Love Of Money

Hebrews 13:5 - Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”


Deuteronomy 31:6 - Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”

Joshua 1:5 - No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you.

Philippians 4:13 - I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Application:

· Do I trust in the Lord and obey Him? If I do, I will be victorious despite many obstacles
· The Lord directs and sustains me. He will not leave me or forsake me.
· I can do everything pleasing to God if I am obedient to Him, serve Him and serve others

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

Love

Hosea 12:4-6 - He struggled with the angel and overcame him; he wept and begged for his favor. He found him at Bethel and talked with him there—the LORD God Almighty, the LORD is his name! But you must return to your God; maintain love and justice, and wait for your God always.


Hosea 6:1,6 - “Come, let us return to the LORD. He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds…For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.

Hosea 10:12 - Sow righteousness for yourselves, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and showers his righteousness on you.

Micah 6:8 - He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Application:

· Do I humbly submit to the Almighty's discipline? Is my repentance shallow?
· Do I do what is right? Am I blessed by God? Am I unproductive? Am I repentant? Am I loyal to Him?
· Is my conduct right toward others? Do my sacrifices include faithfulness to His will?
· Am I just? Am I merciful? Am I faithful? Am I obedient?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Go Love Your Wife

Hosea 3:1 - The LORD said to me, “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress. Love her as the LORD loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.”


Hosea 1:2 - When the LORD began to speak through Hosea, the LORD said to him, “Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the LORD.”

Hosea 11:1 - “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.

Exodus 20:3 - “You shall have no other gods before me.

Application:

· The Lord still loves me even when I am spiritually unfaithful!
· Have I been unfaithful to the Lord?
· God's love is the basis for my election!
· Am I loyal to God? Do I worship the one true God only?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

What You Love To Do

Amos 4:5 - Burn leavened bread as a thank offering and brag about your freewill offerings—boast about them, you Israelites, for this is what you love to do,” declares the Sovereign LORD.

Hosea 6:6 - For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.

Micah 6:8 - He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Application:

· Do I love the forms and rituals of religion? Or, do I love what God loves? Do I love goodness? Do I love mercy? Do I love kindness? Do I love justice?
· Sacrifice is unacceptable to the Lord if it is apart from faithfulness to His will!!!
· Do I act justly? Do I love mercy?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

What You Love To Do

Amos 4:5 - Burn leavened bread as a thank offering and brag about your freewill offerings—boast about them, you Israelites, for this is what you love to do,” declares the Sovereign LORD.

Hosea 6:6 - For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.

Micah 6:8 - He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Application:

· Do I love the forms and rituals of religion? Or, do I love what God loves? Do I love goodness? Do I love mercy? Do I love kindness? Do I love justice?
· Sacrifice is unacceptable to the Lord if it is apart from faithfulness to His will!!!
· Do I act justly? Do I love mercy?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Love

Ephesians 4:11-13,15-16 - So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ…Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

Colossians 2:19 - They have lost connection with the head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.

1 Corinthians 12:7 - Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.

Ephesians 1:4-6 - For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.

Application:

· Am I growing and building others up in love?
· Am I growing as God causes me to grow?
· Am I using my spiritual gifts for selfish advantage?
· Do I speak the truth in love?
· Am I holy and blameless in God's sight?
· Am I prepared for works of service?
· Am I striving for the maturity of the perfectly balanced character of Christ?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Great Is His Unfailing Love

Lamentations 3:22-23,32 - Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness…Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love.

Application:

• He is my Judge, my Restorer, He is faithful and He unfailingly loves me!
• The Lord is faithful to His promises!
• God's faithfulness is beyond measure!

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Love

Song of Songs 1:1-10 - Solomon's Song of Songs. Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth—for your love is more delightful than wine. Pleasing is the fragrance of your perfumes; your name is like perfume poured out. No wonder the maidens love you! Take me away with you—let us hurry! Let the king bring me into his chambers. We rejoice and delight in you; we will praise your love more than wine. How right they are to adore you! Dark am I, yet lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, dark like the tents of Kedar, like the tent curtains of Solomon. Do not stare at me because I am dark, because I am darkened by the sun. My mother's sons were angry with me and made me take care of the vineyards; my own vineyard I have neglected. Tell me, you whom I love, where you graze your flock and where you rest your sheep at midday. Why should I be like a veiled woman beside the flocks of your friends? If you do not know, most beautiful of women, follow the tracks of the sheep and graze your young goats by the tents of the shepherds. I liken you, my darling, to a mare harnessed to one of the chariots of Pharaoh. Your cheeks are beautiful with earrings, your neck with strings of jewels.

