His Love Ministries
Episodes
Wednesday Jun 24, 2015
ROMANS 1:6-10 PAUL GIVES THANKS FOR THE ROMANS
Wednesday Jun 24, 2015
Wednesday Jun 24, 2015
Romans
1:6 among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ; 7 To all who are in
Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our
Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 8 First, I thank my God through Jesus
Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. 9
For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son,
that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers, 10 making
request if, by some means, now at last I may find a way in the will of God to
come to you.
1.
The people of Rome
Our practice
always comes from our position or who we are
Note the repetition of the word called: Paul was called to be an
apostle; the believers were the called of Jesus Christ;
They were also called beloved– This
means they are much loved by God, the much loved are those who have trusted
Christ and are also the saints
And they were also called saints. (Not “to be” saints; they already
were saints! A saint is a set-apart one, and the person who trusts Jesus Christ
is set apart and is a saint.) Salvation is not something that we do for God; it
is God who calls us in His grace (2Thes. 2:13–14). When you trust Christ, you
are saved by His grace and you experience His peace.
Saint is a common term for believer in
the New Testament. It refers more to position than condition when used this
way, though the implication of holiness is strong. We are saints even though we
still sin
The salutation reveals the
germ ideas that the writer proceeded to develop later. This feature is also
characteristic of Paul's other epistles. So far Paul said he had a message that
was in harmony with the Old Testament. It was from the risen Christ, and it was
for all people. Furthermore it should lead people to obey God by exercising
faith in Him.
It was common for Paul,
having greeted the recipients of the letter, to move on to a somewhat lengthy
note of thanksgiving and prayer for the church in question (except in Galatians
where he is constrained to move immediately to the question of the gospel).
Such is the case here in Romans 1:8-15.
He Expressed His Care For
Them (Rom. 1:8–15)
1.
He was thankful for them or Paul praises the
Romans
The personal
pronoun my
reminds one of similar expressions in the Psalms (3:7; 5:2; 13:3; 22:1; cf.
Also Phil 1:3; Philemon 4) and reflects Paul’s deep personal relationship and
dependence on God.
The first thing he wanted to do was to tell them how
thankful he was for their faith and its influence.
Through Jesus
Christ. Christ
is the center of God’s plan for the world: He is the way in which God reached
out to us and the way we in turn approach God
“Paul expressed
his thanks for the Romans salvation and witness in the whole world
Rome was the center of the world and whatever happened there
became known throughout the world
The whole world”— a hyperbole meaning throughout the Roman Empire, meaning the
whole Roman Empire—knew of the faith of the Christians at Rome. Travel was
relatively common in that day and “all roads led to Rome.” It is no wonder that
the testimony of the church spread abroad, and this growing witness made Paul’s
ministry easier as he went from place to place, and was able to point to this testimony
going out from the heart of the Roman Empire.
It was like living
in Washington DC, Las Vegas, and San Franscisco all rolled into one
2.
Paul prays for the Romans
V9 The statement God…is my witness is a very strong expression, used
by the apostle on other occasions. It probably represents an oath he had taken
to pray for the church with great constancy (2 Cor 11:23; Gal 1:20; Phil 1:8; 1
Thess 2:5, 10). But it is not the frivolous kind of oaths condemned by Jesus
(Matt 5:33-37; cf. Jas 5:12), but is rather Paul’s attempt to communicate his
true love (expressed through prayer on their behalf) for this largely Gentile
church which he had never visited—a fact which may not have gone unnoticed by
the people.
God knows that Paul serves
and worships Christ out of love not legalism or the fear of God
Paul had seen the shallow
hypocritical religion of the Pharisees and the superstitious and pleasure
seeking morality of pagan idolatry
The verb serve is from a Greek verb (latreuo„)
which is connected in the Greek Old Testament (LXX) to ideas of priestly
service and worship. While it may not have the idea of priestly service here,
it definitely suggests imagery pertaining to worship.3
·
He prays for them always – These saints
were constantly in his thoughts and prayers
We are reminded that the real work of the ministry is prayer.
Preaching is more a result of the ministry of prayer than it is a ministry
itself. A sermon that does not rise from intense and heart-searching prayer has
no chance of bearing real fruit."
