LESSON 2:
Notice these sentence sermons
in First Thessalonians chapter five, Paul’s closing remarks in
that great Epistle!
There are several sweet
“volumes in a clause” as this great piece of inspired Literature
culminates.
Here they are.
“Rejoice evermore.
Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks. Quench not the
Spirit. Despise not prophesyings. Prove all things; hold fast
that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil.
Brethren, pray for us. Greet all the brethren with an holy
kiss.” First
Thessalonians 5:16-26
Short verses with great
meanings!
Some day I would like to preach
or teach these little jewels from the pen of the Holy Spirit,
Paul’s advice to a Church family he loved dearly.
But for today let’s look at the
logical sequence in which these little commands fall.
Paul’s parting advice to the Thessalonian Christians.
First of all we are to rejoice!
“Rejoice
evermore.” Attitude is
that important it seems, not losing one spirit of praise!
Then we can pray better.
Praying in a defeated and negative spirit can only hinder one’s
effectiveness at the Throne of Grace. So it must be this way:
“Rejoice
evermore. Pray without ceasing.”
A right attitude
is a prerequisite for right praying!
But prayer sets one to giving
thanks! Almost automatically! So Paul wrote in this order: “Pray
without ceasing. In every thing give thanks.”
Then we are to love preaching,
“prophesying” here. But before we can properly hear the Word of
God declared powerfully, we must be sure we have not grieved or
quenched the Holy Spirit! One precedes the other. “Quench
not the Spirit. Despise not prophesyings.”
Get right with
God on the way to Church!
And of course the natural
result of hearing Biblical proclamation is to: “Prove
all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all
appearance of evil.”
And when we’ve eaten a good
spiritual meal, heard and applied great preaching, we are ready
to pray better for each other and love one another more
fervently! “Brethren,
pray for us. Greet all the brethren with an holy kiss.”
Herein we have proper spiritual
growth I believe. These commands are in exactly the right order!
Now that’s a Bible paragraph
worth studying!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 3:
It’s one of my favorite all
time Bible Passages.
It’s
powerful, too.
It is
sequential also.
Eight Holy
Spirit ordained, perfectly arranged steps to spiritual growth.
“Giving all
diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge.
And to knowledge add temperance; and to temperance patience; and
to patience godliness. And to godliness add brotherly kindness;
and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in
you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither
be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus
Christ.” Second Peter
1:5-8
This Text has probably
captivated me for years. This Preacher, I think, has spent more
time here in Peter’s Epistle than anywhere else in the whole
Bible!
I’m sure of this fact. Herein
lays the “secret” to spiritual maturity as children of God.
Faith
comes first because that’s how we got saved, “By grace through
Faith in Jesus.”
Virtue
or purity follows, always, because once a person is saved the
Holy Spirit “cleans up” his life.
Knowledge
is third because this essential quality is only acquired by the
Holy Spirit’s teaching. And He only instructs a “clean” student!
Temperance
means “self-control” and must be applied as we learn how to live
for Jesus. Temperance always follows knowledge. Putting into
practice what the Lord has taught us to do.
But why is
patience fifth? This grace, only
available through responding properly to life’s tests and
trials, comes when people react to our living for Jesus. In this
sense patience is the natural expectation of self-control.
By the time we’ve blended these
first six qualities into our lives, we are ready to worship the
Lord. And that’s what godliness
involves.
And as we grow, little by
little we come to better appreciate the input in our lives
fellow Christians have. Maybe we experience
brother kindness out of
necessity at first, then out of eager desire at the end.
Finally the Spirit carries us
to the apex of spiritual success, love or
charity or that little Greek
noun agape, fervent attachment to those we serve!
What a list!
Eight ingredients, essential
traits for balance and victory in the Christian way of life.
Someone reading here today
“play” with this tally. See what insight the Lord gives you as
you analyze the Holy Spirit’s recipe for maturity.
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 4:
I’ve used this
verse for years. But recently seen it in an altogether new
“light.” The Word of God is that way, always alive and showing
its students new ideas and meanings and applications!
