A. Jesus Christ Himself (Luke 4:1-2a)
B. He had the ability, but it would have been against God’s will (Luke 4:2b; Romans 1:9-10)
C. Overcame using Scripture (Luke 4:4,8,12)
II. Who is the tempter?
A. “That serpent of old” (Revelation 20:2; Genesis 3:1)
B. “A roaring lion” (1 Peter 5:8)
C. “An angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:13-15)
III. The pinnacle (Luke 4:9)
A. “On top of the world”
B. “Absolute power corrupts absolutely” (1 Timothy 3:6-7; Galatians 6:1; 1 Corinthians 10:12)
IV. Resist!
A. If we fall, we will fall hard (Luke 4:11; James 1:15)
B. Satan will flee (James 4:7), but not forever (Luke 4:13)
C. God gives us the power to resist through His Word (James 1:12; 4:8)
I. “Earth holds no treasures but perish with using…”
A. Where is your treasure? (Matthew 6:19; 13:22; Luke 12:15-21)
B. A greater citizenship than “American” (Philippians 3:17-21)
II. “Out on the hills of that wonderful country…”
A. Happy (Matthew 5:3-12)
B. Contented (1 Timothy 6:6-8; Hebrews 13:5)
C. Free (John 8:32-36)
D. “Loved ones are waiting and watching my coming…” (1 Thess. 2:19)
III. “Why should I long for the world with its sorrows…”
A. Sin is pleasurable, but the consequences are destructive (Hebrews 11:24-26; Luke 16:19-24)
B. No sorrow in heaven (Revelation 21:4) but singing (Revelation 15:3-4; James 5:13b)
IV. “Heaven holds all to me”
A. “Brighter its glory will be” (Hebrews 10:34; 11:16)
B. “Joy without measure will be my treasure” (Mathew 13:44)
A. Deceived (Matthew 7:15, 21-23, 24-27)
B. The churches of Asia (Revelation 2:2-5, 13-16; 3:19)
II. Where do we look?
A. America? (Mormons 1830, 7th Day Adventist 1830, Christian Sceintist 1866, Jehovah’s Witnesses 1872)
B. Earlier? (Methodist 18th century, Baptist 17th century, Presbyterian and Lutheran 16th century; Catholic authority is not Christ but the Pope)
C. Jerusalem in the first century
1. Prophesied in Isaiah 2:2-4
2. Commanded in Luke 24:46-47
3. Established in Acts 2:36-41)
III. Jesus is in the house of God (1 Timothy 3:15)
A. Jesus’ opinion of the church (Matthew 16:18; Acts 20:28; 2:47; Eph. 2:16)
B. He is the Savior of the body (Eph. 5:23; Matthew 11:28-30; Romans 6:17)
A. Sinners Jesus will receive (Luke 15:2; Romans 5:8)
B. The lost sheep (Luke 15:4-7)
C. The lost coin (Luke 15:8-10)
D. The lost son (Luke 15:11-32)
II. Using circumstances
A. The Samaritan woman (John 4:6-9, 13-14, 39-42)
B. Avoid the temptation to blow off an opportunity because you don’t believe much good will come of it (David Lipscomb and J.W. Shepherd)
III. Deal with sin empathetically
A. We must tear down walls, not build them up
B. The Samaritan woman (John 4:16-18)
C. Show empathy, but do not excuse sin (John 8:3-11)
A. “He will be great” (Luke 1:30-33)
B. Yet, no fanfare or celebration in the little town of Bethlehem (cf. Micah 5:2)
II. The announcement of the angel (Luke 2:8-14)
A. Angels caused fear in man (Luke 1:12-13, 29-30; 2:9-10)
B. A joyous announcement (Luke 2:14; cf. Philippians 2:7-8)
C. Jesus identified as “a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (cf. Isaiah 59:1-2)
III. The excitement of the shepherds (Luke 2:15-20)
A. Urgency
1. …of the shepherds: “now,” “with haste”
2. …of the gospel (Acts 16:32-33; 2 Corinthians 6:2)
A. Shown in sending His Son (1 John 4:7-11; John 3:16-17; 1 John 4:16-19)
B. Love is the foundation of salvation (Romans 5:6-8; John 15:13)
C. Jesus’ sacrifice was a conscious, calculated decision, understanding the consequences (Mark 10:17-22)
II. JESUS IS OUR ULTIMATE EXAMPLE
A. He was willing to give; we must be willing to give (1 John 3:16-18; James 2:15-16)
B. The example of the first century church (Acts 2:44-45; 4:32-35; 5:4)
III. GENEROSITY BASED ON LOVE
