Could you list all the ways that you and your brothers and sisters were alike? Could you list all the ways that you and your brothers and sisters are different? Sure you can. In fact, in most instances, it would be easier to list all the differences than to list all the ways that you were alike as children. With some brothers or sisters, you would declare that you were completely different–there were no ways in which you were alike.

When all of you became adults, did all those differences disappear? Did all of you, as adult brothers and sisters, become exactly alike? As adults, some similar characteristics may have developed, but your differences remained, and always will remain. Each of your brothers and sisters are distinct persons with a personal package that includes a unique personality and distinctive abilities.

I. When a person becomes a Christian, that person establishes a relationship with God.
A. Scripture verifies a relationship comes into existence by using specific concepts.
1. A believing, penitent person’s baptism into Christ is a spiritual birth (John 3:3; 1 Peter 1:22,23; Galatians 3:26,27).
2. After baptism, the person is said to be a spiritual infant (1 Peter 2:1-3).
3. If that infant does not spiritually grow, serious spiritual problems develop (1 Corinthians 3:1-5).
4. The person is expected to continue the growth process until he/she reaches maturity (Ephesians 4;11-16).
5. All this growth occurs within the context of a spiritual family.
a. God is the Father.
b. Jesus Christ is the oldest brother.
c. Christians are brothers and sisters to each other.
B. Do you think all spiritual brothers and sisters are spiritually just alike?
1. Because we all are born into the same spiritual family, do you think we will have identical spiritual personalities?
2. Do you think all of us spiritually will look like and act like identical twins?
3. Do you think all of us will have identical strengths and abilities?
4. If, as baptized believers in Christ, we differ spiritually in many ways, does that mean we are not in the family?
C. There are two defining realities at work in every person who is a Christian, each person who is in God’s family.
1. The first defining reality is spiritual growth.
a. We do not all begin our spiritual growth at the same point of spiritual development.
i. Just as some infants physically are born with serious problems, some Christians are spiritually born with serious problems.
ii. The birth occurred, he or she is God’s child, and it is unthinkable that we should abandon this spiritual infant, but the problems are real.
iii. Spiritual growth and development does not begin at the same point for all of us; it does not occur at the same rate for all of us.
b. The rate of spiritual growth and the level of spiritual maturity is unique to the spiritual potential of the individual.
i. Ability factors and potential factors differ in us as physical individuals.
ii. Ability factors and potential factors differ in us as spiritual individuals.
2. The second defining reality are spiritual abilities, or, as scripture refers to them, spiritual gifts.
a. We understand that an ability is a gift that we were born with.
i. The potential of that ability was within us at birth.
ii. That ability will become useful and significant in a person’s life only if he or she develops it.
iii. But you only can develop the ability that you have, and that ability is a gift of birth.
iv. I would love to be able to express myself through music–but I was not born with the voice, the ear, nor the aptitude; I don’t possess that ability.
b. The same thing is true spiritually–spiritual abilities are potentials that we have when we are spiritually born.
i. That spiritual ability will only become useful and significant in a Christian’s life if he or she develops it.
ii. But the Christian can only develop the ability he or she has, and that ability is a gift of spiritual birth.
iii. Spiritually, we certainly were not all born with the same abilities.
c. Consider Romans 12:6-8–Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness. (The New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update, La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation, 1996.)
i. We have different gifts.
ii. God’s grace made those gifts possible.
iii. Prophecy, a form of teaching, is a gift.
iv. Teaching is a gift.
v. The ability to encourage (exhort) is a gift.
vi. Generosity is a gift.
vii. Leadership ability is a gift.
viii. The ability to use mercy to bring healing and hope is a gift.
ix. The Christian who possesses the gift can utilize the gift only if he develops it.
x. Paul’s point: develop the spiritual ability God gave you and use it effectively for God’s purposes.
xi. Focus on what you are able to do, develop it, and do it well.
3. We need an honest understanding of spiritual ability.
a. Some Christians may have many spiritual abilities, some Christians may have a few, and some Christians may have only one.
b. Christians must identify and avoid two false conclusions:
i. False conclusion # 1: “If I can do it, any Christian can do it.”
ii. False conclusion # 2: “Every Christian must work or serve in this specific way.”
iii. Both of those false conclusions wrongly assume that every Christian possesses the same specific spiritual abilities.
c. God knows what each one of us is capable of doing and being, and what is occurring in each of our lives spiritually.
i. I cannot see into your heart, mind, and life.
ii. It is impossible for me to know what is occurring in you.
iii. God sees what is happening in everyone of us; He and He alone knows our spiritual abilities and how we are using them.
4. Expectations based on comparing sons or daughters to each other are horribly unjust in a physical family; they are equally unjust in God’s family.
II. Every time I stand before you to teach or preach I am overwhelmed by the variety of spiritual needs that exist in our assembly.
A. Regardless of how few or how many are present, it is quite possible that no two persons here are spiritually identical or in identical spiritual places.
1. Some of you are battling enormous pain, and your struggle with that pain demands your total spiritual focus as you trust God for daily strength.
2. Some of you wage war every day with something that enslaved your life before you were born into God’s family.
a. It may be an attitude; it may be a behavior pattern; it may be a moral issue; it may be an addiction.
b. But each day you spiritually exist by trusting God’s strength, trusting God’s forgiveness, and continuing the war.
3. Some of you must focus your daily life on allowing God to help you escape the past.
a. Through no choice or fault of yours, you were the victim of a terrible experience years ago.
b. The wound was deep, and the scar is ever present.
c. Maybe no one knows what happened to you.
d. But it powerfully affected your thinking, your emotions, and your life, and you lean on God every day as you struggle with it.
4. Some of you rely on God to fight fear every day.
a. There are days that the fear seems to be bigger than you, bigger than life.
b. Each day it is a challenge: don’t let fear become bigger than God.
c. At times that fear terribly depresses you, but you are determined in your faith not to give the fear victory.
5. Some of you are really growing and developing spiritually, and you are hungry to grow faster than ever.
a. You are starved for the insights and encouragement that will help you grow faster.
b. You really want to be fed.
6. Some of you are filled with dreams and visions of what can be done for Christ and his kingdom (his rule in the hearts and minds of people).
a. You want those dreams to come true.
b. You are consumed with a desire to help people and touch lives.
c. Every day you can see how those dreams could become reality.
7. Some of you are very gifted, goal oriented, “make it happen” Christians.
a. The focus of your life is to “make things happen” for Jesus in our community and in our world.
b. Bible figures like Peter and Paul inspire you and fill you with the flames of spiritual ambition.
B. And every week my challenge is to try to say and teach things that will be meaningful and helpful to all of you.
1. I thank God that you give me that opportunity, and I accept it very seriously.
2. As I accept this opportunity each week, I do so with this awareness.
a. Everyone of us have different spiritual growth patterns.
b. Everyone of us have different spiritual gifts or abilities.
c. And God’s grace is working in each of our lives, just as our love as parents is working in each of our children’s lives.

