May 30th - No Lasting City

Prayer Requests
Praise - Cayden and Jacob Adoption/Foster Situation

Students Traveling

David preaching Next Wednesday
Pastor Aaron Preaching
Dave and Brooke First Day
Ben and Holly First Day

Kyle's Family

Text – Jeremiah 29:1-23, 1 Peter 1-5

Since we’ve got so many students out of class today and the importance of 2 Peter 2, especially verse 4, I’ve decided not to continue but take my one safety day to teach on something else. I hope that we will still be able to finish Second Peter by August, but if not we’ll have to deal with it.

Let’s look briefly today at Hermeneutics, this is a big cool theological word which means “The art and science of interpreting the Bible.” It is basically how to read the Bible and derive the Author’s intended meaning from it. The word Hermeneutics comes from Greek Mythology, a dude named Hermes whose job it was to deliver the messages of the gods. When we talk about Hermeneutics we are looking at how to discern the full meaning of what God is telling us.

Some hermeneutical principles are:

1. What is the plainest meaning of the text?
2. How would the original audience understand this text?
3. How does it apply to us today?
4. Which words are repeated?
5. How does this book relate to other books of the Bible?
6. What would we lose if this were not in the Bible?

And the one I want to look at today is which words are repeated across Bible books and something huge jumped out at me which is rather neat and will really open up our passage for us today. We’re going to look at the letter in Jeremiah 29 and compare it to First Peter. Jeremiah 29:11 is one of the most wickedly misquoted verses in the whole Bible, if I have a least favorite verse it is this one when it is taken out of context:

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

The reason I dislike it so much is because people try to make it say that God won’t let anything bad possibly ever happen to you, which is quite ironic because God is doing something quite painful to the original audience in the midst of this letter. But first lets look at how we got to this point.

I was looking at the end of First Peter and saw Babylon, which when coupled with the beginning of First Peter, which says exiles, draws a line straight back to Jeremiah 29,

1 Peter 1:1 To those who are elect exiles of the dispersion

1 Peter 5:13 She who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings

Look at how Jeremiah 29 starts,

Jeremiah 29:4 Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon

This doesn’t automatically say that Peter was thinking of this letter when writing his letter, but it is interesting enough to look into it, and the more I researched it the more I feel that Peter used Jeremiah 29 as a basic outline for his letter.

So let’s look at the beginning of Jeremiah 29:

Jeremiah 29:1-3 These are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders of the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. This was after King Jeconiah and the queen mother, the eunuchs, the officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metal workers had departed from Jerusalem. The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. It said:

The context is that God has given his people into captivity as punishment for their lawlessness. He sends everybody from the king and queen to the laborers; some stay back in Jerusalem but their lot is worse than those who go into captivity in Babylon, life in Jerusalem at this time was not nice.

The beginning of First Peter is very similar talking about all of the people groups who are God’s exiles: everybody from hoity toity Asia, to rural Cappadocia, to maritime Pontia. Truly God is no respecter of persons.

Let’s read the letter:

Jeremiah 29:4-23 Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream, for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; I did not send them, declares the LORD. "For thus says the LORD: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the LORD, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile. "Because you have said, 'The LORD has raised up prophets for us in Babylon,' thus says the LORD concerning the king who sits on the throne of David, and concerning all the people who dwell in this city, your kinsmen who did not go out with you into exile: 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, behold, I am sending on them sword, famine, and pestilence, and I will make them like vile figs that are so rotten they cannot be eaten. I will pursue them with sword, famine, and pestilence, and will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse, a terror, a hissing, and a reproach among all the nations where I have driven them, because they did not pay attention to my words, declares the LORD, that I persistently sent to you by my servants the prophets, but you would not listen, declares the LORD.' Hear the word of the LORD, all you exiles whom I sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon: 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying a lie to you in my name: Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall strike them down before your eyes. Because of them this curse shall be used by all the exiles from Judah in Babylon: "The LORD make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire," because they have done an outrageous thing in Israel, they have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives, and they have spoken in my name lying words that I did not command them. I am the one who knows, and I am witness, declares the LORD.'"

The beginning of this letter is glorious and expanded in Peter. If Peter hadn’t talked about this we might have a hard time making this point from Jeremiah, we’d say, “This is just to the Jews, we ought not apply it to ourselves.” But Peter does apply it to us, and changes our exile to this world where we are away from Heaven, and the foreign land we are in is this world.

vv.5-7 Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.

Jeremiah says make yourself comfortable, and strive for the welfare of the city you are in. Even though whichever city the Jews were in, be it Susa or Babylon or Nipur or wherever, was not their city, they were called to seek the welfare of that city. Where is our city?

Hebrews 13:14 here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.

But where is our exile? Kennesaw, Acworth, Atlanta…Here is what Peter says,

1 Peter 2:16-17 Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.

Besides that Peter tells us how to treat our husbands and wives. What does a husband need in order to honor his wife? He needs a wife, so in the exile we get married, have children, get jobs, and live our life as a testament to God.

vv.8-9 For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream, for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; I did not send them, declares the LORD.

These prophets, we learn in chapter 28, were telling the Jews not to unpack or get comfortable because they would be heading back to Jerusalem soon. God tells the people not to listen to these liars who say they are speaking for God. Our modern equivalent is people who think Jesus is coming back this afternoon, who are so caught up in eschatology that they don’t have any sort of plan for ministry and life. Baptists are bad at this, but Jehovah’s Witnesses are infinitely worse, they don’t build hospitals or orphanages because they’re sure Jesus will be here by noon and a hospital would be a waste of money.

But we’re in this exile for a while, we ought to build hospitals, orphanages, and ministries that address both felt needs and eternal needs. Any preacher who tells you anything different is a liar, according to God.

vv.10-13 For thus says the LORD: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.

God has a definitive plan for the Jews, and we know that they returned to Jerusalem right at 70 years. God likewise has a definitive plan for us, and we will not leave this earth a moment before or after he intends, neither will Christ return early or late, he will be exactly on time.

On that day we will be gathered to Heaven, when he returns or calls us home, and his ultimate plan is for our good, we will have unending health and overabundance of hope and an eternal future. On that day we will be perfect and seek God with all of our heart. Check how Peter puts it:

1 Peter 4:1 Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh (and died) has ceased from sin,

Here on earth we will never seek Christ with our whole heart, but if he has saved us then we have the assurance that in Heaven we will cease from sin and our whole undivided affection will be on Jesus Christ.

