What Does God Expect of Us?

We looked at several passages where an underlying theme is that one group is approved and one is not approved.  What can we learn from these groups of people?

 

Matthew 25:31-46, Deuteronomy 23:3-4

What is expected?

• Help those in need: the stranger, the orphan, the widow. The rebuke here is against those who did not do what they were supposed to, even knowing that they were supposed to do these things.

Parable of the talents - The sin here is what the servant did not do rather than what he did. The master told the servant that he knew the ways of his master and should have done something to earn interest on the money, even if just leaving it with moneylenders.

Parable of the virgins - All members of the wedding party were initially prepared, but only the wise ones remained prepared. We need to have a similar attitude - live in preparation for Jesus' coming.

 

Ways we can help corporately:

• Pool resources to provide for needs of people.
• Local Church bodies often have a benevolence fund where a portion of the general budget (as well as designated giving) is set aside specifically to meet the real needs of people.  Steve gave a specific example recently where several families had a need to extra heaters in their house with the cold weather coming up.  This was a real need for these people and the deacons helped by providing space heaters.
• Lots of people together can help out more effectively than separately.  We can each use our gifts differently to help the Body.  Separately, our gift may not do much on its own, but when each person uses their gifts/talents in unison, we can do the work God wants us to do.

Randall reminded us that prayer is work. It is not just sitting around doing nothing.  It is essential for doing the work of God.

 

Luke 13:22-30, Matthew 7:21-23

What is expected of us?

• Enter through the narrow gate.
• Our lives as Christians are to be more than just spending time doing "church-y" things.  We are called to truly follow Jesus in all aspects of our lives.

The tradition at this time was for house doors to be open all day and locked at night. When the door is locked, it is too late to gain entry to the house.

Randall pointed out an apparent contradiction - few will be saved. Then around Matthew 8:11 - that many will come to the banquet table.

Putting this into context, the teaching of the day was that all children of Israel will be saved. However, some Jews remembered that not all of the Israelites reached the Promised Land. Jesus speaks to the Jews here when He says that not all Jews will go to heaven. This is a wake-up call for the Jews.  They have kept God to themselves rather than being the blessing to all of the nations they were called to be.

Personal Application - We need to use our time wisely. We don't know when our time is going to be over on earth. Randall brought up the idea that some people just drift along from situation to situation, going with whatever comes along.  We need to be on board with God's plan and actively working towards those goals He has given us.

 

Matthew 8:5-12

Here, a Roman Centurion wants healing for his servant.

What do we know about the Centurion?

• He is commended for his faith.  Jesus "marveled" at his faith and indicated that He did not find this faith in Israel.
• The centurion has authority because it was given to him. He understands that everything he commands is obeyed because Rome gives him authority.  However, that power is not enough over death.  He needs one who has authority over sickness and disease.
• We see that he has humility. Luke indicates that he had sent servants because he was not worthy to go himself.  He also acknowledges that all of the authority given to him is not enough to overcome this trial.
• He has great compassion for servant. Servants no longer able to fulfill their duties due to health or other concerns were normally disposed of in that day.

How can we develop some of these characteristics?

Humility - God brings trials to humble us. Circumstances in our lives reveal that we are not in control as much as we think we are.

Servant Leadership - People come into our lives as examples. Scripture is revealed to us. We are humbled in our current leadership positions.  Sometimes we are brought into a leadership position in order to learn how to serve others through the position given to us.

 

Can we be saved by our works?

A common theme throughout many parables is that those who are cast out are told that Jesus never knew them. Deeds are not enough. Those deeds need to flow out of our relationship with Jesus. If we fail to do the good that we can and know we should do, that is sin as well. It's easy to hear the commendations, the "Well done, good and faithful servant."  But in order to get those words of praise, we need to actually follow God's commands and love others.  This is not done out of a legalistic obligation to earn our way into heaven, but done out of love and a changed heart.  The price of our sin has been paid in full and our good works should flow out of gratitude for that redemption.

 

Final Thoughts

We need to know Jesus and follow Him.  That implies the need to spend time with Him in order to know His voice and His desires.

When we hit a scripture that is not familiar, we need to take that to heart even if that is not familiar to us. We are human and often want to stay with the comfortable way of doing things.  We don't really trust God when He shows us a new, better way to live.

We will be touching on some unfamiliar scriptures in the upcoming weeks, starting with Deuteronomy 6.

Resolutions

Today's class started with a brief history of the modern standard calendar. Randall indicated that the later material would be a little heavy and thus he wanted to start with a light-hearted topic.

Because of the date, the discussion today centered on making resolutions, especially because so many people will make resolutions to change or improve at the start of the new year.

Here are some suggestions on things we can do prior to making a resolution.

1. Remember that this isn't my life, it's God's life.
Proverbs 3:5-6 gives us some good direction to follow. One example we discussed was that of Joseph and Pharaoh. If they had leaned on their own understanding of events, there would have been 7 years of partying followed by 7 disastrous years rather than the storing of food for 7 years that God desired for them. We spent a little time thinking about how bad things can get when we rely on our own knowledge of things. Randall discussed how as a child he could not fathom the discipline of his parents. As he grew, he knew that even when he didn't understand his parents' decisions, they were still done in his best interests. God is like that with us. We do not understand His decisions. He has a purpose for us and the world that is greater than our comprehension. As we grow in faith, we can understand that God wants the best for us and can trust His guidance even when it doesn't make sense at the time.

