martha – Distracted

Loved by Jesus

  • John 11:5

Serving Jesus

  • She opened up here home to serve Jesus.
  • Doing the work of ministry (80/20 rule)
  • 1 Peter 4:9-10 Hospitality

SERVING IS GREAT, but the context tells us there is something going on with her heart

She lost her focus.

  • Distracted in her work
    • “to be dragged away”
    • Priorities are in question
    • Serving is great… BUT
  • Overwhelmed
    • Worry set it. She was anxious
    • Anxious over what needed to be done Philippians 4:6
    • God will provide – Our needs
    • God accepts us in Christ – What will people think
    • God has us forever – What will happen
  • Resentful
    • She lost her joy in serving
    • Took it out on others

Notice how fast it escalated. She opened up her home for Christ and now she is questioning him.

Lessons to Learn

  • Doing ministry is greatly and crucial as we fulfill the Great Commission.
  • We must keep a balance over the Temporal (good things) and the Eternal (Best thing).
  • For those that are busy… we must learn to find as much JOY in BEING with Jesus as we do in BUSYNESS for Jesus.
    • Love, Listen, Learn, Live

What is True Repentance?

2 Chronicles 7:13-14 – When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

1 John 1:7-10 – But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. [10] If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

What is Repentance?

  1. Recognition – [Repentance is] an awareness of having defied God by embracing what He despises and despising what He adores.
  2. Remorse – Repentance is never a pleasure. It always entails pain. It demands brokenness of heart (Ps. 51:17; Isa. 57:15). [It is not] out of fear of reprisal, rather than from a hatred of sin.
  3. Request – We must ask God for forgiveness and for strength.
  4. Repudiation – We must repudiate all sins in question and take active, practical steps to avoid anything that might provoke stumbling.
  5. Reformation – There must be an overt determination to pursue purity, to do what pleases God (1 Thes. 1:9).

Sam Storms

https://www.samstorms.org/all-articles/post/article-10-things-you-should-know-about-repentance

Luke 10:25-37 – “Love Thy Neighbor”

My sermon notes for Sunday morning, November 5th, these are my personal study notes and not a manuscript of the sermon. They are provided as an outline each week for our Tabernacle Church family. The church provides a live stream of the service each Sunday at 10:30 on Facebook. We also provide the services through YouTube by Sunday afternoon.  You can find Sermon Notes, Family Devotional Guides, Prayer List, and other resources at our Church Website.

Luke 10:25-37

INTRO

  • The Parable of the Good Samaritan
  • A great question and a great answer.
  • The wise and the unwise
    • Luke 10:21 – In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. (ESV)
  • The changed heart understands MERCY (From God… to others)

The Lawyer’s Question – vv. 25-29

The lawyer

  • An expert on Jewish law
  • Influential in society
  • Very religious

The age-old question

  • What shall I do to have eternal life?

The man’s heart

  • The context shows us he was testing Jesus.

Jesus answers

  • What is written in the law?
  • The law does not save, but the law shows us that we need to be saved (impossible to do)
  • The law defines true righteousness, only grace can deliver it. The law was given to demonstrate to man their desperate need for grace.
  • The law brings conviction… it points to our sin.

Love God and Love Your Neighbor

  • Deuteronomy 6:5
  • Leviticus 19:18
  • Matthew 22:37-40

Do this and you will live (eternal life)

The Second Question

  • Who is my neighbor?
  • Justifying Himself
  • Trying to limit the law and the responsibility
  • God’s Grace vs. Mans works
    • What can I do?
    • His heart exposed!

Jesus’ Response – vv. 30-37

The Setting

  • Seventeen-mile journey from Jerusalem to Jericho
  • Winding rode through rocky terrain
  • Historically dangerous trip

The Parable

Rather than loosen the definition of “neighbor,” Jesus radically expands it. The Lord tells the story of the good Samaritan (vv. 30–35), a story that blows all the categories of the day. The story

•     features the brokenness of this sinful world (v. 30),

•     exposes the emptiness of religion without love (vv. 31–32),

•     challenges the racism and prejudice we all can feel (v. 33), and

•     requires sacrifice and risk (vv. 34–35).