Look at what God is going to redeem us from:

v.14 I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the LORD, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

The Christian exile has an eternal hope, but those who refused to obey God (vv.15-16) have a much different future, because we’re running out time I’m just going to read it but I think it will speak for itself, these people followed men rather than God:

vv.16-19 concerning all the people who dwell in this city, your kinsmen who did not go out with you into exile: 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, behold, I am sending on them sword, famine, and pestilence, and I will make them like vile figs that are so rotten they cannot be eaten. I will pursue them with sword, famine, and pestilence, and will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse, a terror, a hissing, and a reproach among all the nations where I have driven them, because they did not pay attention to my words, declares the LORD, that I persistently sent to you by my servants the prophets, but you would not listen, declares the LORD.'

Peter puts it this way:

1 Peter 4:17 For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?

Finally God turns the letter back to the exiles but points out the wicked false prophets who claim to be speaking for him, but really aren’t

vv.20-23 Hear the word of the LORD, all you exiles whom I sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon: 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying a lie to you in my name: Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall strike them down before your eyes. Because of them this curse shall be used by all the exiles from Judah in Babylon: "The LORD make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire," because they have done an outrageous thing in Israel, they have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives, and they have spoken in my name lying words that I did not command them. I am the one who knows, and I am witness, declares the LORD.'"

This is basically your application, pay more attention to the Bible than to people, don’t listen to people who say that they are speaking for God unless they can back-up their point with an explicit Bible verse in context. More importantly, don’t misrepresent God.

We’ve touched on the major neat points of the link between Jeremiah and First Peter, but we’re out of time to look at more. The most important thing about this isn’t though that we’ve discovered a great parallel in the Bible, but that we take both letters seriously as God-breathed instructions from Heaven. There are many such parallels in the Bible, and finding them is cool, but if we don’t obey the most basic interpretation of the scriptures then our latter end is worse than if we didn’t even know.

The direct application for how to live your life is to first trust in Jesus Christ knowing that he is the one who wills that we be in exile, and he commands us to live this life representing him seeking the welfare of the city we live in.

We live in exile for a long time, approximately 70 years, which I don’t think at all is a coincidence that this is the average life expectancy;

Psalm 90:7 The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away.

Not everyone is guaranteed 70, you might even get less than 20, but beloved the beauty of this passage is that for the one who obeys and trusts God for salvation is that God’s plan for us is health and an eternal future when we step out of this world we are present with the Lord, and we will never sin again.

So live your life with this in view, love widows and orphans and keep yourself unstained from the world, for this is religion pleasing in the sight of God.

May 23rd - The Prophetic Word

Prayer Requests
Pastor Aaron Preaching
Dave and Brooke Transition
Ben and Holly Transition
Eden Gospel Video Project

Students Traveling Next Week

Praise: Summer and good grades!

Kari's Dance Performance in Charleston

Text – 2 Peter 1:12-21

This morning we’re going to look at the plenary sufficiency of scripture. Plenary is an important word because it means that scripture contains all we need to know about God and how to be saved. There is nothing we need to know about God that isn’t in the Bible. Another big fancy word about the Bible is perspicuity, it means that the Bible speaks clearly to us and requires no big elaborate interpretation to understand what it means. While we’re talking about big words and concepts, let’s look at Occam’s Razor, which basically means the most simple and straightforward interpretation is probably correct. This will be important to remember as we look at our passage today.

Before we get into the lesson, I wanted to correct myself on one important point. Last week I said that Peter wasn’t saved under the New Covenant, but was probably under the Old Covenant. The Old Covenant, or salvation under the Old Testament, was harder to discern than being saved today, because people then weren’t born-again and given the Holy Spirit. However, they were saved the same way through faith in God, trusting that he is able to save those who hope in him. Today we know that God does that through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. So what I want to correct is that it is impossible to say if Peter would have been saved if he died under the Old Covenant, because it seems he was trusting wholly in God, albeit he didn’t realize why the Messiah had come.

Second, and something I just want to mention and hopefully spend some time on in the future, is that after reading the letter in Jeremiah 29 I think that we could say Peter had this letter in mind in his First Epistle. I hope that at some point, probably in August, we can look at this hypothesis and see if it is true. What this letter was was instructions to the exiles in Babylon on how to live until God rescued them, and likewise this was what Peter’s Epistle is.

I mention that idea both to get your imagination going, because I think it will be useful to see Peter’s great illustrations, and also to remind you how well all of the Bible fits together and that it is a complete thought written by God to reveal to us who God is, who we are, and what God demands of us.

Let’s do a bit of review before we read our passage.

What makes this Epistle special in the New Testament? It is Peter’s last letter before he was executed.

Which other Epistles are similar? Second Timothy and Hebrews.

What are the four major themes that Peter wants us to know in this Epistle? How to know you’re a Christian, the sufficiency of scripture, the danger of false teachers, and the surety of judgment through Christ’s return.

Last week we talked about how to know you’re saved, how do we know that? Our faith, which is how we’re saved through grace, is bearing fruit; fruit of virtue and knowledge and love and worship and every good thing.

What do these fruits show? That we have partaken in the Divine Nature, and that the Holy Spirit is dwelling in us.

And how do we know all of this? Do we just make it up and hope it’s true? No, we know it through the Bible, which is our final rule of faith and practice; for as the Baptist Faith and Message 2K puts it so well, “The Bible has God for its Author, Salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its content.” Let’s read now how we know that;

2 Peter 1:12-21 Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things. For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased," we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

I love how Peter starts out this thought process, he says basically, “I know you already know this and are putting it into practice. Still, I’m going to remind you and hopefully by reminding you it will cause you to live an even more godly life.”

Check out how he puts it,

vv.12-14 Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder,

Heretofore Peter has had the ability to tell his followers this in person, and to demonstrate this way of living, and to exhort them in sermons, but something is about to happen to him that is going to cause him to no longer be able to deliver these ideas in person. What is it?

v. 14 since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me.

Peter is on death row while he is writing this, not too much later he would go to his death; the execution style was crucifixion, and he requested to be crucified upsidedown since he was not worthy to die in the same way as his God and Saviour. He had known for over 30 years that he would die when he was old, as Jesus made clear to him;

John 21:18-19 Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go." (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, "Follow me."

