Biblical Evangelism (with apologies and thanks to Mark Dever)



Tolle Lege (Take up and read)



These are study notes from our new class on evangelism.  These are based heavily on Mark Dever's book "The Gospel and Personal Evangelism"  I merely organized the information there in a study note format for my students and added some of my own personal thoughts.  Everything in quotation marks is the work of Mark Dever.  I encourage everyone to pick up a copy.  It is available on Kindle for a little over $7.  The next chapter is "What is the Gospel"  I hope to have that up and ready by next Monday.  Enjoy and may you be encouraged to share your faith and be salt and light "in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation." Phillipians 2:15

Biblical Evangelism

Introduction

One of the clearest commands for the Christian and yet one of the most neglected is the command to share the Gospel (Good News) with others. To go and make disciples. Matthew 28:19 The Great Commission!

So why don't we do it? What is it? Who should do it? How do we do it? How should we not do it? Why should we do it? And what should we do after we do it? These are questions we will attempt to answer over the next few classes.

Why We Don't

A. Basic Excuses

1. I don't know their language. This is a common excuse and not necessarily an illegitimate one. In 1 Corinthians 14:10-23 Paul speaks of the importance of understanding each other. This is a legitimate excuse but there are things that we can do to overcome these obstacles, such as, learn the language.

2. Evangelism is illegal. Again, in some places, this could be a real reason to be careful in preaching the gospel, but for most of us this is not a real problem.

3. Could cause problems at work/school/family. If we are working for someone else, we are to be good servants and not use their time to evangelize, but there are often other opportunities around this to be a witness. Also, at school, we must not be inconsiderate of others and interfere with teaching or learning, but find the right moments to share the gospel with others. And with family, we must share but in love and never with rudeness or forcing it upon our loved ones. “We certainly don't want the sharing of the gospel to bring us or the gospel into disrepute for any reason other than a disagreement with the message itself.” We don't want our evangelism to stand in the way of the evangel (good news).

4. Other things seem more urgent. There are other duties in our life that are good and necessary for us to take care of in a timely manner. Spouse, children, work, etc. All of these are legitimate areas where we need to spend time and care. God has blessed us with these people and things to take good care of them. But sometimes we can use these as an excuse not to do what God has left us here to do.

5. I don't know any non-Christians. This is a common problem among many Christians, especially today. We have created for ourselves little Christian bubbles in which to live. Even in countries like Nepal, it can be easy to do all of your business with and spend all of your time with believers only. This is the opposite of being salt and light. This is the equivalent of hiding your light under a basket or pouring your salt beside your food and refusing to let it accomplish what God has commanded us to do. We must be salt by mixing ourselves in with our culture, by being in the world but not of the world. We must associate with those of this world. (1 Corinthians 5:9-10) We are to live in the world as a light to the world. (Philippians 2:15) But we are to do this blamelessly. We are priests of God representing His name to the nations. (1 Peter 2:9) We cannot do any of this living in a Christian bubble, avoiding contact with all unbelievers. We must not be afraid to engage our culture and it's people!

B. Excuses Concerning non-Christians

“People don't want to hear.” “They won't be interested.” “They probably already know the gospel.” “It probably won't work, I doubt they believe.”

These are all excuses that we have probably all used on ourselves about someone that we felt the Spirit calling us to share the gospel. These all show our faithlessness. Oh, we have faith but not in God. We are putting our trust in our own powers of persuasion or their ability to listen and believe and rightly judging them to be insufficient and not sharing the gospel on those beliefs.

