ScriptureStream

ScriptureStream

By Mark WatsonSociety & CultureReligion & SpiritualityChristianityPhilosophy
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ScriptureStream episodes

  • Ephesians, Part 4
    • Ephesians 3:6-12
    • Ephesians 3:1 – “For this reason” – Paul was imprisoned because he preached the gospel to the Gentiles.
    • Ephesians 3:2 – Jesus chose Paul specifically to bear the message to the Gentiles.
    • Ephesians 3:3 – The mystery is that the Gentiles would be saved as part of the same body as the Jews (see Ephesians 3:6).
    • Ephesians 3:5 – Apostles and prophets are listed as two separate groups, which may be emphasizing that truth was revealed to the apostles, who then laid hands on others so that they could prophesy as well.
    • Ephesians 3:8 – Paul was very humble in his use of hyperbole here. He was certainly not the least of all saints!
    • Ephesians 3:10 – See Ephesians 6:12. “Heavenly places” means the highest of whatever category is under consideration. Paul uses the phrase this way consistently in Ephesians. See also Ephesians 2:6. Here, Paul is simply referring to the rulers at the highest levels in the land.
    • Ephesians 3:11 – God’s eternal plan was salvation of both Jews and Gentiles.
      • 30 min
    • Forgiveness
      • How and why does God forgive?
        • God desires to forgive
          • He finds forgiveness delightful – Micah 7:18-19
          • He desires that we repent – II Peter 3:9
          • Forgiveness is in His interest – Isaiah 43:25 (I John 2:12)
          • He planned to forgive
            • In mind of God at the beginning – Genesis 3:15; II Timothy 1:8-11
            • Foretold through the ages – Isaiah 53:4-6
            • He worked to forgive
              • Shaped the nations, made them rise and fall – Acts 17:24-27
              • Gave the law to Moses
                • To teach us of sin – Romans 7:7
                • To teach us of forgiveness – Leviticus 4
                • Gave His Sin as a sin offering – Romans 8:3
                • Gave of His Spirit to teach – John 14:25-26; 15:26-27
                • Recorded and preserved His Word
                • Established conditions for forgiveness
                  • Hear His Word – Romans 10:17
                  • Believe in Him – Romans 10:9
                  • Repent of our sins – Acts 3:19; 5:31
                  • Confess belief in the Christ – Romans 10:9
                  • Be buried in baptism – Acts 2:38
                  • Pray for forgiveness of subsequent sins – Acts 8:22
                  • Why?
                    • For His sake – for His name’s sake – I John 2:12
                    • It brings great joy – Luke 15; 2:8-15
                    • God wants us to forgive also
                      • Important to us – Matthew 5:23-24
                      • Important for us – Colossians 3:12-13
                      • Essential for our souls – Matthew 6:14-15; Luke 17:3-4
                      • It is undoubtedly commanded of us.
                      • How should we forgive?
                        • “… just as the Lord has forgiven you …”
                        • What does that mean?
                          • What’s been said
                          • What’s been written – Ephesians 5:1
                            • Desire to forgive
                            • Plan to forgive
                            • Work to forgive
                            • Find joy in forgiving
                              • 30 min
                            • II Peter, Part 2
                              • II Peter 1:11-2:3
                              • II Peter 1:12 – Just as their minds needed to be stirred up from time to time, so do our minds.
                              • II Peter 1:19 – Compare Matthew 5:16.
                              • II Peter 1:20 – Over the years, many people have twisted this scripture to try to get around the need to study diligently. This passage is saying that prophecy is not of private interpretation (or origin, as some translations note). Prophecy comes from God and we must look to Him for the interpretation.
                              • II Peter 2:1 – There is a difference between being a false teacher and being mistaken in some point. If being mistaken on some point makes you a false teacher, we are all false teachers! Being a false teacher indicates both a character problem and a doctrine problem.
                                • 30 min
                              • How to Use Your Bible, Part 23
                                • II Corinthians 13:12
                                • Using your Bible: II Corinthians 13:12, continued:
                                  • Greek
                                    • Greet – 571 ἀπασπάζομαι (apaspazomai)
                                    • Holy – 41 ἅγιος (hagios)
                                    • Kiss – 5799 φίλημα (phil__ēma)
                                    • Figures of speech
                                    • Harmonize
                                      • I Corinthians 16:20; I Thessalonians 5:20; Romans 16:16
                                      • I Peter 5:14
                                      • Kissing was an ancient custom, not a new one begun as part of the New Covenant.
                                        • Genesis 27:26-27; Exodus 4:27 … Luke 7:45; 15:20; Acts 20:37
                                        • They greeted people in other ways besides a “holy kiss.”
                                          • Greeted by letter, Romans 16:22
                                          • Greeting by word, Romans 16:16, 21, 23 (cf. II Corinthians 13:13; Philippians 4:21-222; Colossians 4:14; etc.)
                                          • Greeting by name, III John 1:15
                                          • There were other types of kisses that weren’t holy.
                                            • II Samuel 20:9-10; Matthew 26:48-49
                                            • I Corinthians 5:1; 7:1-2; I Timothy 5:2
                                            • Commentaries
                                            • Conclusions and application
                                              • Kissing was a standard manner of greeting in those days. The emphasis is on greeting other saints sincerely in a holy way.
                                              • Conclusion: Why bother using the Bible?
                                                • As Christians, we are obligated to think rationally and to correctly interpret God’s Word.
                                                • Let’s try to think clearly and logically.
                                                • Studying a topic: tongue speaking
                                                  • Find the texts
                                                    • 30 min
                                                  • What the Resurrection Means to Me
                                                    • Introduction
                                                      • I Corinthians 6:14
                                                      • I Peter 1:3
                                                      • Over 300 verses in the New Testament talk about the resurrection.
                                                      • It forms the foundation of our faith
                                                        • Luke 24; Acts 1-2; I Corinthians 15
                                                        • During the crucifixion, Peter was at a spiritual low point.
                                                        • When the resurrection is reported to him, Peter runs to the tomb to check for himself.
                                                        • Luke 24:17-41 – The resurrection completely changes the outlook of the disciples.
                                                        • Acts 1:1-8
                                                        • I Corinthians 15:12-19 – If Christ was not raised, we have no hope!
                                                        • It demands action!
                                                          • Acts 2,3, 17; Romans 1, 16
                                                          • Acts 17:18, 30-32 – Jesus’ resurrection requires us to act!
                                                          • Romans 1:4-6
                                                          • I need to die to sin and walk in newness of life.
                                                            • Romans 6; Philippians 3; Colossians 3
                                                            • Romans 6:3-4:

