LEADER’S DISCUSSION GUIDE
BOOK 2 : DAY 11 -20
Lesson Objective:
To guide the members to understand that the Father gave us the Spirit to make us like His Son.
Scripture Reading:
John 16:7-15, Luke 5:8, Isaiah 11:1-9, Genesis 3:15, Colossians 2:15, John 14:13-27, Acts 16:7, Philippians 1:19, John 14:6, Acts 13:2, Acts 15:28 and Acts 20:22-23.
1. Answer for Question 1
The English words “Counsellor,” “Helper,” and Comforter,” are translations of the Greek word Parakletos.
- That compound word is a combination of the root words para (beside, alongside) and kaleo (summoned, called).
- So Parakletos means someone who is “called to one’s side,” to render help or aid (hence NKJV’s “Helper”).
- While this assistant or helper may also give comfort, that is one of the subsidiary implications of the word rather than its main intended meaning, which is why the KJV’s “Comforter” was revised to read more accurately, “Helper” in the NKJV.
- Parakletos also has the technical legal meaning of an advocate or intercessor – one who provides legal counsel and speaks on your behalf to defend you in a court of law (hence NIV’s “Counsellor”).
- So this is who the Holy Spirit is to us – He is our friend and ally; by our side and on our side; helping us, assisting us, advising us, and defending us.
2. Answer for Question 2
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The three roles of the Holy Spirit described in John 16:8-11 are:
- He convicts (note the legal language, in line with the technical legal meaning of Parakletos) the world (meaning the people of the world) of guilt in regard to sin because they do not believe in Jesus.
• If they believed in Jesus, their sin would be dealt with and their guilt expunged (see Devo Day 9, Answer 2).
• But since they do not believe in Jesus, their guilt remains.
• The first role of the Holy Spirit, then, is to convict them of guilt, to make them aware of it, so that they will begin seeking redemption and salvation – a journey that will eventually lead them to Jesus.
- He convicts the world of guilt in regard to righteous ness because Jesus has returned to the Father and is no longer visible to everyone.
• When Jesus was physically present, He lived a moral ly perfect life, fulfilling the Law and showing every one what a truly righteous life looked like.
• This immediately convicted anyone who came close to Him or observed His life, because they could see the contrast between His righteousness and their own unrighteousness (Remember Peter’s response to Jesus in the Intro Devo, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” – Luke 5:8).
• So now that Jesus is no longer physically with us, the second role of the Holy Spirit is to convict people of unrighteousness, again so that they will even tually come to believe in Jesus and receive His gift
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of righteousness in exchange for their unrighteousness (Devo Day 8, Question 1, Subpoint 3).
- He convicts the world of guilt in regard to judgment because Satan (“the prince of this world”) is now condemned.
• Before Jesus came, perhaps some critics and sceptics would not have been totally at fault if they looked at all the sin and suffering in the world and concluded that Satan was not under God’s judgment, but instead had been given free rein to do whatever he wanted (and by extension, if God wasn’t judging Satan, He wouldn’t judge them, either).
• Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, though, indicated that God is making good on His promises.
- So, for example, Jesus is the shoot and the branch that was prophesied to emerge from the stump of Jesse (Isaiah 11:1-3).
- And if God’s promises of a Messiah who will bring peace, hope, and salvation (Isaiah 11:6-9) are true, then so are His promises of a day of reckoning, of judgment for the wicked (Isaiah 11:4).
• So the coming of Jesus indicated that God does have a plan for the world, and that as He has promised, He will fulfil that plan – including judgment for Satan.
- Jesus is the prophesied offspring of Eve in enmity against the serpent, representing Satan (Genesis 3:15a).
- His heel was struck (He was dealt a fatal blow) by Satan (Genesis 3:15b) when He died on the cross.
- But Jesus also fulfilled the prophecy of crushing the serpent’s head (Genesis 3:15b), signifying Satan’s
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ultimate defeat and condemnation.
- Jesus actually won this victory and triumphed over Satan and all demonic powers, also by His death on the cross (see Colossians 2:15). At His lowest point, at the moment that He seemed utterly lost, He had actually won the ultimate victory.
• Thus, the third role of the Holy Spirit is to convict people that just as Satan is surely going to face judgment (this is so certain that John 16:11 says that he already “now stands condemned”), they too will surely face judgment. And yet again, the purpose of this conviction is to draw them to Jesus, who is the only one who can save them from eternal condemnation.
3. Answer for Question 3
The Holy Spirit is called “the Spirit of Truth” because He is also the Spirit of Jesus, and Jesus is the truth.
- Two chapters before today’s passage, in John 14:16-17, Jesus said to His disciples, “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another advocate to help you and be with you for ever – the Spirit of truth.”
• The word “another” there is the Greek word allos, meaning “another of the same kind.” If Jesus meant “another of a different kind,” He would have used the word heteros.
• So, the Holy Spirit is a Parakletos (advocate) who is just like Jesus.
• It is not surprising, therefore, that the Holy Spirit is also called the Spirit of Jesus (see Acts 16:7 and Philippians 1:19).
• And we know that Jesus is the truth (John 14:6,
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Devo Day 1, Question 2).
• Therefore, The Holy Spirit = The Spirit of Jesus = The Spirit of Truth.
As the Spirit of Truth, the Holy Spirit helps Christians by:
- Guiding us into all truth (John 16:13a).
• There are all kinds of false gospels (e.g. the prosper ity gospel, which proclaims only the happy, pleasant side of the truth – “God loves you,” “God wants to bless you,” “God has a good and perfect plan for your life” – but never the difficult side of the truth
– “Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Jesus,” “Love your enemies,” “Be ready to suffer for the sake of the gospel”), false teachings, cults like Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormonism, and so on, and so forth.
• We need the Holy Spirit to help us discern what is true from what is false so that we will not be deceived by all these.
- Speaking God’s Word (which is also the truth) to us –not his own, but what He hears (John 16:13b).
• Sometimes, this may be some guidance that we need at a specific point in time (see for example, Acts 13:2 and Acts 15:28).
• However, if you “feel” that the Holy Spirit is leading you in a certain direction, be careful to check:
- Is it in alignment with what the Bible says? The Spirit will never lead you in contradiction to what the Bible says. So, for example, if you hear a voice saying, “Steal something from the shop,” that isn’t the voice of the Spirit.
- Is it confirmed by the counsel of older and wiser
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Christians?
Share what you feel the Spirit is saying to you with an older and wiser Christian whom you know and respect, and take their feedback into consideration as you evaluate whether you are hearing Him correctly or not.
