I. The main point: don’t take matters between brethren to worldly judges
A. Civil cases were a big part of Greek society – still a part of American culture
B. It brings reproach on the church to let our problems spill out into the world [whether in civil court or in the court of public opinion]
II. On judging the world and angels
A. Figurative interpretation (Hebrews 11:7)
B. Judgment by association with Christ (Daniel 7:18-22; Matthew 19:28)
C. In either case, if we will judge the world and angels, surely we can handle the trivial disputes of this life in the church
III. Back to the main point
A. Disputes will come
B. When they do, follow Christ’s command regarding resolution of such (Matthew 18:15-17)
C. If needed, suffer loss to protect the reputation of the church (1 Corinthians 6:7; Matthew 5:38-41)
A. Deny self (Philippians 3:3-11; Galatians 2:20)
B. Take up your cross (2 Corinthians 11:23-28; 1 Peter 4:4, 14)
C. Follow Him (Luke 6:46; 1 Peter 2:21)
II. The value of man (8:35-37)
A. Soul preservation is more important than self-preservation (Matt. 10:28)
B. Your soul is worth more than all treasure (Matt. 10:29-30; 1 Peter 1:18-19)
III. The Second Coming (8:38)
A. Are you ashamed of your belief in Jesus? (John 1:29, 49; 6:69)
B. This world is “adulterous and sinful” (James 4:4; 1 John 2:15-17)
C. When Jesus comes again, He will come “in the glory of His Father with the holy angels” (Matthew 25:31-46)
IV. The coming kingdom (9:1)
A. The kingdom came during the lifetime of some who heard these words – nearly 2000 years ago (Acts 2:1-4)
B. This is not a “still future” event! (Colossians 1:13-14)
C. When Jesus returns, He will judge the world and deliver His kingdom to the Father (1 Corinthians 15:24)
A. When recreation becomes an obsession: “What does it accomplish?”
B. Chasing pleasure leads to sorrow, not joy (Ecclesiastes 7:3; Proverbs 14:13)
C. Do you seek pleasure or God? (Matthew 6:33; Colossians 3:1-2)
II. The vanity of pleasure through worldly achievements (2:4-6)
A. Houses, vineyards, gardens, orchards, fruit trees, water pools (1 Kings 7:1-12; 9:17-19, 24)
B. Worldly achievements without God mean nothing in eternity (Philippians 3:3-11)
III. The vanity of pleasure through possessions and power (2:7-9)
A. Servants, livestock, silver and gold, singers, and “concubine after concubine” (2 Chronicles 2:14-15; 9:13-28; 1 Kings 11:3)
B. All the riches in the world are worthless without God (1 Timothy 6:6-11)
IV. The conclusion of Solomon’s pursuit (2:10-11)
A. “There was no profit under the sun”
B. The pleasures of sin are “passing” (Hebrews 11:25)
C. The treasures of this world are corruptible (Matthew 6:19-21)
A. First century confusion: John, Elijah, one of the prophets
B. Twenty-first century confusion: a good man, a prophet, but not the Messiah
II. “But who do you say that I am?” (8:29-30)
A. Peter’s answer: “You are the Christ!”
B. They were warned to tell no one at the time, but were later commanded to tell everyone (Mark 16:15; Acts 2:36; 4:8-12)