Peter says that he is about to die for two reasons, first to give his rationale for writing what he is about to write, and second to remind his hearers that he spoke face to face with Jesus Christ, the Word which became flesh.

v.15 And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.

Peter is saying that we won’t have him, but at any time we can be reminded of the words of Christ and the teachings of Peter; how is that? He pick up the Word and read it! In the next verses he is going to say that what he is writing are not myths or made up, but were derived directly from the teaching of Jesus Christ, brought to remembrance through the Holy Spirit.

John 14:26 the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

vv.16-18 For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased," we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain.

Peter is referring to the event on the mountain in Caesarea Philippi when Jesus Christ was transfigured and seen in majestic light, at this point Peter heard with full clarity the voice of God the Father. Check this out, Peter spoke face to face with Jesus Christ, he heard from Heaven personally, and yet he is going to point us at the written Word, and he’s going to give a very good reason for it:

v.19 And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts,

Something more sure…how could it be more sure than God speaking directly to Peter? It’s because the written Word is objective, it means what it means and you can’t interpret it to mean something it doesn’t mean. You obviously can misinterpret it, but that doesn’t change what the author meant. Words from Heaven or in your head are subjective, they can mean whatever you want them to mean and even make them up. When you claim God told you something you are required next to give the chapter and verse reference!

Who were some other people who heard directly from God? Moses, Abraham, Jeremiah, Elijah, Paul…how do we know that they heard audibly from God? Because the written Word tells us so. We read the Bible to see what God wants us to know about him and how to live, it is our light in a very dark world, because apart from it we would not know the attributes of God. Apart from the Bible we can know there is a God and that he is a moral being, but he has been very specific to reveal himself explicitly through the Bible.

The Bible is our lamp until the dawn. What do you think that means? The Bible is a light for us in a dark world, it is sufficient to light our path,

Psalm 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

But, do you guys use a flashlight during the day? Did you bring a Coleman lantern to class today so you can find your way to your next class? No, because you don’t need a lamp during the day. Peter is pointing out that the Bible is only necessary while Christ is away, when he, the Morning Star, rises/returns, then we will not need this Bible because we will see Christ face to face and he will be the complete revelation of himself to us.

Revelation 21:23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.

The Bible is truly supernatural that the same Word was totally applicable in Peter’s day and is totally applicable in our day. There isn’t a single part of the Bible that we don’t need today, there isn’t a single part that Peter wouldn’t have used because it was for people later. The Bible speaks to all people at all times and is totally relevant. The neat thing about this is that one book is all we need and we don’t have to have a book of rules and contingencies and back-up plans for our individual needs, because all of the Bible is useful for every believer.

We don’t stand in front of the refrigerator waiting for the Holy Spirit to tell us what we should have for lunch. We don’t sit around meditating waiting for the Heavens to open up and give us personalized instructions on where we should share the gospel. We don’t ask God who we should marry because in every way he has given us principles in the Bible on how to walk in this world while honoring Christ.

v.20 knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation.

No prophecy comes from someone’s own interpretation. This one verse is hugely important for reading the Bible. If you want to say that a verse means something that it doesn’t, it doesn’t change what the verse means, because what is important is what the Holy Spirit meant.

A great example is John 3:17, turn there with me. It says, “God did not send his Son into the world.” Wow, that’s pretty straightforward isn’t it…According to this verse, Jesus either didn’t come to the world, or he wasn’t God’s Son, or he came of his own accord, or maybe he was running away from Heaven? Are any of these interpretations correct where it says God did not send his Son into the world? No, what’s the verse say in context?

John 3:17-18 God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

So it turns out that God did send his Son into the world, despite my weird interpretation a few seconds ago. It’s way more important what the Bible means than what someone says it means.

Another thing to look at is translations; the exact words that God chose to express himself are there for a purpose and there is a huge benefit to reading the Bible in the original languages, but it is more important what the Bible means than which words it says it with. Our translations all use minorly different words, but they all say the same thing. If you think about all of the translations from the Greek to the English to the Spanish to the Swahili, they all use radically different words to say the same thing, and so the interpretation which the Author intended is more important than how he says it.

And who is this author?

v.21 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

Every last word in your Bible was put there by the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit, being very God of very God, doesn’t make mistakes. So you can trust your Bible wholly that it contains no errors or contradictions or extra or missing information. In the 19th century the Institute of Paris researched the Bible and found 82 things they thought would discredit the Bible, such as supposed contradictions, errors, or places they believed were made up. Since that time all 82 have been resolved through scholarship, archaeology, and just plain readings of the scripture. If you want some homework for summer, I’d encourage you to go home and look up on an atheist website, “Contradictions in the Bible”, find one that seems especially plausible, then put it into Google, and I guarantee you that there is a definitive resolution to whatever they think is a contradiction.

One last thing I want to hit upon is when we talk about the Bible being inspired. Part of the reason this is an issue is the way the King James translators translated a word,

2 Timothy 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness...

The word for inspiration may have meant something different to them than what it means to us, but what does it mean to be inspired today? It means to be motivated, to be influenced, or to breathe-in.

But what the Greek word means breathed…literally expired…so when we say the Bible is God breathed or inspired we mean it literally has the life of God in it, it came from his own lungs. Just like he breathed life into Adam, so does the Bible have life-giving properties that are able to quicken a dead soul.

And so this is why Peter reminds us to read our Bibles, because this Book is literally the very Word of God, it was given by him to point us towards godliness and grow us into salvation, to light our paths, to let us know that Christ will return and light all of Eternity.

So beloved, read your Bibles, be reminded of the wonderful things which God has given to us through his prophetic Word, which Christ fulfilled and which will last until the end of the age. Truly there is no greater book ever written, worth more than every other book combined, and so I highly encourage you to read and know this book.

May 16th - Fruit of Repentance

Prayer Requests

Jamie Preaching 8:30am
Lucas Preaching 9:45am
John-Michael Preaching 11:10am

Randy and Michelle Foster/Adopting Baby Caden and Caden's Health
Dave and Brooke
Ben and Holly
Canyon Preaching at Durham Friday

Text – 2 Peter 1:1-11

Did everyone have a chance to read First Peter 1-5 after last week? (If yes, then continue, if no then read 1 Peter 1-5)

As we look at Second Peter there are many many things which are to be seen that are totally glorious which I may not be able to transmit properly or even prove to you in a short time, but which I hope you see now or come to see in the future. This passage today may be one that grows in you over a long time until it makes total sense, but in we’re fortunate than it will be apparent today what Peter is calling us to, because this passage could and should totally rock your worldview.

It took a long time for this passage to make sense to Peter, as we watch his spiritual growth from when we first meet him in AD27 through his conversion in AD30, to his death in AD67 sometime after the writing of this letter. Coupled with this is his reconciliation and friendship with Paul. Twenty years before this Paul and Peter had some friction between each other,

Galatians 2:11-14 But when Cephas (Peter) came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, "If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?"

But now in Rome, Peter writes in this Epistle that Paul’s writing is scripture, and in verse 2 I think you can even say that Peter quotes Paul’s letter to Titus as scripture. It is clear through many evidences that Paul and Peter were fellowshipping together in Rome and I’m quite certain that they wrote Hebrews together. Their reconciliation is beautiful and Peter’s call for doctrinal purity now in this letter is a wonderful fruit of a life lived for God.

We look at three letters; Second Timothy, Hebrews, and Second Peter, as capstone projects. These letters are the last things written by two condemned men, desiring to communicate their last points to a church which is going to be deprived of its greatest minds, and they want to leave something sure, the written Word of God. (2 Peter 1:15) Many people become philosophical and purposeful when they realize they are going to die, and both Paul and Peter knew that under madman Nero that they were not long for this world, and they write their last thoughts…their direct and no-frills writing is glorious.

2 Peter 1:13-14 I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me.

2 Timothy 4:6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.

Your first application before we even read any of our passage in Second Peter is to always ensure your writing is worthy of being your last. If I died tomorrow would I be embarrassed that this manuscript was my last? No, because I know that I am terminal with less than 100 years to live and that everything must be done towards a purpose and done towards the glory of Christ, and so this manuscript is written to the best of my abilities. Second Peter is similarly written for such a purpose.

Not that any scripture is any more inspired than another, but some scripture is more applicable and easier to understand and more pressing than others. For example, a study of Enoch is less important than a study of Jesus Christ, but a study of Enoch is useful. Likewise, you wouldn’t teach a dying man about stewardship or chiastic structures. You want your last words to be forceful and applicable to all. Peter gives us four major themes that are forceful and applicable to all, these are what he determines as the most important things for the church to know, these are:

1. How to know you’re a Christian
2. The inspiration of the Bible
3. The dangers of false-teachers
4. The immanent return of Jesus Christ and the surety of judgment

So today we’re going to look at how you know you’re a Christian.

2 Peter 1:1-11 Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

So verse 1, which sets a foundation for the rest of the book, is speaking to those who have received faith. This is an important verse concerning where our faith comes from; does it come from our heads or our hearts or from our little toe? No, it says it is external from us, this is a running theme in the Bible (cf. Eph 2:8-9),

Romans 10:17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

Our faith is a gift from God, and through this faith we enter into a right relationship with God through the grace of Jesus Christ. Through this grace we have such awesome promise as to be gifted by God to be like God. This is quite a neat fact of history, that Adam and Eve wanted to be like God but took the sinful route and fell far from God,

Genesis 3:5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.

But through Christ’s righteousness and his merits we will indeed become like God and partake in his divine nature;

1 John 3:2-3 we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.

I want to read verses 3-4 again so you see just how amazing this gift and these promises are;

vv.3-4 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

Adam and Eve sought to be like God by diving into sin, but the way we’ve entered into divine nature is by escaping sinful desire, by repenting, but trusting in Christ and being saved by grace through faith. It is not Peter’s intent, but it is worth mentioning, that what was gained by Christ’s work on the cross and his Resurrection far exceeds what was lost. There is a new song that says, “I want to be in Eden…” and this song, by Phil Wickham, totally misses the glory of New Jerusalem and the great and precious promises.

Part of the reason that what we have now is better is because we now have a knowledge of good and evil, we know why God is good and why sin is wicked. Adam and Eve could not have possibly imagined how much damage their disobedience could have caused, but we do, and so in eternity we will flee from sin in every manifestation, and what better time to start doing so than now? The only difference is that in Heaven we will be incapable of sinning.

Can any of you name the Solas of the Reformation? We don’t have a lot of time to spend on them, but let’s go over them quickly, there are six, albeit most people only name five.

Sola Gratia – Grace Alone
Sola Fide – Faith Alone
Solus Christus – Christ Alone
Sola Scriptura – Scripture Alone
Soli Deo Gloria – The Glory of God Alone
Sola Sacerdos – One Priesthood of Believers

What it means, in a nutshell, is that we are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone known by scripture alone for the glory of God alone resulting in one priesthood of believers. The reason I bring this up is so we can look at Sola Fide, Faith Alone, because we are justified, saved by grace, by faith alone. But it is important to remember that while we’re saved by faith alone, the faith that saves is not alone. And that is what Peter is going to say in verses 5-7

vv.5-7 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.

Virtue – A firmness to do what is right; a resolve to follow Christ no matter the cost.
Knowledge – Literally science; knowing both God’s written and general revelation.
Self-Control – Putting knowledge into action.
Steadfastness – Patience/Abiding in the preceding things.
Godliness – Worship and outward giving.
Brotherly Affection (Philadelphia) – Loving inside of the church through action and emotion.
Love (Agape) – Loving outside of the church through action.

Imagine for just a second that we’re all on a baseball team. While I used to be good at baseball, but pretend now I’m not any good; I constantly strike out, I can’t catch, I can’t pitch, and generally I’m just a bad baseball player. Now imagine momentarily that it is possible for the spirit of Babe Ruth to be imputed to me: so that happens and I come running to the field and say, “Hey! The spirit of Babe Ruth is in me! Let’s play baseball!” But when we play, I still strike out, when I do hit the ball it doesn’t make it out of the infield. My first pitch hits the batter in the helmet…does it sound like the spirit of Babe Ruth is in me? Not really.

So now turn it to the real thing, Peter is saying we’re partakers of the Divine Nature, we have the Spirit of God dwelling in us. We should then be abundantly radiating his attributes; virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly love, and charity. And in all of these, we should be hitting home runs; check verses 8 and 9.

vv.8-9 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.

