Ward's Words | BY WARD PIMLEY

Sharing the Lord's Message of Grace

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Tag: Response to God

  • 2 PETER 3: God Fulfills His Promises

    This message emphasizes God’s promises and patience, as described in 2 Peter 3. It highlights the importance of faith, repentance, and readiness for the Day of the Lord. Believers are encouraged to live holy lives, share the Gospel, and trust in God’s plan for a new heaven and earth where righteousness dwells.

    “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9 ESV

    “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner [of persons] ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness.” 2 Peter 3:10-11 NKJV

    “But based on his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness dwells. Therefore, dear friends, while you wait for these things, make every effort to be found without spot or blemish in his sight, at peace.” 2 Peter 3:13 CSB

    A CHRISTIAN MESSAGE

    By WARD PIMLEY

    PASTOR / JOURNALIST / AUTHOR

    We are in the Last Days. We have been in the “last days” since Pentecost, and we’re still in them. We do not know how many days remain until the Lord returns for His faithful followers. 

    We have been in the Last Days since Pentecost, and we’re still in them. We do not know how many days remain until the Lord returns for His faithful followers. 

    We call that return the “Rapture,” and there is dispute within the Christian world as to whether there will be a Rapture, and if there is one, when it will take place.

    • Some faithful believe we move directly into Christ’s Second Coming without a Rapture. That’s the Amillennial position.
    • Some believe there will be a Rapture, but it will come at the end of the Tribulation, just before the Second Coming of Christ, when He will establish His millennial rule on the Earth. That’s the Post-Tribulation position.
    • Some believe there will be a Rapture, and that it will occur during the seven-year Tribulation period. That’s either the Mid-Tribulation position or the Pre-Wrath position, depending on whether the Rapture takes place exactly half-way through the seven-year period or whether it occurs slightly afterward when the Sixth Seal judgment is opened.
    • Finally, some – encompassing most of the evangelical community – believe there will be a Rapture and that it will take place before the Tribulation starts. That is the position of this pulpit and the church we serve. That’s the Pre-Tribulation position. 

    Whichever you believe, we do not break fellowship with those who hold a different position, especially since God in His wisdom has decided to give us clues but not defining details. 

    In other words, strive to understand as best you can the events and calendar of what we call The Last Days, but don’t become so doctrinaire in your position that you lose the humility that allows you to recognize that God the Father alone is sovereign, and He alone has the final act under His control. 

    Figure 1. Worshippers gathered to praise God. Many are praying for the Lord’s return. All are grateful for forgiveness.

    Your view, or my view, could be wrong. If God wanted to make the point crystal clear to us, He would have done so. He chose not to.

    For now, just focus on the apostle Peter’s writing that God wants everyone to be saved, so He is patiently giving people time to repent.

    in our study of 2 Peter 2, we looked at the apostle’s admonition to be on guard for false teachers who would slither into the church with their demented doctrines, their erroneous theology, and their wayward practices – agents of Satan, often dressed in clerical clothes, sent to destroy the church Jesus Christ vowed to build on solid Rock.

    In our final chapter of this small book, Chapter 3 of 2 Peter, the apostle urges us to maintain our faith in God’s judgment, knowing that He is not late in fulfilling His eternal promises, but is merciful and patient.

    Don’t be disillusioned. The Day of the Lord – Judgment Day – will come in its appointed time. Until then, your job – and my job – is to prepare ourselves for that time and encourage as many others as we can reach to join us. The ship is leaving the dock; the train is leaving the station, and God – the captain and conductor – is shouting, “All aboard! All ashore who’s going ashore.”

    We have three parts to today’s message, each anchored by one of the text verses quoted earlier: God Is Patient, The Day of the Lord, and God’s Calling on Our Lives.

    PART 1. God Is Patient

    “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9 ESV

    FOR MANY YEARS after I became a Christian in November 2010, this verse was my “life verse,” the one verse that meant the most to me. The reason? It emphasized God’s patience.

    I was overwhelmed by the goodness of a God who could be so patient with me as to wait on me, not call judgment down on my head, not end my life or create more hardships than I could manage. Yes, I had finally reached repentance, to use Peter’s words, and I was “saved” from Hell’s eternal fires.

    To say I am relieved would be an understatement. I am giddy with joy – even though I am not always happy – but I am filled with the joy of knowing that my Redeemer lives, and someday He will call me Home to be with Him, that where He is I may be also. 

    Figure 2. As Christ followers, we are called to share our faith and explain our joy. We are relating what God has done for us.

    As a Christ-follower, my job now is to share that message of hope and salvation with you and others I meet. I might not always be faithful in doing so, because I’m not always certain if this moment is the right moment to key up a discussion of spiritual matters, but I do pray for those moments to occur and ask God to prepare me for them so I will be ready to share my testimony when they are presented to me.

    That is what Jesus has commissioned each one of us to do when we submit our lives to Him. He has given us the right to share the Gospel message. We do not need anyone else’s permission to tell them what God has done for us, but we do need to live our lives in such a way that others will be willing to hear what we have to say. 

    • Our talk needs to match our walk, and our walk needs to match our talk.

    Trying to share the Gospel when our lives are not a testament to the Lord’s message will make us nothing more than what 1 Corinthians 13 calls “noisy gongs or clanging symbols.” We will fill the air with our breath, but we won’t be witnessing to God’s saving grace or His healing power. 

    Therefore, we must be on guard every moment to ensure our actions and our reactions reflect the light within us. Jesus has commissioned us in Matthew 5 to be “the light of the world.”

    That light is the light of the Lord that lives in the hearts of all who call on His name, who believe in His saving grace, and who have been redeemed or reborn.

    So, God is patient with us, calling us into His kingdom. If you haven’t felt called yet, then today is your day. Do not let it pass without calling on His name. 

    The Bible says (2 Cor. 6:2; Rom. 10:13/Joel 2:32; Acts 2:21) “Behold, today is the day of salvation” and “all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

    Yes, God is patient, but when patience has run its course, it gives way to judgment. God is patient, but He is not stupid. 

    Don’t take advantage of His patience; instead, take advantage of it and turn your life over to Him while you can. You’ll be glad you did.

    PART 2. Day of the Lord

    “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved what manner of persons ought you to be in holy, conduct and godliness.”  2 Peter 3:10-11 NKJV

    THAT IS QUITE a dramatic image, isn’t it? It says here the heavens and the earth will melt with fervent heat. Well, Peter isn’t done yet. In fact, as we read in verse 12, he says the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they are burned!

    Is that supposed to give us the shivers? To be honest with you, if I were not a believing Christian, that would downright scare me, and I would not want to be around at the time.

    But, true to His word, our God promises us a restoration that will surpass in beauty and wonder our current world. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves because that verse, and the promise it contains, will be the third focus of our message.

    Here in the second part of our message, we ask this: What is God trying to tell His people in these verses that detail the destruction of the known world? 

    Figure 3. God will refine us as fire refines minerals. He calls us to surrender to Him, and He promises to restore our souls.

    God, through Peter, is using symbolic language to say He is going to refine the world the way fire refines gold, the way fire purifies gold, the way fire burns away the impure elements to present gold in all its splendor. Jesus is not returning to destroy the world but to judge the world and eliminate the evil spawned by Satan and his demons.

    The Bible throughout its many passages tells us that the universe has been stained with human sin, that even the physical elements of creation “groan[] and suffer[] the pains of childbirth” (Rom. 8:22 LSB) as we wait for God to restore order.

    When God acts, as Romans 8:21 NKJV tells us He will do, His creation “shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.”

    Something magnificent is happening here, and Peter wants us to be prepared for it. What does that entail? He gives us the clue in this verse in our text passage: “what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness.”

    Here it is in verse 14 (NKJV): “Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless.”

    Now, it starts to make sense, doesn’t it? The coming promise of the Day of the Lord is to give us an impetus, an incentive, a heads up, if you will, to straighten out our lives, to smooth out our wrinkles, to – as the saying goes – “get our act together.”

    But we know we don’t do that on our own, that we need God’s power to make that happen. In John 15, the Lord Jesus warns us to “abide” in Him and He promises to abide in us so that we might bear “much fruit.” He says: “For without Me you can do nothing.”

    Earlier, I said that if I were not a believing Christian, I would be frightened at the violent imagery depicted of the world dissolving in fire and heat, but these words of assurance from God – as we’ve seen, spoken directly from Jesus and spoken through the apostles Paul and Peter – should bolster our confidence in this merciful God who, as our first passage told us, is “patient” with us, not wanting any of us to perish.