What a Book it is!
Psalm 66:18 says “If I regard
iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.”
If I willfully harbor sin in my life, God is not obligated to
hear and answer my prayers!
That’s true, all right.
But wait a minute! As a born-again child of God my sin has
already been forgiven, all of it. At the Cross of Calvary two
thousand years ago.
One thing for sure about a Believer in Jesus is this, he or
she is forgiven. Right now, for all time! Sin is gone, in its
past and present and future sense too!
So the rest of this Psalm 66 paragraph is all the more
startling! Though iniquity might be in my heart, the next verse
promises something, or observes something, almost too good to be
true! “If I regard iniquity in my
heart, the Lord will not hear me. But
verily God hath heard me; he hath attended to the
voice of my prayer.” Psalm 66:18-19
As messy a Christian as I am, as carnal as I can be, as
lukewarm as we all are at times … the Lord still hears me!
Yes.
If a Christian is sincere in his love for the Lord, if she is
non-hypocritical in her heart attitudes … I’m pretty sure this
great paragraph holds true.
Watch it all now.
“I cried unto him with my mouth, and he was
extolled with my tongue. If I regard iniquity in my heart, the
Lord will not hear me: But verily God hath heard
me; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer. Blessed
be God, which hath not turned away my prayer, nor his
mercy from me.” Psalm 66:17-20
Though I sin. Though I am such a failure … He still hears me!
He still attends to the voice of my prayer! He does not turn me
away! His Mercy is omnipresent!
Thank You, Lord.
Grace, what a word!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
I do not mean these thoughts to be a "license" to sin. A
growing Christian wants to please the Lord, not live carelessly.
Nonetheless, where sihn abounds, Grace does much more abound.
LESSON 5:
After Naaman the leper was
cleansed, his vileness washed away by the power of God, the
tender new “man of faith” asked an unusual thing.
I really think Naaman typifies
or pictures a sinner who has just been born again!
A “babe” in Christ, that’s what
one of my old Pastors called such a Believer.
Such folks, inexperienced in
the faith, can sometimes come up with some unusual ideas!
For example, what the
newly-washed, Jordan-cleansed Naaman asked of the Prophet
Elisha. He petitioned the man of God on the way back home, back
to Syria, immediately after the miracle that changed his life.
Here’s what the man asked. To
us it’s a “silly” thing, but to him it was obviously a different
matter.
“And Naaman said
to Elisha the Prophet, Shall there not then, I pray thee, be
given to thy servant two mules’ burden of earth? for thy
servant will henceforth offer neither burnt offering nor
sacrifice unto other gods, but unto the LORD.”
Second Kings 5:17
Did you read this?
Two mules’ loads of dirt!
Naaman must have reasoned,
“This land is where a great healing occurred. In their River
Jordan where my deadly leprosy was cleansed.
I must go back to Syria, a long
way to travel. But my King is there. I am committed to his
service. I am the captain of his army and the head bodyguard to
his person.
But this “Holy Land” is
wonderful! I am so thrilled with what happened to me in this
place. I am a new person. A new life has been given me!
I know what I must do, thinks
Naaman.
I will take some Palestinian
dirt home!
That’s special soil, no doubt.
It might be “magic” dirt!
I will take some Palestinian
dirt home!
That’s special soil, no doubt.
It might be “magic” dirt!
And we of course all laugh a
little.
At his superstition or
immaturity or whatever it was.
But I’d like to caution us all.
Young, immature Christians can
still come up with some “strange” ideas.
And we had best expect such.
They need to be guided and encouraged and occasionally
corrected!
Yes, Naaman was really
cleansed!
He was a genuine miracle!
But with some strange ideas!
Until he grew some in the Lord,
no doubt.
We need not be surprised at
such things yet today.
Thank God they’re saved!
Help them grow in Jesus!
God’s Work marches onward!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 6:
Sick Preachers, they are my
topic today.
Paul was one of them, at least
at times.