Thabiti Anyabwile, Exalting Jesus in Luke, Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2018), 182.

The Meaning

  • 2 religious leaders passed by
    • Selfish, Busy, Wrong focus
  • The 3rd was not just a layperson, but a despised Samaritan.
    • Totally gave himself
    • Time, Talent, Treasures
    • Kindness and brotherly love
    • WORDS AND DEEDS

The What Now

  • You go and do likewise.
  • To love God is to love others.
  • Receiving Mercy and Sharing Mercy.
  • It is so much more than saying we are a Christian… It is BEING a Christian.

Roots of the Faith – “The Humanity of Christ”

My notes for Wednesday night, Nov 1st. Remember, these are my personal study notes and not a manuscript of the sermon. They are provided as an outline each week for our Tabernacle Church family. Our study over the next few months will be “The Roots of the Faith.” This study will focus on key biblical truths that will transform our thinking and allow us to faithfully live out the Christian life. You can find Sermon Notes, Family Devotional Guides, Prayer List, and other resources at our Church Website.

Resources for this Study

50 Core Truths of the Christian Faith – Gregg R. Allision

Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine – Wayne Grudem

Biblical Doctrine: A Systematic Summary of Bible Truth  – John MacArthur & Richard Mayhue

Basic Christian DoctrinesCurt Daniel


The Humanity of Christ

The Son of God is the Second Person of the Trinity, equal with the Father and the Holy Spirit. In the incarnation, he took on human nature and became the God-man, one person with two natures.

•     The Son of God is the Second Person of the Trinity, sharing in the one divine nature.

•     Being fully God, the Son is equal with the Father and the Holy Spirit in nature, power, and glory, but he is distinct from them in terms of his eternal relation and roles.

•     Two thousand years ago, the eternal Son of God became incarnate, taking on a full human nature, and became the God-man, Jesus Christ.

•     By the hypostatic union, he is both fully God and fully man, two natures united in one person.

Jesus was born like any other human being.

  • Luke 2:1–7
  • Born of a virgin
    •  The uniting of His full deity and full humanity
    • Sinless Matthew 1:18

He grew and matured like others.

  • Luke 2:40, 51–52

He had normal physical needs.

  • John 4:6; John 19:28; Matthew 4:2
  • Hunger, thirsty, tired

He expressed common human emotions.

  • John 12:27; 13:21

He enjoyed the kind of relationships that are characteristic of human beings.

  • John was “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (John 21:7, 20), one of Jesus’s three closest friends (Peter, James, and John; Mark 5:37; 9:2; 14:33).
  • Jesus spent three years of ministry with the Twelve (Matt. 10:1–4), and had close friendships with women (Luke 8:1–2), including Mary and Martha (John 11:1–41).
  • And Jesus was “a friend of tax collectors and sinners” (Matt. 11:19; cf. 9:10–11).

He physically suffered and died.

  • John 19:34

Because the Son of God is the fully divine Second Person of the Trinity, he is worshiped together with the Father and the Holy Spirit. As they are, so the Son is worthy of honor, thanksgiving, obedience, trust, and service.

What’s at stake in this doctrine? Our salvation! The God-man, sent by the Father to accomplish salvation, is the unique mediator between God and his fallen image-bearers. Only he as the fully divine Son could pay the infinite penalty for sin. Only he as the fully human Son incarnate could be the perfect substitute for sinful human beings. He and he alone is the Savior in whom God’s people trust for their salvation. And through the Son we enjoy a personal relationship with the living God![1]


[1] Gregg R. Allison, 50 Core Truths of the Christian Faith: A Guide to Understanding and Teaching Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books: A Division of Baker Publishing Group, 2018), 147–153.

John 6:35-40 “Jesus is the Bread of Life”

My sermon notes for Sunday morning, October29th, these are my personal study notes and not a manuscript of the sermon. They are provided as an outline each week for our Tabernacle Church family. The church provides a live stream of the service each Sunday at 10:30 on Facebook. We also provide the services through YouTube by Sunday afternoon.  You can find Sermon Notes, Family Devotional Guides, Prayer List, and other resources at our Church Website.

