Devotionary

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Ep 372 – Acts 1:6-11 Dec 23, 2017

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In verses 6-11 of Acts 1, Peter is going to address the Kingdom of God. The disciples of Jesus had a strong desire to see it come about. They had followed Jesus, in part, because they had heard the testimony of John the Baptist, as he preached that the Kingdom of Heaven was at hand. They had even heard Jesus preach the very same message. And they had spent more than three years of their lives following Jesus, hoping that He was going to set up His kingdom on earth and assign each of them positions of power and authority. But with Jesus' death, all those hopes had quickly faded. Then, when He rose from the dead and appeared to them, their hopes and dreams were restored. But once again, they were to see their Messiah and friend leave them. This time, not because of death, but because He was returning to heaven. What they were going to learn was that the kingdom Jesus came to set up was of a spiritual nature, and they were citizens of it. While He returned to heaven, they were going to remain behind and continue His ministry of calling others into His heavenly kingdom through acceptance of God's gracious gift of salvation made possible through the death and resurrection of His Son. The King had come and, one day, He was going to return. But in the meantime, the citizens of His Kingdom had work to do.

Ep 370 – Acts Introduction Dec 22, 2017

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What we find recorded in the pages of the book of Acts is nothing less than miraculous, a series of events that turned the world upside down as the gospel turned sinners into saints and the Holy Spirit empowered ordinary men and women to do extraordinary things for God. And the story continues. As always, let me encourage you to read along as we work our way through this incredible book. Take time to go over the Scripture reading for each day. It will make these sessions much more memorable and applicable.

Ep 371 – Acts 1:1-5 Dec 22, 2017

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In the opening lines of his book, Luke reiterates the promise made by Jesus to His disciples. He had told them that He was leaving, but He had promised to send them another comforter, the Advocate or Holy Spirit, who would indwell and empower them. And He had instructed them to return to Jerusalem and to wait for the Spirit's arrival. Unaware of just what they were getting themselves into, the disciples would end up doing just as Jesus said. And Luke is going to provide us with a blow-by-blow, detailed account of what happened after Jesus ascended back into heaven. This chronicle of those days following the ascension of Jesus, as the disciples sat waiting for His promise to be fulfilled, is a first-person glimpse into a once-in-a-lifetime event that was going to revolutionize not only the lives of the 11 disciples He had left behind, but the world itself. The pages of this book are filled with the record of actual, historical events, but also with unbelievable and theological insightful details regarding the early church. We are about to discover our rich heritage as followers of Christ and get a much-needed reminder of who we are and the nature of the promise we have received from Jesus in the form of the Holy Spirit. Read these pages carefully, eagerly and reverently. In them you will find a timely reminder that Jesus did not leave you as an orphan, but sent His Holy Spirit to comfort, guide and empower you to do mighty acts for God.

Ep 369 – 2 Peter 2:14-18 Dec 21, 2017

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As we wrap up this Devotionary on 2 Peter, we will deal with a question with which each of us as believers should wrestle. How will Jesus find you when He returns? This last portion of Peter's second letter has addressed an issue that had come up in the churches to whom he was was writing. There were false teachers who had been propagating the idea that there would be no second coming of Christ. But Peter strongly and vehemently disagrees. He assures them that Jesus will return, and only God knows when it will happen. The apparent delay of His return was not to cause any confusion or consternation. God had everything under complete control and His timeline for these events was perfect and unchanging. The greater question for Peter was whether or not the people of God would be ready when Jesus DID return. Would they be growing in Christ-likeness? Would they be fulfilling the great commission and sharing the gospel with anyone and everyone they met? Would Jesus see them as good and faithful servants? When it comes to the return of Christ, our only concern should be whether or not we will be ready when it happens, not whether it's going to.

Ep 368 – 2 Peter 3:8-13 Dec 20, 2017

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What kind of person should you be? These days, it seems like everybody has an opinion. And if you don't meet their expectations, they are more than happy to let you know. They may express their disappointment and disapproval in anger, rejection, shame, humiliation, or outright hostility. But in 2 Peter 3:8-13, Peter is going to point us to God, and remind us to worry about what He thinks about us and what He expects of us. False teachers were having a negative influence on the believers to whom Peter was writing, by casting dispersions on their beliefs and tempting them to doubt the validity of Christ's second coming. But Peter warns that God was far from done. Just because things seemed to be delayed and there was no real evidence that Christ's return was eminent, did not mean it wasn't going to happen. And rather than worrying about when Jesus was going to return, Peter wanted his readers to concern themselves with what they would look like when He did. Would they be holy and godly? Would they be ready? They needed to leave the timing up to God, focusing their attention on their own pursuit of Christ-likeness, and sharing the gospel with all those who needed to hear it.

