Acts 12-13 Study Notes

Acts 12 Who is the real sovereign King, Herod Agrippa I, or Jesus?

Notice the contrast of Jesus and Herod in the chapter by Luke

Herod Agrippa I is the grandson of Herod the Great, reign 37-44 AD

Use a Herod chart when reading the NT

What did Herod the great build? The temple courts and platform, Cesarean by the sea with a sea wall, Masada, Herodium in Bethlehem, Palace is Jericho (nothing remaining)

He was a great engineer, but a paranoid murderer and died a long protracted death from worms, probably from undercooked pork (Edomite) [It was said of Herod: It is safer to be his pig than to be his son]

Two types of police forces, Temple guard (Jewish bouncers), Roman soldiers

The difference between miracles, magic, and myths

Gary Aitken, SC

Peter in the garden with at the arrest of Jesus with Jewish temple guards with torches and swords

What did he do with the Sword? Responded with courage, knowing he had to fight all the armed men one at a time

Next, he ran away

Next, he went to outside the high priest’s house, his courage returned

Then he denied Jesus 3 times in the courtyard during the trial

Then he ran away

Matthew mentions the other apostles watched Jesus dying on the cross at a distance, only John was near the cross with Mary the mother of Jesus

First Jewish arrest with John by Peter’s side, one night in prison, ordered to not preach in Jesus name

Second Jewish arrest with other apostles, beaten 39 times and released. (3 strikes, and you’re out)

The apostle James is killed with a sword by Herod Agrippa I, just like John the Baptist was killed with a sword by Herod Antipas, his dad, and like the babies in Bethlehem were killed by the sword by the order of Herod the great, his granddad.

The persecution of the church has moved from the Jewish leaders to Romans, the pagan government, the same Romans that crucified the Lord Jesus

Because of Peter’s history, if the church in Jerusalem  was praying all night that Peter all alone this time, would not deny the Lord Jesus again and agree to stop preaching to save his life, but that he would stand firm and die as a martyr like Stephen and the apostle James, because of his track record, the church would be surprised if he was knocking on the door of John Mark’s mother’s house where they were praying. Their prayer would be indirectly answered at this time and this prayer was fully answered about 18 years later when Peter was crucified in Rome, upside down.

Herod has been attaching the church of King Jesus. Herod’s treasurer arranged for a meeting with Tyre and Sidon at Caesarea by the sea. He made s speech to the delegation

Herod sucked up the glory from men, like sponge sucks up water

Josephus says his robe made of Silver and was glimmering in the sun light

The context: the man had James killed. What did Stephen say as he was dying that he saw in heaven? Jesus, got off the throne, and stood to receive His martyr Stephen

He had done the same for the son of thunder, James the apostle of Christ

Herod had murdered James for being a Christian and had attempted to murder Peter,

But King Jesus sent and angel and prevented that murder

Now Herod, direct descendant of Herod the Great on one side, and John Hyrcanus the high priest that was the nephew of Judas Maccabeus, who overthrew the Greeks and cleansed the temple, knew better.

The sovereign of heaven said no to the second murder. And before he ended his speech, he doubled over with intestinal pain. And he died 5 days later at Caesarea by the sea in intense pain being eaten from the inside out by worms, like his grandfather

The King of heaven called him to recon for all the deeds done in the body, all the evil thoughts, and all the evil words he had spoken from birth

Who is the real sovereign here? Did Jesus stand for the heavenly arrival of Charlie Kirk? It is possible.

Warreb Wiersbe writes that only the Apostle Judas was replaced. Great insight. There are only 12 apostles of Christ and there were a few apostles of the church.

Apostles are the foundation stones of the church, Eph.2, 4, Christ is the cornerstone. The one make -believer was replaced, Judas, but no other apostles of Christ were added after the deaths of the remaining 12 apostles.

The words they wrote or sanctioned, allow these 12 apostles to continue to minister to us today

12 is all needed. No apostolic personal succession. No modern apostles. No new books of the Bible.

The heavenly Jerusalem has 12 foundations.  Rev 21:12 – 14, There are 24 elders in heaven, possibly the 12 sons of Jacob (tribes), and 12 Apostles as both groups make up the New Jerusalem that descends from heaven

The book of Acts switches from Peter’s story to Paul’s in chapter 13

The plan of the book of Acts

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." (Acts 1:8 CSB)

And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to the prayers. (Acts 2:42 CSB) 

Antioch is the model Gentile Church and is part of the ends of earth section that focuses on Paul

Acts 13 The Model Gentile Church and Paul’s Missionary Methods

Warren Wiersbe: “Until now, Jerusalem had been the center of ministry, and Peter had been the key apostle. But from this point on, Antioch in Syria would become the new center (Acts 11:19ff.), and Paul the new leader. The gospel was on the move!”