• More often, the Holy Spirit reminds us of Biblical truths that we have already heard or read of before (John 14:26).
- So, it is important for you (your members) to attend church and listen to the sermons; attend youth fellowship and learn from the messages, sharing, and bible studies; as well as participate in Boys’ Brigade classes to earn your Christian Education badges as well as take part in devotion sessions like this one.
- That will give the Holy Spirit lots of raw material to remind us of at those crucial moments when we need to hear from Him.
- Telling us what is yet to come (John 16:13c).
• For example, the Holy Spirit warned Paul that he would face prison and hardships as he travelled towards Jeru salem (Acts 20:22-23).
• I remember there was one mission trip that I went on where one morning when we were getting ready to start travelling, our team leader said, “We’d better pack some extra clothes. I’ve got a feeling we’re going to get dirty today.”
- Sure enough, while we were in the kampung, we met a lady whose property had suffered a small mudslide and she was trying to clear out the mud on her own with a cangkul (if any of you have tried to
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do such work before, you’ll know that it can be back breaking work).
- So of course, we stepped in to help her with the hoeing and clearing of the mud, chatting and sharing bits of the gospel and testimonies about God’s work in our lives, and getting a little bit muddy as we did so.
- I believe that it was the Holy Spirit that gave our mission team leader the foresight to pack some extra clothes for our excursion that day.
- (Note: As the leader or facilitator, do share your own anecdotes about the Spirit’s guidance or foretelling in your life rather than the one given here, if you can. A personal touch is often helpful and effective in illustrating God’s Word and making it come alive for your members.
- Making the knowledge of Jesus (which is also the knowledge of God – John 16:15a) known to us (John 16:14, 15b).
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Lesson Objective:
To guide the members to understand that when we receive Christ, we become stockholders in the riches of heaven.
Scripture Reading:
Ephesians 1:3-14, Titus 3:7, Ezekiel 33:11, Colossians 3:13, Ephesians 4:32, Deuteronomy 7:8, Leviticus 25:47-49, Romans 6:23, 1 Timothy 2:5-6, 1 Corinthians 6:18-20, Romans 1:20, Romans 3:23, 2 Corinthians 5:17, 2 Corinthians 3:18, Romans 8:15-16, John 17:3 and 1 Corinthians 13:12
1. Answer for Question 1
The spiritual blessings God has given to us in Christ are:
- He chose us in Christ before the creation of the world (Ephesians 1:4a).
- He chose us to be holy and blameless in His sight (Ephesians 1:4b).
- In love, He predestined us to be adopted as His sons (and daughters) through Christ (Ephesians 1:5).
- He has freely given us His glorious grace in Christ (Ephesians 1:6).
• “Grace” is unmerited favour – good things given to us which we don’t deserve (See Devo Day 4, Question 1, under the meaning of “Justified by His grace,” Titus 3:7).
• We will look further into what this word means in Question 2.
- We have redemption through Christ’s blood (Ephesians 1:7a).
• “Redemption” is a Christian word which might not be familiar to your members.
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• It means to be paid for and bought back.
• We originally belonged to God, because He created us; but then we were separated from Him when we chose to sin, to rebel against Him.
• So He redeemed us, bought us back, and the price He paid to do that was the blood of Jesus which was shed on the cross.
• There will be a more complete definition of this word in Question 2.
- We have forgiveness of sins according to the riches of God’s grace (Ephesians 1:7b).
- God’s grace has been lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding (Ephesians 1:8).
- He made known to us the mystery of His will, to unite everything in heaven and on earth under Christ’s headship (Ephesians 1:9-10).
- He chose us in Christ and predestined us according to His plan so that we would find hope in Christ, bring ing praise to His glory (Ephesians 1:11-12).
- We were included in Christ when we heard the gospel (Ephesians 1:13a).
- We believed in Christ, and have been marked with the seal of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13b)
- We have the Holy Spirit as a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until our redemption is finally complete (Ephesians 1:14).
• This refers to glorification (see the three aspects of salvation in Devo Day 4, Question 1).
2. Answer for Question 2
According to the Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, Gerald
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F. Hawthorne, Ralph P. Martin, Daniel G. Reid (eds.), Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1993: (To be honest, this might not be the best dictionary to use. Much of the commentary given in the entries are too academic and scholarly, and not very practical or useful for connecting with and teaching youths. So, a lot of what is written below is more from the author than from the dictionary. If you have a more suitable Bible dictionary to refer to, please do feel free to use it and add to or supplement what is written below.)
- Predestined means “determined beforehand” (W.A. Elwell, “Election and Predestination,” in Dictionary of Paul, pp. 225-229).
• “Beforehand,” because as described in Ephesians 1:4, He chose us “before the creation of the world.”
• So God had already decided that we Christians would come to believe in Him and be adopted as His children before (that’s the “pre-” in “predestination”) the world even began.
• Ask: “If God has already decided this, then does that mean that we have no choice in the matter?”
• Answer:
- This is a tough question, one of those questions that Christians have been wrestling over for hundreds of years. So, your members may find it hard to articulate a meaningful answer to the question.
- Explain to your members that we still have to make our own personal decision as to whether we want to believe in Jesus and follow Him or not.
- God’s predestination and our choice run parallel to
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one another, like two lines which will never meet or cross (in other words, we cannot make a decision which goes against what God has predestined, but neither will God predestine something that forces us to make a decision we don’t want to make).
- This is part of the greatness of God.
• If “God” gave us free choices without determining anything at all, then He would not be in control. Everyone would just be doing whatever they want, with absolutely no guarantee that the outcomes wanted by “God” would ever come to pass. Such a weak “God” would not be worthy of worship.
i. Conversely, if “God” determined everything without giving us free choices, then we would all be like robots or puppets. There would be no genuine joy, love, or friendship, as all these would merely be things that we were programmed or determined to feel and do; neither would there be any meaningful morality, for a person cannot be held responsible and worthy of reward or punishment for things that they had to do and that they had no choice in doing. Such a tyrannical “God” would also not be worthy of worship.
ii. Our God, however, is one who has predetermined things, meaning He is sovereign and in control of everything, and yet He does so with out violating or destroying our human free will.
iii. This God is truly great, and worthy of our worship.
• So if some of your non-Christian members start to worry that maybe God has not chosen or predestined
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them to believe in Jesus and belong to Him, encourage them not to worry about it.
- Predestination is God’s business.
- We cannot know what is in God’s mind in this regard; but what we do know is that He loves all of us and wants us to know Him and be saved from sin and death (see, for example, Ezekiel 33:11).