So may I give you a challenge? Do all within your ability to encourage others as we grow and develop at different rates in different ways. See every Christian’s ability for what it is–a gift from God valued by God. Measure no other person’s gift by your gifts. No matter where another Christian is in his or her spiritual development, extend your hand of encouragement with your heart of love.

Don’t ever fail to encourage. Don’t ever fail to lift from the heart.
I am so happy we have a God. I am so happy we have a Savior.

God knows everything that has ever happened in my life. He knows my every weakness. He still loves me in spite of knowing every bad thing about me.

God says, “I take you like you are, where you are, because I have somewhere to take you.”
God is willing to risk your making mistakes. Sometimes we are so afraid of ourselves that we are afraid of dealing with life. God can use any ability you have for eternal purposes.

Will you believe the promises He has given you?

Will you allow Him to rebuild you?

Used with permission from David Chadwell, West-Ark Church of Christ

We find elders as the friends of the prophets (2 Kgs 6:32; as the advisers of kings (1 Kgs 20:8; 21:11); as the colleagues of the princes in the administration of the affairs of the nation (Ezra 10:8). Every village and city had its elders. They met at the gate of the city and dispensed justice to the people (Deut 25:7). Elders formed a large segment of the Sanhedrin, the supreme court of the Jews, and are regularly mentioned along with the chief priests, scribes and Pharisees. In the vision of John’s revelation in the heavenly places there are 24 elders around the throne of God. Elders are woven into the very tapestry of Judaism, both in her civil and religious affairs.

The Christian Eldership! “To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder…” (1). An elder filled the basic office or servant position of the NT church. Paul’s custom was to ordain elders in every city and in every church established. During his first missionary journey, elders were ordained in every church (Acts 14:23). Titus is even left in Crete to ordain elders in every city (Titus 1:5). The elders seem to have had charge of the financial administration of the church, for it is to them that Paul and Barnabas delivered the funds sent to relieve the poor of Jerusalem (11:30). We find elders taking a leading part in the decisions of the Council of Jerusalem at which it was decided to fling open the doors of the kingdom of God to Gentiles. So much was this the case that at the Council the elders and the apostles are spoken of together as the chief authorities of the church (15:2). When Paul came on his last visit to Jerusalem, it was to the elders he reported, and it was the elders who suggested the course of actions to be followed (21:18ff).

One of the most moving passages in the NT is Paul’s goodbye address to the elders of Ephesus. We find there that the elders were the oversees of the flock and defenders of the faith (20:28,29). We learn from James that the elders had a healing ministry in the church through prayers and the anointing of oil (5:14). From the pastoral letters we learn that elders were rulers and teachers and by that time were also paid officials of the church (1 Tim 5:17). When a brother in Christ enters the eldership, no small honor is conferred upon him, for he is entering into the oldest religious position in the world, a functionary office whose history can be traced through Christianity and Judaism for four thousand years. And when a man enters the eldership, he takes on a grave responsibility, for he has been ordained as a shepherd of the flock of God and a defender of the faith. God bless our elders.

Perils & Privileges! “Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock” (2,3). With great privilege comes enormous responsibility. The elder is to accept the service extended to him willingly, not because he has been forced into it by coercion. This doesn’t mean someone runs for the office. There is a sense in which it is by compulsion that a man accepts office and enters upon his Christian service or ministry as a shepherd of God’s household. “Necessity,” said Paul, “is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel of God” (1 Cor 9:16). Paul felt the tug and pressure of responsibility. He also said, “The love of God constrains me” (2 Cor 5:14). This can be said of elders today. They serve out of love that constrains them.

Money & Power! “Not greedy for money…not lording it over…” (2,3). It might be easy to see this position as one to gain somehow financially or to have some power over others. There are always those who will accuse others of their intent. Paul clearly declared that he coveted no man’s goods; that he worked with his hands to meet his own needs so he wouldn’t be a burden (Acts 20:33; 1 Thess 2:9; 1 Cor 9:12; 2 Cor 12:14). Paul mentions this so often as if it counter the charges that were made of others and might unfairly be made of him as an apostle. No brother should ever dare to accept an office of elder for what he can get out of it. Elders aren’t petty lord’s, but examples to follow. Milton’s Satan thought it “better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven.” Shakespeare spoke of men, “proud men, dressed in little brief authority, playing such fantastic tricks before high heaven as would make the angels weep.”

Any man who enters this office with the desire for pre-eminence over others, with the notion of exercising authority, with the idea of becoming sort of a little pope, has got his whole point of view upside down. Jesus spoke to this: “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Mk 10:42-44).

