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Proverbs 4:20-27
20 My son, give attention to my words; Incline
your ear to my sayings.
21 Do not let them depart from your eyes; Keep
them in the midst of your heart;
22 For they are life to those who find them, And health to all their flesh.
23 Keep your heart with all diligence, For out
of it spring the issues of
life.
24 Put away from you a deceitful mouth, And put
perverse lips far from you.
25 Let your eyes look straight ahead, And your
eyelids look right before you.
26 Ponder the path of your feet, And let all
your ways be established.
27 Do not
turn to the right or the left; Remove your foot from evil.
Father God, open the heart, mind,
ears, and eyes of those that don’t believe so they can believe. Soften their
hard heart and loosen their stiff neck, in
Jesus
name we pray, Amen!
Book of I Peter 1:3-12
NKJV
Today’s lesson starts out about praise
and thankfulness to God for the gift of Grace through salvation which leads
right into faith. Faith is what salvation is all about along with the testing
of our faith. Peter tells us our faith is more precious than gold and we end
this lesson with statements that God’s plan of redemption was all foretold in
the OT.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a
living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; All throughout the Bible, OT & NT
people have been making this statement, “Blessed be God”. Genesis
14:20; 1Chronicles 29:10; Nehemiah 9:5; Job
1:21; Psalms 18:46, Psalms 72:19; Dan
4:34; Ephesians 1:3; 1Peter 1:3 Paul
uses it here in Corinthians and also in Ephesians. 2 Corinthians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort.
It
is only proper that we praise God and give Him thanks, after all He is the one
that has given us life, physical life, and also made it possible for us to have
a spiritual life if we so desire by placing our faith in His Son Jesus Christ. God
sent His only begotten Son to be the ultimate sacrifice for us and all we have
to do is place our faith in Jesus death and resurrection.
This
also brings to mind this; it is a common thing to hear God’s name used in a
profane and/or vain way which is very disrespectful of the one that created
life. Not just in talking to someone, but also on TV and radio. This kind of
language should offend anyone that proclaims they are a Christian, but it
doesn’t, which in most cases reveals they aren’t a true Christian/Born Again.
So here is a question to ponder and also use when people around you are using
God’s name as an adjective. “You use God’s name as an ordinary word without
love and praise even though He “created” you out of love, but I don’t
hear you use your parents name in a vain way that “made” you out of
love, why is that?” This question usually leaves the person speechless.
Who according to His abundant mercy
has begotten us; What
this phrase is referring to is the fact that out of love God gave His Son to
the world for a short time to be the perfect sin offering for mankind. God knew
that with the inherited sin nature no one on earth was/is capable of keeping
all the laws in order to go to heaven, and all the animal sacrifices were just
a temporary sin offering that had to be repeated over and over. With Jesus
keeping all the laws perfectly He became the pure and spotless sacrifice for
our sins and therefore died for us on the altar of the Cross for our sins. By
understanding that we can’t live life here on earth perfectly like Jesus did,
then we need to place our faith in Jesus, and the sacrifice He performed for us
to be Born Again. John 3:3 It is through the love of God and the
love of Jesus that we are begotten spiritually and will have eternal life in
Heaven.
Again to a living hope through the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead; This living hope is referring to eternal life in Heaven
by means of faith in Jesus. The resurrection of Jesus from death tells us there
is life after we wear out these fleshly tents that we have on now, and it is
only through a spiritual birth, being Born Again, that we can partake of that
“living hope”, Heaven. Romans 6:3–5
4 to an
inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved
in heaven for you,
To an inheritance incorruptible and
undefiled; This
phrase is referring to an inheritance we receive as begotten Children of God.
When we place our faith in Jesus death and resurrection and turn from our
sinful lifestyle and ask Jesus to rule and reign our life, then we are Born
Again and become Heirs of God and Joint-heirs with His Son, the Lord Jesus
Christ Romans 8:17
This inheritance is pure and spotless and will be waiting for us when we die as
long as we keep our faith fixed on the Cross of Christ.
And that does not fade away, reserved
in heaven for you; The
inheritance that does not fade away and is reserved for us is like a parking
place at a place of business. Some places reserves parking spots for the Plant
Manager, CEO, Vice President, etc. these people have their parking spots as
long as they are employed. If they mess up and lose their job their name is
removed.
This holds true for our
place in Heaven also. As long as our faith remains in Jesus death and
resurrection our spot in Heaven is reserved for us, but if our faith is in
religion or our own action, then our name will be removed. It is all about
faith, a child like faith like what Abraham had. Revelation 20:11-15 Then I saw
a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the
heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw
the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And
another book was opened, which is the
Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the
things which were written in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death
and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each
one according to his works. 14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of
fire. This is the second death. 15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life
was cast into the lake of fire. Is
your name written in the Book of Life?
Some
will argue that the phrase states our salvation will not fade away or a spot is
reserved for ever when we accept Jesus as our Saviour, but read verses 3, 4,
& 5 together and you will see verse five talks about faith which we will
get to next.
5 who are
kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in
the last time.
Who are kept by the power of God
through faith for salvation; Here
is the phrase that tells us our place in Heaven is reserved and will remain
reserved for us as long as our faith is in the Cross. It is kept by the power
of God because of our faith in Jesus.
If
salvation was left entirely in the hands of people, even the best of people,
what assurance could there be that anyone could be saved? Didn’t Adam fall?
Didn’t holy angels fall? Haven’t some of the best of people fallen into sin? Who
has the strength of holiness to make their own salvation sure? Every person
must recognize the sinfulness of the human heart, so how do they reason they have
the strength of virtue to never fall away if salvation is left up to them? If a
person recognizes this truth, then a person’s only hope of salvation is in the
fact that God intends to “keep his people by his own power through faith, for salvation.”