- So rather than worrying about predestination, what we must and should do is to responsibly consider the decision before us, carefully weigh the pros and cons, count the cost, and then make the best decision we possibly can.
- We can, of course, ask God to help us and give us wisdom to make the optimum decision, according to His good and perfect will.
• Grace means “undeserved favour” (A.B. Luter, Jr, “Grace,” in Dictionary of Paul, pp. 372-374).
• Because it is “undeserved,” it is impossible for us to work to earn God’s grace or make ourselves worthy of it.
• God’s grace is a gift which He freely gives to us even though we do not deserve it.
• Almost everything we have is by God’s grace. We did not do anything to deserve the gift of existence (of course, because we did not exist yet to be capable of doing anything). We do not deserve to have the gifts and talents that we have, or a good family, or all the other good things we have. Yet God has placed us where we are, with all these good things to enjoy.
• And of course, our salvation is by God’s grace, too.
- Forgiveness means to not hold a person’s offense
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against them (L. Morris, “Forgiveness,” in Dictionary of Paul, pp. 311-313).
• So say, for example, someone has hurt you. Because of what they did, every time you see them, you feel angry and sad. You wish you could take revenge on them and hurt them in return.
• For you to forgive this person means you choose to let go of all those negative emotions (anger, sorrow, bitterness, hatred, vengefulness) and release them to God. It means that you trust in Him to judge this person and deal with them, and no longer hold on to the wrong they have done to you in your heart.
• Forgiveness does not mean forgetting. Of course, you will still remember how this person hurt you, and forgiveness certainly does not mean that you should in any way give this person permission or opportunity to hurt you further.
• What it does mean, though, is that when you see the person who hurt you, those negative feelings no longer bubble up out of your heart. If you have truly forgiven them, then you can genuinely treat them kindly and desire the best for them.
• Forgiveness and healing are processes that go handin-hand. Sometimes, even after you have chosen to forgive someone, you may still find that when you see them, anger rises up in you. When this happens, it indicates that these processes are not yet complete.
• What you should then do is to choose to forgive again, and to do so repeatedly until you have truly forgiven them.
• Why should you forgive? One reason why is because
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when you refuse to forgive, you are only harming yourself. The person who has hurt you is not affected by your refusal to forgive them at all, but your heart is being twisted and hardened by all the negative emotions that you are holding on to.
• More than that, as Ephesians 1:7 tells us, in Christ we have the forgiveness of sins. Because we have experienced His wonderful forgiveness, we should also then forgive those who have wronged us (see Colossians 3:13 and Ephesians 4:32).
- Redemption means to regain something in exchange for payment (L. Morris, “Redemption,” in Dictionary of Paul, pp. 784-786).
• For example, if an enemy were to attack a village or outpost and take prisoners of war, they might offer to release the prisoners upon payment of a ransom. That process of making payment and regaining what was lost is called redemption.
• In the Old Testament, God redeemed Israel from slavery in Egypt (Deuteronomy 7:8).
• The idea of redemption is also found in the Law, where a kinsman-redeemer had the right to redeem their relative who had fallen into poverty and sold themselves into slavery (Leviticus 25:47-49).
• As for us, because of our rebellion against God we became slaves to sin (Romans 6:6) and under the sentence of eternal death (Romans 6:23).
• But just as God redeemed Israel from slavery and the kinsman-redeemer redeemed his relative from slavery, God redeemed us from that terrible situation by paying a ransom, the blood of Jesus (Ephesians 1:7, 1 Timothy 2:5-6).
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• As people who have been redeemed, we now have an obligation or a responsibility to live a life that pleases God and gives glory to Him (1 Corinthians 6:18-20).
- Glory refers to God’s “grandeur and power as creator and redeemer,” seen in His “visible and active presence in creation and among the nations” (R.B. Gaffin, Jr, “Glory, Glorification,” in Dictionary of Paul, pp. 348-350).
• God’s glory, specifically “His eternal power and divine nature,” can be seen in the wonder and beauty of the natural world, His creation (Romans 1:20).
• Sadly, we human beings, who were created in His image and meant to reflect His glory, chose to rebel against Him, and so have fallen short of His glory (Romans 3:23).
• Now, however, for those of us who believe in Jesus, we have become a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17).
• So now, we can and will reflect His glory more and more as the Holy Spirit transforms us to become more and more like Jesus (2 Corinthians 3:18).
3. Answer for Question 3
In Biblical times, a seal was affixed to a letter or a scroll using a dollop of hot wax into which the imprint of a signet ring or a similar instrument was pressed before the wax hardened.
- The seal attested ownership and authorised or certified the contents of the letter or scroll as authentic and valid.
- When we choose to accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, the Holy Spirit comes and dwells in us, because we belong to Jesus (Romans 8:9).
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- So the Holy Spirit living in us is like a seal of ownership, saying “This person belongs to Jesus,” or as Ephesians
1:14 says, we “are God’s possession.”
- How do you know whether you’re really a Christian, or just pretending? The Holy Spirit testifies with our spirit that we are children of God (Romans 8:15-16).
- So the Holy Spirit living in us is a seal authorising or certifying that we are indeed authentic, genuine Christians. A deposit was (and still is today, really) a part payment or down payment made in advance for security, guaranteeing that the full purchase price will be paid afterwards.
• So, the life of the Holy Spirit in us is a foretaste, a down payment that guarantees that one day, we will receive and be filled with the fullness of the divine life, the God-life, the eternal life that Jesus promises us.
• In John 17:3, Jesus defines eternal life: “Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”
• So eternal life is a relationship. We do not have to wait until we die to taste or experience this life; the more we know God, the deeper our relationship with Him grows, the more intimate we become with Jesus, the greater will be the measure of His life in us.
• While eternal life begins right now, even as we grow in relationship with God, we know it is still incomplete and we look forward to Heaven, where we will finally see Jesus face to face and know Him fully even as He knows us (1 Corinthians 13:12).
• The Holy Spirit living in us is a deposit, a down payment, that assures that we will surely receive that long-awaited inheritance one day.
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and we look forward to Heaven, where we will finally see Jesus face to face and know Him fully even as He knows us (1 Corinthians 13:12).
• The Holy Spirit living in us is a deposit, a down payment, that assures that we will surely receive that long-awaited inheritance one day.
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A Book for Every Need
- This word tells us that God’s Word is practical – we should and must apply it to our lives and live it out, and it will guide us to live a good and meaningful life.