3.
Paul wants to come see the Romans
V10 making
request if, by some means, now at last I may find a way in the will of God to
come to you.
Paul wants God through his sovereign
will to work it out so that he could go to Rome
God
did later as a prisoner of Rome so that Paul could have a mighty witness for
God
Lessons
1.
God places a high priority on Faith
2.
You will never know in this life the
impact you have had on other people
Wednesday Jun 17, 2015
ROMANS 1:2-5 THE PROMISED GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD
Wednesday Jun 17, 2015
Wednesday Jun 17, 2015
Romans 1:2 which He promised before
through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, 3 concerning His Son Jesus Christ
our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, 4 and
declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness,
by the resurrection from the dead. 5 Through Him we have received grace and
apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name,
The promise of
Christ through the prophets
V2 The
coming of Christ is the prophesied culmination to a long history of
expectation. Jesus Christ is not an afterthought, but the very realization of
God’s plan for the world, Jew and Gentile. Indeed, Jesus himself is the gospel!
Prophets
were all the writers of the OT
Paul next began to exalt the gospel
that God had called him to proclaim. It was a message that God had promised,
not just prophesied, in the Old Testament Scriptures.
The words "his" and
"holy" stress the unique origin of the gospel.
Paul was accused of preaching a new
message by the Jews
1Peter 1:10 Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and
searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, 11 searching what, or what manner of time,
the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified
beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.
Joh
5:39 "You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal
life; and these are they which testify of Me.
Christ was prophesied of 333 times in
the OT.
2 Sam 7:12-16, Isaiah 1:18, 53:7–8
with the Ethiopian eunuch is a good example, Is 55, and Gen 3:15- first mention
of the Jesus in the OT
Lu 24:25 Then He said to them, "O
foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have
spoken! 26 "Ought not the Christ to
have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?" 27 And beginning
at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things
concerning Himself.
1.
Paul proclaimed this Gospel was about
Jesus Christ
V3 The reference to Jesus as a
descendent of David according to the flesh functions on two levels. First, it
makes plain that the eternal son of God took on full and complete humanity
(John 1:1, 14; Phil 2:6-11). Second, the explicit link with David is not just
to suggest his humanity, but also to make clear his special relationship to the
line of promise. Jesus met the qualifications of one to whom the promise of 2
Samuel 7:12-16 could be made
The promise in 2 Samuel 7:12-16 is
extremely important in the New Testament and the connection to it is apparent
here (e.g., Matt 1:1; Acts 13:34; 2 Cor 6:18). Nathan tells David, among other
things, that he will never lack a “son” to sit on his throne.
God’s good news concerns His Son,
identified as Jesus Christ our Lord. This asserts Christ’s deity as basic to
His person and prior to His Incarnation
Jesus was born of a virgin and delivered
normally
Jesus was a historical figure written of
by many ancient writers
Roman historian Tacitus in Annals
Jewish Historian Josephus in Antiquities
Pliny the Younger in Letters
Jesus was born of the seed of David,
Mary was his natural parent
Matthew 1:6-16 is Mary's family tree
Luke 3:23-31 is Joseph's family tree
John makes believing Jesus came in the
flesh a crucial test of orthodoxy( or having sound Biblical teachings about
Christ)
1John 4:2-3
Jesus Christ is the center of the Gospel
message. Paul identified Him as a man, a Jew, and the Son of God. He was born
of a virgin (Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:18–25) into the family of David, which gave Him
the right to David’s throne. He died for the sins of the world, and then was
raised from the dead. It is this miraculous event of substitutionary death and
victorious resurrection that constitutes the Gospel; and it was this Gospel
that Paul preached
V4 and declared to be the Son of God with power according to
the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. The Gr word from
which declared comes from is the word horizon which means to make distinguish.
Just as the horizon serves as a clear divider between the sky and the earth,
the resurrection of Jesus clearly divides Him from the rest of humanity proving
without a doubt that He is the Son of God
The idea of Jesus’ universal Lordship is often connected in
the New Testament to his resurrection and exaltation to a place of power and
authority (cf. Matt 28:18; Acts 2:36; Phil 2:11
The
term Son of God with power is used about 30 times in the Gospels
"A
man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a
great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on a level with the man who
says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make
your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or
something worse." C.
