For the next couple of weeks, I’ll attempt to condense biblical truths into easy-to-understand sentences. These truths have lifted my own spirit, stimulated thought, caused me to praise God, and fortified confidence in him. These will just be thoughts I’ve found interesting or helpful:
God’s visible form (Logos) created the earth from water (Col 1.15; Jn 1.1-4; II Pt 3.5).
Logos became human to give us a second, permanent life (Col 1.15; Jn 3.17, 11.25, 20.31).
Jesus will save humanity when earth is destroyed (II Pt 3.7, 10; I Thess 4.14-17; Jn 20.31). He will take us to a new, perfect world without any possibility of evil (II Pt 3.13, Mt 19.28).
Jesus defends us when we sin, and forgives every sin (I Tim 2.5; I Jn 1.7; Hb 4.15).
God is more powerful than our guilty consciences (I Jn 3.20).
Logos became human, lived a perfect life, was illegally executed, and came back to life (Jn 1.14; II Cor 5.21, 15.4). This message — and his promise to come back for us — is the core of our faith.
Jesus gives us new life through our faith in him; he freed humanity from a rules-based religious system (Gal 3.11-14, 21).
On a totally unrelated note, exercise and selfless acts are the best cure for seasonal depression (and many other issues). This is by no means a requirement for godly living, but exercise makes it much easier to help others, help self, and discover more about God’s amazing nature!
Usually, people fall into 1 of 2 categories: List makers and everyone else and I don’t know what their collective is since I’ve never seen it written down. Now, myself being an introvert, I fall into the list maker category. I’m not obsessive about keeping a physical list, but a mental list is always there to almost a point of paranoia. But this list is necessary.
Me being an introvert, I need to have mentally prepared myself for what is going to happen. If there is a surprise I could freeze up. In order for me to be productive and effective I have to be prepared and anticipate all that is going to happen that day. This leads us into the lesson of being prepared for our future, specifically, by our past planning and future execution with our decisions at a high level overview.
Look with me in 1 Corinthians 15:12-18. [12] Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? [13] But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. [14] And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. [15] We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. [16] For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. [17] And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. [18] Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
The part that I want to key in on is in vs 17. Now let’s look at vs 17 again with another lens. vs 17, if Christ has not been raised then your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. The other lens would say that a life of sin and without Christ is futile. Our whole existence, purpose, importance, any other strong words that you would want to add to that list, is futile.
Mounce defines futile as idle, ineffective, worthless, 1Co 3:20; groundless, deceptive, fallacious, 1Co 15:17; useless, fruitless, unprofitable. Reinforcing the idea throughout Scripture that without Christ what we do is useless.
If we continue reading the rest of 1 Corinthians 15 we see the importance of being baptized in 1 Corinthians 15:22, “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.” And in verse 29 we see Paul asking the question if Jesus was dead what would be the benefit of baptism. It is Christ’s resurrection that gives us victory over death as we see Paul saying in 54 and 55 which is also a quote from Hosanna 13:14. Verse 56 explains briefly the relationship between law and sin, but Christ gives us victory.
So back to verse 17. If we believe in Christ then our life has and is a purpose. Whether it be our past selves or our current selves we know how our plans and preparedness set us up for our future. Are we prepared and ready? Have we done what is needed to secure our plans and not be surprised by our eternity. The great thing about this is we hold all the control in what we decide to do. We are running the race and all we have to do is finish, not be first.
Paul settles into the heart of his argument and thesis of the epistle to the Galatians in 3:1-14. It is a letter full of contrasts–law and gospel, Spirit and flesh, Jew and Gentile, circumcision and uncircumcision, slave and free, Jerusalem of earth and above, Abraham’s seed of old and now, and faith with works of law (2:16), There is no mistaking Paul’s decided emphasis upon the advantages of faith, a word he uses 22 times in 20 verses of Galatians. He also uses the verb form an additional four times (2:7,16; 3:6,22). In this paragraph, Paul reminds these Christians that false teachers (1:6-9) were “bewitching” them into believing they were required to submit to “works of the law” in order to be acceptable to Christ. Relying on that threatened to render their Christian lives “vain” (4). It would make them “foolish” (1,3).
Positively, Paul makes his case for the pure, true gospel of Christ by highlighting what they gain by faith in Him. Notice what he says.
