Questions every Christian should be able to answer Part V, Bible Study 08/05/09

Posted on August 7, 2009 by growintheword

Questions every Christian should be able to answer Part V
How to study the Bible (continued)
Synopsis of Bible study 8/5/09
Delivered by Bishop Walker III
Review of the first part of this topic (07/22/09):
The bible is divided up in 8 groups.
• Historical: This involves Genesis thru Esther
• Poetical or wisdom-literature: This includes Job thru the Song of Solomon.
• Major Prophets: This involves Isaiah through Daniel.
• Minor Prophets: This section involves Hosea through Malachi.
• The gospels: This section involves Matthew, Mark, Luke, & John.
• New Testament historical: Acts of the Apostles is the only book of the New Testament to be considered historical.
• The epistles: Romans thru Jude.
• Prophetic works: The Revelation of John is a book mostly in highly figurative and symbolic language, which dealt with things which must shortly come to pass.
Remember that we learned that what we are after when we read a scripture is what the author originally intended. We try not to impose our understanding of the text on the scripture. In order to achieve this, we have to remember that context is important. Keeping this in mind, we have to realize that every word that we read has a context. To understand this context, we use tools of historical data to aid us. We try to understand historical data such as the Roman World, Caesar the ruler, tradition, and customs. When we keep this all in mind while we are reading the Bible, it helps us put into place what the text is really saying.
What is genre? It is a style. For example you have many genres of music such as Gospel, R&B, Jazz, Blues, Country, Rock, & etc… The 8 parts of the bible is often referred to as genres. Ex- When we look at Psalms which is from the genre poetry, we can’t view it from a historical prospective or genre.
I. Interpret the Old Testament in the light of the New Testament
1. We live by the whole bible, not just the New Testament. You can’t’ understand the New Testament without understanding the Old Testament.
2. We have got to understand progressive revelation. God did not give all understanding to Moses or Abraham all at once. As time went on, he gave more and more understanding to them. We have to look at the Old Testament as a chamber with expensive historical artifacts in it. The lighting inside the chamber is really dim. You know that the artifacts are in there, but because the lighting is so dim, you really can’t see them. For example: Jesus was mentioned more than once in the Old Testament, but it was hard for people to notice, because the light is not had not been turned on yet.
3. The light shines in darkness and reveals revelation. Matthew 5:17: 17Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. – Jesus didn’t write the Old Testament off when he came on the scene. Instead Jesus came to shed light on what the Old Testament meant. The time, in which Jesus lived, the Old Testament was the only thing that people had to reference what God would have them do. In fact everything that the Pharisees and Sadducees said to Jesus was stuff they lived by based off of the teachings of the Old Testament.
4. Jesus wasn’t a Christian, he was a Jew. Jesus is however, the essence of Christianity. Christianity is based on or relating to a belief in Jesus Christ as the Son of God and the Messiah, and acceptance of his teachings, contained in the Gospels. We are Christians because we follow Jesus. Jesus can’t be a Christian because he didn’t follow himself. Christianity didn’t come about until the day of the Apostles. Jesus said he didn’t come to destroy the law, but fulfill it. Ex- Remember when the Pharisees and Sadducees wanted to stone the woman for being caught in the act of adultery? Well they were justifying their action based off of the Old Testament. Jesus told them that whoever was without sin should be the first to cast the stones. This was an example of Jesus shedding light on the Old Testament and its meaning.
II. The dependence on the Holy Spirit
1. The Holy Spirit is the only way to understand the word of God. John 16:12-15: 12I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. 13Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. 14He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. 15All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you., 1 Corinthians 2:9-11: 9But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. 10But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. 11For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. – In these scriptures, by the aid of the Holy Spirit, God revealed things that the people hadn’t ever heard before.
2. Being deep in the word does not involve how deep you make yourself look. Being deep in the word is allowing the Holy Spirit to teach you the word of God. Ex- What Bishop Walker does (preaching 4 services a Sunday and preaching all over the nation through the week) can’t be done in his own comprehension? When he is preparing messages, he applies the skills he learned in seminary. After years of knowing this stuff, it kind of becomes second nature to him. Bishop applies the methodology involving historical data and it all ends up as a compiled pile of data. Now Bishop can’t leave this pile of data just like it is, because it would sound like a lecture. Now Bishop has to ask God to make the pile of data live (much like Ezekiel and the dry bones). Now the Holy Spirit throws everything that the folk in Bishop’s congregation have been going through on him, so when he preaches, the words Bishop speaks will be the words of the Holy Spirit. This is why Bishop can preach the same sermon for all four services and each word will give different revelations for different needs, for different services, for different people, although the sermon is the same
3. How do you know if you are at the right church? When the preacher seems like he is all up in your business every time he preaches, then you know that you are in the right place. The Holy Spirit tailored the word for you. The challenge is we don’t receive some gifts of spirit because we try to analyze it with our mind. You have got to lean not to your own understanding, but in all your ways, acknowledge him. As a result, he will direct your path. Ex- Bishop says he only goes to church about 3 times a year. You might think this is funny because of how much he preaches, but Bishop explains that when he is in church, he is working. Even when he goes to visit, he is not able to sit in the back and allow his self to be ministered to, because they want to invite him to the pulpit.