     Like Moses, we hesitate to share the message God has given us because we doubt our own ability or we predict the unbelief of our audience, but really we doubt God and the power of the Gospel! (Exodus 4:1,10)

     What makes them so different than us? Why did we believe? Was it because we were more inclined to believe such a message? Was it because of our intelligence? No! It was the power of God! (1 Corinthians 4:7) Their faith, like ours, will be a gift of God. (Ephesians 2:8-9) Conversion is a miracle! It goes against the very laws of nature. We are born in sin, unable to hear or see God. Without the desire to know God. Everything within us denying Him and His existence. (Romans 1:18-23) The fact that anybody is saved is a miracle of God that is compared to the creation of the world! (2 Corinthians 4:6)

C. Twelve Steps to Help Us Not Stop Evangelizing

1. Pray! - If you are lacking opportunities to share the gospel, pray! Pray and be amazed as God answers your prayers and brings people into your life for you to share the good news.

2. Plan. - We plan for so many things in our lives: work, family, dinner, vacations, retirement, even entertainment! Why not plan for evangelism? There is nothing nonspiritual about planning time to go witnessing. Keep gospel tracts on you as you go about your day. Even if you can't stop and talk with someone, be sensitive to opportunities to pass these out or leave with someone that you've had the opportunity to share the gospel.

3. Accept. - “We have to accept that this is our job!” “Go therefore and make disciples” (Matt. 28:19) I have heard some say that we are not called to share the gospel but to make disciples. We are only called to train others in the faith, not go and call them to the faith. It is amazing how cowardice can distort our ability to read and understand simple text. We will not have anyone to disciple unless we go and make disciples by sharing with them the good news. This is our duty! It is to this that we are all called.

4. Understand. - “But evangelism is just not my gift.”, somebody might say. Okay, there is a gift of evangelism, but just because it is not your particular gift does not mean that it is not your duty. Hospitality and mercy are also giftings of the Spirit, but if that is not yours it doesn't mean that you are allowed to merciless and inhospitable. How absurd! This is every Christian's duty!

5. Be Faithful. - Sometimes in our attempt to be thoughtful of others, we might forget to whom we owe our allegiance. “Good manners are no excuse for unfaithfulness to God.” Sometimes we can more concerned about how people will respond and not concerned enough about God's glory. Be faithful to God and His glory. That is the business we are to be about. We were created for His glory and now that He has saved us and restored His image in us through the work of Christ, this is the most important thing that we can accomplish.

6. Risk. - We must be willing to put ourselves into situations where the outcome is not known and the end might even be uncomfortable. “We must be willing to risk in order to evangelize.” This is probably one of the greatest obstacles to our evangelism: our own pride. Too often we are more concerned with our own glory and not concerned enough with God's.

7. Prepare. - Sometimes our reason for not sharing the gospel is because of our own sense of unpreparedness. We are afraid we don't know enough, what if they ask me a question and I don't know the answer? Again, we must remember it will not be our own wisdom and ingenious answers that will lead someone to repentance but the Spirit of God. “We should prepare ourselves by knowing the gospel, working on our own humility, and studying more.”

8. Look. - Be aware of opportunities to share the gospel! So often we realize only too late that we had an amazing opportunity to share with someone and missed it because our minds were somewhere else. When this happens, we must not get too discouraged as if that person is now doomed to an eternity apart from God, because we goofed up, but we must be alert nonetheless. If we are closing our eyes in prayer for opportunities to share the gospel, we must also open them in faith and be ready to seize those same opportunities.

9. Love. - “We share the gospel because we love people. And we don't share the gospel because we don't love people. We protect our pride at the cost of their souls. If we would evangelize more, we must love people more.” We must love God's glory and other people more than our own reputation.

10. Fear. - “When we don't share the gospel, we are essentially refusing to live in the fear of the Lord. When the One who is our all-powerful creator and judge is also our merciful redeemer and savior, then we have found the perfect object for the entire devotion of our heart. And that devotion will lead us to share this good news about Him with others.”

11. Stop. - “We should stop excusing ourselves from evangelism on the basis that God is sovereign.” God is calling a great number to Himself from every tribe, tongue, and nation. (Revelation 7:9-10) This should encourage us in our evangelism. This is the means God has chosen to call His people to Himself. (1 Corinthians 1:17-31) “We can't answer all the questions of how God's sovereignty and human responsibility fit together, but we can certainly believe that they do.”