If these are yours, then you have evidence of a fruitful life in Christ, but if you don’t, then Peter says you are blind. The end of verse 9 is hard to be totally sure of what it means reading it by itself, but when we look at the context of verse 10 in a second we’ll see that a person who doesn’t have fruit with his faith actually hasn’t been cleansed from former sins and is still dead in his sins and trespasses. The best interpretation I read was that this person probably claimed to be saved but since his faith was alone it was a dead faith and not one capable of saving.

James 2:17-19 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, "You have faith and I have works." Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!

This is why it’s important to read things in context because if we just read verse 9 we could get all confused, but in verse 10 Peter tells us exactly what he means;

v.10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.

We make our calling and election, aka our salvation, sure by looking at our fruit, seeing if it is present and good, and we know that then we have the Holy Spirit in us and working through us. If we have these, we will never fall from grace, and the outcome of our faith is verse 11;

v.11 For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Through the merits of Christ and the justification, sanctification, and glorification of the Holy Spirit, we will enter into the kingdom of Christ.

So beloved, test yourself to see if you are in the faith, does your faith come with love joy peace patience kindness goodness gentleness faithfulness and self-control? Are you bearing fruit keeping with repentance? Are you trusting in Christ and Christ alone? Is your faith alone or is it accompanied by these qualities.

If it is not attended with these qualities, then beloved I implore you to seek Christ until he saves you and your life bears fruit, that you are sure the Holy Spirit is working in you, because beloved you don’t want to be so near-sighted that you are blind and fall.

May 9th - Conclusion to First Peter

Prayer Requests
Pastor Aaron Preaching
High Schoolers Preaching next week
Dave and Brooke
Ben and Holly

Craig and Katarina baby!

James' friend Aaron

Text – 1 Peter 5:6-14

There is so much in these last eight verses and I hope I do these verses justice. I did the schedule for the rest of the school year and we can just finish Second Peter if we stay on a strict schedule and that schedule requires us to finish First Peter today. Many of the things I could talk about from the end of this Epistle will be reiterated in Peter’s second epistle, so that’s why I don’t have too many qualms with just skipping over them.

So context, what was the beginning of chapter 5 about? Shepherds overseeing the flock, the church, and the church obeying the shepherds. Who is our chief Shepherd? Jesus Christ. Who is our chief Overseer? Jesus Christ. He is our good Shepherd who laid down his life for his sheep, so that is where we’re going to pick up today, that we must humble ourselves under his leading.

1 Peter 5:6-14 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen. By Silvanus, a faithful brother as I regard him, I have written briefly to you, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it. She who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings, and so does Mark, my son. Greet one another with the kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ.

This is a major theme at the end Second Timothy and James, that Christ is able to rescue us from the world and the efforts of Satan to destroy us, I think that it is such a major theme because of a very vivid story about David, one that we read two weeks ago but one that is worth rereading,

1 Samuel 17:34-35 But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him.”

Let’s read the other two Epistles as well to see how Paul and James described it; Peter follows James chapter 4 close enough that I think you could make a case for Peter quoting it as scripture, with will be something we’ll talk about a lot more in Second Peter.

James 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

2 Timothy 4:17-18 the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

In all of this Peter, Paul, and James are making a major point, that as terrifying, big, dangerous, and evil the Devil is, Christ is bigger. Remember when we talked about sheep we realized how defenseless they really are, they are totally without a defense mechanism and are wholly dependent on the shepherd for their safety. Likewise are with Satan, but we have such a great promise as these three passages, and add

2 Thessalonians 3:3 the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one.

As much as I need to stay on topic to get through this on time, I really want to remind you that it is foolish to worry about one or two things and hope to keep yourself alive. I don’t think it would be exaggerating at all to say there are a million things a day that try to kill you, from germs to gamma-rays, and only by God’s good pleasure are we spared to walk in the good works which he has prepared for us. We don’t resist the Devil under our own power, but by drawing near to God knowing that Satan cannot overpower or defeat the plans and purposes of God.

Our duty in this is to humble ourselves under the watchful and mighty hand of Christ, knowing that he cares for us. We watch for the schemes and plans of the Devil, which are to get us to doubt Christ and love our selves and worldly desires more than him. When we see these things come up, then it is absolutely imperative that we resist and flee to Christ, firm in our faith that he has overcome the world, overcome the grave, and is able to deliver us to Heaven.

You’ll notice to this point we haven’t really gone verse by verse, this is partly my fault and partly how Peter concludes his letter. I really should have taught chapter 5:1-11 as a unit, but also Peter is bringing a ton of themes together here at the end making his letter all come to a head in verse 10, and I’m trying to show you how all of these themes interweave. Verses 6-9 have been connecting the importance of good shepherds to the flock, and now Peter is going to tie that back to the suffering that he says the Christian is called to.

v.9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.

Peter is reminding his readers that this world is not their home, because Christians throughout the world are facing the same suffering. Our nature is to think we’re being persecuted worse than anyone ever, or that we’re being tempted more than we can bear, or that we’re being misunderstood and treated unfairly. But there is evidence that we cannot undergo anything that is special to us. And, God is vindicated in ensuring that if we so desired to escape temptation, we could.

1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

Consider this, that there is no way we can be tempted that Jesus wasn’t tempted, yet he was tempted in ways that we will never be tempted. There is no way we can suffer that will come close to how Christ suffered, yet he suffered in ways we will never suffer. The Bible says Christ “learned obedience,” which isn’t to mean that he wasn’t perfect to begin with, but through his really experiencing things he proved through his actions that he is perfect. Theoretical obedience is good, but general tested obedience is better and his righteousness can now be imputed to our sakes.

And all that leads to verse 10, the culmination of Peter’s Epistle which has shown us the value of our faith, the holiness of Christ, the mercy and adoption we’ve received into God’s family, the suffering we must endure, the beauty of the resurrection, and his ability to be our Good Shepherd,

v.10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

Some of the suffering that Christians have gone through in history and are going through today is truly terrible, and it could conceivably cut us off from Heaven if we were imaginative; for example, the reason John Huss was burned and then his ashes thrown into the Rhine River was so that he wouldn’t be able to partake in the resurrection…

But look, God has called us to ETERNAL glory, our eternity is secure, because though our body be destroyed, our soul is imperishable. Christ himself will restore, he will put all things back together…restoring health, body, and everything else that was lost. Then he will confirm and strengthen you, which means make everything about you, not just your soul, imperishable so that you can never perish from eternity. The ESV and KJV split up confirm and strengthen, while the NIV keeps them together, I think Peter is saying the same thing twice in very similar ways to emphasize that in Heaven we are done suffering and done sinning. And finally, Peter says Christ will establish you, making our resurrection to eternal life a permanent fact. It is reminiscent of Peter saying in chapter 2 that we are being built up on Christ as the foundation.

