DATE: – SUNDAY 3RD MAY, 2020
TOPIC: – KINDS OF PEOPLE ON EARTH (Part 4)
BIBLE PASSAGE: – Colossians 3: 1- 17
MEMORY VERSE: – “Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry” (Colossians 3:5).
INTRODUCTION: – Not all Christians make required efforts to fully overcome the sinful nature and live in total submission to the Holy Spirit. Most Christians today, more than ever before, are behaving in a worldly or carnal or unspiritual manner. Instead of consistently resisting the pull of their sinful Adamic nature towards sin, they were not living continually in disobedience, they were in the process of compromising the world’s beliefs and behaviours and their own sinful nature. Such people are giving the devil opportunity to gain influence in areas of their lives, while they still wanted to be a part of God’s people going to heaven (1Corint.10:21; 2Corint.6:14-18; 11:3; 13:5).
LESSON OUTLINES
1) The Condition Of Worldly Christians
For this group, sin and rebellion did not fully control their lives, nor had they been involved in the immoral and ungodly behaviours that would completely separate them from God’s Kingdom (1Corint.6:9-11). Yet, they are behaving in such a way that they were no longer growing in their relationship with God. They are acting as immature believers who do not fully understand what it means to follow Christ and how it should affect their daily lives (1Corint.3:12). Their worldliness and immaturity are expressed in “envying and strife”. They are unconcerned about and tolerant of immoral behavior within the Church (1Corint.5:1-13; 6:13-20). They do not always take God’s Holy Word seriously or have proper respect for Spiritual authorities (1Corint.4:18-19). They are sensual, egocentric and unforgiving. They have to gratify the flesh, finding it difficult to heed to sound doctrine of the Word of God, and at times get offended or heady and stubborn. They prefer to follow their own ways or rather give head to false teachers who will not rebuke or reprove their sinful lifestyles. They love the world and the things therein with the lusts and have no love for God or the people of God (1Jh.2:15-17).
2) Dangers For Worldly Christians
Those worldly Christians are in danger of being influenced to abandon their devotion to Christ (2Corint.11:13). Their lives are conforming more and more to the ungodly patterns, beliefs and behaviours that are common in the world (2Corint.6:14-18). Because of this, they will be disciplined and judged by the Lord; and if they continue to conform to the world, they will finally lose their place in God’s Kingdom (1Corint.6:9-10; 11:31-32). In fact some go as far as committing the kind of openly extreme sin that separates people from Christ and leads to Spiritual death (1Jh.3:15; 5:17).
3) The Warnings To Worldly Christians
a) Worldly Christians must realize that they are in danger of losing their faith if they are unwilling to turn from all that displeases God in their lives (Rom.6:14-16; 1Corint.6:9; 2Corint.11:3; Gal.6:7-9).
b) They must learn from tragic example of the Israelites, whom God destroyed because of their rebellion against Him (1Corint.10:5-12).
c) The must understand that it is impossible to fully participate in God’s plan and purposes while giving in to the influences of Satan, the world and their own sinful nature (Mt.6:24; 1Corint.6:21).
d) They must separate and walk in a different path than those of the world (Mt.7:13-14; 2Corint.6:14-18) and be totally submissive to the leading of the Holy Spirit (Rom.8:17).
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
The letters if the Lord Jesus to the Church in Pergamus and the Church in Laodecea (Rev.2:12-17; 3:14-22) are very important for any carnal and worldly Christian.
It is better to “take heed unto yourself” (Lk.21:34) and to the doctrine of the Holy Spirit by whose help and power, you can purify yourself “from all the filthiness of the flesh and Spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2Corint.7:1).
QUESTIONS
- Describe a worldly Christian?
- What are the dangers for worldly Christians?
DATE: – SUNDAY 10TH MAY, 2020
TOPIC: – THE CHRISTIAN AND THE WORLD (Part 1)
BIBLE PASSAGE: – 1 JOHN 2: 1 – 17
MEMORY VERSE: – “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world the love of the Father is not in Him.”(1John2:15).
INTRODUCTION: – The Christian is in the world as a pilgrim and sojourner. He is not a permanent resident to begin to mingle with the world and follow its system (1Pet.2:11). As Christians, we must consistently beware and reminded of this truth that this world is not our home, we are only just passing through (like the Israelites passed through the wilderness to the promised land), on the way to our true home with God in heaven.
LESSON OUTLINES
1) The World And It’s Constituent Lusts.