12. Consider. - (Hebrews 12:3) “When we don't sufficiently consider what God has done for us in Christ – the high cost of it, what it means, and what Christ's significance is- we lose the heart to evangelize. Our hearts grow cold, our minds grow small, and our lips fall silent.”

Consider: That God has loved us as He has!

That God is glorified by our telling others of His amazing love.

That by keeping silent, we reveal our coldness to God's glory.

“That if we would be more faithful in evangelism, we would fuel the flame of love toward God within us, and of gratitude and hope. A fire so enflamed by God will have no trouble igniting our tongue.” (Matthew 12:3-4)

Saved, How I love to Proclaim It!

     These are my notes from my sermon this Saturday.  Hope you enjoy them just remember these are only notes, not the full sermon, although they have been fleshed out somewhat. 

1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. (Romans 5:1-2 ESV)

“we have been justified by faith”

     Abraham believed God and is was accounted to him for righteousness. (Romans 4:3) Abraham was saved by faith apart from the law. (Romans 4:13) It was not by your own good works you were saved nor from anything you have done. (Ephesians 2:8-9) It is by faith and faith alone in the accomplished work of Christ on the cross.

“we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

     Because of this faith, given to us by God, we now have peace with God. Did you realize that you were in need of peace with God? Who do we need peace with? Those with whom we are at war! We were at war with God and even worse, He was at war with us! (Romans 5:10; Col. 1:21) We were His enemies and He chose to love us. He broke down the wall between us and made peace with us! (Eph. 2:13-16) Why we were still His enemies, cursing His name, not honoring Him, using up all of His blessings and not thanking Him for any of them, (Romans 1:21) He sent His own son to die for us and receive our wrath for our sins so that we could receive His righteousness and be reconciled to Him. This is what it means to have peace with God through Jesus Christ. We can say it so fast and not listen to what we say. There is so much packed away in those words. Jesus took on himself the punishment, the wrath of God himself, for our sins! “But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5) So that we could once again have fellowship with God. (1 John 1:7) Wow!

“Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace”

     Through Him, because of what He has done, we have obtained access. We have been allowed in! We can now approach God. We have access to the Father because of who Christ is and because of what He has done! (Hebrews 4:16; 12:22-24) By faith we have received the adoption of sons and daughters of God. (Romans 8:15-16) By faith! Again, not because of us or anything we could do, but by faith, that He gave us!

“in which we stand,”

     This grace is the very ability to fellowship with God that we have been talking about, but how do we stand in it? This is the power of God sustaining us in His salvation. Not only are we justified by faith in Christ and in what He has done for us, but we are sustained by that same faith! This is our sanctification! We have been saved. That is our justification. God has put our sins and our guilt on Christ and punished Him in our place therefore we are no longer guilty. We have been justified in God's sight. But now God is saving us from the power of sin in our lives, making it possible for us to live holy righteous lives in His presence. We are being saved! This is our sanctification! God is making us more like Jesus! (2 Corinthians 3:18; Romans 8:29; 1 Corinthians 15:49) How does He do this? He does this by the very same sacrifice of Christ! We are baptized (immersed) by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12:13), upon belief, into the death of Christ. (Romans 6:3) Therefore, whatever Christ experienced, we experience. Just as we were in Adam and when Adam fell we fell into sin. (1 Corinthians 15:22) Now we are in Christ (the second Adam) and when he died we died. We are no longer under the power of sin, because we have died to sin. And when Christ raised from the dead, we were raised with Him. This is a miracle! So we no longer live as slaves to sin, but we are alive now to God to serve Him in righteousness. (Romans 6:3-14)

“and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”

     We have been saved (our justification), we are being saved (our sanctification), and we will be saved (our glorification).  God has taken away our guilt and our shame. Given us the righteousness of Christ in it's place. He is in the process of making us more and more like Christ every day by the same powerful gospel. And now we see that there is a future hope, a time when we will be saved from this present sinful world to be forever in the presence of God and to rejoice in His glory forever! (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)  “And so we will always be with the Lord.” That is Heaven. Not to spend eternity reunited with your family and friends, not to be done with your labors here below, not the mansions and the streets of gold, not even the new body or to escape the flames of hell but that we will be always with the Lord and He will be forever ours!

