Bible Study September 6, 2012

Hey Gang,


We continue this week in our study of Apologetics with our final series of lessons entitled The Case for The Christian Life. This week we open the final four lessons with, "Why the Christian Life is Better." Come prepared to share this week one thing you love about being a Christian.

Man in a Hurry 

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What could Mayberry teach us about the Christian life?

1. God's Presence
2. God's Peace
3. God's Purpose

Why is the Andy Griffith show so appealing to people?

The Christian life involves a number of different aspects. Christianity is about personal relationships: with God and with others. When Jesus was asked to summarize his religion, he said that it was simply to love God and our neighbor.



While rules should never be the focus of Christian life, they do exist.

• Many people find it hard to understand any kind of self-discipline and any kind of limits on behavior.
• But Christians do avoid some things in order to allow a deeper and more joyful kind of fellowship.

Let’s understand what’s happening in our texts this morning. John gives us an account of the disciple’s last few moments with Jesus. Eleven men who had given up everything to follow Jesus were now being told that His time on earth was coming to an end – not exactly an easy message to swallow.


In these three passages, Jesus explains that because of God’s presence, peace and purpose, the Christian life is a far better choice. It’s an encouraging message for the disciples and for us today.

 

I. SEE GOD’S PRESENCE – JOHN 14:15-18

15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.


How could you see God’s presence in Mayberry?


So, what is it that is available through the Christian life that is not with any other?

• God’s presence
• The Holy Spirit – an advocate to help you and be with you forever.
• Christ’s followers will never be alone.

Why does this matter?

• Those who deny Christ can’t receive the Holy Spirit because they’re not looking for Him or have pushed Him away.

Can we lose this presence of God? At times, we all disobey Jesus. Does God take away His Spirit when we do?

• No
• What does God’s Spirit do to show love to us when we disobey?
• Disciplines, counsels, continues to pursue us, let’s us learn from and understand consequences.

Take a Look at what the Spirit Does:

1. Imparts wisdom, understanding, counsel, strength, knowledge, and fear of the Lord. (Isaiah 11:2)
2. Communicates to us what God wants us to know. (1 Corinthians 2:9-13)
3. Convicts of wrong and right. (John 16:5-11)
4. Prompts believers to talk to certain people at certain times. (Acts 16:6-10)
5. Calls us to Jesus. (Revelations 22:17)
6. Applies the work of Christ to our lives. (Titus 3:4-7)
7. Gifts us. (1 Corinthians 12:4-11)

So, What Will I Do?

• Rely constantly on the Holy Spirit
• Don’t ask Him to help you as you would a servant. Ask Him to take over in your life. Tell Him how weak, helpless, unstable, and unreliable you are. Stand aside and let Him take over in all the choices and decisions of your life. It is impossible for you to hold out in your Christian life – but He can hold you. It is very difficult for Him to hold you if you are struggling, fighting, and striving. Just relax and rest in the Lord. Let go all those inner tensions and complexes. Rely completely on Him. Do not fret and worry about important decisions – let Him make them for you. Do not worry about tomorrow – He is the God of tomorrow, He sees the end from the beginning. Do not worry about the necessities of life – He is there to supply and provide. A true victorious Christian is one who, in spite of worries, inner conflicts, and tensions, is confident that God is in control and will be victorious in the end.

Why is the Christian life better? – God’s presence in my life  



II. LIVE GOD’S PEACE – JOHN 14:27-31a

27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. 28 “You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. 29 I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. 30 I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me, 31 but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me.



And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:7




What do you think it means to live God’s peace?

• You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You (Isaiah 26:3).
• For the kingdom of God is… righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17)
• When you are born again - when you have made Jesus Christ the Lord of your life and you have entered the kingdom of God - then the fruit of that relationship will be righteousness (which comes as a result of salvation), peace, and joy. You can expect peace and joy to become a part of your daily life when you are a Christian - but just like all the other benefits of the kingdom of God, these attributes come at a price.
• During the darkest days of the Revolutionary War, as George Washington tried to regroup during the winter of 1776, the great English writer, Thomas Paine, wrote a stirring essay on a drum head that encapsulated the monumental struggle of that conflict. It was called "The American Crisis," and it so moved George Washington that he ordered his officers to read it to every soldier in the Continental Army, hoping that it would inspire them not to give up hope. “These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will in this crisis shrink from the service of their country. But they that stand it now, deserve the love and thanks of men and women. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered. But the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. Heaven knows how to put a proper price on its goods. It would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as freedom should not be highly rated.”
• Things of great value, both natural and spiritual, come at a great price.
• Being a disciple of Jesus Christ is not easy. God's salvation may be free, but discipleship is costly. The gifts of the Spirit may also be freely given, but they are not cheap. In some ways, it is easier to be in the world. Our preparation for God's eternal purpose is as rigorous spiritually, as an Olympic athlete's training is, naturally - even more so, because the outcome of our training has eternal ramifications. Learning to hear God's voice is a lifelong process. God's preparation in our lives is part of His eternal design - and only He knows what that purpose will be.
• There is a scene in the movie A League of Their Own in which Gina Davis' character wants to quit the women's baseball team to be with her husband who has returned wounded from World War II. Tom Hanks, who plays the manager of the team, tries to talk her into coming back for the remainder of the season. She begins to cry at the thought of returning to the road with the baseball team, and she protests that "…it is just so hard." Tom Hanks' character gets right in her face and spouts back at her, "Of course it's hard. That's what makes it great."
• If you are really serious about walking with God, He will teach you, and guide you, and comfort you, and yes, you will know His peace in your life. In fact, as you mature in your walk with the Lord, peace and joy will be multiplied to you. It is an interesting paradox that our heavenly Father orchestrates in our lives. On the one hand, our trials increase as we grow stronger in the Lord. On the other hand, the fruit of the Spirit - including peace and joy - develop to the point that we are given grace to weather the trials, and the rest of our lives are filled with harmonious fellowship with God.

