[Due to technical difficulties, the ending of this recording has been cut off. Sorry about that! -MRW]

Luke Beamon: Dealing with Temptation

• Matthew 4:1-11 - Jesus was confident because He had scripture on His side.
• Matthew 6:19-21 - Remember the consequences of sin! Sin costs you your eternal home.
• Matthew 7:7 - We can always ask God for help.
• Matthew 26:69 - The more you do something, the easier it gets. Each time Peter denied Jesus, it got easier. Each time we resist sin, it gets easier!

Jesse Jenkins: Difficult Passages

• Psalms 51:5
  • Some interpret this verse to mean that David was guilty of sin from birth (i.e., total depravity, a Calvinist doctrine).
  • The context is David’s lament after Nathan rebuked him for his sin with Bathsheba. That is not a sin he was guilty of from birth.
  • This is a hyperbolic statement. David is emphasizing his own sin. Compare a similar literary technique used in I Timothy 1:15. Paul had done sinful things, but this did not make him the chief of sinners. After all, he_thought_he was doing right.
    • Compare also Psalms 22:10; 71:6; 139:13-14
  • Interpreting this verse to mean David was guilty from birth directly contradicts verses like Ezekiel 18:2-4. “The soul that sins shall die.”
  • Matthew 19:14 - We must be like little children to enter the kingdom of God. How can that be true if little children have inherited sin?
  • II Corinthians 5:10 - We will be judged based on what_we_do with our own bodies.
• Matthew 7:1-5
  • Some interpret this passage to mean that we should not judge anyone.
  • The context of this passage is that we should not judge others in ways that we would not want to be judged ourselves. Judging others more harshly than you would want to be judged is hypocrisy!
  • Those who say you cannot judge are themselves judging others!
  • John 7:24 - We are to judge with righteous judgment.

• II Corinthians 5:17 – God has made water necessary for physical life and for salvation.

• Man today sees no reason for water to be used in salvation, just as Naaman could not see a reason to wash in the Jordan. But like Naaman, man will not be saved without water.
• If man today realized the importance of water salvation, there would be no argument about the necessity of baptism for salvation.

• Joshua 6
• The ancient city of Jericho is the second most excavated city after Jerusalem.
• Joshua 6:24 – See I Kings 16:34.
• Lessons from Jericho:
  • No stronghold can resist God.
    • Numbers 13:28
    • I Peter 5:8
    • I John 5:19 – The whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
    • Hosea 4:1-2 – This sounds like today!
    • I John 5:20 – There has been evil before, but God has brought victory.
    • James 4:7
    • God can bring down seemingly impenetrable walls of evil.
  • God rewards faith wherever it is found.
    • Joshua 2:1, 8-11
    • Hebrews 11:30-31
    • James 2:24-26
    • God sees a glimmer of hope in all of us, regardless of our past!
    • Matthew 21:31
  • God can “give” something with conditions.
    • Joshua 6:2, 16, 20
    • Deuteronomy 9:6 – God’s blessing was not because of their righteousness.
    • Hebrews 11:30 – The walls fell down by faith. This clearly includes obedience!

• Colossians 3:9-15

• Genesis 1:27 – “God created man in His own image.”

  • Genesis 3:20

  • We are all part of the human race. Racism is wrong!

  • Romans 10:12-13

  • Galatians 3:28; Ephesians 2:14; 4:4-6 – Christians are to be united in Christ.

  • I John 4:20-21 – You cannot love God and hate your brother.

  • Acts 10:34-35 – God shows no partiality.

  • Acts 11:3, 17 – They had to get over the ideas they were raised with to align with God’s will.

• Romans 12:21 – “Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good.”

  • Romans 12:17-21

  • The answer to sin is never more sin!

  • James 3:9-10

  • The only way we can be a positive light in this world is to start by looking in the mirror. Matthew 7:3; 15:18-20

  • No law from any human government will ever be as transformative as the law of Christ.

  • Ephesians 6:4

• I John 2:6 – “The one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.”

  • Love

    • Matthew 5:43; 22:39

  • Righteousness over popularity

    • John 4:7-9

    • Matthew 9:10

    • Luke 10:25-37

  • Forgiveness

    • Luke 22:32

    • There has to be forgiveness all around, because we have all sinned.

• I Corinthians 14 – We do not have spiritual gifts now, but the principles here still apply.

• The saved

  • We one hears the gospel (Romans 10:17), which is God’s power to salvation (Romans 1:16), believes it (Hebrews 11:6) sufficiently to repent as God demands all men (Acts 17:30), confesses Jesus as Christ unto salvation (Romans 10:10), and is baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38), the Lord adds Him to the church – saved relationship (Acts 2:47). He is now a new creation in Christ Jesus (II Corinthians 5:17)

• The church in Philippi is a good example of how a local church should function.

  • Philippians 1:1 – The organization of the local church.

  • Philippians 4:14-15 – Supporting preaching of the gospel.

• Online worship cannot replace the physical gathering of the saints to edify and teach. Hebrews 10:24-25.

• God wants us to come together.

  • To edify and teach each other.

  • To partake of the Lord’s Supper. I Corinthians 11:20-29

    • Matthew 26:29

  • To sin. Colossians 3:16

  • Online services, although necessary for a while, are not ideal. Certainly, we should not become complacent because of the convenience of online worship.