Week 44 Never Alone
“Faith alone saves, but the faith that saves is never alone.”
John Calvin
Passage
15Greet Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them.
16Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you.
17Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them.
18For such men are slaves, not of our Lord Christ but of their own appetites; and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting.
19For the report of your obedience has reached to all; therefore I am rejoicing over you, but I want you to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil.
20The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.
Romans 16:15–20 (NASB95)
Background
Quote-John Calvin (/ˈkælvɪn/;[1] Middle French: Jehan Cauvin; French: Jean Calvin [ʒɑ̃ kalvɛ̃]; 10 July 1509 – 27 May 1564) was a French theologian, pastor and reformer in Geneva during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of Christian theology later called Calvinism, including its doctrines of predestination and of God's absolute sovereignty in the salvation of the human soul from death and eternal damnation. Calvinist doctrines were influenced by and elaborated upon the Augustinian and other Christian traditions. Various Congregational, Reformed and Presbyterian churches, which look to Calvin as the chief expositor of their beliefs, have spread throughout the world.
Passage-The book of Romans is a Pauline Epistle (letter from Paul). The Apostle Paul wrote it roughly about 56-57 A.D. He wrote it to give them a concrete theological foundation on which to construct their faith and to live for and serve God effectively.
The book of Romans reveals the answers to important questions and supplies information on many topics, such as salvation, the sovereignty of God, judgment, spiritual growth, and the righteousness of God. Many scholars also describe it as The Gospel and the Righteousness of God, which can be received only by faith in the atoning death of Jesus Christ.
Lesson Notes
Opening Statement
It is the final week of the lesson year. We have come together in the spirit of Christ each week to see each other, hear each other, to share our burdens, and lift each other up. But even when we leave this place and go out into the World, we do not go alone.
Ask: Why do we feel “alone”? What does it mean to “be alone?”
Point: Please see the Definitions page.
Ask: How does the knowledge that we live in a world of Flesh but as followers of Christ have a foot in a spiritual kingdom change that definition?
Point: Please read the following:
5Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,”
6so that we confidently say, “The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What will man do to me?”
Hebrews 13:5–6 (NASB95)
Deuteronomy 31:6-8
Joshua 1:5
Ask: How is being conent with what we have connect with not being afraid because we know God is with us?
Point: Money is seen as the solution to life’s problems but God is the true answer to all of life’s questions.
Ask: How is an invisible God surrounding us and not loving money the answer to paying the mortgage, rent, or any other bill in life?
Point: Because God created the systems of life, how things operate in the created world. He fully and completely understands how they interact. Our solution is in Him. Our solution is not in the world.
Ask: That still doesn’t answer the question of how to pay rent with just faith in God, does it?
Point: Living life the way the World says to live answers the questions of the flesh only. Live life the way God says to live answers the questions of the flesh and the Kingdom of Heaven.
Ask: How does living life according to God’s Word pay the rent?
Point: Please read the following:
25“For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
26“Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?
27“And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?
28“And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin,
29yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these.
30“But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith!
31“Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’
32“For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
33“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
34“So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Matthew 6:25–34 (NASB95)
Ask: What does that passage of scripture mean?
Point: Last week we talked about being slaves to the one we serve. Whom do you serve? Please read the following:
23“But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
24“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.
Matthew 6:23–24 (NASB95)
Ask: If we take a moment for introspection and self-evaluation we likely will find some good and some bad if we are honest. What do we do then?
Point: Please read the following:
15“If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Joshua 24:15 (NASB95)
Ask: What example of this do we have from Jesus?
Point: Please read the following:
31Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe?
32“Behold, an hour is coming, and has already come, for you to be scattered, each to his own home, and to leave Me alone; and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.
33“These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”
John 16:31–33 (NASB95)
Ask: Do we have another example that isn’t the divinely powered Son of God?
Point: Yes. Please read the following:
16The people answered and said, “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods;
17for the Lord our God is He who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and who did these great signs in our sight and preserved us through all the way in which we went and among all the peoples through whose midst we passed.
18“The Lord drove out from before us all the peoples, even the Amorites who lived in the land. We also will serve the Lord, for He is our God.”
Joshua 24:16–18 (NASB95)
Closing Statement
Being alone is a choice. A church family offers as much or as little companionship as you want. “But I don’t like those people.” Then find another church, or consider that maybe God is trying to knock the rough edges off of you to conform more to Him. Either way, the Body of Christ is there. When Christ was alone at the end He knew He was never alone because the Father was with Him, just as He is with us when we are by ourselves. The way we remind ourselves of this is to stay close to Him by staying in His word through study, His presence through prayer, and His people through service. If we do that, we will always have companionship and we will never be alone.
Questions for the Week
Question 1 Consider your service to the Lord, your choice of whom you will serve. Spend time in prayer on this subject.
Question 2 After spending time in prayer on the subject of whom you will serve, spend a day contemplating this topic. Place some token in your pocket and/or in sight so that when you see it, it reminds you of this question. When you are reminded, think on the question for a bit. Pray for a bit, and be open to the Holy Spirit’s direction on the subject.
Question 3 Read the closing verses of the Book of Joshua which follow the last passage of this lesson. They are provided on the last page of the lesson.
Question 4 Write as much or as little as you are led to write in your journal on this subject after contemplating Joshua’s closing words to the people of Israel after he put that choice to them.
Definitions
alone
uh-lohn
adjective(used predicatively)
1. separate, apart, or isolated from others:I want to be alone.
2. to the exclusion of all others or all else:One cannot live by bread alone.
3. unique; unequaled; unparalleled:He is alone among his peers in devotion to duty.
adverb
4. solitarily; solo:She prefers to live alone.
5. only; exclusively:You alone hold the key to your happiness.
6. without aid or help:The baby let go of the side of the crib and stood alone.
Service to the Lord According to Joshua
19Then Joshua said to the people, “You will not be able to serve the Lord, for He is a holy God. He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your transgression or your sins.
20“If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and consume you after He has done good to you.”
21The people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve the Lord.”
22Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen for yourselves the Lord, to serve Him.” And they said, “We are witnesses.”
23“Now therefore, put away the foreign gods which are in your midst, and incline your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.”
24The people said to Joshua, “We will serve the Lord our God and we will obey His voice.”
25So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made for them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.
26And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God; and he took a large stone and set it up there under the oak that was by the sanctuary of the Lord.
27Joshua said to all the people, “Behold, this stone shall be for a witness against us, for it has heard all the words of the Lord which He spoke to us; thus it shall be for a witness against you, so that you do not deny your God.”
28Then Joshua dismissed the people, each to his inheritance.
29It came about after these things that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being one hundred and ten years old.
30And they buried him in the territory of his inheritance in Timnath-serah, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, on the north of Mount Gaash.
31Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who survived Joshua, and had known all the deeds of the Lord which He had done for Israel.
32Now they buried the bones of Joseph, which the sons of Israel brought up from Egypt, at Shechem, in the piece of ground which Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for one hundred pieces of money; and they became the inheritance of Joseph’s sons.
33And Eleazar the son of Aaron died; and they buried him at Gibeah of Phinehas his son, which was given him in the hill country of Ephraim.
Joshua 24:19–33 (NASB95)