July 25th - Manasseh - Chief of Sinners, Least of Saints

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Text –2 Chronicles 33:1-13

Today we’re going to look at one of Jesus’ great great great grandfathers. It is truly amazing that Christ’s genealogy contains such wickedness and that he redeemed many of his ancestors. David was an adulterer and murder, Bathsheba was an adulteress, Solomon was a result of that adultery and a great sinner himself, Rahab was a prostitute, Tamar pretended to be a prostitute, Cain killed his brother, Adam was the first sinner, etc, and the beauty of all of these is that Christ paid for their sins on the cross, though they existed long before him.

But even though they were before him, who was greater?

John 8:53 Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?"

Matthew 22:42-45 "What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?" They said to him, "The son of David." He said to them, "How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying, "'The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet'? If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?”

Christ had a pretty spotty genealogy, it was made up of great sinners, of Jews and Gentiles, of kings and paupers, and yet it did not impact his life or ministry. This is the first lesson I want you to learn before we go any farther. There is a resurgence of a false teaching that you can be cursed for things your ancestors did and that you need to specifically rectify their sin in order to do away with the curse. It’s closer to voodoo than Christianity, but it’s becoming a prominent belief in many churches as they go apostate.

Ezekiel 18:1-4 The word of the LORD came to me: "What do you mean by repeating this proverb concerning the land of Israel, 'The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge'? As I live, declares the Lord GOD, this proverb shall no more be used by you in Israel. Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins shall die.

In Christianity we have a promise of a complete rebirth into the family of God, that Christ is able to redeem all of our sins and any sins and curses in our genealogy. Christ is utterly bigger than our sins, otherwise how could we possibly expect him to save us from them?

Today we’re going to look at one of Jesus’ grandfathers who is in the running for chiefest of sinners of all time, an utterly evil man, but one with a wonderful outcome. So let’s read the Chronicle of his lifetime;

2 Chronicles 33:1-13 Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel. For he rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had broken down, and he erected altars to the Baals, and made Asherahs, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. And he built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, "In Jerusalem shall my name be forever." And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD. And he burned his sons as an offering in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, and used fortune-telling and omens and sorcery, and dealt with mediums and with necromancers. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger. And the carved image of the idol that he had made he set in the house of God, of which God said to David and to Solomon his son, "In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever, and I will no more remove the foot of Israel from the land that I appointed for your fathers, if only they will be careful to do all that I have commanded them, all the law, the statutes, and the rules given through Moses." Manasseh led Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem astray, to do more evil than the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the people of Israel.

The LORD spoke to Manasseh and to his people, but they paid no attention. Therefore the LORD brought upon them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria, who captured Manasseh with hooks and bound him with chains of bronze and brought him to Babylon. And when he was in distress, he entreated the favor of the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. He prayed to him, and God was moved by his entreaty and heard his plea and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD was God.

v.1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem.

A little bit of context here, Manasseh’s father’s name was Hezekiah, he did some very prideful things which Manasseh would have seen. Isaiah came to him and told him he would die, but Hezekiah prayed to God for deliverance and Isaiah then told him he would live. In order to train Manasseh up as a king, he and Hezekiah reigned together for about eleven years. It’s neat to see that while two people were ruling Israel, really Israel only had one king because of their unity, which sort of points to the Trinity a little.

Manasseh lived altogether 67 years; remember that he lived to be pretty old, because that’s going to be important later. He reigned the longest out of any king of Israel except for Jesus Christ who is reigning still.

v.2 And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel.

Instead of looking to the history of Israel, Manasseh looked to the history of pagans, forgetting that it was God who gave the land of Israel to the nation of Israel, forgetting that God drove out the pagans whom he was now following.

v.3-5 For he rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had broken down, and he erected altars to the Baals, and made Asherahs, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. And he built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, "In Jerusalem shall my name be forever." And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD.

Part of his outright wickedness was that he refused to learn from the lessons of his father, who had torn down idols and tried to bring Israel back to worshipping the true God. There was no pagan deity which Manasseh missed in his idolatry, the Baals are the fake creator and sustainer gods, the Asherahs are for worshipping nature, your translation may say groves which would be trees for worship, and the hosts of heaven are either or both the planets and stars and/or angels. Look where he did it too, besides in all the old places which would be scattered throughout the countryside, he’s also done it in the temple, the very house of God.

In order for this to not just be a history lesson, we have to see that today we have Baals, Asherahs, and host of heaven worship in every false religion, in Oprahanity, in the “Green” movement, and in horoscopes and evolution. This wasn’t just a problem which existed in Manasseh’s day, this is still going on today, and remember that this is evil in the sight of God: abominations of the nations.

There is a test you can easily do to see just how evil a nation has gotten. They may be worshipping money and sex and all be atheists, but if they’re not doing this next step, then they haven’t sunk to the lowest level:

v.6 And he burned his sons as an offering in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom

We know from other sources that this was to the god Molech, the god of money and wealth. The ultimate low is when a nation begins to murder its babies. In another place God asks Israel if their sexual sin is worth burning their babies in the fire. Today in America we offer up over 3,000 babies daily to the god of money, sex, and convenience.

