June
3, 2009
Audio
sermon
Video
sermon
The Kidnapping of the Apostle Paul
|
Part III
By Today's Modern 'Corrupt Bibles' - NIV & The
Message
As obvious as Paul is in the Bible, it sure seems
like most folks can't find him!
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Paul is the main character and only acting Apostles
from Acts 9 through Philemon
- and they can't see him?
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Paul tells folks to follow him - as he follows the Risen Christ - and they
can't see that?
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The ONLY things people know about the Risen Saviour comes from Paul - why
don't they recognize that and then just stick with him?
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Add to the Sunday A.M. Sermon, two more who take away Paul from people
today:
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Deacons
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"Christian" music
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Even the potential of good music to Christians instead of their Bible,
etc.
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I Samuel 16:14-23
Who Is Taking Paul Away Today?
Tonight, we look at a few key "Paul" verses:
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We do not look at all of the verses listed below, but I encourage you to
do more of your own comparisons.)
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Use your own KJB when you compare these two 'per-versions.'
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New International Bible - has been the most accepted in modern
Bibles.
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The Message - Supported by Billy Graham, Chuck Swindoll,
Christianity Today, Dan Quayle, Bill Hybels, Gordon Fee, J.I. Packer, Jack
Hayford, Jerry Jenkins, Jerry Savelle, John Maxwell, Max Lucado, Richard
Foster, Rick Warren, Rod Parsley, Tony Campolo and Warren Wiersbe, among
many others.
-
II Corinthians 2:17 - For
we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity,
but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.
You will note the
"anarchist" instead of the antichrist in the Message.
You will see the teaching that
a Christian SHOULD take the mark / signet in the NIV & Message.
You will see being saved by
water baptism in the Message.
You will see specific words
that need to be said for salvation in the Message.
You will see Calvinism in the
Message.
You will see possible loss of
salvation in the Message.
The Message encourages and supports
healings, tongues, miracles, etc.
The Message blames 'depressions'
and 'moods' as from God.
You will also see sexual perversion
in the Message, but we do not deal with that in this sermon.
II Timothy 2:15,16 - 15
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NIV - Do your best to present yourself
to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed
and who correctly handles the word of truth.
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Message - 14-18 Repeat these
basic essentials over and over to God's people. Warn them before God against
pious nitpicking, which chips away at the faith. It just wears everyone
out. Concentrate on doing your best for God, work you won't be ashamed
of, laying out the truth plain and simple. Stay clear of pious talk that
is only talk. Words are not mere words, you know. If they're not backed
by a godly life, they accumulate as poison in the soul.
-
Note that the Message does not have verse numbers for each verse - only
in groups. That sure makes things that much harder to find, learn
and study individual verses.
Acts 26:18
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NIV - to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light,
and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness
of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.'
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Message - 17-18 "'I'm sending you off to open the
eyes of the outsiders so they can see the difference between dark and light,
and choose light, see the difference between Satan and God, and choose
God. I'm sending you off to present my offer of sins forgiven, and a place
in the family, inviting them into the company of those who begin real living
by believing in me.'
Acts 26:15-17
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NIV - "Then I asked, 'Who are you, Lord?' " 'I am Jesus, whom
you are persecuting,' the Lord replied. 16' Now get up and stand
on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as
a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you. 17
I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending
you to them
-
Message: 15-16 "I said, 'Who are you, Master?'
"The voice answered, 'I am Jesus, the One you're hunting down like an animal.
But now, up on your feet - I have a job for you. I've handpicked you to
be a servant and witness to what's happened today, and to what I am going
to show you.
Acts 28:31
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NIV - Boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of
God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ.
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Message: 30-31 Paul lived for two years in
his rented house. He welcomed everyone who came to visit. He urgently presented
all matters of the kingdom of God. He explained everything about Jesus
Christ. His door was always open.
In the audio sermon, we eventually drop the NIV and
concentrate on the disastrous Message Bible
All the following verses are
taken from The Message!
II Corinthians 2:16-17
- This is a terrific responsibility. Is anyone competent to take
it on? No — but at least we don't take God's Word, water it down, and then
take it to the streets to sell it cheap. We stand in Christ's presence
when we speak; God looks us in the face. We get what we say straight from
God and say it as honestly as we can.
