Prayer is Possible Because of Jesus

 

Establish the need: Who made it possible that we can pray to God?

 

Purpose: Today we shall see three points concerning how Jesus is the one who made it possible we can pray.

• God does not hear the prayer of the unrighteous
• Jesus made it possible we can go to God
• Our prayers are done in Jesus’ name

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Quick Devotional from Matthew 5:17 (Observation from the Greek)

This is from my daily Greek exercise of sight reading some time ago, courtesy of Vincent S Artale Jr.

Our text is from the Greek translation of Matthew 5:17.  Here is my translation:

“Μὴ νομίσητε ὅτι ἦλθον καταλῦσαι τὸν νόμον ἢ τοὺς προφήτας· οὐκ ἦλθον καταλῦσαι
Do not think that I come to abolish the law or the prophets I came not to destroy

ἀλλὰ πληρῶσαι. ”
but to fulfill

Here are some observations:

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Guest Post: The “Prosperity Gospel” Vs. God’s Gospel

Note: This is a guest post since presently I am busy today teaching class online for seminary students overseas.  This is by Robert Chamberlain.  His blog be found here, here and here!  Yes he blogs in three places!  Go check out his page and give his blogs a follow!

If I was to ask you what the gospel is, what would you say? It’s good news yes, but what is the good news of the gospel? If you say that to come to Jesus you will be healthy, wealthy and happy; that is not the Biblical gospel, it is a false teaching.

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Review: Faith Alone by RC Sproul

 

RC Sproul. Faith Alone: The Evangelical Doctrine of Justification. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, January 17th 2017. 262 pp.

4 out of 5

Purchase: Westminster | Amazon

Evangelical Christians would say sinners can be saved by placing their faith in Christ apart from their own works yet is this doctrine biblical and also important?  The late Christian theologian and apologist RC Sproul answered these two questions and other related to it in his book Faith Alone: The Evangelical Doctrine of Justification.  I received a copy of this book from Shepherd’s Conference for pastors, and then I saw a blogger friend shared a review of this book which prompted me to dig it up and read it.  I wasn’t disappointed; I was blessed to have read it!  What stood out to me is Sproul’s ability to handle with care what is Rome’s actual position and then accurately respond to its doctrines both biblically and theologically.  It is a good example of scholarship and also handling the opposition well.

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Objection to Prayer: If God is sovereign why pray?

Photo by nappy on Pexels.com

Selected Verse

Establish the need: If God is sovereign why pray?

Purpose: Today we shall consider six points in answering the question: If God is sovereign why pray?

1. Point 1: We need to affirm God is sovereign
2. Point 2: We pray simply because prayer is commanded by God
3. Point 3: Prayer requests presupposes God’s sovereignty
4. Point 4: The question wrongly assumes prayer is just asking for things
5. Point 5: Prayer doesn’t change God’s mind
6. Point 6: Prayer changes our situation

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Purpose of Prayer

Note: Kind of late posting this, multiple things, last 24 hours has been crazy.

Selected Verse

Establish the need: Why do we pray?

 

Purpose: Today we shall see the purpose of prayer outlined as 3 “A”s so that we would pray purposefully today.

• To Ascribe Glory to God
• To Associate Relationally with God
• To Ask for God’s Benefits for us

 

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Free PDF and Review: Coronavirus and Christ by John Piper

John Piper. Coronavirus and Christ.  Wheaton, IL: Crossway, April 28th 2020.  112 pp.

5 out of 5

Free: PDF and other format at Desiring God

Purchase: Amazon

According to the Bible what are the possible things God is doing with the Coronavirus?  In this book by pastor and theologian John Piper the author looks at the issue from a Gospel driven perspective.  Piper is nuanced in the beginning to say that no doubt readers will know more about what will happen with the virus situation than the book is able to capture at the moment he wrote this book; instead Piper is going to focus on God’s work in crisis and also look at the issue of death and suffering from an eternal perspective.  I am grateful that Piper wrote this book.

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Free PDF and Review: Free Will a Slave by Charles Spurgeon

 

A late post today since after my lectures last night I just couldn’t type up a post!  Ever have one of those days?

Charles H. Spurgeon. Free Will a Slave.  Pensacola, FL: Chapel Library, December 3rd 2018. 18 pp.

4 out of 5

Free: Chapel Library

Purchase: Amazon (99 cents for Kindle)

In 2016 I read quite a number of works by the famous English preacher Charles Spurgeon and since then I have desired to read more of his work though sadly I haven’t been able to read any of his works until now in 2020.  This booklet is Spurgeon’s defense of Calvinism by responding to John 5:40 which some Arminians in his day thought it was “one of the great guns of the Arminians” which I’m quoting from Spurgeon in the opening sentences in his booklet.  What Spurgeon aim to show in this booklet is how John 5:40 is actually a support for Calvinism instead.

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Bible Contradiction? Did John the Baptist recognize Jesus as the Son of God?

 

For today’s post we will tackle the question the Skeptic Annotated Bible asked: Did John the Baptist recognize Jesus as the Son of God?

Here are the answers which the skeptic believes indicate a Bible contradiction:

Yes, he recognized him immediately.

