I had a friend pose a question this week. He asked if miracles still happen. While that is a topic for another day, the question of God’s intercession comes to mind. Does God respond to our prayers and are the effective? Thinking of examples, what happens when we ask God to heal a terminally ill person, remove consequences of a bad decision, or simply ask for strength to carry on. What does God do?

We shouldn’t presume that we know what God will do, but in a very general sense, we know the range of His response. Some say that God will answer with “yes,” “no,” or “later.” I prefer to see it a little differently. I believe that God responds to our prayers, period. I’ll clarify that in my conclusion.

Jesus prayed. He told the disciples, and the Apostles to pray, and through the that command comes upon us. He told them specific things to pray for and he introduced them to the model prayer that most call, “The Lord’s Prayer.”

Paul prayed. He asked others to pray for him. The Apostles prayed. God wouldn’t show us by command and example that we should pray if it is vain repetition and accomplishes nothing.

In Matthew 21:22 (also recorded in Mark 11:24), Jesus tells His disciples, “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer. In Philippians 4:6, Paul addresses  the church in Philippi telling them, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” We are commanded to pray. If God inspired the words commanding us to pray, and it didn’t have an impact, God would be a liar. Hebrews 6:18 confirms that God is not capable of lying. It’s not within His nature.

Peter confirms that God answers prayers. In 1 Peter 3:12 he writes,  “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

And Scripture is full of examples of answered prayer. In Luke, chapter 1, Zechariah is childless and prays for a child. In verse 13, it says, “But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John.” In Acts 10:30-33, God hears Cornelius’s prayer and arranges for him to meet Peter.

And James confirms that prayers to God are effective. In chapter 5:14-16 he writes, “Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.  And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”

I believe that the problem is that we are blind to many of the activities of God. We want to see the demonstrable results of God acting on our prayers. He  may answer prayers as “yes,”, “no,” or “later,” bt I believe that His response to our prayers is either revealed or unrevealed. We either see the results or we do t, but all of our prayers are answered.  I find in my life that the revealed results of God answering my prayers is clearly visible in hindsight. I may not see where God is moving me, but I can clearly see where I have been.

 

Genesis records the story of the creation of the world, animals, plants, and people. It records the fact that God did all this work n 6 days. Here is where things get interesting. Some people claim that this is speaking of 6 24-hour days, as we know them. This seems logical when you consider that 2 Timothy 3:16-17, which reads, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” Now just considering this text, two things stand out. The first is that the term “all Scripture” includes the first chapter of Genesis. Secondly, the days being other than literal 24 hour days would mean that we don’t understand what the time period was, and that doesn't sound “profitable for every good work.” Also, having it be other than a 24 hour day would mean that God is deceptive. Hebrews 6:18 clears this up when it says that God does not lie, in fact it says that is impossible for God to lie. It goes against His character.

Opponents of the 24 hour day use 2 Peter 3:8 to show that the word “day” in Genesis may not mean a literal 24 hour day It reads, “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.” The argument against this states that this verse is speaking of God being timeless. Additionally if this means that a day is not a day in Genesis, then a day must not be a day in the rest of Scripture.

My conclusion is that a the “days” in Genesis must be referring to a literal 24 hour day. However I also don’t see this as a salvation issue. In other words, however you interpret this, it has no impact on your eternal place in heaven or hell..

Baptism
I hear a lot of people explain that they were baptized as a symbol of their faith. They describe it as an “outward sign of an inward change.” Baptism is much more than symbolic. It is the place where God's grace and our Faith meet. It is the place where we are forgiven of our sins and given the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Acts 2:38-40 says, “Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.” With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.”
 It is the place where we die to ourselves, are buried with Christ and arise born again, into a new life clothed with Christ. Romans 6:3-8 tells us, “Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— because anyone who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.”
Baptism is not a work. It’s not a symbol. It's not an activity. It is a life changing event, an event that marks our forgiveness, our adoption  into God’s family, our receipt of the indwelling Holy Spirit, and our new birth into a life of Christ.
Two important things to understand about baptism are; when should we be baptized, and how shall we be baptized.
Baptism is for the forgiveness of sins. So it stands to reason that only those that are guilty of sin need to  be baptized. Sin is the willful disobedience to God. This occurs when we do wrong and we know better. Many churches baptize babies, stating that they are born in sin because of the sins committed by Adam. Romans 5:12 tells us, “When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.” Adams sin introduced sin into the world, but if you read the last three words of that verse it says, “for everyone sins.” Babies, are born innocent and do not need to be baptized because they have not committed sins. Jesus said in Matthew 18:3. “Then he said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven.” The children were not necessarily baptized but they were innocent. That’s what baptism is for, is to remove our guilt and restore our innocence. Now there will come a time, for most, that they will lose their innocence and have a need to be baptized.
The final question is “how should we be baptized?” The word “baptized” in Acts 22:16 is translated from the Greek word “baptize” which means to submerse or immerse, much like a sunken ship. As mentioned above, Romans 6:3 tells us that everyone that is baptized into Christ is buried with Christ. It describes our coming up out of the waters of baptism as something like Jesus resurrection. It makes sense that Paul intended to buried to mean buried. Can you imagine burying someone by sprinkling a little dirt on their heads or dipping them into dirt? Along with this is the fact that all of the examples of baptism given in Scripture are immersion baptism.
So baptism is for the guilty, it is done by immersion, and it is the point at which we are cleansed, forgiven, indwelled, adopted, and born again.
​