The Jerusalem Church models for the local church today:

And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to the prayers. (Acts 2:42 HCSB)

The Jewish Jerusalem believers were deeply committed to, and we should be as well:

1.      The teaching of the Apostles of Christ is in the Bible

2.      Gathering regularly for fellowship with other believers

3.      Eating meals together and the church participating together in the Lord’s Supper

4.      Praying together

Luke focus in the book now has the Gentile Church in Antioch Syria as the center of ministry. What does this church model for us today?

1.        They had a plurality of leaders and not just one single pastor by himself. The word chosen for “service” is always the activity of office holders as they lead in corporate worship of God and provide ministry to humans. Prophets and Teachers. The NT was not yet complete, so among the elders was a need for NT Prophets as well as those who could teach the OT, the books of Matthew, Mark, and James.

2.        The leaders were committed to praying together

3.        They fasted at times for greater discernment of the Lord’s will. One of the prophets received a message from the Holy Spirit.

As they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work I have called them to." (Acts 13:2 HCSB)

Being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they came down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. (Acts 13:4 HCSB)

A.     Can water or electricity speak in a language? Can a force call people to service? 63% of American Evangelicals recently denied the personhood of God the Holy Spirit. This is a first level doctrine. You need to get this one right. There are three real persons in the Trinity: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. They have different roles in the works of Creation and Redemption, but each one is equal in all attributes, power, and glory.

B.     Don’t refer to the Holy Spirit as “it” like the heretics’ in the cults. The New Testament call Him a “He” not an “it,” because only persons can speak and send and make choices (Acts 15:28). He can be lied to by a human (Acts 5:3). Remember the Baptism of Jesus. One person speaks, one person descends, and one person is standing in the water. The Bible teaches God is one in essence, attributes, characteristics yet three in persons. Only Jesus has two natures, human and divine and a human body since the virgin conception. Both God the Father and God the Holy Spirit are spirits and do not have a human body (John 4:23-24)

4.        The leadership of the church commissions, ordains, and sends missionaries. The model church had people who were praying for missions, giving to missions, sending missionaries, and going as missionaries. The mission team leaves with Barnabas as the leader and returns to the Antioch Church to report on the work with Paul as the leader.

Missionary Methods

1.        Barnabas lead the team to the Island of Cyprus where he was from and had no known gospel witness

2.        To the Jew first and also to the Greeks. The missionaries started with the Jews in the synagogue which also contained Gentile God-fearers (people who worshiped Yahweh but had not yet received the sign of circumcision and in some cases were not yet following the Ceremonial law and food restrictions). But they had embraced the moral law of God (including the Ten Commandments) and that there is only one God. One practical reason to start with the Jews is they were already closer to the truth than anyone else in the country. They believed in a 6-day creation week by the God of the Bible, that God was holy, and embraced His law which reveals that man is sinful and needs a Savior. They knew there was a judgment day and a future resurrection of the dead.  The Greeks believed in evolution, many unholy gods, and included cult prostitution and drunkenness in their worship. Plato taught that the body was the prison house of the soul, and the goal was to get the soul released from the evil body. A resurrection would be a return to a worse state in Greek thinking. Some of the Jews were people of faith awaiting the coming Messiah and embraced Him immediately upon hearing the gospel. Some of these men had great knowledge of the Old Testament and would become model elders when the missionary team returned.

3.        Once several individuals embraced the gospel and the rest of the Jews rejected the gospel, they switched to primarily witnessing to Gentiles. The Jews were first, but when they proved themselves unworthy of it by rejecting their Messiah, the target moved to the Gentiles.

4.        The missionary team sought to plant churches in cities that could be the hub to reach out into the rural parts of the land

5.        After the persecution started, the missions team would move to a new area that was not resistant to the gospel

6.        They took the gospel to places where Jesus was not known and established churches to continue to the gospel ministry. Planting a church is like planting a fruit tree rather than giving out a few apples one time

7.        When the missionary team returned to the churches years later, they appointed elders and strengthened the existing churches rather than preaching to the Jews or pagans. The term ‘strengthened’ is also translated as ‘established.’ The missionary team would train, equip, edify, encourage, strengthen, establish the new local church members to continue the work of ministry. They did not seek to just reach random individuals unconnected to local bodies of believers to try to survive as lone ranger Christians. Notice in God’s design, the same female person that is able to give birth to a baby is also designed to feed and care for that baby. All are designed together in one body. The baby does not raise, clean, or feed itself.