S. Lewis, Mere Christianity,
Jesus was always the Son of God, but the Father declared Him
to be the Son by resurrecting Him. Jesus did not change in essence—He always
was the Son—but in status and function. God appointed the Son to a new and more
powerful position in relation to the world at the Resurrection (cf.
Matt.
28:18). He is now not only the Messiah but the Lord of all.
Jesus
took on a submissive role to the father while he was here on earth
we have received grace and apostleship – a gifting as an apostle which Paul
did not deserve, but we are all gifted and called to be little a apostles, ie
messengers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ
V 5 is
the firstreference to the most crucial part of the Gospel-
salvation is a gift from God totally separate from any human effort or
achievement - Eph 2:8-9
Paul
probably meant that he had received the special grace (gift) of being an
apostle.
Matthew
10:1-4 Jesus selected all twelve apostles-
Matthias
picked by disciples in Acts 1:15-26
Acts 9:3-9, 15-18 Paul was personally chosen
by Christ when he appeared to Paul on the road to Damascus
For
obedience to faith- True saving faith always produces obedience and submission
to the Lordship of Jesus Christ- Romans 10:9-10, James 2:17-24
"The law lays down what a man must do; the
gospel lays down what God has done.
"Someone has truly said that the
Gospel is 'good news' not 'good advice,'
Faith
is obedience to God because God commands everyone to believe in Christ (cf.
John 6:29; Acts 17:30-31).
Lessons
1. God’s promises
never fail
2. All we have is a
gift from God
The Gospel is 'good news' not 'good advice
Wednesday Jun 10, 2015
INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK OF ROMANS AND PAUL’S CREDENTIALS IN VERSE 1
Wednesday Jun 10, 2015
Wednesday Jun 10, 2015
Romans 1:1 Paul, a bondservant of Jesus
Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God
Paul spent
the winter of A.D. 56-57 in Corinth. There he wrote the Epistle to the Romans
and sent it by Phoebe (16:1-2) to the Roman church
PURPOSES FOR WRITING THE BOOK
Paul
wrote this epistle under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit for several
reasons. He wanted to prepare the way for his intended visit to the church
(15:22-24). He evidently hoped that Rome would become a base of operations and
support for his pioneer missionary work in Spain and the western portions of
the empire that he had not yet evangelized. His full exposition of the
gospel in this letter would have provided a solid foundation for their
participation in this mission.
As
Paul looked forward to returning to Jerusalem between his departure from
Corinth and his arrival in Rome, he was aware of the danger he faced (15:31).
He may have written the exhaustive exposition of the gospel that we have in
Romans to set forth his teaching in case he did not reach Rome. From Rome his
doctrine could then go out to the rest of the empire as others preached it. Paul
may have viewed Romans as his legacy to the church, his last will and
testament.
Another reason for writing Romans was undoubtedly Paul's desire to
minister to the spiritual needs of the Christians in Rome even though they were
in good spiritual condition (15:14-16). The common problems of all the early
churches were dangers to the Roman church as well. These difficulties included
internal conflicts, mainly between Jewish and Gentile believers, and external
threats from false teachers. Paul gave both of these potential problems attention in this epistle (15:1-8;
16:17-20).
Paul
also wrote Romans as he did because he was at a transition point in his
ministry, as he mentioned at the end of chapter 15. His ministry in the Aegean
region was solid enough that he planned to leave it and move farther west into
new virgin missionary territory. Before he did that, he planned to visit
Jerusalem, where he realized he would be in danger. Probably, therefore, Paul wrote Romans as he did to leave a full
exposition of the gospel in good hands if his ministry ended prematurely in
Jerusalem.
The great contribution of this letter to the body of New
Testament inspired revelation is its reasoned explanation of how God's
righteousness can become man's possession
VALUE
The
Epistle to the Romans is, by popular consent, the greatest of Paul's writings.
William Tyndale, the great English reformer and translator, referred to Romans
as "the principle and most excellent part of the New Testament." He
went on to say the following in his prologue to Romans that he wrote in the
1534 edition of his English New Testament.
