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)
A. What you want (Genesis 2:16-17; 3:1-6)
B. Where you reside (Genesis 13:711; 19:31-38)
C. What you do (1 Kings 4:29-30 11:1-9)
D. What you think (Isaiah 5:20; 30:9-11)
II. Parables of watchfulness (Luke 12:35-40)
A. Watching for the master to return (Luke 12:35-38)
B. Watching for the thief (Luke 12:39)
C. The application: watch for the Lord (Luke 12:40)
III. A parable of preparedness (Luke 12:42-48)
A. The wise steward will be blessed in doing the will of his master (12:42-44)
B. The wicked steward will take advantage of his master’s absence, be wasteful with his provisions and cruel to other servants, leading others astray (12:45-48)
IV. Apostolic instructions
A. Be vigilant (1 Peter 5:8)
B. Be prepared (Ephesians 6:15)
C. Why? (Romans 14:12)
A. What type of “love”? Agape – sacrificial love
B. What is “the world”?
1. God’s creation (John 1:10)
2. Mankind (1 John 2:2; John 3:16)
3. Hostility toward God (John 15:18; 1 John 3:1; 4:4-5)
C. What is your primary concern? (Romans 12:2)
D. “…or the things of the world” (Mark 10:17-22)
E. “…the love of the Father is not in him” (Matthew 6:24; Romans 8:5)
II. The temptations of the world (1 John 2:16)
A. “The three avenues of temptation” (Genesis 3:1-6; Matthew 4:1-11)
B. How to avoid the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (Galatians 5:16-24)
III. The fleeting nature of this world (1 John 2:17)
A. The world is fleeting, temporary, non-permanent (2 Corinthians 4:18; 2 Peter 3:10-12)
B. Eternal life is with God (2 Timothy 2:11; Matthew 25:46)
A. Distractions draw us away (Luke 8:13-14)
B. Warnings against worldly lusts (Matthew 6:19-21; 1 John 2:15-17; Colossians 3:1-4)
C. Our life must be focused on the eternal, not the temporary! (Romans 12:1-2)
II. Do you want to help others find the truth?
A. The mission of Jesus (Luke 19:10)
B. The mission of the apostles (Mark 16:15-16)
C. The mission of ALL — including YOU! (2 Timothy 2:2)
III. Do you avoid doing all you should do?
A. The danger of procrastination (James 4:13-17)
B. We need to take care of the things that we know we must do while we have the time to do them! (Salvation + Service + Evangelism)
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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