8.        The missionary team returns to the sending church and reports on the great work that God has done to the glory of God. The people who sent others, prayed, and invested their resources hear the results of their investment in global missions Matt 28:19-20

 

The Sinner on Trial Isaiah 1:18-20

Introduction

How can we get rid of our guilt?  Who needs forgiveness, anyway?

Read Isaiah 1:1-4,10-23

ILL.) Cain killed his brother Abel, David killed Bathsheba’s husband, Hamlet was a play about murder and revenge, His uncle had killed his father and married his mother. The Lion King follows this same plot. 

Jezebel had Naboth killed so King Ahab could steal his vineyard. From the Oklahoma bombing to the streets of large cities with gangs, blood still flows. We, like lady Macbeth, can see the spot of blood staining our hands, the bloody glove does fit our hands, what can we do with our bloody hands?  

The people of Judah struggled with this in Isaiah’s day.

2.  Background to Isaiah chapter one:

a) chapter one can be outlined as follows:

  I.  The pitiful condition of Israel (1-9)

 II.  The sins of the nation (10-17)

III.  The choice between repentance & judgment (18-31

       A.  The possibility of forgiveness (18-20)

       B.   The Prophet’s lament over Jerusalem. (21-23)

       C.   The Lord’s pending judgement of Jerusalem (24 -31)

b) Isaiah is focusing on prophecies against Judah, the Southern Kingdom.

Chapter one is prophecies of condemnation.

He details the condition of Judah, the sins of Judah, the choice of Judah, repent or be judged, then he grieves over Judah’s choice, and then spells out the coming judgment on Judah, the covenant people of God.

c) Isaiah began his ministry around 740 B.C.  

The first section of this whole book deals with the Assyrian Crisis (37).  Isaiah was a resident of Jerusalem & primarily a prophet to Judah.  

In 722 B.C. the Assyrian’s had destroyed Northern Israel and carried the people away.  

They attacked Judah and Jerusalem in 701 B.C.  

Judah was decimated, Jerusalem still stood because God protected the city In 740 B.C., when Isaiah started out as a prophet, the split nation had a period of prosperity.  The people became covenant breakers and forsook God.  Idolatry was like the common cold, epidemic. Sexual immorality and greed abounded.  The people were thieves and murderers.  The people rebelled against the laws of the Covenant and abandoned the true God of the Bible.  False worship. Heartless worship, pagan worship, murder, and sexual sins were so common God called them Sodom & Gomorrah. 

God’s spanking paddle is the Assyrians.  

But the people will not wake up.  

They will not learn from their mistakes.  

They love their sins, and they are sticking with them to the end.

God gets really personal and offer them a conditional invitation to life, that has a very short term on it.  They refuse God’s final appeal as Judas ignored Jesus last appeal in the upper room.

Our Focus today will be on God’s appeal to the lost people in the Covenant community.  These were the make believer, the lost church members and seekers of Isaiah’s day.

3. (Direction) We will study this under three headings:

  I.  Every person should consider God’s call to court. vs 18

 II.  Every person should consider the consequences of confession of sin and willing obedience. vs 19  

III.  Every person should consider the curses that come with rebelling against the Covenantal God of             Scripture.  vs 20

  I.  EVERY PERSON SHOULD CONSIDER GOD’S CALL TO COURT.  vs 18 (Read v. 18)

      A.  The command to come.

1. God has issued a subpoena to his people.  

               All who hear and read the word of God, to them He commands, come to Court.                   

2. All who are in a covenant contract with God,  you have violated your terms, now you must                     appear before the judge.

3.  God is the plaintiff, the one wronged, and the  judge.

      B.  The call to court.

    1.  What is the meaning of “Let us reason together”?

    2.  Several translate this as “come and let us debate our case in court.”  The words used are a                     special ones that show us God has a lawsuit in mind.

         If your friends ask what you did Sunday, you can tell them you were sued by God.

    3.  Long ago God made a covenant with a man named Adam, and with all his children.                    Adam would represent all by obeying the covenant or breaking the covenant. God made another covenant with Noah, and if your a stranger to the church family, you still are related to God by these two Covenants.

         But if you're a church member then you are part of the New Covenant Community. And if                     you are a real Christian, you are in Covenant with Abraham and with Jesus Christ. So, no                     matter who you are, you are a covenant breaker, and today is your day in court.  

                   I hope you brought a lot of money, because God could sue your socks off.

    4. (ILL). Construction - signed contract - date - over-time, contract broken, court is an option.

    5.  We must be ready to Face the Covenantal God in court. 

         What is the central promise of every covenant God makes?  I will be your God,                         and you will be my people.

         There are conditions and obligations for both God and us to meet, and if we fail, we have our day in court.  Are you encouraged yet?