The place that this took place was such an evil and disgusting place that later Jesus Christ would use it to paint a visual picture of Hell, Gehenna, or the Valley of Hinnom. Oh how much he must hate it when a nation goes so apostate as to sacrifice its babies.

v.6 and used fortune-telling and omens and sorcery, and dealt with mediums and with necromancers. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger.

I love this verse because for all of the evil that Manasseh did, we see that God is not ignoring it, but that God is provoked to anger and about to act. We know that there is a God in Heaven and we rejoice that he will judge on earth.

To really make the point the Chronicler continues showing how great a sinner that Manasseh was:

v.7-9 And the carved image of the idol that he had made he set in the house of God, of which God said to David and to Solomon his son, "In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever, and I will no more remove the foot of Israel from the land that I appointed for your fathers, if only they will be careful to do all that I have commanded them, all the law, the statutes, and the rules given through Moses." Manasseh led Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem astray, to do more evil than the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the people of Israel.

There is a reminder that God blesses nations that honor him, but that he will reject and destroy those who dishonor him. Instead of instantly crushing the nation though, God sent prophets and warnings:

v.10 The LORD spoke to Manasseh and to his people, but they paid no attention.

Here we see that it wasn’t just Manasseh who was sinning, but the people under him were happily being pagans as well. The Chronicler puts it pretty gently that they paid no attention. Check this out:

Hebrews 11:37-38 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated—of whom the world was not worthy— wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

One of the prophets that went to Manasseh was Isaiah. There is a tiny chance that Isaiah was actually Manasseh’s grandfather on his mother’s side, since Isaiah’s daughter and Manasseh’s mother had the same name, and tradition tells us that not only did Manasseh ignore Isaiah’s call to repent, but he ordered for Isaiah to be arrested. As Isaiah fled he hid inside a hollowed out log, and Manasseh gave the order for the log to be sawn through.

I really, really, really hope you’re getting an idea of how wicked Manasseh was! You’ll be glad at what happens next:

v.11 Therefore the LORD brought upon them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria, who captured Manasseh with hooks and bound him with chains of bronze and brought him to Babylon.

Aha! He got what he deserved, the far superior army of Assyria came in and took many sinning Jews from Judah and Jerusalem and took them to Assyria, included in this is Manasseh the king who was taken to Babylon. In a day he fell from being a king to being a prisoner.

My Bible I think may have mistranslated this point that they took him with hooks…I think the Hebrew says they found him among thorns, which is neat because we see Manasseh fled and hid amongst his chosen gods, the Asherah groves, which couldn’t save him. And just as Isaiah died hiding, so did Manasseh get captured. He is very fortunate at this point that he didn’t die, because while Isaiah went to a very good place, Manasseh at this point would have gone to a very bad place.

v.12 When he was in distress, he entreated the favor of the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers.

Having realized that his gods couldn’t save him, he seeks the God of history who has consistently been saving people since the beginning, including his fathers and grandfathers. He humbled himself, fell on his face, and begged God for favor. Do you think God will answer? Let’s see.

v.13 He prayed to him, and God was moved by his entreaty and heard his plea and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom.

This exceedingly great sinner was forgiven, restored, and saved; he went from being the chief of sinners to the least of saints!

v.13 Then Manasseh knew that the LORD was God.

One of the neatest things about this is that you remember that Manasseh reigned the longest out of any king…well he got saved late in his life. Manasseh’s father Hezekiah had what could for all intents and purposed be called a death-bed conversion, though he got better. The beauty of a grace-based religion is that salvation is available while you still have breath in your lungs. You can be a thief nailed to a cross utterly unable to do anything good and still be saved by trusting in the crucified Messiah who was dying for your sins.

There are precious few examples of people getting saved in their last moments in the Bible. However, they are there, and they are there so that we do not despair for older people and that we have hope in death-bed conversions, but they are rare so that we don’t rely on them. If Christ is so great as the Bible makes him out to be, then we want to come to him as soon as possible, and not like Manasseh who had godly parents and grandparents yet sinned and did much damage to himself and his country because he would not come to God early in his life. I would love for you to go home and read the first sixteen verses of Matthew 20 for a great parable on this topic.

The remainder of the story recounts the partial repentance of Judah, but once again Manasseh’s son would go astray, but this opened the way for Josiah to be one of Judah’s greatest kings, but that’s a story for another day.

So your conclusion is that Christ is able to save even the most evil of people, he paid a magnificent price on the cross for all of our sins, so we must flee to him to receive mercy and forgiveness. The earlier the better, for we are doing no-one any good by seeking life and pleasure anywhere else. Our nation would make Manasseh’s nation blush for the rampant nature of our sins, so I implore you not to partake in the idol worship of America, but see that the Lord is God, and submit yourself humbly to him.

