The Coming Age

Hebrews 6:4-9 - For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned. Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation.


Mark 10:29-30 - Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.

John 15:5 - I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

1 Corinthians 10:14 - Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.

Application:

· The present age is evil, but the coming righteous age will begin with the second advent of Christ and continue forever
· Apart from Christ I can do nothing of eternal value. Apart from Christ I am unable to produce spiritual fruit
· Does my life give evidence of genuine spiritual renewal?
· I cannot participate in idolatry and then think that I will receive eternal life on that day

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

The Lord Is Coming

Micah 1:1-5 - The word of the LORD that came to Micah of Moresheth during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah—the vision he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem. Hear, O peoples, all of you, listen, O earth and all who are in it, that the Sovereign LORD may witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple. Look! The LORD is coming from his dwelling place; he comes down and treads the high places of the earth. The mountains melt beneath him and the valleys split apart, like wax before the fire, like water rushing down a slope. All this is because of Jacob's transgression, because of the sins of the house of Israel. What is Jacob's transgression? Is it not Samaria? What is Judah's high place? Is it not Jerusalem?

Isaiah 1:2 - Hear, O heavens! Listen, O earth! For the LORD has spoken: "I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me.

Psalm 96:13 - Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it; let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy; they will sing before the LORD, for he comes, he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his truth.

Genesis 32:28 - Then the man said, "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome."

Micah 3:8 - But as for me, I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the LORD, and with justice and might, to declare to Jacob his transgression, to Israel his sin.

Micah 5:2-3 - "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times." Therefore Israel will be abandoned until the time when she who is in labor gives birth and the rest of his brothers return to join the Israelites.

Conclusions:

• Isaiah begins and ends the book of Isaiah with the condemnation of those who rebel against God
• Isaiah calls on heaven and earth to testify to the truth of God's accusation against Israel and the rightness of His judgment--since they were witnesses of His covenant
• Because God reigns over all things and is the Lord of history, Israel lived in hope of the coming of God--His future acts by which He would decisively deal with all wickedness and establish His righteousness in the earth
• The Lord is coming is an Old Testament expression describing the Lord's intervention in history

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Conclusions derived from NIV Study Bible

Jesus Died And Rose AGain

1 Thessalonians 4:14-15 - 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 own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.

Romans 14:9 - For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.

1 Corinthians 15:3-5 - For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve.

1 Corinthians 1:7 - Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.

Conclusions:

• Christ’s Lordship over both the dead and the living arises out of His death and resurrection
• In 1 Corinthians 15:3, Paul links himself with early Christian tradition
• Paul was not the Christian traditions originator, nor did he receive it directly from the Lord
• Paul’s source of the Christian tradition was other Christians
• The verbs Paul uses are technical terms for receiving and transmitting tradition
• What follows is the heart of the gospel: That Christ died for our sins, that He was buried and that He was raised from the dead
• A spiritual gift is a manifestation of the Holy Spirit enabling one to minister to the needs of Christ’s body, the church
• A spiritual gift is a gift of grace

Application:

• Does Christ have Lordship over your life?
• Are you a source of Christian Tradition for other Christians?
• What are your spiritual gifts?

All Scripture verses from NIV

Conclusions derived from NIV Study Bible