      C.  The grace in the word “now”.

1.  This term can mean, “please” and this softens the command to come to trial.

2.  The Holy God who is perfect and hates all sin, kindly says, 'please' to spiritually dead 

      and sinful men. To people who have desperately wicked hearts. Fallen people who have depravity that spreads to every fiber of their being.

      Yet, also, people with dignity, because they bear the image of God. They can love, and think,                     and feel, and choose all in accordance with their moral natures.

      Come , please, and let us go to court together

      D.  The call is from God.  How do we know this?

1.  The phrase “says the Lord” vs 18

         2.  The phrase “the mouth of the Lord has spoken” vs 20

3.  These are not 1st Isaiah, or second Isaiah or an Isaiah schools carefully pasted phrases no matter who, w/ their PH. D. Tells you that nonsense. These are the words of God recorded by one man, Isaiah the son of Amoz.  

                God has called you to court.  

                Are you ready for your defense? 

                He says you have broken your contract.

      How do you plead? He asks for a guilty plea

      E.  The call to confess.

Will you agree with God’s charges?  Will you say the same thing about your sin that God does?

If you will agree with the plaintiff about your guilt and repent of that sin The judge says:

  He will clean you up!  Read v. 18

1.  Permanently dyed red robes are changed to white wool robes by God.  

                Bright white without a spot of dirt or blood left.

2.  Why did God use the color red in this illustration?  It is the color of blood.  

                Murders and thieves cause blood to be spilt, people to die.  Babies sacrificed, their       blood cries out to God. 

      (Isa 1:15 NKJV) When you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you; 

                Even though you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood.

      (Isa 1:21 NKJV) How the faithful city has become a harlot! It was full of justice;                                    Righteousness lodged in it, But now murderers.

      Well, that may be Jews back then, but certainly not Christians. Really?

      (James 4:2 NKJV) You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain.                You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask.

      Jesus in Matthew 5 taught us we break 

                - command against murder by hating and unjustified anger.

      We too have spotted hands.

      3.  What are the images of white wool and clean fresh snow supposed to bring into our minds?

      The contrast of pairs.

      Colors:  Scarlet sins vs white clean snow

        Clothes Scarlet robes vs white wool garments

      Doubled died permanent scarlet robes are made white again.  

                (ILL.) If you wash in the Jordan river, the red stays in ...

      (ILL).  Tide commercials, see how bright the whites are ..

        God does a better job than Tide Laundry detergent.  

                No one can out sin God’s cleansing power.

      The picture here is like watching the Duke's of Hazard TV in reverse.  On almost every show                 Boss Hogg’s nice white suit is covered with mud or manure, something filthy, rewind that                     tape, filthy Boss Hogg becomes shiny white again.

4.  The Hebrew poetry is beautiful in this majestic book. This book contains some of the finest                 literature in either English or Hebrew.  But this book is not just inspiring literature for pagans to admire.  

                This is a word from God almighty that we are to obey.            

      But in Hebrew poetry there are often parallel words that help us see the picture clearer.                         The same thought is expressed in different words so we will be sure to understand it.  

                Or it is contrasted to make - picture clear. Blood-stained hands become clean

      Double died garments go back to white.

5.  Consider this verse from Psalm 51:7 that teaches the same thing.

      (Psa. 51:7 NKJV) Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be                 whiter than snow.

6.  Notice this surprising offer by God to sinful men.

      This text is designed to be shocking, to Judah, to - Rabbi’s, to the Liberals, the Fundamentalists, and Evangelicals. Everyone is shocked.  God is not as predictable as man wants.  Everybody wants God to not say something or to say something different here.

7.  Let's look at the defendants' choices at the trial before God.

      They could repent and trust in God out of love and be spared.   Or ...

      They could rebel and disobey in hate and selfishness.

      Every hearer of this message was directly responsible for the judgment that came upon          their city.  God has taken away your excuse.  You remain married to your sins because you want too, so you are 100% responsible for your own condemnation.

      F.  Application

1.  How clean are your hands?  Your souls?

      Are they dirty?  Don’t despair.  

                Go to the one who can clean you up from the inside out.   

      I John 1:9 (NKJV) If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins                       and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

      (1 John 1:7 NKJV) But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship 

                with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

      [Through the shed blood of Jesus, there is forgiveness and redemption from sin. 

                The word "cleanse" is in the present tense and denotes continuous action. 

                The blood of Jesus "keeps on cleansing" from "sin in its every form."]

2.  Have you tried to wash up by yourself?  

                It's like trying to wipe a floor with a dirty rag. The more you wipe the worse it gets.  

                God commanded Judah to clean -up so they could discover that they could not do it.

3.  Can you see the stains?  Are you guilty?

4.  Only God can change the unchangeable.

       (Jer 13:23 NKJV) Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots? Then may                       you also do good who are accustomed to do evil.

