Category: teaching

Teaching Wonderful Things

Jesus Teaches Wonderful Things

The next Sabbath he began teaching in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. They asked, “Where did he get all this wisdom and the power to perform such miracles?” -Mark 6:2

 

When Jesus began to teach, people began to really listen.  The synagogue was definitely the perfect place for Him, and it was there He got a chance to explain things.  In many places, when this happens there is a casual and general acceptance of the lecturers tenets.  But with Jesus sharing there was amazement.  They were astonished at the things Jesus shared.  There was a wallop as He spoke, and for the first time common people were able to connect some “dots”.  They lit on this like ants at a picnic!

A large group together posed a question.  “Where” did this teaching come from?  This is so amazing!  But what is the source?  The teaching itself was not the issue, but is it from God or is it satanic?  And how did Jesus come by this teaching?  It is so profound!  Two words to describe listening to Him: Wisdom and Power.  Profound, but what is its source?

I think a real mystique began to develop around Jesus.  There was a real sense that He showed He was both capable and legitimate.  In His speaking He projected a power and grace which had never, ever been seen before.  The listeners had never before heard what this man intended to do. 

And we haven’t mentioned the miracles yet.  Jesus did some things that astonished the witnesses.  Although not listed in this account, they must have left an imprint.  When the blind man three chairs down is healed, you have to stand and take notice.  The miracle leaves you gasping, “Who is this?”

Jesus never accepted ambiguity.  He never accepted the idea of purposefully being vague and elusive.  He never contented Himself to hide in the shadows of “maybe”.  Direct and bold, He reaches out to the synagogue.  He gently draws the hearts of the inquisitive and seeking to Himself. 

Salt That is Not Quite Salt

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.”

–Matthew 5:13, NIV

In the Middle-East, salt has a real impurity problem.  Comparing it to what you have on your table would be foolish.  There is simply no comparison.  The idea of salt degrading to non-salt was expected.  It just didn’t measure up.  Jesus in declaring that His disciples were “salt”, was taking a risk.  Could His followers remain distinctive in a virtual flood of antagonistic hostility?

Salt has a challenging destiny.  It must remain distinct while preserving everything around it.  That is not easily done.  Salt has an inherent savor that makes it very distinctive.  As a Christian there exists a distinction and a uniqueness that differentiates one from the world about him.  I have become different because He has made me distinct.  We dare not think that we are believers simply because we are exceptional.

Jesus warns that we can dilute ourselves into a state of self-imposed obsolescence.  We simply compromise ourselves to the point of losing any distinctiveness.  We just become a non-entity, by choice.  We basically zero ourselves out and allow the World to roll over us, all without a squeak. In this case, compromise is disguised as flexibility.  We betray our Lord with a soothed and bandaged conscience.

Jesus stated that saltless salt would become a non-factor, an anachronism of devastating loss.  It would no longer be able to ally itself as an agent of change, but be as common and as ubiquitous as common dirt.  Lo, how the mighty have fallen! To be regarded as common dirt.

Warned of this outcome, we find ourselves in the unique position of needing to be authentic.  Authenticity however, directs us down the path of irrevocability.  We simply find ourselves in a corner, and we have to come to a decision.  Will it be faithfulness to Christ or compromise to soothe our conscience?  Trust me, it is easy to compromise.

Jesus boldly declares that His real followers will come through.  They will believe in Him to the point-of-death.  We have been given the blessing of both time and space to make our decision.  We, ourselves have been caught in the valley of decision.  Can we be able to make a choice that becomes a real spiritual difference?

PLEASE, do not continue to compromise.  Do not vacillate and attempt to call it enlightenment and adaptability.  You are salt, and you will be different.  Let the world go on without you.  You don’t belong anyway.

Recommended Study Book: Ryken’s Bible Handbook

Ryken’s Bible Handbook

Amazon’s Price: $13.58
This book gives students of the Bible a quick overview of every book in the Bible. Leland Ryken’s distinctive trait is a literary approach to the Bible–understanding the Bible as literature. The three authors help shed light on understanding the Bible as the inspired Word of God and as literature by looking at the Bible’s different literary genres: poetry, narrative, wisdom literature, story, parables, and more.  This is a top-notch Bible Handbook and it is worth its weight in gold.  For a great Bible introduction, a class or Bible study it is the best.

Practical Steps to Kill Sin

Keeping in line with yesterday’s post, I decided to haul out some practical teaching on “holiness”.  I for one need to understand how a person changes into the image of Jesus Christ.  The following transcript was taken from an audio teaching by John Piper, a man I trust throughly.  I hope this blesses. –B. 

Practical Steps to Kill Sin

By John Piper, originally on November 9, 1987

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Relief: All true believers have sin remaining in them in this life. Romans 7:23 – “I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin which dwells in my members.”

Therefore we are commanded to constantly kill this sin (Romans 8:13; Colossians 3:5).

How Is This to Be Done?

1) Take heart from the truth that the old sinful you is decisively already dead (Romans 6:6; Colossians 3:3; Galatians 5:24). This means three things:

1.the mortal blow to our “old man” has been struck;

2.he will not succeed in domination now;

3.his final obliteration is certain.

2) Consciously reckon the old man dead; that is, believe the truth of Scripture about the old man’s death, and seek to live in that freedom (Romans 6:11).

3) Cultivate enmity with sin! You don’t kill friends (Romans 8:13). Ponder how it killed your best friend, dishonors your Father, and aims to destroy you for ever.

4) Rebel against sin’s coup. Refuse to be bullied by his deceits and manipulations (Romans 6:12). Fight your sinful impulses with all your might like a boxer fights an opponent and like a marathon runner fights fatigue (1 Corinthians 9:27; 2 Timothy 4:8).

5) Declare radical allegiance to the other side—God—and consciously put all your mind and heart and body at his disposal for righteousness and purity (Romans 6:13).

6) Don’t make any plans that open the door for sin’s entry (Romans 13:14). Don’t prove your purity in a pornography shop.

7) Develop mental habits that continually renew the mind in God-centeredness (Romans 12:2; 2 Corinthians 4:16). Fix attention daily on “the things of the Spirit” (Romans 8:5), “things that are above” (Colossians 3:2), “whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, gracious, excellent, praiseworthy” (Philippians 4:8).

8) Admit failure and confess all known sin every day (1 John 1:9). Ask for forgiveness (Matthew 6:12).

9) Ask for the Spirit’s help and power in all these things (Romans 8:13; Galatians 5:17, 22; Ezekiel 36:27; Isaiah 26:12).

10) Be part of a larger and smaller fellowship where you are exhorted often to beware of the deceitfulness of sin (Hebrews 3:13).

11) Beware of “works of law”; but let all your warfare be “the work of faith” (2 Thessalonians 1:11). That is, let your fight against sin spring from your confidence in the superior pleasures of closeness to Christ.

Pastor John Piper

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