                                                              • Jesus (physical)

                                                              Me (spiritual)

                                                              Death

                                                              Dead to sin

                                                              Burial

                                                              Buried in baptism

                                                              Resurrection

                                                              Walk in newness of life

                                                              • Romans 6:11-13

                                                              • Philippians 3:6-11

                                                              • Colossians 3:12

                                                              • I Peter 2:24

                                                              • Christ rose from the dead. What should I do?

                                                                • I Peter 3:21 – Be baptized into Christ
                                                                • Romans 6 – Die to sin and walk in newness of life.
                                                                  • 30 min
                                                                • II Peter, Part 1
                                                                  • II Peter 1:1-15
                                                                  • II Peter 1:1 - This epistle was written to the same audience as I Peter. It warns against false teaching (such as Gnosticism) and questions about the deity of Christ.
                                                                  • II Peter 1:4 – The “us” here is the group that Peter is in – the apostles.
                                                                  • II Peter 1:5 – Virtue here is moral excellence. Demons have faith and tremble, but do not have moral excellence. We are to have both faith and virtue.
                                                                  • II Peter 1:11 – This is an amazing promise!
                                                                  • II Peter 1:12 – We must be constantly reminded of these things to keep them before our minds.
                                                                    • 30 min
                                                                  • Philip the Evangelist
                                                                    • Acts 6:5
                                                                    • Samaritans: I should love my neighbor
                                                                      • Acts 1:8
                                                                      • Samaria was both a region and a city.
                                                                      • John 4:7-9; 8:48; Luke 9:51-56 – The great divide between Jews and Samaritans.
                                                                      • Acts 8:5-13 – Philip went to teach the Samaritans despite the hostility between them and Jews (of which Philip was one).
                                                                      • Preaching: the power of the gospel
                                                                        • Acts 8:25-40
                                                                        • Many today teach that the Holy Spirit must directly act upon you before you can be saved. That is not what happened here!
                                                                        • Acts 8:4-5, 35-36 – Philip preaches Jesus and the result is baptism.
                                                                        • Longevity: Growing (without growing bitter)
                                                                          • Acts 8:40; 21:8
                                                                          • Somewhere around 20 years passed between Acts 8 and 21.
                                                                          • Mark 4:16
                                                                          • Are we planting roots in God’s word so that as time passes, we will be able to stand?
                                                                          • Philip had good reason to grow bitter because of the prosecution of Saul. Then Saul (now Paul) comes to stay at his house!
                                                                          • Acts 1:10-14
                                                                          • Philip grew to be called “the evangelist” – not “the grumpy old man!” He endured lots of unfairness, but he did not let it make him bitter.
                                                                            • 30 min
                                                                          • I Peter, Part 9

                                                                            [Sorry, we lost the first part of this recording. -MRW]

                                                                            • I Peter 5:1-14
                                                                            • I Peter 5:5 – Peter beings to make a comparison between the role of the older men and younger men. The younger men are to be subject to the elders. See Matthew 23:28. We are all to serve each other.
                                                                            • I Peter 5:6-7 – We must all humble ourselves before God. We must leave all our anxiety in God’s hands because He cares for us.
                                                                            • I Peter 5:8 – One of the ways Satan seeks to tempt us is in pride. We all have a tendency to think higher of ourselves than we should. We must all realize that Satan is after us personally.
                                                                            • I Peter 5:9 – Like Jesus, we can put the devil to flight by resisting him. We have more power in this regard than Satan! We’ll never have to give an account to Satan if we resist him, but we will certainly have to give an account to God if we resist Him!
                                                                              • See I Timothy 3:12. If we do have to suffer in some way for Christ, we should have the same reaction as the apostles in Acts 5 and rejoice that we are counted worthy to suffer for Christ.
                                                                              • I Peter 5:12 – “our faithful brother” – this was quite the compliment!
                                                                              • I Peter 5:13 – “She” here is apparently a woman who was a Christian known to the audience.
                                                                              • I Peter 5:14 – This “holy kiss” is equivalent to our handshake today.
                                                                                • 30 min

                                                                              About ScriptureStream

                                                                              From the publisher's feed

                                                                              Just the gospel, plainly spoken. ScriptureStream compiles lessons presented at the Benchley church of Christ, located just north of Bryan, TX. Visit ScriptureStream.com for full notes on each lesson…