5.  Christian friend, have you written off a person in sin or a type of sinner?  Oh, that person                          does _____   You need to revisit God’s laundry mat and see the filth rags He makes clean                         every hour. That person's spots are nothing compared to the spots He has already removed.  

                Stop focusing on the spots and focus on the spot remover.  He can pull it off.

6.  Have you told yourself, “I have sinned to badly for God to forgive me?  I am beyond                        cleaning up.”  That’s a lie from the pit of hell and it Still has the smoke smell on it.                        There is no spot God cannot take out.  

                Blood red robes instantly become like the pure white snow.

      He can save from the uttermost to the gutter most.

      Stop looking at your sins and lift your eye’s to the Savior on the throne, if that is how you are               thinking. if you are telling yourself, my hands are clean enough, I can get by on my own                        strength, my own goodness, then you need to look deeply at your wicked heart and sin                            stained hands, first, and then look to the spot remover.

      (Rev 7:13-14 NKJV) Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, "Who are these                           arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?" {14} And I said to him, "Sir,                          you know." So, he said to me, "These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation,                        and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 

      G.  Illustration, CLR rust remover and Pilgrim w/ his burden.

  We have a remarkable cleaner in our home called CLR. Calcium Rust and Lime are no match for its power.  It has cleaned up everything I have used it on.  It is man made.

  If man can do that, what can God do?  

            Pilgrim found out. When he approached the cross with that anvil of sin on his back, it fell off at             the foot of the cross and rolled into the empty tomb to be never seen again.

 II.  EVERY PERSON SHOULD CONSIDER THE CONSEQUENCES OF CONFESSION OF SIN AND WILLING OBEDIENCE. VS 19 

      A.  The consequences of confession.

1.  We must face our awful sin in the light of truth.

2.  We must turn our backs on our friend, Denial.

3.  We receive forgiveness & are made free.

      B.  The conditions of forgiveness.

1.  If you are willing . . .   God will make you willing.  No one comes kicking and screaming                   while being dragged into the kingdom. No one stands knocking at the door, begging                                to come in, and gets turned away. The Bible says:

      Psa. 110:3 Your people will volunteer freely in the day of Your power;

2.  If you are obeying. . . Just saying I am sorry is not enough.  Repentance is turning your back                   on the sin and facing God.  

                True repentance has a change of direction and visible fruit.

       C.  The consequences of willing obedience to the call of God.

  1.  Eat the best of the land - live in it, stay in it.

  2.  Prosperity - both physical and spiritual.

  3.  Avoid the chastisement of God

      D.  Application

1.  Are you submitting & consenting 

                to the call of God?

      a.  The call to repentance and dependent trust

      b.  The call to discipleship & self-denial

      c.  The call to service and ministry.

      d.  The call to forsake our idols.

2.  Are you obeying God’s word?

      a.  Hearing His voice by reading, studying, meditating on, and memorizing the Word.

      b.  Heading His word ‘be doer of the - word’

      c.  Obeying the truth.

           3.  Do you want to prosper spiritually?

      E.  Illustration: Job’s patient suffering paid off.  

           The willing obedient of the suffering servant 

  (Isa. 53) leads to exaltation (Phil. 2) 

            Jesus went to the cross and God highly 

            exalted him.  Obedience pays off.  

            When God hauls you into court you will not 

            be before Judge Wopner - Peoples Court.Jezebel thought she would get away with                   killing Naboth, but she found out that Payday is someday, and her own servants threw                          her out the window, lying there with broken bones, she was eaten by wild dogs as soon as she               died, the angels carried her soul to hell.  Court day is coming. 

            Are you ready?

    There is only one way to be saved, delivered by one name

  What can take away my sin, nothing but the blood of Jesus, what can make me whole again, 

            nothing but the blood of Jesus. How precious is the flow that makes me 

            white as snow, no other fount I know, nothing but the blood of Jesus.

III.  EVERY PERSON SHOULD CONSIDER THE CURSES THAT COME WITH REBELLING                      AGAINST THE COVENANTAL GOD OF SCRIPTURE.  vs 20

      A.  It is dangerous to be resisting the word of God - preached and written.

  1.  A double edged sword

  2.  The standard on the day of judgment.

      B.  It is a hazardous practice to be rebelling against the rule and rules of God.

  1.  Every knee should bow now, don’t wait.   

          2.  The rebellious are going into the lake of fire.

      C.  It is risky and foolish to refuse God’s call to confess our sin and to turn from them in        repentance.

  1.  Each time we resist our heart get 

                 a little harder.

  2.  God’s patience has a limit, today is the day of salvation, tomorrow God may give you up          to follow your depraved heart deeper into the quicksand of sin.