The term “world” (GK. G Kosmos), as it is used throughout the New Testament, often refers to the vast world system that exists independent of God (i.e. going its own way without regard for God) and basically opposed to Him. It is how things in the world have operated ever since the first humans gave in to Satan’s temptation, disobeyed God and brought the curse of sin upon all of creation. As a result of defying God, human kind gave up the authority over creation that had originally delegated to them (Gen.1:26-30; 2:15; 19-20). Satan then seized control (Jh.12:31; 14:30; 16:11) and began to dominate human endevours with his evil purposes (1Jh.5:19). This means that the “world” in its present condition is characterized not only by wicked, immoral and selfish lifestyles, but also by a spirit of rebellion and indifference (i.e. apathy, unresponsiveness, lack of concern) toward God and His revelation. This attitude is characteristic of all humans, and human endeavours that are not submitted to Christ’s leadership and authority.
Consequently, Satan often uses the world’s ideas of immorality, its philosophies, and its social custom to oppose god, His people, His Word and His standards (Mtt.16:26; 1Corint.2:12; 3:19; Tit.2:12; 1Jh.2:15-16).
Most of these issues and areas of life are not evil in themselves, yet Satan will work through any or all of them to promote his purpose and cause spiritual deception. For example, health system may be used to promote taking lives, as with abortion, or educational systems may be used to nurture in students an ungodly and humanistic philosophy (Col.2:8). Or more subtly, the clothing industry can be used greatly to promote general habits of dress that would definitely bring shame and offense to those who live according to the standards given by God for His people.
Christians must be aware that behind all human endeavors, apart from God, there is a spirit or power that moves against God and His word in varying degrees.
Finally, the “world” also includes all unbiblical religious systems and organizations that use the name of the Lord Jesus Christ or His family of believers yet teaches and encourage life styles contrary to God’s true Church and standard of holiness that are given in His Word.
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
One of the greatest problems of the Church today is attempting to experience God’s blessings while refusing to separate itself from the world’s corrupt beliefs, behaviours and lifestyles.
The Pastors and Church leaders today are allowing people who claimed to have accepted Christ to come into the congregations and become part of the Church ministry without giving up their ungodly practices. We have in the Church today, selfish divisions, politics, immorality, world’s philosophy, envy and jealousy, quarrelling, pride, idolatry, teachings that twisted the original message of Christ to suit their selfish gains.
Heavenly minded Christians must beware of these and take caughtion.
QUESTIONS
- Describe the world in few words?
- In what ways does Satan use to oppose God and His Word?
DATE: – SUNDAY 17TH MAY, 2020
TOPIC: – THE CHRISTIAN AND THE WORLD (Part 2)
BIBLE PASSAGE: – 2 Corinthians 4: 1 – 10
MEMORY VERSE: – “But if our gospel be hid; it is hid to them that are lost. In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them” (2Corinthians 4:3 – 4).
INTRODUCTION: –
The god of this world refers to Satan (Josh.12:31; 14:30; 16:11; Eph.2:2; 1Jh.5:19), who holds power over much of the activity in the world at the present time. His power is, however, temporary and conditional. He continues only as God allows, which presents people with the real choice of whether to accept and follow Christ or to continue in their ways and follow evil.
LESSON OUTLINES
1) The God Of This World
Satan is the god of the present world system, he controls it, along with a host of evil spirits who work their destruction under his limited authority (Dan.10:13; Lk.4:5-7; Eph.6:12-13).
Satan has long has long had a foothold in the world’s political, cultural, economic and religious system that are inherently hustle toward God and his people (Jh.7:7; 15:18; Js.4:4; 1Jh.2:16). This system and those who are part of them refuse to submit to God’s truth (Jh.7:7).
The world and the true Church are two distinct group of people. The world is under Satan’s authority and control (Jh.12:31); the Church belongs exclusively to God (Eph.5:23-24; Rev.24:2). For this reason, true believers must separate themselves from the ungodliness and corruption of the world (2Corint.6:14 – 7:3).
Satan has the power and control over the present world but his power is temporary and conditional. He continues only as God allows, and they will end at the close of history when he is thrown into the lake of fire (Rev.19:11-20; 10).
Yet, at the present time, Satan continues his evil work and those who do not submit themselves to Jesus Christ remain under Satan’s influence. He deceives them and blends them to the truth of God’s Word so that they do not understand their need for Christ and Saviour (2Corint.4:3-4).