Song of Songs 8:6 - Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame.

Ecclesiastes 7:1 - A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of death better than the day of birth.

Conclusions:

• Song of Songs means greatest of songs
• Solomon wrote 1005 songs
• Love means expressions of love--caresses, embraces and consummation
• The lover and the beloved both describe each other as more delightful than wine
• Seals were precious to their owners, as personal as their names
• As the grave will not give up their dead, so love will not surrender the loved one
• The Hebrew for mighty flame conveys the idea of a most intense flame, hinting that it has been kindled by the Lord
• Perfumes are aromatic spices and gums blended in cosmetic oil
• The very mention of the lover's name fills the air as with a pleasant aroma
• The Hebrew words for name and perfume sound alike
• The Christian has ample reason to say the day of death is better than the day of birth
• The Teacher's point in Ecclesiastes 7:1 is valid, namely, that happy times generally teach us less than hard times

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Conclusions derived from NIV Study Bible

Faith Expressing Itself Through Love

Galatians 5:5-6 - But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

1 Thessalonians 1:3 - We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Galatians 2:21 - I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!"

Galatians 6:15 - Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation.

Conclusions:

• The righteousness for which we hope is a reference to God's final verdict of not guilty, assured presently to the believer by faith and by the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit
• The righteousness for which we hope is one of the few eschatological statements in Galatians
• Faith is not mere intellectual assent, but a living trust in God's grace that expresses itself in acts of love
• The triad of faith, hope and love is found often in the New Testament
• Faith produces action
• Hope is not unfounded wishful thinking, but firm confidence in our Lord Jesus Christ and His return
• To mingle legalism with grace distorts grace and makes a mockery of the cross
• In Christ man undergoes a transformation that results in an entirely new being
• Creation again takes place

Application:

• Do you have a living trust in God's grace that expresses itself in acts of love?
• Do you have firm confidence in our Lord Jesus Christ and His return?
• Do you mingle legalism with grace?
• Are you an entirely new being in Christ?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Conclusions derived from NIV Study Bible

Heirs With You Of The Gracious Gift Of Life

1 Peter 3:1-2,7-8 - Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives…Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers. Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.

Ephesians 5:25-27 - Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.

Galatians 3:28 - There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Romans 15:5-6 - May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 12:10,15 - Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves…Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.

1 Peter 2:11,13-14,21 - Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul…Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right…To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.

Philippians 2:1-2,6-7 - If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose…Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.

1 Corinthians 12:26 - If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

1 Thessalonians 4:9 - Now about brotherly love we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other.

Colossians 3:12 - Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

Conclusions:

• Submit, love, show no partiality, be united, encourage, honor, be compassionate, be kind, be humble, be gentle, be patient

Application:

• Do you treat your spouse with love or respect?
• Do you glorify Gof the Father with your heart and mouth?
• Do you honor others above yourself?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Conclusions derived from NIV Study Bible

Conscious Of God

1 Peter 2:13-14,17-19 - Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right…Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king. Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh. For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God.

Romans 12:10 - Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.

Proverbs 24:21-22 - Fear the LORD and the king, my son, and do not join with the rebellious, for those two will send sudden destruction upon them, and who knows what calamities they can bring?

Conclusions:

• Brotherly love is love within the family of God
• Only a mind renewed by the Holy Spirit could possibly honor others above themselves
• Submission to civil authority is commanded
• To obey God is to fear Him and honor our king
• The king is a terror to the wicked
• Authority established among men depends on God for its existence
• Indirectly, when one disobeys a human ruler he disobeys God, who ordained the system of human government
• When Peter wrote, the emperor was the godless, brutal Nero, who ruled from A.D. 54 to 68
• Of course, obedience to the emperor must never be in violation of the law of God

Application:

• Are you devoted to others within the family of God? Do you honor others above yourself?
• Do you fear the Lord and those who rule over you?
• Do you submit yourself to every authority instituted among men?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Conclusions derived from NIV Study Bible

Love And Long For

Philippians 4:1 - Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, that is how you should stand firm in the Lord, dear friends!

Philippians 2:1-2 - If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.

Philippians 3:19 - Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things.

Philippians 1:27-30 - Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God. For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him, since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.

