Book of 1Chronicles The Pattern of Sound Teaching

MESSAGE FOR PEOPLE TODAY FROM THE BOOK OF 1 CHRONICLES

Please watch the Video Before Reading the Lesson Plan

 Church: Ephesus                       8 of 39 lessons                                  Theme: Grace

Background Information

We asked in the book of Judges, “How can the creation know how to accept God’s grace?"

Statement of Faith to Say Amen to for the Book of 1 Chronicles:

I can be awakened to pray for a king who will build a city that will bear eternal fruit of the spirit.

Essential Question

How can I live among people in peace who deny God’s grace that Jesus brought through His sacrifice?

Book of 1 Chronicles

Have students read pages 16-19 in the book, The Pattern of Sound Teaching.

After students read the information ask them, "What do you want to talk about?"

Remember the Issue:

Remembering to love God is important. When the world lies to us to get us to work for prosperity, God will “stir up” our spirit to awaken us to turn to God and away from the world. When we turn to God, this is how we accept spiritual gifts from God.

The people who are seeking worldly prosperity will try to distract people who are focusing on God’s grace of eternal spiritual gifts. In the book of 1 Chronicles, the people were awakened to realize that when people decide right and wrong for themselves it includes working for prosperity. Working for prosperity starts out good, but there are always hidden agendas that align with the work. It is human nature to want to do good, but human nature also will align part of the good work to justify gaining something. That is why God rejects it when people work for God’s grace because there will be someone who gains from someone who loses. This is not how we bear the eternal fruit of the spirit. The Israelites were awakened to know that God would reject the sacrifice of anyone who did not bear good fruit. The Israelites were looking for a king who would build a city without borders that would not trouble anyone. Just as they were looking for a king in the Old Testament, believers today are looking for Jesus to come back to establish His eternal kingdom on Earth. We are to be watching for Him always, but the world will not tell people this.

Remember the Truth Jesus Brought:

People who are seeking prosperity will try to teach a worldview of how to bear witness. In 1 Chronicles, we learn how God only accepts the sacrifice of people who are bearing good fruit and rejects the sacrifice of those who do not bear good fruit. In the story of 1 Chronicles, the Israelites were awakened to remember that faith includes a sacrifice (choice) that bears good fruit. They came to this awareness because of the miracles of God. That is why they were saved by faith. They had faith that the miracles of God could save them when they were bearing good fruit. Today, we need to awaken to remember that grace includes a living sacrifice. We have been given grace with Jesus’ sacrifice that forgives all sin. We are to be awakened to build our internal temple by being a witness who accepts God’s grace and bears good fruit. We can compare Achar to Jabez to understand how God answered the prayer of Jabez to build a city without borders with protection from evil.

Remember the Rock God Established:

Our discussion today will reflect on the prayer of Jabez. The story of 1 Chronicles gives the details of how Jabez’s prayer was answered. Jabez prayed for a king who would build a city without borders. King David came from the genealogy of Jabez. Achar was also mentioned in 1 Chronicles. He was looking to make a name for himself, and he was causing trouble for the people in the Israelites’ camp. There were no more descendants from him. Achar’s fruitless sacrifice was rejected by God. The Israelites were awakened to know that God rejects the sacrifice of a person who bears evil fruit. The Israelites were awakened by the miracles of God that they needed to produce good fruit. At the end of 1 Chronicles, we find the story about the first two kings of Israel. King Saul, the first king, did not accept God’s grace and his spirit was depressed and in sorrow. In contrast, the second King, David, was a king who broke out with a song of thanksgiving that gave direct orders to (1) thank the Lord, (2) inquire of the Lord, (3) brag about what the Lord has done in your life, (4) sing songs that give thanks to the Lord, (5) never stop discussing the miracles and wonders that the Lord does, (6) give glory to the Lord’s name, (7) rejoice with a grateful heart, (8) depend on the Lord’s strength, (9) remember the miracles and judgments are for protection, (10) focus on the Lord’s promises, (11) remember the Lord has and will judge people on Earth, (12) thank the Lord for promising to save our souls, and (13) bring an offering to the Lord. King David was building a city without borders that Jabez had prayed about where people would not bother other people. King David was building a city with God’s grace and not prosperity. King David was bearing good fruit.

People accepting God’s grace were not troubling other people. They accepted grace by inquiring, praising, and thanking God. They were also giving to other people in the name of the Lord. They were thankful that God was protecting them from the people who were denying grace and serving false

gods. The people who accepted God’s grace were known by their fruit. The people who did not accept God’s grace did not bear fruit because they were producing and working for worldly prosperity.

When we look at the sacrifice that Jesus made, we are to remember that Jesus beat death. Jesus has promised that He will come back to save people from hell. When the Pharisees demanded to know when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus explained to them the kingdom of God would not come with observation because the kingdom of God is within you. The world will not teach us that we are to build an internal temple. There is a promise that the tree that does not bear fruit will be chopped down and thrown into the fire. Jesus will know us by our fruits. However, now we are not separating from people who are working for prosperity, so it is going to be a little harder to break out with a psalm of praise. We need to remember the promise that Jesus is coming back. As it is written in Matthew 25:46, “And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” The promise now is how Jesus’ sacrifice can save us from an eternal hell. We need to awaken and accept God’s grace by building an internal temple that bears eternal fruit of the spirit.

Activity:

Please complete the BLOG below.

Conclusion:

God offers the spiritual gift of grace for faith.

Next Lesson:

After God reminds us, “stirs up,” and awakens a believer’s heart with the spiritual gift of grace, they are to live the life of a psalmist and bear witness to accepting God’s spiritual gift of grace. This is a witness testimony that aligns with the Chief Cornerstone to increase a believer’s faith in God. In the book of Ephesians, Paul of Tarsus gives specific instructions to the church of Ephesus to put on the full armor of God. In the next lesson, a psalmist teaches us how to bear an inner witness to the truth by putting on the full armor of God.

BLOG: Write a statement of faith on how the Spirit of God will fill and sanctify your heart by cultivating and conditioning the seed of faith that loves God the Father to grow into joyful fruit that will fill the first spiritual stone pillar of sanctification in the church of Ephesus.

PROMP STARTER (optional)

My statement of faith to be sanctified through the infilling the first foundational pillar of sanctification in the church of Ephesus is defined as not what I take up, but what I give up that is valued as important, such as awakening to know ________________ is a thing of the world that I can give up for the sake of _________________________, as being regarded as more important because it is spiritual. The goal of sanctification is Christlikeness. Christlikeness is where the seed of hope begins to have green fruit of the spirit that can be identified as ________________________________.

Melody's Statement of Faith (I modeled my statement of faith as an example; you can use it for yours and tweak it if you want):

Sanctification comes after justification. It is a “work” in progress where the Spirit of God will begin the process of growing my seed to be sanctified as joyful fruit of the spirit. Being sanctified involves accepting God’s spiritual gift of grace by inquiring, praising, and thanking God with joy for making me more like our Lord, Jesus Christ. The goal of sanctification is Christlikeness. Christlikeness is coming into being with green fruit of the spirit now, not just a seed. The green fruit of the spirit is how Christ is growing in my heart to be more Christlike.

Because your statement of faith is an important part of salvation, please write a statement of faith on how the Spirit of God will cultivate and condition your seed of faith into green fruit of the spirit to fill the first stone pillar of sanctification in Jesus' Church of Ephesus, in the comments section below.