a CONNECT lesson

Focal Passage Outline and Scripture Passages:
Identify with the Church (Acts 2:41-42)
Experience the Church (Acts 2:43-47)
Commit to the Church (Heb. 10:23-25)

Background Passages:
Acts 2:1-47; Hebrews 10:19-25

Focal Passages:
Acts 2:41-47; Hebrews 10:23-25

What This Lesson Is About:
This lesson explains why it is vital for believers to connect to a church.

How This Lesson Can Impact Your Life:
This lesson will help believers understand and explain to others the role church should play in the lives of all believers.

A GO lesson

Focal Passage Outline and Scripture Passages:
Be Prepared (1 Pet. 3:15-17)
Know to Whom You Are Talking To (Acts 21:40–22:3)
Share What You Know (Acts 22:4-10)

Background Passages:
Acts 21:26–22:21; 1 Peter 3:13-17

Focal Passages:
Acts 21:40–22:10; 1 Peter 3:15-17

What This Lesson Is About:
This lesson helps adults understand the value of knowing what they believe and being able to explain it with confidence in any circumstance.

How This Lesson Can Impact Your Life:
By learning the value of apologetics, you will discover the importance of defending your faith and beliefs in Christ. You will discover that defending your faith does not mean defensiveness but sharing with love and gentleness.

Andrew Murray

XI.

John 4: 50.–And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto
him.

Let me quote from the Gospel according to St. John, the 4th chapter,
beginning at the 46th verse: “So Jesus came again into Cana of Galilee,
where He made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman whose son
was sick at Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus was come up out of Judea
into Galilee, he went unto Him, and besought Him that He would come down
and heal his son; for he was at the point of death. Then said Jesus unto
him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe.” There you have
the word “believe” the first time. “The nobleman saith unto Him, Sir, come
down ere my child die. Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way; thy son liveth.
And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went
his way.” There you have that word the second time. “And as he was now
going down, his servants met him, and told him, saying, Thy son liveth.
Then inquired he of them the hour when he began to amend. And they said
unto him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him. So the father
knew that it was at the same hour, in the which Jesus said unto him, Thy
son liveth; and himself believed, and his whole house.” There you have the
word “faith”.

This story has often been used to illustrate the different steps of faith
in the spiritual life. It was this use made of it in an address that
brought the sainted Canon Battersby into the full enjoyment of rest. He had
been a most godly man, but had lived the life of failure. He saw in the
story what it was to rest on the Word and trust the saving power of Jesus,
and from that night he was a changed man. He went home to testify of it,
and under God, he was allowed to originate the Keswick Convention.

Let me point out to you the three aspects of faith which we have here:
first, faith seeking; then, faith finding; and then, faith enjoying. Or,
still better: faith struggling; faith resting; faith triumphing. First of
all, faith struggling. Here is a man, a heathen, a nobleman, who has heard
about Christ. He has a dying son at Capernaum, and in his extremity leaves
his home, and walks some six or seven hours away to Cana of Galilee. He
has heard of the Prophet, possibly, as one who has made water wine; he has
heard of His other miracles round Capernaum, and he has a certain trust
that Jesus will be able to help him. He goes to Him, and his prayer is that
the Lord will come down to Capernaum and heal his son. Christ said to him,
“Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe.” He saw that the
nobleman wanted Him to come and stand beside the child. This man had not
the faith of the centurion–”Only speak a word.” He had faith. It was faith
that came from hearsay, and it was faith that did, to a certain extent,
hope in Christ; but it was not the faith in Christ’s power such as Christ
desired. Still Christ accepted and met this faith. After the Lord had thus
told him what He wished–a faith that could fully trust Him–the nobleman
cried the second time, “Sir, come down ere my child die.” Seeing his
earnestness and his trust, Christ said, “Go thy way; thy son liveth.” And
then we read that the nobleman believed. He believed, and he went his way.
He believed the word that Jesus had spoken. In that he rested and was
content. And he went away without having any other pledge than the word of
Jesus. As he was walking homeward, the servants met him, to tell him his
son lived. He asked at what hour he began to amend. And when they told him,
he knew it was at the very hour that Jesus had been speaking to him. He
had at first a faith that was seeking, and struggling, and searching for
blessing; then he had a faith that accepted the blessing simply as it was
contained in the word of Jesus. When Christ said, “Thy son liveth,” he was
content, and went home, and found the blessing–the son restored.