An Elder to Fellow Elders! “A witness of Christ’s sufferings…” (1). Peter has the heart of an elder. He doesn’t speak down to them, but alongside them. He writes as one who has a personal memory of the sufferings of Christ. His poignant awareness came from personal experience with the Master. One of the most tragic sentences in the NT is: “And the Lord turned and looked upon Peter…and Peter went out and wept bitterly” (Lk 22:61,62). Perhaps some of us need to go out and weep bitterly over our own tragic decisions. In that look Peter saw the suffering of the heart of a leader whose followers had failed him in the hour of his greatest and bitterest need. Surely Peter knew of the Lord’s suffering that comes to Christ when men deny him; and that is precisely why he was so eager that his people be strong and loyal and faithful in service. Peter even describes himself as a sharer in the glory and he surely could speak from firsthand experience since he was at the transfiguration, and as Luke puts it, “When they awoke they behold his glory” (Lk 9:32). Jesus had promised his disciples a share in the splendor when the Son of Man should “come to sit on the throne of his glory” (Mt 19:28). Peter understood well the call of the Chief Shepherd for it was Peter who was asked by the Lord three times, “Do you love me” (Jn 21:15-17). The reward of love was the appointment as a shepherd. We have no apostles today. But we have shepherds who smell like sheep because they love and tend the flock.

Peter denied Jesus on three occasion. What a man of emotional contradictions—ready to die for his Lord one moment and swearing no association with him the next. Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love me?” Three times he asks this of Peter. Was it a reminder of the cock crowing after the apostle’s thrice denials? Perhaps. And as each time Peter answered in the affirmative, Jesus simply said, “Feed my sheep.” Three times Jesus said, “Feed my sheep?” Why? Because that is what shepherds do. That is what elders do.

Used with permission from Steven Clark Goad, Blythe Church of Christ

Used with permission from David Chadwell, West-Ark Church of Christ

But what is the “price” that Jesus had in mind? The New Testament repeatedly emphasizes that (1) we are saved by grace through faith; (2) we are not saved on the basis of human deeds; (3) we cannot earn our salvation; and (4) we cannot place God in debt to us. All that being true, what is this “price”?

Tonight let Jesus give us some important insights into the “price” by studying Luke 14. I encourage you to take your Bibles and follow with me as we study.