4. Answer as many questions as you can about the text. You need to ask who, what, when, where, why, and how.
a. Who- Find out who is talking?
b. What-Find out what is happening?
c. When-Find out when it was written. The time that the scripture was written in can be important.
d. Where-Find out where the story is taking place.
e. Why –Find out why the situation happened.
f. How-Find out how the story happened.
5. We have to receive Revelation: Revelation brings about inspiration. It is receiving the word of God without error
6. We have to have Transmission: This is copying as accurately as possible the original Hebrew and Greek manuscripts of the scriptures. Translations are importation of the original manuscripts used for seeking and rendering the scriptures in our language. Don’t be married to just the King James Version of the Bible. Find you a bible that you can understand.
7. We must have Interpretation: This is finding out what the author means by what they said or wrote and putting it into meaning that our intellect can understand.
8. We must avoid misinterpretation: People often miss what the Bible is really saying, because they misinterpret the scripture.
9. We must avoid sub-interpretation: This failure to ascertain the full meaning.
10. We must avoid super-interpretation- This attributing more significant meaning than the passage actually meant.
11. We must follow through with Application: This is using a variety of gifts to make the word of God relevant to man so that change of behavior results.
III. Learn the Books of the bible using a bible methodology.
There are 39 books of the Old Testament. Starting with the Old Testament, here is a good methodology that we can use to learn the first 39 books of the bible. This is not biblically sound, but it is a way to train the brain to remember the books of the Old Testament.
1. First we start with the Pentateuch or the first five books of the bible which includes-Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy
2. Next we use the phrase JJ Ruth which stands for- Joshua, Judges, and Ruth
3. Next use the phrase, Samuel was King and wanted chronicles. Remember there was 1 and 2 of each book which gives us – 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, & 1 & 2 Chronicles.
4. Then you have to think about being at a family reunion and meeting some long lost relatives. Please meet Aunt Ezra, Uncle Nehemiah, and Aunt Ester from Sanford and Son. This gives us – Ezra, Nehemiah, & Esther. Ezra by the way is the only book in the bible where you see the word pulpit.
5. Next we remember the wise grandma JPPES (like the wisdom Genre). This gives us – Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon.
6. Next we have the Major Prophets. We have Isaiah and Jeremiah. Jeremiah cried or lamented. There were some Dry bones which give us Ezekiel which can be found next to the 3 Hebrew boys which represents Daniel. This gives us – Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentation, Ezekiel, and Daniel.
7. Minor Prophets Hosea, fell in love with prostitute (hint look at the first two letters), the first Joel (rhymes with Noel), then musically join Amos-Obadiah. This gives us Hosea, Joel, Amos, & Obadiah.
8. Jonah wanted the Micah which gives us – Jonah & Micah.
9. Last we have a phrase that has to be done to a rap beat. Na-hum Ha-bak-kuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi
Congratulations, you have successfully learned the first 39 books of the bible.

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The Remnant, Sermon 07/19/09

Posted on July 29, 2009 by growintheword

The Remnant
Synopsis of sermon 071909
Delivered by Bishop Walker III

Text: Amos 9:11-15: 11In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old: 12That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called by my name, saith the LORD that doeth this. 13Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt. 14And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. 15And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the LORD thy God.
God always has a plan for the faithful. If we are honest, we will all agree that it is hard to watch the wicked prosper. It is hard to watch people prosper that are not in covenant with God. We must however, remember what David said in Psalms 37. 1Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.2For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.
It is Amos that prophesied in the years mentioned in our text. Israel was divided and Amos spoke to the northern kingdom on behalf of God. There had been a breach of contract between God and Israel because Israel had turned to idol gods. It is now the prophet Amos that is responsible for saying to Israel what God had to say them in this season. Amos told Israel that even thought the enemy had come upon them, it had been allowed by God. In verse 9, God says these things had happened to Israel, because God desired to sift them. Amos 9:9: 9For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.-God was saying he allowed things to happen to find out who the authentic people were so that he could bless them. God however promised that he was going to restore them after this season of sifting. For some, God is sifting folk from your life as we speak, but afterwards you will have a good idea of the people that you can trust. Out of the whole nation of Israel, God was looking for those who remained faithful. We have to know that our faithfulness has not gone unnoticed. God knows your works and his knows your faithfulness. Even though things may happen in your life, we must know that God is going to raise up a remnant and he is going to show what faithful folk get in the end. Because we know how God works, we are never impressed with crowds, because we know that there is just a fragment within any crowd that will remain faithful.