Then came the third step in his faith. He believed with his whole house.
That is to say, he did not only believe that Christ could do just this one
thing, the healing of his son; but he believed in Christ as his Lord. He
gave himself up entirely to be a disciple of Jesus. And that not only
alone, but with his whole house. Many Christians are like the nobleman.
They have heard about a better life. They have met certain individuals by
whose Christian lives they have been impressed, and consequently have felt
that Christ can do wonderful things for a man. Many Christians say in their
heart, “I am sure there is a better life for me to live; how I wish I could
be brought to that blessed state!” But they have not much hope about it.
They have read, and prayed, but they have found everything so difficult, If
you ask them, “Do you believe Jesus can help you to live this higher life?”
they say, “Yes; He is omnipotent.” If you ask, “Do you believe Jesus wishes
to do it?” they say, “Yes, I know He is loving.” And if you say, “Do you
believe that He will do it for you?” they at once say, “I know He is
willing, but whether He will actually do it for me I do not know. I am not
sure that I am prepared. I do not know if I am advanced enough. I do
not know if I have enough grace for that.” And so they are hungering,
struggling, wrestling, and often remain unblessed. This state of things
sometimes goes on for years–they are expecting to see signs and wonders,
and hoping that God, by a miracle, will put them all right. They are just
like the Israelites; they limit the Holy One of Israel. Have you ever
noticed that it is the very people whom God has blessed so wonderfully
who do that? What did the Israelites say? “God hath provided water in the
wilderness. But can He provide the table in the wilderness? We do not think
He can.” And so we find believers who say, “Yes, God has done wonders. The
whole of redemption is a wonder, and God has done wonders for some whom I
know. But will God take one so feeble as I, and put me entirely right?” The
struggling and wrestling and seeking are the beginnings of faith in you–a
faith that desires and hopes. But it must go on further. And how can that
faith advance? Look at the second step. There is the nobleman, and Christ
speaks to him this wonderful word: “Go thy way; thy son liveth;” and the
nobleman simply rests upon that word of the living Jesus. He rests on it,
and without any proof of what he is to get, and without one man in the
world to encourage him. He goes away home with the thought, “I have
received the blessing I sought; I have got life from the dead for my son.
The living Christ promised it me, and on that I rest.” The struggling,
seeking faith has become a resting faith. The man has entered into rest
about his son.

And now, dear believers, this is the one thing God asks you to do: God has
said that in Christ you have eternal life, the more abundant life; Christ
has said to you, “I live, and ye shall live also.” The Word says to us that
Christ is our Peace, our Victory over every enemy, who leads us into the
rest of God. These are the words of God, and His message has come to us
that Christ can do for us what Moses could not have done. Moses had no
Christ to live in him. But it is told you that you can have what Moses had
not; you can have a living Christ within you. And are you going to believe
that, apart from any experience, and apart from any consciousness of
strength? If the peace of God is to rule in your heart, it is the God of
peace Himself must be there to do it. The peace is inseparable from the
God. The light of the sun–can I separate that from the sun? Utterly
impossible. As long as I have the sun I have the light. If I lose the sun;
I lose the light. Take care! Do not seek the peace of God or the peace of
Christ apart from God and Christ. But how does Christ come to me? He comes
to me in this precious Word; and just as He said to the nobleman, “Go thy
way home; thy son liveth,” so Christ comes to me to-day, and He says, “Go
thy way; thy Saviour liveth.” “Lo, I am with you alway.” “I live, and ye
shall live also.” “I wait to take charge of your whole life. Will you have
me do this? Trust to me all that is evil and feeble; your whole sinful and
perverse nature–give it up to Me; that dying, sin-sick soul–give it up to
Me, and I will take care of it.” Will you not listen and hear Him speak to
your soul? “Child, go forward into all the circumstances of life that have
tempted you; into all the difficulties that threaten you.” Your soul lives
with the life of God; your soul lives in the power of God; your soul lives
in Christ Jesus. Will you not, like the nobleman, take the simple step of
faith, and believe the word Jesus hath spoken? Will you not say, “Lord
Jesus, Thou hast spoken: I can rest on Thy Word. I have seen that Christ
is willing to be more to me than I ever knew; I have seen that Christ is
willing to be my life in the most actual and intense meaning of the words.”
All that we know about the Holy Ghost sums itself up in this one thing:
The Holy Ghost comes to make Christ an actual, indwelling, always-abiding
Saviour.

Lastly, comes the triumphant faith. The man went home holding fast the
promise. He had only one promise, but he held it fast. When God gives me
a promise, He is just as near me as when He fulfills it. That is a great
comfort. When I have the promise I have also the pledge of the fulfillment.
But the whole heart of God is in His promise, just as much as in the
fulfillment of it, and sometimes God, the promiser, is more precious
because I am compelled to cling more to Him, and to come closer, and to
live by simple faith, and to adore His love. Do not think this is a hard
life, to be living upon a promise. It means living upon the everlasting
God. Who is going to say that is hard? It means living upon the crucified,
the loving Christ. Be ashamed to say that is a difficult thing. It is a
blessed thing.

The nobleman went home and found the child living. And what happened then?
Two things. First: he gave up his whole life to be a believer in Jesus. If
there had been a division among the people of Capernaum, and thousands of
them had hated Christ, this man would still have stood on His side. He
believed in the Lord. This is what must take place with us. Let us go
forward with our trust in the living Christ, knowing that He will keep us.
Then we will get grace to carry the life of Christ into our whole conduct,
into all our walk and conversation. The faith that rests in Jesus, is the
faith that trusts all to Him, with all we have. Do we not read that when
God had finished His work, and rested, it was only to begin new work? Yes;
the great work was to be carried on–watching over and ruling His world and
His church. And is it not so with the Lord Jesus? When He had finished His
work, He sat upon the throne to do His work of perfecting the body, through
the Holy Spirit. And now, the Holy Spirit is carrying on that blessed work,
teaching us to rest in Christ, and in the strength of that rest to go on,
and to cover our whole life with the power, and the obedience, and the
will, and the likeness of the Lord Jesus. The nobleman gave up his whole
life to be a believer in Christ; and from that day it was a believer in
Jesus who walked about the streets of Capernaum; not only a man who could
say, “Once He helped me,” but, “I believe in Him with my whole life.” Let
that be so with us everywhere; let Christ be the one object of our trust.

One thought more,–he believed with his whole house. That was triumphant
faith. He took up his position as a believer in Christ; and his wife, his
children, his servants–he gathered them all together, and laid them at the
feet of Christ. And if you want power in your own house, if you want power
in your Bible-class, if you want power in your social circle, if you want
power to influence the nation and if you want power to influence the Church
of Christ, see where it begins. Come into contact with Jesus in this rest
of faith that accepts His life fully, that trusts Him fully, and the power
will come by faith to overcome the world; by faith to bless others; by
faith to live a life to the glory of God. Go thy way, thy soul liveth; for
it is Jesus Christ who liveth within you. Go thy way; be not trembling and
fearful, but rest in the word and the power of the Son of God. “Lo, I am
with you alway.” Go thy way, with the heart open to welcome Him, and the
heart believing He has come in. Surely we have not prayed in vain. Christ
has listened to the yearnings of our hearts and has entered in. Let us
go our way quietly, restfully, full of praise, and joy, and trust; ever
hearing the words of our Master, “Go thy way, thy soul liveth;” and ever
saying, “I have trusted Christ to reveal His abundant life in my soul; by
His grace I will wait upon Him to fulfill His promise.” Amen.

Andrew Murray

IV.

Hebrews 4: 1.–Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of
entering into His rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.

Hebrews 4: 11.–Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any
man fall after the same example of unbelief.

I want, in the simplest way possible, to answer the question: “How does a
man enter into that rest?” and to point out the simple steps that he takes,
all included in the one act of surrender and faith.

And the first step, I think, is this: that a man learns to say, “I believe,
heartily, there is rest in a life of faith.” Israel passed through two
stages. This is beautifully expressed in the fifth of Deuteronomy: “He
brought us out, that He might bring us in”–two parts of God’s work of
redemption–”He brought us out from Egypt, that He might bring us into
Canaan.” And that is applicable to every believer. At your conversion, God
brought you out of Egypt, and the same almighty God is longing to bring you
into the Canaan life. You know how God brought the Israelites out, but they
would not let Him bring them in and they had to wander for forty years in
the wilderness–the type, alas! of so many Christians. God brings them out
in conversion, but they will not let Him bring them in into all that He has
prepared for them. To a man who asks me, “How can I enter into the rest?” I
say, first of all, speak this word, “I do believe that there is a rest into
which Jesus, our Joshua, can bring a trusting soul.” And if you would
know what the difference is between the two lives–the life you have been
leading, and the life you now want to lead, just look at the wilderness and
Canaan. What are the points of difference? In the wilderness, wandering for
forty years, backward and forward; in Canaan, perfect rest in the land that
God gave them. That is the difference between the life of a Christian who
has, and one who has not entered into Canaan. In wandering backward and
forward; going after the world, and coming back and repenting; led astray
by temptation, and returning only to go off again;–a life of ups and
downs. In Canaan, on the other hand, a life of rest, because the soul has
learned to trust: “God keeps me every hour in His mighty power.” There is
the second difference: the life in the wilderness was a life of want; in
Canaan, a life of plenty. In the wilderness there was nothing to eat; there
was often no water. God graciously supplied their wants by the manna, and
the water from the rock. But, alas! they were not content with this, and
their life was one of want and murmurings. But in Canaan God gave them
vineyards that they had not planted, and the old corn of the land was there
waiting for them; a land flowing with milk and honey; a land that lived by
the rain of Heaven and had the very care of God Himself. Oh, Christian,
come and say to-day, “I believe there is a possibility of such a change
out of that life of spiritual death, and darkness, and sadness, and
complaining, that I have often lived, into the land of supply of every
want; where the grace of Jesus is proved sufficient every day, every hour.”
Say to-day: “I believe in the possibility that there is such a land of rest
for me.”

And then, the third difference: In the wilderness there was no victory.
When they tried, after they had sinned at Kadesh, to go up against their
enemies, they were defeated. In the land they conquered every enemy; from
Jericho onward, they went from victory to victory. And so God waits, and
Christ waits, and the Holy Spirit waits, to give victory every day; not
freedom from temptation; no, not that; but in union with Christ a power
that can say, “I can do all things through Him that strengtheneth me.” “We
are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.” May God help every
heart to say that.

Then comes the second step. I want you to say not only, “I believe there is
such a life,” but, second, “I have not had it yet.” Say that. “I have never
yet got that.” Some may say, “I have sought it;” some may say, “I have
never heard about it;” some may say, “At times I thought I had found it,
but I lost it again.” Let every one be honest with God.

And now, will all who have never yet found it honestly, begin to say,
“Lord, up to this time I have never had it?” And why is it of such
consequence to speak thus? Because, dear friends, some people want to glide
into this life of rest gradually; and just quietly to steal in; and God
won’t have it. Your life in the wilderness has not only been a life of
sadness to yourself, but of sin and dishonor to God. Every deeper entrance
into salvation must always be by the way of conviction and confession;
therefore, let every Christian be willing to say: “Alas! I have not lived
that life, and I am guilty; I have dishonored God; I have been like Israel;
I have provoked Him to wrath by my unbelief and disobedience. God have
mercy upon me!” Oh, let it go up before God–the secret confession: “I
haven’t it; alas! I have not glorified God by a life in the land of rest.”

Then comes the third word I want you to speak and that is: “Thank God, that
life is for me.” Some say, “I believe there is such a life, but not
for me.” There are people who continually say: “Oh, my character is so
unstable; my will is naturally very weak; my temperament is nervous and
excitable, it is impossible for me always to live without worry, resting in
God.” Beloved brother, do not say that. You say so only for one reason: You
do not know what your God will do for you. Do begin to look away from self,
and to look up to God, Take that precious word: “He brought them out that
he might bring them in.” The God who took them through the Red Sea was the
God who took them through Jordan into Canaan. The God who converted you is
the God who is able to give you every day this blessed life. Oh, begin to
say, with the beginnings of a feeble faith, even before you claim it, begin
even intellectually to say: “It is for me; I do believe that. God does not
disinherit any of His children. What He gives is for every one. I believe
that blessed life is waiting for me. It is meant for me. God is waiting to
bestow it, and to work it in me. Glory be to His blessed name! My soul says
it is for me, too.” Oh, take that little word “me,” and looking up in the
very face of God dare to say: “This inestimable treasure–it is for me, the
weakest and the unworthiest; it is for me.” Have you said that? Say it now:
“This life is possible to me, too.”

And then comes the next step, and that is: “I can never, by any effort of
mine, grasp it; it is God must bestow it on me.” I want you to be very bold
in saying, “It is for me.” But then I want you to fall down very low and
say, “I can not seize it; I can not take it to myself.” And how can
you then get it? Praise God, if once He has brought you down in the
consciousness of utter helplessness and self-despair, then comes the time
that He can draw nigh and ask you, “Will you trust your God to work this
in you?” Dearly beloved Christians, say in your heart: “I never, by any
effort, can take hold of God, or seize this for myself; it is God must
give it.” Cherish this blessed impotence. It is He who brought us out, who
Himself must bring us in. It is your greatest happiness to be impotent.
Pray God by the Holy Spirit to reveal to you this true impotence, and that
will open the way for your faith to say, “Lord, Thou must do it, or it
will never be done.” God will do it. People wonder, when they hear so many
sermons about faith, and such earnest pleading to believe, and ask why it
is they can not believe. There is just one answer: It is self. Self is
working; is trying; is struggling, and self must fail. But when you come to
the end of self and can only cry, “Lord, help me! Lord, help me!”–then the
deliverance is nigh; believe that. It was God brought the people in. It is
God who will bring you in.

One should be willing, for the sake of this rest, to give up everything.
The grace of God is very free. It is given without money and without price.
And yet, on the other hand, Jesus said that every man who wants the pearl
of great price must sacrifice his all, must sell all that he has to buy
that pearl. It is not enough to see the beauty, the attractiveness and the
glory, and almost to taste the gladness and the joy of this wonderful life
as it has been set before you. You must become the possessor, the owner of
the field. The man who found the field with a treasure, and the man who
found the great pearl, were both glad; but they had not yet got it. They
had found it, seen it, desired it, rejoiced in it; but they had not yet got
it. Not until they went and sold all, gave up everything, and bought the
ground, and bought the pearl. Ah, friends, there is a great deal that has
to be given up: the world, its pleasures, its favor, its good opinion. You
are to stand to the world in the same relation as Jesus did. The world
rejected Him, and cast Him out, and you are to take up the position of your
Lord, to whom you belong, and to follow with the rejected Christ. You have
to give up everything. You have to give up all that is good in yourself
and to be humbled in the dust of death. And that is not all. Your past
religious life and experience and successes–you have to give all up and
become nothing, that God alone may have the glory. God has brought you out
in conversion; it was God’s own life given you: but you defiled it with
disobedience and with unbelief. Give it all up. Give up all your own
wisdom, and your own thoughts about God’s work. How hard it is for the
minister of the Gospel to give up all his wisdom, and to lay it at the feet
of Jesus, to become a fool and to say: “Lord, I know nothing as I should
know it. I have been preaching the Gospel, and how little I have seen of
the glory of the blessed land, and the blessed life!”