    He is calling us to surrender our lives to Him, and then He will impart within us His Holy Spirit, which will restore our brokenness, our weakness, our defeat into lives that reflect the Lord’s light and salt. 

    PART 3. God Calls Us

    “But based on his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness dwells. Therefore, dear friends, while you wait for these things, make every effort to be found without spot or blemish in his sight, at peace.” 2 Peter 3:13 CSB

    ALL OF WHAT we’ve discussed so far leads up to this verse, and I find the promise it contains for us to be the cherry atop the sundae, well worth the wait, that pot of gold we keep expecting at the end of the rainbow.

    Well, in a manner of speaking, that pot of gold is real. 

    God will create “new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.” The current heavens and earth have been sin-stained, and God, like a springtime house cleaner, is going to wipe away the dust and cobwebs and polish the furniture and wax the floor and change the lightbulbs.

    He is going to make “new heavens and new earth,” and we are invited to join Him in living there. 

    Not to do the housecleaning. No, He is going to do that because He wants it done right. 

    Figure 4. Those of us who are walking with Christ are looking forward to our new homes in Heaven. We don’t know what they’ll look like, but they’ll be tailored for us.

    He is going to design it; He’ll pick out the furniture and the window treatment; He’ll hook up the platinum TV with surround sound; He’ll set up the popcorn maker to spit out tasty treats while we watch a spellbinding movie that He will pick out.

    Now, Peter doesn’t mention anything about the popcorn, the TV, and the movie, but he does tell us that we need to get ready for this new world our God promises, and that means we ought “to make every effort” to be without spot or blemish.

    That is, to be sinless. To be obedient. To be faithful. To be loving. To be considerate of others. To serve those in our world. 

    You know the drill. All of those things God has been telling us from Genesis on, we are to be aware of and dedicated to doing … with God’s help.

    • Proverbs 3:5-7 NKJV, Solomon says: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and depart from evil.”
    • King David says in Psalm 119:105 NKJV: “Your word [is] a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.” That is another way of saying that God will lead us if we let Him.
    • Finally, we can’t let this point go without once again claiming the Lord’s promise in John 15:5 NKJV: “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”

    QUESTION: How are YOU preparing for the Lord’s return? Are you spending daily time with the Lord in prayer, Bible reading, and meditation? 

    If you are not doing that, why aren’t you? Do you think you are exempt somehow from life and life’s responsibilities? Do you think God is not making a claim on your life? Do you think Satan has forgotten about you? Do you think that how you spend your day does not matter in terms of your eternity?

    My prayer for each of you is that you will see that your life in whatever situation you face is as important to God as is the life of anyone else, even those who are placing their lives on the line to care for others, even those who you think are more righteous and more Godly than you are.

    Here’s a news flash: No one is more Godly or more righteous than you are. We are all in the same boat. We are all flawed, and we all need God’s saving grace.

    You. Matter. To. God.

    FINAL WORDS

    THIS LESSON COMPLETES our study of Peter’s letters. We worked our way through 1 Peter 1-5 and now 2 Peter 1-3. 

    Here’s a quick recap of what Peter wrote to his generation and ours in his two letters: 

    • God is patient with you, and He has promised you a better life in Heaven.
    • You are a chosen people, and you should always be ready to tell others your testimony; that is, why you have hope amid despair.
    • Submit your will to God, and live out the Gospel for His glory.
    • Beware of false teachers and their false doctrines, and believe in the grace and peace that God offers.
    • Finally, the day of the Lord is coming, when He will judge the earth; so be ready for His coming. Live out the Gospel because you want to please Him.

    Here’s a chapter-by-chapter recap of Peter’s two letters: 

    • Although you may suffer in this world, better days lie ahead for us all in Heaven. (1 Peter 1.1)
    • God uses our life experiences, even our troubles and tribulations, to prepare us for Heaven. (1 Peter 1.2)
    • We haven’t seen God, but we can still believe in Him. (1 Peter 1.3)
    • God’s Word is eternal and universal; it needs no refinements to make it relevant to the times. (1 Peter 1.4)
    • We are a “chosen” people; that is, God “chose” us to be His people, to love us, and to sustain us. (1 Peter 2)
    • We should “always be ready” to share with others the peace and joy in our hearts. (1 Peter 3)
    • We should be “salt and light” to the world for God’s glory, not our own. (1 Peter 4)
    • We must “submit our lives” to God because God loves the humble and will raise them up to glory. (1 Peter 5; 2 Peter 1)
    • We should be on guard against false teachers and their deceitful doctrines. (2 Peter 2; Jude)
    • God maintains His promises, and we can take comfort in that fact. (2 Peter 3)

    Between our study of Peter’s first letter and his second letter, we took up a two-part series of living lives without regret and God’s promise to restore the lost years to those who love Him and have trusted Him for their salvation.

    A personal note:

    For the first 10 years after giving my life to Jesus Christ in November 2010, I picked 2 Peter 3:9 as my “Life Verse.” [A life verse is a verse that encapsulates or summarizes a person’s calling or life experience.] That verse tells us that God is patient with us, calling everyone to salvation.

    I loved the reassurance that God was patient with me, of His goodness, of His love that He wanted me to be a part of His Kingdom.

    However, as I grew in my faith, a few years ago, I switched my life verse to Galatians 5:25, which says: “If we live in the Spirit, let us walk in the Spirit.”

    That basically means our actions should support our words, and our words should support our actions. I was confident enough in my new salvation that I felt a responsibility to so live my life that it would be a living testimony to that faith and to God’s goodness and love.

    I did not want to talk a big game without supporting it with the way I lived, and I did not want to live out the Gospel without sharing a testimony with others or telling them about the joy my salvation has given me.

    As you grow in your faith walk with the Lord, you might find yourself changing your life verse to reflect better your growing spiritual maturity. 

    Nothing in this world is more important than our relationship with God, with who we think He is, and what we acknowledge He wants from us. Nothing. 

    Your eternal destiny depends on how you respond to that calling. God calls each of us to believe in Him, and He promises great rewards for those who answer the call.

    If you have not said “yes” to God before now, this is your moment. If you have said “yes,” then join us in praise.

    PRAYER / BENEDICTION

    ALMIGHTY GOD, as we sing Your praise, we know from the praise hymn that You are a “Good Good Father, that’s who You are, that’s who You are;” and “We’re loved by You, that’s who we are, that’s who we are.”

    Lord, if anyone here today does not know You in a personal way as both their Savior and their Lord, can You change that today in this very hour.

    You said no one comes to the Son without the Father calling them, so please, Lord, call them. You said at “the right time” would be the time of salvation. Lord, please make this hour “the right time” for those who may not know You.

    Hear our prayer, O Lord, as we pray together in our hearts:

    “Lord, I believe Jesus is Your Son and that He died on the cross for my sins; I believe He is calling me to give Him my heart and soul. Lord, forgive my sins and wipe my slate clean, and enter my life as both Savior and Lord from this moment on. Lord, I give you my life, that I will have eternal life with You.”

    Lord, for those already walking with Jesus, we pray continued strength and faith for them to stay in Your will, to be salt and light to those around them, and to be a comforting and encouraging presence wherever they are.

    We thank You, Lord, for Your goodness toward us. We praise Your name, and we love You and worship You. In the name of Jesus, we raise this prayer.

    “[Now may] The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”  — 2 Corinthians 13:14 ESV

    AMEN and AMEN

  • 2 PETER 2 & JUDE: Warning Against False Teachers 

    This message addresses dangers of false teachers and doctrines within the church, based on biblical texts from two early Christian leaders: The Apostle Peter and Jude, a half-brother of Jesus. The chapters, 2 Peter 2 and Jude, highlight various types of false teachers and warns believers to remain vigilant and grounded in Scripture. They remind us that failure to stay close to the Lord in Scripture and Prayer will leave us vulnerable to falsehood. You cannot arm yourself against falsehood unless you ground yourself in God’s Word. There are no shortcuts. Salvation requires vigilance on all our parts. Be on guard!