Those of us who are in Christ though still in the world but not of the world (Jh.17:14-16), must realize that because people are blended to the truth, we need to view them through God’s eyes of mercy. Although it may be easier to become discouraged or angered by their rebellion ways, (due to the work of Satan in their lives to keep them in his hold and influence) Christians must continue to pray and share Christ’s message of salvation to them with love, humility and active compassion.
Actually, the Holy Spirit empowers and enables us to do so (Acts 1:8), in order that all may hear, understand and choose to believe, or disbelieve the truth – to accept or reject Christ.
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
Satan – the god of this world is our greatest enemy. We must constantly be aware that we are engaged in spiritual warfare with unseen but very real powers of evil (Lk.10:19; Eph.6:12). These powers want to change the course of God’s plan, destroy lives and make sure that people remain in spiritual darkness and are condemned for eternity.
This, we must beware of them as we pass through this world not allowing them to influence us to let the world pass through us.
QUESTIONS
- How is Satan the god of this world?
- What should be our response to those blinded by Satan?
DATE: – SUNDAY 24TH MAY, 2020
TOPIC: – THE CHRISTIAN AND THE WORLD (Part 3)
BIBLE PASSAGE: – John 17: 1 – 9
MEMORY VERSE: – “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world” (John 19:16)
INTRODUCTION: – In the world, the followers of Christ are aliens and strangers, simply passing through (as the Israelites passed through the wilderness to the promised land) on the way to our true home with God our father (Heb.11:13; 1Pt.2:11). We then should see ourselves as not of this world but passersby and not be entangled with the affairs of this world lest we miss the hope that is set before us (2Tim.2:4).
LESSON OUTLINES
1) Distinction Between The Christian And The World
* The Christians do not belong to the world, but are called not from it (John 15:19). As a result, they no longer conform to the world’s pattern (Rom.12:2) or love the things of the world (1Jh.2:15). Instead they despise the world’s evil (Heb.1:9), die to the world (i.e. become unresponsive to the influences; Gal.6:14) and are liberated from the world (Col.1:13-14). Through a relationship with Christ, God’s people overcome the world and its evil (1Jh.5:4).
* Loving the world (1Jh.2:15) is a form of spiritual adultery and unfaithfulness that defiles our relationship with God and leads to spiritual destruction. It is impossible with God and leads to spiritual destruction. It is impossible to love the world and God the Father simultaneously (Mtt.6:24; Lk.16:13; James 4:4). To love the world means to be closely related to and associated with its beliefs, behaviours and customs. It means being devoted to or accepting of its values, interests, practices and pleasures. It involves taking pleasures in or enjoying what is common in the world, but is offensive to God (Lk.23:35). Notice that the terms “world” and “earth” are not synonymous; God does not forbid us to appreciate and admire the beauty of the created earth, i.e. nature, mountains, forests and the like. While we are to hate the corrupt ways of the world, we also are to demonstrate God’s compassion for people who are spiritually lost (Mt.9:36; Lk.19:10), caught up in the world’s evil and blinded by Satan’s deception (2Corint.4:4).
2) The Aspects Of The World Hustle To God
There are three stages that Satan uses to make people hostile to God and deviant against His Word. These were what he (Satan) used in the Garden of Eden against the woman, and the same he still uses today (Gen.3:1-6).
a) The Lust Of The Flesh – This includes spiritually impure and immoral desires and the pursuit of sinful pleasures and sonship gratification (i.e. satisfaction in selfish and ungodly ways; 1Corint.6:16; Phil.3:19; Jas.1:14; Jh.2:16).
b) The Lust Of The Eyes – This refers to coveting or lusting after things that are appealing to the eyes but forbidden by God or outside of His perfect will. This includes desires to read, listen or watch things that offer immoral pleasure and promote ungodly ideals (Rm.7:7; Ex.20:17). In the present modern age, this include being entertained by watching pornography, violence, vulganity, ungodly conduct or immoral behavior portrayed on a wide range of media (Gen.3:6; Josh.7:21; 2Sam.11:2; Mt.5:28).
c) The Pride Of Life – This refers to an attitude of subtle price and arrogance that often comes with wealth, material blessings, position of power, personal achievements, honours and other apparent successes. This can lead to a facing of self-sufficiency that does not recognize God as Lord or His Word as the final authority. This attitude of the human spirit seek to exalt, honour and promote oneself in life (Jas.4:16). It is the opposite of submission to God and His Word, and it defies the spirit of humility demonstrated by Jesus and required of His true disciples (Phil.23-5).
