I. Pride in one’s own wisdom blinds him to his faults
A. How do you view yourself? (1 Corinthians 10:12; Romans 12:3; Luke 18:9-14)
B. What is your standard? (Judges 2:11; 3:7, 12; 4:1; 6:1; 10:6; 13:1)
C. Who is your King? (Exodus 15:18; Judges 17:6; 21:25; 1 Samuel 8:7)
II. The necessity of humble submission to God
A. It is proper and right and NECESSARY to be guided by God (Prov. 3:5-7; 14:12; 16:25; Jer. 10:23)
B. We are hopless without Him (Matt. 5:3-7)
C. We must turn to His wisdom (Matt. 7:24-27)
III. Pride prevents productive prayer!
A. Righteous prayer avails much (James 5:16b)
B. But God resists the proud (James 4:6-10)
A. The scene: Mary, then Peter and John, & the empty tomb
B. When you see something you don’t expect (or don’t see something you do expect), what is your response?
II. Overcome with grief (20:11-15)
A. Mary wept as she continued to examine the scene
B. “Why are you weeping?” (James 4:19; Matthew 5:4)
III. Overcome with joy (20:16)
A. Mary finally saw Him!
B. What joy when a person finally sees Jesus as He is truly revealed in the Scriptures (John 20:20; Acts 2:41; 8:8, 39; 15:3; 16:34)
IV. Submission (20:17-18)
A. While we remain in this mortal body, there is work to do
B. The Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20)
C. The Perpetual Commission (2 Timothy 2:2)
I. Do you view the preaching of the cross as foolishness?
A. The result is perishing – a state of being lost before God
B. Poor decisions (Matthew 7:13)
C. Refusal to submit to God’s authority (Matthew 7:26-27)
D. Lack of preparation (Matthew 25:1-12)
II. Do you view the preaching of the cross as God’s power?
A. Salvation is the result
B. God’s power is in the preaching of the cross (Romans 1:16; Ephesians 6:10; 1 Peter 1:22-23)
C. Wise decisions, rarely made (Matthew 7:13-14)
D. Full, faithful submission to Him (Matthew 7:24-25)
E. Always prepared for His coming (Matthew 24:42-44; 2 Peter 3:10)
III. It’s not just the preacher who preaches
A. Every time you observe the Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 11:23-26)
B. Every time you consider His blessings (Galatians 6:14)
C. Every time you consider His mercy (1 Peter 2:9-10)
D. What are you preaching? (1 Corinthians 2:2) — let’s go preach, church!
A. We don’t deserve His love, but we delight in it! (1 John 3:1; John 3:16; Romans 5:8)
B. The world opposes the Christian life (1 John 3:1; John 15:18-19)
C. The promise of being like Him (1 John 3:2; 1 Cor. 15:42-44, 51-53, 57; Philippians 3:20-21)
D. Hope (1 John 3:3; Romans 8:24-25; 1 Peter 2:21-22)
II. The child of God and sin
A. Christ came to take away our sins (1 John 3:4-6)
B. What is continual and habitual in your life? Sin or righteousness? (1 John 3:7-8)
III. The signs of righteousness
A. We are family – we must love one another (1 John 3:10-11)
B. The unrighteous example of Cain (1 John 3:12; Genesis 4:1-8; Hebrews 11:4)
C. Why is there so much opposition to what is right? (1 John 3:13; 1 Peter 4:3-4)
D. Do you love your brother? (1 John 3:14-15; 1 Cor. 13:1-7)
A. The One who prepared the feast is God
B. The Servant is Christ (Philippians 2:7)
C. Those invited are the Jews who trusted in their status as the chosen people of God – but they refused to come (Matthew 3:9-10)
D. The “poor…maimed…lame…blind” are those seen as second class – the sick, tax collectors, prostitutes, etc. (Mark 1:32; Luke 5:15, 29)