    A CHRISTIAN MESSAGE

    By WARD PIMLEY

    Pastor, Journalist, Author

    “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.” – 2 Peter 2:1 ESV

    “For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.” –  Jude 1:4 ESV

    PREAMBLE

    HERESY, OR FALSE TEACHING, has been a destructive element in the church from the very beginning. Once Jesus Christ returned to Heaven and the First Generation of Christians, led by the very Apostles who followed our Lord for three years, died off, the church was led by men who never walked physically with Jesus, never saw Him heal the sick or restore life to the physically and spiritually dead, nor saw Him walk the Earth following His crucifixion.

    During this period and ever since, rival philosophies or theories were, and have been, expounded that the nascent church and its successors have had to defend against. 

    It has been far easier to advance false or distorted teaching once the Master and His closest followers were gone than when they were present and able to refute false teaching.

    They warned us to be on guard.

    Among those false teachings were that Jesus was not God but a man, just a prophet; that He had not existed from eternity past but was a created being, denying the existence of the Trinity; failure to recognize the Holy Spirit as a Person but considering Him an ‘It’; that man was not born with a sin nature but developed his own propensity for sin; and that Jesus was not fully God and fully man at the same time. 

    Additionally, disputes within the church have developed that have broken a unified voice. 

    One dispute focused on whether salvation was extended only to those whose salvation was pre-destined or pre-selected by God or whether salvation was based on God’s grace and an individual decision in response to the exercise of free will; whether there was double predestination, which included the doctrine of reprobation, where God predetermined who would face an eternity in condemnation and punishment, or whether that punishment also was the result of free will, based on a rejection of God’s calling.

    As time went on and controversies were settled, new conflicts arose. The reason for this is simple: Satan was, and is, at work, striving to disrupt God’s plan for salvation and reconciliation. 

    Whole congregations within the Protestant realm have split over doctrinal disputes, with the more conservative wing holding fast to a literal interpretation of the Bible while the progressive wing divorces itself from literal interpretation in favor of a “living” or evolving interpretation more in keeping with the secular culture.

    The Roman Catholic Church faces its controversies separately, teaching that Church doctrine supersedes biblical teaching. That false holding has led its leaders to advance different teachings throughout the ages under the guise of “new revelation.” 

    That failure to follow Holy Script has led to power struggles within church leadership and faulty teaching like the selling of indulgences and the teaching that faith alone is not sufficient for salvation, even though the Bible says it is.

    By the way, Protestant reformers who took issue with the Catholic Church’s teaching fared no better. While they denied that the Catholic Church supplanted Israel, they taught that the Protestant reformed churches were the actual successors to Israel. That also is a false teaching. 

    It also has led to a highly destructive false teaching that Christianity has replaced Israel and the Jews as God’s favored people. That is not true. The Bible teaches that God’s plan for the Jewish people will come to pass in the Millennium.

    Beware the Charlatan! The charismatic, self-proclaimed prophet who dazzles the crowd with ear-pleasing nonsense.

    That false teaching is called “replacement theology,” and it denies the Bible’s clear teaching that God is not done with Israel but that He will fulfill every promise He has made to the Jewish people.

    In Peter’s second letter, he only makes general references to specific sins so he can urge his listeners (readers) to focus more on the idea of false teaching than on specific ones. Nevertheless, he does point out (a) denying the deity of Jesus, (b) the right to indulge in sexual sin without consequence, and (c) telling lies for personal gain.

    Let’s take a look at false teaching and doctrine so we can guard ourselves against its destructive force.

    FALSE TEACHERS: SEVEN TYPES

    WHILE SATAN HAS SOUGHT to divide the church by attacking it from outside, its most destructive falsehoods have arisen from within, notably when pastors, theologians, and teachers either add words to the Scripture or delete words from it.

    The result is a distortion of the Bible’s truth, and not surprisingly, the Bible, in both the Old and New testaments, warns us against doing either. 

    By way of reminder: To list a variety of false teachers requires us to split into distinct categories descriptions that often overlap and combine with other categories. We should not make the mistake of thinking any individual falls exclusively within one category to the exclusion of others.

    THE HERETIC

    THE HERETIC teaches as doctrinal truth an idea that one commentator said “blatantly contradicts” a core teaching of Christianity. Heretics usually are gregarious, charismatic figures who lead their flock as though they, themselves, were the Savior.

    This category is like the Prophet, except it focuses on false doctrine as opposed to the teacher’s persona. 

    Our text sources today from 2 Peter 2:1 and Jude 1:4 speak directly to this evil, as both church leaders warned successive generations to be on the look-out for false teachers, who would invade the church and lead the vulnerable astray. 

    Modern theologians, following a school of skepticism, distort Jesus’ teaching, often because they themselves do not believe in the supernatural. Jehovah’s Witnesses alter the text so that Jesus becomes “a” god as opposed to “the” God, and Mormons add to the Gospel the Book of Mormon, which is not biblical.

    The Heretic is the teacher who violates Jude 1:3 ESV, “Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.” 

    THE CHARLATAN

    THE CHARLATAN uses his position of privilege to enrich himself, urging the faithful to contribute their tithes and offerings to his personal ministry. 

    Through the ages, this has ranged from the selling of indulgences by the Roman Catholic Church, the profits of which funded construction of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, underwrote the pope’s lavish lifestyle, and underwrote some of the world’s most cherished artwork, including that by Michelangelo and Raphael. 

    That is not an endorsement of the practice of indulgences; only it goes to show the magnitude of the false teaching.

    Today, we see television evangelists – called “televangelists” – who use their outsized personas and smooth words to bilk the faithful into sending in contributions ostensibly to grow the ministry but, in reality, grow the speaker’s wealth.

    Some have built notable cathedrals as monuments to themselves or drive around in luxury automobiles, all while telling the congregation that they, too, can have their “best life” if they remain faithful to the charlatan’s teaching.

    The Apostle Paul was having none of it when he wrote to his disciple Timothy in 1 Timothy 6:3-5 GW:

    “Whoever teaches false doctrine and doesn’t agree with the accurate words of our Lord Jesus Christ and godly teachings is a conceited person. He shows that he doesn’t understand anything. Rather, he has an unhealthy desire to argue and quarrel about words. This produces jealousy, rivalry, cursing, suspicion,and conflict between people whose corrupt minds have been robbed of the truth. They think that a godly life is a way to make a profit.”

    THE PROPHET

    THE PROPHET is the leader who purposefully sets himself up as a voice from God, which is intentional, while in other cases develops over time from the sin of human pride. This is the situation where one’s success in building a church or ministry is attributed not to the workings of the Holy Spirit but to the dedication of the teacher or leader. 

    The prophet traffics in words of encouragement, prophecy, or rebuke that stem from his own imagination as opposed to God’s actual teaching. Many teachers today claim to be speaking in God’s name when there is no connection between God’s will and the prophet’s mouth.

    Their falsehood can be readily discerned by anyone familiar with God’s Word, so they naturally prey upon the gullible – individuals looking for answers to life’s questions who do not know what the Bible teaches and so are more likely to believe falsehood.

    Those who are reading their Bibles faithfully are better able to see through the charades, knowing they have been warned, not only by the Apostle Peter and Jude, the Lord’s half-brother, but also by the Apostle John and the Apostle Paul.

    Here’s John, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” 1 John 4:1 NASB

    Here’s Paul, “God, by his grace through Christ, called you to become his people. So, I am amazed that you are turning away so quickly and believing something different than the Good News. Really, there is no other Good News. But some people are confusing you; they want to change the Good News of Christ.” Galatians 1:6-7 NCV

    THE ABUSER

    THE ABUSER uses his position of authority to take advantage of other people. This sin takes place in all Christian churches, both with Catholic priests and Protestant ministers.

    They use their position in the religious institutions to cover the evil in their hearts. 

    False teachers will invade the church, leading the congregation to infighting.

    Much of their evil is focused on sexual lust, where the church leader preys on troubled girls looking for guidance from a solid father figure or young boys uncertain about their own sexuality. 

    The abuser claims he is tending to the souls of the flock, especially of the weakest and most vulnerable members, but his (or her) true interest is in gaining illicit sexual liaisons, or adding to their personal bank account, or gaining power and influence.

    Throughout the ages, the church has been infected with abusers. In its earliest days, the faithful followed the sexual perversions of the pagans around them; the papacy was a battleground of political struggle, and even today, Christian icons are felled by sexual and moral failings. So many examples abound, and the secular press is always eager to pounce on any rumor of waywardness.

    One woman sadly told me years ago, “My ex-husband graduated from seminary and still had an affair, which ended our marriage.” In her confusion, she asked, “How can that be?”

