Ira Baptist Church
September 13

      • Psalms 145:1-4NIV2011

      • Psalms 145:5-7NIV2011

      • Psalms 145:8-11NIV2011

      • Psalms 145:12-13NIV2011

  • Only a Holy Gody
  • How Great is the Greatness of God

      • Psalms 61:1-2NIV2011

  • Lord from Sorrows

  • Taking Hold

    Leave this until next week, because this same phrase is given twice in a few verses.
    Romans 8:11 ESV
    If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
    Romans 6:4 ESV
    We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
    Union with Christ = the resurrected life.
    Eternal life is not a future thing, it is a now and forever thing for believers in Christ. Taking hold is not achieving it, it is realizing and living in light of it.
    Who is this Christ?
    1 Timothy 6:15–16 ESV
    He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.
    Blessed - happy, fortunate, favored - the most.
    We are called to bless God (psalm 103), but apart from our blessing of him He is blessed.
    Sovereign - king, ruler, but modified with only.
    Monos - only. Stands apart. Holiness.
    1 Timothy 2:5 ESV
    For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
    Ephesians 4:6 ESV
    one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
    Deuteronomy 6:4 ESV
    “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
    Ruler - King of Kings
    Daniel 2:37 ESV
    You, O king, the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, and the might, and the glory,
    Proverbs 21:1 ESV
    The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will.
    Daniel 2:47 ESV
    The king answered and said to Daniel, “Truly, your God is God of gods and Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery.”
    Deuteronomy 10:17 ESV
    For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe.
    He is the highest, above all, and there is no way to cheat yourself into his favor or honor or love.
    “who alone has immortality”
    life - the power of life in his being.
    John 5:26 ESV
    For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.
    Paradox of Transcendence.
    1 Timothy 6:16 ESV
    who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.
    Exodus 33:20 ESV
    But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.”
    Hebrews 1:1–2 ESV
    Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.
    Summary, the one you have union with is
    The infinite, transendent, glorious God who is too bright and glorious to be seen by human eyes
    The ruler above all rulers who turns the kinds hearts wherever he pleases and orchestrates the existence of all existence.
    The one who is blessed, happy, full of favor apart from any outside source or added ingredient
    The one who has the power of life in his being, who holds all things together and in him all things live and move and have their being.
    This is the Lord to which you are unified and who gives you eternal life.
    1 Timothy 6:13–14 ESV
    I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,
    Fight the good fight, take hold of the resurrected life - your source, and your motivator, is the Lord Jesus.
    “The commandment”
    What Paul has instructed timothy in this book. It is backed by God’s commandments, but it is specifically his calling in leading the church.
    To us, whatever God has called us to, what is our motivation and source?
    Categories of motivation
    Carrot on a Stick
    Looking over your Shoulder
    Affection and Desire
    Carrot on a Stick
    holding out hope that somehow, sometime, you will achieve a distant goal or receive a reward though it seems to be a moving target.
    Get ahead in the rat race they bring in faster rats
    Ecclesiastes 1:14 - vanity and vexation of spirit - chasing after the wind.
    Looking over your Shoulder
    Fear is terribly powerful, but it is a terrible motivator.
    Fear can only drive to the point of breaking
    Fear can be falsified and imagined
    Fear can be crippling
    Fear can become irrational and produce irrational responses
    Affection and Desire
    2 Timothy 1:7–9 ESV
    for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,
    Not fear, but of his power
    Power to share in his suffering
    Power to live out our calling
    Why? His purpose, his grace, which he gave us in Christ. There is that union again. There is that “taking hold of eternal life.”

      • Romans 8:11NIV2011

      • Romans 6:4NIV2011

      • 1 Timothy 6:15–16NIV2011

      • 1 Timothy 2:5NIV2011

      • Ephesians 4:6NIV2011

      • Deuteronomy 6:4NIV2011

      • Daniel 2:37NIV2011

      • Proverbs 21:1NIV2011

      • Daniel 2:47NIV2011

      • Deuteronomy 10:17NIV2011

      • John 5:26NIV2011

      • 1 Timothy 6:16NIV2011

      • Exodus 33:20NIV2011

      • Hebrews 1:1–2NIV2011

      • 1 Timothy 6:13–14NIV2011

      • 2 Timothy 1:7–9NIV2011

  • My Faith Looks Up

      • 2 Corinthians 13:14NIV2011

Ira Baptist Church
1 member