I. Declared promise
1. All we need is a promise from God. Amos 9:11: 11In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old: -No matter how bad things are, all we need is God. The rain falls on the just and unjust alike. By this we mean that sometimes the righteous has to endure what the wicked endures, but the difference is the righteous know how to handle it.
a. Sovereignty-we have to respect God’s sovereignty. Know that God is up to something. We have to know we have security in the midst of what we are going through. The security is the stuff that will not happen to us that happens to others. We have to know that we will survive this season.
b. Whatever we go through is seasonal. 2 Corinthians 4:17: 17For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; -Our afflictions are but for a moment. God said he knows you may be in ruins and brokenness right now, but he is going to raise you out of this. God said he is going to raise a remnant that will not come out empty handed. Right in the midst of the ruins, God will raise up the remnant. The wealth of the wicked is laid up for the righteous. God said to those in the ruins, if you hold on a little while longer, God is going to bring you through your Mess.
II. Devine Plan
1. What you are going through is nothing more than a setup. God is allowing it so you can show your faithfulness. This is not the time for you to just walk away. The enemy wants to get you to point where you to say you want to give up, but the enemy doesn’t know who he is messing with. We will let nothing separate us from the love of God. You will prosper if we faint not.
2. God is always providently working to usher his will into our life. Amos 9:13: 13 “The time will come,” says the Lord, “when the grain and grapes will grow faster than they can be harvested. Then the terraced vineyards on the hills of Israel will drip with sweet wine! – God says he is about to reverse some things in our lives. The laborer sows the seeds for the grapes and works the grapes in the vineyard, but in that day were not allowed to reap of the harvest. In order to make the wine, they had to crush the grapes. When Jesus prayed in the garden of Gethsemane he prayed in the garden where grapes were crushed. You get wine from crushed grapes and blood from a crushed body. God is going to allow us to bypass our crushing. The scripture ensures that we will get wine from places that have not been crushed. In other words, God is going to allow us to get a blessing that we didn’t have to get crushed to qualify for. He is getting ready to reverse things for us. If you remain faithful where you are, God will make it all up to you.
3. When Israel rose up in pride, God allowed the remnant to stay among their enemies so they could see how things go for those that remain faithful
a. Stuck-up-God left you among them so you would not be like them. God wanted you to see an example of what you were not supposed to be like.
b. Selfish-God blessed the remnant to be a blessing. God doesn’t want us to be selfish.
c. Recession-God allowed a recession to come, because they were faithful.
d. Sinful-God has a remnant that he can give a blessing. The remnant has the mind set to say “Bless me and we will be a blessing to someone else”. God has a remnant of people that saw people play church all their lives. The remnant is not concerned with positions or titles; they just want God to get the glory. God is about to switch the script. People at the back will go to the front of the line. The remnant didn’t have to pass emails or kiss anyone’s butt. All they did was remain faithful. Somebody reading this can testify that they feel that they are on the verge of the best season of their life.
III. Destined place
1. God said he is going to bring them back. Amos 9:14: 14 I will bring my exiled people of Israel back from distant lands, and they will rebuild their ruined cities and live in them again. They will plant vineyards and gardens; they will eat their crops and drink their wine. –The remnant is God’s chosen people. After God get’s finished, the remnant will be so productive and fruitful, it will mess you up. God is a restorer. He will not leave you out there by yourself.
2. God says you will have to work it. No that God has restored you, he expects you to built. You will have to be productive and produce.
3. It is all about your witness. Whatever we do, we want God to get the glory. Everything that was lost last year, God is about to restore. There will be a shift in the atmosphere. God said because you stayed faithful, kept tithing, and kept serving he is about to give you double for your trouble. You thought you had it going on before brokenness, but he is going to build it better the second time around. You thought it was something the first time, but it will be much better. The glory of the later house will be better than that of the former house.

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Questions every Christian should be able to answer Part IV, Bible Study 07/22/09

Posted on July 24, 2009 by growintheword

Questions every Christian should be able to answer Part IV
How to study the bible
Synopsis of Bible Study 07/22/09
Delivered by Bishop Walker
Bishop Walker explained that at a church function, a kid asked him if he had a job. It may sound funny, but the truth is many of us do not don’t understand what Pastors do as a Pastor. Just the preparation process of getting prepared for a sermon is a lot of work. It might interest you to know that it takes about 40 hrs to get prepared for one sermon. Keep in mind this is only if you are really going to deliver a prepared sermon and not one of those Saturday Night specials where you simply get up and say, “ He died, he rose, and amen!”