Romans 6:1-3 - So
what do we do? Keep on sinning so God can keep on forgiving? I should hope
not! If we've left the country where sin is sovereign, how can we still
live in our old house there? Or didn't you realize we packed up and left
there for good? That is what happened in baptism. When we went under the
water, we left the old country of sin behind; when we came up out of the
water, we entered into the new country of grace—a new life in a new land!
3-5 - That's what baptism into
the life of Jesus means. When we are lowered into the water, it is like
the burial of Jesus; when we are raised up out of the water, it is like
the resurrection of Jesus. Each of us is raised into a light-filled world
by our Father so that we can see where we're going in our new grace-sovereign
country.
Romans 6:15-18 - So,
since we're out from under the old tyranny, does that mean we can live
any old way we want? Since we're free in the freedom of God, can we do
anything that comes to mind? Hardly. You know well enough from your own
experience that there are some acts of so-called freedom that destroy freedom.
Offer yourselves to sin, for instance, and it's your last free act. But
offer yourselves to the ways of God and the freedom never quits. All your
lives you've let sin tell you what to do. But thank God you've started
listening to a new master, one whose commands set you free to live openly
in his freedom!
Romans 6:15-18 - So,
since we're out from under the old tyranny, does that mean we can live
any old way we want? Since we're free in the freedom of God, can we do
anything that comes to mind? Hardly. You know well enough from your own
experience that there are some acts of so-called freedom that destroy freedom.
Offer yourselves to sin, for instance, and it's your last free act. But
offer yourselves to the ways of God and the freedom never quits. All your
lives you've let sin tell you what to do. But thank God you've started
listening to a new master, one whose commands set you free to live openly
in his freedom!
Romans 6:19 - I'm
using this freedom language because it's easy to picture. You can readily
recall, can't you, how at one time the more you did just what you felt
like doing—not caring about others, not caring about God—the worse your
life became and the less freedom you had? And how much different is it
now as you live in God's freedom, your lives healed and expansive in holiness?
20-21 As long as you did what
you felt like doing, ignoring God, you didn't have to bother with right
thinking or right living, or right anything for that matter. But do you
call that a free life? What did you get out of it? Nothing you're proud
of now. Where did it get you? A dead end.
22-23 - But now that you've found
you don't have to listen to sin tell you what to do, and have discovered
the delight of listening to God telling you, what a surprise! A whole,
healed, put-together life right now, with more and more of life on the
way! Work hard for sin your whole life and your pension is death. But God's
gift is real life, eternal life, delivered by Jesus, our Master.
Romans 7:17-20
But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can't keep it,
and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions,
I obviously need help! I realize that I don't have what it takes. I can
will it, but I can't do it. I decide to do good, but I don't really do
it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such
as they are, don't result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within
me and gets the better of me every time.
21-23 - It happens so regularly
that it's predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to
trip me up. I truly delight in God's commands, but it's pretty obvious
that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and
just when I least expect it, they take charge.
24 - I've tried everything and
nothing helps. I'm at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything
for me? Isn't that the real question?
25 - The answer, thank God, is
that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life
of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind,
but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different.
Romans 8:1-2 - With
the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that fateful dilemma is resolved. Those
who enter into Christ's being-here-for-us no longer have to live under
a continuous, low-lying black cloud. A new power is in operation. The Spirit
of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air,
freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin
and death.
3-4 - God went for the jugular
when he sent his own Son. He didn't deal with the problem as something
remote and unimportant. In his Son, Jesus, he personally took on the human
condition, entered the disordered mess of struggling humanity in order
to set it right once and for all. The law code, weakened as it always was
by fractured human nature, could never have done that.
5-8 - Those who think they can
do it on their own end up obsessed with measuring their own moral muscle
but never get around to exercising it in real life. Those who trust God's
action in them find that God's Spirit is in them—living and breathing God!
Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads
us out into the open, into a spacious, free life. Focusing on the self
is the opposite of focusing on God. Anyone completely absorbed in self
ignores God, ends up thinking more about self than God. That person ignores
who God is and what he is doing. And God isn't pleased at being ignored.