“Commands” and “decrees” are authoritative orders that must be obeyed.
- Whereas “laws” and “statutes” are formalised, written down and codified in the law books to be referred to and argued over, commands and decrees are made directly by someone in command.
- They are usually simple and to be obeyed immediately.
- These words tell us that God’s Word contains commands. For example:
• “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength” (Mark 12:30)
• “Love your neighbour as yourself” (Mark 12:31)
• “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44)
- These commands are to be obeyed.
“Your Word” tells us, most importantly, that the Bible is the very Word of God.
- It authoritatively reveals to us who God really is and what God is really like.
- When we read and understand the words on these pages, with the help and illumination of the Holy Spirit, we are actually making contact with the Almighty Creator of the Universe.
- We are thinking God’s thoughts after Him and gaining insight into His personality and Character.
- The wonder and the privilege of this open invitation to connect with God and know Him is mind-bogglingly amazing.
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2. Answer for Question 2
The psalmist was worn out (Psalm 119:139) because he had enemies.
- Having enemies is stressful enough, and this would have sapped the psalmist’s energy.
- But worse still, these enemies ignored God’s Word.
- Presumably, they did things which violated God’s Word or broke God’s laws.
- This caused the psalmist, who was zealous for God’s Word, to feel outraged.
- That constant emotional drain from the stress of hostility and outrage from his righteous zeal was what wore him out.
The psalmist does not explain why he is distressed (Psalm 119:143), he simply says that it has “come upon” him.
- Presumably something bad has happened or he has undergone some negative experience that caused him to express such distress, but he does not provide details about the triggering event.
- Knowing God’s Word has given the psalmist knowledge of God’s character, His intrinsic goodness and love, such that he has the confidence to call out to God for help.
- He does this early in the morning, before the troubles of the day can begin buffeting and overwhelming him, gaining from God the strength and courage to face them.
- Knowing God’s Word has also given the psalmist hope, for no matter how dark his situation may be or how difficult his struggle may be, God’s goodness and love is a bedrock that never changes, a firm foundation that he can stand on.
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3. Answer for Question 3
My attitude and response to God’s Word should be one of reverence and awe, as it is the personal communication from the almighty Creator of the universe to me.
- I should trust in it and depend on it for knowledge of who God is and His character, and allow it to shape my values and character.
- I should take it into my heart and mind by hearing it (at Church, youth group, The Boys’ Brigade devotionals and Christian Education badge classes), reading it, studying it, memorising it, and meditating on it.
- I should live by it, applying its truths and teachings into my life; obeying its commands and precepts; and believing and hoping in its promises.
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A Book for Every Need
Lesson Objective:
To guide the members to understand that the Bible is meant to be bread for daily use.
Scripture Reading:
Psalm 119:33-40, Psalm 31:6, Jeremiah 18:15, Jonah 2:8, Romans 8:1, and 1 John 1:9
1. Answer for Question 1
The psalmist has a deep desire to understand and obey God’s Word. He struggles with conflicting desires for selfish gain and worthless distractions, which pull him away from the path of truth and righteousness laid down by God’s Word.
The “disgrace” that the Psalmist dreads (v.39) is that he will be found living out of alignment with God’s Word, violating God’s laws and breaking God’s commands. That would put him under God’s judgement, and He sees it as ultimately the worst kind of shame and reproach.
2. Answer for Question 2
The word “worthless things” is translated from the Hebrew word shav, which has connotations of falsehood, deceit, emptiness, and futility.
- These are things which appear attractive and worth while, which is why the psalmist’s eyes are drawn to them (in answer to the second part of the question, “Why would he find them to be distractions?”).
- But that appearance is deceptive; they are actually empty and worthless.
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- The word shav is also used to describe idols, for example in Psalm 31:6, Jeremiah 18:15, and Jonah 2:8.
- This is because if we are not on our guard against them, these deceptively attractive things can become so important to us that we pursue them and obsess over them to the extent that they become false gods which are more important to us than God.
- In our minds and thoughts, theoretically and cognitively, most of us who are Christians know and confess that God is our first priority.
- But our patterns of behaviour; the things which take up most of our time, effort, and thoughts; these reveal whether or not our eyes have focused on “worthless things” and made them into idols.
- Almost anything can become a “worthless thing” or an idol to us. These are usually things which are not evil in themselves, but they become false gods when they are elevated or lifted up to a place of priority and importance that they do not deserve.
- For example, things like money, pleasure, popularity, social media status, power, academic success, computer games, romantic relationships, and many others could become idols to us if we begin to pursue them more eagerly than we pursue God and the things of God.
3. Answer for Question 3
This is a personal question, so do allow your members to share their struggles and distractions honestly without judging or shaming them.
- As individual members share, it would be good to
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empathise with them. Ask the other group members whether they face the same struggle or distraction. Let the one sharing know that they are not alone in their struggle.
- You can also ask the group whether they have found solutions or helpful tips to overcome these struggles and distractions, which can help one another to move forward in reading and obeying God’s Word.
- Some potential distractions have been listed out in the answer to Question 2.
- Some common struggles include:
• “I have no time to read the Bible”
i. But actually, everyone has the same amount of time, right? 24 hours a day.
ii. So, it really depends on what is important to you and what you’re willing to make time for.
• “I find the Bible too difficult to understand”
i. Yes, there are some difficult bits. But persevere, don’t give up.
ii. Most of it is understandable, applicable, and has the potential to connect you to God and transform your life if you are open to Him.
iii. Guides like this devotional are available to help you along the way.
iv. Also, when you meet a passage that you can’t wrap your head around, you can always ask your church pastor, youth pastor (if your church has one), youth leaders, or BB officers for help.
• “I don’t have a Bible”
i. I’m sure that if this is your member’s problem, you or your company will gladly gift a Bible to
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ii. Also, the Bible is easily accessible online, for example at www.biblegateway.com.
• “The Bible is so boring, I fall asleep when I read it.”
i. Come to the Bible with the awareness that it is God’s Word and that He, your Creator, has some thing to say to you in its pages.
ii. Ask Him to make it come alive to you and help you to understand and appreciate it.
iii. Try other versions. Maybe the one you’re using has very old or difficult language which is causing you problems.
iv. Try other mediums, for example:
a. an audio Bible.
b.the Bible in comic form (e.g. the Manga Messiah series).
c. movies like The Prince of Egypt (Moses and the Exodus), the Superbook series, The Miracle Maker (the story of Jesus in stop-motion animation), and many others out there.
v. Take note that sometimes video and comic adaptations are not 100% faithful to the original text of the Bible.