I. This Bible is divided in 8 parts
Historical-This involves Genesis thru Esther. The historical section includes the first 5 books of the bible and is called Pentateuch. These were the books of Moses. The Pentateuch was written by Moses. Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy are primarily books of Jewish law, so they do not fit quite as well in the historical category as the other books do. Note: All the customs of that day were included in the books of Jewish Law.
Poetical or wisdom-literature- This includes Job thru the Song of Solomon. All the Psalms were written mostly by Israel’s King David. There are a few of the Psalms that were anonymously written and a few written by others, but most were written by David. Psalms contains some of the most well-known verses of praise known to mankind. The Psalms is also the longest book in the bible. It contains divisions not chapters.
Major Prophets – This involves Isaiah through Daniel. These prophets are called Major because of the length of the books.
Minor Prophets – This section involves Hosea through Malachi. Most of these books were written about the dark days of Jewish captivity. These books are rich with information about reaching to God and teaching about personal righteousness and responsibility.
The gospels –This section involves Matthew, Mark, Luke, & John. Gospel means good news. The first three gospels Matthew, Mark, and Luke are called the Synoptic Books. Synoptic comes from the Greek, meaning they have the same eyes. The word used for synoptic is where we get the word synthesis meaning to bring together. In other words all the gospels point of view was brought together. Matt, Mark, & Luke all actually see the birth of Jesus Christ. John, however, begins the birth of Jesus by saying in the beginning was the word, the word was with God, and word was God. John is not part of synoptic gospels. It is important to know that Books of the bible are not in chronological order. Mark was actually the first book of the gospels. Mark was the first gospel written and the other gospels drew from it.
New Testament historical: Acts of the Apostles is the only book of the New Testament to be considered historical. It was written by Luke, who also wrote the gospel Luke. Acts is not to be interrupted theologically. It is a historical reference of things that happened. It is a model of why we do things that we do today. Ex- Acts 1:8:8But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.-Jesus sent word for the disciples to go to upper the room and wait for the Holy Ghost. Acts 2:1:1And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.-They were in one place on one accord and the Spirit of the Lord filled the house and they received the Holy Ghost. If you interpret these two scriptures theologically, you tell people that they must wait for the Holy Ghost or tarry for him once they accept Christ. Why would wait for somebody that is already here? This was a historical scripture that told what happened when they were all on one accord.
The epistles: Romans thru Jude. These books are epistles which mean letters. They were articles of correspondence primarily between the apostle Paul and a young congregation of the Roman world. They are primarily doctrinal in nature, teaching new converts Christianity or what it means to be a Christian. Within these epistles are books referred to as Pastoral Epistles. They are 1 & 2 Timothy and Tutus.
Prophetic works: The Revelation of John is a book mostly in highly figurative and symbolic language, which dealt with things which must shortly come to pass. Revelation 1:1: 1The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John: -Revelation is undoubtedly the most misunderstood and misused of all the books of the bible. It is an apocalyptic book, meaning the end of days. Revelation is the most misinterpreted book of the bible. Revelations was one of those books that barely made it into our modern day publication of the bible.
1. There is a word called method comes from the Greek word methodos which literally means a way or path of transit. Methodology in bible study is therefore concerned with the proper path to be taken in order to arrive at scriptural truth. Ex-Take a look at a surgeon for instance. They follow a methodology or protocol when they decide to perform a surgery. They follow a set of procedures that have proven to be successful. Can you imagine a person who is going to operate on you and use a self led methodology instead of a structured method? This would be so frightening to you that you probably wouldn’t agree to have the surgery. You need them to know that they know what they are doing before they try to perform this tedious task. After all, this could be life threatening. We should go about studying our bible the same way. We need to follow a structured method that has been proven to be successful. Failure to do so could be life threatening.
2. The early church was subject to methodology. 2 Peter 3:16:16As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction -Wrest in this scripture means to distort. In other words people were reading the word without methodology and it led to their own destruction.
2 Corinthians 4:1-2: 1Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; 2But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.-Paul was saying when people saw them preach, they knew that they had studied. The people knew that Paul was bringing the word with substance to the people. The pew ought to challenge the pulpit to go deeper.
