Friday, August 27, 2010

WEEKLY SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
An international Sunday school lesson commentary

For Sunday August 29, 2010
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A BOLD WITNESS
(Be bold in your witness regardless of the outcome)
(Acts 28:16-31)

There is a great purpose for everything that is written in the Holy Scriptures, and the hand of the unseen, only wise GOD, is at the helm of it all. The door that was closed to CHRIST by the Jews is now the door that was opened to salvation for the Gentiles. Here in chapter 28, the book of Acts draws to a close with a loud shout of triumph as the gospel has now reached the center of the world of the first century, and is being freely proclaimed in the midst of the Roman Empire.
Three months after the shipwreck in which Paul and Luke had been involved in while they were prisoners traveling from Jerusalem to Rome on the Mediterranean Sea, they set sail on yet another ship that had wintered at the small, nearby island of Malta. It was a ship that had originated in Alexandria, Egypt, in northern Africa. The ship was said to have had “the twin gods” as its figurehead. They sailed from Malta to Syracuse, a city on the east coast of Sicily and there they docked for three days before moving on to Rhegium (now called Reggio) in southern Italy.
After spending the day in Rheguim, they hitched a ride on a south wind which carried them to a place called Puteoli, a seaport located on the northern shore of the bay of Naples. It is also the place where the city of Pozzuoli stands today. There they ran across a group of fellow believers who invited them to stay for seven days.
Puteoli was the final stop before arriving in Rome, and by then, all of the believers in Rome were aware of their coming. Upon arrival, many Christian brothers and sisters came to meet them at The Three Taverns, a well-known place that was located about 33 miles from the city, along the famous Roman road called the Appian Way. When they arrived in Rome, Paul was permitted to reside in his own private lodging, but he was still being guarded by a Roman soldier.
Three days after his arrival, Paul called an impromptu meeting with the local Jewish leaders. He informed them of his arrest in Jerusalem, where he was handed over to the Roman government, even though he had done nothing wrong against his fellow Jews, nor had he violated any of their customs. The Romans had tried him and found no cause for the death penalty, and thus, had to release him. However, the Jewish hierarchy protested the decision bitterly, and so Paul felt he had no choice but to appeal to Caesar, as he was also a Roman citizen (Acts 22:24-29).
And so, apparently, no accusations about Paul had been forwarded to the Jewish community in Rome from Jerusalem regarding Paul’s trial. Here in Acts 28:17-31, we see that Paul actually wants to meet with his people in Rome, not to complain about how he was treated in Jerusalem, but rather, he wanted to boldly preach the gospel of CHRIST to them, right in the heart of Rome, which at that time, was an extremely dangerous undertaking, and, he was also willing to do it while still a prisoner, bound in the chains of Christian persecution.
Paul wanted to express his deep concerns for his own people, and to also, share the same conviction that CHRIST had, to preach the gospel first, to the Jews. And like in JESUS’ effort, Paul’s presentation won very little positive response, and as a result, he felt released by the HOLY SPIRIT to concentrate on ministering boldly to the Gentiles in Rome.
Church history tells us that the Apostle Paul was eventually acquitted of these charges, on this occasion, and he went on to continue his ministry for a short time in other places. However, ultimately (approximately two years later) he returned to Rome, and at that time, he was re-arrested, convicted, and executed in close proximity to the Apostle’s Peter’s execution there in Rome, near the end of the reign of the Emperor Nero circa A.D. 68.

A Sunday school lesson by,
Larry D. Alexander


Larry D. Alexander - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Friday, August 20, 2010

WEEKLY SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
An international Sunday school lesson commentary

For Sunday August 22, 2010
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GROWING IN JOY AND PEACE
(Put into practice, what you know about GOD)
(Philippians 4)