     Does that sound like Heaven to you? To spend eternity glorifying God and enjoying Him forever? The very idea should be thrilling for us, for this is the very purpose of our creation. To glorify God, “Ascribe to the LORD, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness.” Psalm 29:1-2 And to enjoy Him forever, “Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!” Psalm 34:8

     God is the supreme good! In Him (Jesus) all fulness dwells. (Colossians 1:19) How can we help but enjoy Him? Everything that is good is in Him. He is the ultimate prize! Anything in this life, good or bad, can only satisfy for a season, but in Him is eternal satisfaction. Imagine endless days with such a God! This is the ultimate reward!

Conclusion:

     So, have you been saved? Do you have peace with God?  Are you walking in the light with Him?  Have your sins been taken away from you and put upon Christ and has His righteousness been placed upon you?      

     Are you being saved? Are you working to achieve your own holiness apart from Christ by the works of the Law or are you daily being transformed into the image of Christ? Do you experience conviction of sin in your life? Can you see evidence of the work of the Holy Spirit in your heart?

     Will you be saved? Are you looking simply for a free ticket out of Hell for you and your loved ones or do you look forward to the return of Christ with a great longing to be with Him forever? Do you see the great value of Christ? Is He precious to you?

     If the answer is no to any of these, then repent! Cry out to God for mercy! There is peace available for you. Surrender to Christ.

GBC Class Pictures (Second Semester 2011)

Back row (left to right): Ashok, John, Amit, Steve, Gopal, Subarna
Front Row (left to right): Prajowl, Momita, Sabitri, Punam, Pramila, Mina, Pastor Tika

Namaste Everyone!

     Sorry it has been so long since my last post.  We have been fighting flu and cold here pretty hard the last week or so.  Daniel had a temp of about 103 from Monday to Wednesday last week and both of us ended up with a pretty nasty head cold.  Both of are doing pretty good now.  Daniel is getting back to normal, both in personality and appetite. 

     We are moving along quickly in our classes.  We are just about to finish up in our Doctrine of God and Doctrine of the Word of God classes.  In fact, when we come back from holiday, we will be finishing the Sufficiency of Scripture in a couple days and the Attributes of God in a couple weeks.  Next in line is Biblical Evangelism: The Law and the Gospel and Pneumatology: The Work of the Holy Spirit. 

     For the Biblical Evangelism class I will be using Mark Dever's book, "The Gospel and Personal Evangelism" as a guide.  We are also continuing through our study in Exodus in the afternoons.  That has been both a challenging and rewarding class!  Lot's of great stuff packed away in Exodus, but it takes a lot of hard digging to get it all out!

     I have been wanting to get some pictures up of the students this semester, but the weather has been so rainy and cloudy, it has been hard to find the right time.  This last Friday was perfect, so we took off early and got these pictures.  Hope you enjoy!  The students are all off this week for holiday, and they were supposed to give me some more information to go with their pictures before they left.  But they didn't!  Anyway, I'll update the info later, so check back. 

Jaimashi!

Steve and Daniel

Amit!  (If I were ever going to change my name to something cooler (like anything could be cooler than 'Steve Wingo')
I would change it to 'Amit')  Amit is one of the few students that has been with us for both years of GBC's existence.  He is translating for me in my Doctrine of God class and is basically teaching it himself.  He knows the Word and is a great student and friend.  I really expect to see him teaching in the next couple years.



Ashok: First and Second year student, great brother and encouragement, loves the Lord and knows the Word.




Ashok and John (I don't know why John looks so serious)




This is Gopal.  He is a few years older than me and is exmilitary.  He has only been a believer less than a year.
He is from a village in Chitwan and is very eager to learn and be equipped to share the Gospel in his village.