      D.  What were the consequences of rebelling for Judah?

  1.  Eaten by the sword - to lose the war, many killed by a sword.

  2.  They lost the land of promise.

  3.  Judah lost its freedom and self-rule. Become slaves.

  4.  They left the land of the living - this earth, they died.

  5.  They lost all of their possessions.

  6.  They forfeited their opportunity to enter everlasting life in the new Jerusalem; some went to                    hell.

      E.  They would receive the opposite blessing for each of these curses if they willing obeyed from                the heart.

  1.  They would not be eaten by the sword - they would win the war; few would be killed by a                       sword.

  2.  They would keep the land of promise.

  3.  Judah would keep its freedom and self-rule.

  4.  The people would stay in the land of the living - this earth, for a while longer.

  5.  They would keep their possessions and get more from their enemy's defeat.

  6.  They would keep open their opportunity to enter everlasting life in the new Jerusalem,                           some would go to heaven.

      F.  God’s people chose to rebel.  What were the results?

1.  God said no problem, I have limited my sovereignty to your will, you can do whatever you                     want, right?  WRONG.

2.  The Babylonians deported them out of the land.

3.  They took their silver and gold, possessions, even out of the temple.

4.  They burned the temple and broke down the city’s wall of defense.  (The Temple, the only          place in all the earth where a man could meet with the true God and have his sins atoned for until the Messiah would come take them away.)

5.  Many in Judah starved to death. They ate unspeakable things.

6.  Many were killed during the fight during the siege.

7.  They ceased being the light to the pagan nations.

      G. The Bible had already warned these people of the consequences of rebelling against the                       covenant.

1.  Moses was very clear in his warning in Deut. 28.

     (This was a message preached and Scripture itself)

2.  Deut.  28:1-) If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his                         commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. {2} All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God: {3} You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.                                

3.  Deut.  28:45-8) All these curses will come upon you. They will pursue you and               overtake you until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the LORD your God and               observe the commands and decrees, he gave you. {46} They will be a sign and a wonder to you and your descendants forever. {47} Because you did not serve the LORD your God joyfully and gladly in the time of prosperity, {48} therefore in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and dire poverty, you will serve the enemies the LORD sends against you. He will put an iron yoke on your neck until he has         destroyed you.

4.  Deut. 30:19-20 (NIV) This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have                  set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live {20} and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

      H.  Application

1.  Paul put it this way, II Cor. 5:20-1(NIV) We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as                              though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be                           reconciled to God. {21} God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we                     might become the righteousness of God.

2.  The God of the Bible is making you an offer.

3.  God is offering to make your soul clean.

       Would you like to have all your guilt gone?

       Every time you broke God’s law and every time you failed to measure up to God’s                              Perfection, you sinned and that sin stained you. Look at your hands. They are bright                         red from the people you have destroyed with your tongue, they are stained with every lie,                      every lustful thought, every desire to have something that belonged to someone else.

4.   They tell me that vinegar and cold water will get blood stains out of clothes.  

                But the only thing that will clean your crimson hands is more blood, 

                the blood of the Lamb slain before the foundation of the earth.

      He will make your hands and soul as clean as fresh bright white snow.

5.   God is offering an individual covenantal relationship with Himself.  This is an                                  awesome offer.  You have a empty space inside your inner being that only the God of the covenant can truly fill.  Our idols just give temporary relief and greater thirst. We are lonely and afraid                      and we want our lives to matter.  We want to be loved.  Only God’s love and friendship can fill up that void.

6.   You are at the fork in the road.  

                You are on trial before God.

      a.  How will you respond to the invitation to life?

      b.  Will you continue on the road to death and destruction?

      c.   Will you join Judah in her folly, or will you learn from her mistakes?

7.   If you continue in your love affair with sin and chose the curses of the covenant you must                       blame yourself for your coming destruction. Don’t get mad at God for giving you what you                   asked for.

8.   If you have already been cleansed by God, are you willingly and obediently following Him

      Do you understand Grace, or are you motivated by merit or legalism?

9.   Even now your works can’t clean your hands.  You serve Him in love and gratitude if you are                   His.  And your joy is full because His cross-work did it all.  Jesus paid it all.  All to Him I                      owe, sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.  You are not here because                      you are good, you are here because you are His, the only one who is good

     I.   Ill. Bruce Wilkerson had a friend who was about to leave his wife and children for a younger                       woman.  Bruce walked him through the next years of pain and anguish he would                                 experience.  He was face to face w/ the price tag of his sin.  In tears he repented and chose not to follow that path because the cost was too great.  Learn from Judah’s mistake.

They let their time limit pass to repent and had to endure the pain of their sin.     