II. How do we begin studying the bible?
1. Identify the type of literature the scripture comes from. Identify which of the previously mentioned categories the scripture falls in. If you know what section it comes from, then you know what the scripture should be talking about. Example historical, epistles, and etc…
2. Find a foundational truth: God created language for a purpose. When you read Genesis, it indicates that when God created Adam it was done in his own image. We know that God gave Adam a lot. How many times do you hear people say one of the greatest gifts God gave Adam is language or the ability to talk? The answer is you probably have never heard that. Well how do you think Adam started talking? Why would God give Adam the ability to talk? God knew that this was the only way that Adam could talk to him and that was the only way that Adam could communicate with other humans so God gave him language. We have these linguistic symbols in scripture called words, so God used language or words. When we understand the power of words we have to view language as a prerequisite to understand that God only spoke a word, but his word was written as well. Deuteronomy 29:29: 29The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law –When God created the world, he spoke words. In the beginning was the word, and the word was in with God, and the word was God. For God to give us words means we are more like God by the words that we use. So if the scripture is filled with words, the way to know God is to know his word. When you hear a good sermon you say that it was a good word. The whole 25min sermon is summed up as a being a word.
3. Revelation can only be understood if one interprets words by its original sense or the intent of the word. The bible you read is English, but it is not the original state. When you read the word, know there is meaning behind the word. When we don’t go behind the word or chase the word, we miss the meaning. The same word in English might not be same as the author’s intent in the original writings that it was translated from. Seek the author’s intent. Ex-Remember when Jesus said who do men say I am? Then he asked Peter who he said he was? Peter said that Jesus was the Christ, the son of the living God. Jesus said upon this rock, he would build his church. Peters name means petro’s or hard place or rock. All Jesus was saying was he was going to build his church on Peter’s solid foundation, but depending on how you interpreted the scripture or the word rock, you can get several different meanings. Ex-What about the scripture that talks about a woman must cover their head. The bible was simply meaning that the woman should be spiritually covered by a husband or Pastor. If you subject yourself to literally interpretation, you can mess up the whole meaning of a scripture up. Names mean something. They are important and have a meaning.
4. You must recognize that what a passage means is set by the author. It is discovered by the reader. Exegesis means to draw the meaning out of the text. Eisogesis means to super impose meaning on the text or adding something to the text. Cults use the Eisogesis method. We have to go after all the languages to get the real meaning of what we are reading.
III. The Importance of context
1. There was a woman who ran for Governor recently. She convinced herself that the bible told her she would win. Matthew 19:30 was the scripture she was using to justify her claim. Matthew 19:30: 30But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first. Needless to say, she lost the race.-The truth is we try to apply scripture to situations to make us feel right about those situations. We must remember that every word is part of sentence, and every sentence is part of paragraph, and every paragraph is part of a book, and the book makes up the scripture. You can’t interpret a whole composition off of one word.
2. There is immediate context and broad context. An example of a broad context is “What does the bible say about this situation?” An example of immediate context is to say, “The bible says we are supposed to go back and reconcile with our brother before we give an offering”.
3. People take scripture out of context in many ways. We pull scriptures where we want to apply them. We develop a relative righteousness by saying you can’t kill a dog but you can kill a dear. We are guilty of taking a scripture to soften the blow of our particular vice. Ex-Bishop explains that 98% of letters that he received about the Steve McNair’s funeral were congratulating him on a job well done. The other 2% were letters saying that he was going to hell for defending him. Ex-How many people have heard the scripture, my God shall supply all my needs? How many of us have used that scripture and applied it to our situation? Well let’s examine what comes before it. Philippians 4:13-19: 13I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. 14Notwithstanding ye have well done, that ye did communicate with my affliction. 15Now ye Philippians know also, that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving, but ye only. 16For even in Thessalonica ye sent once and again unto my necessity. 17Not because I desire a gift: but I desire fruit that may abound to your account. 18But I have all, and abound: I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, wellpleasing to God. 19But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. – When you examine it, Paul was thanking the church of Philippi for communicating with him and sending him gifts though he did not ask for them. He explains in verse 18 that he now has more than enough due to their giving and he was sure God was pleased with them. Paul said as a result of their generous giving, God would supply all of their needs according to his riches and glory. In other words, you don’t have the right to use Phil 4:19 if you are not a sower of the Ministry of God (like the church of Philippi). You have got to look at context of the scripture before you apply.
4. Understanding the context will give you a sense of the cultural realities that were taking place contextually in the scripture that you are reading. Context also moves you to the point of understanding the power of historical data.