- Nevertheless, perhaps once your interest in the story is piqued and your imagination is inspired, you may be better able to receive the written Word when you read it.
• “The Bible is too difficult to live out, I keep failing to obey and it makes me feel guilty.”
i. Remember that in the Christian life, everything is by grace.
ii. Of course it is impossible for us to obey the Bible on our own. If we could do that, we wouldn’t need Jesus.
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Are You Starving? (pages 30-31) DAY 14
iii. Memorise Romans 8:1 – “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
iv. Grace is not a licence to just do whatever we like and keep failing to do what God wants.
vi. We should and must continue to try our best, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to walk in His ways.
v. But grace is like a safety net that will catch us each time we fall, protect us from feeling overly guilty or condemned, and restore us so that we can resume walking with Jesus once again.
vi. Another verse that is worth memorising in this re gard is 1 John 1:9 – “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
vii. Hold on to these promises, persevere in reading the Bible and live it out!
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Are You Starving? (pages 30-31) DAY 14
Lesson Objective:
To encourage the members to take time to read God’s Word and pray everyday.
Scripture Reading:
Mark 1:32-37, Mark 1:38-39, Mark 1:15, Mark 1:14, and Mark 1:16-20
1. Answer for Question 1
As Jesus became more popular and well-known as a miracle worker, everyone began to demand his time.
- If He did not determine His schedule, other people would determine it for Him.
- As described in this passage, people would crowd around Jesus, hoping and expecting that He would heal them or their loved ones.
2. Answer for Question 2
Jesus needed to spend time with God in order to hear from Him, to receive His leading and guidance, and to make sure that He was doing the Father’s will and not just going with the flow of public opinion or just doing His own will.
- In fact, we can find an important clue as to why Jesus needed to spend time with God in the next few verses which were not included in today’s reading.
- Mark 1:38-39 says, “Jesus replied, ‘Let us go some where else – to the nearby villages – so that I can preach there also. That is why I have come.’ So he travelled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.”
- So we can see that after spending time with God, Jesus’
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sense of His mission and purpose became clearer and sharper.
- He was not to stay where He was and let the crowds flock to Him. Rather, He was to travel from village to village, preaching the good news of the Kingdom of God (Mark 1:15).
- That clarity of vision and confident decision was a result of the time Jesus spent with God.
- If Jesus, who is the perfect Son of God, needed to spend time with the Father to hear from Him and receive guidance from Him, how much more do we imperfect children of God need to spend time with Him? Jesus chose to spend time with God early in the morning because that was the best time for Him to do so, before the busyness of the day began and people started to make demands on His time.
- Ask: “What about you? What would be the best time of the day for you to set aside to spend time alone with God?”
Jesus went to a solitary place because that was the best place for Him to spend time with God, one-to-one. Without distractions and external noise, He was able to focus on God and hear from God.
- It is the same for us. For us to learn to hear God’s voice, we need to practise the spiritual disciplines of silence and solitude.
- If you have the time, you can run the following activity:
• Break your BB members up into pairs.
• Give them a topic to talk about for one minute about what their day was like yesterday, where they went, what they did, etc.
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• Their task is to just keep talking without stopping. Try to make the other person hear what you’re trying to say.
• After the minute is up, ask them: “What did you learn about your friend’s day?”
• If they carried out the task as instructed, the answer should be “Nothing.” Each pair would have generated lots of noise, but with both people talking and neither listening, no knowledge was gained on either side.
- So, silence is necessary because as long as you are busy making noise, you cannot hear what someone else is saying to you.
- There are two kinds of silence – external silence and internal silence.
- External silence is relatively easy to attain. Just go to a quiet place and keep your mouth shut.
- Internal silence is a little bit harder to achieve. Even when we are outwardly quiet, often our inner voice is still speaking loudly.
• While we may not be actually saying anything, our thoughts can still be a distraction to us – tasks that we haven’t done yet, something that someone said that is bothering us, what we would like to eat for our next meal, and so on.
• As each ‘noisy’ thought enters your mind, just commit it to God. If it is really important, write it down for you to look at and deal with later. Once that is done, put it aside and return to the discipline of inner silence.
- Note that we do not practise silence for its own sake, or to get inner peace, or to become one with nature.
• Those are goals that non-Christians may have when they practise meditation under the umbrellas of
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Transcendental Meditation, Buddhism, Hinduism, or New Age-ism.
• For Christians, we practise silence in order to focus on God and hear from Him.
- Which brings us to the discipline of solitude – being alone with God.
• The discipline of silence is like “tuning out”. Noises and distractions from outside of us and inside of us prevent us from focusing on God. So we disregard them and put them aside – we tune them out.
• The discipline of solitude, then, is like “tuning in”, and turning our hearts and minds to God. We open our spiritual eyes and ears to see and hear whatever He wants to show us or tell us.
• At this point, once we are ready to receive from Him, it is good to read a passage from the Bible. You maybe following a Bible-reading plan or devotional material like this one we are going through now.
• As you read, the Holy Spirit may impress certain words, phrases, or sentences upon your heart and mind.
• Take some time to ponder deeply upon those particular things, asking God what it is He wants to tell you through them.
- Ask: “Where is a good place where you could go to practise the disciplines of silence and solitude, and meet with God at your decided time?”
- Encourage BB members to follow through on what they have shared, and to actually begin to spend quiet time alone with God every day, at a time and place they have chosen as optimal for them.
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3. Answer for Question 3
(To be honest, I find this question a little bit strange. I’m not sure how much we can actually know about what Jesus said to the Father in private, and I’m not sure how profitable it is to speculate on this matter. Nevertheless, since this is the question in the devotional material, a possible answer is as follows.)
- If I were Jesus, I might start off just enjoying my Father’s presence and resting in His love.
- Then, I might spend some time praying for the safety and wellbeing of my cousin, John the Baptist, who has been imprisoned (Mark 1:14).
- I might also spend some time praying for my disciples, as they have only recently heard my call and began following me (Mark 1:16-20). So, I might pray for them:
• To grow in wisdom and understanding.
• To truly grasp the good news of God’s Kingdom.
• To eventually be able to go forth and preach it independently of me.
• To be able to continue my work and my ministry after my time on earth is done.
- Considering that I have just begun my public ministry and am beginning to draw crowds of people seeking healing and deliverance, I might also spend some time laying what I’ve done so far before my Father and evaluating how things have gone.
- Then, I might spend some time asking for my Father’s leading and guidance as I remember my mission and direction, and plan out the next steps of my ministry.