He writes to one of the
Churches: “Ye know how through
infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the
first.” Galatians 4:13
Obviously now I am talking
about physical illness, bodily ailments. For that matter
emotional crises can be added as well, burn-out and breakdowns
and the like.
We do not even know for sure
what kind of “sickness” Paul had while in the province of
Galatia. The commentaries are rather silent about the issue too.
We just know this. The Man of
God kept on preaching the Word … even while sick!
We know too that God eventually
alleviated some of Paul’s burden in this area. The longer Paul
lasted, the more fiercely persistent he became in serving God’s
people in that wild heathen land … the more he improved in his
body.
That does not always happen
though. Some of God’s choice servants die.
The point being made today is
this. Some of you attend Churches where your Preacher is not as
strong as he once was. And mark my word, eventually criticism
will come his way, someone will verbally attack that dear man of
God.
Listen to me. If he is
preaching the Word, even in physical weakness, stand with him!
Love him
Encourage him.
And challenge anyone who would
hurt him!
This is for sure. God will
bless you for your loyalty!
Preachers are my heroes.
“Ye know how
through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto
you at the first.”
Especially those who serve God
through hard times!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
I think this is my favorite of
all the Easter Texts in Scripture. Unless the very Account of
Jesus’ Resurrection surpasses it. What Truth these verses
proclaim!
Paul is writing in First
Corinthians 15, certainly the Bible’s great Resurrection
chapter.
Here it is.
“
For
I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received,
how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures.
And that he was buried, and
that he rose again
the third day according to the scriptures. And that he was seen
of Cephas, then of the twelve. After that, he was seen of above
five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain
unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, he
was seen of James; then of all the apostles. And last of all he
was seen of me also.”
First Corinthians 15:3-8
This obviously is a list.
A list of people Paul knew,
including himself, who had “seen” Jesus, had witnessed His being
Alive, after His crucifixion!
Folks, these are eyewitnesses
to the literal “coming back from the dead” of our Lord Jesus
Christ.
That’s powerful evidence!
Let’s count them.
One, Peter, also known as
Cephas.
Next, the Twelve, the disciples
after Judas had died.
Three, over five hundred people
at once!
Four, James the Pastor of that
early Jerusalem Church. He was also likely a half brother to
Jesus.
Fifth in the list, Paul
himself!
How many witnesses?
Reliable, vocal,
saw-Him-with-my-own eyes accounts!
Hundreds!
Yes, Jesus is no longer dead!
He is alive for evermore.
Praise His Name!
And through the eye of faith,
I’ve seen Him too.
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 8:
I have always though today’s
verse was amazing. Jesus, after His Resurrection from the grave,
in His “glorified” or “glorious” Body according to Philippians
3:21, appeared to a number of people. All of whom were already
Christians best I can tell.
But according to Mark’s Gospel,
at least once, our Lord showed up “in another form” to some
folks walking down the roadside.
Here’s the record.
“After
that he appeared in another form unto two of them, as they
walked, and went into the country.”
Mark 16:12
This is an unusual wording
here. In Greek it’s “en heteros morphe.” The implication is that
a resurrected body, like Jesus now possesses anyway, can
transform itself into different appearances!
Yes, that adjective “another”
is “heteros” and means “a different one than expected.”
Different from the previous form!
Jesus appeared in a different
form than He ever had before! Apparently even different than
when He appeared to Mary Magdalene earlier that Day!
All I am saying is this.
One, Jesus is alive!
Two, He possesses an unusual
Body, literally but glorified!
Three, He if so desired can
change His appearance, alter His very form!
Four, we are going to see him
some day!
Five, then we sill more fully
understand the verse we’re discussing!
Last, God’s Word contains no
error!
“In another form!”
Amen.
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 9:
The Verse is found in Romans
chapter five, one of the classic doctrinal treatises in the
whole Bible.
And it ties into the
Resurrection motif as well, the statement I want to mention to
you today.
Typical of the Gospel accounts
is the statement the angels announced to the women who had come
to the tomb, Jesus’ empty tomb, that first Easter Sunday
morning. “He
is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place
where the Lord lay.”
