Hi friend,
What a wonderful night of listening and gathering more insights from the Word we had this past Wednesday night! I knew it was going to take the full time together to cover such a volume of material, but it’s so necessary that we understand who John was as he picked up his quill to write his letter. John recalled and knew intimately well the Person and teachings of His Lord. It had been 60 years since he heard the voice of His Christ, so as aged John wrote his letters, the voice of Jesus still rang beautifully and powerfully clear in his ears.
HERE IS THE ZOOM VIDEO of last night’s teaching,
www.fbcmadison.us/123john
And here are the Class Notes Handout in a WORD doc that provides the material we discussed.
1 John Week 2 Class Notes Handout
CLARIFICATION: After I viewed the video of last night, I need to make one clarification – When Christ said, “It is finished,” He was declaring two things as “over…accomplished” – The work Jesus was sent to do was to “seek and save that which is lost” (Luke 19:10), to provide atonement for the sins of all who would ever believe in Him (Romans 3:23-25), and to reconcile sinful men to a holy God. “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:18-19) That was included in His words, “It is finished.” As well as the sufferings Jesus endured while on the earth, and especially in His last hours, were at last over. God’s will for Jesus was accomplished in His perfect obedience to the Father (John 5:30; 6:38). Most importantly, the power of sin and Satan was finished. No longer would mankind have to suffer the “flaming arrows of the evil one” (Ephesians 6:16). By raising the “shield of faith” in the One who completed the work of redemption and salvation, we can, by faith, live as new creations in Christ wearing the breast plate of righteousness. Jesus’ finished work on the cross was the beginning of new life for all [the elect] who were once “dead in trespasses and sins” but who are now made “alive with Christ” (Ephesians 2:1, 5).
Before we meet again:
1. The Lord added to our number last night so there will be more binders prepared and ready for them all next week at class. If you bring a friend with you, we will have binders made for them. If friends join online LIVE at 6:00 or if they watch the recorded Zoom video we provide after class, they can email Brian Rhodus at brhodus@fbcmadison.org and request to be added into the 1,2,3, John Bible Study Group in the church website. Once they are added, they will have access to all videos and PDFs/WORD docs that are provided to those who attend physically at class time.
2. Many good questions have come from last night’s class … such as:
– Since God already knew and had elected, before the foundations of the world, who would be in His kingdom, why did He create anyone in His own image that would not be?
– So, what about our “free will?” Didn’t God give everyone the will to ‘choose’ or ‘not choose’ to be saved?
– The Lord said that it is not His will for anyone to perish, so is “anyone” encompassing everyone born on the earth? Doesn’t He ultimately “will” for everyone to be saved, but He (in His foreknowledge) know those who will and who won’t?
These are all great questions and I can’t wait to teach and explain what the Bible says in answering them all … including the words of Paul and Christ. So, be sure to join us next week and I will address each one of these questions.
Here are the links that provide “the truth” concerning Miracles that I shared in class:
Miracles, Healings, and Tongues
And lastly, this is a brief read by Ligonier Ministries founder and theologian, Dr. RC Sproul with this at the bottom of the read: “Dr. Sproul notes that there is no word for “miracle” in the original languages of Scripture. Our English term miracle translates Hebrew and Greek terms that are more literally rendered as “signs” or “wonders.” That shows that miracles are not merely to meet the physical needs of people but rather to point beyond themselves to authenticate a word from God. The Lord is not delivering new special revelation, so miracles are not happening. But God still intervenes supernaturally in His creation.”
We will learn in class about what we DO experience of God daily and that is His Providence. What so many people call a ‘miracle’ is actually God’s Providence. This post is already getting rather lengthy so I’ll not go into that yet, but we will in class.
One last thing – I’d like to ask you to consider doing something for these next several weeks while we are enjoying this bible study. Would you consider …
Being very intentional with this time of in-depth study? That may mean limiting time spent on social media, watching TV, or going without it all together. It may mean waking up 30 minutes earlier to really read, study, listen to messages, or spend more time in prayer. It may mean saying no to opportunities that come your way just so you can set aside these next several weeks to really focus on your personal relationship with Christ, to examine your life as Paul instructs us to do.
I’m making this request for this one reason – I long to see you experience sincere growth in your spiritual life these next several weeks. So, would you consider eliminating anything that may be ‘too much’ in order to gain ‘much more’ in your fellowship with God? I can assure you…it’s a decision that you will look back and will be so deeply grateful you made.
Attached are some of the WORD docs provided last night in class, and they are in the FILES category in the group page, too. And below are additional links to the GTY Sermons that was printed as WORD docs we referred to in class: (these are all provided in class 3-ring hole punched)
1. Exorcism – True or False? Part 1
2. Exorcism – True or False? Part 2
3. Can Satan Hear Our Thoughts?
4. The Spirit’s True Work – Part 1
5. The Spirit’s True Work – Part 2
6. The True Work of the Spirit – Part 3
7. The True Work of the Spirit – Part 4
8. The True Work of the Spirit – Part 5
See you all next week,
In His Grace and Peace,
Lisa