    Peter, in 2 Peter 2 NLT says, “Many will follow their evil teaching and shameful immorality. And because of these teachers, the way of truth will be slandered.”

    Jude says this in Jude 1:4 CSB: “For some people, who were designated for this judgment long ago, have come in by stealth; they are ungodly, turning the grace of our God into sensuality and denying Jesus Christ, our only Master and Lord.” 

    THE DIVIDER

    THE DIVIDER uses false doctrine to divide a church, separating brothers and sisters of faith into warring parties. 

    There always will be disagreement within the church body, just as there is disagreement within households, but the divider, as described here, is not just someone who sees things differently than the church leader but someone who hungers for the attention that being a spoiler brings. 

    This person can ride a minor doctrinal or practice dispute into a major rift, forcing factions within the church to choose sides.

    Their sole purpose is to feed the satisfaction they receive by seeing others suffer.

    Jude warned against this abuse this way (Jude 1:18-19 NIV), “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires. These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.”

    THE TICKLER

    THE TICKLER is the teacher who tells the flock what they want to hear. This is the man-pleaser, the one who sacrifices the hard sayings of the Bible into story time and feeds the egos of church members, eager to “feel good” about themselves.

    Satan is in the pulpit! Not all pastors/teachers are strong believers in God’s Word. Some alter the text to be pleasing to their flock.

    The tickler’s driving force is the desire for fame and popularity, to be “liked” by many. Sometimes, the tickler is driven by a desire to build the church into a large, profitable organization that drips with money and prestige. 

    Regardless of church size, the Tickler’s weekly message evokes happiness among the flock, as opposed to salvation. There is a reason our Lord came to Earth from Heaven to die on a Cross, but that reason is our sin, and who wants to hear about sin? Especially not when the reason comes at the expense of a good joke. 

    After all, the church attendees are less interested in praising God because they would rather praise themselves and feel “good” about themselves.

    In 2 Timothy 2:3-4 BSB, Paul says, “For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires. So, they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.”

    These are the false voices who echo Jeremiah’s cry in 6:4 NKJV, “They have also healed the hurt of My people slightly, Saying, ‘Peace, peace!’ When there is no peace.”

    THE SPECULATOR

    THE SPECULATOR wants to be original or spectacular in some way, not for Godly gain but for its own sake. 

    This is a false prophet who is a consummate entertainer, eager to spout the latest nonsense regarding the “last days” or “end times” and giving, perhaps, his own interpretation of what the current world landscape portends. 

    This is not to be confused with “end times” prophecy, which is based on biblical teaching but is mere speculation based on the Speculator’s own imagination.

    These are the people who rake in millions of dollars from those who want to read their prognostications on when the world will end. The world will end, but God has not seen fit to tell us when.

    Teaching focused on speculation displaces the sure and steady doctrine of Scripture. The Speculator tosses aside the bulk of the Bible’s content and the weight of the Bible’s emphasis to obsess about matters that are trivial or novel. He grows weary of the old truths and pursues respectability through originality.

    In God’s eyes, the Speculator is neither respected nor original. He’s just plain wrong.

    Sometimes he plants himself in academia, where one of his recent masterpieces is a re-imagined God who is unable to see and know the future. Well did Paul label the Speculator a contradictory, irreverent babbler.

    Haven’t we been told in multiple books of the canon not to dabble in false teaching?

    Here are some reminders:

    • “Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines.” Hebrews 13:9a NKJV 
    • “I asked you to stay longer in Ephesus when I went into Macedonia so you could command some people there to stop teaching false things.” 1 Timothy1:3b NCV
    • “But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine.” Titus 2:1 NKJV 
    • “Timothy, guard what God has trusted to you. Stay away from foolish, useless talk and from the arguments of what is falsely called “knowledge.” By saying they have that “knowledge,” some have missed the true faith. Grace be with you.” 1 Timothy 6:20-21 NCV

    CONCLUSION

    THESE DESIGNATIONS were provided in a 2017 article from Pastor Tim Challies, a Canadian speaker and author [Pastor Tim Challies].

    While these are overview snippets of a wider and deeper treatment in various books he has written and speeches he has given, each highlights a portion of the evil against which we should be vigilant [7 False Teachers in the Church Today, Jan. 31, 2017, Pastor Tim Challies.]

    Separating the whole into segments is much like looking at each individual color in the rainbow, when, in reality, we are unlikely to see one false teacher as the color “red,” another one as “blue,” and so one. Instead, they will be a blend of several categories, although it is possible to point out one or two characteristics that seem to define this one or that one more specifically.

    The point of this is that Satan’s greatest weapons are not necessarily the secularists outside the church attacking Christianity or decrying the power of “thoughts and prayers” or naming believers as “bigots,” “haters,” and “intolerant,” or even the academics discounting the possibility of supernatural intervention in human life.

    No, the greatest danger to the churches may well come from within the church, from its leaders – its pastors, theologians, and teachers – the very people we should be trusting to deliver the truth to us, to lead us and guide us according to God’s eternal plan. 

    Pastor Tim describes Satan’s tactics as being “studied, clever, predictable, [and] effective.” “Studied” means Satan watches us carefully; “Clever” means he is tricky; “Predictable” means he uses the same tactics over again; and “Effective” means, well, they work.

    False teaching, like weeds, sprouted up as soon as the Church Age began, and false teaching, like weeds, have been growing splendidly for 2,000 years and more. They follow the falsehoods perpetrated in the Old Testament by false prophets.

    We, the church, must not be cowed by false teaching, but we must stand on guard against it and fight back. We do that by being grounded in the Word of God.

    Church, if you do not ground yourself in God’s Word, you will remain vulnerable to the power and deception of false teaching.

    Jesus warned us in His Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 7:15-16a NKJV, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits.”

    FINAL WORDS

    WHEN WE DISCUSS the topic of “false teaching” or “false doctrine,” we need to be careful in how we approach it. 

    One reason is that, apart from those core doctrinal points that our God has made crystal clear, much of church doctrine is subject to interpretation, and one person’s interpretation can differ from another person’s interpretation without either of them being entirely right or entirely wrong.

    Here are some doctrinal beliefs that are without conflict: Jesus was both God and man, Jesus was born of a virgin woman, Jesus was crucified for our sins, Jesus was raised from the dead, and Jesus now sits at the Father’s side in Heaven. To be saved, the Bible says, we need to believe those points and receive the Holy Spirit into our hearts.

    Many other teachings — such as the nature of the elements in Communion, the actual naming of Communion, whether children can be baptized into the faith or whether baptism is reserved for those who believe, whether the act of baptism itself has salvation power or whether it is only an outward symbol of an inner transformation — are not core doctrines. We can dispute another’s opinion, but they are not central to our salvation.

    There are three teachings in particular today that are causing a rift in Christendom, with fissures and fractures causing denominations to splinter and factions to grow within denominations even without a formal separation.

    They are:

    1. Homosexuality, transgenderism, and same-sex marriage.
    2. Illegal immigration, asylum, open borders, and controlled migration.
    3. Women’s role in the church, whether it should be driven by “egalitarian” or “complementarian” principles. (Each teaches the equality of women and men, but one says God created the sexes differently for complementary roles while the other says the two sexes are interchangeable, with the only exceptions being the ones related to reproduction.) 

    What this pulpit can say is that you, the faithful believer, must do your due diligence. You must continue to read your Bible, stay faithful in prayer, and ask God to continue to do what He wants to do anyway, which is this: Lead you.

    • “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.” – Proverbs 3:5-6 NKJV
    • “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” – John 8:32 NCV
    • “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what its the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” – Romans 12:2 ESV

    To remain faithful to His will, we need to remain faithful in our devotions – that is, reading our Bibles (or listening to the Bible read to us), praying to God, and asking Him to teach us His will for our lives.

    My friends, let us resolve not to give in to the heretics, charlatans, false prophets, abusers, ticklers, dividers, and speculators among us. Let us remain faithful to God’s will.

    If you do that, you will be blessed. That’s God’s promise, and that definitely is not false teaching.

    BENEDICTION PRAYER

    LORD, You have warned us to be on guard against those agents of Satan who would poison the church and our minds with false doctrine, aiming to mislead us and drive a wedge between believers and God, and aiming to split the church into warring factions, competing for attention, adherents, and resources. 