I. Understanding the situation is important.
A. Jesus was invited into the home of one of Israel’s prominent religious leaders.
1. The man was a leading Pharisee–a Pharisee who was a member of the Sanhedrin.
a. If the Sanhedrin was the Jerusalem Sanhedrin, the man was a nationally recognized scholar who was a member of their highest court.
b. This man invited Jesus and some guests into his home to eat.
c. It was an honor to be invited to have a meal in this man’s home.
2. It was a Sabbath day–the day that Jews honored God by not working.
a. The Pharisees strictly honored the Sabbath by strictly doing nothing that could be considered work.
b. All human acts of work were divided into thirty-nine different categories.
c. Ask a Pharisee about any human act, and he would tell you if that act was an act of work that would violate the Sabbath.
B. Carefully note two facts.
1. First, note that Jesus accepted the invitation.
a. Jesus associated with all kinds of people and went into the homes and ate with all kinds of people.
b. He was so willing to associate and eat with anyone that he was criticized by the Pharisees because he associated with sinners and tax collectors.
c. Luke 5:29,30 records the occasion when Jesus attended a huge reception for tax collectors in Levi’s house–tax collectors were on the bottom of Jewish society because they had an earned reputation of dishonesty and greed.
d. In Luke 7:36-50 and in Luke 14:1-24 Jesus had meals in the homes of Pharisees, and this Pharisee was at the top of approved, religious society.
e. Jesus associated with everybody.
2. Second, note that Jesus had a teaching for everybody.
a. Everybody needed to learn something.
b. Depending on what they needed to learn, Jesus taught different people different lessons.
II. Carefully consider the lessons Jesus taught different people who were in the Pharisee’s home.
A. First, Jesus taught a lesson to the Pharisee who invited him and to the guests who were experts in the teachings of the Old Testament.
1. One of the guests was a diseased person; he visibly had signs of a person suffering from heart, kidney, or liver disease.
2. The Pharisees classified healing on the Sabbath day to be an act of work if the person healed was not dying that day.
3. Jesus did not ask them if healing was an act of work.
4. Jesus asked them, “Does it violate the law of Moses to heal someone on the Sabbath day?”
a. They did not answer his question.
b. So Jesus healed the sick man.
5. Then Jesus asked them, “If you had an animal that fell into a well on the Sabbath, would you pull it out of the well?” Their laws permitted them to do that.
B. Second, Jesus had a lesson for the invited guests.
1. Your seat at the meal indicated your importance, your social significance.
2. Each guest was busy trying to determine where he would sit.
3. They wanted the most honorable, privileged seat they could have.
4. Jesus taught them by using a parable.
a. ”When you are invited to a wedding feast, don’t take the most important seat.”
b. ”If you do, someone more distinguished than you will arrive, and you will be asked to move.”
c. ”You will be embarrassed in two ways: you will be disgraced in front of everyone, and the only seat available will be the most unimportant place at the feast.”
d. ”Sit down at the most unimportant seat, then you will be asked to move to a more important seat and be honored before everyone.”
e. ”The person who exalts himself will be humbled; the person who humbles himself will be exalted.”
C. Third, Jesus had a personal lesson for the Pharisee who was his host.
1. ”The next time you invite guests into your home for a meal, do not invite friends, relatives, or wealthy neighbors.”
2. ”They will repay you by later inviting you to pay you back.”
3. ”Instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind–invite people who need your kindness and cannot repay you.”
4. ”If you do that, God will repay your deeds when the righteous are resurrected.”
5. Jesus said, “Instead of playing the social game of “who is who,” concentrate on helping people who need your help.”
D. One of the guests who heard Jesus’ statement said, “Blessed is everyone who eats bread in God’s kingdom.”
1. There were things in that statement that they understood that you and I would not see.
a. A very popular idea was that God’s kingdom would be an earthly kingdom.
b. A common symbol of the resurrection of the righteous was the banquet–in the same way that we use the idea of heaven they used the idea of the feast.
2. I don’t know what the guest was trying to do–he may have made that comment to break the tension or to ease the awkwardness of the moment.
3. Jesus responded by giving another parable about the feast , the Pharisees’ common concept of heaven.
a. In the parable a wealthy man prepared an enormous, expensive feast.
b. When the food was ready [remember slaughtering, preparing, and cooking took a long time in those days], the man sent a slave to tell all the invited guest to come.
c. The guests made excuses and refused to come.
d. The man was angry, and told the slave to go into the streets of the city and invite anyone he saw–including the poor, crippled, blind, and lame.
e. The slave did, returned, and told him that there was still room for more people at the feast.
f. The man said, “Go out into the countryside and invite anyone and everyone–my house will be filled for this feast.”
g. ”None of the guests that I invited will eat this meal.”
4. Jesus point: those who are at God’s feast truly will be blessed, but they will not be the people that you expect to be there.
III. When Jesus left the Pharisee’s home, the enormous crowd waiting on him followed him.
A. He turned to the crowd and said, “If you want to be my disciple, there are some things you need to understand.”
1. ”Your commitment to me must be more important than your family.”
2. ”You must not be ashamed to carry your cross and follow me.”
3. ”Just like a king that declares war, or a man who begins to build a castle, you need to count the cost before you begin.”
4. ”If you are to be salt, you must keep your saltiness–or you are not useful.”
B. There are sermons upon sermons in these statements.
1. He is not teaching that people who follow him must neglect their families to be faithful.
a. The New Testament is quite clear: Christians have special responsibilities in family relationships; denying those responsibilities make the Christian worse than a person who does not even believe in Jesus Christ.
b. He is teaching that our top priority in life is following Jesus.
2. The cross was a horrible symbol of shame and disgrace in that time.
a. Jesus said they must realize that following him would not lead them to earthly prestige and honor, but to public shame and disgrace.
b. Their desire to be his disciples was a commitment that was not afraid of shame or disgrace.
3. The salt statement basically declared that if they were not willing to be an influence for him, they were of no value to him.
4. Considering these realities, they needed to consider the cost of following Jesus and know that they were willing to pay that price.
IV. I want you to see something that is extremely important in this chapter.
A. This is not just a collection of parables and situations that were just thrown together for no reason at all.
1. Luke had a reason for placing these things together.
2. Notice that no one had it “all figured out” and had nothing to learn.
a. The Pharisee host had something to learn.
b. The experts in scripture had something to learn.
c. The guests had something to learn.
d. The “tension breaker” guest had something to learn.
e. The people waiting to follow him had something to learn.
f. It is obvious that the tax collectors and sinners in chapter 15 had something to learn.
3. Please note that they had different lessons to learn.
B. No one has all the answers, no one has it all “figured out,” no one has come to the perfect knowledge of all the right conclusions.
1. The roots that spiritually nourish and develop a Christian are not developed in a system that binds religious rules and requirements.
2. The roots that spiritually nourish and develop a Christian are developed by having a heart and mind that constantly grow toward the mind and heart of Christ.
3. There certainly are commands to be obeyed.
4. There certainly are things that are required of the Christian.
5. But maturing as a Christian is not as simple as listing the commands and requirements and doing them.
C. Let me illustrate the point in this way.
1. If Jesus visited with us, he would do the same thing with us that he did in the Pharisee’s home.
2. He would say to me, “David, you need to think about and understand this.”
3. He would say to the elders, “Men, you need to understand this.”
4. He would say to each group in this congregation, “What you need to understand is this.”
5. Truthfully, he would say to each individually, “This is the lesson you need to understand.”
6. And the lessons would not be the same for each of us.

Why? Because each Christian is growing in mind and heart closer to the mind and heart of Jesus, closer to the mind and heart of God. None of us, on this earth, will ever develop the mind and heart of Jesus and of God.

That is the “price.” We learn. We understand. We change. We develop. We mature. We become more and more Christ-like. And that is hard. That is the most difficult, expensive price that we can pay to belong to Christ. But that is the basic price of following Jesus.

As Christians, we must never be afraid to grow spiritually. We must never be afraid to learn anything scripture teaches us. We must never be afraid to understand anything that we did not understand in the past. As long as Christ and the Bible is the teacher, we must not be afraid.
As we grow, we are always leaving good growth for better growth.

Used with permission from David Chadwell, West-Ark Church of Christ

Continue to pretend with me. After he leaves you, your close friend does get into trouble because he helped some people just like you. The trouble is so serious that he winds up in jail. In fact, you are convinced that one of the reasons he is in trouble is because he helped you.

And there is nothing you can do to help him. He is too far from you for you to be of personal encouragement to him. You would have no influence on the people who put him in jail if your were with him.

Then one day you get a letter from him. In the letter he is concerned about you. He is genuinely concerned that you are discouraged because of his problems. He wants you to know as fact it is okay that he is experiencing problems. He knew from the beginning he would have problems because he cared about and helped people like you. He saw his situation as a price he paid for helping people like you. He saw his opposition as a God-given task the Lord gave him to help others understand God’s intentions in Jesus.

His concern: you might be discouraged by his problems. The thing that encourages him most in his situation is knowing you are okay. He does not want his troubles to discourage you!