John 6:35-40

INTRO

  • The Lord’s Supper this morning.
  • The Body.  The blood
  • The Cross.  Our redemption.
  • “I am the bread of life” is the first in a series of such declarations that are peculiar to this gospel (8:12; 10:7, 11; 11:25; 14:6; 15:1[1]
  • A PICTURE OF THE GOSPEL

JESUS – REDEMPTION

I AM

Moses – Exodus 3:14

He is God.  He came to make all things new. He fulfills the OT promises.

  • Manna – Jesus
  • Moses – Jesus (True Redeemer)
  • Temple – Jesus (where God meets man)
  • Jacob’s ladder – Jesus (true stairway to heaven)
  • Bronze serpent – Jesus (lifted up on the cross)

The Bread of life

  • Just feet the 5000
  • Bread is necessary for life
  • Daily need (Give us our daily bread. Matt 6:9-13)
  • He is signifying a spiritual bread
  • COMPLETE SATISFACTION
  • The HEART of the issue. Spiritual need
  • Lost, Separated. Sin
  • Matt. 4:4 – Man shall not live on bread alone, but every word that comes from the mouth of God.

MAN – SEPARATION

Whoever comes to me… Believes in me

  • The Gospel demands a response.
  • Human responsibility

Repentance and Faith

  • Whoever comes to me
    • Shall never hunger
  • Whoever believes
    • Shall never thirst

GOD – RESTORATION

Because all that the Father gives me will come to me.

  • The work of the Holy Spirit through the Gospel
  • God’s Sovereignty

6:37 All that the Father gives Me will come to Me. This verse emphasizes the sovereign will of God in the selection of those who come to Him for salvation (cf. vv. 44, 65; 17:6, 12, 24). The Father has predestined those who would be saved (see notes on Rom. 8:29, 30; Eph. 1:3–6; 1 Pet. 1:2). The absolute sovereignty of God is the basis of Jesus’ confidence in the success of His mission (see note on v. 40; cf. Phil. 1:6). The security of salvation rests in the sovereignty of God, for God is the guarantee that “all” He has chosen will come to Him for salvation. The idea of “gives Me” is that every person chosen by God and drawn by God (v. 44) must be seen as a gift of the Father’s love to the Son. The Son receives each “love gift” (v. 37), holds on to each (v. 39), and will raise each to eternal glory (vv. 39, 40). No one chosen will be lost (see notes on Rom. 8:31–39). This saving purpose is the Father’s will that the Son will not fail to do perfectly (v. 38; cf. 4:34; 10:28, 29; 17:6, 12, 24).

John F. MacArthur Jr., The MacArthur Bible Commentary (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2005), John 6:37.

From our human and limited perspective, we cannot see how divine sovereignty and human responsibility can work together; but from God’s perspective, there is no conflict. When a church member asked Charles Spurgeon how he reconciled these two, he replied, “I never try to reconcile friends.” It is the Father’s will that sinners be saved (1 Tim. 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9) and that those who trust Christ be secure in their salvation. Believers receive eternal life and Jesus can never lose them.

Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 312.

Whoever comes to me I will never cast out

  • Adopted into the family of God.
  • Loving, Nourishing, Cherishing.

This is God’s Will (plan)

  • IN THE BEGINNING GOD CREATED!

I should lose nothing that He has given

  • Hold, Protect
    • Security and Perseverance

Raise it up on the last day

  • Keeping the End in mind.
    • Life in the midst of death

v. 40 – For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.

Looks and Believes

  • His sovereignty and our faith
  • “Intellectually harmonizing the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man is impossible humanly speaking, but perfectly resolved in the infinite mind of God” John MacArthur

[1] Kenneth L. Barker, Expositor’s Bible Commentary (Abridged Edition: New Testament) (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1994), 316.