5. Historical data suggests that historical considerations must be applied when we study the scripture. In other words when we talk about the historical Jesus (and we say that because Jesus lived. History proves that he lived and walked the earth.) and we read the scripture, we recognize there were other historical events taking place alongside of what we are reading. The broader context can help us interpret what was going on. Mark 5:25:25 A woman in the crowd had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding. – Ex- Bishop explains being in Venus, Italy and having the opportunity to stand at tomb of Mark who wrote this scripture. Mark is the one that wrote about the woman with the issue of blood. There is context and historical data that must be applied to every scripture in order to fully understand a scripture. We know on the surface that the woman pressed her way to Jesus and touched the hem of his garment and was made whole. Studying on deeper level, you begin to say things like, Mark is a gospel literature. We must then go find a book in the bible that educates me on how they treated women with an issue of blood. Probably this would be found in the Jewish law books. There we will find ideas like in Leviticus that tells us that a woman with an issue of blood couldn’t be touched for 66 days. Leviticus 12:5: 5 If a woman gives birth to a daughter, she will be ceremonially unclean for two weeks, just as she is unclean during her menstrual period. After waiting sixty-six days, she will be purified from the bleeding of childbirth. –We will also discover that anyone that touches her is unclean. Also we will find out that we can’t touch woman on her menstruation. Knowing this, we realize that the woman with the issue of blood had to overcome a crowd that didn’t want her to touch them and disciples that didn’t want her to touch Jesus. She had to transcend a whole cultural reality just to get to her miracle. Ex-Bishop explains on the latter part of his honeymoon, he had opportunity to Rome and walk through Caesar’s palace. Bishop explained that he took his bible on purpose. Bishop was trying to parallel historical events with scripture. The history in the bible was written from a patriarchal context. By this we mean woman were viewed negatively. We know what the bible says about Rome. Rome was that very advance civilization. Jesus was crucified by Roman crucifixion. Caesar sat on his throne. He was the man that governed all of Rome. Paul was sent to spread the good news to Caesar on this throne. On the way, he was taken captive. In Acts 27, he was put on a ship and there was a shipwreck. Many of them survived because of the favor God had on Paul. Paul now has to go to Caesar a man who has this incredible authority. Bishop was looking at the arena of Caesar’s palace. This was the same arena that gladiators fought and entertained. Historically, during the intermission of games, they would use those moments to execute prisoners, Christians to be exact. They would allow lions to come out and mall the Christians to death right in public view. Paul had instructions to come before this person that was over all of this madness knowing he could be killed. Knowing all of this, when you read where Paul wrote to die is gain… or that he would not let anyone separate him from the love of God, you get a whole new outlook and respect for the scripture. Note: Paul was eventually killed in Rome.

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Questions every Christians should be able to answer Part III, Bible Study 07/15/09

Posted on July 17, 2009 by growintheword

Questions every Christians should be able to answer Part III
“Understanding what prayer is and why we pray”
Synopsis of Bible study 07/15/09
Delivered by Bishop Walker III
Many often say they don’t know how to pray. Often what we see in church (people praying) is very different from what God intended prayer to be. When we see people pray in church using these eloquent King James phrases, it can be intimidating to someone that is either new to the church or unfamiliar with praying out loud. When you really understand what prayer is, you will com realize that God has made it where we all can go to God in prayer.
Prayer is personal communication with God involving talking and listening to him. It is the channel of communication between the believer and God, whereby God’s power is released into the earth realm through a combination of our faith and the word of God. It is the personal communication with God whereby you are both talking to him and listing to him. In other words we are in the presence of God and we hear his voice. It may not necessarily be audibly, you will be surprised how God talks to us. He may send someone, he may put it in your spirit, or he may allow you to receive a message by him. No matter what, if you are sensitive to it, God will speak to you.
When we pray, we are after the power of God coming into our situation. We are saying we need what God has. Remember Jesus says in his model prayer,”thou kingdom come, thou will be done on earth as it is in heaven”.
What are some hindrances to prayer?
1. If we hold on to sin, or refuse to make conscience changes in our life, or simply refuse to let God work on us, this becomes a hindrance to our breakthrough. Holding on to iniquity means you think God is powerless to change your situation. Psalm 66:18: 18 If I had not confessed the sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.
2. Selfish motives – James 4:3:3 And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.-Selfish motives will hinder your prayer because of your motivation for prayer. You can’t pray with selfish motives.
3. People come to the altar but they have an issue that is unresolved. If you have an issue, you need reconcile it with your brother first, before you come to the altar and pray. Matthew 5:23-24:23 “So if you are presenting a sacrifice[a] at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, 24 leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God.-We need too much from God to let our issues prevent our breakthrough. There are many of us who are thinking of the last thing that somebody did to us even as we speak. We have to let this stuff go if we expect our prayers to be answered.