9-11 - But if God himself
has taken up residence in your life, you can hardly be thinking more of
yourself than of him. Anyone, of course, who has not welcomed this invisible
but clearly present God, the Spirit of Christ, won't know what we're talking
about. But for you who welcome him, in whom he dwells—even though you still
experience all the limitations of sin—you yourself experience life on God's
terms. It stands to reason, doesn't it, that if the alive-and-present God
who raised Jesus from the dead moves into your life, he'll do the same
thing in you that he did in Jesus, bringing you alive to himself? When
God lives and breathes in you (and he does, as surely as he did in Jesus),
you are delivered from that dead life. With his Spirit living in you, your
body will be as alive as Christ's!
Romans 2:14-16 - When
outsiders who have never heard of God's law follow it more or less by instinct,
they confirm its truth by their obedience. They show that God's law is
not something alien, imposed on us from without, but woven into the very
fabric of our creation. There is something deep within them that echoes
God's yes and no, right and wrong. Their response to God's yes and no will
become public knowledge on the day God makes his final decision about every
man and woman. The Message from God that I proclaim through Jesus Christ
takes into account all these differences.
Romans 4:13-15 -
That famous promise God gave Abraham—that he and his children would possess
the earth—was not given because of something Abraham did or would do. It
was based on God's decision to put everything together for him, which Abraham
then entered when he believed. If those who get what God gives them only
get it by doing everything they are told to do and filling out all the
right forms properly signed, that eliminates personal trust completely
and turns the promise into an ironclad contract! That's not a holy promise;
that's a business deal. A contract drawn up by a hard-nosed lawyer and
with plenty of fine print only makes sure that you will never be able to
collect. But if there is no contract in the first place, simply a promise—and
God's promise at that—you can't break it.
Romans 2:12-14 - You
know the story of how Adam landed us in the dilemma we're in— first sin,
then death, and no one exempt from either sin or death. That sin disturbed
relations with God in everything and everyone, but the extent of the disturbance
was not clear until God spelled it out in detail to Moses. So death, this
huge abyss separating us from God, dominated the landscape from Adam to
Moses. Even those who didn't sin precisely as Adam did by disobeying a
specific command of God still had to experience this termination of life,
this separation from God. But Adam, who got us into this, also points ahead
to the One who will get us out of it.
Romans 10: 1-3 - Believe
me, friends, all I want for Israel is what's best for Israel: salvation,
nothing less. I want it with all my heart and pray to God for it all the
time. I readily admit that the Jews are impressively energetic regarding
God—but they are doing everything exactly backward. They don't seem to
realize that this comprehensive setting-things-right that is salvation
is God's business, and a most flourishing business it is. Right across
the street they set up their own salvation shops and noisily hawk their
wares. After all these years of refusing to really deal with God on his
terms, insisting instead on making their own deals, they have nothing to
show for it.
Romans 10:4-10 -
The earlier revelation was intended simply to get us ready for the Messiah,
who then puts everything right for those who trust him to do it. Moses
wrote that anyone who insists on using the law code to live right before
God soon discovers it's not so easy—every detail of life regulated by fine
print! But trusting God to shape the right living in us is a different
story— no precarious climb up to heaven to recruit the Messiah, no dangerous
descent into hell to rescue the Messiah. So what exactly was Moses saying?
The word that saves is right here, as near as the tongue in your
mouth, as close as the heart in your chest. It's the word of faith that
welcomes God to go to work and set things right for us. This is the core
of our preaching. Say the welcoming word to God—"Jesus is my Master"—embracing,
body and soul, God's work of doing in us what he did in raising Jesus from
the dead. That's it. You're not "doing" anything; you're simply calling
out to God, trusting him to do it for you. That's salvation. With your
whole being you embrace God setting things right, and then you say it,
right out loud: "God has set everything right between him and me!"
I Corinthians 4:17 -
This is why I sent Timothy to you earlier. He is also my dear son, and
true to the Master. He will refresh your memory on the instructions I regularly
give all the churches on the way of Christ.
