Twin Tiers Bible Fellowship

11/23/2023

In Matthew 3, Jesus goes to John the Baptist to be baptized. This is considered to be the kickoff of his earthly ministry. Up until that time, there is no record or mention of him performing any miracles or giving any teachings.

On the surface, getting baptized by John is an odd decision by Jesus. John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance (Luke 3), thus the purpose of getting baptized was to publicly show that you were sorry for the wrongs you committed and were changing your ways to act in a more God honoring manner. However, Jesus had never done anything wrong. That is why John tried to prevent Him from being baptized, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” (Matt 3:14)

Jesus answers in verse 15, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Though John didn’t understand it, Jesus was completely right, and the evidence comes immediately after he is baptized. A voice from heaven declares, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

So how did Jesus’ baptism fulfill all righteousness and please God the father? It was a picture of what was to come. To start his earthly ministry, Jesus wanted to show a picture of what His work on this earth would be.

According to John 1, when John the Baptist saw Jesus, he said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” For the Jews, the purpose of the lamb was as a sacrifice to bear the sins of the people and die in their place. Remarkably, before Jesus had taught anything, John is saying that he is going to die as a spotless sacrifice to take the place of the sinners of this world.

Then there is the baptism itself. Jesus did not need to repent. Instead, his baptism was a picture of him dying and being buried (put underwater), then rising again. To start off his ministry, Jesus shows that he will be killed but come back to life. Coupled with John’s words, it can be concluded that Jesus' death will serve the purpose of the sacrificial lamb, where he takes on the sins of the world and is killed in place of sinners who deserved to die.

Thus in his baptism, Christ is fulfilling righteousness by being baptized. He is showing the purpose of His ministry on earth and His faithfulness in completing that ministry. The goodness of this is emphasized by God’s declaration of being well pleased with His beloved Son immediately after Christ comes up out of the water. Even from the start, Jesus knew exactly what His mission was and was steadfast in seeing it to its perfect completion.

11/15/2023

“They fell down and worshiped Him…”
~Matthew 2:11

In Matthew 2:11, the wise men finally reach their destination after a long and arduous journey. The verse says, “And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.”

One of the remarkable things about the reaction of the wise men is that they didn’t blink an eye at the state of this supposed king. They followed the star to a small rural village, and then they met a family that is too poor to pay the regular redemption price for a first born son (Luke 2). However, they did not hesitate to worship the child and give him expensive gifts.
The world would have expected a great king to be clothed in splendor and living in a great palace with many servants. But God chose to humble Himself and become a simple man who dealt with the troubles of life. Many people missed what was right in front of them. God walked among them, but they never expected Him to be a carpenter’s son.

The wise men’s worship of the poor boy as king is in direct contrast to the chief priests and scribes earlier in the chapter who told Herod the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. These men knew the prophecies. They were alerted to the birth of a great king by the arrival of the wise men, yet none of them ventured out to go find the savior.

The wise men were aptly named, as they saw past the ways of the world to what was more important. When they looked at the poor young child, they saw a great king. They went through great inconvenience to reach that king, and they gifted him with great wealth, even though the world would have thought them foolish for doing so.

We need to learn from this lesson. The world today does not put much stock in Jesus. People focus on anything and everything ranging from money to sports to politics to hobbies, yet Jesus is accessible if we would only go to Him.

Like the chief priests and scribes of the Jews, we have all the resources we need to go to Jesus. We have God’s Scriptures. We have the church. We have historical research. We have the Holy Spirit to guide us. Yet the vast majority of people do not heed the signs, and even if they did, upon reaching the poor child in the rural village, they would turn away because that’s not what they were looking for. They want a worldly king who trumpets all their earthly desires.

To truly get to know Jesus, it must be on His terms. We cannot serve two masters. He requires our full devotion. We must be like the wise men, falling down and worshiping Him as He is, not as we want Him to be. The king that makes sense to the world would not have hung on a cross. What king would sacrifice His life for a people that deserved punishment? The same type of King that would choose to come to the earth as a poor son of a rural carpenter.

