Weekly Bible Study Notes: March 10, 2021

Posted on March 10, 2021 by Don Merritt


Readers’ Note: The other day some of those who are currently attending our weekly Bible study asked that I post class notes for our study each week, and where better to post them than here on The Life Project. As of this week, we are beginning chapter 6 of John’s Gospel, and I’ll post the study notes each time from here on out…

The Bread of Life, Part 1

This chapter is divided into four sections which, when considered together paint us a twofold picture of the human condition and God’s response to it.  We see the human tendency to put spiritual concepts into physical categories, and we see God’s response to human need as spiritual reality.  We also can see the result of the clash between the two: most people will fall away from God.

Section One: John 6:1-15

This is the story of Jesus feeding the five thousand.  This great miracle of Jesus really gets the attention of the people because not only was it amazing to behold, but it also included a free meal.  To some in the crowd, Jesus leapt out as a man they should listen to, for He had performed a miracle; He must be in good with God!  To others, Jesus brought them hope that they could support their families for free; surely God was at work!

Section 2: John 6:16-24

This section includes another sign that the crowd did not get to see: Jesus walking on the water.  He left the place where He fed the crowd and the disciples followed Him by boat.  A storm blew up on the Sea and suddenly they saw Jesus walking on the water toward them.  When He got into the boat, they reached shore.  Not bad for a night’s work; two miracles in one. The next day, the crowd realized that Jesus was gone, and they went out to look for Him.  Eventually, they got into boats and sailed for Capernaum where He had gone, and we move into the central part of the chapter…

Section  3: John 6:25-59

In the third section, Jesus disappoints the crowd by telling them that He isn’t giving them another free lunch, but that the true bread of life is Jesus Himself.  Before getting into the particulars, we must understand that to these people, “bread” symbolizes life.  If a person has bread, he will not starve this day.  If he has the supplies and the ability to make bread tomorrow, he will not starve then either: where there is bread there is continuation of life. Bread remains the staple aspect of Western cuisine to this day, much in the same way that rice is in the Far East.

25-27:  Jesus confronts the notion of free meals right away, pointing the people instead toward the spiritual truth behind the feeding of the five thousand.  The people could only see the physical, practical aspect of receiving food from Jesus, while Jesus, on the other hand, was more concerned with the truth behind the miracle: life depends on a life-source that transcends mere biology for the true nature of life is spiritual not physical.

28-29:  OK, they seem to say, what must we do?  They are looking for a new rule or an activity by which they could obtain a loaf of bread that will be able to automatically replenish itself: they were making a serious category error.

29-31:  The answer Jesus gave was classic: The work for you to do is to believe in Jesus. Great, say the people: give us a sign.

It’s hard not to laugh at this…

Wasn’t feeding the five thousand enough of a sign? What will Jesus need to do to convince the people, rise from the dead or something?  I’d bet people wouldn’t even believe Him if He did that!

I know, why don’t you start the manna flowing again…

32-33:  Here Jesus tells them that if they want manna from God, it isn’t the kind that Moses had, but rather it will be true bread (as opposed to literal bread). This true bread is Jesus Himself.  Jesus gives life; it doesn’t come from the grocery store, for life is a much more profound force than the continuation of a biological process in the body. 

35-42:  Ok fine, give us some of this bread… Jesus tells them that He is the bread of life; all life forces come from Him.  If you take within you the bread that is Jesus, you will have eternal life, not just your little lifetime here on earth.  This starts not with just eating some whole wheat or rye, but rather when you decide to believe.  If you don’t decide to believe then you can go no further down the road of eternal life, but when you make this huge choice, eternal life is within your grasp, through Christ Himself.  Quite naturally, the people didn’t want that, for they were only looking for physical things, and they grumbled and complained as people like to do.

To be continued…

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Introduction to 2Thessalonians

Posted on March 10, 2021 by Don Merritt

Having completed First Thessalonians, we now come to Second Thessalonians, which is also quite an interesting little letter. While it only contains three chapters, it packs quite a punch for us today, and it is surrounded by controversy.