I Corinthians 12:31-31 - You
are Christ's body—that's who you are! You must never forget this. Only
as you accept your part of that body does your "part" mean anything. You're
familiar with some of the parts that God has formed in his church, which
is his "body":
apostles
prophets
teachers
miracle workers
healers
helpers
organizers
those who pray in tongues.
But it's obvious by now, isn't it, that Christ's church is a complete
Body and not a gigantic, unidimensional Part? It's not all Apostle, not
all Prophet, not all Miracle Worker, not all Healer, not all Prayer in
Tongues, not all Interpreter of Tongues. And yet some of you keep competing
for so-called "important" parts. But now I want to lay out a far better
way for you.
Romans 16:25-26 - All
of our praise rises to the One who is strong enough to make you strong,
exactly as preached in Jesus Christ, precisely as revealed in the mystery
kept secret for so long but now an open book through the prophetic Scriptures.
All the nations of the world can now know the truth and be brought into
obedient belief, carrying out the orders of God, who got all this started,
down to the very last letter.
Acts 18:24-26 - A
man named Apollos came to Ephesus. He was a Jew, born in Alexandria, Egypt,
and a terrific speaker, eloquent and powerful in his preaching of the Scriptures.
He was well-educated in the way of the Master and fiery in his enthusiasm.
Apollos was accurate in everything he taught about Jesus up to a point,
but he only went as far as the baptism of John. He preached with power
in the meeting place. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him
aside and told him the rest of the story.
Romans 11:25-29
- I want to lay all this out on the table as clearly as I can, friends.
This is complicated. It would be easy to misinterpret what's going on and
arrogantly assume that you're royalty and they're just rabble, out on their
ears for good. But that's not it at all. This hardness on the part of insider
Israel toward God is temporary. Its effect is to open things up to all
the outsiders so that we end up with a full house. Before it's all over,
there will be a complete Israel. As it is written,
A champion will stride down from the mountain of Zion;
he'll clean house in Jacob.
And this is my commitment to my people:
removal of their sins.
From your point of view as you hear and embrace the good news of
the Message, it looks like the Jews are God's enemies. But looked at from
the long-range perspective of God's overall purpose, they remain God's
oldest friends. God's gifts and God's call are under full warranty—never
canceled, never rescinded.
Galatians 3:2-4 - Let
me put this question to you: How did your new life begin? Was it by working
your heads off to please God? Or was it by responding to God's Message
to you? Are you going to continue this craziness? For only crazy people
would think they could complete by their own efforts what was begun by
God. If you weren't smart enough or strong enough to begin it, how do you
suppose you could perfect it? Did you go through this whole painful learning
process for nothing? It is not yet a total loss, but it certainly will
be if you keep this up!
Galatians 3:13-14- Christ
redeemed us from that self-defeating, cursed life by absorbing it completely
into himself. Do you remember the Scripture that says, "Cursed is everyone
who hangs on a tree"? That is what happened when Jesus was nailed to the
cross: He became a curse, and at the same time dissolved the curse. And
now, because of that, the air is cleared and we can see that Abraham's
blessing is present and available for non-Jews, too. We are all able to
receive God's life, his Spirit, in and with us by believing—just the way
Abraham received it.
Galatians 5:1 - Christ
has set us free to live a free life. So take your stand! Never again let
anyone put a harness of slavery on you.
Galatians 5:16 -18
- My counsel is this: Live freely, animated and motivated by God's Spirit.
Then you won't feed the compulsions of selfishness. For there is a root
of sinful self-interest in us that is at odds with a free spirit, just
as the free spirit is incompatible with selfishness. These two ways of
life are antithetical, so that you cannot live at times one way and at
times another way according to how you feel on any given day. Why don't
you choose to be led by the Spirit and so escape the erratic compulsions
of a law-dominated existence?
Galatians 6:1-3 - Live
creatively, friends. If someone falls into sin, forgivingly restore him,
saving your critical comments for yourself. You might be needing forgiveness
before the day's out. Stoop down and reach out to those who are oppressed.
Share their burdens, and so complete Christ's law. If you think you are
too good for that, you are badly deceived.