11/14/2023

Sunday's Message on Luke 12:35-48

https://open.spotify.com/episode/4AEkgjI7THcSOz0YjLAJIQ?si=tUCU0XfsR0i_8ucYV65oWw

Listen to this episode from Twin Tiers Bible Fellowship on Spotify. Sermon on middle part of Luke 12

01/25/2023

Matthew 9:12-13- But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

One thing I often marvel at about Jesus is that he knows exactly who we are. He knows the deepest recesses of our hearts, including all the pettiness and every corrupted thought and desire, yet He loves us.

Some people believe that God could never love them, but this passage displays the heart of our Lord. He knows how sick we are. He is completely aware that we are not good people. Like a doctor dealing with a cancer patient, He never claims to accept the cancer within us, but He takes us as we are and works on healing us. When He shed his blood on the cross, he provided the only medicine that can wash away our sins.

On the contrary, Jesus said he did not come for the righteous. The Bible tells us that none of us are righteous, and reality bares that out. Jesus is saying He didn’t come to help the people who don’t think they need it. God repeatedly says in His Word that he will give grace to the humble but opposes the proud (James 4:6). Let us all realize that we need a spiritual doctor and continually come to Jesus.

01/02/2022

Matthew 8:24-27- And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves, but He was asleep. And they went and woke him, saying, "Save us, Lord; we are perishing." And He said to them, "Why are you afraid, o you of little faith?" Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. And the men marveled, saying, "What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey Him?"

How often do we find ourselves being swamped by the waves of life? If we didn't know any better, we may well be convinced that we are perishing. And while we will all physically perish one day, those who believe in Jesus can have faith that they will never spiritually perish. Yet still, I sometimes find myself thinking that I am drowning in my trials. Why is that? I think I often try to handle the situation myself. I try to row harder and let Jesus stay asleep. Instead, I would be wise to go to Jesus at the first sign of trouble. After all, He is the one who has power over all of it. He created this world, and even in the midst of what can appear as chaos from our limited perspective, "I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:38-39).

02/18/2021

Matthew 7:3-5- Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is a log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.

Jesus aptly describes the human tendency to see the faults in others while somehow missing our own. We justify our own shortcomings as easily as we condemn the small vices in others.

The attitude we must take is one of self awareness. The Bible makes it clear that we have all fallen short. Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross makes it so that we don’t need to downplay our sin; we need to recognize it for what it is and lay it at the cross.

Having been forgiven, how then can we pass judgment on other people who suffer from the same malady as ourselves? According to God’s perfect standard, we have all fallen woefully short. We are no better than anybody else.

In these verses, it is clear that we must recognize and deal with our own sin before pointing out the sins of others. However, this does not mean that we are to ignore the sins of others. Rather, the whole goal is for all of us to recognize our sins and bring them to Jesus so we can be forgiven.

A loving neighbor would not ignore a splinter in their friend’s eye. So let us always look into ourselves to continually take our sins to Christ, and let us lovingly bring our brothers to Christ so that they can be healed as well.

02/04/2021

Matthew 6:19&20- Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.

It is so easy to become caught up in having enough in this life. We all want enough money, a nice home, some entertainment, good health, etc. and none of those things are necessarily bad, but it is not good when they become our purpose.

This verse is a reminder that the most important things may not feel that urgent. They may make us uncomfortable. They may take extra work that we don’t feel like doing. They may be unpopular. But they are the things that will last.

One day, we will each answer to the God of the universe. Will He say, “Well done, my good and faithful servant?” Are we honestly living the lives of servants right now? Many times I merely serve myself.

Lord, help us to give you all of ourselves. Make it clear to us that this life is temporary but what you have to offer is eternal. Help us to use our time and resources wisely. Help us lay up treasure where it can never be destroyed. Help each of us to love you with all of our heart, mind, and strength.