This tied in to a discussion on sovereignty and lordship. We are bondservants of Christ. This doesn't sit well with us in the USA because we really value freedom. Slavery is a horror to us. However, when put in the correct context, we realize that we are slaves or servants to something no matter what. God is the best master for us because He wants the best for us. Thus we can throw off the old master (as Paul puts it - being a slave to sin) and have a far better master. Then when we are under God's authority, we can exercise the authority He gives to us appropriately.

2. Be a worshiper.
Job 1:20-21 - "The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord." We spent some time on this topic and how we can worship through the good and bad times. When we have a good relationship with God, we can worship Him no matter what happens because we know that He has our best interests in mind. He may take something away to draw us closer to Him or to enable us to minister to those who go through similar scenarios. Worship is always to be a part of our lives, no matter the circumstances.

One of our goals as a Christian is to help other people become worshipers. We can help them understand who God really is and clear up their misconceptions about Him. Once they know who God is and not who they think God is, they can begin to move towards a life where they can give Him the honor that is due.

3. Move past our pain and fears
Psalm 139:23-24 - The psalmist asks for God to search him, to know his heart, his sin, his anxieties. We talked about how people called to the ministry in some denominations or countries are questioned about sins that they are snared by. These sins are not those that happen once in a while, but regularly and often. The leaders then work with the person called into ministry to help him be free of that sin so he will be free to minister to others. This will obviously not make the person sinless, but will help that person have freedom to do the job God has called him or her to.

We then talked about some common resolutions people make at the beginning of the year and what fears those typically address.

1. Get in shape (lose weight, etc) - addresses our fears of sickness/death and rejection
2. New Job - addresses our fear of not having security

While other resolutions may be made, Randall suggests that our resolutions tend to fall into the categories of helping us ease our fears of sickness, rejection, and security. He then issued some challenges prior to making a resolution.


Put God's word to the test.
Daniel 1:8,12 - Daniel very graciously invites the king's servant to put their faith to a test. In this case, by politely requesting that they be given foods that met the criteria of the law rather than unclean foods of the land. When put to the test, they came out stronger and healthier than the other candidates.

This is not to be confused with testing God by putting ourselves in harm's way when not called to do so. However, when we are confronted with a passage in the scripture that challenges our current, familiar way of living we should go with God's word over our familiar and comfortable choices. Ideally, verify that what we see in God's word is what is actually there and that we are interpreting it correctly. However, we can put God's word to a test in our own lives in the same way that Daniel suggested - a short term test to see what God will do.


Are we addressing real issues or surface issues?

Is the church today addressing real issues or surface issues? Many conferences discuss how to get more people in the pews or how to lead different music styles or similar topics. While these are of some importance, are we neglecting the true issue of people's souls by concentrating so hard on getting people in the door? Do we compromise the gospel message in order to attract more people? Do we concentrate so hard on being [contemporary|traditional|blended|a capella] music-wise, that we may not see that some of the words we're singing contradict God's word? Do we water down the fact that we are sinners and in need of a savior because that message offends people?

Similarly, when we make a resolution are we making a choice that affects us on the surface or that will affect us for the long term? e.g. Will a new job really help us or will we just change locations? Will that job have an importance greater than that of putting in our time and going home? Is that new job where God has called us to be?


Our Conceptions
Finally, where do our conceptions come from as Christians? Our conceptions tend to originate with our Denomination, Generation, and Location. That is, those of us living in the DFW area who are Southern Baptist and in our 20's and 30's will have slightly different ideas on how to live our lives than Methodists or Lutherans in the area, or different ideas than people slightly older or younger than us, or different ideas than believers in another country.

With that in mind, we talked about some things to watch out for when considering what has been revealed to us and others.

• Other Denominations have truth as well. We still need to check that against the word of God, but one denomination may be very strong in certain areas which other denominations do not practice to the same extent.
• Other Generations have truth. We can step outside of our own generation to learn from those younger than us and those from the near and distant past. Reading through some of the sermons of preachers such as C.H. Spurgeon or George Whitefield can help us to grow in our own faith.
  
• Other Locations may have a different set of instructions than we do. China was brought up as an excellent example of a country where Christians want to spread the gospel to nations closed to American or European Christians. Those Christians are ready to lay down their lives for the gospel. They have a different location and thus have different opportunities for service.

Where do we go from here?
1. Put God's word to the test. Give God an opportunity to bless you by following His guidelines for living. Give God's word priority over the way our own understanding says is right.

2. Ensure that when making a resolution to change that you are making the right change. Don't just look for a surface change or a quick-fix. Ask God to help you get to the root of your problem and fix that.

3. Seek help from another person. Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 offers some great advice on this. A wiser person or someone who does not struggle in the area you feel led to change will be a great help when you are tempted to stray from your resolution.