What might be the reason we are not experiencing God’s peace?

• We should expect to experience God's peace in our lives. If you are not walking in peace, it may be as a result of several different scenarios. It may be that you are in the midst of a particular test or trial sent from God. Or you may be under attack from the devil. Or you may have an area of your life that you have not yet surrendered completely to God. The Lord intends for you to have peace. If you are not experiencing God's peace on an ongoing basis, you may need to ask the Holy Spirit to show you: if you are experiencing a test that should be submitted to; if you are under an attack that you should resist; or if there is an area of continual sin, unforgiveness, anger, or some other hindrance that should be renounced and repented of.

How does God’s peace impact decisions you make in life?

• Most pastors will teach that when you are seeking to find God's will, you can identify the leading of the Holy Spirit when you sense God's peace about a matter. I agree, and I believe that is absolutely true. The peace of God is one of the key indicators of God's guidance. Colossians 3:15 tells us to let the peace of God rule in [our] hearts. Peace is the umpire of our heart, telling us if we are "safe" in God's will, or "out," following our own path or the deception of the devil.
• You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You (Isaiah 26:3). You'll notice that the promise of peace carries with it a condition - to trust in God. Once again we come back to the necessity of living a lifestyle of faith. Paul wrote to the Romans, For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace (Romans 8:6). A carnally minded person is one who is self-interested, self-indulgent, and self-sufficient. There is no peace in the selfish life. The spiritually-minded person puts God in the center of their life. They are interested in doing the will of Christ. They are motivated by the Lord to minister to others. They recognize that they are nothing outside of Christ - He is their sufficiency. It is from this attitude of surrender to the lordship and headship of Jesus Christ that peace comes into our lives.
• There are times, when we are seeking the will of God and we reach the point of decision that we experience supernatural peace. This is an important aspect of discerning between good and evil, and it comes by reason of use (Hebrews 5:14). The peace of God is like a compass for our souls, leading us in the direction that the Holy Spirit intends for our lives. We can take great comfort in knowing that the sovereign God is so involved in our lives that He would supply us with this internal compass as we seek to do His will.
• At the same time, the mature Christian will recognize that there is another way that God uses the fruit of peace to direct our steps. As we surrender to the lordship of Jesus Christ in our lives, He brings us to a place where we experience His blessed peace on an ongoing basis. Instead of anxiety, anger, or depression, the peace of God becomes the normal state of mind for the Christian. Remember that famous hymn, "It is well with my soul."
• If I am in Christ, it truly is well with my soul. I am at peace with God, and I should be walking in peace in this world. That's not to say that each one of us won't have our share of problems - and sometimes we will have even more difficulties because of the spiritual warfare that swirls about us - but because we are God's children, and His Spirit comforts us and guides us, we can be at peace in spite of the circumstances.
• Now I need to clarify that you don't leave your problems behind when you come to Christ. It might take years of working through the issues of your life until you come to the point where you are experiencing the peace of God on an ongoing basis - but it is God's desire for you. Even when you reach the maturity level where you are walking in God's peace, you will continually experience the testing of your faith.

How could you see God’s peace lived out in Mayberry?



III. EMBRACE GOD’S PURPOSE – JOHN 15:11-16
11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.


Jesus chose you that you might what?

• Bear fruit – fruit that will last (purpose)

Jesus taught that peace, joy, love, friendship, and purpose define the believer. The disciples would soon face trying times. Their struggles would not be evidence the Christian life is difficult and powerless but that Jesus lets us in on what to do. (Galatians 5:22-23)



How was the purpose of the Christian life embraced in Mayberry?



We all have watched people live from different perspectives in life. Why is the Christian life better for you?

• In summing up why the Christian life is better than all other ways of living we cannot overlook the advantage that the Christian will have for all eternity. Job said, “If a man die, shall he live again?” (14:14) he answers his own question when he says, “For I know that my Redeemer lives and that he will stand at the latter day upon the earth.” (Job 19:25)
• What a prospect! What a future! What a hope! What a life!

This is our last four lesson series of Apologetics and we will be discussing the case for the Christian life - this week why it's better. Be in prayer this week as we examine all the alternative "lives" we can live and why this is the ONLY choice for you!

See you on Thursday.

In His Love,

David