I ask you to listen to or read with me in Ephesians 3:1-13 and see if you can hear all of this in this passage of scripture.

For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles—if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace which was given to me for you; that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief. By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit; to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel, of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of God’s grace which was given to me according to the working of His power. To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things; so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places. This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him. Therefore I ask you not to lose heart at my tribulations on your behalf, for they are your glory (Ephesians 3:1-13).
I. Paul the Christian personally cared deeply about the people he taught.
A. When he understood that Jesus was resurrected, was the Christ (the Jewish Messiah), he was amazed that God was so patient with him to the point of forgiving him and letting him participate in God’s mission.
1. Listen carefully to what Paul the Christian said about himself and Jesus’ response to him in 1 Timothy 1:12-16:
I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus. It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life.
2. In what way was Paul the sinner ignorantly acting in unbelief? He completely misunderstood Jesus! He did not know who Jesus was!
3. Listen to what he said about himself before he became a Christian in Acts 26:9-12:
So then, I thought to myself that I had to do many things hostile to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And this is just what I did in Jerusalem; not only did I lock up many of the saints in prisons, having received authority from the chief priests, but also when they were being put to death I cast my vote against them. And as I punished them often in all the synagogues, I tried to force them to blaspheme; and being furiously enraged at them, I kept pursuing them even to foreign cities. While so engaged as I was journeying to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests . . .
B. The transformation in Paul from violent opponent of Jesus to encourager of those who sought Jesus is astounding!
1. In the scriptures we just read, we see how violently Paul opposed Jesus and those who believed Jesus was the Christ when Paul did not understand who Jesus was and regarded the reports of Jesus’ resurrection as lies.
2. Listen to the contrast Paul made from the violent man who did not know Jesus was the Christ to the encouraging man who understood the work of God in Jesus. This statement is made to the Christians at Thessalonica concerning Paul’s behavior when he was with them. It is recorded in 1 Thessalonians 2:5-12.
For we never came with flattering speech, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is witness—nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others, even though as apostles of Christ we might have asserted our authority. But we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children. Having so fond an affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us. For you recall, brethren, our labor and hardship, how working night and day so as not to be a burden to any of you, we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. You are witnesses, and so is God, how devoutly and uprightly and blamelessly we behaved toward you believers; just as you know how we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you as a father would his own children, so that you would walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.
3. The change occurred in Paul because he finally understood God was at work in Jesus.
a. The same kind of transformation will occur in you when you understand that God is at work in Jesus.
b. You will continue to change, to grow closer to God’s character all your life, as you deepen your understanding of God’s work in Jesus.
II. For the reason of spiritual growth and development, Paul never left new Christians alone to struggle to understand their new life in Jesus Christ.
A. Do you remember the charge the resurrected Jesus gave to the apostles in Matthew 28:18-20?
And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
1. I ask you to note four things.
a. The first thing: God through Jesus’ resurrection gave him all spiritual authority, so the resurrected Jesus had the right to give the apostles this charge.
b. The second thing: The charge Jesus gave the apostles was a worldwide charge meant for all people, not for a single nation nor a group of nations.
c. The third thing: the core of the charge was to go worldwide and make disciples.
i. Disciples are the followers of a teacher.
ii. They were to understand that Jesus was the teacherl; they were to follow him.
d. The fourth thing: Their message about Jesus would produce two results.
i. The people who wanted to follow Jesus would be baptized (baptism then meant immersion).
ii. The people who wanted to follow Jesus would observe Jesus’ teachings, his instructions on how to live, his commandments.
iii. These people would not prove they belonged to Jesus just by being baptized, but they would change the way they lived by following Jesus’ teachings.
e. Today, it is essential to teach people to be Jesus’ disciples, to teach people to allow Jesus’ teachings and values to determine how they live.
B. Paul cared greatly about the people he converted to Jesus Christ, and he did not leave them to struggle on their own to discover how to be disciples.
1. Sometimes persecution or other obstacles prevented Paul personally from remaining and being of assistance to people newly converted to Christ.
2. When that occurred, when Paul attracted so much opposition he was forced to leave, he would either leave part of his team to teach the converts, or he would send someone to check on them.
3. Often, that person was Timothy.
a. Listen to Acts 17:15, 16–
Now those who escorted Paul brought him as far as Athens; and receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they left. Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was being provoked within him as he was observing the city full of idols.
i. Paul was by himself in Athens.
ii. He was by himself because people who strongly opposed Jesus Christ came to Berea because Paul was teaching there.
iii. The new converts perceived Paul’s life was in jeopardy, so they escorted him–for his own safety–to Athens.
iv. But Silas and Timothy stayed in Berea.
b. Listen to 1 Corinthians 4:17–
For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, and he will remind you of my ways which are in Christ, just as I teach everywhere in every church.
c. Listen again to Philippians 2:19, 20–
But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, so that I also may be encouraged when I learn of your condition. For I have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare.
d. Listen still again to statements Paul made in 1 Thessalonians 3 –
Verses 1-3: Therefore when we could endure it no longer, we thought it best to be left behind at Athens alone, and we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s fellow worker in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you as to your faith, so that no one would be disturbed by these afflictions; for you yourselves know that we have been destined for this.
Verses 6-8: But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us good news of your faith and love, and that you always think kindly of us, longing to see us just as we also long to see you, for this reason, brethren, in all our distress and affliction we were comforted about you through your faith; for now we really live, if you stand firm in the Lord.
e. To this same person, Paul wrote these instructions and encouragement in 2 Timothy 2:24-26:
The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.
4. It is not enough for a person to be baptized into Jesus Christ.
a. As important as that is, Jesus said it is not enough.
b. The baptized person must dedicate himself or herself to living as Jesus’ disciple by learning his values and teachings.
III. I want to end by directing your attention to today’s text we read at the beginning of this lesson, Ephesians 3:1-13.
A. First, I want to note how deeply Paul cared about these people.
1. Paul was Jewish by birth, and the people to whom he wrote were not Jewish by birth.
a. In Paul’s lifetime, and long before, that mattered a lot.
b. It mattered so much that typically devout Jews had only necessary interaction with non-Jews (gentiles).
c. Devout Jews worshipped the living God; gentiles generally worshipped idols or believed in nothing.
d. The lifestyle of Jews and the lifestyle of idol worshippers were quite different.
2. Paul, who had been very Jewish (Galatians 1:13, 14), understood through God’s revelation that God wanted to save gentiles as much as He wanted to save Jews.
a. That was not a popular understanding to have!
b. People never like their religious beliefs to change, and Paul’s understanding would result in a huge change.
c. Paul’s understanding was not accepted by many Jews, and it was not accepted by many idol worshippers.
3. Paul said he knew his understanding by God’s revelation meant trouble for him.
a. However, that trouble was okay.
b. He looked upon his understanding as a stewardship from God–God was in charge of the understanding; Paul was only responsible for handling this understanding responsibly.
4. Paul labeled his understanding “the mystery of Christ.”
a. He said this mystery had not been previously understood by people.
b. He said this mystery of Christ meant through the gospel (of God working through Jesus Christ), God could make Christians of gentiles as certainly as He could make Christians of Jews.
c. Paul’s responsibility was to tell everyone of God’s grace expressed in the resurrected Jesus.
d. Paul wanted everyone to understand what God did in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
e. Paul wanted everyone to see how wise God was.
i. He wanted everyone to see this was God’s eternal purpose, not some afterthought of God, not some crazy idea of Paul’s.
ii. Paul’s responsibility was to handle this understanding boldly and confidently.
5. Therefore, Paul did not want them to be discouraged because he was being opposed and physically suffering.
a. He did not deny what he endured was the result of teaching them.
b. However, he wanted them to understand that their continuing in Jesus Christ glorified what God did in Jesus.
The issue is not “is Jesus Christ opposed.” That has always been true. The issue is “are you willing to be a disciple of Jesus Christ?” Do you understand what God did in Jesus’ death and resurrection? Are you willing to let Jesus teach you how to live?