III. The suffering of the Son of Man (8:31-33)
A. Jesus predicts His death and resurrection
B. Peter rebuked the Lord – do we ever disagree with Jesus about His identity? His nature? His love for us?
C. Jesus rebuked Peter: “For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men” (Isaiah 55:8-9; Philippians 2:5; Ephesians 4:31-32)
(outline based on Gene C. Finley’s hymn of the same name)
I. Giving in to temptation
A. God does not tempt man to sin (Matthew 6:13; James 1:13)
B. God provides an escape from temptation (1 Corinthians 10:13)
C. When we give in to temptation, it is because “we let the tempter lead us astray” (James 1:14)
II. Weariness of faith
A. Don’t ever give up (Galatians 6:9)
B. Don’t complain (Philippians 2:14-15)
C. Focus on the big picture, the final destination, not the temporary obstacles of this life (Philippians 3:12-14)
III. Verbal sins
A. We should guard our words carefully (Matthew 12:36; Ephesians 4:29)
B. Let us be patient in our speech (James 1:19-20)
IV. Sinful thoughts
A. “We let them stay” (Mark 7:21-23; 2 Corinthians 10:4-5)
B. Godly thoughts and worldly thoughts are incompatible with each other (Romans 12:1-2; 1 John 2:15-17)
A. Such a sign had already been given! (Matthew 3:13-17)
B. Jesus refused to give a sign on their terms
II. The Pharisees’ and Herod’s leaven (8:13-21)
A. Sadducees included in Matthew’s account (Matthew 16:1-12)
B. The apostles were hardened by their opponents’ doctrine, doubting, and deceit
C. There is danger in tolerance of falsehood (Ephesians 5:11; Revelation 2:14-15, 20) – even “just a little” (1 Corinthians 5:6-7)
III. The blind man at Bethsaida (8:22-26)
A. The problem with Bethsaida (Matthew 11:21-22)
B. The healing done in stages for the building up of faith
C. “Neither go into the town, nor tell anyone in the town” – the citizens in Bethsaida had already shown their unbelief (Matthew 7:6)
A. “We were…by nature children of wrath” (Ephesians 2:3)
B. Sin has corrupted the world (2 Peter 1:4)
C. This is an individual choice (John 8:44)
II. “Divine nature”
A. Available to all who are called (2 Thessalonians 2:14; 1 Peter 2:9)
B. Through His exceedingly great and precious promises
1. The promise of the Holy Spirit (Luke 24:49; Acts 2:33)
2. The promise of remission of sins (Acts 2:38-39)
3. The promise of eternal life (Titus 1:2; James 1:12)
III. What are the characteristics of the “divine nature”?
A. Righteousness (1:1; Matthew 5:6, 10; 1 Peter 3:14)
B. Grace (1:2; John 1:14, 17; Romans 3:24)
C. Peace (1:2; Romans 15:33; 16:20; 2 Corinthians 13:11; Romans 14:19)
D. Glory (1:3; Matthew 25:31; 2 Thessalonians 2:14)
E. Virtue (1:3; 1 Peter 2:9; Philippians 4:8)
I. The individual woman and her daughter (7:24-30)
A. A Syro-Phoenician Gentile woman
B. Jesus’ initial mission was to the Jews, not to the Gentiles (cf. Mt. 10:5-6)
C. She was persistent, begging for the crumbs from the Master’s table
II. The individual man with physical limitations (7:31-37)
A. A deaf, mute man
B. Jesus took him away from the crowd and healed him (cf. Isaiah 35:5-6)
C. “He has done all things well” (cf. Acts 10:38)
III. The multitude in their hunger (8:1-10)
A. A group of 4000 Gentiles so devoted to following Jesus because of what He provided – healing “the lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others” (cf. Matthew 15:29-31)
B. Why didn’t the apostles ask Jesus to do what they knew He could do after witnessing feeding the 5000 (Mark 6:30-44)?
C. Don’t ever try to limit the power of God to transform someone’s life because of who they are! (Romans 1:16)
A. The church was “puffed up” (1 Corinthians 5:2)
B. Persistent, willful, rebellious sin must not be tolerated (Rom. 6:1-7)
II. A little leaven
A. The sin of Achan led to the defeat at Ai (Joshua 7:1, 11-13)
B. The sin of Saul caused his family to lose the kingdom (1 Sam. 13:8-14)
C. The principle in prophecy (Haggai 2:11-14)
III. What shall we do?
A. Purge out the old leaven—remove the influence of sin! (Eph. 5:11)
B. You are a new creation in Christ, which means the old things have passed away (2 Corinthians 5:17)
C. Acknowledge sin, confess it to God, beg for His forgiveness (Psalm 51:1-4)
A. The tradition—which may have started as a good reminder to the Jews—had been reduced to mere ritual
B. Accusing Jesus and His disciples was becoming common practice for the Pharisees (Mark 2:16, 18, 24)
II. The admonition (Mark 7:6-13)
A. Man’s tradition must not trump God’s truth! (Isaiah 29:13)
B. Acceptable worship and godly service requires both attitude and action – spirit and truth (John 4:24)
C. The example cited by Jesus: “Corban”
III. The source of defilement (Mark 7:14-23)
A. Defilement doesn’t come from one’s outward circumstance, but from his heart (Proverbs 4:23)
B. Sin is connected to the character and integrity and purity of one’s heart (Matthew 5:21ff; Galatians 5:19-21; Revelation 21:8)
C. We have the choice (2 Timothy 2:22)
But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized. (Acts 8:12)
ConcerningJesus.com 