Devotionary

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Ep 132 – Matthew 5:1-12 May 04, 2017

Show notes

This episode, entitled, "The Benefit of God's Approval", will be our third and final look at The Beatitudes, found in Matthew 5, verses 1-12. Each of these nine statements contain powerful words of comfort for those of us who know Christ as our Savior. There are immediate benefits tied to each of them, but future-oriented, eternal benefits as well. Our goal in this episode is to concentrate our attention on the amazing list of benefits Jesus lines out for the those who have been or will be approved by God through faith in His Son. The main point in these first twelve verses is what it means to be blessed or approved by God. It is a state that every man and woman longs for in their hearts, whether they recognize it as such, or not. It was the 17th-Century scientist and mathematician, Blaise Pascal who said, "What else does this craving, and this helplessness, proclaim but that there was once in man a true happiness, of which all that now remains is the empty print and trace? This he tries in vain to fill with everything around him, seeking in things that are not there the help he cannot find in those that are, though none can help, since this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object; in other words, by God himself." Christ alone can fill the void. Only He can bring us God's approval and blessing.

Ep 131 – Matthew 5:1-12 May 03, 2017

Show notes

This will be our second week looking at the first 12 verses of Matthew chapter 5, the portion of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount that we call The Beatitudes. In this episode, called, "Not What They Expected", we are going to start unpacking what these verses meant and what Jesus was trying to teach those in His audience. It wouldn't take a stretch of the imagination to conclude that what Jesus had to say was not what they expected to hear. After all, they viewed Jesus as a rabbi or teacher. They assumed that all He would say would fall in line with everything else they had heard said or taught by other rabbis and religious leaders. But these opening lines of Jesus' sermon were shocking and a bit disconcerting to His listeners. They were unexpected and, most likely, unpleasant to hear. But it is critical that we clearly understand what Jesus is saying in these opening verses, because they will set up much of what He has to say in the rest of this passage. As always, try to hear Jesus' words from the perspective of His audience. Put your contemporary viewpoints aside and try not to hear what Jesus has to say through your Christian point of view. His words were shocking. His expectations would have come across as unrealistic. But Jesus is simply setting the table so that He can eventually serve them the bread of life and living water.

Ep 130 – Matthew 5:1-12 May 02, 2017

Show notes

Over the next three weeks, we will be spending all our time on the first 12 verses of Matthew chapter 5. This is the section best known as The Beatitudes. These verses, while well-known and quite familiar to most of us, provide an interesting opening to Jesus' message. What was Jesus trying to say to His audience? In fact, just exactly who in His audience were these statements aimed at? This opening salvo from Jesus was anything but simplistic and easy to understand. From the outset, He had His listeners scratching their heads and wondering just exactly who He was and what He was talking about. Nine times, Jesus will use the word "blessed." What did He mean? And how in the world did blessing go hand-in-hand with poverty, mourning, hunger and persecution? And twice Jesus will refer to the kingdom of heaven. Was that the same thing as the kingdom of God? Where would this kingdom reside? Who would be its king? All of these questions, along with many others, would have been swirling in the minds of those sitting on the hillside that day. And the key to understanding all that Jesus will have to say in the rest of His sermon hinges on how we interpret His opening remarks.

Ep 128 – Sermon on the Mount – Introduction May 01, 2017

Show notes

In this upcoming session of Devotionary, we're going to take a slight departure and deal with a particular passage of Scripture, but not an entire book. That's not normally how we operate, but I think you'll see what I've chosen to give this passage special treatment. I am talking about Matthew, chapters five through seven. You'll probably recognize it by its more familiar name: The Sermon on the Mount. Of course, what sets this passage apart is not its name, but its author. In it, we have the words of Jesus Himself, as recorded by Matthew. It was Augustine, the bishop of Hippo, who first coined the title, the Sermon on the Mount. That was all the way back in the middle of the first century, and it has stuck with us to this day.

While less a traditional sermon, and more a collection of teachings shared in a classroom like format, the words found in these three chapters in the gospel of Matthew are nevertheless significant because of what they say and who said them. So, over the next weeks, we are going to dig into this powerful passage and see what we can learn from words that came directly from the lips of Jesus. Hope you enjoy it.