Ready to be revealed in the last time;
This is referring to
the Judgment of Christ for all who pass from this earth. At some point in time
we will all stand before Jesus to be judged
6 In this you
greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been
grieved by various trials,
In this you greatly rejoice; When a person has accepted Jesus as
their Saviour, which results in that Spiritual Birth known as being Born Again,
there is great joy in the heart of that individual. This is what this phrase is
referring to, “greatly rejoicing”. It is a joy that makes you feel good inside;
warm and fuzzy; everything will be ok; God is in control of your life and will
see you though the balance of your life till you join Him in Heaven. Knowing you
are a child of God is something to rejoice about.
Though now for a little while, if need
be, you have been grieved by various trials; The meaning of this phrase is that when a person is Born
Again their life is changed. What once they did that was wrong, but had no
guilt, now has become clearly evident that they are sinning. Therefore their
faith now will undergo trials and tribulations to see if they will remain
faithful. These trials might consist of poverty, persecution, sickness, or the
efforts of others to lead them to renounce their faith, and to go back to their
former state of unbelief. Anyone or all of these would try them, and would show
whether their faith was genuine and rooted in Jesus Christ.
7 that the
genuineness of your faith, being
much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be
found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,
Keep
in mind that verse 6, 7, & part of 8 are all one sentence and must be read
together to fully understand what Peter is telling us. It is all about how
strong our faith is and what our faith is in.
That the genuineness of your faith; This means is your faith authentic,
sound, deeply rooted? Is your faith like the roots of a great Oak Tree or a
seedling growing in a rain gutter.
Being
much more precious than gold that perishes; Gold is one of the most precious metals there is. It was
precious 2,000 years ago and it still is today. When we pass from this earth,
gold will mean nothing then, in other words it perishes, but our faith in the
Cross will deliver us into Heaven for eternity; through faith, our place in
Heaven is guarded for us by God.
Though it is tested by fire; While we are here on earth we will
endure many things that will try our faith for dependability. We have to have
the armor of God on each day to withstand evil.
May be found to praise, honor, and
glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ; Meaning solid faith in Jesus will be found praise worthy,
when we meet Jesus on Judgment day.
8 whom having
not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full
of glory,
Whom having not seen you love; This phrase finishes the sentence that
was started in verse 6. Keep in mind that Peter is writing this letter to those
that are scattered aboard. It is very likely Peter is referring to those that
became believers and never saw Jesus, but still believe.
Though
now you do not see Him, yet
believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory; There is something to be said about
faith that is birthed based on what is read and taught and not seen. Take
Thomas for example, he openly professed that he wouldn’t believe until he saw
Jesus. John 20:24-25 Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve,
was not with them when Jesus came. 25 The other disciples therefore said to him,
"We have seen the Lord." So he said to them, "Unless I see in
His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the
nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe."
With
the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in a believer, a saved person rejoices knowing
they are a child of God.
9 receiving
the end of your faith—the salvation of your
souls.
What
this verse is saying is, faith in Jesus death and resurrection, and a faith
that remains steadfast unto death, will gain the soul a Heavenly reward.
10 Of this
salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of
the grace that would come to
you,
The
prophets of the OT foretold of the coming of Jesus and redemption, although
they didn’t know how that would happen. They believed it would because the
prophesies came from God and they searched scripture diligently trying to
understand what was reveled to them, and how this grace would come to be. Genesis
49:10; Isaiah Chapter 53
11 searching
what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was
indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the
glories that would follow.
Searching what, or what manner of time; This is still talking about the
prophets of the OT and what they were seeking to understand pertaining to what
and when this new way of life would happen, meaning the NT.
The Spirit of Christ who was in them
was indicating; These
prophesies were revealed to the prophets by the Spirit of Christ, meaning the
Holy Spirit.
When He testified beforehand the
sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow; He in this verse is referring to the
Holy Spirit and it is the Holy Spirit testifying to the prophets about the
sufferings of Jesus. They couldn’t comprehend the sufferings of Jesus but they
knew something glorious would be the results, meaning salvation by faith.
12 To them it
was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the
things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the
gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things which angels desire to
look into.
The
meaning of this verse is: The prophets were told by the Holy Spirit that His
messages were not for them, but for the Church Age/NT times. Then the Good News
would be announced by those who preached the Gospel in the power of the Holy
Spirit. It is all so wonderful and glorious that even the angels were eagerly
watching for these things happen.
Colossians 1:16 For by Him all things were created
that are in heaven and that are on earth,
visible and invisible,
whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.
All
things were created through Him and for Him.
Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of
the glory of God,
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our
Lord.
John 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, Most assuredly, I say to you,
unless one is
born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
The
Lighthouse Full Gospel Church
Sinners
Prayer; Pray this, and if you believe it with your heart, Jesus will save you!
“Lord Jesus I know I am a
sinner. I confess my sins to you; I am
sorry for my sins; I repent (Meaning, desiring to turn from a sinful
lifestyle.) of all my sins, and I am asking for your forgiveness. I believe that only you can forgive sin. I commit my life to you and ask you to come
into my heart, direct, and take charge of my life. I believe that you died to set me free from my
sinful lifestyle and you rose from the dead to give me eternal life, and right
now you are seated at the Right Hand of God Almighty. I believe you are the Son
of God; the only Way, the only Truth, the only Life, and my Savior.” I believe this and have faith you will make a
new person out of me, by sending the Holy Spirit to dwell in my heart and lead
me in a new life. In Jesus name I pray Amen.”
(John 3:16,17; Romans 3:23; 6:23; 5:8; 10:9-13; Ephesians 2:8-10; 1
John 5:11-14; 1:6-10) (Sin: Rom.
1:22-32; Gal. 5:19-21; Eph. 5:3-7)