July 18th - Psalm 62 - The Sola Psalm

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Text –Psalm 62

Since we’ve completed Second Peter and are still a few weeks away from welcoming the new sixth graders to class, I want to take a few weeks to look at some topical things. Do you have any questions that it seems like we never talk about? Which topics would you like us to look at?

Today we’re going to look at Psalm 62, which has been called the “only” Psalm because it talks about our hope being “only” on God. This is one of my favorite Psalms, but it’s not one that gets taught on a lot because it’s not really a stand-alone Psalm, it would be hard to give you a direct application from it, especially in one day, so today I’m going to teach it in relation to Second Peter. In order to understand how we got here, let’s do probably our last review of Second Peter.

In Second Peter it talks about how we know we are Christians trusting in the finished work of Christ, that the Bible being our sole authority on matters of God, it warns us of false teachers who do damage to the truth, and finally it gives us an assurance of victory by Christ.

In that assurance, are we supposed to just stand around gazing upward waiting for Christ? No, we are to be living lives of godliness and holiness, and Peter says we ought to be hastening the day.

So how can we hasten the day? By preaching the gospel. What did Peter say people would do with Paul’s writings to pervert the truth? They would twist his words to say things he didn’t mean. Let’s look at a good example before we get to Psalm 62.

Colossians 1:24-25 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known…

Paul literally says there is something that Christ’s suffering did not accomplish! This is utterly amazing and if it weren’t written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit I would say it is blasphemy! But when we understand Second Peter, this makes perfect sense, Christ lived the perfect life and died for our sins, and was raised for our justification, but if we look at Ephesians 2:8-9, that we are saved by grace, through faith, then we see Jesus took care of the grace part in his death and resurrection, but the faith part must also be accomplished, which Jesus will do through his church.

This is one of the verses that gets twisted to destruction, many think that Christ did a lot, but he didn’t do everything, therefore we must work for our salvation. However, Paul is saying that Christ does everything, just in two different stages, first on the cross, and second through ministry.

At the time of the Reformation and at many other times throughout history, especially today, the church has added all sorts of weird works into salvation and have really added weird things to plain scriptural readings. So one of the reasons I chose Psalm 62 for today is because it is called the “only” Psalm, or for our purposes today, the “sola” Psalm, because it shows us that our hope is to be on nothing less than Christ. One of the reasons God did such a mighty work during the Reformation was because he set men’s affections solely on his word and the work of his Son. This has been summed up beautifully in six solas, and I want to teach them to you today because if you remember these six, you will have a very firm foundation in Christ for your entire life and ministry. Some people think some are more important than others, but they really come as a group.

They are:

1. Sola Scriptura
2. Sola Gratia
3. Sola Fide
4. Solus Christus
5. Soli Deo Gloria
6. Sola Sacerdos

Sola Scriptura

This means that scripture is our sole authority on God, that God does not speak apart from his word and doesn’t need to. Many false teachers today say that they receive “words” or messages from God, and they say, “Well check it against the Bible to see if God really spoke to me.” Verses in the Bible say that God no longer speaks but that we refer to the Bible, but if God were to speak and we checked it against the Bible and the Bible already said it, then we would have to ask why God said it again if it’s already in the Bible?

Hebrews 1:1-2 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.

It could be argued that this is the most important one because when you lose it, you lose all, but just holding to this one while ignoring the others would be disastrous.

Sola Gratia

This means we are saved by grace alone, not as the Mormons and Catholics believe that after everything we do then Christ will add the rest, or as antichristian preacher Joel Osteen says, “If you do your best, God will do the rest.” No, we bring nothing to the table, not a scrap of goodness, for even our best works are stained through with our sin like a clean white bandage laid on a gaping wound. We are not saved because of anything we’ve done, but in spite of everything we’ve done. Grace is unmerited favor, so anything we could add would make it merited and therefore it wouldn’t be grace anymore.

Galatians 5:4 You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace.

Sola Fide

We are saved by grace, and that is received through faith, and faith alone. If you jump out of an airplane with a parachute on, and you decide that instead of using the parachute, you’re going to flap our arms, you will face the consequences. The parachute is going to do the entire work of saving you from the effect of gravity. Once the parachute is deployed you can flap your arms, but it’s not going to add anything, and if we want to boast in our salvation then we have a very firm threat from God.

Romans 4:2-5 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness." Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness…

Solus Christus

Our salvation was purchased solely by Jesus Christ. His mother Mary is doing nothing to intercede for us, there are no men in Heaven who can give us merit they had left over, I cannot help to save you, it is totally Jesus Christ and his righteous life, propitiatory death, and life-giving resurrection which has reconciled us to God and given us a future and a hope.

Romans 4:22-25 That is why his faith was "counted to him as righteousness." But the words "it was counted to him" were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

Soli Deo Gloria

The effect of the Christian religion is not our sakes, though we gain a lot, it is for the glory of God. When we stand in Heaven we will not be able to say, “I am here because I’m so awesome…” we’ll gladly say, “I am here because Christ is so awesome. I had gone astray, I refused to seek Heaven, and Jesus Christ sought me and bought me and to him belongs dominion and victory and majesty and power and honor and glory forever and ever.”