Paul’s letter to the Church at Philippi is a very warm and very personal one. He was beholden to the Philippians because they had been the only church to offer up financial help to him, showing concern that he might be in need. They had sent an emissary named Epaphroditus to Paul while he was incarcerated in Rome. It was an offering that came at a time when Paul was not even sure that he would live or die as a result of this act of Roman persecution.
Epaphroditus became ill and nearly died during this benevolent mission, in fact, his illness is one of the overriding reasons why Paul was writing this letter. He was sending Epaphroditus back to Philippi to continue in the work of the church there (Philippians 2:25-30), and wanted also to introduce his young protégé and co-worker, Timothy, who would be visiting for a while there at the church in Philippi (Philippians 2:19-24). Thirdly, he wanted to encourage those who were upset about his imprisonment and remind them of the active promotion of the Gospel that his imprisonment was causing among others. Paul felt that for that reason alone, they should all rejoice.
Throughout this touching letter we see the theme of “rejoicing” being resonated. For the Christian, to live is cause to rejoice, because GOD loves us enough to allow it, despite our continued disobedience to HIS word. To die in CHRIST, is also reason to rejoice, because, as believers, ultimately, we will be with HIM forever, sharing in HIS wonderful kingdom, because of GOD’s grace.
However, this by no means says that we won’t have problems and difficulties from time to time, for that comes with being a part of the human experience. And remember, even JESUS, WHO had no sin, had to suffer when HE made HIMSELF a part of humanity, as part of GOD’s plan to save us from ourselves. And so, even in our obedience to GOD, we will inevitably be involved with a certain degree of suffering.
In Philippians 4, Paul urges those who live in CHRIST to stand firm in that power. He pleads for harmony between two faithful Christian women, as they struggle with a mere difference of opinion, seeking to encourage them not to jeopardize all the good work they had done, by behaving in an ungodly way (V.1).
As Christians, we are not to render worthless, the value of a life that has been dedicated to the work of GOD, by turning on one another for reasons that are petty, and do not involve the violation of the doctrine of CHRIST JESUS. We are to fix our minds and thoughts on what is true and honorable and right, thinking only of those things that are pure and lovely and admirable in the eyes of the LORD. We must put into practice, those things that we have learned concerning GOD’s perfect will for us, and then, the GOD of peace, will be with us, because we are walking in HIS light (v. 9).
In the biblical Greek, the word used for truth is “aletheia” (al-ay-thi-a), and it is “that which is in harmony with reality”. GOD’s truth is to be communicated as concepts that are heard, learned, and received. However, it must be received as “reality”, rather than as “philosophy”, and most of all, “truth” must be seen in the teacher.
When “truth” is communicated to others, by those who exemplify the life that they teach about, then, is it likely to be put into practice by those who hear it. Then to, those who hear it, will be able to grow in joy and peace, because they then sense and discover, the joy and peace of GOD, that had been previously suppressed, within themselves.

A Sunday school lesson by,
Larry D. Alexander

Larry D. Alexander - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Friday, August 13, 2010

WEEKLY SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
An international Sunday school lesson commentary

For Sunday August 15, 2010
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LIVING INTO THE FUTURE
(Live for your future in CHRIST, not in your past)
(Philippians 3)

The Apostle Paul was the first great Christian missionary and theologian, after the example of JESUS CHRIST of course. He was born and raised in Tarsus of Cilicia, as Gaius Julius Paulus, the son of a Roman citizen, under the strictest of Jewish tradition and Judaism. He went on to become the first man to clearly show the distinction between Judaism and the Gospel of CHRIST JESUS. He presented Christianity as the universal religion for all mankind, and clearly showed that it was not just a tiny little spin-off of Judaism, that had been formed expressly, for the benefit of Jews.
In his lifetime, Paul became widely known as the apostle of the Gentiles. He solved, once and for all time, the issues that arose concerning the problems people had with Christianity, and the biblical and non-biblical traditions of the Jewish law. While the other apostles, with maybe the exception of Peter, continued on with a practical attitude toward the law and Judaism, oftentimes not seeing far into principle, Paul, on the other hand, preached that the issue was very much different than Judaism. He insisted that the doctrine he preached concerning CHRIST was defined by the cross. In other words, Paul keenly felt that one either had to choose “Pharisaism”, or JESUS, or, quite literally, “Law” or “Love, as the ultimate revelation of GOD.
All of Paul’s known letters bear traces of the Hellenistic background from whence he came, and he most certainly obtained many of his Greek ideas through the medium of Judaeo-Greek, or, Hellenistic literature. In fact, a careful study of his letters gives us some idea of this societal element in his early life, due to his Jewish birth. They suggest Paul’s own youthful attitude toward the importance and responsibility of being born Jewish.
In Philippians 3, Paul sought to exhort, or urge with a strong appeal, that the church at Philippi would continue to rejoice in the LORD. He also warned of the work of the Judaizers, calling them “dogs” and “mutilators of the flesh” (a reference to circumcision) who continued to preach that one must become a Jew, through circumcision, before they could be saved.
Paul, however, had spent a lot of time preaching to the infant church that they should place no confidence in the flesh. In fact, Christians should place no confidence in their own effort at all, but instead, must only boast of their faith in what JESUS has done for them. The Christian must worship GOD in the SPIRIT, and thereby, experience a spiritual “circumcision of the heart” that can only come by knowing GOD.
Paul said that if anyone could have confidence in their own background and training, he could. He once held in high regard, his boyhood studies under the great first-century scholar, Gamaliel, at the famous “School of Hillel” in Rome. He himself, as a pure-breed Jew of the tribe of Benjamin, had been circumcised when he was eight days old. He had also been a member of the Pharisees, who demanded the strictest adherence to Jewish tradition and the Mosaic Law. But now he had experienced the priceless gain of knowing JESUS CHRIST, and everything else suddenly seems worthless by comparison. Before getting to know CHRIST, Paul placed all of his value on the things that he had achieved in the past, but now, he understood clearly that his future of eternal life with GOD can only be realized through he belief and confidence in what JESUS has achieved.
And so, like Paul, all Christians must press ahead toward the highest goal that a man can ever achieve in this life. It is a goal that can never be achieved through human effort, but instead, has already been achieved through the vicarious sacrifice of CHRIST. However, a man will never accept the free gift of salvation in his heart, unless he first, become willing to remove his love for the things of this world from his heart.
From the original Greek, the phrase translated “becoming like HIM”, that is used in verse 21 of this passage, is “symmorphizomenos” (sim-morph-i-zo-me-nos) and it means “being conformed inwardly through one’s experience of something”. The Christians must continue to work toward the day when they can be all that CHRIST died for us to be, and all that GOD wants us to be, and that is, more like HIM, and, with HIM. And it is a change that can only occur, first, inwardly, so that it can then be manifested outwardly, so as to have a positive, GODly effect on the lives of those whom we will be coming in contact with in the future.