E. Those in “the highways and hedges” are the Gentiles (Ephesians 2:12)
II. Examine the excuses
A. One’s possessions hindered him (Luke 14:18; 18:18-23)
B. One’s profession hindered him (Lk. 14:19; John 12:42-43)
C. One’s people hindered him (Luke 14:20; 14:26)
III. Who will taste the great supper?
A. Those who recognize their inability to repay (Luke 14:13-14; Matthew 5:3-5)
B. The humble who are exalted by God (Lk. 14:11; Jas. 4:10)
C. None who offer excuses (Luke 14:24)
A. Prophesied (Isaiah 9:6-7; 52:7; 53:5; 57:19-21)
B. Peace demands unity, and unity demands peace (Acts 2:42-47)
II. Peace in the body
A. Among different nationalities (Ephesians 2:14-17)
B. The peace of Christ is found only in the church (1 Corinthians 12:12-13)
C. Made possible for all “through the cross” (John 3:16; Romans 5:8-11)
III. Peace with the Father (Ephesians 2:18)
A. Access to the Father restored through Christ by one Spirit (Isaiah 59:1-2)
B. There can be no peace apart from the blood of Christ (Eph. 2:13), shed on the cross of Christ (Eph. 2:16)
A. Who is an Antichrist? (1 John 2:18; 2 John 9-11; Matthew 24:5, 24; 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4)
B. What does an Antichrist do?
1. Disobeys (1 John 2:19)
2. Denies (1 John 2:22-23; John 5:22-23)
3. Deceives (1 John 2:26; Acts 17:11; 20:29-30)
II. The anointing
A. Christians are opposed to those who oppose Christ!
(1 John 2:20-21; 1 John 4:1)
B. Abide in the truth (1 John 2:24; Luke 12:8-9; Acts 2:42)
C. Abide in the Son and the Father (1 John 2:24-25; John 8:31-32)
III. The assurance
A. What does inspiration teach? (1 John 2:27; 2 Tim. 3:16-17)
B. Confidence (1 John 2:28; Acts 4:13; 4:29; Eph. 6:18-19)
C. Be modeled after the righteousness of God (1 John 2:29; 2 Timothy 2:11-13)
A. Background (Luke 13:1-5)
B. The Father [the owner] planted the Jewish nation [the fig tree]; He condemns it for fruitlessness (13:6-7)
C. Jesus [the vinedresser] implored for more time (13:8)
D. The judgment if it remained fruitless (13:9)
II. Lessons for us
A. The urgency of repentance (Acts 17:30-31)
B. The longsuffering of God (2 Peter 3:9)
C. The limit of His longsuffering (Genesis 6:5-7; 2 Chronicles 36:15-16; Matthew 25:46; John 5:28-29)
D. God expects His people to bear fruit (Luke 8:15; Matthew 7:19)
E. Learn from the failure of the Jews (Hebrews 2:2-4)
A. “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46)
B. It doesn’t matter where you come from; what matters is where you are headed!
II. He was a Prophet (24:19)
A. The Prophet like unto Moses, as prophesied (Deut. 18:15)
B. Jesus surpasses both Moses and Elijah! (Matthew 17:1-5)
C. He is God’s spokesman to us (Heb. 1:1-2)
III. Mighty in deed and word before God and the people (24:19)
A. People marveled at the things He did (Matt. 8:27; 9:8, 33)
B. …at the things He said (Matt. 7:28-29; 22:22, 33)
C. His focus was on pleasing the Father (John 8:29)
IV. He was killed by the religious elite (24:20-24)
A. They should have known better
B. Even the disciples were confused about the empty tomb
V. Jesus finishes the sermon about Him (24:25-27)
A. Moses and all the Prophets pointed to this (24:27)
B. He died, but He was raised from the dead! (24:32-35)
C. Through His death and resurrection, He has become the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2)
A. Abel (Genesis 4:3-5; cf. Hebrews 11:4)
B. Noah (Genesis 7:2; 8:20)
C. Abraham (Gennesis 22:1-13; cf. Hebrews 11:19)
D. The Passover (Exodus 12:3, 5-7, 12-13)
E. The deficiency of animal blood (Hebrews 10:1-4)
II. The blood of Christ, the Lamb of God (John 1:29)
A. Provides redemption (1 Peter 1:17-21)
B. Washes and frees us from sin (Revelation 1:5)
C. Furnishes justification (Romans 5:9)
D. Imparts sanctification (Hebrews 10:28-29)
E. Allows for reconciliation (Colossians 1:19-20)
F. Cleanses from all sin (1 John 1:7)
G. Purchased His church (Acts 20:28)
III. His blood is applied to us in baptism
A. Salvation is in Christ (2 Timothy 2:10; Galatians 3:27)
B. Jesus is the Savior of the body, which is His church (Ephesians 5:23; 1:22-23; 1 Corinthians 12:13)
C. His blood was shed for the remission of our sins (Matthew 26:28; Acts 2:38)
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)
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