The first area of controversy is who actually wrote the letter? The traditional view is that it was written by Paul, and clearly the letter itself says so in 1:1. You might rightly ask why the controversy over authorship if the text itself says Paul wrote it, and to be honest with you, the answer is better suited to a Bonus Topic, and that is what I will write later in the week. For the purposes of these posts on 2Thessalonians, I will assume Paul is the author.

The second layer of controversy concerns when the letter was written. The traditional view is that it was written as a follow up to the first letter, and that is the assumption in these posts. However, a case can be made that this was actually the first letter, and the second is the follow up. The third layer of controversy swirls around the eschatology of the letter and the “Man of Lawlessness.” This controversy depends largely upon one’s point of view concerning millennial theories and their doctrines or lack of doctrines concerning “The Antichrist”. For the purposes of these observations, I will attempt to keep the texts in chapter 2 within the context of the letter, and let others speculate about whether or not there is another layer of significance.

Finally, there is also controversy concerning Paul’s teaching about unemployment, work and self-sufficiency in chapter 3. This controversy is much more recent than the others, and stems largely from modern day politics. It comes down to whether or not Paul is “mean spirited” when he expresses his thoughts on idleness, and whether or not the church should support members who do not choose to work for a living. I suppose that for many just phrasing it the way I have here would seem “mean spirited” but I simply put it the way Paul did, without volunteering my own thoughts on the subject. I will say, however, that in my personal view, interjecting modern politics into Scripture, whatever one’s opinions may be, is a dubious concept on its best day.

With all of that said, in my view, this letter was written by Paul as a follow up to his first letter for the purpose of encouragement in times of severe trial, and to correct some errors that had come to his attention after his first writing. We’ll begin in earnest in our tour through 2Thessalonians tomorrow morning a 6 am Eastern Time; see you then!

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Called to a Holy Life

Posted on March 10, 2021 by Don Merritt

He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.

2 Timothy 1:9-10

I must confess that there was a time in my life when I would have cringed at the use of the word “holy” in a passage like this. Am I “holy”? Do I have my act together, my life all sorted out and squared away? Am I more righteous that my friends and associates?

I have a very long way to go before I am perfect!

How can I really answer God’s call to live a holy life if I’m not perfectly righteous? You see, if that’s what is meant here, then my life is just another train wreck, and I think that I would have quite a bit of company at that particular crash site.

Yet, that is not what it means to be called to a holy life.

This is an occasion where we find a great deal of confusion between the actual meaning of a word, and the way it is commonly used in contemporary American culture, and for all I know, it may be used the same way in British or Australian English- I’m sure some of you who know might want to let us know about that. Here in the US, the word “holy” is frequently used more as a pejorative as in “So what are you- holier than thou or something?” In that sense the person is saying they think that you are lording your righteousness over them, which of course, wouldn’t be all that righteous.

The word “holy” does not mean a self-righteous hypocrite, it means set apart, and in a New Testament context, it means set apart for God’s service.

When we accept God’s offer of grace through faith in Jesus Christ we receive salvation from sin and death, eternal life in Christ, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and are set apart from this world to serve God’s purpose in building His Kingdom on this earth. This life has been there since the beginning of time, it was present in the Garden of Eden, yet it was forfeited through human rebellion. Yet Jesus came to the earth in the fullness of time and revealed it once again to humanity, and we have accepted it for our own lives through Him.

Another word for this is “gospel” or Good News.

My life is in better shape than it was 40 years ago, but I’m still a work in progress, just like everyone else. From where I’m sitting, this is very Good News indeed, for even though we may not have achieved perfection, we can still serve His purpose, imperfections and all.

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Bonus Post: Conditions in Thessalonica

Posted on March 9, 2021 by Don Merritt

Thessalonica was located on the Macedonian coast with a large natural harbor, which would explain its founding there in 315 B.C. by Casander, a general of Alexander the Great.  In 146 B.C. the Romans made it the capital of Macedonia and when the Egyptian Way was constructed along the length of Macedonia, Thessalonica was a main point along the highway that connected Rome with the East. Having both a great harbor, and being a key point on the main highway, Thessalonica was a main transportation hub. It was also situated beside a large fertile plain which could not only supply the needs of a large city, but the surrounding region as well.