This is our dear brother, John!  Or as many here pronounce it Joon!  John is our guest student.  He just started college, but school is out for over a month due to the Hindu holiday "Dashain" so he is sitting in on the classes.



Here is our dear sister Mamita!  Great student and even better cook!  (and good friend :))

Pramila and Punam suppressing a giggle.



Pramila!  We don't really have any bad students, but even so Pramila is one of the best and brightest!
She always seems happy and joyful which is a great encouragement on those days that I'm not feeling so happy
and joyful myself!



Punam!  Another one of our lovely female students.  We have more girls this semester than any other previous semester, I believe.  Punam is a great student and always seems to have a great attitude.  As you can tell from the photo below, her and Pramila like to smile!

Punam, Pramila, and John posin' for the camera

Sabitri!  Good student!  Does great on the exams, but very quiet!



Sabitri trying to keep a straight face for pictures






This is Mina.  Another great student but very quiet!

 

Subarna!  Fast becoming one of the better students.  Very quiet guy, but works hard and very smart!

Where would I be without Pastor Tika?  He has been a great help in working with me to teach with an interpreter.  He is also teaching one class in the mornings on Bible Survey.  Not to mention, he is always busy shepherding the local church.  Pray for Pastor Tika.  He is a hard working pastor and needs lots of prayer and encouragement.  (He  is also apparently very funny, at least in Nepali.  During devotions in the morning he will have the students cracking up, but I can't understand a word of it!)

Prajowl: This is Momita's husband and a good friend.  Like I said before, we really don't have any poor students this year and if you want to stand out, you really have to work hard, but Prajowl is one of those students that really does stand out!  For example: on his exams, he rewrites everything by hand and goes into great detail on just about every answer.  (one of my favorite things is reading my students exams and seeing how they have answered the questions and what they have learned.)

Malachi Chapter One: Whole Hearted Worship

The first five verses of Malachi declare God's sovereign love, mercy, and grace; held up against His justice, wrath, and judgement. God is going to be praised for both! (Isaiah 66:23-24)

In verses 6-14 we see that in spite of God's great love for Israel, they are guilty of half-hearted sacrifices, (v. 8) contempt for God's worship, (v. 13) and a lack of concern for His glory. (vss. 11, 12,14)

Familiarity breeds contempt and these are a people that have grown too familiar with the things of God. They had lost their awe of His majesty. They ceased to be swooned by His love.
    
     What a picture of the western church. Go into almost any local gathering and you will have no problem finding those who would fit this description. Sometimes it may be as easy as looking in the bathroom mirror. This is the attitude of a spiritually fat and lazy generation. Those who have long eaten at God's table and have become bloated on His blessings.

But I am not here to just pick on the western church.  (A popular sport now days.)

 I had the extreme pleasure of visiting in a brother's house here in Kathmandu last week. Under this one roof dwells three generations of believers: grandparents, parents, uncles, nieces. And they are about to add one more! A child that will grow up it's whole life under the blessings of God's word and in the presence of God's people.

     As amazing a blessing as this is, how easy it would be for the believers here to fall into the same pattern as have many of God's people through the ages. Losing their first love for Christ. Losing their joy in serving God. 
    
     As inspiring as the third world church can be at times to us in the States, we tend to, as my friend Cary Cox says, "romanticise the third world church".  The church here is just as susceptible to lethargy and apathy in worship as we are at home.  As generation after generation of third world christians grow up in the church and surrounded by the accompanying blessings of the Gospel (1 Timothy 4:10), they too can fall into this trap and become blase concerning the the things of God.

     In the letter to the church at Ephesus, Jesus accuses them of having abandoned their first love and He commands them to repent and to do the works that they did at the first. (Revelation 2:4-5) Here is a church that we are told had not turned their backs on God or went back to their old ways or religions, but had just lost their love for Christ. Like the audience in Malachi, serving God had become, “weariness” (v. 13)

While reading these texts, I began to think back to my own conversion and to think about what were the characteristics of my faith and my love for God at that time. What were my “works”? (Products of my love for Christ.)