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Lesson Objective:
To guide the members to practise the spiritual disciplines of silence and solitude
Scripture Reading:
Psalm 119:9-16, Romans 10:17, 2 Corinthians 5:7, and Romans 8:1
Read the first guideline for profitable bible study given in the write-up on page 35 with your BB members.
- Remind them that in the last devotion, they chose a regular time of day and a suitable place which they felt would be most conducive to spending time alone with God.
- Ask them if they have been able to keep their appointment with God at that time and place.
- Commend those who have done so, and encourage those who have not to try again and to persevere.
Read Guidelines 2 with them.
- Besides asking God for help and understanding and before they start reading the Bible, it would be great if they could practise silence and solitude (maybe just for 2 or 3 minutes to start off). We discussed this in the previous devotion, in order that they develop an inner posture and attitude that is ready to hear and receive from His Word.
Read Guidelines 3 and 4 with them.
- The questions that come in this devotional guide should help them to think through the meaning of
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the passage and what it meant to the original readers, as described in these two guidelines.
Let’s try it out!
1. Answer for Question 1
The psalmist struggled to keep his way pure.
- The Hebrew root of the word “pure” is zakah, which means to be morally clear or clean.
- So, the psalmist struggled to live a morally upright and blameless life.
- He did not want to move away from what God had commanded (v.10) or sin against God (v.11). The psalmist’s decision and commitment was:
- To live according to God’s Word (v.9).
- To seek God with all his heart (v.10).
- To hide God’s Word in his heart (v.11).
2. Answer for Question 2
The actions the psalmist took with the Word of God that kept him from sinning were:
- He read it prayerfully, understood it deeply, and applied it faithfully in his daily life (this is what he describes as, “living according to Your Word,” v.9).
o It is impossible to live according to something which you do not know and understand well.
o Therefore, reading and understanding God’s Word must be prerequisites for being able to live according to it.
- He memorised it or hid it in his heart (v.11).
o We will discuss more about this in Question 3.
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- He recited aloud or recounted verbally the verses that he had committed to memory (v.13).
o As mentioned earlier, we remember through repetition.
o Therefore, recitation or recounting such as this helps to cement what has been memorised into the memory.
o It is also helpful that you can hear yourself speak out the words of truth, so that you are taking it in through multiple senses (not just visually, by reading the words, but also aurally, by hearing yourself recite them).
o Interestingly, Romans 10:17 says, “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.”
o Spiritually and psychologically, there is a difference between seeing something and hearing something.
o Sight is a sense which is seer-centric. You move your head, your neck, and your eyes to look around you; you are at the centre, and from the centre you perceive the objects in your field of vision.
o Hearing, though, is a sense which is stimulus-centric. When you hear a sound, you do not centre upon yourself or turn towards yourself. Rather, you turn towards the sound, trying to pinpoint the location of its source and the meaning it communicates.
o And so it is that when it comes to birthing and growing faith, which must be centred upon God and not oneself, hearing is the more effective and useful sense than self-centred sight.
o As Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:7, “For we live by faith, not by sight.”
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o Therefore, one reason why verbal recitation is useful is because it engages the sense of hearing in taking in and remembering God’s Word.
- He meditated on God’s Word and pondered it deeply (v.15).
o We will discuss more about this in Question 3.
- He delighted himself in God’s Word (v.16).
o This would have kept him from sinning because for him to sin, he would have to violate and go against God’s Word, and he would not be able to do that to something that he delighted in.
o Example: Let’s say I delight myself in my garden.
i. I enjoy spending time there, digging the soil, fertilising the plants, pulling up the weeds, watering the plants, having a sense of pride when they grow lush and healthy and when the flowers bloom in bright, beautiful colours.
ii. It would then be impossible for me to purposely destroy the garden, chop down healthy plants, set fire to them, and so on.
iii. Such actions would be totally out of character, would go against my deep love for the garden and enjoyment of its beauty.
iv. Just as a man who delights himself in his garden would not desecrate it like that, a man who delights himself in God’s Word would not then act in opposition to it by knowingly committing sins.
3. Answer for Question 3
To hide God’s word in your heart (v.11) is to memorise it. How?
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- Human beings remember things through repetition.
- Ask: Do you remember your name? What about your MyKad number, or your phone number? What could make you forget these things?
- Answer: For most people, unless they suffer from amnesia, they will never forget these facts about themselves.
o You use them all the time – to introduce yourself, fill in forms, and so on.
o So, they are repeatedly recalled, and those neural pathways (the connections between your brain cells) are constantly reinforced.
- Therefore by this principle of repetition, anyone can memorise Scripture, although different people may find it easier or more difficult to retain, depending on their memory power.
- Once you have memorised a verse, it stays there in your heart, and at some opportune moment when you most need it, the Holy Spirit can remind you of it.
- Example: I remember that there was one time when I had done something wrong, and I was feeling terribly guilty about it.
o A cloud of despair and self-loathing gathered around my head.
o The thoughts that ran through my mind were things like, “Why am I so weak? So stupid? So useless? Why do I keep doing this?”
o And then suddenly, out of nowhere, I remembered a verse that I had memorised years earlier – “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1).
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o That was like a breath of fresh air in the poisonous miasma of my guilt and shame.
o It gave me the strength and courage to turn to God, for He did not and does not and will not condemn me.
o I could confess my sin, receive God’s forgiveness, and rise up and get back on track in the race of faith rather than wallowing in my self-pity and negativity where I had stumbled and fallen.
- Note: If you have a personal testimony of how memorising scripture has helped you in your Christian walk, feel free to share your own story with your members rather than the example I have given here. When the psalmist wrote about meditating on God’s Word and considering His ways, he was talking about practising the spiritual disciplines of silence and solitude – for it would not be possible to meditate properly or profitably whilst being distracted by internal and external noise – and spending time to ponder deeply on what God’s Word really means and how it should be lived out in our daily lives.
- Meditating on God’s Word is like chewing on a juicy piece of steak, extracting all the flavour and nutrition (by analogy, life-enhancing truth and faith-building meaning) from it.
- Not only that, it is like swallowing it and digesting it; breaking it up into its constituent parts (by analogy, looking at the words, how they relate to each other to create meaning, the grammatical structures, logical flow markers, and so on) and making it part of you.
- Often when we read and study the word, the knowledge remains only on the surface, in the head.
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- The deep thought and careful consideration of the meaning and implications of each word, phrase and sentence – and how those meanings and implications affect how we should think, feel, look at the world, behave, and relate to others – should move that knowledge deeper, from the head into the heart.