Isaiah 43:25 I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.

Sola Sacerdos

This is the one that always gets left of. This means that Christ’s church is made up of one priesthood of believers, that there is no hierarchy of believers in his sight, but that we are all one in Christ Jesus. You had a direct line to God through your mediator Jesus Christ, your prayers are as efficacious as mine because they are filtered through Christ’s righteousness.

Galatians 4:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

So all that to say, let’s read through Psalm 62 quickly and we’ll see that when we set our hope in God alone then we will see that ultimate victory when Christ comes to judge the world in righteousness, and that we will be in his favor instead of facing his wrath.

This Psalm is written by David, some people have tried to determine when this happened, many think it was when Absalom as trying to take the kingdom, and I see evidence for that, but ultimately David was in trouble so often from his enemies that this really can fit in many places in his life. We’re going to look at mostly how it relates to us.

Psalm 62 For God alone my soul waits in silence;
from him comes my salvation.
He only is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.
How long will all of you attack a man to batter him,
like a leaning wall, a tottering fence?
They only plan to thrust him down from his high position.
They take pleasure in falsehood.
They bless with their mouths,
but inwardly they curse.
Selah

For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,
for my hope is from him.
He only is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
On God rests my salvation and my glory;
my mighty rock, my refuge is God.
Trust in him at all times, O people;
pour out your heart before him;
God is a refuge for us.
Selah

Those of low estate are but a breath;
those of high estate are a delusion;
in the balances they go up;
they are together lighter than a breath.
Put no trust in extortion;
set no vain hopes on robbery;
if riches increase, set not your heart on them.
Once God has spoken;
twice have I heard this:
that power belongs to God, and that to you,
O Lord, belongs steadfast love.
For you will render to a man
according to his work.

The word in Hebrew for “only” is ak, it’s a short little word, but it’s repeated six times in this Psalm. The first verse is cool because it shows us that David, who was under the Old Covenant, was trusting wholly in God. Many people think that under the Old Covenant people were saved by their works. But that’s crazy because the law hasn’t changed and it’s as impossibly holy today as it was then. Just as we can’t keep it because our wills are bound to sin, neither could David. In his great despair he reached upwards towards Heaven and was assured of salvation both from his sins, and from his enemies.

V3 How long will all of you attack a man to batter him, like a leaning wall, a tottering fence?

The writing in verse three is neat, and while you can’t see it in English in Hebrew it is associating both the attackers and the attackee as vulnerable and able to be toppled. The ESV doesn’t capture this very well, but David is saying that in leaning out to push him over, his attackers are about to be toppled.

V4 They only plan to thrust him down from his high position. They take pleasure in falsehood. They bless with their mouths, but inwardly they curse. Selah

David’s enemies, and ultimately Christ’s enemies, made the effort to pull him off his throne in order to enthrone themselves. Think of how many people today sing worship songs and say they love Jesus and then do things blatantly and without repentance that dishonor his name. Various other places in the Bible God expresses his disgust over people who claim to love him, but inwardly are filthy and unregenerate and his enemies. Jesus paraphrases Psalm really well in his beautiful parable of building a house:

Luke 6:46-49 "Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do what I tell you? Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great."

At the end of the verse is a Selah, which means pause here and think about whether or not you are honoring Christ in your actions or just with your words.

In the first stanza David says his soul waits on God, now he turns to talking to his soul and ours:

V5-8 For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God. Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us. Selah

The Selah here calls us to check ourselves to see if we are hoping in Christ, that he is our only hope of salvation and not anything else.

Verse 9 is going to tell us why we ought not to trust in ourselves:

V9 Those of low estate are but a breath; those of high estate are a delusion;

None of us is closer to Heaven on our own than anyone else. We don’t trust in our genealogies or church membership or good name, because this verse literally tells us that they are a lie.

The Hindu religion would do very well to read this verse and take it seriously, because they operate under a caste system where they believe people are born into a Karmic level based on their past goodness and march towards Nirvana. So they see people who are princes and princesses are better people than beggars, and it is taboo for a beggar to seek a better lot in life because they are being punished for their past life… But if they would read this verse, that there is no such thing as a high estate, then they would see that they need to seek salvation in God, not in themselves, because they will be weighed in the balances and found wanting.

V9 in the balances they go up; they are together lighter than a breath.

In order to understand this verse as the Hebrews would understand it you need to know that God’s glory is described by a word, Kbod, which means weightiness. The Kbod of a thing is how it stands up in a scale, a bowling ball has more Kbod than a feather. God’s Kbod is so magnificent that when our “good” deeds are weighed the scales go up as though they weren’t even there, lighter than air, in fact they even help the scales go in the opposite direction!

Psalm 19:1 The heavens declare the kbod of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

For those who trust in Christ though, we partake in Christ’s Kbod which is credited to our account through our faith alone.