The city was a major center of pagan worship with major influence from the cults of Dionysus and Cabirus, and it also included a Jewish community that was large enough for at least one synagogue according to Acts 17. Being large, vibrant and prosperous, Thessalonica was ideally situated for the Gospel to take hold there… and for the Gospel to be strongly opposed, both of which were clearly the case at the time 1 Thessalonians was written.

Acts 17:1-9 tells the story of Paul’s arrival, and both the fertile ground that it was for the Gospel, and the violent reaction of some of the Jewish leaders that resulted in a riot.  An interesting point from the Acts account is found in 17:4 where “God-fearing Gentiles” are found accepting the gospel. There apparently were a large number of these God-fearing Gentiles there, who were Gentiles that accepted the God of Israel, but who never became Jews; it would seem that they became Christians instead.

From the tumult of Thessalonica, Paul went onto Berea (Acts 17:10-15) and the opponents from Thessalonica followed him there with the result being that after initial success, the crowds were again agitated into violence and Paul left there and travelled to Athens, leaving instructions for Silas and Timothy to meet him there. By the time they were reunited, Paul was in Corinth, and their report is discussed in 1 Thessalonians, as we have already seen in chapter 2.

One final note about Paul’s travels is that he appears to have been following the main highway, stopping in the towns along the way to preach and establish churches that are connected to the transportation systems so they would be situated to make it easy for the Gospel to spread throughout the region; clearly Paul had a strategic plan for his missionary activities.

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Rejoice Always

Posted on March 9, 2021 by Don Merritt

1Thessalonians 5:12-28

Paul closes out this first letter to the Thessalonian church in these verses; the NIV calls this his “Final Instructions” yet somehow to me at least, that doesn’t quite describe it. It might be that in a technical sense, these are indeed “instructions”, but if that is true, they are nor the sort of instructions that we can very well check off on a “to do” list. To me, this reads a lot more like a recipe pr a formula.

This reads to me like the recipe for brotherly love, or the formula for a church community of unity and selfless service. No, “instructions” just doesn’t quite do it for me.

In verses 12-13, Paul admonishes the people to love and respect their teachers and leaders in the Body of Christ, something that many would rather not do these days. In 14-15, he seems to be encouraging the people to put others first, even when that is hard, and even if that might mean saying what they do not wish to hear, always in selfless love. And then, Paul says this:

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (5:16-18)

Why did Paul write this letter to the Thessalonians; do you remember? If you do, does this surprise you? Would you have written this to the Thessalonians?

If you don’t remember the reason for the letter, it was to encourage these mostly new Christians to hold onto their faith in a time of serious persecution. The recipients of this letter were being arrested, beaten, tortured, murdered… and Paul tells them to rejoice and be thankful!

Once again, our modern view might be a little different, for we have difficulty rejoicing and being thankful when someone is rude, or we don’t get something we wanted, but the Thessalonians were apparently made of sterner stuff than we.

Or… maybe they had a much better appreciation for all they had in Christ, and we are more oriented to comfort and convenience, and the things of this world; it strikes me that we might need an attitude adjustment, and I include myself in this remark.

Verses 19-24 are an exhortation to hold firmly to the faith, and he ends the letter asking for prayer. Taken in its entirety, this letter may give us a great deal to ponder and contemplate. Not the least of these ponderings should be about just how seriously we take our faith, and just how much more we can do to give Him glory on this earth, in our own communities. I will admit to you, dear reader, that as daunting a task as this may be, I am thankful for having read this amazing letter, for as I write, it is my number one tool in the never-ending fight against complacency in the faith.