1 Corinthians 15:58 - Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

Conclusions:

• Stand firm in the midst of present struggles for the sake of the gospel
• To be in Christ is to be saved
• To be in Christ is to be in intimate personal relationship with Christ the Savior
• From this relationship flow all the particular benefits and fruits of salvation, like encouragement
• Comfort from His love is the comforting knowledge and assurance that come from God’s love in Christ, demonstrated especially in Christ’s death for the forgiveness of sins and eternal life
• Fellowship with the Spirit is the fellowship among believers produced by the Spirit, who indwells each of them
• Christians are to have intense care and deep sympathy for each other
• All these benefits—encouragement, comfort, fellowship, tenderness and compassion—are viewed by Paul as present realities for the Philippians
• Destruction is the opposite of salvation
• Their god is their stomach represents a deep self-centeredness; their appetites and desires come first
• When Christians are persecuted for their faith, this is a sign of the genuineness of their salvation
• The Christian life is to be a “not only…but also” proposition; not only believing but also suffering
• Because of Christ’s resurrection and ours, we know that serving Him is not empty, useless activity.

Application:

• Are you standing firm in the midst of present struggles for the sake of the gospel?
• Do you have intense care and deep sympathy for others?
• Have you set your mind on the things of this life?
• Are you persecuted for your faith?
• Are you suffering as well as believing?
• Are you giving yourself fully to the work of the Lord?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Conclusions derived from NIV Study Bible

Atoning Sacrifice For Our SIns

1 John 4:10-11 - This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

Romans 5:10 - For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!

1 John 2:2 - He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

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

John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Conclusions:

• Man is the enemy of God, not the reverse
• The hostility must be removed from man if reconciliation is to be accomplished
• God took the initiative in bringing this about through the death of His Son
• To reconcile is to put an end to hostility, and is closely related to the term justify
• “Saved through this life” is a reference to the unending life and ministry of the resurrected Christ for His people
• Since we were reconciled when we were God’s enemies, we will be saved because Christ lives to keep us
• God’s holiness demands punishment for man’s sin
• God, out of love, sent His Son to make substitutionary atonement for the believer’s sin
• In this way the Father’s wrath is satisfied; His wrath against the Christian’s sin has been turned away and directed toward Christ
• Forgiveness through Christ’s atoning sacrifice is not limited to one particular group only; it has worldwide application
• Forgiveness must be received by faith
• 1 John 2:2 does not teach that all people ultimately will be saved, it teaches that God is an impartial God
• Corinthian Christians had come out of a background of paganism
• Temples for the worship of Apollo, Asclepius, Demeter, Aphrodite and other gods and goddesses were seen daily by the Corinthians as they engaged in the activities of everyday life
• The worship of Aphrodite, with its many sacred prostitutes, was a particularly strong temptation
• God so loved the world is the great truth that motivated God’s plan of salvation
• Although believers are also called sons of God, Jesus is God’s Son in a unique sense

Application:

• Have you been reconciled?
• Have your sins been atoned for?
• Do you flee from idolatry?
• Are you a son of God?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Conclusions derived from NIV Study Bible

God Is Love

1 John 4:7-9 - Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.

John 4:24 - God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."

John 1:18 - No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known.

John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Conclusions:

• Only those who are to some degree like Him truly know Him
• In His essential nature and in all His actions, God is loving
• John similarly affirms that God is spirit and light, as well as holy, powerful, faithful, true and just
• The place of worship is irrelevant, because true worship must be in keeping with God’s nature, which is spirit
• In John’s gospel, truth is associated with Christ, a fact that has great importance for the proper understanding of Christian worship
• God the One and Only is an explicit declaration of Christ’s deity
• Sometimes in the Old Testament people are said to have seen God
• We are also told that no one can see God and live
• Since no human being can see God as He really is, those who saw God saw Him in a form He took on Himself temporarily for the occasion
• Now, however, Christ has made God known
• God so loved the world is the great truth that motivated God’s plan of salvation
• The world is all people on earth—or perhaps all creation
• Although believers are also called sons of God, Jesus is God’s Son in a unique sense

Application:

• Are you to some degree like Christ?
• Do you worship in spirit and in truth?
• Has Christ made God known to you?
• Do you believe in CHrist?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Conclusions derived from NIV Study Bible

God's Love Is Truly Made Complete In Him

1 John 2:5-6 - But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.

John 14:15 - "If you love me, you will obey what I command.

1 John 4:12 - No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

John 17:20-21 - "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

Conclusions:

• Love, like faith, cannot be separated from obedience
• Since our love has its source in God’s love, His love reaches full expression when we love fellow Christians
• The God whom no one has ever seen is seen in those who love, because God lives in them
• The unity of believers should have an effect on outsiders, to convince them of the mission of Christ
• Jesus prayer is a rebuke of the groundless and often bitter divisions among believers

Application:

• Do you love Jesus?
• Do you love fellow Christians?
• Are there divisions between other believers and you?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Conclusions derived from NIV Study Bible

Covers Over A Multitude Of Sins

James 5:15-20 - And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops. My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.