    Thank You for Your warning so we will be on guard against falsehood. Give us the desire, Lord, to read Your Word daily, to engage in prayer daily, and to strive daily to live according to Your plan for us. Forgive us, please, when we fail You. For those among us who may not know You in a personal way, may this be the moment that all changes.

    Hear our prayer when we say: Lord, I am a sinner in need of Your forgiveness. I believe Jesus is Your Son and that He died on the Cross for my sins and that all who believe in Him and call on His name will be saved. Come into my heart, O Lord, and redeem me. Be my Savior and my Lord.

    Lord, for those who do know You, we rgive thanks for the sacrifice of Your Son on our behalf. Give us the leading and the strength to be a living witness for what God has done for us that all may hear the Truth and give God the glory.

    Now may the Lord bless you and keep you; may the Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace … both now and forevermore. Guide us and direct us, Lord, as we enter our mission field. AMEN and AMEN

  • GOD’S PROMISE TO RESTORE LOST YEARS

    “Restoring Lost Years” emphasizes God’s promise to restore and renew the lives of those who come to faith in Christ. For many of us who failed to accept the Lord’s invitation to a personal relationship until well into our adult years, we grieve for those “lost years” when we walked with the Enemy. We know the people we hurt, and it grieves us. God, in His grace and mercy, encourages believers to leave those past regrets behind, embrace God’s plan for the present and future, and trust in His power to transform our lives. He promises to restore the years “the swarmig locust has eaten.”

    This is Part 2 of a two-part series on Lost Years. Part 1, “God Says: Forget the Past,” appears here.

    “So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, The crawling locust, The consuming locust, And the chewing locust.” – Joel 2:25 (NKJV)

    A CHRISTIAN MESSAGE

    By WARD PIMLEY

    Pastor, Journalist, Author

    PREAMBLE

    GOD’S WONDERFUL PROMISE or those redeemed in Christ — those of us who have received God’s free gift of salvation through faith in Christ — is that He will bring joy and wonder in abundance, more than enough to compensate for the lean years, those years we lived without Him in our hearts.

    Coming to faith in Jesus Christ is like turning on a light switch in our hearts. We see our “before” years as walking in darkness, and our “reborn” years as walking in the light.

    Jesus said, “I am the Light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”  – John 8:12 ESV (also John 9:5)

    The psalmist said of God, “Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.”– Psalm 119:105 NKJV

    Jesus said, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in Heaven.” – Matthew 5:13-16 ESV

    So, yes, when we come to the Lord in humility and sincerity and submit our wills to His, He baths us with His light, and we walk with more joy and peace than we knew before.

    *****

    YOU’LL RECALL in “God Says: Foreget the Past” we discussed God’s call on our lives to avoid living in the past and living with regret – those lost years before we came to faith in Jesus Christ. [You can find that message here.]

    God’s Holy Spirit breathes life, hope, and peace. All can be ours if we will believe.

    This time, we are focusing on the new life God promises to those of us who have heeded His call to repent of our sins, to turn from our self-centeredness, and to submit our wills and life goals to Him.

    With this rebirth, we can look back on our former lives and see the waste and loss of precious time spent in discouragement and pain, spent chasing after our own rainbows, relishing diversions to deaden the pain of our being lost, and how we simply marked time in life.

    Don’t despair! Be grateful! In our text source today, the Bible tells us that God will restore those lost years and make them productive. That is, He can and will use those lost years to help us become more productive and more zealous for Him in our new lives. That promise is available only to those who love Him and are called to His purpose. (Rom. 8:28)

    I certainly believe He has kept that promise with me by giving me this ministry to proclaim God’s love for us, which is the task that most gladdens my heart.

    This message explores the biblical promise of restoration and renewal for those who have come to faith in Christ, emphasizing God’s power to redeem lost years and transform lives through His grace.

    PART 1. RESTROSPECTIVE (1 of 3)

    THIS IS A wonderful follow-up message for me to give because I love to focus on God’s rich promises. This one, especially, strikes home because it follows last time’s message with God’s encouragement for us to leave the past alone, to let it go, so we can open our lives to what God has planned for us now. 

    Instead of just regretting lost opportunities in the past, He calls us to focus on the new opportunities He is presenting to us now; and He says if we focus on the past, we’ll miss the cues, the signs of where He’s calling us to go.

    Our wallowing in grief because we failed to follow His guidance when we were younger will do nothing for our present life, nor will it set us up for embracing a future that could be exactly where God wants to take us.

    I have found that, since turning my life over to Jesus Christ in November 2010, He has come in and taken over – often (I must admit) against my wishes – but always (I must admit) to my benefit.

    With Him in charge,

    • I have stopped drinking alcohol
    • I am more patient
    • I am more considerate of others
    • I strive to be obedient to God
    • I ache because of my sins
    • I ache for those I have hurt in my ‘before-Jesus’ life.

    In their place,

    • I have a strong desire to read His Word
    • I love going to Him in prayer
    • I enjoy singing songs of praise
    • I want to help others, especially in line with my gifts
    • I feel joy in my heart and peace in my soul.

    Those are gifts from God. All of this is His doing. 

    I do not want to give the misimpression that I am a completed being, for I am not. Like many of us, I am a work in progress. My part was to repent of my sin, recognize my need for a Savior, and then open my life to His guidance and leadership.

    So, when I say, for example, “I am more patient” or “I am more considerate of others,” that also could be reversed to say, “I am less impatient” and “less inconsiderate of others.” That’s what the progression means.

    I become more “less impatient” and more “less inconsiderate” as I walk with Christ and let Him lead me in faith.

    Since for so many years I failed to live according to His standards, holding His in-dwelling Spirit in my heart, this two-part series is tailor-made for me; it might also be for you.

    The first part of this two-part series focused on leaving the past behind; this part of the two-part series focuses on letting God restore the lost years, what the Bible calls, “the years the locusts ate.”

    We rejoice in the richness of God’s blessings when we let Him restore the richness of lost years to us. 

    If we let Him, those blessings He will give us in our new lives will more than make up for the lost years. I can assure you; they certainly have been for me.

    For reassurance, the Bible tells us:

    “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” – Proverbs 3:5-6 ESV

    “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” – 2 Corinthians 5:17 NKJV

    PART 2. CHARTING OUR WAY FORWARD (2 of 3)

    ANYONE WHO HAS “come to faith” as an adult, whether in their 20s or 40s or 70s or anywhere in-between, sees a clear demarcation between the “before” years and the “after” years.

    Those who came to faith earlier in life and wandered during their rebellious “Jonah years,” may feel similar remorse.

    They may well fall into the sin of remorse, of wishing so much they had come to know the Lord in a personal and intimate way earlier in life — or continued their walk with Him uninterrupted — so much so they may be less receptive to the new gift God is providing.

    Satan is redirecting their attention away from where God is calling them that, left unchecked, they’ll miss the new life that God is restoring to them.

    Yet the Bible tells us:

    • “Give us gladness in proportion to our former misery! Replace the evil years with good.” – Psalm 90:15 NLT
    • “Weeping may endure for a night, But joy [comes] in the morning.” Psalm 30:5b NKJV

    We look at those words from Scripture, and we can see how God recognizes how we might well grieve over our lost years. 

    Even Jesus, in His earthly life, wept, but He wept for us, not for Himself. 

    Two times, the Bible tells us He wept. Once, when His friend Lazarus had died and once when He was entering into Jerusalem at the start of Passion Week, when He lamented the Jews failure to recognize what the Bible calls “the day of their visitation.” 

    [That day, by the way, was prophesized to the day in the Old Testament.]

    We can see from our text sources that God shows us a way forward, a door opening in front of us, with the pathway laid out. All we need to do is, through faith, take the first step forward, go through the doorway, and keep going down the path before us.

    So many of us are afraid to take those steps, but our God is a patient God, and He is compassionate. 

    If you are one of those who fears taking the next step, do not be surprised if the Lord brings someone into your life who He has tasked with giving you a helping hand.

    “For he says, ‘In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.’ Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” – 2 Corinthians 6:2 ESV

    PART 3. FULL RESTORATION OF LIFE (3 of 3)

    WHEN OUR ENERGY is diverted from living-for-God to remorse for having rejected Him earlier, God cannot use us for His Kingdom.

    Why is that?

    Because instead of looking forward, where the path is leading, we keep looking behind us where we have been. We are not marking our progress; we are reliving where we were and hoping somehow to conjure up a different outcome.