A Sunday school lesson by,
Larry D. Alexander


Larry D. Alexander - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
WEEKLY SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
An international Sunday school lesson commentary

For Sunday August 8, 2010
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BEING IN CHRIST
(To be in CHRIST is to be saved)
(Philippians 2:1-18)

In Philippians chapter 2, verses 1-11, perhaps two Greek words sum up the gist of the Apostle Paul’s message to the Church at Philippi, “tapeinophrosune” (tap-i-nof-ras-oo-nay) which means “unity through humility”, and “sumpsuchos” (soom-psoo-khos), which means “together in spirit, or like-minded”.
Here, Paul writes of how his joy in his fellowship with the Philippians would be even greater, if they would began to exhibit more unity, by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one heart and purpose. This is perhaps Scripture’s clearest portrait of the humility that is called for by CHRIST JESUS.
Humility, in the biblical sense, is not a weak man’s surrender, but rather, it is a strong man’s rejection of all things selfish, and it is a desire to be actively and genuinely concerned with the needs of others (verses 2-4).
In verses 5-11, Paul uses JESUS as the great example, or standard, of what true humility in a Christian should look like. Here Paul tells us that our attitudes should be the same as CHRIST exemplified, during HIS three-year mission on earth. During that time, even though HE was GOD, HE did not demand, or cling to HIS to rights as GOD. HE took the humble position of a slave and appeared to us in human form. HE obediently humbled HIMSELF even further, by dying a criminal’s death on the cross, by Roman method.
In this supreme illustration of humility, JESUS willingly surrendered the prerogatives of deity, in order that HE may die for the sins of all humanity. It is because of JESUS’ great sacrifice, that GOD raised HIM up to the heights of Heaven and gave HIM the name that is above all others. And it is at the very mention of HIS name that, one day, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that JESUS CHRIST is LORD. And it will all be to the glory of GOD the FATHER in Heaven. These statements by Paul (vs. 6-11) constitute a grand expression of Christology. In fact, it is said by some scholars that these verses are taken from one of the popular hymns of the early Christian Church.
Through our struggles here on earth, the Christian must be able to tap into GOD’s will for us, and thereby, shine brightly for CHRIST. Paul reminded the Philippians of how careful they were to follow his instructions while he was with them. And now, he was urging them to put what they had learned from him into action, and show the world, through their behavior, how GOD’s saving work is having a positive affect on their lives, and the lives of others. It is the brightness of our Christian light that sheds light and life on the Gospel message that we hold out for others to see.
We must set as our goal, a desire to gain certain qualities in life, among them being, a genuine interest in the welfare of others, a genuine concern for those interests that are CHRIST’, and a record of faithful service that we can point to as our witness before those whom we aspire to convert. And by following the examples of JESUS, or, by “being in CHRIST”, the Christian Church, by working together, will be able to work out GODly solutions to its own problems, and, they will be able to do so, without murmuring and complaining.

A Sunday school lesson by,
Larry D. Alexander


Larry D. Alexander - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia