Young People s Quarterly

Transcription

1 Baptist Training Course Young People s Quarterly Prepared by Robbie Horne Vol. 78, No. 2 ISSUED MARCH, 2014 SPRING QUARTER Outlines by Don Price EDITOR IN CHIEF: Larry E. Clements larryclements@bogardpress.org BUSINESS MANAGER: Wayne Sewell wsewell@bogardpress.org PRODUCTION EDITOR: Sally McInvale ADULT EDITOR: Jim Jones CHILDREN S EDITOR: Libby Gill ILLUSTRATOR: Connie Spears GRAPHIC ARTISTS: Shawn Blase Jeff Allen Greg Hilterbrand LAYOUT DESIGNERS: Kyle Elkins Cindy Butler Ashley Elkins CONTENT EDITORS: Terry McKellar Deby Turrentine Carolyn Burks Joni Curtis PRINT PRODUCTION: Charles Easley COVER DESIGN: Jeff Allen Copyright 2014 Bogard Press 4605 N. State Line Ave. Texarkana, TX CHRISTIAN RELATIONSHIPS Quarterly Aim: To show how Christians are to interact with one another. CONTENTS Lesson 1, March 2, 2014 Love One Another Lesson 2, March 9, 2014 Do Not Judge One Another Lesson 3, March 16, 2014 Forgive One Another Lesson 4, March 23, 2014 Be Kind One to Another Lesson 5, March 30, 2014 Do Not Wrong One Another Lesson 6, April 6, 2014 Admonish One Another Lesson 7, April 13, 2014 Bear One Another s Burdens Lesson 8, April 20, 2014 Comfort One Another Lesson 9, April 27, 2014 Speak Not Evil One of Another Lesson 10, May 4, 2014 Submitting Yourselves One to Another Lesson 11, May 11, 2014 Have Fellowship One with Another Lesson 12, May 18, 2014 Teaching and Admonishing One Another Lesson 13, May 25, 2014 Use Hospitality One to Another

2 About the Writer Dr. Robbie Horne is the pastor of First Missionary Baptist Church, Mablevale, AR. Robbie is married to Pam (Clift) Horne. Robbie has two children, Jacquelyn and Clint, and two grandchildren, Cody Dale Beene and Hadley Grace Horne. Robbie is a 1970 graduate of Benton High School, Benton, AR. After serving three years in the United States Army, Robbie enrolled in the Missionary Baptist Seminary in Little Rock, AR, where he earned a bachelor s and a master s degree in theology. In 2010, Robbie reached a long-term goal when he earned a doctor s degree in theology from Central Arkansas Baptist Bible Institute in Benton, AR. Robbie is an instructor at CABBI and teaches Hermeneutics, Ethics, Church Epistles and Leadership. Robbie enjoys the Arkansas Razorbacks, reading, writing, talking, teaching, picking his guitar and spending quality time with his dog Max. robbiehorne@sbcglobal.net

3 LESSON 1, March 2, 2014 Love One Another APPLICATION To show that loving one another is not only possible but commanded. SCRIPTURES TO READ Text: Romans 13:8-10. Related Scripture: Leviticus 19:18; Proverbs 10:12; Matthew 5:43-48; 22:37-40; John 13:34; 15:12; 1 Corinthians 13; Galatians 5:14; Ephesians 5:2; 1 Thessalonians 4:9; Hebrews 13:1; James 2:8; 1 Peter 4:8; 1 John 2:5; 3:10, 11, 22. Devotional Reading: A Reminder of God s Love in Sending His Son for Man s Sins, 1 John 4:7-21. Introduction This quarter, we will study Christian relationships. To relate properly with our fellow-christians, we must relate properly to God. A proper relationship with God begins when we repent of our sins, believing that Jesus is the Son of God and we are saved. Once we are saved, we must offer our bodies to God as living sacrifices (Rom. 12:1). As living sacrifices, we are transformed by the renewing of our minds (verse 2). Renewed Christians relate properly to God, people and themselves. Our nation is a nation of laws. Christians, therefore, should be law-abiding citizens. God says, Be subject unto the higher powers, because they are ordained of God (Rom. 13:1). The only time we can break the laws of our country is when those laws force us to disobey God. When that time comes, we must make the same decision the apostles made, We ought to obey God rather than men (Acts 5:29). What we will focus on in this lesson is the highest law of all love. Love is important because it sums up every law. Owe no man any 3