    Meanwhile, God is calling us to move along with Him on the path He has laid out for us to reach the goal He has in store for us … and do not miss this … that will provide a different outcome.

    The outcome that will give us peace lies ahead of us, not behind us. Where are you going?

    God has worked through me to give me a new purpose to life, one I had never imagined possible, yet one that fulfills Scriptural promise that He can and will turn our ashes into rainbows, our coal into diamonds, our pumpkins into chariots.

    Those lost years we spent foundering about? He can turn those into productive years boosted by the character He’s built in us when we suffered. 

    Think of an oyster, which makes pearls as a defense mechanism against irritants, such as parasites or food particles. The oyster secretes layers of a substance called “nacre” around the irritant which, over time, produces the pearl. 

    You probably knew that; didn’t you? 

    I didn’t; I had to look it up.

    Okay, then what, if anything, holds you back? 

    Don’t let anything stop you from embracing all that God has in store for you, but it will require you to give up self-loathing, self-pity, defensiveness, and then replacing it with a humble heart that’s open to God’s love and grace, that is open to His teaching and His leading.

    The Bible gives us this promise:

    “To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.” – Isaiah 61:3 NKJV

    FINAL WORDS

    WHERE ARE YOU GOING? How are you living your life? Are you wasting your days wishing and hoping and planning and scheming … or are you trusting in the One who gave you life in the first place to come alongside you and redeem your life?

    It’s your choice. 

    Reading through the Bible together is a good way to connect with God’s message.

    God has given each of us the choice to decide how we want to spend the days He has allotted us. You can choose for good or for ill. But if you choose for ill, do not blame God or anyone else for the outcome that might not be what you want.

    If you choose good … and that’s the choice God wants you to make … He can and will shower you with blessings. They might not be worldly riches, but they will be the type that will make eternity for you an extreme pleasure.

    We know that God will give us rewards in Heaven based on our faithfulness on earth. Those rewards will be similar to the rewards He graces us with now. Those who are most committed to Him will feel the most peace, the most joy, the most fulfillment. Those who are less committed will find their rewards limited to just existing.

    We need to focus on how God’s Holy Spirit redeems our hearts and souls and energizes us with a desire to live out the Gospel.

    When we do, we won’t need to look back with remorse, with regret, but instead we will want to look ahead with anticipation. The Bible says God will “replace the evil years with good” and “restore … the years … the swarming locus has eaten.” 

    Our eternal life starts the day we receive the Holy Spirit into our hearts and lives and extends past our earthly deaths into all eternity. 

    While our yesterday was filled with weeping, the psalmist assures us “joy comes in the morning.” 

    “I will exalt you, Lord, for you lifted me out of the depths and did not let my enemies gloat over me. Lord my God, I called to you for help, and you healed me.

    You, Lord, brought me up from the realm of the dead; you spared me from going down to the pit. Sing the praises of the Lord, you his faithful people; praise his holy name. 

    For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning. 

    When I felt secure, I said, “I will never be shaken.” Lord, when you favored me, you made my royal mountain stand firm; but when you hid your face, I was dismayed. 

    To you, Lord, I called; to the Lord I cried for mercy: “What is gained if I am silenced, if I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it proclaim your faithfulness? Hear, Lord, and be merciful to me; Lord, be my help.” 

    You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent. Lord my God, I will praise you forever.” – Psalms30:1-12 NIV

    You can have that joy, that promise of blessing, that reassurance of God’s faithfulness, if you want it. All you need to do is open your heart to the God who created you and who calls you to fellowship with Him.

    You need to leave the past behind, take hold of His outstretched hand, and let Him guide you into the future.

    Today, will you let Him into your heart and renew you? 

    “Today, when you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts. … Behold, today is the day of your salvation.”

    Praise God!

    PRAYER

    O LORD, we praise Your wonderful name! We give thanks, O Most High, for your steadfast love and bountiful mercy and grace. You not only have promised us an eternity with You in paradise, where we will look upon Your face and You will be our God and we will be Your people, but You have assured us that eternity starts here, in this life, in this world, the moment we come to You in childlike innocence and proclaim, “Lord, I am a sinner in need of Your grace. Thank You, O Lord, for Christ’s work on the cross for me. I believe He is Your Son and that He lived a perfect life as a man and died for my sins and rose to glory as the first to be resurrected from the dead.” So, too, we, O Lord, will be raised from the dead at Your command. Thank You. We praise You, O Lord. In Jesus’ powerful and majestic name, we lift this prayer. AMEN and AMEN

  • GOD SAYS, ‘Forget the Past’!

    Why does God tell His followers to stop dwelling on the past?  Often, we reminisce just to savor the great memories or linger over hurts; in one case, revisiting our successes, in the other, figuring a way we could have avoided errors. Aren’t our mistakes instructive in some way? Possibly so, if we’re delving back to relive a victory or stave off a defeat, but He doesn’t want us to fixate on yesterday. He has a plan for our lives, and that plan involves pushing forward, opening the door, stepping through, and embracing the challenge. Best of all, He promises to go with us. 

    CHRISTIAN MESSAGE

    By WARD PIMLEY

    Pastor, Journalist, Author

    “Do not say, ‘Why is it that the former days were better than these?’ For it is not from wisdom that you ask about this.” – Ecclesiastes 7:10 NASB

    “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.” – Isaiah 43:18 NIV

    “Brothers, I do not consider myself as having laid hold of it yet, but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead.” – Philippians 3:13 LSB

    WHY DOES GOD tell us not to dwell on the past? Why does He encourage us, even command us, throughout Scripture, to focus on the “new things,” to be open to where He wants us to go? [1]

    [1] This Meditation is a revision of a previous post from July 10, 2020,  with the same name. This version also contains a second part, a revision of a post from July 02, 2020.

    Part 1: It’s Always Groundhog Day

    THIS IS A VERY important issue for me – and possibly for you, as well – and one where I often come up short … very short … very often.

    I constantly revisit the past and wonder how I could have handled events differently if I had known the Lord then. Of course, I would have been a different person, with a different mindset, a different heart, and with different priorities.

    Also, I would have sought advice from different people — definitely, my pastor and probably a youth leader – neither of which I did.

    Jesus said to him, ‘No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.’” – Luke 9:62 ESV

    I was not very good at taking direction from adults because I did not trust their judgment. My own judgment was willful and purposeful, but, because of my youth, without much experience behind it. I thought I knew more than I actually did; and, as a result, I made more mistakes than I should have. 

    Yes, I suffered for those mistakes.

    Yet God exhorts me to put aside those idle speculations and live the life He is offering me, as His child, to serve the Kingdom and to be a blessing to those He places in my path.

    Part 2: Can We Accept Forgiveness?

    THE ISSUE IS CLEAR. I see three factors: One, our sin; two, God’s eagerness to forgive our sin, and three, our unwillingness to forgive ourselves. 

    We hold onto the moment, lamenting lost opportunities, wrong paths taken, selfish actions, bad decisions. 

    We see the evil in our hearts play itself out in our lives, and we long to rewrite the story. We see the people we have hurt, the innocent lives of children who trusted us, their eyes beckoning us to change course and come back; the broken heart of a spouse whose dreams of a future with us were dashed on the rocks of our self-centeredness. “

    We see the evil in our hearts play itself out in our lives, and we long to rewrite the story. We see the people we have hurt, the innocent lives of children who trusted us, their eyes beckoning us to change course and come back; the broken heart of a spouse whose dreams of a future with us were dashed on the rocks of our self-centeredness. 

    The disappointed note in our employer’s voice as he who had recruited us, encouraged us, and enticed us to work by his side, in sadful resignation, lets us go, finding it preferable to work unburdened by our weight.

    My failures during turbulent years when my first marriage broke apart were so devastating to me, I could not bear the pain I felt. Not only did my actions hurt my wife (the mother of my children), but I denied my children the full time and attention of their father when they needed me most.

    I still hurt with the memory of those years, but with my life turned over to Jesus Christ, He has helped me heal from the worst of it and start living a productive life. Perhaps it that even today, as I stand before you and preach the Gospel, that this is what God was preparing me for.

    He certainly has given me a humility to relate to those who are suffering, and, for better or worse, some life stories to share that fit the occasion.

    Part 3: Is There a New Story?

    GOD ASSURES US He has written the story, and if we would drop the baggage of our past, we could join Him in this new adventure He has planned for us. 