One receives the Spirit by faith (2-3,5,14). While Paul is talking about the miraculous work of the Spirit as part of this discussion (5), he also seems to be referring to the indwelling of the Spirit common to all who are in Christ (cf. Acts 2:38; Gal. 3;14; 4:6). The benefits of that are multiplied. We are perfected (3:3). We eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness (5:5). We do not gratify the desires of the flesh (5:16). We bear the right fruit (5:22-23). We live spiritual lives, keeping in step with the Spirit (5:25). We ultimately reap eternal life (6:8). The Holy Spirit never directly operated on the hearts of Christians, never interfered with man’s free will. One cannot rightly claim that the Spirit is moving him or her to do “X” or not do “Y,” imparting divine revelation apart from God’s revealed word in the Bible. Yet, neither should we discount or minimize the great blessing of God’s indwelling presence that comes by faith (Rom. 8:11; 1 Cor. 6:19; 2 Tim. 1:14).
One suffers with purpose by faith (4). Paul teaches this by asking, “Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain?” Much as Paul argues the vanity of suffering if there is no resurrection (1 Cor. 15:2), he argues that suffering for Christ is pointless without faith in His life, death, resurrection, and total rule and authority. Why are we willing to be ridiculed, ostracized, and rejected by friends, family, co-workers, fellow-students, and others, if not for faith in Christ?
One is counted righteous by faith (6). Abraham lived 430 years before the Law (17), but he was justified. How? By faith. Paul is telling the Galatians they are not counted righteous by law, but by faith. So are we.
One is a child of Abraham by faith (7). Paul is going to continue to develop this throughout the chapter and into the next chapter. We are spiritual descendants of Abraham by faith in Christ, not by the works of law (29).
One is justified by faith (8). We looked at justification in chapter two, but remember that it means to be made righteous. Law does not do that. Faith in Christ does.
One is blessed by faith (8-10,13,14). Paul’s point is that to be justified by law, one would have to keep all of it perfectly. None of us can do that! The blessing is that because Christ became a curse for us (13), we can be blessed by trusting in that sacrifice. I strive to live a sin-free life, but because I cannot perfectly do so I am blessed by Him as I walk in His light (1 John 1:7).
One lives by faith (11-12). The “living” in this context is not primarily referring to living on earth, but ultimately living eternally with God after this life. We enter into a spiritual condition of life by our obedient faith, and we ultimately escape spiritual death by faith!
Sadly, the influence of some in religious error can make us shy away from faith as well as grace. Faith and grace can be misunderstood, causing people to minimize the importance and necessity of obedience (12). But, if we are not careful, we can lose sight of the Christ we are to obey. We can trust in ourselves and our works, forgetting that He is the power. Without His saving work, nothing we do would matter at all. It is never “faith alone” that saves. Even in this chapter, faith leads one to be baptized and thereby clothed with Christ (26-27). It never could have entered Paul’s mind to argue that faith does not have works of obedience which accompany them. He is combating a mindset that argued that one’s salvation came because of the works (in context, the works of the Old Law) rather than the saving power of Christ. Who or what do you trust in?
I Timothy 1.7 calls out the problem at Ephesus directly: there were members who were eager to teach but had no business doing so. This is, unfortunately, one of the bigger issues facing the church today. Some take the approach of emphasizing regulations and rules and prohibitions, which is what these bad influences were doing (as well as teaching that the resurrection had already occurred).
1.8-10 gives us some guidance on when prohibitive teachings are appropriate: We know that the law is good if used correctly. We also know that the law is not made for those who do what is right. It is made for those who are opposed to the law and refuse to follow it. The law is for sinners who are against God and all that is pleasing to him. It is for those who have no interest in spiritual things, namely those who kill their parents or anyone else. It’s for people who commit sexual sins, for homosexuals, for people who kidnap and sell other people into slavery, for people who always tell lies, for people who lie under oath, and for people who are against God’s true teaching.
Thankfully, that doesn’t apply to the overwhelming majority of Christians! The goal of our instruction should be to encourage love from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a genuine faith. We do this by teaching positive commands (ie, “we should do this”) as opposed to negative ones (ie, “we should not do this”). While there is a time and place for teaching the prohibitions in scripture, there should be balance in this.
Jesus came back to life after he died. In his new body, he spent time with his apostles and ate with them (Acts 10.41). Clearly this resurrection body was a real, physical body (though different in ways we don’t yet understand, cf I Cor 15.44). God the father used his power to bring Jesus back to life (Acts 2.32), and will do the same for us after we die.
The bible gives us some pretty clear information about where we’ll be going after we die, and it’s amazing. We have life now, and we don’t seriously question its reality. Death is just a blip from our perspective (cf I Cor 15.52). We’ll have life then, and it’ll be just as real. So where are we going? Our citizenship is in “the heavens” (Phil 3.20). For some reason, most translations have it singular — “in heaven,” even though this is dative plural in Greek. Jesus is going to come back from the heavens too (3.20). The plural form of ουρανος (“heavens”) is also found in Col 1.5, 16, 4.1; II Cor 5.1; Eph 1.10, 3.15, 4.10, 6.9; I Thess 1.10, Hb 1.10, 4.14, 8.1, 9.23, 10.34, 12.23, 25; I Pt 1.4, II Pt 3.5, and many other passages. It can mean “skies”, but in many contexts it means “space”. This makes perfect sense in light of II Pt 3.13 and Rev 21.1-2 (cf Is 65.17; use of παλιγγενεσια in Mt 19.28).
After our death, we’ll be given a body and source of life that cannot be killed (I Cor 15.42-49; I Pt 1.3-7). This applies to good people and bad people. The difference for good people is that we’ll get to leave Earth with Jesus, while everyone else will suffer forever. We want to avoid everyone else’s fate, so we do our best to follow God as he gives us constant forgiveness.
Names are hard. You can forget names, mix up names, and mispronounce names.
But there’s a subject in scripture that is described many different ways, and it is given multiple names. The word “gospel” appears 101 times in the Bible. Some have described this word as meaning, “a reward for good tidings.” The basic meaning of the word “gospel” is “good news.”
It is the good news about the benefits we receive from the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The fundamental facts of the gospel are the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. These facts are found in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4. Notice what else we learn about the gospel from this passage,
“Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.”
In this text we see what the gospel can do in the hands of a faithful Christian:
First, Paul preached this gospel.
Second, they received that message.
Third, they were standing in that message. That is, they were following the gospel.
Fourth, they were saved by that message.
Fifth, they would continue to be saved as long as they held fast to that message.
Sixth, these facts were true if they truly believed those facts.
Seventh, he delivered what he had received. He didn’t make-up this message. In Galatians 1:12 he explained, “For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.”
Eighth, what he delivered was of most importance which was that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures (according to what had been foretold in the Old Testament).
Ninth, Christ was buried.
Tenth, Christ was raised from the dead according to the Scriptures – according to the Old Testament prophecies.
That is the gospel. That is what we are commanded to proclaim. So let’s share the good news with our lost and dying world.
The world’s most powerful engine is mind blowing. It stands 44 feet tall, is 90 feet long and weighs 2,300 tons. It’s capable of producing 109,000 horse power, and over 5,000,000 foot pounds of torque. To say this is a powerful engine is an understatement.
You can take the most powerful engine in the world and it pales in comparison to the power of God. This engine could never speak a world into existence, this engine could never raise someone from the dead, and this engine could never forgive sins and give us the hope of eternal life.
Paul would tell us in Ephesians 1:19-20, “…and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places.”
Notice Paul’s description of this power:
It is “exceedingly great”
It is shown toward those who believe
It is the same power that raised Jesus from the dead and seated Him at the right hand of God.
Paul shows us how this power is given to those who believe in chapter 2:1-6. This power made us alive when we were dead. Colossians 2:12-13 tells us that those who were spiritually dead are now spiritually alive because of God’s power.
As Christians we must understand the power and might of God.
Do we understand what God could do to the world? Do we understand that God’s power is the only reason we are here today? Paul prays that we might know the power of God, and that that knowledge should shape our every thought and action here on earth.
For the next several weeks, I’ll be repeating the book of I Peter in present-day terminology. It’s not a true translation of the book, as I am not qualified to do so. It will be based on an exegetical study of the book and will lean heavily on the SBL and UBS Greek New Testaments, as well as comparisons with other translations (ESV, NASB, NIV, ERV, NLT). My goal is to reflect the text accurately, and to highlight the intent of the author using concepts and vocabulary in common use today.
This is not an essentially literal translation, and should be read as something of a commentary.
I Peter – Part VIII
Our lifestyles were hostile to God, but he died for us anyway! Moral perfection died to save morally imperfect people. He wanted to bring us to God! He was killed physically, but his spirit was brought back to life. This is the form he had back in Noah’s day. Even then he wanted to save people who were about to face total destruction! God waited patiently for them to change, giving them chance after chance while Noah was building the ark. They died; in fact, only eight people survived that flood.
Water saved Noah and his family from those evil people, and water saves us from evil, too. We don’t bury ourselves in water to take a bath. We bury ourselves in water to ask God for a clean slate. We can only do that because Jesus was brought back to life, sat next to God, and was given total control of every supernatural force.
Mentally prepare yourself to suffer. Jesus suffered while he was human! When we suffer physically, it’s because we stopped doing bad things. As long as we’re alive, we’re not chasing the unhealthy passions humans have. We do what God wants. You used to chase those unhealthy passions! You craved all things bad, got drunk, partied without restraint, and practiced horrible things while worshipping fake gods.
Since you used to do this, your old friends are shocked that you don’t anymore. They hate you and mistreat you now, but they’ll have to answer to God. He’s going to judge everyone who’s ever lived. Remember, the hope for rescue that Jesus gave us was offered to people who aren’t alive anymore. Since everyone’s going to face God, everyone is given the chance to live like God wants.
When I get discouraged, I read a few specific verses. They will hopefully encourage you, too!
Philippians 3.20f: But we are citizens of heaven, where the lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our savior. He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control.
Romans 8.1-4: So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. Because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death…God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. In that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.
I Corinthians 15.51-53: But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.
II Corinthians 4.16ff: That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.
II Corinthians 5.1-4: For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing. For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies. While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life.
This week we will do a brief study of I Peter 3.17-22.
In verse 17, the emphasis in the original text is “doing good.” If it is God’s desire (this is emphasized) that we suffer, it is better (stronger, more prominent, more advantageous) that we suffer for doing good works than evil works. How much more powerful a message do we send when we come under fire for doing something that benefits others? If we suffer for doing something bad, we’re just another criminal. But to suffer in the act of doing something good – in context – is a far more powerful evangelistic tool.
In the following verses, Peter gives a powerful example of Christ’s focus on getting rid of sin. He put everything into saving mankind – including giving His own life – so that we could all have the opportunity to come to God. Even before the destruction of the world through the flood He made sure everything had the opportunity to hear about their spiritual state. Whether this was done through Noah and his sons or whether He had a more direct hand in this is immaterial. The point of the text is that the message got out to those who are “now in prison.” His goal was to bring others to God, even when it caused Him suffering.
Only those who did listen and obey – eight people – were rescued from evil by the waters of the flood. Notice that the Spirit does not record Noah’s ark as being what saved them! They were saved in the important sense by the destruction of evil. Our focus is not earthly.
Just as water saved Noah and his family from evil, water saves us from spiritual death. Being immersed in water is how we make a formal appeal to God for a clear conscience! Some translations render this, “A promise to God from a good conscience,” as if baptism is some kind of outward sign of an inward faith. This is not reflected in Greek; it is a conscience cleared by an appeal to God, because of the resurrection of Jesus. He has all power, so He can clear our record when we submit to Him.
Having all of this as a background, we have some motivation to keep our actions pure, suffer for doing good things, and understand that God’s power is what saves us. Peter gives many other phenomenal motivators for living a pure life, which we will look at in detail in the coming weeks.
Did you know that eating processed meats like bologna and pepperoni have been linked to memory loss? That’s a real bummer because most of the meat that I like is processed. I love Vienna sausages, hotdogs, pepperoni, and many other types of processed meat. Which might explain why I can’t remember names to save my life. It’s not just names, I forget about birthdays, Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, and a bunch of other important dates. But I’m not alone in this. Mankind as a whole tends to forget important events with the passing of time.
Which is exactly why God in His infinite wisdom commands us to remember a certain event every first day of the week. “The Lord’s Supper,” “the Lord’s Table,” “the Cup of Blessing,” “Communion,” and “the Breaking of Bread” each are descriptions used in scripture that refer to the act of remembering the body and blood of Jesus on the first day of the week. In the early church it was also called “the Eucharist” or “the giving of thanks” (Matt. 26:27).