Knowing the Bible Series- Crossway

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Knowing the Bible Series – Crossway

Roots of the Faith – The Deity of Christ

My notes for Wednesday night, Oct 25th. Remember, these are my personal study notes and not a manuscript of the sermon. They are provided as an outline each week for our Tabernacle Church family. Our study over the next few months will be “The Roots of the Faith.” This study will focus on key biblical truths that will transform our thinking and allow us to faithfully live out the Christian life. You can find Sermon Notes, Family Devotional Guides, Prayer List, and other resources at our Church Website.

Resources for this Study

50 Core Truths of the Christian Faith – Gregg R. Allision

Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine – Wayne Grudem

Biblical Doctrine: A Systematic Summary of Bible Truth  – John MacArthur & Richard Mayhue

Basic Christian DoctrinesCurt Daniel


The Deity of Christ

The Son of God is the Second Person of the Trinity, equal with the Father and the Holy Spirit. In the incarnation, he took on human nature and became the God-man, one person with two natures.

MAIN THEMES

•     The Son of God is the Second Person of the Trinity, sharing in the one divine nature.

•     Being fully God, the Son is equal with the Father and the Holy Spirit in nature, power, and glory, but he is distinct from them in terms of his eternal relation and roles.

•     Two thousand years ago, the eternal Son of God became incarnate, taking on a full human nature, and became the God-man, Jesus Christ.

•     By the hypostatic union, he is both fully God and fully man, two natures united in one person.

•     This classical Christology stands opposed to various heresies, both early and modern.

•     The Son is worthy of worship, obedience, trust, and service.[1]

His Deity

Divine Titles

  • Mark 1:9-11; John 3:16

Divine References

  • Titus 2:13; 2 Peter 1:1; Hebrews 1:8

Divine Nature

  • John 10:30; Hebrews 1:3; Philippians 2:6

Divine Attributes

  • Omnipresence – Matthew 28:20
  • Omniscience – Matthew 26:20-25, 30-35
  • Authority – Matthew 28:18

Divine Activities

  • Creating – John 1:3; Colossians 1:16
  • Sustaining – Colossians 1:17
  • Judging – John 5:22,27; Acts 17:31
  • Forgiving sins -Mark 2:10
  • Granting Eternal life – John 5:21; 10:28
  • His Miracles – The “7 signs” in John’s Gospel.

[1] Gregg R. Allison, 50 Core Truths of the Christian Faith: A Guide to Understanding and Teaching Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books: A Division of Baker Publishing Group, 2018), 147–148.

Luke 10:1-24 – “Called and Sent”

Luke 10:1-24

INTRO

  • The disciples have been called and sent
  • The 72 going out, then return
  • We too have been called and sent
  • It is really a pretty simple formula to live out ourselves

Actively Live for the Lord – vv. 1-2

Willing and Sent

  • Luke 9:23
  • Luke 9:57-62 (last week)

Praying

  • For our Availability
    • Stay on mission (Passion and Focus)
  • For Gospel Opportunity

Anticipate the battle – vv. 3-4

Facing the enemy

  • Wolves – Spiritual enemies
  • John 10:7-18

Depending on the Lord

  • Sheep
  • Protection & provision (take nothing)

Preach the truth of the Gospel – vv. 5-16

Peace (for those that receive)

  • Received as a messenger from God
  • They had nothing
  • Others supported
  • God uses our means to help with the spread of the Gospel

Judgment (for those that reject)

  • No middle ground. REPENTANCE
  • All the cities (OT and NT) rejected God
  • Either for or against
  • RECEIVE and BELIEVE John 1:12

Rejoice in the Lord – vv. 17-24

Evil is overcome

  • The power of the Apostles message
  • Demons then, Satan later
  • The Gospel today… delivering sinners to saints

Our Salvation

  • Nevertheless – v. 20
  • Reality of our salvation. Who we are in Christ
  • The danger of the DOING over the BEING
  • Finding our joy in who we are, rather than on what we are doing.

God’s Sovereign rule

  • He is Lord of all
    • Works behind the scenes
    • Opens minds and eyes
  • Redemptive history
    • Old and New Covenants
    • HE HAS MADE A WAY
    • The timeline of the Gospel
  • Jesus is the way, truth and life John 14:6