Matthew 28:6
Now let’s juxtapose this golden
statement that flowed from Paul’s inspired pen, still talking
about Jesus. “For if, when we were
enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much
more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His Life.”
Romans 5:10, especially “We shall be saved by His Life!”
The greatest thing about Jesus
today is not merely that He was raised from the dead. Far more
ponderous is the fact that He keeps us saved, day by day by day,
through His eternal Life and Ministry! I mean as He prays for us
at the Right Hand of God the Father!
Easter: He is no longer in the
grave. He is risen!
Even better than Easter: And He
has ascended to Heaven! There to live for us eternally!
Goodness!
What a Saviour!
We are saved by His Life.
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 10:
That last chapter of Mark!
Some say, almost all
“progressive” Bible scholars, that verses 9-20 are not genuine.
These men and women are wrong!
They have succumbed to current
theological pressure, forcing them to deny certain portions of
God’s Word in order to “climb the ladder” of professional
success.
Personally I believe Mark 16 to
be authentic, all of it. All fundamental Bible preachers agree
really.
Strip Christians of the last
half of Mark’s final chapter and you’ve robbed us of one of the
Bible’s Resurrection accounts. “Now
when Jesus was risen early the first day of the
week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had
cast seven devils.” This
is verse 9 word for word.
Also bereft of verse 12 we lose
a whole dimension of understanding about Christ’s resurrection
body. “After
that he appeared in another form unto two of them, as they
walked, and went into the country.”
No sir.
I’m keeping all of Mark.
All of the New Testament.
All of the Bible!
The critics say vocabulary
differences and content variations and manuscript evidence argue
for dismissing this Text.
I say the Holy Spirit approves
it, sufficient data for any Believer surely!
The Bible, our dependable and
inspired and inerrant Book.
Thank God for it today!
And as we near Easter, read it
again, Mark’s narrative of the last few weeks Jesus spent on
earth before ascending to Heaven.
Read it and worship Him, our
dear Lord.
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 11:
Just how important is the
Resurrection of Jesus?
Even
doctrinally speaking?
Is belief
in a Living Saviour essential to our Christianity?
Or is it
optional?
The Bible is of course the
place to find such an answer. And Paul supplies it in one of his
main Epistles.
“That if thou
shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe
in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou
shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto
righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto
salvation” Romans
10:9-10
This is how important the Truth
of Jesus’ Resurrection is, our very salvation depends upon it!
One must believe
in this vital tenet of the Faith to even be saved in the first
place!
The Bible just said so!
Besides, how can a dead Jesus
help anyone?
Then sequentially, after Jesus
saves a lost man or woman … that individual will know
experientially that a living Lord inhabits his or her life!
The old hymn rightly declares:
“You ask me how I know He lives? He lives within my heart!”
Are you saved?
Do you know this Living Saviour?
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 12:
I saw a
practical bit of truth the other day as I read one of the New
Testament’s Resurrection narratives.
Here’s Mark’s report: “And when the
sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of
James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come
and anoint him. And very early in the morning the first day
of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of
the sun. And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away
the stone from the door of the sepulchre? And when they looked,
they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great.
And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on
the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were
affrighted. And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek
Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not
here: behold the place where they laid him.” Mark 16:1-6
These good ladies approached the Grave of Jesus with worried
hearts. They fretted over the issue of that huge stone that
secured His Burial site. Again, “And
they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone
from the door of the sepulchre?”
But when they arrived at the cemetery, the stone was already
moved! "But when they looked, they saw
that the stone was rolled away!"
Worry certainly is the enemy of faith.
Then I thought this, “How often do I ponder and pace and fuss
over things that never come to pass?”
Over “stones” that need to be moved, too big for me to handle
… yet when “moving” time cones, the Lord has already taken care
of the “burden” at hand!
Yes, the ladies agonized over an unmoved stone, but it was
not there when they arrived! An angel had already alleviated
their burden … and they fretted in vain!
God had already solved their problem before they got to the
tomb!
I think that same God has our problems under control too!
“Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of
the sepulchre? And when they looked, they saw that the stone was
already rolled away: and it was very great.”
Thank you, Lord!
For handling our heavy loads!
For opening doors in our lives!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 13:
“And Peter,”
said the angel. Be sure that you don’t forget Peter! He must
know the good news too.
These brief words are part of the Resurrection story as told
by Mark. In that last chapter of his, Mark 16, the one most
skeptics say is not part of the original New Testament!
Here the verse, again quoting the angel:
“But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth
before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto
you.”
But why is Peter especially mentioned? Why are Matthew and
Thomas or any of the other Disciples omitted here, by name
anyway? “But go your way, tell his
disciples and Peter ….”
The answer as it seems to me is sweet, encouraging.
Peter has just denied the Lord.
And cursed.
And claimed that he did not even know Jesus!
Of course he nearly immediately repented, weeping bitterly.
Still, at his lowest point ever since meeting Jesus, the old
fisherman must have been ready to quit.
The Lord surely would no longer love such a denier, such a
traitor!
But not so!
Even in Peter’s state of acute human weakness and keen
personal despondency, the Saviour wanted the weak apostle to
know!
To know that our Lord had been raised from the dead!
Anyone reading here today who is much like Peter?
A failure?
Ready to quit?
Discouraged?
Jesus wants you to be aware that He is alive!
At the Father’s Right Hand!
Praying for your wellbeing!
“Father, I pray today for all my children … and __________.
Place your name in the blank and thank the Lord from the bottom
of your heart!
He loves you too!
Particularly you!
Especially you!
Delight in that fact today.
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 14:
They all said it, each Gospel
writer. As he relates the Easter story, the account of Jesus’
Resurrection. For example, Matthew puts these glorious words in
the angel’s mouth, words about the Lord:
“And
the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I
know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here:
for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord
lay.” Matthew 28:5-6
He is not here.
He is risen.
But there’s more.
“Come, see the
place where the Lord lay.”
Must be something very important about these words.
If the witnesses would just
come and look at where Jesus was placed, when He was buried, and
see the graveclothes … they would instantly believe!
John adds this. “So they, Peter
and John, ran both together: and John did outrun Peter, and came
first to the sepulchre. And he stooping down, and looking in,
saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in. Then
cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre,
and seeth the linen clothes lie. And the napkin, that was
about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped
together in a place by itself. Then went in also John, which
came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed.”
John 20:4-8
Come see where Jesus laid!
You will then believe, for
sure!
What was so special about those
clothes?
I think they were undisturbed,
still in the same shape they had assumed when firs wrapped
around Jesus’ Body!
He came through those clothes!
Miraculously!
Just like He came through that
yet unrolled-away stone!
Just like He came through that
locked door later Easter Sunday, there where the Disciples were
gathered.
Undisturbed graveclothes!
Jesus had to be alive!
And there was the proof on the
floor of the tomb!
“Come, see the
place where the Lord lay.”
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 15:
One last Easter meditation,
this Monday after the holiday. I would really like to again
preach the Text in which this verse is found.
The Resurrected Jesus appeared
to two travelers as they journeyed away from town, from
Jerusalem. This duo was discouraged, having been followers of
the Crucified Potential Messiah!
They did not recognize Jesus,
not at all.
Until He began to expound the
Scriptures!
Then we are told, my point
today: “And
their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out
of their sight. And they said one to another, Did not our
heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way,
and while he opened to us the scriptures?”
Luke 24:31-32
Two different people, but they
had one heart!
What unity!
What purpose!
What beauty!
They may have been husband and
wife. We only know the name of one, Cleopas. If married, what
grace and propriety they are showing, “one heart.”
Then again, these two may have
just been so touched by Jesus’ exposition of the Bible, things
concerning Himself, that their hearts collectively melted
together, merged into one!
Holy Spirit preaching and
teaching can do that, propagate unity!
One “heart” said to two
individuals!
“Lord, give us that kind of
attitude in our churches today,” we pray.
The Living Lord!
The unified Followers!
And the Work progresses!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