V10 Put no trust in extortion; set no vain hopes on robbery; if riches increase, set not your heart on them.

I was reading an atheist recently who said if he can find one place where God is not perfect then he won’t be accountable on Judgment Day, which ironically is true, but we know that there is no place where God is not true. The atheist, who really there is no such thing, only angry delusional agnostics, was trusting in deceit instead of God. Our hope is not in robbery, but in Christ.

Now check this out, is being poor a sin? No. Is being rich a sin? No. IF riches increase, we don’t set our affections on them, but we know that if God gave us an increase it is so that we can share out of our abundance. God may very well give you billions of dollars in your lifetime so that you can do billions of dollars worth of good for his kingdom. But you won’t be able to say, “I should be allowed into Heaven because of how much money I spent on Christianity.” Rather, you will be allowed into Heaven on the grace of Jesus Christ.

V11-12 Once God has spoken; twice have I heard this: that power belongs to God,and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love. For you will render to a man according to his work.

We’ve got less time to spend on this than it deserves, but the important point of this psalm is not this verse, albeit there is a ton in this verse. God has spoken and we ought to pay extra close attention. We don’t read the Bible once through and then are done, rather we ought to read little bits every day, so that we are reminded that to God belongs the power and steadfast love, which is my Bible’s sort of weird translation of grace.

There is debate on what the last sentence means but the entire Psalm basically sums it up well for me, that for the one trusting in himself he will be judged for the merits of his work and be found wanting. For the one trusting in Christ he will be justified in Christ and given work to do for the kingdom, which we’ve seen in the past results in rewards of holiness and crowns both on this earth and in the world to come.

Luke 19:17,26 And he said to him, 'Well done, good servant! Because you have been faithful in a very little, you shall have authority over ten cities.' 'I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.

So in conclusion, trust wholly in Jesus Christ and his saving work on the cross. His grace is the only thing that can save you, and we know that only through his Word, and the result is ultimately for his glory. Strive to be faithful in his work, not to earn your way to Heaven, but to glorify his name empowered by his Spirit, knowing that you have the priestly duty of proclaiming his excellencies, for he has called you out of the darkness into his marvelous light.

July 11th - Conclusion to Second Peter

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Text –2 Peter 3:14-18

Here we arrive at the end of this glorious epistle. Before now I have refrained from telling you that some “scholars” believe Peter didn’t actually write this letter and they think it shouldn’t be in the Bible. The reasons for this are dumb and not worth mentioning, but now that we’ve spent several weeks on this epistle, I hope that you see that it is ingeniously written and is certainly written by God through Peter. If you have any doubt at all, the way in which Peter wraps this epistle up is so well written and powerful that it so thoroughly points to scriptural truths that it has to be scripture.

One of my facebook friends posted an awesome quote this week which said, “Man could not write a book like the Bible, but if man could write a book like the Bible, he wouldn’t write a book like the Bible.” The rhetorical, eternal, and grammatical truths which Peter shares in his short 61 verses are utterly amazing and they point so thoroughly to divine authorship that I am quite tempted to say Second Peter is my favorite book of the Bible.

What event was happening in Peter’s life that caused him to write this letter? He was awaiting execution under Nero. So knowing he is not long for this world, what does he tell us about? What would you tell someone if you were dying next week? Would you talk about movies you’ve seen or what you’re going to have for lunch, or would you make it count? Peter makes it count, what are the four major things he wants us to know?

1. How to be sure you’re saved.
2. The Bible is the sole authority in our faith and practice
3. False teachers will teach apart from the Bible
4. Christ will win and we will partake in his victory

These four things come together BEAUTIFULLY in Peter’s closing, it is a masterful bit of writing. Let’s read 2 Peter 1:1-3:13 though since this is the conclusion to the letter, and the passage we’re looking at starts with “therefore”, which points back to the whole letter, not just the last couple of sentences. This is just like Paul’s therefore in Romans 12:1, he’s not saying, “Therefore, from chapter 11,” he’s saying, “Therefore from everything that precedes.” Here is Peter doing the same thing. (2 Peter 1-3) So now let’s read the conclusion,

2 Peter 3:14-18 Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

So Peter is going to make 4 major points in his conclusion, the same major points he’s made already in the letter. First of all we want to make sure we’re a Christian; how do we do that? Is it by praying a prayer or signing a card or dating the front page of our Bible? No, it is by growing in grace, by seeing fruit added to our faith. The way we know we are saved is that we are diligent in our waiting for Christ, growing in sanctification, grace, and knowledge. If we are growing in these things, we know we have faith in Christ, and this faith is a result of the grace by which we are saved.

Next is what? Read your Bible. Peter puts it AWESOMELY,

v.15 And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him…

First of all, which verse is he quoting? There is a huge debate on this, but I guarantee you it is,

Romans 2:4 Do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?