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Lesson Objective:
To guide the members to be receptive to God’s Word so that they can grow spiritually and be fruitful.
Scripture Reading: Mark 4:3-8 and 13-20
1. Answer for Question 1
The seed represents the Word of God (Mark 4:14). The soil represents the people who hear and receive the Word.
2. Answer for Question 2
There are four kinds of soil. The path (Mark 4:4, 15).
• The seed could not take root and grow because the soil was hard and densely packed, having been stepped on by those who walk along the path.
• Also, birds came and ate up the seed.
• This represents those whose hearts are hardened against God and the things of God.
- A person with a heart like this cannot receive God’s Word.
- They immediately perceive difficulties and apparent contradictions which take up their attention and bar them from accepting the message that God wants to impart to them.
- Furthermore, Satan actively takes the Word away from them, doing all he can to keep them from dwelling on it or thinking about it too deeply. The rocky soil (Mark 4:5-6, 16-17).
• The seed sprung up fast at first, but because the soil was shallow, the plants’ roots could not dig deep
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and they were withered and scorched by the sun.
• This represents people who receive God’s Word joyfully and seem to begin well in the journey of faith.
- But they remain there, at the surface, with the good news that gives them joy and hope, never digging deeper to gain a firm grasp on the whole counsel of God, who He is and who He calls us to be.
- With only a “happy-clappy” kind of faith, when troubles or difficulties of life come, they have no anchor (unlike us in the BB – “Sure and Stedfast!”)
or firm spiritual foundation, so they give up and lose their faith.
The thorny soil (Mark 4:7, 18-19).
• In this soil, the seed does start growing, but the plants get choked by thorns and weeds which compete with them for resources such as sunlight, nutrients, and space to grow.
• This represents people who receive the Word and begin believing, but then get distracted by other priorities like their worries, wealth, and wants.
- Because they prioritise everything else, their faith is left by the wayside and they do not continue to grow spiritually.
The good soil (Mark 4:8, 20).
• In this soil, the seed takes root and grows to maturity, producing a crop.
- There are different levels of abundance in terms of the harvest produced – thirtyfold, sixtyfold, and a hundredfold.
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• This represents the people who hear God’s Word, really take it in, and live it out.
- Such people will bear fruit for the Kingdom of God – the fruit of a transformed life, and the fruit of others drawn into the Kingdom.
- And again, there are different levels of abundance in terms of the spiritual fruit that will be produced by them.
3. Answer for Question 3
These are personal questions.
1. Encourage your BB members to take some time to seriously think and pray about it.
2. Encourage them to share their thoughts after selfevaluation, and what they might have to do, moving for ward, to be “good soil”.
3. The following are some points that you could make or follow-up questions you could ask as they share their answers and discuss them with the group.
Ask: “Are you like the path?”
• Is your heart hardened against God and the things of God?
• Why? Is this an attitude you have learnt from some one? Or have you had some negative experience with God, or with Christians, or with the Church, which has led you to this hardening of your heart?
• Would you be willing to ask God to soften your heart? To let go of whatever it is that has caused you to harden your heart, and begin anew with Him?
Ask: “Are you like the rocky soil?”
• Have you just been content with the basics of the
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gospel – Jesus loves me, He died on the cross for me – without going deeper?
• Would you be willing to make a commitment to God to grow deeper in your faith in Him, to get to know Him better, to spend time with Him daily, to study His Word and grow in understanding it, to learn and articulate what you believe and why you believe it, so that your faith will be able to stand the tests and challenges that will surely come?
Ask: “Are you like the thorny soil?”
• Are you caught up with the pursuit of your own goals and priorities, so much so that God and your faith ends up neglected?
• Having goals and priorities, having a clear sense of direction and knowledge of what you want out of life, is a great thing. But if you have heard and re ceived God’s Word and you believe in Him, that means a reordering of priorities is needed.
• In the words of Samuel Zwemer, the missionary to Arabia and Egypt, “Unless Jesus is Lord of all, He is not Lord at all.” There is no middle ground.
• Would you be willing, right now, to choose to put God as your priority?
- Not your “first priority,” because “first” implies that He is merely one priority amongst many, the first in competition with others.
- There should be no competition. God alone is God, He is in His own category.
- He alone should be your priority, and everything else should come a distant second.
- That is how it should rightfully be, if you are ready and willing to submit and surrender to Jesus as your Lord, to crown Him as Lord of all.
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• Why should you put God as your priority?
- Because He deserves it. He created you. He gave you the skills and abilities, the character and personality, as well as the ambition and desires that make you who you are today.
- Not only that, He loves you and wants the best for you. If your life is like a car, you insisting that you want to drive may lead to a crash, or simply not getting to the destination that you’re supposed to be going to. Letting God take over the steering wheel of your life is the best thing to do, because you know that He will keep you safe and will guide you to the right destination.
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Lesson Objective:
To guide the members to understand that growth is the labor of a lifetime, measure ourselves to see if we are growing up in our salvation.
Scripture Reading:
Ephesians 4:11-16, 1 Corinthians 12:4-7, and John 17:3
1. Answer for Question 1
The purpose of spiritual gifts is to prepare us to do good works, which are works of service.
- Through those works, we build up the Church (the body of Christ).
- The end-goals for the Church are:
• Unity in the faith
• Unity in the knowledge of Jesus
• Spiritual maturity
• Becoming more and more like Jesus.
- So, each of us should use our spiritual gifts to serve the Church and build it up in these ways.
• Every Christian definitely has one or more spiritual gifts, because 1 Corinthians 12:4-7 says that the Spirit distributes them and God works through them in everyone.
• This list of the five-fold ministry (apostleship, prophesy, evangelism, pastoring, and teaching) is not exhaustive, as there are other lists of spiritual gifts in other New Testament passages.
• If your BB members are not sure what their spiritual gift is, they can see a complete list here (https:// giftstest.com/allgifts) and take a simple test to give
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them a rough idea of what their gifts might be here (https://giftstest.com/test).
Answer for Question 2 Areas that we should grow in include: Unity in the faith (Ephesians 4:13a).
2.
• To quote Rupertus Meldenius, a German Luther an theologian in the 17th century, “In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things charity.”
• Some parts of our faith are essential – For example, we worship one God who has revealed Himself in three Persons; Jesus is the Son of God and He died on the cross to save us from sin and death; the Bible is God’s Word; and so on – and no matter which church or what country we are from, we should be united in holding on to those essential truths.