What is the Lord’s Supper? Every week Christians observe it, and most of us know what it is. It’s a time to pause and think about the sacrifice of Christ. We do it every week and for good reason since we tend to forget important events. God commands us to participate in this act every week as a church so that we can always be thankful and remember what Christ did for us.
What can sometimes be an issue is that if we aren’t careful, it can be easy to let it turn into a mindless habit. What should we be doing during the communion?
Scripture gives us many different aspects of the Lord’s Supper that should be taken into consideration when we stop to remember the sacrifice of Jesus.
Matthew 26:26-29 Jesus commands us to “eat” the bread, and “drink” the cup. We are commanded to eat the bread which represents His body, and drink the cup which represents His blood.
As we fulfill the command to “eat” and “drink,” our minds must be completely engaged in a thorough remembrance of Christ’s sacrifice (1 Cor. 11:24-25). What do we think about during this time? The sinless and perfect life Jesus lived that made Him an acceptable solution for our sin problem. His willingness to go to the cross. The crucifixion. Specifically His body that was pierced and beaten, and His blood that poured from His wounds. Blood that has the power to forgive our sins. The burial AND resurrection because none of this would’ve meant anything if Jesus stayed in the tomb.
We should remember Christ’s right hand position in heaven that now gives us access to the Father. And we are to remember the common bond we now have as a church.
1 Corinthians 10:16 describes the Lord’s Supper as a “participation.” Paul uses the Greek word koinonia which means “a sharing or fellowship.” As a church we have fellowship in the blood and body of Christ. Verse 17 tells us that the “many are one” because there is only one body (Christ) that brought us together. We are united by the body of Christ.
The next time we observe the Lord’s Supper let’s be sure to dwell on these things; Remember every aspect of Christ’s sacrifice, remember where He is now, and remember the unity we now share with each other.
This song by the Gaithers was written in 1971 at the height of the Vietnam War. Also happening in this country was great civil unrest, school and public arena shootings, civil rights/suffrage/anti-war protests, political unrest, economic downturn, and concerns over the rising influence of communism. It was written during the Cold War when children had to do nuclear attack drills at school.
I never noticed how important the line, “this child can face uncertain days because He lives” was until seeing the year it was published. Those were definitely uncertain days.
Our time isn’t much different. I don’t have to elaborate on the stuff that makes our days uncertain – we’re very aware. We are able to handle what’s going on because He lives. No political unrest, civil disorder, threat of war, disease, or economic downturn can keep shut us down for good because He lives.
“Because He lives, I can face tomorrow. Because He lives, all fear is gone. Because I know He hold the future, and life is worth the living just because He lives.”
Nadezhda Khazina was born in Russia at the turn of the 20th Century. She met and married the famous poet, Osip Mandelstam, in Kiev, Ukraine, after the Russian Revolution and establishment of communism. The couple saw enough of that system of government to conclude it was destructive and harmful, so they railed against it as they had opportunity. Mandelstam had a wide audience through his poetry, and his 1934 epigram about Joseph Stalin was a work he called “his suicide note” and that has been described as his “sixteen line death sentence.” He was arrested, exiled, and died of exposure and neglect four years later. Nadezhda became even more active in crusading against the tactics used in the Soviet Union, then near the end of her life she wrote a two volume autobiography of her life and work: Hope Against Hope (1970) and Hope Abandoned (1974)(https://spartacus-educational.com/RUSkhazina.htm). What’s interesting is looking up the name “Nadezhda” or the more familiar form “Nadia”; the name means “hope.” In fact, Lois Fisher-Ruge wrote a book by that title in 1989.
Do you see the irony? Her name meant hope, but her life was full of hopes dashed and hopelessness in the midst of her struggle. But, she kept on working because of the hope she felt.
Peter writes 1 Peter to Christians who were going to see some seemingly hopeless situations in their lives. Some of them lived in Bithynia, a region whose governor, Pliny, famously bragged to the emperor Trajan at the turn of the second century about his pogrom of executing professed Christians for their faith. This was just about half a century after Peter writes this epistle warning of persecution.
Despite Peter’s warning about the testing of their faith in unfavorable circumstances, he frequently mentions not just the ultimate reward we see for faithfully serving Christ but also “hope.” Five times in the first three chapters, Peter mentions this hope. It’s a living hope caused by Christ’s resurrection (1:3), a complete hope (1:13), a hope in God (1:21; 3:5), and a reasonable hope (3:15). The world around them was hopeless; they lived without hope. They wanted to drag the Christians into that hopeless state, but Peter urges them to hold onto hope.