1. A Desire for Holiness: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” (Matthew 5:6 ESV) In the new believer there is not only a deep hunger to live righteously before God but a burning conviction of sin! When I was new believer, my heart would be so broken over any sin that I had to run right away and repent. Get right with God. Our hearts should be tender before the Lord. But many of us, as we let one little sin or another creep in and as we make excuses for them, our hearts become hardened, our consciences calloused, and we stop being convicted over even bigger sins.
   What is the remedy? 1 John 1:7-9!  Start walking in the light! Go into your closet and start dragging out all of your pet sins and throw them under the light of God's Word! Clean house, and what does it say will happen? He will forgive us, cleanse us, restore us to His fellowship and the fellowship of His saints! All by the blood of Christ! So what are you waiting for? Start confessing! This is a means of grace given by God to us to build our faith! Use it!
2. A Love for His Word: “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.” (Psalm 1:1-2 ESV) As new believers we have just really become aware of God. Before this we were, according to Paul, “Dead in our trespasses and sins.” (Eph. 2:1) We were dead to God. We didn't know or honor Him as God. (Romans 1:21) Our eyes have just been opened and we find out that not only has this God been so good as to love us and save us and make us new creatures, but He has left us a book full of His words! What?! Get outta town! A whole book full of the words of this God? Let me at it! This word is life to us! It is food to us! It is precious! But then ...  The world starts wearing us down and other things become precious to us as well and then they start taking the place once reserved for God and His Word. Repent! This is another means of grace that God has given to us whereby to build our faith and to make our joy full and complete. (1 John 1:4) Pick up the word and eat it, absorb it, immerse yourself in it and teach it to others! “Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.” 1 Timothy 4:15-16 ESV
3. A Love for His People and the Gathering: “I was glad when they said to me, 'Let us go to the house of the LORD!'” (Psalm 122:1 ESV) Can you say this with David? Or how about: “For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.” (Psalm 84:10 ESV) For many it would be just the opposite! Any excuse, it seems, is good enough to keep us from the assembly. How dull is the worship. How dull is the word. (Many are even turning away from the preaching of the word and replacing it with conversation! There is a place for dialogue in the assembly, (and it is neglected in most churches) but not at the cost of the preaching and teaching.) Contempt for the house of God and His worship! This is the attitude of the believer who has forgotten his first love for Christ, and this is the attitude which causes God to say, “Oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you, says the LORD of hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your hand.” (vs. 10) Our hearts should be excited to come together with God's people. If we are walking in the light, in righteousness and delighting in God's word, then that is the very place we will long to be! It is only when we neglect these first two that this becomes such a loathsome chore. Would God say to you, “I'd rather you stay home than to come and offer such pitiful worship!”? If so, repent!!
4. A Desire to See God's Name Glorified and a Burden to See the Lost Saved: “For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering. For my name will be great among the nations, says the LORD of hosts.” (Malachi 1:11 ESV) I can remember it like it was yesterday how greatly I desired to see my friends and my family saved. I prayed for them, I preached to them, I begged them (I even tried to trick one friend (but hey I was 10)). I had received a great thing and I wanted everyone else to have it as well! Isn't that the most rational thing? Isn't that what we do with everything else that is wonderful to us? Tell somebody! But now, we can walk through life, facing thousands everyday who are facing an eternity apart from Christ, and we don't even blink. Not an ounce of sleep is lost over our lost family members or coworkers or how about even our children? How often do you pray for their salvation? Pray! Pray! Pray that God would give you a burden for the lost and a great desire to see His name great among the nations!

