Sister Teri Sunday School 7/15/12

Sister Teri Sunday School 7/15/12

This lesson is on the assignment that God has given us in His word.

Col 1:12  Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:

Col 1:13  Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:

Col 1:14  In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:

Col 1:15  Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:

Col 1:16  For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:

Col 1:17  And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

Col 1:18  And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

Col 1:19  For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;

Col 1:20  And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.

Col 1:21  And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled

Col 1:22  In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:

Col 1:23  If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;

The kingdom of the Son: We were once in the kingdom of darkness but now are in the kingdom of the Son.  Verses 15 through 19 show that everything is in Christ.  Everything is created with this plan in mind: that everything would be in submission to God and the Son.  Everything is created by and for God. 

When we went into sin it didn’t change the fact that we were created for God.  When we went into sin we put ourselves under another authority than the Son and became a part of the kingdom of darkness.

His plan is to restore us to that right relationship:  living holy, unblameable, and unreproveable in his sight.  The key to being in the kingdom of the son is “if” we remain, “If you continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel.” 

It is not a once saved always saved.  We need to continue in this relationship and in the Gospel.

Paul was a minister that carried that message out and our responsibility is to do the same.

Mat 5:8  Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

Mat 5:9  Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

The purity of heart is a work of the blood and of the Spirit.  We can work and work on the outward but if we don’t get the heart taken care of we will be back in the same position as we were. 

Pure means:
1. pure, clean.   In a similitude it is like a vine cleansed by pruning and so made ready to bear fruit. 

2. Clean and imparting no uncleanness.  (When we were in sin we influenced people to do the same as we were doing.  When we are purified in the heart, we no longer influence people in a wrong way.  Our influence is toward God.) 

3. Free from corrupt desire, sin and guilt and everything that is false.  (In salvation God cleanses us from all we know is wrong.  As we serve Him, God continues to reveal to us falseness and we need to, as He reveals it, let it go and let the word of God wash things out.  We need to be willing to be taught by the Spirit, the Word, the Saints and sometimes even the sinners can teach us.  We need to continue to grow as God would have us to.) 

4. Sincere, genuine, innocent.  (In sin we try to cover and justify things that are wrong.  There is dishonesty working.  People raised in the church may give into a lying spirit so that you don’t know what is true from what is coming out of their mouth.  This is a hard habit to break when they get saved.  It is very important to always try to be honest in everything.  It may be a natural thing to not want to be wrong or let others know that we are wrong.  We need to be sincere, genuine, and innocent.) 

It is the Spirit of God that works in sanctification but we need the Spirit working in us all day long.  There is something in the world that drains us as we live.  As Jesus when the woman touched His garment was drained of virtue, as Lot was vexed by Sodom daily, the world drains us.  We need to regularly empty out and open up to the presence of God because the things of the World will try to naturally move in and take control even though we are no longer a part of it.  We need to spend time with God. 

The enemy has really been fighting me on that.  Even when I spend time with God my thoughts are just bombarded.  We need God’s help.  We need to empty out of ourselves and be washed of all that the enemy would flood us with so that we can have that fresh infilling of the Spirit.

Heart “cardia” we need to have our heart, our desires, and all focused directly on God. 

The pure in heart will see God.  When I first got saved, everything changed around me.  Nature became more beautiful.  The sky was bluer and even the storms were more beautiful.  It may have been God revealing Himself to me. 

Peacemakers means: peaceable.  Not contentious or quarrelsome, free from strife, loving peace.  It is not our desire for there to be strife.  We don’t want to carry this word in a warlike way against people.  We want to fight against the enemy and the power of the enemy and get souls out of his power.  This gospel is a gospel of peace and our desire is reconciliation.

Children means son.  Those that revere God as their father: will resemble God in character, will be governed by His Spirit, and rest in Him as children do their parents. 

Rom 8:14

Son is a term used preeminently for Jesus Christ.  He was obedient to the Father’s will in all His acts.  When we become children of God we have the same relationship that Jesus had with God.  God has always desired that we would have an intimate, close relationship as a father does His child. We can go to Him with everything.  We don’t have to go on our own wisdom; we can have wisdom from God.

Luk 1:76  And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways;

Luk 1:77  To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins,

Luk 1:78  Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us,

Luk 1:79  To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Luk 1:80  And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his shewing unto Israel.

This was written of John the Baptist.  He was to give knowledge of salvation.  John preached a message of repentance.  We need to be clear on what repentance is.  It is a turning from what we did and were and a following in the path that He leads us.  It is repentance of the whole package all of our wrong doing and a complete turning to God.  It is more than wanting to be delivered from alcoholism or from cheating on a wife, it is a complete turning around, the whole package.

We are to live the light and help turn those into the way that they need to go.  The Spirit of God is working but He wants us to be the physical part of that.  We bring the Word verbally in our lives and are the second witness. 

There was a time of preparation for Paul.  We need that time of preparation.  There is the daily getting into the Word of God.  Sometimes when we face situations we need to just get alone.  When we cannot then we can send a prayer right then to God and He can help us.

Act 26:14  And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

Act 26:15  And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.

Act 26:16  But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee;

Act 26:17  Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee,

Act 26:18  To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.

The job that Paul was given is the same job that has been given to us.

1Pe 2:9  But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

1Pe 2:10  Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

Peculiar means: acquisition, a possession.  We are that reclaimed possession of God. We were in His possession to begin with but we went out into sin.  He has called us out of that darkness into the light.  He has reclaimed us.

Isa 40:1  Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.

Isa 40:2  Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD'S hand double for all her sins.

Isa 40:3  The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

Isa 40:4  Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:

Isa 40:5  And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

Isa 40:6  The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:

Isa 40:7  The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.

Isa 40:8  The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.

Isa 40:9  O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!

Isa 40:10  Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.

Isa 40:11  He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.

It is a blessing to be on the King’s Highway.  We want to get as many up there as we can.  In creation the Spirit of God moved across the face of the deep.  When we were in darkness He did the same thing, He blew over us and created us anew. 

The promise of God is that He would gently lead us that are with young.  The command is verse 9.