Conclusion:

We have said:

  I.  Every person should consider God’s call to court. 

 II.  Every person should consider the consequences of confession of sin and willing obedience. 

III.  Every person should consider the curses that come with rebelling against the Covenantal God of  

      Scripture. 

In Pilgrims Progress after Christian gets saved, the angel come and bring him a clean white robe and helmet of salvation and the key of promise and the word of God.  His filthy rags are removed and clean, clothes are put on him.

This is in part an illusion to Zechariah 3, Yeshua the priest, is in filthy rags and Satan is accusing him, but King Jesus, the Angel of the Lord, give the priest clean garments and a clean turban.  Only Jesus can clean you up.  Your best deeds are as filthy rags ... That’s your best shot, w/ 85% right motive, it is filthy.  But Jesus can clean your spots from the inside out.  Don’t delay coming to Him on His terms of trust, repentance, and surrender.  Jesus has the clean hands, and He can make your hands clean too.  Won’t you come to Him today?

Modified Evangelism Explosion Outline

 

I.  The Introduction (F.I.R.E.)

Family (Questions) Have any hobbies?  

Interests: [Tr.] Do you ever think about spiritual things?

Religious Background: When you attend church, where do you go?

Exploratory questions:

1.  Have you come to a place in your life that you know for certain that you have everlasting life and that you will  

     go to heaven when you die?

2.  Suppose that you were to stand before God right now and He asked you, “Why should I let you into my             

     heaven?”  What would you say?

II.  The gospel

      A.  GRACE        1.  Heaven is a free gift.

                     2.  It is not earned or deserved.

      B.  MAN           1.  Is a sinner, a lawbreaker (deserves death).

                      2.  Cannot save himself.

      C.  GOD            1.  Is merciful - therefore doesn’t want to punish us.

                      2.  Is just (holy) - therefore He must punish sin.

      D.  CHRIST      1.  Who He is - Jesus is God and He became Man at the first Christmas.

                2.  What He did - He paid for His people’s sin and purchased a place in heaven                    for us which He offers as a free gift.

                                3.  He did this by dying on the cross and shedding His blood for us.  Three days                                           later God the Father raised Him from the dead.

                4.  Christ returned to heaven and God made Him Lord of the universe.  He is now                   reigning as King over His universe.  He is everyone’s Lord.

      E.  REPENTANCE  1.  The Bible says that God has commanded every person to repent.                                                        Acts 17:30

                                 2.  What it is not - just feeling sorry.

                 3.  What it is - a change of all that I am from sin and selfishness to God.  It is a                                              U-turn, a change of direction (confession plus action). It is a turning to God                                              through Jesus and away from sin.

      F.  FAITH         1.  What it is not - only agreeing mentally to a few facts nor is it temporary faith.

                2.  What it is - actually trusting Jesus alone for deliverance from sin.

                        3.  It is an act of the mind, will and feelings.     

     G.  SURRENDER  1.  You have put God’s gift of faith to use when you have bowed before the                                                    throne of Jesus in submission and trust, asking Him to save you.

                                2.  Surrendering to Jesus as Lord means giving Jesus control of our lives. We                                               acknowledge Him as our Boss from now on.  We let him drive the car of our                                           ives.

     H.  RESULT             (of hearing this message)

           COSTS          1.  Those who truly believe and obey this message will be saved from sin’s                                                   punishment and control in their lives.

                 2.  Those who will not believe and obey will be responsible for rejecting the                                                   only escape path God has offered in the gospel.

III.  The commitment

        A.   Qualifying Question: Does this make sense to you?

        B.   Is there any reason you would not be willing to receive God’s gift of everlasting life?

        C.   Are you willing to turn from your sin and place your faith in Jesus right now?

        D.   Cost of commitment (explain the costs and losses of being a Christian)

        E.   Question of next step:

               1.  Would you be interested in coming to a Bible study to go over these truths in detail from                         the Bible?

     OR    2.  Would you be interested in coming to my Sunday School class or an Inquirer’s class?

     OR    3.  Jesus promises that He will not turn away from those who come to Him on gospel terms,                        faith and repentance.  (Read Matthew 11:28-30) This is Christ’s invitation to you, for you                      to come to Him. God has commanded you to repent and trust in the Lord Christ.  I urge                          you to become at peace with God through His Son, the LORD Jesus Christ.  You need to                        ask the Lord Jesus to save you.

        F.  Do you have any questions?  (Explain the prayer of submission for those who ask)

Dear God, I know that the Lord Jesus is Your Son.  He is God and He became man.  I know that He shed his blood by dying on the cross for sinners and was raised from the dead.  I know that I have broken Your rules, and I have sinned and need forgiveness.  I am now willing to turn from my sins and receive Jesus as my Deliverer and my Boss, my Savior and my Lord.  I now trust Him, I now repent of my sins, I surrender to Jesus.  Lord Jesus, please save me.  Thank you.  I pray in Jesus Name.  Amen. 