Our hopes are tested by times like these, by a world full of sin and iniquity. It’s easy to restrict our focus to this earth and this life. Peter’s words are for us, too! Do not be hopeless! You have Christ. Only those in Him have legitimate hope!
Drone photo from Nick Dubree of our drive in service at our new property.
It was September 24, 1869. The Civll War was barely an excruciating national memory and the nation was rebuilding. That specific day was a Friday, the day a cruel scheme by two Wall Street investors was discovered and led to an implosion of the Stock Market. It was referred to as “Black Friday.” The tie of this term to the Christmas shopping season is also surprising. In the 1950s, the Philadelphia police department used the phrase to describe the mayhem brought by the combination of suburban shoppers, tourists, attendees of the Army-Navy football game, and increased shoplifting in stores. They would have to work extra-long shifts this day after Thanksgiving. It was a derogatory term until relatively recently, when retailers in the late 1980s co-opted the expression to depict the day as the day retailers were trying to take their businesses from the “red” to the “black.” This meant bargains for shoppers, the best day to get out and shop and spend. While the advent of online shopping and retail promotions have created new and additional days of holiday shopping deals, “Black Friday” still symbolizes the happy time of “the most wonderful time of the year” (information from Sarah Pruitt, History Channel).
For the Christian, black Friday was the day darkness fell over the whole land of Palestine around 30 A.D. (Mat. 27:45). It had to take place to save humanity who were sitting in the darkness of sin (Mat. 4:16) facing the grim prospect of eternal, outer darkness (Mat. 8:12; 22:13; 25:30). It was a horrible day. It was a day of seeming loss, with Jesus’ followers sensing total defeat. Jesus was undergoing six hours of horrific torture before succumbing to death. Satan seemed victorious. But God, according to His eternal, humbling, and essential plan, took that day of darkness and defeat and used it to bring the only profit that ultimately matters. It was actually a day of triumph (Col. 2:15). It became a day of victory for us (1 John 5:4). What turned that day from sorrow to joy was the Sunday that followed that Friday. That Friday death was God’s gift to the whole world, and it profits anyone who responds to it by obedient faith (Rom. 6).
This Sunday (and every Sunday), we get to celebrate this gift and what it means to us when we take the Lord’s Supper. We think back on those dark events, thank God for what they mean to us now, and look ahead with hope and assurance to what it means for our eternal destiny. It was a day of defeat, but God transformed it into the day of victory!
“Three babies are crying across the auditorium… Somebody dropped a songbook… Everybody has a cough today… Oh, good… brother So ‘N So sure prayers nice prayers… My big toe sure is bother me… I think I forgot to write out the check for the giving again… Better do… Wow! Are we done already?”
That scenario probably happens in many a mind more frequently than we care to admit. The greatest memorial of all time can also provide one of the greatest mountains to climb– concentration and distraction. The Lord’s Supper is a congregational activity, but it is participated in by individuals. What does it take to maintain concentration on the significance of this feast?
Examination. See 1 Corinthians 11:28. We should examine our state of mind, taking care to dwell on Christ’s suffering sacrifice, His triumphant resurrection, our debt to Him, the depth of heaven’s love shown in this sacrifice, and the joyful hope we have through His act. We should examine our lives and see where we can live better and eliminate sin–checking our motives, morals, and mindset. Self-examination should mark this time.
Forgetting. We should forget the daily, mundane affairs of life. We are focusing on something of much greater and eternal significance. Other things should be shut out of the mind. This is the Lord’s time.
Fellowship. We take the Supper with every other saint present. This is a special moment of fellowship (Acts 2:42). In a sense, we are also taking it with all our brothers and sisters throughout the world. The communion provides a bond of fellowship that has special meaning and ties together all baptized believers in fellowship with Christ.
One. We commemorate the Lord in the one body according to the instructions of the one Spirit with the one hope that Christ’s atonement saves us and gives us access to the Father. We honor that one Lord and follow the one faith in obedience to the will of the one God. the Supper unites us with God as well as each other (Eph. 4:4-6).