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More Encouragement from Paul

Posted on March 9, 2021 by Don Merritt

1Thessalonians 5:1-11

Paul continues the discussion he began in 4:13-18 and in a sense repeats himself in slightly different words. He has been talking about what happens with those who have died, and as we saw last time, this is a continuation of his theme throughout the letter, which is encouragement in a time of persecution. Once again, his priority has been on the people remaining steadfast in their faith during this trial. He spoke of the dead to encourage people to hold onto their faith so that death will be powerless over them at the time of Christ’s coming; he continues along those lines here…

Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. (5:1-3)

Since we are keeping our study in context, this is an easy passage to understand: We don’t know when Jesus will return to raise the dead, it will be quite sudden and entirely without warning, so don’t waste any time or energy trying to figure it out; it could happen this very minute! If you’ve held onto your faith, it will be great. If you’ve turned your back on your faith, judgment will be problematic for you.

The next several verses use a metaphor of night and day; darkness and light to illustrate our situation in Christ. Those who are in darkness, in the night sleeping or drunk, and when the thief comes, they will be in a bad state. Those of us who hold onto our faith will be people of the day, so we will remain “awake” and when the Lord comes for us, we will have nothing to fear. Paul continues:

But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. (5:8-11)

Paul has told the Thessalonians to live as they have been taught, not as they did before they responded to the gospel. Here, he is simply telling them to keep it up and everything will turn out just fine for them. Notice in particular verse 11 where he draws essentially the same conclusion that he drew at the end of chapter 4: Keep living in Christ and you have nothing to fear either now or in the future, for death has no hold on you.

In our day, we love to argue about these verses, and we love to use them to teach all kinds of theories, and who knows, maybe those theories are right. But, if we just assign these verses to an end of the world theory, might we be missing the greatest of blessings? That great blessing that assures us that if we remain faithful, no matter what may happen in this life, we will spend all eternity with our Lord in glory.

I couldn’t possibly speak for anyone else, but the way I see it is that with such a blessing as this, who cares about a bunch of theories?

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Strong and Courageous

Posted on March 8, 2021 by Don Merritt

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

Joshua 1:9

I needed to hear that on this Monday; how about you?

Just think about it… Wherever you go, whatever you encounter, whenever you are anxious, God is with you, right there next to you…

He has your back.

You know something? I think this is the shortest post I’ve ever written, for there really isn’t anything else to say, except maybe… Thank you Lord God!

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Spirit of Power

Posted on March 8, 2021 by Don Merritt
donmerrittonline.com
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Sunday Sermon Notes: March 7, 2021

Posted on March 7, 2021 by Don Merritt

Title: God Forgives Us, We Forgive Others

Text: Matthew 18:21-35

This passage is often called “The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant” because that servant who had received mercy (forgiveness) by the Master, refused to show mercy (forgiveness) to his fellow servant, and he experienced consequences as a result. This is one of the quintessential teachings of Jesus, along with the Golden Rule and loving your neighbor.  The whole message of the parable is to teach His followers that since they have received God’s forgiveness for their sins, they should, in turn, forgive others.

Is there a familiar pattern here?  Think of the love pattern that we looked at last week: God loved us, we respond by loving Him. God loves others and expects us to do the same out of our love for God. The forgiveness pattern mirrors this: God forgave us, and He expects us to forgive others out of our love for Him.

So easy to comprehend, yet so tough to put into practice!

The commandments of Jesus

I heard a great story about a very young associate pastor who went around the church full of enthusiasm and “wisdom”. He seemed to have a knack for reciting the commands of Christ and then finding people who didn’t measure up to them and rebuking them. The senior pastor noticed this and gave his youthful subordinate a research assignment: Go through the gospels and list every command Jesus gave. Not teachings, not parables, but imperative tense commands only and have your report completed by 5 pm Friday.  The young man thought this would be a piece of cake and set about making his list. After a day or two, he became discouraged; this wasn’t a piece of cake after all.

Jesus taught many things and gave us many principles to follow, but He gave very few imperative tense commands. The young associate pastor never quite completed the assignment, but he did learn his lesson, to the relief of those around him.

The commands that Jesus actually gave can be summed up this way: Love God, love your neighbor as yourself, love your brothers and sisters, forgive your bothers and your sisters and make disciples. Of course, “make disciples” encompasses all of His commands and teachings in one act of love and mercy.