Peter’s writing style in chapter 5 is another bracketed passage, verses 1 and 10 set our affection on Heaven, where-as verses 2-9 are living a godly life on this earth. This is our major reminder from this letter that we set our affections on Heaven, on Christ seated at the right hand of his Father, and because of this affection we love the church first, and second we seek to bring others into the kingdom.

And in all of this the point is so that Jesus receives the glory,

v.11 To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

He is ultimately the owner of everything, the Supreme, the Saviour. We don’t worry about Satan and his roaring because Christ is bigger and has judged the ruler of this world, as Jesus put it in John 16:11 and Paul puts amazingly in

2 Corinthians 4:4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

Peter is completing the thought of the spiritual danger of Satan by showing that Christ ultimately owns EVERYTHING, including Satan.

There is a poem by Cyril of Jerusalem, a noted theologian from the 4th century, which says, “The dragon sits by the side of the road, watching those who pass. Beware lest he devour you. We go to the Father of Souls but it is necessary to pass by the dragon.” As much as I like the poetic language and image it draws, we add that this dragon is defeated, that Christ is our protector, and that in order to pass by we only need to hold fast to Christ in faith. But beloved, if you walk this path apart from Christ, seeking to walk the road yourself, Satan will easily drag you off the way and blind your eyes. And even, perchance, you do make it past Satan apart from Christ, in Matthew 7 it says he will turn you away at the gate; so it is absolutely imperative that we hold fast to Christ and Christ alone, that through his merits of learned obedience, his atoning death, and his saving resurrection, he will deliver us into Heaven.

The "Amen" here is basically the end of the letter, everything that follows is Peter’s signature and final instructions. Chapter 1:1 through 5:11 is a complete thought, and everything from 12 to 16 is a very effective application to us.

v.12 By Silvanus, a faithful brother as I regard him, I have written briefly to you, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it.

Peter didn’t actually pen this Epistle, though it is his thoughts, he spoke them to Silas his amanuensis who wrote them down. This is neat that in Second Peter, Peter is going to say that the words he is writing are not his, but the Holy Spirit’s, and so the Holy Spirit is inspiring Peter, Peter is speaking them, Silas is writing them, and now I’m preaching them, and the Holy Spirit is able to faithfully preserve his words and deliver them to the saints. We’ll talk more about this in a few weeks, but for now think about how big of a privilege and responsibility it is to be a herald of the Word of God.

Peter exhorts, which means to urge to take seriously, the Epistle he has just written. It’s important to remember that we have a huge privilege to have a complete Bible, but Peter is making the point that this Epistle he’s just written is able to stand-alone and for those who only had this letter, it was enough and revealed the true grace of God. He keeps pointing us towards Heaven through Christ’s resurrection as the important thing, not towards worldly wealth or health or getting as much for yourself as possible, but for glorifying Christ for his amazing grace.

Peter’s greatest exhortation is to stand firm in this grace. It reminds me of a wonderful song which says, “No guilt in life, no fear in death, here in the love of Christ I stand.”

Silvanus was a good friend of Paul’s, and here he is a good friend of Peter. There are some things in the New Testament that overlap and are quoted by other writers, and it is hugely important that we remember that the Bible is not a collection of verses, but is a complete thought by God who reveals himself to us through his Word. The writers of the New Testament were friends who grew together, confronted one another when in error, and supported each others’ ministries. Peter doesn’t talk about the requirements for a pastor, because he knew Paul did that, he doesn’t write a gospel because he knew Mark did that. Speaking of Mark, look at verse 13:

v.13 She who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings, and so does Mark, my son.

The “she who is chosen” is the church; at "Babylon" is strange language but we’re fairly certain Peter is talking about Rome…so why doesn’t he say Rome? The real physical Babylon was hundreds of miles from Rome. It goes back to Peter’s point in calling Christians exiles, aliens, and strangers to this world, that Israel was a stranger in the kingdom of Babylon in the Old Testament. Rome was the capitol of the world basically when Peter was writing this. It’s important that we see that this world is not our home, that we are exiles and pilgrims, and that when we depart we will finally be home. Peter would die in Rome.

Mark, “my son,” is interesting language, Peter either really liked Mark and discipled him and counted him like a son, or maybe he really was his son. We know Peter was married, and if Mark was his real son then Peter’s wife’s name was Mary, because Acts 12:12 tells us that that was Mark’s mother’s name; but it's strange that Luke wouldn't have referred to Peter in that passage. Ultimately we don't know if this was a biological or spiritual.

What’s more important is that Peter, Mark, and Silas were in Rome together, and this again has huge implications on the construction of the Bible and that there was a beautiful fellowship of these saints to minister together. And that leads to

v.14 Greet one another with the kiss of love.

This is an affectionate greeting, kissing on the cheek. I really have no idea why it is no longer popular in Western Culture, but you can still find it practiced in many Eastern countries. What this definitely wasn’t was a kiss on the lips, and it didn’t carry with it any romance, but was purely an affection shared between friends.

In our hyper-sexualized culture where it is hugely important to avoid any and every appearance of sin we can contextualize this by greeting one another warmly with friendly handshakes and warm smiles and caring words.

Finally, the end of

v.14 Peace to all of you who are in Christ.

Basically Peter has written a whole Epistle describing how the world is at war with the church, and yet he points out that we have peace with God through Christ, which is the peace that really matters. No matter what happens to our bodies we have the full assurance of our faith which will attain the salvation of our souls through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

In a life of torment and suffering and strife we have our perfect sinless Saviour who has overcome the world. Beloved, draw near to him and he will draw near to you; humble yourself before him, and he will exalt you.

May 2nd - Testimony Evangelism

Prayer Requests
Dave Sloan Preaching

Dave and Brooke New Ministry

Ben and Holly New Ministry

James' motivation to find how to contact his friend Aaron

James' band concert

Jonathan Feeling Better

Amy's safe travels

Daniel's finals

Bethany's family's health

Canyon's Chaplain Interview

Mark's soccer coach's mission trip

Text – Acts 26

Matthew 10:18 You will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles.