Conclusion: Have you forgotten your first love for Christ? Do you hunger and thirst for righteousness? Do you love God's Word? Do you long to be with God's people? Do you pray for the lost and proclaim the Gospel to those around you, both in word and in how you live? If not, Repent! Jesus says, “Repent! And do the first works!” If you are not walking in the light, if there is unconfessed sin in your life, repent of it and Jesus will be faithful to forgive it and cleanse you and restore you. Get into your Bible! These are the very words of God! Believe them! Obey them! Teach them to others! (discipleship) Be faithful to your local church! This is the body of Christ! His bride! You are not here to be fed like a baby bird! You are here to bless others, to serve, to minister to the body! Everything you do here is to glorify God and build up the body! And last, pray for the lost, love the lost, and preach the Gospel to the lost, with your mouth and in your life style. Be generous, be gracious, be forgiving, be patient. “So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” Galatians 6:10 ESV

The Righteousness of God

 These are my notes from my sermon last Saturday.  Hope you enjoy :)

Romans 1:15-17

 So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.  For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

Introduction:

Paul is anxious to preach the Gospel in Rome. Why? Because he is proud of it! Why is he proud of the Gospel? Because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes! How does it bring salvation? Because it makes known the righteousness of God and His righteous requirements. What is the righteousness required by God? Faith!

1. Paul is anxious to preach the Gospel in Rome.
   Paul eagerly wanted to go to Rome to preach the Gospel. He was so determined to go that he was even willing to go in chains! That is what he did! Paul wrote this letter to the church in Rome from Corinth and after this he was headed to Jerusalem to bring money that had been collected from the Gentile churches to help the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem. On the way to Jerusalem he was told, “Don't go, they will imprison you!” But Paul was sure that this is where God wanted him to be. In Jerusalem he was indeed arrested and spent THREE YEARS in jail and traveled as a prisoner in chains to Rome. On the way he was ship wrecked and snake bit, but he arrived in Rome and was finally able to preach this Gospel. But why was he eager to preach this Gospel to those who had already believed?
   ( Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand,  and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 1 Corinthians 15:1-2 ESV) )
   The Gospel is not just how we come to know God, but also how we live in God! We are saved through the Gospel and we are daily being saved by the same Gospel.
   ( O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified.  Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith?  Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?  Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain?  Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith— just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”?(Galatians 3:1-6 ESV))
   We start into this life with Christ by faith and we stand in it by faith, faith in the same Gospel!
2. Paul is not ashamed of the Gospel
   This is the Gospel which Paul is not ashamed to proclaim. He is eager to proclaim! Why? Because he is proud of it! This Gospel of the Christ and Him crucified is a scandal to the Jews and it is foolishness to the Greeks, but Paul knows that it is truly the wisdom of God and powerful to save those who will believe. “The word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (I Corinthians 1:18)

3. The Gospel is the power of God for Salvation
   God's power to save is not only looking back to His delivering us from slavery and bondage to sin, but also looking forward to the time when Jesus will come back with great power and glory and deliver us from this world of sin. First, when we think of God's power, we cannot think too big! We cannot over exaggerate His power and might. It was with a mighty hand and outstretched arm that God, Himself, delivered the Israelites from the hand of Pharaoh. It is by this same mighty hand that He has delivered us from the “hand” of sin. It is this same hand that Peter tells us to “humble ourselves so that at the proper time He may lift us up” (1 Peter 5:6)
4. The Gospel reveals the righteousness accepted by God
   We must humble ourselves and submit to this power if we are to be saved. What is the righteousness that God has required? Your righteousness? My righteousness? No! “Not a righteousness of my own that comes from works of the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.” Philippians 3:9 Our own righteousness is not only not good enough, but it is repulsive and offensive to God. In Isaiah our own righteousness is compared to filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6) and Paul compares all of his righteous accomplishments, apart from Christ, as trash! (Philippians 3:8) This is the righteousness accepted by God: Jesus Christ!
5. The Righteous will live by Faithfulness
   Jesus is our righteousness! It is only by faith in Him that we can be saved! There is no righteousness, apart from that of Christ, that God will find acceptable! The righteous shall live by faith! Do you want to live? Then stop relying on your own righteous deeds and rely on Christ's. Do want power to live a life acceptable in the sight of God? Stop trying to impress Him with your good works and rest in Christ's righteousness! Jesus is our righteousness, and those who will live in Christ, must live in Him by faith is Him and His works. He has already accomplished our salvation! We must rely on Him for everything! Cease from your works and rest in Christ!
   Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
   (Matthew 11:28-30 ESV)

Grace Bible College Update

Namaste Y'all!