Used with permission from David Chadwell, West-Ark Church of Christ

Much of the time this “seeing” has to do with learning.  Maybe a person’s focus was so given to something else that the “something else” is all he or she saw–he or she was so focused on one thing that he or she failed to see anything else.

Often this “seeing” is inconvenient. Once he or she “sees” the obvious, he or she can no longer ignore it. This “new to me” information demands that the person must do some additional evaluation of a matter that was already “settled” in the person’s thinking or view. Reevaluation is downright inconvenient!

Use today’s text as an illustration.

Before Jesus’ ministry, the Jewish people had God, God’s purposes, God’s objectives, and God’s ways figured out and settled for generations. There was not anything to learn. They just needed to evaluate all that happened by what they knew from past generations. They basically knew what kind of Messiah (Christ) God would send. They knew the basic nature of the kingdom God would establish. They knew the kind of rule God would institute. They knew they were God’s people, and God cared about them more than God cared about other people. The key to doing God’s will was convincing all other people to become a part of them as a proselyte. If everyone became just like them, everything would be okay.

Then Jesus began his ministry among the Jewish people. He was not what they expected as a Messiah. He spoke of a kingdom that was downright strange to them. He spoke of God’s rule in ways they found weird. He indicated that God was interested in people who were not “rules-keeping Jews.” He indicated they were not God’s objective, but a God-intended vehicle to God’s objective.

Thus many, especially the prominent ones, did what they were supposed to do. They evaluated Jesus. In their opinion Jesus just did not measure up to their expectations. So many of them rejected Jesus.

Thus began one of the major problems in the first-century congregations. Jewish Christians has a hard time understanding how gentile Christians could be saved without circumcision, following the law God revealed through Moses, and adopting Jewish ways of doing things. The most written about conflict (in scripture) among Christians in first-century congregations was this: how can Jewish Christians and gentile Christians possibly be one in Jesus Christ?

Listen carefully to our reading (or read with me) and see if you hear that problem in Ephesians 2:11-22: Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “Uncircumcision” by the so-called “Circumcision,” which is performed in the flesh by human hands—remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near; for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.