Galatians 6:14-16 -
For
my part, I am going to boast about nothing but the Cross of our Master,
Jesus Christ. Because of that Cross, I have been crucified in relation
to the world, set free from the stifling atmosphere of pleasing others
and fitting into the little patterns that they dictate. Can't you see the
central issue in all this? It is not what you and I do—submit to circumcision,
reject circumcision. It is what God is doing, and he is creating something
totally new, a free life! All who walk by this standard are the true Israel
of God—his chosen people. Peace and mercy on them!
Galatians 5:16-18 -
My counsel is this: Live freely, animated and motivated by God's Spirit.
Then you won't feed the compulsions of selfishness. For there is a root
of sinful self-interest in us that is at odds with a free spirit, just
as the free spirit is incompatible with selfishness. These two ways of
life are antithetical, so that you cannot live at times one way and at
times another way according to how you feel on any given day. Why don't
you choose to be led by the Spirit and so escape the erratic compulsions
of a law-dominated existence?
Philippians 1:9-11
- So this is my prayer: that your love will flourish and that you will
not only love much but well. Learn to love appropriately. You need to use
your head and test your feelings so that your love is sincere and intelligent,
not sentimental gush. Live a lover's life, circumspect and exemplary, a
life Jesus will be proud of: bountiful in fruits from the soul, making
Jesus Christ attractive to all, getting everyone involved in the glory
and praise of God.
Philippians 3:12-14 -I'm
not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am
well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached
out for me. Friends, don't get me wrong: By no means do I count myself
an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is
beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning
back.
Philippians 3:17-19-
Stick with me, friends. Keep track of those you see running this same
course, headed for this same goal. There are many out there taking other
paths, choosing other goals, and trying to get you to go along with them.
I've warned you of them many times; sadly, I'm having to do it again. All
they want is easy street. They hate Christ's Cross. But easy street is
a dead-end street. Those who live there make their bellies their
gods; belches are their praise; all they can think of is their appetites.
I Thessalonians 2:13
- And now we look back on all this and thank God, an artesian well of
thanks! When you got the Message of God we preached, you didn't pass it
off as just one more human opinion, but you took it to heart as God's true
word to you, which it is, God himself at work in you believers!
I Thessalonians 2:14 - Friends,
do you realize that you followed in the exact footsteps of the churches
of God in Judea, those who were the first to follow in the footsteps of
Jesus Christ?
II Thessalonians 2:3-5 - Before
that day comes, a couple of things have to happen. First, the Apostasy.
Second, the debut of the Anarchist, a real dog of Satan. He'll defy and
then take over every so-called god or altar. Having cleared away the opposition,
he'll then set himself up in God's Temple as "God Almighty." Don't you
remember me going over all this in detail when I was with you? Are your
memories that short?
6-8 - You'll also remember that
I told you the Anarchist is being held back until just the right time.
That doesn't mean that the spirit of anarchy is not now at work. It is,
secretly and underground. But the time will come when the Anarchist will
no longer be held back, but will be let loose. But don't worry. The Master
Jesus will be right on his heels and blow him away. The Master appears
and—puff!—the Anarchist is out of there.
9-12 - The Anarchist's coming
is all Satan's work. All his power and signs and miracles are fake, evil
sleight of hand that plays to the gallery of those who hate the truth that
could save them. And since they're so obsessed with evil, God rubs their
noses in it—gives them what they want. Since they refuse to trust truth,
they're banished to their chosen world of lies and illusions.
II Thessalonians 2:13-14
- Meanwhile, we've got our hands full continually thanking God for you,
our good friends—so loved by God! God picked you out as his from the very
start. Think of it: included in God's original plan of salvation by the
bond of faith in the living truth. This is the life of the Spirit he invited
you to through the Message we delivered, in which you get in on the glory
of our Master, Jesus Christ.
Philippians 4:8-9 -
Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds
and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling,
gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to
praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me,
what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything
work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.
I Timothy 6:2-5 - These
are the things I want you to teach and preach. If you have leaders there
who teach otherwise, who refuse the solid words of our Master Jesus and
this godly instruction, tag them for what they are: ignorant windbags who
infect the air with germs of envy, controversy, bad-mouthing, suspicious
rumors. Eventually there's an epidemic of backstabbing, and truth is but
a distant memory. They think religion is a way to make a fast buck.