09/02/2020

A short devotion from Matthew 5.

Matthew 5:3- Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

This verse always give me pause. I don't naturally strive to be poor in spirit, but here Jesus tells us that people who are poor in spirit are the type of people who inherit the kingdom of heaven. Throughout the Psalms, several verses repeat the idea that the Lord uplifts the humble and brings down the proud. He opposes those who exalt themselves. To be poor in spirit is a recognition of our true state. It is a heartfelt and continuous acknowledgment that I am naturally wretched and that my only hope is to cling to Jesus Christ... to strive to give up on my own lusts and ambitions and put my hopes and efforts into being more like Christ. This is only possible with the help of the Holy Spirit.

So today, my prayer is that God would make us more poor in spirit, not in a way that provokes self pity, but in a way that causes us to turn to Jesus and consistently rely on Him.

03/23/2020

A short devotion from Matthew 4

Matthew 4:4- But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

What is the bread that we cling to for our own survival instead of looking to God? In this pandemic world of uncertainty, many people are looking to the wrong things. A person can make it without toilet paper. A person can make it without three square meals a day. A person can make it without money. A person can make it without their health. A person can make it without their life.

What I mean is that the most important thing, beyond your life savings or even your very life, is an eternal relationship with Jesus Christ. What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul? I would much rather lose the whole world and gain my soul, and with a perspective like that, the things of this earth grow strangely dim as something greater and more lasting comes into focus.

To put the above verse in context, Jesus had just fasted for forty days and nights and was being tempted by the devil. The devil told Jesus to command the stones to become bread, and Jesus quoted the above scripture.

Jesus was obviously very hungry. He needed bread or some other type of food to survive. Yet he shows very clearly here that the physical things of this world pale in comparison to the spiritual things.

People are hoarding up everything that they think they might need. My challenge for all of us is to hoard up the Word of God. Shouldn’t it go without saying that we should seek after the heart of God more than we seek after a roll of toilet paper or a bottle of hand sanitizer. Unlike these things, God is infinite, and we will find as we seek Him out that there is enough of Him for everyone. In these troubled times, there is peace if one seeks after the things that really matter.

03/04/2020

Matthew 3:2- Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

This is a message that is always relevant to us all because our natural tendency is to forget God and move away from him. At any point in our lives, we either need to be reminded to turn back towards God or to be encouraged to have a spirit that is ready and willing to turn back to God the moment we go astray.

Jesus says to keep on in the spirit of repentance. Turning back to God is not a one time thing. It is a life attitude, and a humble recognition that I am prone to wander and need a shepherd that will continually call me back to himself.

02/17/2020

A short devotion from Matthew 2

Matthew 2:4&5a- and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea...”

What is remarkable about this verse is not that the priests and scribes knew the location of Christ’s birth but that they were alerted to it by the arrival of the wise men from the east and seemingly did nothing. These people had been waiting for the Messiah for centuries, and their whole existence was tied up in their religion, yet foreigners who were unaware of the Jewish traditions and scriptures and lowly shepherds were the only ones that the Bible records as visiting baby Jesus. Even at his birth, the priests and scribes showed that they were more interested in their customs and traditions than in getting to know Jesus.

This is an important point for us to remember, as many of us have grown up in Christian homes and been raised in a society that has given us as much access to the gospel as ever before. May we not view ourselves as godly yet fail to make our way to Jesus.

02/06/2020

A short devotion from Matthew 1: Just Like Joseph.

Matthew 1:19- “And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.”

Mary was pregnant, and Joseph knew it wasn’t by him. The obvious conclusion was that she had committed adultery.

In this verse we see the character of Joseph, a man whom God chose to raise His own son and to set an example for us. Despite believing he had been deeply wronged, Joseph did not seek to shame Mary. He kept her best interest in mind and acted righteously despite the betrayal he must have felt.

Let us all learn from Joseph to act in the best interest of those around us even when we feel justified in our negative feelings.

Then we, like Joseph, will be considered just.