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Each week a new verse-by-verse Bible study podcast given in expository style. Join us and see the Bible come alive as we study the truths that God‘s Word has for us.
Episodes
Sunday Apr 17, 2016
Sunday Apr 17, 2016
HOW TO LIVE A HOLY LIFE
When I was a kid growing up, my father would tell me that I needed to choose the people I hung around with very carefully because if you are part of a group, then you will be judged by the behavior of that group. Whether, or not, you actually did whatever the group did, that was how people would think of you. In other words, if you hang out with a group that is always getting into trouble, then people will think of you as a trouble maker. If you hang out the smart people, then you will be judged to be like them whether you really are smart, or not. I am not saying that is fair, it is just the way it is. Life is rarely fair.
I learned this lesson well, and I generally chose to do things the various groups of kids were not doing. As the saying goes, I was country when country wasn’t cool. I turned in my platform shoes and walked all around my college campus wearing cowboy boots. Now, I have to admit, it was at Kansas State University, so it wasn’t all that unusual. I gave up listening to Three Dog Night, Chicago, and Sly and Family Stone as a teenager and started listening to Willie and Waylon, Hank Jr, and Merle Haggard back in the rebel days of country music.
After a while, I switched to traditional country music which included George Strait and the music from the 30’s, 40’s, and 50’s. People like Hank Sr., Patsy Cline, Don Williams, Danny Davis and Nashville brass, and so forth. I even started listening to big band and 40’s club music. Nobody was listening to these guys at that time. It actually became a point in my life to be seen as different from all of the crowd. But being different meant that I was not a part of any particular group. Certainly not, the in-crowd. This was a conscious, and deliberate, decision on my part. I did not want to be associated with the in-crowd, and so I wasn’t.
This actually fit right in with being a Christian during my school years. Living the life of a Christian means you will never be popular, and you will not be a part of the cool kids. In fact, the Bible tells us that we will be hated.
Mark 13:13
13 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
KJV
Even knowing that this true, there is to be a conscious, deliberate, decision on the part of a believer, to live a life that is separated from the secular world. Not isolated from the world, for we live in the world, but we are not to be of the world. When people describe you, they should say that there is something different about you, not goofy different, but a good difference. There ought to be something attractive about the way you conduct yourself. There should be a lack of anxiety about all of the things that worry the rest of the world. There should be a humility in your words and your actions. There should be kindness in your actions to others. In fact, people should see Christ shining out of you.
Everything you think about when you consider how Christ lived His life on this earth, ought to be something that you are moving toward, or growing toward as a Christian. This is what living a holy life means. It is living a separated life. One set aside for Christ, dedicated to the work of Christ, and accomplishing the purposes of God in this world.
This is what our lesson is about today, how to live a holy, or a separated life.
Sunday Mar 13, 2016
Sunday Mar 13, 2016
Outside the four walls of the church, would you ever describe your life as holy? Do you feel comfortable with the word holy when you are speaking to the general public? Probably not. I can’t say that I use the word holy very much outside of a church service or in a Bible study setting.
Why not? The unfortunate reality is that we have allowed the word holy to be hijacked by those who would give it a somewhat pious connotation to it. This is certainly true in the secular world, but even in the religious world. Words like holy-roller, holier-than-thou, are phrases that come immediately to mind when someone claims to be holy.
Why? It is because the world thinks of a religious person as basically a hypocrite because they see so many examples of people who claim to be a Christian, but they live a life that is no different than everyone else around them. They claim to refrain from drinking for religious reasons, but spread gossip at every opportunity. They say they go to church on Sunday, and then they join their friends at a bar on Monday. Statistics would say that a Christian couple is just as likely to commit adultery or have their marriage end in divorce as a non-Christian couple. If these things are true, then there is no wonder that the first thought that comes to mind of an average person when they hear the word holy, is hypocrite, or religious fraud. If you doubt this is true, try describing yourself as living a holy life to one of your lost friends and then watch for the look on their face.
So, as a believer, when we say that we are to live a life that is holy, what does that mean to you?
Does it mean to live life one way while you are at church and another way when you go to work on Monday? How about when you are behind the wheel of your car in traffic, do you live a life that is holy then? Are your actions as you drive holy, are the gestures that you make to other drivers holy, are your words, both the ones you say out loud and the ones that you think in your mind, holy? How about when you are watching your child, or grandchild, play in a sporting event, would somebody listening to your words that you yell at the umpire or referee consider them to be holy?
When God talks about living a life that is holy, He means that your life should be one that is distinct from the secular world. There ought to be a noticeable difference in your life, not a weird difference, but a good difference. Not a hypocritical difference, but a consistent difference. I said last week that for many people, the life of a believer is the only Bible that they will ever read. People should see Christ in your life. Your life should be holy, just as Christ’s life was holy.
We cannot be perfect, but we can keep trying to be more like Christ. We cannot live a holy life by our own will power. It can only be done by the power of the Holy Spirit having complete control of our lives. This is the message that Peter has for us today.
Friday Aug 14, 2015
Friday Aug 14, 2015
It is a fact that God has placed us in a world full of darkness and He expects us to be a light in that dark world.
Matt 5:14-16
14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
KJV
We are to be a light in a dark world.
When Jesus walked on the earth, people were drawn to Him. They wanted to be near Him. Certainly, they wanted to hear Him speak, and to watch Him perform miracles, but there was just something different about Jesus that drew people to Him. Not a weird difference, for that would have pushed people away, but a good, calm, inviting, type of difference from the normal attitude that people put on in our world.