What is prayer? We are told that it is our path of communication to God and that He longs for our prayers. He wants us to come to Him with all of our desires and concerns, but who should pray, what does a prayer contain, and how does prayer fit into the life of a Christian?

Who should pray? Jesus prayed. The Apostles prayed.  Paul prayed. The Elders at the churches established by Paul prayed. The fact is that, even though some teach otherwise, all Christians need to learn to pray. Pray is truly our communication conduit to God.

What should a prayer contain? Some people believe that there are things that you shouldn’t pray for, things that you must pray for and stuff in between. The truth is, Jesus gave us an example when He taught the Disciples to pray. It's recorded in Matthew 6:9-15 “This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’

Many people call this “The Lord’s Prayer.” And they routinely recite it, verbatim. Jesus meant it as an example, a template for our prayers. A prayer should contain praise to God, our concerns and requests, and petitions for forgiveness of our sins. In reality, every prayer doesn’t need to specifically include all of these things.

Jesus said we should pray for our enemies (Matt 5:44). He said in Matt 26:41 that we should pray that we don’t fall in to temptation. Paul prayed for the other Christians and asked them to pray for him (Col 1:3). We should pray for the things that are important to God, each other, and ourselves.

How does prayer fit into the life of a Christian? 1 Thes 5:17 tells us to pray without ceasing. This is enough to show us that prayer should be always on our mind. We should remember that God is forever by our side and we can and should talk to Him often and about everything.

Sometimes it seems that there is so much to do, so much to get your mind around and remember. The to-do list gets simply out of control. Now the obvious advice is “just say no.” But it’s never that easy. The things on our list may be important, necessary, or kingdom work. Certainly when we are worried about everyday things, we can look to Scripture for an answer. Matthew 26:25-34 tells us  “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?  Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?  Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’  For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

But what of the other items on our list, that seem important and necessary,   aren’t we tempted to worry about them? God has answers for that to. God will never give you more than you are able to handle and you’re not the first to experience this overload. 1 Cor 10:13 tells us, “ No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”

And if we are really honest, most of the rest of our  list is not as critical as we might imagine. Ease your mind with kingdom thinking.  Phil 4:6-8 reads, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Peace be with you.

In Mark 3, Jesus is teaching a large crowd and his physical family arrives. Picking up in verse 31 we read, “Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him.  A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.” “Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked. Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers!  Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother.”

We are a family oriented society, as we should be, but as Christians we have a bond that is stronger than our blood, that is the blood of Christ.  Romans 8:15 tells us that we are adopted into God’s family when we put on Christ in baptism. We become part of God’s household  (Eph 2:19), and co-heirs with Jesus (Romans 8:17), and we will share in His glory. As brethren, we are to have a preferential relationship with each other over even our blood relatives (Gal 6:10).

As brethren we are to love one another. John 13:35 says, “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

I think 1 John 4:7-11 says it best, “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.  Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.  This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.  Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”

Amen.

In Genesis 3:8-10 Adam and Eve, after disobeying God’s command not to eat fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It reads, “Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden.  But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?” He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”

Aren’t  we like that sometimes, we want to hide from God. Perhaps we have gotten mad at Him, or sinned against Him, but whatever the reason, trying to hide from Him is the last thing that God wants.  If we have somehow damaged our relationship with God (God will never turn His back on us so any discord is ultimately our fault), He desires reconciliation, not hiding and ignoring the problem.  As the Prophet Jeremiah writes in Chapter 19: 11-12 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.” God wants the best for us. He desires our love and He wants to love us.