Remembrance. The Lord’s Supper is a time to reflect on the cross with its manifold significance. Until He comes again, the Lord’s Supper is an appointed, weekly, and mental trip back to His death (1 Cor. 11:26). One remembers, with the help of the gospel writers, the body wounded on the tree and the saving blood flowing from the body of God in the flesh.
Thanksgiving. The Lord’s Supper is a time for deep appreciation and gratitude. Because He suffered, we can have peace. Because He died, we can have eternal life. Because He arose, we can rise from sin to newness of life.
Paul had to remind Corinth that the Lord’s Supper was not just another meal (1 Cor. 11:20-34). Modern Christians, too, need always to keep that fact in mind when we lose focus and concentration or forget why we’re partaking. What we need, despite the distractions, is EFFORT! May the Lord’s Supper never grow old for any of us!
Only two verses call his name, but he is as infamous a Bible character as you will fin. A school teacher once told us, “If you can’t say something good about someone, don’t say anything at all!” The Spirit led Paul to no such congenial approach to Hymanaeus. The figurative cup on the man’s life was so filled with wickedness that it toppled over and spilled its insidiousness all over Ephesus. He apparently was viewed by God as a godless sinner. Why would God choose to include so stained a soul, if not to teach us key lessons about forsaking Him and the price of ungodliness?
This was a man who ran with wicked companions. He was a co-worker with Alexander (2 Tim. 4:14), with whom he blasphemed god (1 Tim. 1:20). He left the faith with his cohort, Philetus (2 Tim. 2:17-18). Maybe the downfall of Hymenaeus began with his poor choice of associates. Undoubtedly, these choices impact our own morals (1 Cor. 15:33).
This was a man who had a blatant disregard for the name of God. The Bible treats this offense most seriously (2 Tim. 3:2; Mk. 3:28-29). How spiritually degenerate must one be to ridicule and slander the name for God? Paul says that this man should be handled in the same way as the infamous Corinthian Christian who had his father’s wife (cf. 1 Cor. 5:5). What would have happened to the Ephesus church if a couple of men were allowed to spread disrespect for God and falsehood without rebuke and discipline? The same devastation happens in any church that allows the rebellious to operate unchecked.
This was a man whose teaching was compared to gangrene. Consider the graphic imagery Paul uses in 2 Timothy 2:16-18. The word of Hymenaeus and Philetus, with others like them, would “spread like gangrene.” A gangrenous infection makes amputation, in the threat of death to the entire body, a necessity. Likewise, the poisonous teaching of Hymenaeus and his partner would cause great harm to the body of Christ. Their false teaching was that the resurrection had already occurred (18). The result of their doctrine was that it threatened to upset the faith of some!
In context, the only way to guard against false teaching like Hymenaeus was doing is by diligent study of the Scriptures (2 Tim. 2:15). Like Hymenaeus, many have and will both personally err from the truth and overthrow the faith of others. Our task is to fight, like Paul did, the cancerous spread of “profane and worthless talk” (16). The result of disrespect for Bible truth is increasing ungodliness (16). How tragic! We must oppose the Hymenaeus’ of our day.
Hymenaeuses live and die, and they drag others down with them. Their influence wanes, but the damage they do has an eternal impact on those duped by their doctrines. As we keep our focus on the cross and our zeal to convert the lost, may we keep up our fight against the cankered! Let us pray that modern Hymenaeuses will turn from error and come back home to a God who waits with His mighty arms outstretched!
He was born of a virgin and when He was about thirty years of age He was baptized in the Jordan River by John the Baptist. And being full of the Holy Spirit He began His ministry walking the dusty roads of Judea, Samaria and Galilee, performing miracles and preaching the gospel. And He did go out carrying His own cross toward Calvary, and He did hang there for hours writhing in anguish and pain. And He did cry out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” He did die there, shedding His blood for the sins of the world.
But there was a resurrection and He spent forty days with His apostles providing many proofs of a bodily resurrection–the tomb was found empty. And after forty days He spoke to them for the last time and as they watched intently He disappeared through the clouds on His way back to heaven. Some time later, when Stephen was being stoned to death, he cried out, “I see the heavens opened and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God.”
And so we have the assurance that our Savior is at His Father’s side making intercession for each one of us. And we can recall in the letter that the apostle Paul wrote to the Christians in Colosse, where he cried, “Christ in you the hope of glory!” So as we are born-again children, we, too, can say, “Christ in us the hope of glory!”
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