4 thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law (Rom. 13:8). There is one thing we can be sure about. Love is always right. 1. Love Defined We owe God and people love. God loves His creation, including man. In fact, two thousand years ago, God demonstrated His love when He gave His Son as a sacrifice for sin (Rom. 5:8). As we relate to our brothers and sisters in Christ, we should love them sincerely. Romans 12:9 declares, Let love be without dissimulation. Dissimulation means without hypocrisy. This is sincere love. Jesus tells us that we are to love one another (John 13:34). The apostle Paul tells us that the only thing we owe any man is love. We readily admit that God knows what He is doing. However, if we are honest with ourselves, the idea of loving one another seems a little ambiguous, a little vague. Do we honestly know what it means to love? Do we know how to apply the concept of love? Love comes from the Greek word agapao. Agapao means to have a preference for, to wish well, to regard the welfare of. When we love, we prefer the persons we love above others. Agapao means to take pleasure in something, to prize it above other things, to be unwilling to abandon it, or do without it. When we love, being near the people we love brings us pleasure, we prize them, we wish them well, we care about their welfare and never abandon them. This is God s idea of love. 2. Loving the Right Way How can we love the right way? We must grasp the fact that love is a moral absolute. A moral absolute is a moral principle common to man that has no exceptions in history. For instance, no culture has ever believed that rape or cruelty to children is acceptable behavior. No culture has ever believed that it is right to kill indiscriminately any person for any reason. The similarity of moral absolutes prompted many thinkers to reduce all common moral principles down to one basic moral absolute, one foundational thing to do and one absolutely right thing to do. Immanuel Kant, a German philosopher, identified the one foundational right thing to do as the categorical imperative. Kant came to this conclusion, Always treat people as an end in themselves, never as only a means. Kant believed that we must treat people as ends, as valuable in themselves, not merely as a means to get what we want. 4

5 Martin Buber, a twentieth century Jewish philosopher, concluded that we must sustain a person-to-person relationship with others, not a person-to-thing relationship. Buber termed his moral absolute as I-You versus I-It. Buber asserted that people are to be loved, and things are to be used. We should never use people and love things. In Matthew 22, the Sadducees and the Pharisees were trying to trick Jesus, to catch Him making a mistake. One of them, a lawyer, a Bible scholar, asked, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? (verse 36). In other words, the lawyer asked, What is the one great moral absolute of God s Word? Jesus replied, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets (verses 37-40). Loving God, loving people and loving ourselves is the one moral absolute. Kant s categorical imperative, Buber s I-You versus I-It principle and Jesus love of God, neighbor and self add up to the way we treat people. Jesus said, As ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise (Luke 6:31). The Golden Rule is the one moral absolute loving God, loving people and loving ourselves. Murdering, stealing, deceiving and using other people is not love because no one wants to be treated that way. Snubbing people, gossiping, working behind the scenes and stirring up trouble are not love because no one wants to be treated that way. The Golden Rule is the great love mandate. The Golden Rule is the essence of true Christian love love people and treat them the way you want to be treated. 3. One Great Debt We owe men, women and children our love. This means, since the Golden Rule is the essence of true Christian love, this is the debt we owe the world. In the first chapter of the book of Romans, the apostle Paul stated, I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise (Rom. 1:14). Paul then said, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ (verse 16). Paul, because of his love for all men, felt that he owed all men the gospel. Evangelism is based on love. If we do not love people, we will never witness to them. Paul, motivated by love, believed he owed the world the gospel of Jesus Christ. The word owe in Romans 13:8 is the same Greek word translated debtor in Romans 1:14. We owe people love as we owe people the gospel. In fact, love and the gospel are tied together. If we do not love people, we will not tell them about Jesus. Our love for God and people is what motivates us to share the gospel. This is our great debt to love one another and witness. 5

6 4. Love Never Harms Love worketh no ill to his neighbour (Rom. 13:10). This means that love does not harm its neighbor. When we love, we go out of our way not to harm anyone. When we love, we pay close attention to what we say and how we say it because we do not want to harm anyone. When we love, we exercise self-control because we do not want to do anything to harm anyone. When we love, we re basically harmless. The debt of love is far-reaching. In Luke 6, when Jesus gave the Golden Rule, the essence of Christian love, He said, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you (verses 27, 28). Jesus then gave the Golden Rule, And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise (verse 31). Jesus concluded, For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them. And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same (verses 32, 33). It is easy to love our family and friends because we know, more often than not, they love us. It is not so easy to love those who treat us badly. Jesus, however, says the essence of Christian love is treating everyone the way we want to be treated, our family, our friends and our adversaries. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour (Rom. 13:10). Conclusion Love is a viable moral absolute. Love is the all-time right thing to do. Love is the guideline that circles Immanuel Kant s categorical imperative. Love is the guideline that embodies Martin Buber s I-You concept. Simply stated, we must always love. Love is what allows us to treat others as ends instead of means. The ultimate test of morality in any situation is to ask ourselves, Did we act in a loving way? Love is not a manifestation of the Golden Rule; the Golden Rule is a manifestation of love. Love is always in order. Love is always right, and we are most like God when we love (1 John 4:8-11). As we relate to others, it is important to know that God loves us. In fact, God loves us so much that He sent His Son to die for our sins on the cross (John 3:16). Calvary proves that God does not play favorites. Everyone is important to God. As we relate to others, it is also important to know that, once we are saved, nothing can separate us from God s love (Rom. 8:37-39). We are human and humans are often fickle especially when it comes to love. God, however, is not fickle. His love for us will endure forever. In fact, God will never love us any more, and God will never love us any less. 6