     Well, we have been here nearly two and a half weeks now and things are finally starting to run smoothly!  Thanks to the generosity and faithfulness of a few everything is going well at home. (a huge answer to my prayers)  And aside from a little upset stomach here and there, Daniel and I are doing great! 

     Our usual day goes like this: I wake up about 5:45 am, shower, go to the kitchen and make a pot of coffee, make Daniel breakfast and go and study in my office until my wife comes online on Skype and She and Autumn and Daniel and I all video chat for a little while and then about 8:00 Daniel starts math and I get ready to go down for classes in the sanctuary. 

     Classes start at 8:30 with Praise and Devotion.  Then a little after 9:00 I start my first class on the Doctrine of the Word of God.  So far in this class we have discussed the different forms of the Word of God (as a Person (Jesus), as speech, personal address, and written form (Bible))  Now we are finishing up the Canon of Scripture; how we can know that the books we have in our Bible are the right books.  Next week we start to discuss the authority, inerrancy, clarity, necessity, and sufficiency of Scripture.  A little after 10:00 we start our Doctrine of God class.  In this class so far we have discussed the existence of God and the knowability of God.  Tomorrow we will start with the Attributes of God both communicable and incommunicable.  After this Pastor Tika teaches a class on a Survey of the Scriptures and we have lunch.  After lunch we start in again with a Chapter by Chapter, Verse by Verse Study in the Book of Exodus!   Once a week Amit teaches on worship during this time.  The last hour of the day (usually 3-4) we have an open study period and this is also a chance for Q&A.  This is a good time for the students to ask questions about what we have covered that day or whatever is on their mind. 

     After classes are over, Daniel and I try to get out and walk around the neighborhood a bit.  Go hunt for food and explore!  This is usually just some good exercise and a chance for Daniel and I to talk.  After dinner, I am usually in my office studying and Daniel is in his room playing or watching cartoons (as long as the electricity holds out :) )

     So there is our average day!  We are having a great time and I am personally getting stretched and grown in all kinds of ways!  God is blessing us in so many ways. 

     To all of my food fans out there:  Daniel and I have been eating momos everyday.  We say that we are attempting to eat them everyday for three months, but seriously they are just good!  Buff Momos are the best!  We have also been eating all kinds of other great foods.  Momita, one of our friends here at the church, is an amazing cook!  She has made me and Daniel some foods that would drive you wild!  If you tried some of these dishes you would be ashamed of me for the stuff that I served you!  It is that good, trust me!  Homemade momos, Buff Choila, Chicken Chili so many good dishes!  She has been stuffing us so much for the last four nights that I cannot eat breakfast in the mornings!  So good!  If we open a restaurant in the States we have to get her a ticket and a visa and put her in charge in the kitchen!

     Thanks to all who have already started giving their pledges!  However, there are some that have not come in yet.  I know that it is still early and I know all those who have pledged and know your faithfulness, but this is just a reminder, because we all get busy and forget sometimes.  So far everything is going well in that area, and God has blessed and has used some faithful people to help in the areas where we were lacking.  Please just keep praying for my family (in both places).

     Sorry this is so long, but I haven't written in a while!  Thanks again (so many times over) for your prayers and support and generosity and faithfulness! 

Dhanyabad Esu!
Steve and Daniel

pictures from nepal central zoo (This is supposed to be on Daniel's Blog, but he put it on here by mistake)

Welcome to my second part sorry we didnt put a video in here because theres just 1 video the same one.