6-8 - A devout life does bring
wealth, but it's the rich simplicity of being yourself before God. Since
we entered the world penniless and will leave it penniless, if we have
bread on the table and shoes on our feet, that's enough.
9-10 - But if it's only money
these leaders are after, they'll self-destruct in no time. Lust for money
brings trouble and nothing but trouble. Going down that path, some lose
their footing in the faith completely and live to regret it bitterly ever
after.
17-19 - Tell those rich in this
world's wealth to quit being so full of themselves and so obsessed with
money, which is here today and gone tomorrow. Tell them to go after God,
who piles on all the riches we could ever manage—to do good, to be rich
in helping others, to be extravagantly generous. If they do that, they'll
build a treasury that will last, gaining life that is truly life.
Titus 2:1-6 - Your
job is to speak out on the things that make for solid doctrine. Guide older
men into lives of temperance, dignity, and wisdom, into healthy faith,
love, and endurance. Guide older women into lives of reverence so they
end up as neither gossips nor drunks, but models of goodness. By looking
at them, the younger women will know how to love their husbands and children,
be virtuous and pure, keep a good house, be good wives. We don't want anyone
looking down on God's Message because of their behavior. Also, guide the
young men to live disciplined lives.
Titus 2: 15 - Tell them all this.
Build up their courage, and discipline them if they get out of line. You're
in charge. Don't let anyone put you down.
Ephesians 5:1-2 - Watch
what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior
from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with
him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was
not cautious but extravagant. He didn't love in order to get something
from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that.
I Corinthians 1:17 -
God
didn't send me out to collect a following for myself, but to preach the
Message of what he has done, collecting a following for him. And he didn't
send me to do it with a lot of fancy rhetoric of my own, lest the powerful
action at the center—Christ on the Cross—be trivialized into mere words.
I Corinthians 4:14-16
- I'm not writing all this as a neighborhood scold just to make you
feel rotten. I'm writing as a father to you, my children. I love you and
want you to grow up well, not spoiled. There are a lot of people around
who can't wait to tell you what you've done wrong, but there aren't many
fathers willing to take the time and effort to help you grow up. It was
as Jesus helped me proclaim God's Message to you that I became your father.
I'm not, you know, asking you to do anything I'm not already doing myself.
I Corinthians 9:19-23
- Even though I am free of the demands and expectations of everyone,
I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a
wide range of people: religious, nonreligious, meticulous moralists, loose-living
immoralists, the defeated, the demoralized—whoever. I didn't take on their
way of life. I kept my bearings in Christ—but I entered their world and
tried to experience things from their point of view. I've become just about
every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into
a God-saved life. I did all this because of the Message. I didn't just
want to talk about it; I wanted to be in on it!
I Corinthians 9:26-27 -
I don't know about you, but I'm running hard for the finish line. I'm giving
it everything I've got. No sloppy living for me! I'm staying alert and
in top condition. I'm not going to get caught napping, telling everyone
else all about it and then missing out myself.
I Corinthians 1-2 -
It pleases me that you continue to remember and honor me by keeping up
the traditions of the faith I taught you. All actual authority stems from
Christ.
I Corinthians 13:8-10
- Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in
tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion
of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when
the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.
II Corinthians 11:1-3 -Will
you put up with a little foolish aside from me? Please, just for a moment.
The thing that has me so upset is that I care about you so much—this is
the passion of God burning inside me! I promised your hand in marriage
to Christ, presented you as a pure virgin to her husband. And now I'm afraid
that exactly as the Snake seduced Eve with his smooth patter, you are being
lured away from the simple purity of your love for Christ.
II Corinthians 11:4-6 -
It
seems that if someone shows up preaching quite another Jesus than we preached—different
spirit, different message—you put up with him quite nicely. But if you
put up with these big-shot "apostles," why can't you put up with simple
me? I'm as good as they are. It's true that I don't have their voice, haven't
mastered that smooth eloquence that impresses you so much. But when I do
open my mouth, I at least know what I'm talking about. We haven't kept
anything back. We let you in on everything.