IV. Immediate follow-up

        A.  Bible - Live in the Word (Start reading the gospel of John)

        B.  Prayer - pray in faith   (each day)

        C.  Worship - spend time with the Master (devotions & come to church w/ me)                    

        D.  Fellowship with Believers (small group, S.S. class, church service, etc.)

        E.  Witness to the world (use present unsaved contacts, have a Matthew party)

        F.  Discipleship - one-on-one edification (first be discipled, then disciple others)

        G.  Service (ministering to other Christians, discover gifts)

Two Baptist Older Works on the Doctrine of Election

 Abstract of Principles, 1858 Southern Seminary

 

V.  Election

Election is God’s eternal choice of some persons unto everlasting life — not because of foreseen merit in them, but of His mere mercy in Christ — in consequence of which choice they are called, justified and glorified.

 

The 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith, adopted in 1744 as the Philadelphia Confession of Faith, latter adopted as the Charleston Confession of Faith.

 

1. God hath decreed in Himself, from all eternity, by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely and unchangeably, all things, whatsoever come to pass; ¹ yet so as thereby is God neither the author of sin nor hath fellowship with any therein;² nor is violence offered to the will of the creature, nor yet is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established; ³ in which appears His wisdom in disposing all things, and power and faithfulness in accomplishing His decree.⁴

 

1. Isa. 46:10; Eph. 1:11; Heb. 6:17; Rom. 9:15, 18.

2. Jas. 1:13; 1 Jhn. 1:5.

3. Acts 4:27-28; Jhn. 19:11.

4. Num. 23:19; Eph. 1:3-5.

 

2. Although God knows whatsoever may or can come to pass, upon all supposed conditions,⁵ yet hath He not decreed anything, because He foresaw it as future, or as that which would come to pass upon such conditions.⁶

 

5. Acts 15:18.

6. Rom. 9:11, 13, 16, 18.

 

3. By the decree of God, for the manifestation of His glory, some men and angels are predestined, or foreordained to eternal life through Jesus Christ,⁷ to the praise of His glorious grace;⁸ others being left to act in their sin to their just condemnation, to the praise of His glorious justice.⁹

 

7. 1 Tim. 5:21; Mt 25:34.

8. Eph 1:5-6.

9. Rom. 9:22-23; Jude 4.

 

4. These angels and men thus predestined and foreordained, are particularly and unchangeably designed, and their number so certain and definite, that it cannot be either increased or diminished.¹⁰

 

10. 2 Tim. 2:19; Jhn. 13:18.

 

5. Those of mankind that are predestined to life, God, before the foundation of the world was laid, according to His eternal and immutable purpose, and the secret counsel and good pleasure of His will, hath chosen in Christ unto everlasting glory, out of His mere free grace and love,¹¹ without any other thing in the creature as a condition or cause moving Him thereunto. ¹²

 

11. Eph 1:4, 9, 11; Rom. 8:30; 2 Tim 1:9; 1 Thes. 5:9.

12. Rom. 9:13, 16; Eph 2:5, 12.

 

6. As God hath appointed the elect unto glory, so He hath, by the eternal and most free purpose of His will, foreordained all the means thereunto; ¹³ wherefore they who are elect, being fallen in Adam, are redeemed by Christ,¹⁴ are effectually called unto faith in Christ, by His Spirit working in due season, are justified, adopted, sanctified,¹⁵ and kept by His power through faith unto salvation;¹⁶ neither are any other redeemed by Christ, or effectually called, justified, adopted, sanctified, and saved, but the elect only.¹⁷

 

13. 1 Pet. 1:2; 2 Thes. 2:13.

14. 1 Thes. 5:9-10.

15. Rom. 8:30; 2 Thes. 2:13.

16. 1 Pet. 1:5.

17. Jhn. 10:26; 17:9; 6:64.

 

7. The doctrine of this high mystery of predestination is to be handled with special prudence and care, that men attending the will of God revealed in His Word, and yielding obedience thereunto, may, from the certainty of their effectual vocation, be assured of their eternal election;¹⁸ so shall this doctrine afford matter of praise,¹⁹ reverence, and admiration of God, and of humility,²⁰ diligence, and abundant consolation to all that sincerely obey the gospel.²¹

 

18. 1 Thes. 1:4-5; 2 Pet. 1:10.

19. Eph 1:6; Rom. 11:33.

20. Rom. 11:5-6, 20.

21. Lk 10:20.