I. There are several things in this reading you should note.
A. First, gentile Christians (which most of us are now) were in a really difficult situation spiritually before they became Christians.
1. They were not a part of the Jewish nation.
2. God had no covenant (agreement) with them.
3. God made no direct promises to them.
4. They had nothing to serve as a basis of hope in God.
5. They were strictly on their own, and that was a horrible situation to be in.
B. Second, the situation radically changed when God sent Jesus to become the Christ through the sacrifice of his blood.
1. Through Christ, God brought even the gentiles near to Himself.
2. Through Christ, gentiles had as much right to come to God as did Jewish people.
3. Through Christ, God made (please take note of the past tense) Jews who would accept Jesus Christ and gentiles who would accept Jesus Christ one.
a. Through Christ, God made a peace between both groups.
b. Through Christ, God destroyed any advantage Jewish people had through their past relationship with God.
c. Through Christ, God made both Jews in Christ and gentiles in Christ one body of Christ’s.
d. Through Christ, God reconciled both groups.
4. The key for both Jewish Christians and gentile Christians was the same key–Jesus Christ.
a. Understanding what God did through Jesus Christ allows Jewish Christians to be at peace in God and allows gentile Christians (no matter who they were or what their background was) to be at peace in God.
b. Jesus Christ was the access to God for both groups.
5. What does all that mean?
a. It means any non-Jew who lived in idolatry in the past was a stranger and alien to God.
b. However, with what God did in Jesus Christ, gentiles in Christ can be citizens in God’s kingdom and a part of God’s family.
c. It meant that gentile Christians had the Jewish apostles and Jewish prophets as their faith foundation and Jesus Christ as their faith cornerstone in the same way Jewish Christians did.
d. It meant God no longer lived in temples constructed by people.
i. Not the Jewish temple in Jerusalem.
ii. Not idolatrous temples.
e. Why? Because God now lived in the people who belonged to Him.
i. People who belonged to Him–whether Jewish Christians or gentile Christians–were formed by God into His new temple.
ii. God’s new temple is formed out of people who belong to Him, not out of stones and construction materials.
iii. In the new kingdom, God lives in people instead of in places.
iv. God’s people–wherever they are and whatever they are doing–are to be God’s temple, God’s presence (see 1 Peter 1:5-10 as Peter used the same concept).
II. There are several indicators that suggest there could be radical transitions in the way “we do church” in the future.
A. There already has been far more transition than most of us realize.
1. At the end of World War II, the Church of Christ was basically a rural church.
a. The majority of its members were poor people living on family farms.
b. The church building was usually located on some land someone gave from his farm for the purpose of having a building.
c. There was no air conditioning, primitive heating (by today’s standards), graveled parking lots that were small, and few adult class rooms.
d. There was no printed material to study, few people with college degrees, few full time preachers, no libraries, no education wings, few classrooms for children, few education programs, and no plans to improve or add to those things.
2. A preacher who had been to college was looked upon with suspicion.
3. There were all kinds of divisions that had happened, were happening, or would soon happen.
a. Should you do anything another church was doing?
b. What was your conviction on the millenium?
c. What translation of the Bible could a person use?
d. Was it scriptural to serve communion at the beginning of service?
e. Should congregations cooperate in any enterprise or endeavor?
f. Should you use only one cup in communion?
g. Was how long you preached and how many scriptures you used a matter of faithfulness?
h. Could women wear pants?
i. Could women come to church without a hat?
j. Could women cut their hair?
k. Could men grow beards? Get tattoos? Wear “long hair?”
l. Could you buy groceries from a store that sold beer or eat in a restaurant that served alcoholic beverages?
m. These were just some of the questions vigorously debated–we always have been a people who sharply defended our positions.
4. Today we are mostly an urban church with rural roots–family farms have disappeared, and we continue to struggle as we address urban needs and realities.
5. Today most of us prefer well trained preachers, we want better facilities, we want education programs, we want libraries, we have to have paved parking lots, and we plan creature comforts to be a part of any expansion we do.
6. Things will change in the future.
a. For the past 30 years we have been able to economically afford expansions, programs, and buildings–what happens when we cannot afford such things? How will that change what we do and how we do it?
b. (This is not at all the suggestion that we “hoard” what we have in a useless attempt to address the uncertainties of the future!)
c. For years we converted people with at least an understanding of Christian basics.
i. Not so now or in the future!
ii. An increasing number of converts will come from either no spiritual background or a background in a non-Christian religion.
iii. Increasingly, our congregations will be composed of people with needs and challenges that we have not dealt with in the past.
iv. Increasingly, members will struggle with views that are new to us who have been a part of congregations for three generations.
7. Politically, people who were viewed as Christians occupied a position of “favored status” in the past.
a. That is changing fast!
b. How will we react when we deal with opposition instead of encouragement?

As increased needs and challenges become our new reality, passages such as the one we focused on today will become more relevant to us. We will increasingly understand that unity is a gift God gave us in the death of Jesus which we seek to preserve, not a status we seek to achieve through human accomplishment. Just as God in Christ made gentile Christians and Jewish Christians one, God can and will make us one. Not because we all conform–we never will!! Not because we all agree on one lifestyle–we never will! It will exist because of what God did for us in Jesus’ blood.

First-century Christians needed to understand that when Paul wrote. Christians still need to understand that.

Used with permission from David Chadwell, West-Ark Church of Christ

In no relationship is it more obvious that relationship skills are declining than it is in marriage. Troubled marriages outnumber stable marriages. Grieving marriages outnumber joyful marriages. Marriages in conflict outnumber marriages that cooperate. Marriages that show contempt outnumber marriages that express respect. More marriages fall to separation or divorce than rise to genuine contentment.

In talking with people whose troubled relationship causes them sorrow and anxiety, I hear this statement. “I am just so confused. I really tried to make things right. I tried to make him (or her) happy. But the harder I try, the worse it gets. I just don’t know what he (or she) wants.”
“I just don’t know what he (or she) wants.” That statement is an indicator statement. It places a finger on the pulse of misunderstanding. One of the reasons we function so poorly in relationships is because of this: we have a poor understanding about what is to occur in relationships. We want good relationships. We just don’t understand what is necessary to build a relationship. We don’t know what is expected.

That is true in both relationships with people and relationship with God.