II Corinthians 11:12-15 -And
I'm not changing my position on this. I'd die before taking your money.
I'm giving nobody grounds for lumping me in with those money-grubbing "preachers,"
vaunting themselves as something special. They're a sorry bunch — pseudo-apostles,
lying preachers, crooked workers—posing as Christ's agents but sham to
the core. And no wonder! Satan does it all the time, dressing up as a beautiful
angel of light. So it shouldn't surprise us when his servants masquerade
as servants of God. But they're not getting by with anything. They'll pay
for it in the end.
Hebrews 13:7-8 -
Appreciate your pastoral leaders who gave you the Word of God. Take a good
look at the way they live, and let their faithfulness instruct you, as
well as their truthfulness. There should be a consistency that runs through
us all. For Jesus doesn't change—yesterday, today, tomorrow, he's always
totally himself.
Hebrews 12:17 - Be
responsive to your pastoral leaders. Listen to their counsel. They are
alert to the condition of your lives and work under the strict supervision
of God. Contribute to the joy of their leadership, not its drudgery. Why
would you want to make things harder for them?
I John 8-10 - If
we claim that we're free of sin, we're only fooling ourselves. A claim
like that is errant nonsense. On the other hand, if we admit our sins—make
a clean breast of them—he won't let us down; he'll be true to himself.
He'll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing. If we claim that
we've never sinned, we out-and-out contradict God—make a liar out of him.
A claim like that only shows off our ignorance of God.
I John 3:7-8 - So,
my dear children, don't let anyone divert you from the truth. It's the
person who acts right who is right, just as we see it lived out in our
righteous Messiah. Those who make a practice of sin are straight from the
Devil, the pioneer in the practice of sin. The Son of God entered the scene
to abolish the Devil's ways.
9-10 - People conceived
and brought into life by God don't make a practice of sin. How could they?
God's seed is deep within them, making them who they are. It's not in the
nature of the God-begotten to practice and parade sin. Here's how you tell
the difference between God's children and the Devil's children: The one
who won't practice righteous ways isn't from God, nor is the one who won't
love brother or sister. A simple test.
Bonus:
Acts 8:37 (The Message)
Acts 8:36-39 As
they continued down the road, they came to a stream of water. The eunuch
said, "Here's water. Why can't I be baptized?" He ordered the chariot to
stop. They both went down to the water, and Philip baptized him on the
spot. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of God suddenly took
Philip off, and that was the last the eunuch saw of him. But he didn't
mind. He had what he'd come for and went on down the road as happy as he
could be.
I Samuel 16:14 At that very moment
the Spirit of God left Saul and in its place a black mood sent by God settled
on him. He was terrified.
15-16 Saul's advisors said, "This
awful tormenting depression from God is making your life miserable. O Master,
let us help. Let us look for someone who can play the harp. When the black
mood from God moves in, he'll play his music and you'll feel better."
23 After that, whenever
the bad depression from God tormented Saul, David got out his harp and
played. That would calm Saul down, and he would feel better as the moodiness
lifted.
Ephesians 3:4-6 - As
you read over what I have written to you, you'll be able to see for yourselves
into the mystery of Christ. None of our ancestors understood this. Only
in our time has it been made clear by God's Spirit through his holy apostles
and prophets of this new order. The mystery is that people who have never
heard of God and those who have heard of him all their lives (what I've
been calling outsiders and insiders) stand on the same ground before God.
They get the same offer, same help, same promises in Christ Jesus. The
Message is accessible and welcoming to everyone, across the board.
Ephesians 1:13-14 - It's in
Christ that you, once you heard the truth and believed it (this Message
of your salvation), found yourselves home free — signed, sealed, and delivered
by the Holy Spirit. This signet from God is the first installment on what's
coming, a reminder that we'll get everything God has planned for us, a
praising and glorious life.
Sermon
notes from King James Bible Church of Touchet, WA
Pastor
- Mike Paulson
www.scatteredchristians.org
The
entire King James Bible is written FOR us, but it is not all written TO
us!
We
learn from the "For" and we try to apply the 'TO!"