Why doesn’t Peter say, “In Romans 2:4”? Because our chapter/verse break-ups weren’t added until AD 1558, they are not scripture and they are not inspired, so we need to read complete thoughts and not verses. The Bible is not a collection of Bible verses; it is a collection of coherent thoughts all pointing at revealing one thing: Christ.

But check this out! Peter just called Paul’s writings scripture! This is the standard way of referencing a verse before the chapter/verse beak-ups.

Romans 15:12 And again Isaiah says, "The root of Jesse will come, even he who arises to rule the Gentiles; in him will the Gentiles hope."

Our Bible was pretty well complete by the end of the First Century, but there are rumors that the Bible wasn’t put together until the Council of Carthage in 397, but that is only when it was declared official…it had been together since the First Century, even as early as the late 60’s (save for John’s Epistles and Gospel which hadn’t been written yet).

Is Peter only saying that one of Paul’s verses was scripture, or the whole collection?

v.16 as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters.

Do you think Paul read this letter and was shocked that Peter was calling his writing scripture? Not in the least. Last year we went through First Thessalonians, do you remember what was special about that Epistle concerning scripture? It is the only New Testament book that doesn’t quote the Old Testament a single time. There is one major reason for that, that this church was heavily persecuted and all of the Jewish believers had either been killed or run out of town. In this, the Old Testament scrolls were either unobtainable or unreadable…so what does Paul say in that Epistle?

1 Thessalonians 5:27 I put you under oath before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers.

Paul knew as early as AD51 that he was writing scripture, since the standard practice was to read the scriptures in the synagogue/church. I wonder what it was like for him to be writing things like this. He wouldn’t be able to make a mistake or erase anything, and the words would have flowed out of his pen.

2 Peter 1:21 …men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

Carried along by the Holy Spirit, like if you went swimming in a swift moving river, you’re going to end up where that river wants you to end up. But despite the truth of Paul’s writing, there is another force working in this, men who want to misinterpret this Word.

2 Peter 1:20 no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation.

Before we look at the next verse I need to preface it with an illustration. Would anyone in this class like to be taller? Ok, here’s what I want you to do, lay on this coffee table and I’m going to pull on your feet and someone else is going to pull on your hands and we’re going to stretch you out to be taller. What sort of effect is this going to have? At best no effect, and at worst we might break you. Look at what false teachers are doing to the Bible!

v.16 There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.

The word for twist is torture, or stretch, it’s trying to make someone taller by pulling on their hands and feet, it’s not an effective way to change a person or the Bible! Who is in danger if we try to stretch you? You are. But look at who is in danger if they torture the Bible to make it say things it doesn’t? It is their own destruction. Peter is pretty harsh again in his description of false teachers, before he called them dogs and pigs, waterless springs, blots and blemishes, terrible sinners, and reprobate for Hell. We saw in chapter 3 that many of these people would claim to be smart, but here Peter calls them ignorant and unstable. The word for ignorant, or unlearned, is purposefully meant to contrast the believer, who adds knowledge to their faith through learning, where-as the false teacher has no faith and does not have knowledge of God. Peter is not alone in being harsh, Paul says,

Romans 1:22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools,

Literally Paul calls them morons here, simpletons; not by birth, but by choice.

And again Peter affirms that Paul’s writings are scripture, and should be paid attention to, which is important because it will keep us on solid ground.

v.17 You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability.

I think you can make a solid argument here that Peter is elevating his own writing to scripture as well, he knows he couldn’t write such an amazingly God glorifying letter like this, but that the Holy Spirit is writing through him. Because remember in chapter 1,

2 Peter 1:15 I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.

That’s this letter! He is giving us a reminder that will keep us holding to our confession, so that we follow Christ and not strange teachings of false-teachers who will preach apart from the scriptures. One of our great tests of scripture is that if it is all written by one person, the Holy Spirit, as it claims to be, then it will all agree and be without contradiction.

Peter can also be said to be quoting Paul in Ephesians 4:13-14 where Paul said through several things, namely unity in the church and the knowledge of the Son of God, we will not be unstable in strange doctrines, and later he says that we will have a steadfast anchor of our soul, the hope of Christ’s atoning death and saving resurrection.

This unity which Paul desired is totally amazing in that Peter is calling Paul his “beloved brother” because Paul was pretty harsh with Peter when Peter had fallen into error in Jerusalem, look at how Paul confronted Peter (Cephas),

Galatians 2:11-14 But when Cephas 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 one of the most loving things we can do is correct someone when they are going astray. Proverbs puts this exceedingly beautifully,

Proverbs 27:6-7 Better is open rebuke than hidden love. Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy.

All of this points us at holiness,

v.18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Once again this goes back to our first point, how to know you’re a Christian, and it is the summation of the entire letter basically; if we are growing in grace then we know we are in grace. For example, if I plant an apple tree in my front yard and water it and take care of it and it grows up and starts producing crunchy brown apples which taste terrible and have barbs on them and for all intents and purposes look like pine-cones, then do you think that tree is an apple tree?