4. A proper relationship between husband and wife can cause our prayers not to be heard. Remember in a marriage, two have come together and become one flesh. 1 Peter 3:7: Husbands7 In the same way, you husbands must give honor to your wives. Treat your wife with understanding as you live together. She may be weaker than you are, but she is your equal partner in God’s gift of new life. Treat her as you should so your prayers will not be hindered.
Why should you pray?
1. God commands us to pray. 1 Thessalonians 5:17: 17Pray without ceasing. Some of us don’t have to be using our computer to be on line. Some of us have service that allows us to stay connected to the internet all day. If we want to get on the internet, all we have to do is click an icon and we are on. Prayer without ceasing means the same thing. We are connected all time. Al we have to do is pray to be connected to God. – Ephesians 6:18: 18 Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere
2. Prayer always glorifies God. John 14:13:13 You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. -When you ask for something in Jesus name, it always glorifies God. He is our source and provider. The idea that you will go to him and ask him for what you want glorifies him. Ex-When you go to Kroger’s you glorify them, because you acknowledge they have what you need. Just like this, every time you let somebody know that you pray to make it through your issue, brings glory to God.
3. Prayer prepares our hearts to obey and glorify God. We ought to open up every day with prayer. At the end of the day, we ought to thank him for the day. Many of us slip up, because we are not prayed up. Statistics say the average Christian only prays about 3 times a week outside of blessing their food. We need to be prayed up.
4. Prayer benefits us. It allows us to be intimate with God. Matthew 6:5-6: 5And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 6But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.-Back in the day, many people prayed with the same kind prayer over and over and they used the same prayer format. Many of them would start out with the phrase, “f-a-t-h-e-r, I thank you that my bed wasn’t my cooling board” and the Deacons or Mothers used to say, “Pray servant!” This sounds good, but there is no intimacy in this. We have created colorful prayers and it intimidates others from even trying. People don’t need people to pray for them that simply sound good. They need somebody that can really get into contact with God. Real prayer is about going to your secret closet or that personal place and turning off the TV and talking to God. This thing we are dealing with is more than we can handle. Why you are in your secret closet praying, God is working it out and when you come out he will reward you openly.
5. God answers prayer. Matthew 9:38: 38Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.-God answers prayer. When you pray for a thing in God’s will, he will do it. This bible has to be like a menu in a restaurant for you. You have a right to ask for anything on the menu. Sometimes you can even supersize your order!
What did Jesus say about prayer?
1. If Jesus thought prayer was important for him, shouldn’t we feel it to be important as well? Luke 11:1-13: 1And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples. 2And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. 3Give us day by day our daily bread. 4And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil,
Matthew 7:7-11: 7Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: 8For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. 9Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? 10Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?,
Luke 18:1-14: Parable of the Persistent Widow-1 One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up. 2 “There was a judge in a certain city,” he said, “who neither feared God nor cared about people. 3 A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’ 4 The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people, 5 but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’” 6 Then the Lord said, “Learn a lesson from this unjust judge. 7 Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man[a] returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?” Parable of the Pharisee and Tax Collector-9 Then Jesus told this story to some who had great confidence in their own righteousness and scorned everyone else: 10 “Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer[b]: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not a sinner like everyone else. For I don’t cheat, I don’t sin, and I don’t commit adultery. I’m certainly not like that tax collector! 12 I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.’ 13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’ 14 I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”,
Luke 9:29: 29 And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was transformed, and his clothes became dazzling white.
2. Jesus prayed early in the morning. Mark 1:35: 35 Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray.
3. Jesus often slipped away to pray. Luke 5:15-16: 15 But despite Jesus’ instructions, the report of his power spread even faster, and vast crowds came to hear him preach and to be healed of their diseases. 16 But Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer. – Many of us are very busy and as a result we forget to pray. There is a book by Bill Hybells named “Too busy not to pray” that talks about how we get so busy that our pray life takes a back seat. We have to take the time to pray. ( can be downloaded at http://www.iamplify.com/beliefnet/product_details/Christian-Audio/Too-Busy-Not-to-Pray—Bill-Hybels/product_id/4844 or click on the author’s name to hear him discuss the book on you tube)
4. Jesus spent one night praying all night long. Luke 6:12-13:12 One day soon afterward Jesus went up on a mountain to pray, and he prayed to God all night. 13 At daybreak he called together all of his disciples and chose twelve of them to be apostles. Here are their names:
5. Jesus even prayed the night before his crucifixion. Luke 22:32:32 But I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. So when you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen your brothers.”
10 steps to get answers to your prayers
1. Know that God wants to answer you.
1. 2 Decide what you want and find the scripture that says you can have it. If you have the word lining up with what you want, then you can pray for it.