Ep 367 – 2 Peter 3:1-7 Dec 19, 2017

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Doubt. It is an ever-present reality for all believers. And we don't need any help with it. It comes naturally. But the enemy has always taken advantage of our natural propensity to doubt God, by sending false teachers with faulty information that gets us to question what God has promised. That's exactly what was happening in Peter's day. The false teachers had entered the local fellowship to whom Peter was writing and had begun raising questions about the second coming of Christ. They raised doubts about its plausibility and caused the believers to begin wondering whether it was ever going to happen at all. Well, if you remove the possibility of Christ's return, then you end up putting all the emphasis on this life and all it has to offer. There is no future life – no true eternal life. And that is what has Peter so riled up. He will not tolerate these false teachers casting dispersions on the promises of God by raising doubts about the future return of God's Son. And so, he goes out of his way to remind his readers that God's Word can be trusted. We don't judge the veracity of God's word based on what we see, but on what He has said.

Ep 366 – 2 Peter 2:17-22 Dec 18, 2017

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In 2 Peter 2:17-22, Peter provides us with some less-than-flattering descriptions of false teachers and a warning against falling prey to their persuasive words. He sees them as dangerous and to be avoided at all costs. And he pulls no punches in his searing attack on their message and methods. In a way, Peter seems to express an equal portion of anger mixed with sorrow over their state. They are self-deceived, not knowing the full impact of their actions. Because of their close association with the church, they have been exposed to the gospel message, but have refused to believe it, preaching and teaching their own version of the truth. And it their exposure to the truth regarding Jesus Christ and their rejection of it, that makes their future so bleak and sad. Peter expresses his sincere belief that it would have been far better had they never heard the gospel at all, rather than to have heard and rejected it. But more than anything else, Peter wants us to recognize them as what they are and to recognize the danger inherent in their teaching, so that we might avoid them at all costs.

Ep 365 – 2 Peter 2:10-16 Dec 17, 2017

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Peter's not done dealing with the false teachers threatening the spiritual well-being of the churches to which he was writing. This was serious stuff to Peter and he gives it the topic the weight he believes it deserves, going out of his way to describe these individuals in terms that would persuade the believers in his audience to avoid them at all costs. In 2 Peter 2:10-16, Peter will describe them as blots and blemishes, like stains on the white garments of the church of Jesus Christ. And, once again, he will turn to the Old Testament Scriptures for an illustration of just how wicked these men were. These stories would have been well-known to the Jews reading Peter's letter, but it is unlikely that they would have connected the dots and seen the parallels between the Old Testament character, Balaam, and the false teachers who were stirring up trouble. But Peter's point seems to be that this methodology is nothing new. It has been around a long time and is the work of Satan himself. These men are nothing more than liars, with an agenda that is selfish, not selfless. They could care less for the church or those who belong to it. Their focus was on their own well-being and their false messages were designed to pad their own wallets and reputations.

Ep 364 – 2 Peter 2:4-10 Dec 16, 2017

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The life of righteousness sometimes gets a bum rap. It gets written up as some kind of Puritanistic, pietistic, religious lifestyle that is high on holiness, but devoid of any happiness. Images of glum expressions and gloomy outlooks on life tend to come to mind. But Peter warns that the life of righteousness has its rewards. We may not get to experience them in this life, but that doesn't negate their validity or value. Remember, Peter has been addressing the issue of false teachers and their ever-present threat on the people of God. These are people who sneak their way into the body of Christ, propagating clever-sounding insights that are nothing less than outright heresy. And the temptation every believer faces is confusing what these people say with the Word of God. They are subtle and dangerously deceptive in their tactics and tend to sprinkle their falsehood with just enough truth to make what they say plausible and acceptable. But in 2 Peter 2:4-10, Peter is going to remind us that it pays to obey. And he is going to give some Old Testament examples of what happens to those who buy into the lie and those who hold to the truth about God. The lies of the enemy make all the sense in the world. But that's the point, they only make sense IN this world. They can't hold up to the future judgement of God and the world to come. But God's Word is everlasting. The righteous hold on to it, and place their faith in it.

Ep 363 – 2 Peter 2:1-3 Dec 15, 2017

Show notes

False teachers. It almost sounds like an oxymoron. Those two words just don't seem to go together. Teachers should be known for telling the truth. After all, their job is to educate and to disseminate information. Why would a teacher want to pass on falsehood? Well, the easy answer is: Because it fits their personal agenda. Teachers have been guilty of spreading lies for years. Not all teachers, but enough of them to make a difference. These kinds of teachers twist the truth and play with the facts in order to pass on their particular view of things. This is true in history, science, literature, and even religion. And it's not a new phenomena. It's been going on for generations. Even Peter had to deal with false teachers and the flawed content coming out of their mouths. In 2 Peter 2, verses 1-3, Peter is going to begin a diatribe against any and all who attempt to deceive the people of God with clever-sounding, ear-tickling truth claims that are nothing more than the lies of the enemy disguised with piety and religious rhetoric. These people are appealing, because what they have to say sounds so good. They tell people what they want to hear, rather than saying what God wants said. Truth becomes subjective and the words of men take precedence over the Word of God. But Peter warns that these people are dangerous and to be avoided at all costs. And they stand condemned before God.

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