Jesus had compassion on the poor, and the outcasts. He had kindness for the children, and He had absolute integrity in all of His dealings with people around Him. Try as hard as they could, the Pharisees and the Sadducees could not find anything to legitimately accuse Jesus of. He meticulously kept the Law as it was originally written and He hated the man-made religious traditions and rabbinical writings the scribes and burdened the people with.
He stood for what was right in the eyes of God and He condemned what was wrong. Christ lived the perfect example of the life that we as Christians should be living today. In our lesson today, Paul is going to describe what our behavior ought to be like. He is going to tells us in our relationships with the world the Christian is to follow the example that Christ laid out for us in the Sermon on the Mount.
Tuesday Aug 11, 2015
Tuesday Aug 11, 2015
Over the last several weeks, Paul has been discussing with us how the believer is to work together with his fellow believers. What is it that we are to be working together toward? The kingdom work of God, or the sharing of the light of the gospel with a dark world.
There are those that feel it would be nice to seclude themselves in a monastery and not have to deal with the secular world, but that is not why God has sent us on this journey. It is important to understand that, as believers, we are not working our way to get to heaven, we are working to go to our home in heaven. This earth is not our home, it is our workplace.
When I go to work in the morning, it is with anticipation that I will be able to come home when I have completed my work for the day. Returning home is not something I have to earn, it is something I already have. It is my place of rest. As believers, this earth is our workplace, and we come to it with the anticipation of being able to go to our home in heaven when we have completed the tasks that God has for us to do. I do not have to earn my place in heaven, for I already own that place. It is my place of rest when I am finished doing the kingdom work of God.
In order to accomplish that kingdom work of sharing the gospel message of Christ, I need to go to where the people are that need to hear that message. I need to relate with a lost world.
So Paul tells us that the laws of Christian life deal not only with the spiritual life of the Christian, but with his social life as well. As believers, we must sustain relationships in the world as well as in the church.
Listen to this podcast to learn that Paul has three things to say about our daily contacts with those outside of Christ. We are to show the unbeliever compassion and understanding, we are to take care with our attitude, and we are to live before men unimpeachable and exemplary lives.
Thursday Jul 16, 2015
Thursday Jul 16, 2015
What is God’s will for our lives, and how does that change us? Finding God’s will is accomplished by sacrificing our whole being to God as a living sacrifice. This means that we surrender our life to God. He is ours to command. He is the Master and we are the slave. We obey Him.
Jesus commanded that we are to be salt and light to a dark world. Salt is a preservative, an antibiotic, and a flavor enhancer. It is applied externally and it draws attention to something different. A believer is to be a preservative of the absolute truths about right and wrong that God has established. We are to stand up when the world decides to call that which is wrong, right, and that which is right, wrong.
The believer is also to be a light unto the world. One of the great facts about light is that darkness is simply the absence of light. No matter how deep the darkness, the simple candle will chase that darkness away. No amount of darkness can overpower the light of that candle. When there is light, darkness goes away. Light for the believer comes from within. Salt is external, and light is internal. Light emanates from the core of the believer. We are to be a light to a dark world. We are to show the world that there is an escape from the deep darkness of the world.
In order to be salt and light, the believer must be changed from what they were before. If we look and act like everyone else, then we are neither salt nor light. Yet, this change in who we are does not happen all at once for most of us. Most believers will spend a lifetime having their body, soul, and spirit conformed to the image of Christ. But the world needs to see this difference. It needs to see the light of God’s Word shining through us.
In order to accomplish this us we must consecrate our body so that the Holy Spirit, who has made it His temple, might have free access to all its members, and free control over all its activities. The believer who presents his body in this manner is changed.
Romans 12:2
2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
KJV
Listen to this podcast to learn how a believer is not to be conformed to this world, but is to be changed morally and mentally to show the world that the will of God is truly good, acceptable, and perfect for each of us.
Monday Jan 27, 2014
Monday Jan 27, 2014
How does a Christian behave?
Should the world be able to identify you as a Christian just by your behavior?
The Biblical view of a Christian is that of someone who has the love of Christ in their hearts and they express that love towards others. Christians, Christian churches, and Christian organizations have been meeting the needs of the hungry, the sick, and the lonely, for two thousand years and they have done so far more effectively than any government handout could.
It is true that as Christians we live lives that are different from others. There certainly are types of behavior that we will not participate in. But, we see that choice not as a restriction, but as freedom from the consequences that a life of alcoholism, drug abuse, greed, and sexual promiscuity and depravity, can bring to a person’s life.
We also see a life of service to God. God has commanded us to share the gospel message of Jesus Christ to the entire world. Our lives are likely the only Bible most people will ever read. What the world knows about salvation, eternity, the love of Christ for all people, and the power of the Holy Spirit of God in our lives comes from what they see in our behavior, our words, our actions, and our attitudes.
We see a life of duty to the call of God, to accomplish the work that God has given us to do.
We see a life that is free from the worry of what will happen tomorrow, because we know that God is control of all things, and He is in control of our lives.
Listen to this podcast to find out what the book of James says about how a Christian should behave.
Tuesday May 28, 2013
Tuesday May 28, 2013
Is hell really real?
The preacher says that it is. TV evangelists proclaim that hell is full of fire and brimstone. Is what they say true?
The scientist says that it is not. Professors state that there is no empirical evidence to prove... the existence of hell, or heaven, or even life after death. Is what they say true?
Somebody is right and somebody is wrong.
If the scientist is right, then life is short and the grave is all there is.
If the preacher is right, then eternity is a long time to spend burning in the fires of hell.
Listen to this podcast to see how Jesus Christ describes the reality of hell and what our roles are in preventing ourselves, and others, from spending eternity in hell.