I. In your relationship with God, do you know what God wants?
A. Probably many of us are confused in our relationship with God because we don’t know what God wants in the relationship.
1. We don’t feel close to God–in fact, when we need to feel our closest to God is often when we feel very far from God.
2. We feel like God is rejecting us instead of accepting us–when we struggle spiritually is also when we feel that God is disgusted with us.
3. When we talk to God, we either feel very stiff or very habitual in our prayers.
a. As we pray, we feel like we need to apologize for bothering God.
b. While we are very sincere in what we say, we always seem to say the same things in the same way.
4. We appreciate our salvation and we want God to be pleased with us.
5. We just don’t feel that we are making God happy.
a. We try to learn all that we are supposed to do, but knowing those things and trying to do them does not make us feel close to God–not as a child should feel toward his loving Father.
b. We try to attend worship and study assemblies faithfully; sometimes we feel close to God in an assembly, but many times we don’t.
c. We try to do what we are instructed to do–be baptized, take communion, worship–but sometimes we feel so empty, like we are going through the motions because we are supposed to.
B. If I asked you to explain your understanding of what God wants, what would you tell me? Certainly, you could answer that question in many different ways.
1. You might explain that God wants us to obey Him and discuss what we are to do to obey God.
2. You might explain that God wants us to worship Him and discuss meaningful worship.
3. You might explain that God wants us to help and serve other people and explain how we are to help others.
4. You might explain that God wants us to teach other people about Christ and explain the importance of being evangelistic.
5. You might explain that God wants us to help the church grow and mature and stress ways that we can do that.
6. You might explain that God wants us to help those who are spiritually weak or struggling and explain how we can help each other with our burdens.
C. I want you to carefully consider Paul’s answer to that question; listen as Paul explains what God wants in Titus 2:11-14.
1. For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds. (The New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update, (La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation) 1996.)
2. Let’s set the context of that statement.
a. Paul is writing a letter to a young preacher named Titus.
b. It is likely that Titus began his work as a preacher and missionary under the direction and guidance of Paul.
c. When Paul sent this letter to Titus, Titus was working with some young congregations on the island of Crete.
d. People living on Crete had an earned reputation for being wicked people who honored evil–some evil things were considered to be good.
e. The island also had an influential Jewish community that created some serious problems for Christians.
f. These congregations needed some stable leadership from mature, godly men.
g. Paul left Titus at Crete to set that leadership in place.
h. Titus needed to give careful attention to himself as he did that–to set leadership in place in a congregation is an enormous responsibility.
i. So Paul reminded Titus to give careful consideration to the way that he related to and interacted with the people in those congregations.
ii. He had some special instructions for Christians who were young women, young men, or slaves.
II. Then, in Titus 2:11-14, Paul explained what God wants when He saves people.
A. First, Paul affirmed that God created the opportunity for all people to have salvation.
1. Every person has the opportunity to escape an evil life and begin a new life.
a. Anyone could be forgiven.
b. Anyone could become God’s own son or daughter.
c. It was extremely important to remember this when working among evil people.
2. God’s goodness made salvation possible for anyone.
a. God was unrestrained in revealing His goodness.
b. God’s goodness was expressed as it had never been expressed.
c. That was what Christ’s coming, life, death, and resurrection were all about–giving God the right to reveal and express His goodness without restrain.
3. But notice (verse twelve) that God’s goodness or God’s grace instructs or disciplines (it trains people).
a. God’s goodness teaches the person who accepts it how to discipline himself or herself.
b. God’s grace is a gift, but if I accept the gift, it teaches me something.
c. These people had lived out of control lives before they became Christians.
d. God’s goodness made it possible for them to be Christians.
e. But God’s goodness did not give them permission to continue to live out of control lives.
f. God’s goodness intended to train them in how to live disciplined lives.
4. When people accept God’s grace to gain salvation, they are to allow that grace to teach them.
a. God’s goodness teaches them an essential negative lesson:
i. Renounce the life that was controlled or directed by ungodliness (feelings and thoughts that have nothing to do with God).
ii. Renounce the life that was controlled or directed by earthly desires (passions that only consider physical desires but have no concern for God).
b. God’s goodness teaches them an essential positive lesson:
i. In your real life circumstances, live sensibly–do not merely do what you feel like doing or what you think will give you pleasure and satisfaction; bring yourself under control.
ii. In your real life circumstances, live righteously (uprightly, doing what is lawful, doing what is right–remember the situation in Crete).
iii. In your real life circumstances, live godly (think and act in ways that are appropriate for the person who has decided to belong to God).
5. Why? Why will the person who accepts God’s salvation completely change the way he or she has lived?
a. Before he or she accepted God’s goodness, he or she lived for greed, lived for pleasure, lived to satisfy the desire that controlled his or her thinking, ruled his or her feelings, or made him or her feel good.
b. After accepting God’s goodness, he or she lived for something entirely different.
i. It was not even found in this physical existence and experience.
ii. He or she began to live for hope rather than gratification, the hope that existed because that Jesus Christ the Savior would return.
iii. That is when our great God will give us a good life that will not end.
iv. That is when we will experience the joy of being a part of His eternal glory.
6. God gave Jesus in death for us for two basic reasons.
a. The first was to redeem us from all our lawless deeds (again, remember the situation and circumstances at Crete in its lawless society).
b. We are pardoned; we are freed from all our past lawlessness.
c. The second was to bring into existence a purified people who belonged to God out of personal choice and desire.
i. That is what God has always wanted.
ii. That is what He wanted with Adam and Eve.
iii. That is what He wanted with the people of Israel.
iv. That is what He wants in Christians.
d. He wants a people who belong to him because they want to belong to Him, not because they have to belong to Him.
i. It is their first choice; it is their number one desire.
ii. No matter what they could own, no matter what opportunities they could have, no matter what they could do–belonging to God would always be their first choice.
e. Because they by choice belong to the great God whose goodness gave them a Savior and salvation:
i. They are consumed with the desire to do good deeds for others.
ii. They are consumed with that desire because their God gave them His goodness.

What does God want? He wants you to let His goodness train you: (1) train you to renounce ungodly desires and passions, and (2) train you to live under control while you do what is right and appropriate for people who belong to God. He wants you to live in hope as you look forward to the return of Jesus Christ. He wants you to belong to Him by choice and be consumed with a desire to do good.

A Christian who understands God’s grace does that. A Christian who does not do that has a lot to learn about God’s grace.

Used with permission from David Chadwell, West-Ark Church of Christ