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
Christ’s followers must not be in close relationship with those who participates in world’s evil system and corruption (Mt.9:11; 2Corint.6:14). Instead, believers must live in a way that is distinct from the world (2Corin.6:17) and that exposes the world’s evil (Jh.7:7; Eph.5:11). Christians must be spiritual salt and light to the world (Mt.5:13-14). This means, reflecting God’s character and love (Jh.3:16) so that those who are lost in the spiritual darkness of the world can see the hope that is found only through a relationship with Christ (Mk.16:15; Jude 1:22-23).
Though. A true Christian will experience trouble (Jh.16:33); hatred (Jh.15:19); persecution (Mt.5:10-12) and suffering )1Pt.2:19-21) from the world by various forms of temptations, enticements and attractions of the world. But every heavenly minded Christian will remain focus and uncompromising knowing that the world system is temporary and will eventually be destroyed by God and passed away, but ours is eternal hope and joy.
QUESTIONS
- Explain the aspects of the world in hospitality to God
What should be the Christian’s attitude to the world?
DATE: – SUNDAY 31ST MAY, 2020
TOPIC: – MERCY OF GOD (Part 1)
BIBLE PASSAGE: – Matthew 23: 13 – 33
MEMORY VERSE: – “I desired mercy. And not sacrifice and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings” (Hosea 6:6).
INTRODUCTION: – The Pharisees liked details. These prominent and influential Jewish leaders developed a detailed set of instructions on how to please God, emphasizing even the smallest items. Among other things, they concerned themselves with making sure that God got His tithe of everything, even the herbs and spices in their homes.
But the Lord Jesus rebuked them for wrong priorities – concentrating on little things while ignoring the big things. The Lord though commanded them for their desire to honour God even in littlest things but rebuked them for neglecting the “weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy and faith (Matt.23:23; Micah 6:8)
LESSON OUTLINES
1) Mercy From God to Us
To understand the mercy of God towards us we need to first understand what mercy is.
In Luke 18:9-14, the Lord Jesus gave a parable to illustrate what mercy is. According to the parable, the Pharisees trusted that his own righteousness would merit the blessing of God, while the tax collected, knowing he deserved punishment, trusted God for mercy. This illustrates that mercy acts by withholding punishment, even though it is deserved.
This is our starting point with God. It would have been perfectly understandable if God sent each of us to hell.
This is what we all deserved, since we were “by nature children of wrath and since “there is none that does good, no not one” (Eph.23; rom.3:12). But mercy steps in just at the point of established guilt. God declares that every human being is disobedient – not so He can pour out judgment but so “that He might have mercy on all” (Rom.11:32). This is tremendous! It is as if we are in court facing the Judge of all the earth, with all the evidence proving that we are miserable and wretched sinners. Then just as we are about to be sentenced, the Judge smiles, and says (Now that we all know you are guilty. I can show mercy”.
The big question is can God overlook our sinful condition? The answer is NO, He can’t because that wouldn’t be true to His character of justice and holiness. Instead, He allowed His Son, Jesus Christ, to become the sacrifice which, covered our need and satisfied God’s holy demands (Gen.2:20).
The blood which Christ shed on the cross for our sins allows God to be just, and it also allows Him to justify anyone who has faith in His Son (Rom.3:26).
We should mention that it was God’s grace which allowed Him to give His Son for us this way.
Generally speaking, we can say that grace gives us what we do not deserve, while mercy does not give us what we deserve.
So far we have observed that mercy chooses to withhold punishment when seeing our need before the Judge. But mercy does not stop there. Instead, mercy continues to recognize our need by taking notice of our daily needs and weaknesses while we are trying to serve the Lord. This is presented clearly in Hebrews 2:17-18; 4:15-16, how Christ became flesh and endured temptation, He is a “merciful and faithful High Priest, who can help us when we are tempted and who invites us to the Throne of grace to “obtain mercy” when we are in need.
The coming of the Lord to take us (believers) to heaven is by mercy (Jude 21) since ultimately our needs and weaknesses will be dealt with when He takes us away from them. At that point, we will never again give in to temptation or disappoint Him in our services.
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
Mercy is an attribute of God. It precedes grace in salvation of mankind. Mercy covers our sins protecting us against judgment which grace saves from sin and offers us eternal life. Most of us do not know how to recognize mercy when we see it but it speaks louder than any other voice.
QUESTIONS
- What are the weightier matters of the law?
- Where is our starting point with God?