Ep 129 – Matthew 5:1 May 01, 2017

Show notes

This first episode is entitled, "Radical and Revolutionary" and is intended to serve as an introduction that looks at the setting and circumstances surrounding Jesus' message. One of the problems we face as 21st-Century Christians is that we have a habit of reading the Bible with a post-cross, this-side-of-the-resurrection perspective. It's only natural, because that's our historical point of view. But when reading the Scriptures, we need to always keep in mind who is speaking or writing and the exact nature of the original audience. Who were they? What were their circumstances? How would they have received what was being said or stated? This is particularly important when it comes to the Sermon on the Mount, because the original audience was predominantly Jews and, because Jesus had not yet died and rose again, none of the people in His hearing were yet believers. According to the text, there were only four disciples in the crowd that day. Simon Peter, Andrew, James and John. And they had just begun to follow Jesus. At that time, early on in Jesus' ministry, they had no idea who He was, other than a rabbi whom they had decided to follow. So when we read this account in Matthew, it is essential that we try to "get in the sandals" of those in Jesus' audience that day. We need to listen to His words with their ears and from their perspective. And if we do, it will make this passage come alive. It truly contains Christ's counter-culture call. It was radical and revolutionary. And still is.

Ep 127 – Glatians 6 Apr 30, 2017

Show notes

Well, this is the final episode in our study of Galatians. We'll be looking at chapter six where Paul wraps up his discussion of the law and our life of faith in Christ. Throughout this letter, Paul has made it powerfully clear that there is no other gospel than the one that preaches the grace of God alone, made possible through faith alone in Christ alone. And there is no other way for men to be made right by God than through faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ. He not only saves us, He sanctifies us. And He makes it possible for us to live according to a new law: The law of Christ. Loving as He loved. Sacrificing for others as He did for us. Extending grace just as we have received it from God the Father. We are now free. Free to live and love as Christ did.

Ep 126 – Galatians 5:16-26 Apr 29, 2017

Show notes

In the second half of Galatians chapter five, verses 16-26, Paul is going to explain that we not only have the freedom to love, but the power to do so. It comes from the Spirit of God. But it requires a determination to live under the Spirit's control, choosing to be led by Him and not by our old sin nature. It's a choice we have to make each and every day. And when we choose to let the Holy Spirit have control of our lives, He produces His fruit through us. And that fruit is irreproducible any other way. Oh, don't get me wrong, we can produce a lot of things with our life, but if we do it in the flesh, the byproduct of our efforts will look dramatically different. Like everything else in our lives as believers, fruitfulness is not based on our own efforts, but on our complete reliance upon God. The life of faith is a life lived according to God's power, not ours.

Ep 125 – Galatians 5:1-15 Apr 28, 2017

Show notes

As we move into chapter five of Galatians, the first 15 verses will introduce us to the concept of our freedom in Christ and what that should mean when it comes to our relationships with those around us. Paul will tell us that we are "free to love", which is also the title of this episode. We enjoy freedom from the law. We are no longer required to try and keep the law in order to earn a right standing with God. We are free from the rites, rituals and religious rule-keeping that marked the law. But our freedom has a purpose. It is to have an ulterior motive. Rather than having to obsess about our own spiritual standing before God, we are free to love and serve those around us. Rather than focusing on law-keeping, we can concentrate all our attention on love-giving. Our salvation has been secured. So, we can spend all our time putting the needs of others first.

Ep 124 – Galatians 4:21-31 Apr 27, 2017

Show notes

Today's episode is called "Two Covenants," and is based on Galatians chapter 4, verses 21-31. Paul is going to contrast the old and the new covenants, using two Old Testament characters: Hagar and Sarah, to illustrate their differences. This unique comparison, will provide us with a better understanding of how the original covenant was based on the Law, but the new covenant, which replaced it, is based on the finished work of Christ on the cross. But Hagar and Sarah, two women who both bore sons to the Jewish patriarch, Abraham, represent two dramatically different attempts to see God's promise fulfilled. One was based on human effort and reasoning, while the other relied on the word of God. He would do what He promised in His time and according to His will. No help needed. No other options accepted.

Ep 123 – Galatians 4:1-20 Apr 26, 2017

Show notes

Today's episode is called "Re-enslaved" and is based on Galatians chapter 4, verses 1-20. Here Paul will confront the Galatian believers about their inexplicable desire to return to their old status as slaves, when they had been set free by Jesus Christ. For Paul freedom was a major benefit of having placed his faith in Christ. He was freed from the law. He was free from the demands of having to try to keep the law in order to be made right with God. In fact, he told the believers in Rome, "But now we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit" (Romans 7:6). And Paul wants to know why the Galatians would willingly choose a life of slavery over freedom in Christ.

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