Jesus teaches us to be like Him and forgive others

Jesus’ earthly ministry was nothing if not an expression of love; for in all that He did and said He demonstrated God’s love for us in action. He took away pain and suffering, granted forgiveness of sins and taught the Truth of God’s Word. He provided us with our model for living life as He went along, a model that if we follow will be very pleasing in God’s sight. Time and again Jesus brought a message of mercy saying that the time for God to judge had not yet come. If we are truly His followers, His love, mercy and forgiveness will be our hallmarks, for in this, the people around us will see Christ through us.

For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. Matthew 6:14-15

Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. Colossians 3:13

To refuse to forgive others is to reject God’s grace

This is a tougher concept to grasp, for it comes down to a judgment call: At what point will our refusal to obey His commands become a rejection of our covenant relationship with God? We know that when we sin, God will forgive us when we acknowledge our sins. Yet if we deliberately keep on sinning in the same way year after year, and continue to refuse repentance when will God say that’s enough?  Theologians have been arguing about this for centuries, so we aren’t likely to settle it here, but there is one thing that is very clear, and that is that if we receive God’s grace in His forgiving our sins but we refuse to forgive those who have sinned against us, we are rejecting the very grace we have received ourselves. Here are a few of the verses on this subject, no doubt you can add more to this list.

And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins. Mark 11:25

Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Luke6:37

Forgive us our sins,
    for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
And lead us not into temptation Luke 11:4

Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. 2 Corinthians 2:7

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Those who Have Died

Posted on March 6, 2021 by Don Merritt

1Thessalonians 4:13-18

This passage (and the next for that matter) can either be simple to understand or difficult; the choice is ours to make. If you prefer simple, as I do, then all we need to do is to remember Paul’s purpose for writing this letter. If on the other hand, you like your texts to be hard, then forget the context and have at it…

Why did Paul write to the Thessalonians?

They were a new church that came very quickly under serious persecution, and Paul wrote to encourage them to hold onto their faith. So far, they had been able to do this, much to Paul’s relief and thanksgiving, and Paul is encouraging them to continue, even to increase their faith and good works, as I’m sure you will remember. I’m also sure that you will remember that when he mentioned the persecution they have been experiencing, that he was primarily interested in the condition of their faith, and not their physical condition; at least he hasn’t mentioned it yet. Now, he is suddenly writing about what happens when you die: Does this strike you as odd, or does it strike you as a sudden discourse on eschatology?

Here, let me put that another way: He hasn’t mentioned anything about the physical realities of a persecution in the first century up to this point, for that really isn’t his main concern, for his main concern is the condition of their faith. This is because if they keep their faith in Jesus Christ intact, they have nothing to fear even if they are killed in the persecution. Thus, this section is neither odd, nor is it a sudden discourse on eschatology; it is an encouragement to hold onto their faith, just as the rest of the letter is.

Guess what? This passage just became simple to understand.

Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. (4:13)

Persecution was a violent and bloody thing; people were being killed for their faith. Even so, death has no power over us, so do not grieve like the pagans do.

For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. (4:14-15)

Jesus rose from the grave, and this confirms that we also will rise from the grave, in fact, the dead will rise first!

For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. (4:16)

When the Lord returns, and that could happen at any time, He will return with those who have died before His coming.

After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. (4:17)

When Jesus returns, which may happen at any time, the dead will rise from the grave first, and then those of us who are still alive will meet Jesus in the heavens, where we will remain with Him forever.

Therefore encourage one another with these words. (4:18)

During this terrible time of persecution and death, encourage one another with this: Death has no hold on us! By the way, this verse confirms that the context is to encourage those in persecution, and is not intended as an eschatological (End Times) dissertation, because “therefore” denotes Paul’s conclusion from the evidence he has cited.

This is a message of hope and joy for all us as we go through our lives and deal with grief, sorrow, illness, and eventually with our own mortality, rather than an opportunity to jump on our hobby horse and ride off into the nearest tangent.

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