Since we have so many students out today we’re going to take a week off from First Peter to look at something I’ve wanted to teach for a while; That is the importance of a good Christian testimony and how to give one.

Sometimes a testimony is your best weapon against a person who is not interested in evidence or research or hearing the Bible, but will listen to you. Basically a testimony is a real-life story of your spiritual transformation. Before we start, I want to give a caveat, that testimonies are becoming a popular debating technique of the Mormon church, and so a testimony is not foolproof but it is an awesome way to bear witness to the work that God has done in you. The major difference between a Mormon testimony and a Christian testimony is that a Christian testimony should be a radical change and not just a feeling, which the Mormon testimony is.

One of the most simple testimonies is in the Bible, a man blind from birth who Jesus healed, the man had no idea who the Messiah was and didn’t have a theological basis for what happened to him, so this is how he gave testimony,

John 9:25 One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.

Such is the radical difference in the Christians’ life when they go from lost to found. The song, Amazing Grace, is very simple and is also a good example of a testimony, “Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see.” These are some simple examples, but probably the most comprehensive example is in Acts 26 and there is a huge amount to learn from it. (Handout - http://trustobey.blogspot.com/2008/04/testimony-evangelism.html)

Acts 26 takes place in about AD 61, Paul has been a Christian for about twenty years at this point, but he’s still going to go back to that very first encounter with the grace of God which saved him. The context to Acts 26 is that he has been arrested for inciting a riot, they were ready to let him go but a plot was put together by the Jews to kill him, so to protect him the government kept him in prison. This caused some confusion and a king, two governors, and several law enforcement officials tried to figure out what to do with him, and so we come today to Acts 26 with Paul in front of King Agrippa, King of Judea, in order for Agrippa to understand why Paul is being held and what to do with him.

Acts 26:1 So Agrippa said to Paul, "You have permission to speak for yourself." Then Paul stretched out his hand and made his defense:

Agrippa tells Paul to tell why he is in prison and what should be done with him, basically to be his own lawyer. The word for defense is apologia, where we get apologetics, which is to defend the faith. Paul seizes the opportunity to preach; he is ready in season and out of season to proclaim Christ. This is your first lesson, to take every opportunity to speak to others about your Saviour.

Acts 26:2-8 I consider myself fortunate that it is before you, King Agrippa, I am going to make my defense today against all the accusations of the Jews, especially because you are familiar with all the customs and controversies of the Jews. Therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently. "My manner of life from my youth, spent from the beginning among my own nation and in Jerusalem, is known by all the Jews. They have known for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that according to the strictest party of our religion I have lived as a Pharisee. And now I stand here on trial because of my hope in the promise made by God to our fathers, to which our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly worship night and day. And for this hope I am accused by Jews, O king! Why is it thought incredible by any of you that God raises the dead?

Paul introduces himself to the king, he is very respectful and finds common ground with Agrippa, who is the reigning king of Judea and so obviously knows the customs of the Jews. As far as we know Agrippa was not a Jew, although his family had a long line of ruling over the Jews.

After his introduction, Paul explains who he was before he became a Christian, he was a Pharisee raised in that school of thought, in other places Paul gives his testimony as his growth in the faith, he was not lacking in anything. If your testimony includes something like, “I felt lost without God,” then by all means include it, but look at Paul, he had no such “God-shaped hole” in his heart. He was fulfilled and exceeding greatly in his promotion; I believe that he would have exceeded Gamaliel, his teacher, as the greatest Rabbi every to live, you may even say that he eventually did (after Jesus), albeit in the true faith of Israel. Instead of elevating himself, Paul opts in the next passage to outline what he needed saving from.

Before we get there, the second step is to introduce yourself and outline your motives. Paul here points his hearers at Heaven, saying that he has hope in the God of Israel, the God who raises the dead. I often introduce myself as a Christian or pastor and that I want to see the person I’m talking to in Heaven someday. People greatly appreciate it when I am straight-forward instead of trying to sneak into a religious conversation.

Acts 26:9-12 I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death I cast my vote against them. And I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme, and in raging fury against them I persecuted them even to foreign cities. In this connection I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests.

Paul’s sins included murder, reviling, and standing against Jesus Christ. This is the third step in giving your testimony, to share the sins which you are saved from. Notice that Paul is specific enough that his hearers know what he did, but he doesn’t boast in them or get too specific. He could have mentioned James or Stephen by name as saints he murdered, but he is just showing that he is a sinner. Remember two verses,

Romans 3:19-20 Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

Romans 7:7 What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, "You shall not covet."

We want our hearers to know that not only are we sinners, but the same law applies to them and that they too are sinners. Paul is very familiar with Agrippa’s ancestors and their persecution of Christ and Christians, and so he tailors his list of sins to apply closer to the king. Two of his grandfathers had tried to kill Jesus Christ. For a practical example of tailoring the message; if I were going to give my testimony to scientists I would mention my one-time adherence to the religion of evolution, or if I was going to talk to people in the Air Force I’d talk about my self-centeredness, alcoholism, and womanizing. But, making sure it applies to your audience is not hugely important, the Holy Spirit will convict of sin, righteousness, and judgment based on whichever parts of God’s law you share.

So now we’ve shared our sins, the next step is how we were convicted of our sins, how we became aware that we were against God. Up until this point in Paul’s testimony, he thought he was serving God, doing him a favor by persecuting a seemingly new religion, but Paul was shown his error in a major way.

Acts 26:13-15 In this connection I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, that shone around me and those who journeyed with me. And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.' And I said, 'Who are you, Lord?' And the Lord said, 'I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.’

Paul to this point was stubborn and disobedient to the law, yet he thought that by keeping it as well as he could, he was in good favor with God. But, on the Damascus road the light of conviction shown on him, he fell to the ground, and a voice from Heaven asked him why he was kicking against the goads. This is language of driving cattle or livestock, you goad them by poking them in the side with a sharp stick. An animal that doesn’t want to go will kick at the one driving him. The law was that goad, driving everyone towards Christ, and it was magnified by the testimonies of the Christians which Saul was persecuting.

Galatians 3:24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

And who was Paul persecuting? Christians, but Jesus asked, “Why are you persecuting me?” It became more than apparent to Paul that he was not a friend of God, but an enemy, his sins weren’t just against people, but against Heaven.