• Other parts of our faith are important, but not essential, and we should give each other the freedom to figure out what our position is on those matters – for example, predestination versus free will; which Bible translation to use; how often we should take holy communion; and so on.
• To keep the unity in the faith and grow in it, we should be able to discern what is essential and what is not.
- If a person or organisation has forgotten or neglected an essential article of faith, they need to belovingly (“in all things charity,” as the quote said) reminded and corrected.
- If the difference is not an essential one, we can agree to disagree whilst trying to understand each
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other’s position, and always do so with a heart of love and compassion (again, “in all things charity”).
Unity in the knowledge of Jesus (Ephesians 4:13b).
• Knowing Jesus is, of course, one of the essentials of the faith that we should be united in.
• In fact, this is the definition of eternal life – to have a relationship with God and with Jesus (John 17:3 – we mentioned this in Devo Day 12, Question 3).
Spiritual maturity (Ephesians 4:13c). Some signs of spiritual maturity are:
• Being able to feed yourself.
- A baby needs to be fed by an adult. They start off with milk, then soft foods, before being able to eat solid food.
- When you first begin to believe in Jesus, you may be dependent on someone else for your spiritual food. You depend on your pastor or your youth pastor or your BB captain for bible study, bible teaching, and sermons.
- As you mature, though, you should be able to read the Word of God and understand it and apply it correctly on your own.
• Being able to feed others.
- The next step then would be for you to be able to share God’s Word with someone else and help them to grow as a Christian.
• Being able to walk on your own.
- A baby can’t do much more than drink milk, sleep, poo, pee, and cry when they’re first born. Then as they grow, they become able to lift their heads, roll over, crawl, and eventually walk (at which stage they
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are no longer a baby and have become a toddler) and run.
- When you first begin to believe in Jesus, you may be dependent on others to know how to live the Christian life – where you should go, what you should and shouldn’t do, what you should and shouldn’t say.
- As you mature, though, you should be able to hear directly from God and obey Him, though it’s always good to check with an older Christian to confirm whether you are hearing Him correctly.
Christlikeness (Ephesians 4:13d, 15b).
• As a follower of Jesus, we should be walking in His steps, becoming more and more like Him.
• So we learn to love others self-sacrificially, and even love our enemies, like He did; to forgive those who hurt us and wrong us; to speak the truth with wisdom and courage; and so on.
Discernment (Ephesians 4:14).
• Being able to discern truth from falsehood so that we will not be easily influenced by false teachings and conmen.
• In order to recognise a counterfeit RM100 note, we need to know what the markers of a genuine RM100 note are; then we can compare and see whether those markers are present.
• Similarly, to learn to discern false teachings and false teachers, we need to know the truth; we need to be familiar with God’s Word and know it well.
• Then when false teachings and false teachers put forward something that goes against God’s Word, we
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will be able to sense that something is not right. Speaking the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15a).
• If we speak the truth without love, we become legalistic, like the Pharisees (see, for example, John 5:8-10).
• But if we just love others without speaking the truth, we become sentimental enablers, never confronting error and allowing sin and evil to flourish.
• So we need to grow in both these dimensions, truth and love, holding both in balance and in tension. If we are mature in our faith, we will be able to overcome the danger of false teachings and deceitful men (see the point above on the need to grow in discernment).
3. Answer for Question 3
Some things that we can do to help us grow in “the knowledge of the Son of God” are:
• Spend time with Jesus every day.
• Read God’s Word, especially the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) which tell the story of who Jesus is, what He did, where He went, what He taught and preached, and how He died and rose again.
• Talk with Jesus; not just bringing your lists of wants and needs to Him, but learning to hear His voice and having two-way conversations with Him.
• Practise the spiritual disciplines of silence and solitude (we talked about these disciplines on Devo Day 15). Some things that we can do to help us grow in “the whole body” of Christ are:
• Attend a church, youth fellowship, and Boys’ Brigade parades regularly.
• Pay attention and participate during sermons, teaching
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sessions, bible study, and devotions to learn all we can and take part in the process of learning.
• Try out different avenues of service such as facilitating discussions, taking positions of leadership, leading in games, leading in worship, working out logistics, organising events, and so on to see what your talents and giftings are.
• Use the talents and giftings that God has given you to build up your church, youth fellowship, and BB Company in love and unity.
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Lesson Objective:
To guide the members that when we approach the Lord in prayer, we can boldly go to His throne and pray as a child talks to his father.
Scripture Reading: Hebrews 4:14-16
1. Answer for Question 1
Having Jesus as my high priest means that He represents me before God.
- It means that when necessary, He will speak on my behalf and defend me.
- He mediates between God and I, so He also makes God’s Word and His will known to me.
- The high priest also makes sacrifices to atone for the sins of the people, so that they can stand in God’s presence.
- Having Jesus as my high priest also means that He
Himself is the perfect sacrifice for my sins, making it possible for me to have a relationship with God.
2. Answer for Question 2
Jesus is a high priest who can sympathise with our weaknesses.
- He knows exactly how we feel, because He Himself has been through the same temptations and struggles, or even worse and more difficult ones.
- And even though He has undergone the same temptations, He never sinned.
This gives me confidence to come to God, because:
• I am not approaching His throne on my own. Jesus
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is with me, and He is on my side as my advocate and High Priest.
• I can have full confidence in Him because He understands where I am and what I’m going through. He is able to represent me before God because He
took on human flesh and personally experienced the whole spectrum of human life.
• I can have full confidence in Jesus because He is able to bring me into God’s presence. He has God’s ear, because He is God’s beloved Son who lived a morally perfect life.
3. Answer for Question 3
The “throne of grace” is God’s throne.
• It is not a literal, physical throne, but rather the place where we understand or conceptualise God’s manifest presence to dwell.
• God is omnipresent, meaning He is present at all places and at all times even if we can’t sense Him.
• However, the “throne of grace” is a special place where His presence is active and tangible.
• It is a “throne” because God is the King of all kings. And it is “of grace” because God is gracious – He graciously gives us life, all good things to enjoy, salvation, and every spiritual blessing in Christ although we deserve none of these wonderful things.
God sits enthroned on the “throne of grace”.
• For us to approach the throne is basically to come into His presence and commune with Him. At the “throne of grace,” we can expect:
- 51Instant Access (pages 40-41) DAY 19
• to encounter God;
• to sense His presence;
• to spend time with Him, worshipping and adoring Him, gazing upon His beauty and glory;
• to receive from Him the mercy and grace that we need in our particular situation.
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Instant Access (pages 40-41) DAY 19