    Recently, I had breakfast with a former neighbor who recently moved to Arkansas with his wife, who had been offered a promising job. 

    He told me he was not sure what he would be doing in his new surroundings, where God would be calling him, but he ~ being a man of great faith ~ said he believes God will let him know the place He has planned for him when he’s ready to accept the opportunity.

    • SOLOMON, the wisest man to live, tells us not to lean on our own understanding but to trust in God’s direction. (Prov. 3:5-6)
    • KING DAVID says God’s light illuminates the path before us, showing us where we need to go. (Psalms 119:105)
    • THE APOSTLE PAUL reminds us that through Christ, we are crucified to our sinful pasts, and with Him living in our hearts, we are open to the challenges and adventures that God has waiting for us. (Gals. 2:20)
    • THE LORD JESUS admonishes us by saying those who put their hand to the plow and keep looking back, not forward, are “not fit” for the Kingdom of God. (Luke 9:62)

    SOME MIGHT SAY if we ignore the past, we’ll fail to learn from it. We can see the truth in that statement, but God is telling us something more. He is pointing out the difference between learning from our errors and dwelling on them.

    Once He has forgiven us, we need to leave the spot of sin and not build memorials to our past. Otherwise, we’re saying that Christ’s work on the Cross was not sufficient to complete God’s plan, when God said, quite emphatically, that it was sufficient.

    He wants us to believe that and embrace it.

    Remember, Jesus told us that He came to give us life “abundantly” — a full-throttled life experience full of community with Him and each other (John 10:10), unlike the life promised us by the devil – who only approaches us to steal joy from us or suck the life out of us. 

    When we dwell in the past, God says, we’re demonstrating our lack of faith in His good provision, and we’re missing the new opportunities He has planned for us.

    Part 4: Can We Trust God?

    INSTEAD OF FOCUSING on the past, God exhorts us to refocus our attention on what life is offering us in the present, right here today, and on the future … because that’s where He longs to take us.

    LEARN from the Past
    FOCUS on the Present
    PREPARE for the Future

    Jesus said God is always working (John 5:17), and He wants us to join Him in that effort to spread the Good News to everyone.

    Here are a few of His reminders:

    “Look, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.” Isaiah 43:19 CSB

    “Look, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.” Isaiah 43:19 CSB

    “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.” Romans 6:4 LSB

    “I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:14 NKJV

    “And he who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new. Also he said, ‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.’” Revelation 21:5 ESV

    FINAL WORDS

    SAVOR THE MESSAGE. FEEL THE LOVE. CLAIM THE BLESSING.  

    Remember: Scripture is God talking to us. To you and to me.

    It is our job to listen, to trust, and to obey.

    I leave you with two more verses to consider. 

    Decide which vision you want for yourself. Hint: One of them is forward looking, gratefully accepting the role God has carved out for us; the other one looks backward in regret, challenging God’s plan for us, ungrateful for His benevolence.

    • Vision 1: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” – 2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV
    • Vision 2: “But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.” – Genesis 19:26 NIV

    I know which one I choose: the first one. I want to keep chugging forward, unburdened by yesterday’s mistakes, sins, errors, and misjudgments.

    I want to be open to where God is leading me, and wherever He plants me, there it is I want to blossom.

    PRAYER

    ALMIGHTY GOD, OUR HEAVENLY FATHER, Our Abba, our Daddy, Thank You for focusing our attention on our tendency to dwell on the past, wishing we could have a “redo” or “do over.” 

    We want to avoid the mistakes we’ve made that have taken us down the wrong paths. As we’ve come under Your umbrella as children of God, we want to take away the hurt we’ve caused others, people who counted on us, only to find we came up empty.

    Lord, some of it is so painful we would give anything to *redo* the past, to avoid making the bad decisions our sinful natures led us to make, actions that brought ruin and heartache to our lives and to lives around us.

    We cannot rewrite the script to benefit from wiser decisions, but through Your love and grace, You have given us each day a new beginning.

    Help us, O Lord, to believe so fully in Your promises that we eagerly abandon the tendency to look back on our sins and hold onto the plow as it moves forward.

    Lord, we want to be fit for the Kingdom, and we thank You for giving us that opportunity!

    We lift this prayer in the majestic name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. AMEN

  • 1 PETER 5: The Promise of Divine Glory After Suffering

    This sermon emphasizes the importance of humility, trust in God, vigilance against spiritual adversity, and the promise of divine glory after suffering. It encourages believers to cast their burdens on God, remain steadfast in faith, and find strength in shared human struggles while looking forward to eternal life with Christ.

    A CHRISTIAN MESSAGE

    By WARD PIMLEY

    Pastor, Journalist, Author

    BIBLICAL TEXT SOURCE

    “Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.” – 1 Peter 5:6-7 NKJV

    “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” – 1 Peter 5:8 NKJV

    “Resist him [the devil], steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. AMEN.” – 1 Peter 5:9-11 NKJV

    PREAMBLE

    GOD VALUES OUR HUMILITY. The reason? Because it is only when we are humble that we can learn and that we will turn to Him for strength and guidance. When we walk in our own pride, we arrogantly believe all of our achievements are because of our unique skills and abilities and that profit is our due.

    When we are humble, we put aside our foolish pride and learn from the Creator, the One who fashioned us and knows us. Moreover, He loves us, so we can count on Him to give us good direction.

    We all know this, but like Adam and Eve before us, we refuse to listen. How grateful we are, then, that we worship a God who is patient with us and more than willing to forgive us. AMEN!

    PART 1. “Humble Yourself. God Resists the Proud.”

    • Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you at the proper time. – 1 Peter 5:6 CSB 
    • God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. – 1 Peter 5:5b CSB (Prov. 3:34; James 4:6)
    • Proud people will be ruined, but the humble will be honored. – Proverbs 18:12 NCV

    HUMILITY IS A PREREQUISITE TO LEARNING.

    A woman often asks a man, “Are you teachable?”

    She wants to know if the man in her life will honor her and consider her desires as well as his own. That is, will he listen to her?

    • Someone who is proud and boastful will not listen.
    • Someone who will not listen to instruction will not learn.
    • Someone who will not learn will not change.
    • Someone who will not change wil not grow.
    • Someone who will not grow will not improve.

    That’s called “stubbornness,” and stubborness gets us nowhere! (Stubbornness is the opposite of determination. One is foolishness; the other is goal-oriented and purposeful.)

    My guess is we al know someone very well who can be stubborn. Right? (Hint: Look in the mirror.)

    God is tell us here, through the Apostle Peter, that He values our humility, not our pride.

    Remember, it was Lucifer’s pride that got him kicked out of Heaven. We know him as Satan, the great devil.

    Adam’s pride cost him Paradise, as he listened to his wife Eve’s invitation to eat the forbidden fruit instead of listening to God’s command not to eat the forbidden fruit.

    Eve’s pride caused her to listen to a snake instead of listening to her husband’s instruction of what God had told him. 

    Bottom line: Neither Adam nor Eve listened to God. 

    Pride got in their way.

    Sound familiar?

    Somewhere in this message you probably find yourself. I know I do. 

    I’m not happy about that. I’m not eager to admit it, but I am very grateful that I worship a God who understands human weakness and is willing to forgive us. 

    That’s why we worship Him!

    PART 2. “He Cares for You.”

    Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you. – 1 Peter 5:7 BSB 

    I CAN SEE this image so clearly. It repeats in my mind.

    A man (or a woman) humbly comes to the foot of the cross and lays down his (or her) burdens, just as the Lord in Matthew 11 bids us do. 

    “Come to Me all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” 

    So, we kneel in prayer, asking God to show us mercy and take our cares away; and after we are done praying, and we are ready to leave, we pick up the bundle we had placed at Jesus’ feet, fling it over our shoulders, and walk away with it. Or, if it is too heavy for us to lift, we drag it along the ground.

    Over and over and over again we do that. Why? Why are we so unwilling to part with our burdens, our heartaches, and our sorrow? 

    How many of us hold firmly onto past grievances, unwilling to forgive others – or ourselves – and we live in our pain, even glorifying our pain, honoring it, worshipping it. We want to share it with others. We want them to know every little detail of how we hurt, and how unfair life has been to us.

    Unfortunately, for many of us, there are two things we will not do:

    1. We will not blame ourselves.
    2. We will not leave the burden with Jesus.

    Now, you might say I’m exaggerating. Maybe, but if so, it is only to make a point. Our tendency is to walk for years with every heartache and defeat and misery. Yes, they will go away for a time, and we can dull the pain with various addictions (alcohol, drugs, sex, movies, exercise, family, work, busyness).