So before we see what he did about it, this is the fourth step, to explain how you became aware that you were in need of a Saviour. The most common way you learn about this is that someone confronts you of your sin, for Paul it was Jesus, for me it was a street preacher, for you it might be a pastor; then the Word of God speaks to you, a Bible verse or passage, for me it was 1 Timothy 3:16, God manifest in the flesh, and quite often it can be a paraphrase of a Bible verse; then is the conviction of your conscience, letting you know that you are wrong and God is right. This point came to Paul when he realized that Jesus Christ is the God of the Hebrews; the very God that Paul meant to serve he was persecuting.

The next step is left out in Acts 26 because Paul must have known that Agrippa already knew that Jesus was purported to have been crucified for sins and raised by his Father; knowing why there is forgiveness of sins available is a vital part of a testimony and one that Paul shares in Acts 22, so lets read that:

Acts 22:10-15 And I said, 'What shall I do, Lord?' And the Lord said to me, 'Rise, and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all that is appointed for you to do.' And since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me, and came into Damascus. "And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, came to me, and standing by me said to me, 'Brother Saul, receive your sight.' And at that very hour I received my sight and saw him. And he said, 'The God of our fathers appointed you to know his will, to see the Righteous One and to hear a voice from his mouth; for you will be a witness for him to everyone of what you have seen and heard.

Sometimes the person who confronts of sin is not the same one who reveals grace. Jesus and the Holy Spirit convicted Paul of his sins, but Ananias was the one who had the privilege of seeing Paul saved. This is an aside to the testimony lesson, but often you may just plant a seed and someone else gets to see the person saved, or it might be the opposite way; however it happens Christ receives the glory and so we rejoice. I witnessed to a young man who later got saved and joined Northstar. Anytime we do anything with Northstar and I see him I think, “He’s mine! I confronted him with his sin and introduced him to Christ, he should have joined Summit!” But it’s ultimately far more important that he was saved than which church he goes to.

This step is to explain how you came to the knowledge that Jesus is the Saviour and that you repented and trusted in him.

Acts 22:16 And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.

Acts 26:16 But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you,

This step is when you reveal that you’ve received grace. Paul is brief in his testimony on this point, but that doesn’t lessen it’s impact. Paul goes from being an enemy of Christ to being his minister, he is wholly justified and forgiven. It is truly amazing grace that can turn a man’s affections from himself and his idols to Heaven and the Living Christ. Recount when you repented and believed and how huge an event it was.

But your testimony doesn’t stop here, now you go to your fruit, how God has used you since your conversion.

Acts 26:17-20 ‘delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles— to whom I am sending you to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.' "Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance.

Paul is very humble and brief here, but in talking about his preaching, he reveals that Christ had used him powerfully up to that point. When you share this you can include, “I used to hate going to church, but now I love it,” Or, “I’ve been on missions trips and have shared the gospel,” Or, “Now I volunteer at VBS and love discipling people,” or whatever is true for you in how God has radically changed your life. Paul went from killing people who preached the Christian message to preaching the Christian message with people wanting to kill him!

Acts 26:21-23 For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass: that the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles."

Press through with your message, know that people will stand against you, and when they do, include it in your testimony. If your message is not offensive to the world, then it probably isn’t the same message Jesus and Paul preached. This may not be people trying to kill you, but it may be friends you’ve lost or people that don’t like you because you’re a Christian.

Acts 26:24-26 And as he was saying these things in his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, "Paul, you are out of your mind; your great learning is driving you out of your mind." But Paul said, "I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking true and rational words. For the king knows about these things, and to him I speak boldly. For I am persuaded that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this has not been done in a corner.

Festus, governor, stands up and tries to get Paul to stop preaching; I’m sure Festus didn’t want Paul to offend the king and/or to get himself killed, but Paul presses through. When people try to get you to stop talking about Jesus and the mighty work he has done in your life, press through and make sure they hear this message of forgiveness of sins, because it’s the most important message in the world.

And finally, your testimony is just a beautiful story if it doesn’t impact your unbelieving audience. Paul at the end of his testimony turns it towards the king,

Acts 26:27-29 “King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe." And Agrippa said to Paul, "In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?" And Paul said, "Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am—except for these chains."

Paul calls the king to repentance and trust in Jesus Christ, but Agrippa brushes him off. But in doing this Paul has fulfilled his duty to his audience to preach Christ. Paul preaches in order that everyone may be reconciled to God, to receive the awesome gift of salvation, to have gone from lost to found, to go from enemy to friend, to go from blind to seeing, and he calls everyone to it. This is the point of your testimony to unbelievers, to call them to repentance. If you share your testimony to believers then it is for edification, for building up by declaring the awesome works of God, and it is great, but in that setting you wouldn’t need to include a call to repentance.

Finally, two things that aren’t in Paul’s testimony are Heaven and Hell. He is pointing his testimony at Jesus Christ, not at a final destination. Paul believed fully in a Heaven and Hell, yet he doesn’t mention either because what he is trying to do is get people reconciled to God, not just to save them from Hell or get them to Heaven. Be fully aware that Eternal Life begins at the moment of regeneration and that a life reconciled to God through Christ is your goal.

In conclusion, your steps to sharing your testimony are:

1. Take every opportunity to share
2. Introduce yourself and find common ground if possible with your audience
3. Share your sins through the law
4. Explain how you were convicted of your sins
5. Describe how you heard that Jesus died for your sins and lived again
6. Express the grace you received the hour you first believed
7. Summarize the fruit that your life has borne since conversion
8. Recount the persecution you’ve faced for Christ’s sake
9. Defend your Saviour and the work he’s done in your life
10. Call your audience to repentance and reconciliation

Finally, your testimony may not be as dramatic as Paul’s, but there is an important quip to remember, that if you don’t have a conversion story, then you probably don’t have a conversion. You should be able to point to a day or a season in which your sins became very real to you, you went from loving the world to loving Christ, and your life started to bear fruit.

My testimony is posted on the website, please be sure to watch it; I hold pretty closely to this template, but of course this reference guide is just a suggestion and is not set in stone, as evidenced by other places Paul shares his testimony and emphasizes some points and excludes others, but this is a great place to witness for your Saviour, and one which will break through strongholds when others are blocked.

Canyon's Testimony (1 Part, 10 minutes)

David Berkowitz's Testimony (3 Parts, 22 minutes)