“The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and *said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is He on behalf of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’ 31 I did not recognize Him, but so that He might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing in water.” 32 John testified saying, “I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. 33 I did not recognize [d]Him, but He who sent me to baptize [e]in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes [f]in the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.”” (John 1:29-34)

No, he still wasn’t sure when he was in prison.

“Now when John, while imprisoned, heard of the works of Christ, he sent word by his disciples 3 and said to Him, “Are You the Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?”” (Matthew 11:2-3)

“Summoning two of his disciples, John sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are You the Expected One, or do we look for someone else?”” (Luke 7:19)

(All Scriptural quotation comes from the New American Standard Bible)

Here’s a closer look at whether or not there is a contradiction:

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Jesus’ Teaching on Prayer in Luke Part 2

LUKE 11:2c-4

ESTABLISH THE NEED:  If there’s ever a message that convicts all Christians, it is messages on evangelism and prayer.  All Christians could work on being more evangelistic and pray more.  It’s a convicting message today.  Let me ask you a question:  How often do you pray?

If we don’t know what to pray or how to pray, we would probably not pray.  When my sister brought a drum set, after she left for college, I looked at the drum pieces disassembled, I tried putting together, I beat around a little bit, but since I didn’t know how to put it together, or know how to play, I stopped doing anything with it.  That’s like our prayer life also.

 

Main point: We will see three principles that Jesus taught His disciples in regards to how to pray, so that you would know how and this knowledge would make you pray.

1. You should pray seeking God first (2c-d)
2. You should pray trusting for your daily needs (3)
3. You should pray dealing with sin (4)

 

¹ It happened that while ^[a]Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples.” ² And He said to them, “When you pray, say:

   ‘^[b]Father, hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
³ ‘Give us each day our ^[c]daily bread.
⁴ ‘And forgive us our sins,
For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And lead us not into temptation.’”

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Guest Post: Reflections On My Interethnic Marriage

Note: This is a guest post since presently I am busy today teaching class online for seminary students overseas.  This is by Robert Chamberlain.  His blog be found here, here and here!  Yes he blogs in three places!  Go check out his page and give his blogs a follow!

Photo by Jack Sparrow on Pexels.com

I would like to think that nowadays, and especially among Christians, interethnic marriages are celebrated. Sadly, people, including different believers, struggle to relate to those who are different to themselves.

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Psalm 118 in Jesus’ last week

Psalm 118 in Jesus’ last week

Psalm 118

 

Establish the need: Have you ever heard of the song, “This is the day that the LORD has made”?

 

Purpose: To marvel at this Messianic prophecies of Christ’s last week.

1. Psalm 118:26 on Palm Sunday
2. Psalm 118:22-23 mentioned by Jesus during the week
3. Psalm 118:22-24 on that DAY

 

Reminder:

• The last twenty four hours Jesus sang according to Matthew 26:30 and Mark 14:26.[1]
• This would have been Psalms 113-118.
• That is because the Jews sang Psalms 113-118 during the Passover.
• Psalms 113-118 was called the “Hallel” Psalms.[2]
• The Jews sang Psalm 113-114 before the Passover meal and afterwards they sang Psalm 115-118.[3]
  These songs would have been the Scriptures that Jesus have thought about as He was the worship leader for the Passover meal that was His Last Supper with His followers before He would be crucified the next day.
• Yet these would minister to Him and therefore also minister to us!

Background

• This is a Hillel Psalm; The Jews would have read Psalm 113-118 during the three major religious holiday: Passover, Pentecost, Tabernacle.  Psalm 118 would have been the last Psalm read.
• The part of verse we are reading in, is a bit different because of the shift of the subject of the “stone.”

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Jesus’ Teaching on Prayer in Luke Part 1

LUKE 11:1-2b

¹ It happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples.” ² And He said to them, “When you pray, say:

   ‘Father, hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
³ ‘Give us each day our daily bread.
⁴ ‘And forgive us our sins,
For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And lead us not into temptation.’”

Main point: Before going into further principles in this series on prayer, we will see Jesus laying three important building blocks so that you will pray to God.

1. You should pray (1-2a)
2. You should pray with others (2b)
3. You should pray intimately (2c)

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Guest Post: Making The Most Of Every Opportunity

Note: This is a guest post since presently I am busy today teaching class online for seminary students overseas.  This is by Robert Chamberlain.  His blog be found here, here and here!  Yes he blogs in three places!  Go check out his page and give his blogs a follow!

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. Be wise in the way you act towards outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

Colossians 4:2‭-‬6 NIVUK

https://bible.com/bible/113/col.4.2-6.NIVUK

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Why Matthew said two men were possessed with demons at the country of the Gadarenes?

In my post Bible Contradiction? How many men were possessed with demons at the country of the Gadarenes? I have already shown that there is not a logical contradiction between Matthew 8:28 pitted against Mark 5:12 and Luke 8:26-27 which mentioned there are two men and one man Jesus healed respectively.

A sister in the Lord asked a follow up question:

What then is the significance of Matthew saying 2 versus Mark and Luke saying “a man”? Since most details in God’s Word have a reason or significance behind it, I’m wondering if there’s a deeper meaning/reason behind why each account mentioned the number the way they did?

I don’t think this is easy to answer.  Still I think its a fruitful exercise to consider the question by examining more deeper the Scriptures.  I will first make some observations and close with some thoughts on its significance.

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