An apple tree should produce apples, a Christian should produce fruit of the Spirit, summed up in grace. Peter is totally concerned with one of these fruits being knowledge of Christ. It’s not just knowledge, there are a lot of smart people who are totally separated from Christ, who though they know a lot of things are as Paul calls them, morons. Our knowledge needs to be in Christ, and that through our Bible. As our knowledge increases in Christ, our ability to discern liars and heretics will greatly increase;

Hebrews 5:14 Solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.

I heard a great quote on the radio this week, the host was putting forth a hypothetical situation of a Christian standing before God, and God asks, “I gave you 70 years and you couldn’t read one book?” We need to constantly be in our Bibles because it is the only way which God reveals himself in these latter days.

And our last point, of the surety of victory, comes in our benediction,

v.18 To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

Christ is in control now, even though it looks out of control. Why doesn’t God wipe the world out? It’s because if he did he wouldn’t see every saint come to repentance, we see he is being glorified in his patience just as he will be glorified in Christ’s return, which Peter here calls the day of eternity, the day time ends; the day of his return and judgment of the world in righteousness.

So that is Second Peter, it is an awesome letter, I want to show you three more scriptures that will drive these points home. The first is in Exodus where Moses goes up on Mount Sinai, the people revolt, and God prepares to crush them,

Exodus 32:9-14 And the LORD said to Moses, "I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people. Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them, in order that I may make a great nation of you." But Moses implored the LORD his God and said, "O LORD, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, 'With evil intent did he bring them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth'? Turn from your burning anger and relent from this disaster against your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, 'I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.'" And the LORD relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people.

God was totally ready to crush Israel for their sins, but Moses interceded and lengthened God’s patience because if he had crushed Israel, his promises and his patience would have been doubted. He has promised Christ a certain number of saints and if he sent Christ back early then saints would perish outside of salvation. Today Christ, not Moses, is our intercessor.

(Time necessitated we end here, next week we will look at Psalm 62 which will continue the theme)

July 4th - The Coming of the Son of Man

Prayer Requests
Summit

Builders for Christ
Cauble Witnessing
Swift Cantrel Witnessing
VBS Preparation

Mark's broken finger

Kyle's friend Jamie

James open-air preaching at the Braves Game
Lucas in Indonesia

Text – Topical (2 Peter 3:1-15, Acts 1:1-11)

For a number of reasons I want to give you more application this week than just a lesson, although usually the way I give applications is through a lesson, so this might just end up being a more now-driven lesson than the others which are building a foundation for the rest of your life.

I want to first show you a somewhat funny (if it weren’t so convicting) event in the Bible. Real quick, before we get there, I want to fix my stupid archer analogy from last week. It did turn into a pretty good illustration on the other side though, I came up with that analogy in the shower before church last week, and for a split second I thought, “I wonder if the Holy Spirit gave me that?” But then I remembered Peter’s lesson in chapter 1 about paying attention to the Bible because that’s how God the Spirit speaks, and so I didn’t blame my lame analogy on him, fortunately.

I had a friend, who no longer likes me at all, who went all goofy really quick and started reading poetry that God “gave him.” My answer was; first of all, God doesn’t speak outside of his Bible, second of all, if he did then we should staple your poem to the end of Revelation, and third of all, this poem is both grammatically and theologically horrendous. So to blame the Holy Spirit for such bad poetry or analogies is very dangerous and ought not to be done.

But I think I’ve fixed my analogy! If it gives glory to God then I thank him for giving me this itty bitty brain and his awesome book, especially of Second Peter. Peter wants us to learn four big things from this letter, first to know we have faith, second that the Bible is God’s plenary revelation to us, third that false teachers abound, and fourth that Christ will win and we will partake in his victory. So enter archer-dude; if Peter just wanted to tell us those four things he’d just shoot a straight shot into the target, but he gives it to us in a memorable way, so picture this arcing shot. We have four major things, we’ve got our bow-and-arrow, which represents our faith, without faith in our Resurrected Redeemer we’ll never hit our target. Second is our trajectory and velocity, which we learn from the Bible, if we shoot backwards we’ll never hit our target, we’ve gotta be dead on. Third is our stabilization system, the fletching which keeps the arrow from wobbling under varying air conditions. Fourth is the surety of a bulls-eye when Christ returns and saves his saints.

So knowing Christ is going to win what should we do? Sit back and watch the victory? No, let’s check it out. Which is Christ’s last command before he ascended? I bet you miss it, because 99% of the church misses this point, and catching it is vitally important.

Matthew 28:19-20 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

But where was that command given? Look at verse 16:

Matthew 28:16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.

This command was given in Galilee, where did Christ ascend from? The Mount of Olives in Jerusalem; so we’ve got a time disparity goin’ on here that Christ gives another, later, command.

Acts 1:1-5 In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, "you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

He told them to stay in Jerusalem and this happened, according to Luke 24, right before he ascended, so this was his last command, to stay until they received the Holy Spirit. That would happen at Pentecost in ten days.