A. Looking for opportunities (Galatians 6:2, 7-10)
B. The example of Macedonia (2 Corinthians 8:2-5, 9, 12-15)
IV. LOVE IS SHOWN NOT ONLY IN GIVING, BUT IN LIVING
A. Love is the basis of how we treat one another (Romans 13:8-10)
B. Love is the basis of how we treat God (John 14:15; 1 John 5:2-3)
A. Christians are not only expected to be holy; we are commanded to be holy (Hebrews 12:14)
B. To be holy is to be different from the world (1 Peter 1:13-16)
C. Christians are a part of “a holy priesthood” and “a holy nation” (1 Peter 2:4-5,9-10)
D. The world opposes holiness (1 Peter 4:1-4)
II. THE SCRIPTURES HELP US TO BE HOLY AS GOD IS HOLY
A. Psalm 1:1-2 – Be careful where you walk, stand, and sit; and meditate on the Word
B. 1 Corinthians 10:12-13 – Be on guard against temptation and look for God’s way of escape
C. 1 Corinthians 15:33 – Choose your closest friends wisely
D. 2 Timothy 2:22 – Run away from sin, and run toward righteousness, faith, love, and peace
E. 1 John 1:9 – Confess and ask for forgiveness to be cleansed, justified, made holy and set apart (cf. Psalm 103:2)
F. Romans 12:1-2 – Fully committed to God’s will as a living sacrifice
G. Philippians 3:12-16 – We are on a journey to eternity
A. Jesus had confidence in the power of God to establish and sustain His church (Matthew 6:13; 24:35; 16:13-18)
B. Jesus had confidence in the scheme of redemption (Matthew 16:21; 17:22-23)
C. Because of His confidence, the apostles developed a similar confidence (Acts 2:22-36)
II. CONFIDENCE OF DISCIPLES TODAY
A. We can have confidence in what God has done (Romans 6:1-10)
B. We can have confidence in what God will do (2 Corinthians 4:13-14)
C. Humility is needed to acknowledge God’s power (Psalm 44:6-8; James 4:10; Philippians 4:13)
III. WHAT CONFIDENCE CAN DO FOR US
A. We can approach His throne in prayer (Hebrews 4:14-16; 1 John 5:14-15)
B. We can boldly proclaim His truth (Acts 4:29; Ephesians 6:13-20; Romans 1:16)
A. All who remain faithful will receive an eternal reward (Revelation 2:7, 10; 3:5, 21; Philippians 3:12-14)
B. We cannot earn entrance to heaven, but we will be rewarded for what we have done (Luke 19:12-26)
C. The teacher is rewarded for the faithfulness of converts (1 Corinthians 3:5-15)
D. Wayne Jackson: “The implication is plain – the more of our converts who endure and finally arrive in heaven, the greater our joy and reward will be.”
II. Degrees of Punishment in Hell
A. “More tolerable for Tyre and Sidon” (Matthew 11:20-24)
B. Guy N. Woods: “The greater the responsibility, the greater the guilt; the greater the guilt, the greater the punishment, in the day of final accounting.”
C. “Of how much worse punishment” (Hebrews 10:24-29; 2:1-4)
D. “The latter end is worse for them than the beginning” (2 Peter 2:20)
E. Many stripes vs. few stripes (Luke 12:41-48)
A. We cannot control how another person acts, but we CAN control how we react (Romans 12:17-21)
B. We cannot be apathetic about peace – PURSUE IT! (Romans 14:19; 2 Timothy 2:22; Hebrews 12:14; 1 Peter 3:11)
II. PEACE WITH GOD
A. There is a connection between faith and peace (Mark 5:24-34; Luke 7:36-50)
B. Through Christ we can have peace not only with each other, but with God Himself (Ephesians 2:11-16)
C. Does this mean our lives will be free from conflict when we obey the Lord? (Romans 5:1-4; Matthew 10:34-39; John 16:33)
III. WE SHOULD BE SPIRITUAL PEACEMAKERS
A. Lead others into a peaceful relationship with the Almighty (Matthew 5:9; Ephesians 6:14-15)
B. You know someone who needs the peace of Christ – what are you doing about it? (Romans 10:13-15; James 3:18)
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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