Heritage Bible Church

Books for Week 6: Ezekiel Daniel Hosea Joel Amos

Jesus' parable of the dragnet (Matthew 13:47-50) relates to our passage. The analogy is that just as the net pulls up many fish, the gospel message draws many people to it. The net gathered all types of fish, some worthwhile and some not good. Likewise the gospel attracts many people who neither repent nor desire to follow Christ, but they hang around "in the net." Just as the fish could not be sorted until the net was pulled ashore, so false believers masquerading as true Christians will not be fully exposed until the end of the age. A day of reckoning will come in which God will separate the true believers from mere pretenders, and those found to be false will be cast into hell. As we have done several times lately, it's easy to title this based on the commands in the passage: Flee, Pursue, Refuse. 1 - Two Kinds Of Vessels (20-21) 2 - Three Commands (22-23) a - Flee (22a) b - Pursue (22b) c - Refuse (23) 3 - Five Honorable Traits (24-26)

Books for Week 5: Ecclesiastes Song of Solomon Isaiah Jeremiah Lamentations

We are into a section of God's word that has, in practice in most churches and tragically across entire denominations, been forgotten or ignored in our generation. It has become the norm to think that in order for the Church of our Lord Jesus Christ to grow, we have to be innovative in what we do. Many seminaries have been telling students to figure out what the felt needs of people are, and to build a ministry around meeting those needs. That pragmatic mindset tragically ignores the fact that God's word tells us what our real need is, and it is not what most people "feel." The truth is that it doesn't matter what I feel. What matters is that I understand my need to be reconciled to God from whom I am alienated by sin. This portion of God's word, indeed the whole book of 2 Timothy, is not hard to understand. It's not esoteric. It's not abstract. It is bold and direct, and it tells us what God wants from His Church and its leaders. Church is not meant to entertain, and it's not meant primarily to address unbelievers. It is for the people of God to worship Him in spirit and in truth, so they are equipped to take the gospel to the world. As we have been seeing paragraph by paragraph, there are direct and clear commands we must heed. In our passage, there are four more imperatives which help frame it for us. If you ever wonder what is required to be approved to God, you need wonder no more. The answer is in our passage, which is built around the four imperatives. 1 - Remind (14) 2 - Be Diligent (15) 3 - Avoid (16-18) 4 - Abstain (19)

Books for Week 4: Nehemiah Esther Job Psalms Proverbs

Our current chapter began with the famous instruction to pass along the sound doctrine Paul had given to Timothy, to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. Immediately after saying that, Paul reminded Timothy that there is always opposition to the message of the gospel, and that he needed to be ready to face the opposition and not be surprised or disheartened by it: 2 Timothy 2:3: Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. As we put our boat in the water today at verse 8, we come to three examples to bolster the understanding that to be a Christian includes facing hardship and it is worth it. It is the example of Jesus, it is the reason Paul suffered hardship, and it is all for the good of all who believe in Jesus Christ. This is a reminder of Your Trustworthy Savior. 1 - Remember Jesus Christ (8-10) 2 - What To Remember (11-13) A - If we died with Him B - If we endure C - If we deny Him D - If we are faithless

Books for Week 3: 1 Kings 2 Kings 1 Chronicles 2 Chronicles Ezra

There are four commands which frame the plan of God for spreading the gospel from each spiritual generation to the next. Embedded with one of the commands are three illustrations. 1 - Be Strong (1) 2 - Entrust (2) 3 - Suffer Hardship (3-6) 4 - Understand (7)