Face God and He will give you life.

Scripture mentions “bearing fruit.” Of course we’re not talking about apples and oranges, but results. More specifically results that come from the way we live. Colossians 1:9-12 reads, “For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.  And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,  being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully  giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.” Hear Paul was talking to the leaders of the Church at Corinth and explaining how he was praying that there would be results from every good work they did.

What is a “good work” and what does it's fruit look like? Matthew 3:8 says that we should “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.” This is saying that the sin that we abandon as we live closer to God is not only abandoned, but that the bad results of that sin are replaced by good results from our strengthened  relationship with God. In other words, stopping sin is not enough, we are to produce positive, godly results.

Matthew  7:16 says “ By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?” This indicates that not only are the results to be visible to us, but that they should be significant enough that the world around recognizes them. For example, we should not just pray for someone (which of course is a good thing), but perhaps we should pray WITH someone.

Of course we are not to be showy or egotistical about the fruit that we produce. James 3:16-17 tells us, “ For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.” Mercy and good fruit, the results of our closeness to the Lord. I pray that your fruit is plentiful and full of flavor. In Jesus name.

Today I’d like us to try to answer the question:

• What does it mean to “fear God?”
  
  

How is “fear” used in Scripture?

• Hebrew 3372 yare
  
  
  • Be fearful, terrified 300
    
    
  • Revere 5 – Translated “reverence”
    
    
  • Lev 19:30 Observe my Sabbaths and have reverence for my sanctuary. I am the LORD.
    
    
• Greek 5401 phobus  - (think phobia)
  
  
  • Be fearful, dread 43
    
    
  • Misc 3
    
    

So fear means fear.

Fearing God means being afraid of Hm.

OT

• Lev 19:14 - Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but fear your God. I am the LORD.
  
  
• Lev 25:17 - Do not take advantage of each other, but fear your God. I am the LORD your God.
  
  
• Lev 25:36 -  Do not take interest of any kind from him, but fear your God, so that your countryman may continue to live among you.
  
  
• Lev 25:43-43 - Because the Israelites are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt, they must not be sold as slaves.  Do not rule over them ruthlessly, but fear your God.
  
  

It seems like God is saying over and over – “Don’t do bad stuff, instead be afraid of me.”

These commands are not simply because God wanted to be terrifying, He had a use for them.

• Prov 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.
  
  
• Ecc 12:13 Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.
  
  

What do you see as a reason that the OT people should fear God?

The Law?

 

 

NT

Fear of God or of His Wrath?

How many of us have heard someone say that they were baptized because they were afraid that they would go to hell? Is that fearing God?

Romans 1:18 - The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness,

Romans 2:8 - But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.

John 3:36 - Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him.

Matt 10:28 - Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

God’s wrath is real!

What type of relationship does God want to have with us?

Close – Personal

What about “abba” (daddy). Isn’t that how God wants us to see him?

Romans 8:15 - For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”

Gal 4:4-6 - But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.  Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.”

Confident

1 Tim 2:7 - For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.

1 Thess 5:9 - For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.

How do we get to that relationship?

Mark 12:20-30 - One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.

So  are we to love God,  not fear Him?

1 John 4:16-18 - And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.  In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

John 3:16-17 - For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

1 John 4:8  Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. Perfect love casts out fear.

Romans 5:8-9 - But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him!

He loved us enough to show us a way to become fearless!

Gospel  of fear vs  gospel of grace

Duet 6:5 - 5  Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

Ahab – Human love for one another

John 13:34 - A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

Mark 12:20-30 - One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.

Agape – Willing to give our lives

1 John  4:18 - …perfect love drives out fear…     

Romans 12:2 tells us  “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

In looking at an analogy of transformation, that of a caterpillar turning into a butterfly, we can draw several parallels between the Scripture in Romans 2 and the analogy. First, as the caterpillar contains all it needs to be transformed into a butterfly, we to are created complete only waiting for the power of God, through the Holy Spirit to perform the transformation.  Secondly there is intentionality required. As the caterpillar needs to spin a cocoon, we need to seek God so that the transformation can begin. Third, transformation is a process. As the caterpillar needs to go through a process  to become a butterfly, we too  go through a process of transformation.  2 Cor 3:18 tells us, “And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” Finally we can't do it on our own. As the caterpillar needs the power of God to complete its transformation, so we too, needs God power to transform to His likeness.