How could they have been disobedient to this command? They could have run off preaching and teaching and forgot to wait for the Holy Spirit. There are no lack of false teachers who do just that, Jehovah’s Witnesses come to mind most readily that they are totally about going into all the world and preaching their false gospel, when they’ve never noticed or even cared that the Person of the Holy Spirit is utterly missing from their ministry. Others are those like Mother Teresa and her ilk who went to India to be nice to people and condemn them to Hell through failing to preach the gospel. (http://www.challies.com/articles/the-myth-of-mother-teresa)

But on the other end of the spectrum are the people who sit around and don’t do anything, even if they believe the right thing, which the church at Jerusalem was so good at doing.

Acts 1:6-11 So when they had come together, they asked him, "Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven."

It doesn’t give us the time frame, but I don’t expect it was very long from when Jesus was taken from view and the angel asked them why they were standing there gazing into Heaven. His question is the equivalent of, “Didn’t he give you a direct command? Why then are you standing here failing to do what he said?” Afterwards they went into Jerusalem, received the Holy Spirit, and sat around some more, until God sent a great persecution on Jerusalem which scattered them out into the nations.

But here is the modern church, we’re sitting here gazing into Heaven looking for Christ when we’ve got a job to do which we are, for the most part, failing to do. We’re not going to miss him when he returns.

Zechariah 14:3-4 Then the LORD will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle. On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward.

He’s not going to be born in a stable the next time he comes, we’re not going to overlook him or miss him, or have to ask him like John the Baptist did, “Are you the Messiah, or do we seek another?” Jesus gave us explicit warning as to listening to “christs” who don’t come in flaming fire:

Matthew 24:5, 23-27 For many will come in my name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and they will lead many astray… Then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'There he is!' do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. So, if they say to you, 'Look, he is in the wilderness,' do not go out. If they say, 'Look, he is in the inner rooms,' do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

So then, here is our application, we need to put his Great Commission into action, making disciples and teaching them to obey Christ’s commands, and we have this wonderful promise, that although God the Son has ascended to Heaven, God the Spirit is with us to the end of the age.

So how do we do this? First of all, we need to open our mouths, for faith comes by hearing and hearing the Word of Christ. You’ve all heard the unchristian adage, “Preach the gospel at all times and when necessary use words,” well it’s much more biblical to say it, “Preach the gospel at all times and when necessary use an amplifier,” because the gospel spreads through preaching, and who do we preach it to? To ourselves? We need to preach it to unbelievers, and in doing so we have to expect that they will be offended. One of my favorite verses in the Bible is in Mark 6,

Mark 6:3 And they took offense at him.

We need to remember that they crucified Christ for being Christlike, we must go into spiritual warfare expecting this gospel to anger many and cause them to manifest their hatred of the Living God.

Luke 7:23 Blessed is the one who is not offended by me.

I think I’ve shown most of you the video of Kirk Cameron witnessing to the gang members…if I haven’t then I’ve loaded it on the webpage, but just a real quick summary is Kirk walks up to a group of five or six guys, several of which are quite inebriated, he witnesses to them and afterwards one of them gives him a hug.



Two or three years later, they run into one of the guys, let’s watch the follow-up video. (Reader, this video is not yet on youtube revealing that this man got saved, if you’d like to watch it and live close to me, contact me and I will loan you the video) That is a radical change and one of the reasons we go out and preach Christ’s gospel, this guy looked impossible to reach, yet Christ reached him anyways. And we remember that our job is not to make converts, ours is to preach this gospel, and Christ will build his church. Remember from last week that we are hastening the day, and we do so by preaching the gospel.

I want you to think on the two responses that Christ’s return will garner, first from the believer,

2 Timothy 4:8 Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.

We will LOVE his appearing, we will be glad that Christ has returned to call his church home, that he is about to stamp wickedness out from the earth, that our days of sinning have ended, and that every saint has come to repentance.

But look at it from the other side,

Revelation 6:12-17 When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?"

Elsewhere it tells us that their hearts will fail them for fear, some will be so terrified that they die where they stand. For this reason we must not only deliver a message of a fulfilled life or a great eternity in Heaven, but we must preach the whole counsel of God, warning people to flee from the wrath to come, imploring them to flee to the Christ who is mighty and still willing to save, snatching them in pity from the flames, hating even their garments stained by their sin, teaching them that on that final day they will face their Creator as either an enemy or as a judge, and that their sins will cease and they will either be resurrected to life eternal or torture forevermore.

In doing this we present a high and holy God who judges, but who is also loving, who sent his Son to absorb his just wrath so that we may be adopted into his family. In everything our effort is to make him known so that he receives the glory as a gracious God for saving many, and he receives the glory as a just God for punishing many, for in everything he will receive the glory.

Acts 17:30-31 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.

A failure to repent and believe will be just two more sins which will be added to the books of their consciences.

So how do we do it? (Latter part of class dedicated to discussion and “Way of the Master” style evangelism