2. 3 Ask the father in Jesus name and believe that you will receive what you prayed for. Many people end their prayer with the phrase “for Jesus sake, Amen…” This is not correct. It is not for Jesus sake that we pray for things. It is for our sake. However, we do seal the prayer be ending it with “in Jesus name”. Not ending your prayer with in Jesus name is like sending a letter without a stamp.
3. Control your thought life in agreement with what you believe you will receive. In other words you can pray thinking you won’t receive it.
4. Develop a faith confession in agreement with what you believe you will receive. We can write it down according to scripture and believe that it is going to happen.
5. Avoid confrontation with those who are not in agreement with what you are believing God for. Avoid people that don’t have the faith you have that argue that what you are believing God for is wrong.
6. Think and see yourself with the promise of God already manifested. Don’t get mad when you get in your hooptie. You got to see yourself in the car that you are asking God for.
7. Think constantly of God’s goodness and faithfulness. Know that the devil will always try to discourage you.
8. Expect God to deliver a plan to fulfill your desire. When we pray for a thing, God may deliver us plans to make what we asked for materialize. You can’t pray and be lazy. God will deliver you a plan, but you may have to do things to make it happen. God will do what you can’t do if you do what you can do. For example if you ask God for the opportunity to go back to school, God may open up opportunities and show you ways to get scholarship money. It will be up to you to fill the scholarship information out
9. Hold a steady course of faith. Don’t be swayed by circumstance. Though it might not look like it is going to happen, you have to believe that it will happen.
How do we pray?
ACTS is an acronym we use to make sure that we have the elements that are found in the model prayer that Jesus gave us in Matthew 6:10-14. Out of this acronym we get the following:
1. Adoration: This derives from the root word Adore. We should express our adoration in our prayer to God. We praise God for who is and what he is like first when we pray in any form or fashion. When Jesus prayed “our father who is in heaven hallowed be thou name …” he was giving us model to go by. In other words he was showing us how our prayer should flow. Our prayers should contain the same elements that are found in Jesus’ model prayer. We want to thank him before we ask him for anything. You got to adore God. You have to be in awe of God. We talk to God sometimes like we know God on a first name basis which is ok, but we have to be careful not to get so comfortable that we disrespect his reverence.
2. Confession: We have to agree with God about our sin. We are guilty of being sinners (all of us). 1 John 1:9: 9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness – Confession involves repentance. We know we have done something wrong and we acknowledge it when we pray. David had some issues if you look back at his stories, but God still called him one after his own heart. Think about all you have done wrong and that would be enough confession to fill a whole prayer by itself. It is important to understand where we are theologically. Confession is between you and God. We don’t have to confess to man, because no one is a in a moral position to judge our confession. We are yet sinners ourselves yet saved. This is why God removed the veil. He allowed us to be able to go directly to him and not depend on a priest to carry our confessions to him.
3. Thanksgiving: We express appreciation to God for what he has done. 1 Thessalonians 5:18:18 Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. -When we pray, even if we are not where we think we are supposed to be, we have to thank God. Before we ask for anything, we thank God for life. Before adding up you problems count your blessings. No matter how little you think you have, God gave you something
4. Supplication: Supplication is making a request. It is like being specific on what you want. God will give you the desires of your heart. Philippians 4:6-7: 6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. –We must be specific in our request and do it with thanksgiving. Ever had somebody ask you something and they really didn’t know how to ask you for it? It is nerve wrecking to hear them go all around the block instead of getting to the point. Jesus is on the main line, tell him what you want!
Prayer of faith
1. When we pray, we must do so in faith. Without the word, there is no faith. Though our circumstances might not look like it, we have to believe it will happen.
2. In crises, you need the prayer of faith prayed over you. We do not need people to pray for us that are full of fear. James 5:15: 15 Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven
3. Prayer of agreement- Matthew 18:19-20: 19 “I also tell you this: If two of you agree here on earth concerning anything you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you. 20 For where two or three gather together as my followers, [a] I am there among them -This is the power of agreement. By the power of touching and agreement you can literally run the devil out of town. You have to have people who can get a prayer through pray for you. When people say they are praying for you, you might want to ask what they are praying, because they may not be on the same page as you. For example, if you lost your job and they are praying for you, are they praying? Are they praying that you get your job back or are they praying that you find another job? You might not want that job back. God might have removed that job for a reason. It really makes a difference.
4. Pray with Expectation- John 14:13-14: 13 You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. 14 Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it! -We wish we could give a time frame for phrases in the bible like until or shall. For example it shall come to pass or wait until… How long is until or shall? We don’t know for sure, but we do know that God’s word will not return void. You know when people are expecting God to deliver something, because these are the people that sit on the edge of their seats when they are at church. If you pray and you have done what you are supposed to, you should come expecting God to answer your prayers.

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