"No man verily can read it too oft or study
it too well; for the more it is studied the easier it is, the more it is chewed
the pleasanter it is, and the more deeply it is searched the preciouser things
are found in it, so great treasures of spiritual things lieth hid
therein."
Martin Luther wrote the following
commendation of this epistle. "[Romans] is worthy not only that every
Christian should know it word for word, by heart, but occupy himself with it
every day, as the daily bread of the soul. It can never be read or pondered too
much, and the more it is dealt with the more precious it becomes, and the
better it tastes."
OBJECTIVES
IN STUDYING THIS CHAPTER
1)
To
be impressed with the all-sufficiency of the gospel
This
first sentence (vv. 1-7) implicitly sets forth the most fundamental facts of Christianity.
In particular, it shows that the main facts of the gospel fulfill Old Testament
predictions.
2) To see how God's wrath may be directed
toward our society today
Outline of the Book of Romans
Righteousness of
God Revealed or Doctrinal Section Chapters 1-8
Chapters 1-2 Condemnation
Chapters 3-5 Justification
Chapters 6-8 Sanctification
Righteousness of
God Vindicated Chapters 9-11 or National Section – Israel
Chapters 9- Election
Chapters 10- Reason for Rejection
Chapters 11- Future Restoration
Gods Righteousness
Applied or the Practical Section Chapters 12-16
Chapters 12 - Spiritual gifts
Chapters 13- Relationship to Government
Chapters 14-15 - Gray Areas or Doubtful Areas
Chapters 16 - Closing
Wednesday Jun 03, 2015
REVIEW OF THE BOOK OF RUTH
Wednesday Jun 03, 2015
Wednesday Jun 03, 2015
In this lesson we will go through the
whole book of Ruth at one time to get the big picture.
1.
This is a story of pure love by a woman named
Ruth for her mother in-law Naomi. Yet the word love is not in it
§
A romance that triumphs over racial and
religious prejudices
2.
It also exalts women for the unique, miraculous
role they play in God’s plan
§
Probably the book that best shows the strength
of a woman’s character and purity of motive.
She exemplifies the Proverbs 31 woman
§
We see God’s care for women in the most
desperate circumstances
§
A woman of great faith
3.
Most importantly it is a book about God’s
purpose to redeem all those who will put their trust in Him
4.
It is a book that shows the Sovereignty of God
§
God will take a Moabite woman who is not even
supposed to go into the temple of God until the 10th generation and
will take her from that low position to the highest privilege of being in the
line of the Messiah Jesus
5. It
starts out in Bethlehem and ends in Bethlehem, the birthplace of King David and
ultimately the Lord Jesus
In spite of the fact that
Elimelech, his wife Naomi, and his two sons (Mahlon and Kilion) are living
according to the spirit of their day (“doing what is right in their own eyes”),
two people (Ruth and Boaz) stand out as examples of those who live by faith in
the God of Israel, and whose lives exemplify living in accordance with God’s
Word. And one of these two – Ruth – is a Moabite, not an Israelite. In the dark
shadows of the days of the judges, we find two individuals whose lives are
truly lights in the darkness. Here is
a story that not only warms our hearts, it encourages our faith by unveiling
the providential hand of God in bringing salvation and blessing during one of
the darkest periods in history.
Whereas the book
illustrates the theological concept of redemption beautifully, its primary
purpose appears to have been to reveal how God often providentially works
behind the scenes to bring His will to pass. Twenty-three of its 89 verses
mention God. Of these, only 1:6 and 4:13, which bracket the book, are the
narrator's comments. All the rest appear in the characters' speeches. Contrast
the Book of Esther, which also teaches the providence of God but does not
mention God once.
"The scriptural message of the Book of Ruth may be
summarized as follows: God cares for needy people like Naomi and Ruth; he
is their ally in this chaotic world. He richly rewards people like Ruth and
Boaz who demonstrate sacrificial love and in so doing become his instruments in
helping the needy. God's rewards for those who sacrificially love others
sometimes exceed their wildest imagination and transcend their lifetime." "The Ruth narrative provided a gratifying
reminder that even in the darkest times God was at work in the hearts of His
faithful remnant."