1 Peter 4:8 - Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.

Conclusion:

• Love forgives again and again

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Conclusions derived from NIV Study Bible

Royal Law

James 2:6-8 - But you have insulted the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? Are they not the ones who are slandering the noble name of him to whom you belong? If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing right.

Leviticus 19:18 - " 'Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.

Romans 13:8 - Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.

Conclusions:

• The law of love is called royal because it is the supreme law that is the source of all other laws governing human relationships
• The royal law is the summation of all laws
• Love your neighbor as yourself is quoted by Christ, Paul and James
• The stricter Pharisees added to “love your neighbor as yourself” what they thought it implied: Hate your enemy
• Jesus reaction to hate your enemy was love your enemies. Jesus reaction was in line with the Old Testament teaching and was more in agreement with the middle-of-the-road Pharisees
• Rabbi Nahmanides caught the sentiments of the middle-of-the-road Pharisees: One should place no limitations upon the love for the neighbor, but instead a person should love to do an abundance of good for his fellow being as he does for himself
• Neighbor does not merely mean one who lives nearby, but anyone with whom one comes in contact
• To love is the one debt that is never paid off
• No matter how much one has loved, he is under obligation to keep on loving
• Loving one another includes not only fellow Christians but all people, as loving his fellow man makes clear
• The law is the Mosaic law, which lays down both moral and social responsibilities

Application:

• Are you loving your neighbor as yourself?
• Do you seek revenge or bear grudges against people?
• Do you love all people?

All Scripture verses from NIV

Conclusions derived from NIV Study Bible

Blessed

James 1:12 - Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

Genesis 22:1 - Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!" "Here I am," he replied.

1 Corinthians 2:9-10 - However, as it is written: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him"—but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.

Matthew 5:10 - Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Psalm 1:1 - Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.

2 Timothy 4:8 - Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

Conclusions:

• Abraham was tested, not tempted, for God does not tempt
• Satan tempts us in order to make us fall; God tests us in order to confirm our faith or prove our commitment
• Abraham answered with a response of a servant, as did Moses and Samuel when God called them by name
• What God has prepared is probably not to be limited to either present or future blessing; both are involved
• Theirs is the kingdom of heaven is a present reality as well as a future hope
• Psalm 1:1 speaks progressively of association with the ungodly and participation in their ungodly ways
• Blessed is the happy condition of those who revere the Lord and do His will, who put their trust in Him, and so are blessed by God
• The Psalter begins by proclaiming the blessedness of the godly and ends by calling all living things to praise God in His earthly and heavenly sanctuaries
• Counsel is deliberations and advice
• Sinners are those for whom evil is habitual; for whom wickedness is a way of life
• Mockers are those who ridicule God and defiantly reject His law
• Paul uses the metaphor of the wreath given to the winner of a race
• Paul could be referring to (1) a crown given as a reward for a righteous life, (2) a crown consisting of righteousness or (3) a crown given righteously by the righteous Judge
• That day is the day of Christ’s second coming

Application:

• Do you answer with the response of a servant?
• Do you love God?
• Are you persecuted because of righteousness?
• Do you revere the Lord, do His will, and put your trust in Him?
• Do you long for Christ's appearing?

All Scripture verses from NIV

Conclusions derived from NIV Study Bible

Taught By God

1 Thessalonians 4:9 - Now about brotherly love we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other.

Romans 12:10 - Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.

John 6:45 - It is written in the Prophets: 'They will all be taught by God. 'Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me.

John 13:34 - "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

Conclusions:

• Brotherly love translates Philadelphia, a Greek word that outside the New Testament almost without exception denoted the mutual love of children of the same father
• In the New Testament brotherly love always means love of fellow believers in Christ, all of whom have the same heavenly Father
• Brotherly love is love within the family of God
• Only a mind renewed by the Holy Spirit could possible honor one another above themselves
• The Prophets are the section of the Old Testament from which John 6:45 comes
• Only those who learn from God come to salvation, and all who learn from Him are saved
• In a sense “Love one another” was an old command, but for Christ’s disciples it was new, because it was the mark of their brotherhood, created by Christ’s great love for them
• Our standard is Christ’s love for us

Application:

• Do you love your fellow believers in Christ?
• Do you have a mind renewed by the Holy Spirit?
• Do you learn from God?
• Do you love others?