Why is it that the blessed Spirit can not teach us more effectually? No
reason but this: the wisdom of man prevents it; the wisdom of man prevents
the light of God from shining in. And so we could say of other things;
give up all. Some may have an individual sin to give up. There may be a
Christian man who is angry with his brother. There may be a Christian woman
who has quarreled with her neighbor. There may be friends who are not
living as they should. There may be Christians holding fast some little
doubtful thing, not willing to surrender and leave behind the whole of the
wilderness life and lust. Oh, do take this step and say: “I am ready
to give up everything to have this pearl of great price; my time, my
attention, my business, I count all subordinate to this rest of God as the
first thing in my life; I yield all to walk in perfect fellowship with
God.” You can not get that and live every day in perfect fellowship with
God, without giving up time to it. You take time for everything. How many
hours a day has a young lady spent for years and years that she may become
proficient on the piano? How many years does a young man study to fit
himself for the profession of the law or medicine? Hours, and days, and
weeks, and months, and years, gladly given up to perfect himself for his
profession. And do you expect that religion is so cheap that without giving
time you can find close fellowship with God? You can not. But, oh, my
brothers and sisters, the pearl of great price is worth everything. God is
worth everything. Christ is worth everything. Oh, come to-day, and say,
“Lord, at any cost help me; I do want to live this life.” And if you find
it difficult to say this, and if there is a struggle within the heart,
never mind; say to God, “Lord, I thought I was willing, but I see how much
unwillingness there is; come and discover what the evil is still in the
heart.” By His grace, if you will lie at His feet and trust Him you may
depend upon it deliverance will come.

Then comes the next step, and that is to say: “I do now give up myself to
the holy and everlasting God, for Him to lead me into this perfect rest.”
Ah, friends, we must learn to meet God face to face. My sin has been
against God. David felt that when he said, “Against Thee, Thee only, have
I sinned.” It is God on the judgment seat whose face you will have to meet
personally. It is God Himself, personally, who met you to pardon your sins.
Come to-day and put yourself into the hands of the living God. God is love.
God is near. God is waiting to give you His blessing. The heart of God is
yearning over you. “My child,” God says, “you think you are longing for
rest; it is I that am longing for you, because I desire to rest in your
heart as My home, as My temple.” You need your God. Yes, but your God needs
you, to find the full satisfaction of His Father heart in Christ in you.
Come to-day and say: “I do now give up myself to Christ. I have made the
choice. I deliberately say, ‘Lord God, I am the purchaser of the pearl of
great price. I give up everything for it. In the name of Jesus I accept
that life of perfect rest.’”

And then comes my last thought. When you have said that, then add: “And
now, I trust God to make it all real to me in my experience. Whether I am
to live one year, or thirty years, I have heard it to-day again: ‘God is
Jehovah, the great I AM of the everlasting future, the eternal One; and
thirty years hence is to Him just the same as now;’ and that God gives
Himself to me, not according to my power to hold Him, but according to
His almighty power of love to hold me.” Will you trust God to-day for the
future? Oh, will you look up to God in Christ Jesus once again? A thousand
times you have heard, and thought, and thanked–”God has given us His Son;”
but will you not to-day say, “How shall He not with Him give me all things,
every moment and every day of my life?” Say that in faith. “How shall God
not be willing to keep me in the light of His countenance, in the full
experience of Christ’s saving power? Did God make the sun to shine so
brightly, and is the light so willing to pour itself into every nook and
corner where it can find entrance? And will not my God, who is love, be
willing all the day to shine into this heart of mine, from morning to
night, from year’s end to year’s end?” God is love, and longs to give
Himself to us.

Oh, come, Christians, you have hitherto lived a life in your own strength.
Will you not begin to-day? Will you not choose a life in which God shall be
all, and in which you rest in Him for all? Will you not choose a life in
which you shall say: “Oh, God, I ask, I expect, I trust Thee for it. I
enter this day into the rest of God to let God keep me; to let God keep me
every hour. I enter into the rest of God.” Are you ready to say that? Be of
good courage; fear not, you can trust God. He brings into rest. Listen to
God’s word in the Prophets once again: “Take heed, and be quiet. Fear not,
neither be faint-hearted.” Joshua brought Israel into the land. God did
it through Joshua; and Joshua is Jesus, your Jesus, who washed you in His
blood; your Jesus, whom you have learned to know as a precious Saviour.
Trust Him to-day afresh: “O my Joshua, take me, bring me in and I will
trust Thee, and in Thee the Father.” You may count upon it. He will take
you and the work will be done.