    We feel lost without our pain. We often keep pain because we’re familiar with it. It’s like a smelly old jacket with paint stains and rips that we keep in the closet. It’s not a good style statement, but we’re used to it, and it’s a comfortable fit. 

    Jesus calls us to give our hurts and pains over to Him. He can take it from us and heal our souls.

    Why does He call us? 

    Because, as our text says, He cares about us and wants to heal us.

    Let’s leave our burdens at the cross.

    PART 3. “Be Alert. Your Adversary Is Stalking You.”

    Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. – 1 Peter 5:8 ESV

    DO YOU EVER feel you’re being watched? You don’t see the person watching you, but you can feel his or her presence.

    You can just sense it. My wife and I sometimes look around and see our Puppy staring at us. The textbooks say she’s *lurking*. Shi Tzus lurk.

    The Bible says Satan lurks.

    He’s prowling around you, maybe this very moment, looking for a chance to devour you, to catch you off your stride, to knock you down. He never tries to help you up or encourage you or enlighten you – it’s always to visit some harm on you.

    Peter tells us here to be “watchful,” anticipating his evil presence. Why is that? It’s so you can resist him better, so you can arm yourself with the armor of God sooner, so you can fling yourself into the waiting arms of Jesus Christ for protection beforesomeone hurts you or you hurt someone else.

    Remember those nine (9) fruits or characteristics that comprise the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5)? It’s actually one fruit with nine parts: 

    LOVE, JOY, PEACE, PATIENCE, KINDNESS, GOODNESS, FAITHFULNESS, GENTLENESS, AND SELF-CONTROL.

    Those traits that comprise the one unit or fruit (singular) are prayers that God gives us to sustain during Satan’s attacks, during spiritual warfare, when our heart breaks, when we’re angry and frustrated, when we’re discouraged or hurt, or when we’re __ (fill in the blank here with your pain).

    Being sober-minded means being clear-headed. It is the opposite of unfocused vision or distorted sound or tipsy walking or loose lips or impatient temperament. 

    It’s recognizing you have an enemy who wants to take you away from God, and he’ll use any temptation at his disposal to lure you into his lair. Those temptations, not surprisingly, are the ones that speak to you. He watches what tempts you, and then he uses those temptations to harm you.

    Jesus warned us about him with these words: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” – John 10:10 ESV

    Somewhere in this message is you! 

    Yeah, that’s you! and it’s me. That’s why God put this verse in the Bible: It’s because He cares about us, and He longs to help us. He tells us what’s wrong with us so He can help us. He tells us to be watchful; to be careful; and to place our trust and confidence in Him.

    Remember what we said earlier about people not listening? Those who don’t listen don’t learn, and those who don’t learn don’t change.

    Non-listeners are non-learners. Don’t be a non-learner. Pay attention and trust God.

    PART 4. “After Your Suffering, He Will Glorify You.”

    Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. – 1 Peter 5:9 NKJV

    BROTHER (SISTER) YOU are not alone. You are not unique.

    Whatever you are going through right now, someone else also is going through it; another someone else already went through it; and yet another someone else is about to go through it.

    You are an individual, and God knows your name, but the suffering and pain and hurts that you experience are common to all mankind. Sorry, you are not the only one. The world is not dumping on you. The world is broken. Our sin tarnished God’s perfect creation.

    The Apostle Peter wrote this verse to encourage believers facing persecution and hardship. He wanted to assure his flock that God will not abandon those who suffer for their faith. You can be assured that God can use your life to show His grace to those around you, whether it be family or friends, staff or fellow residents.

    Some people have it better than you do; some have it worse. All have something. Everyone suffers.

    Suffering is part of the human condition, but those who believe in Jesus enjoy the promise of an eternity in Paradise with Him.

    The Bible says (in Romans) that the universe is “groaning” until Jesus returns, when He will right all the world’s wrongs and govern justly.

    This world is not our home. This world never will feel “just right” to us, even though some individual moments might feel comfortable. We spend our lives in discontent; always wishing for something we don’t have or lamenting something we do have.

    We rarely just feel at ease.

    The saving grace is that Jesus told us in advance (John 16:33) that we will have trials and tribulations in this world but to take heart. Why? He said, “Because I have overcome the world.” 

    This devil that bothers us has nothing on Jesus. He cannot harm Jesus. Yes, he will put Him on that cross, but then Jesus will rise from the dead and defeat Satan and death and evil and sin. 

    Listen to this admonition from the Book of James. James was the half-brother of Jesus. (That is, Mary was their mother; Joseph was James’ biological father but only Jesus’ legal father.)

    This is what James said about trials and tribulations in this life:

    “Consider it pure joy, my brothers [and sisters], when you encounter trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Allow perseverance to finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” – JAMES 1:2-4 BSB

    FINAL WORDS

    OUR TRIALS MAKE us stronger.

    Just like an oyster becomes a pearl through friction, we humans become stronger in our faith walk as we soldier through difficulty, trudging through one step at a time, ever onward, ever upward.

    You have heard the secular expressions, often associated with sports or other competitive endeavors: No pain, no gain. You must give something to get something. You must hurt a little to reap the glory. You must struggle to learn, to grow, to mature, to become stronger. 

    Facing difficulties ~ and placing your faith and trust in Jesus Christ as you do so ~ will help you become a stronger man or woman in your faith walk, and you’ll draw closer to Jesus Christ in the process.

    More important, Jesus promised (Matthew 28:20) to be with us every step of the way.

    PRAYER

    ABBA FATHER, GRACIOUS GOD – We thank You for Your gift to us of life – of temporal life on earth and the promise of eternal life in heaven.

    We thank You, God, for giving us the gift of Jesus Christ dying on the cross, paying the price we could not satisfy for our sins, taking the wrath of God upon Himself to spare us from that terror.

    O Lord, our God, bless each one of us, we pray, with guidance from the Holy Spirit so that we might be ambassadors for Christ, living out the gospel in our actions so that we can earn the right to share the gospel with our words – our testimony – our thanksgiving.

    We lift this prayer in the mighty name of Jesus.

    BENEDICTION

    To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. 1 Peter 5:11 NKJV

    Peace be to you all who are in Christ.  1 Peter 5:14 NASB

    AMEN and AMEN

  • GOD’S ENDURING WORD: His Word Lasts Forever

    This message explores the enduring nature of God’s Word, emphasizing its eternal, universal, and unchanging relevance. It encourages believers to remain steadfast in faith, love one another, and live as witnesses to the truth through their rebirth in Christ. These points are made: God’s word is eternal and universal, His word must remain unaltered, and His word calls to unbelievers and transforms and sustains believers.

    PREAMBLE

    WORD PICTURE – Rome burning, Nero fiddling, Christians blamed. Result? Christians face brutal persecution and torture. Romans were suspicious of unbelieving Jews, believing Jews, and Gentile Christians. They, being pagans and worshipping many gods, saw the Jewish-Christian turmoil as an internal dispute within Judaism and forced the Jews (believers and unbelievers) to leave Rome. Later, they were allowed back in but by this time, there was a growing Gentile presence in the Christian church. Nero – who legend says wanted to reconfigure the city of Rome, let 70 percent of the city burn – and then scapegoated the Christians, blaming them for the fire, which they did not cause, severely torturing them and killing many.

    A CHRISTIAN MESSAGE

    By WARD PIMLEY

    Pastor, Journalist, Author

    “Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, because “All flesh is as grass, And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, And its flower falls away, But the word of the Lord endures forever.” Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.” – 1 Peter 1:22-25 NKJV

    MESSAGE

    THOSE WORDS from the Apostle Peter in our text source (above) that the *word of the Lord endures forever*, were written to First Century Christians around 65 A.D., about the time when both Peter and Paul would be martyred in Rome. His words were designed to bring comfort and peace to the troubled souls of believers.

    The good news for us is that those words are as fresh and current today as if they had just been written by one of our national spiritual leaders — maybe Franklin Graham or Greg Laurie or John MacArthur.

    SUMMARY: 

    • God’s Word is eternal and universal. It applies to everyone for all time.
    • As such, it is relevant for our time, just as it is, without being added to or subtracted from. It needs no up-dating or revision.
    • As believers, our souls have been transformed into incorruptible seed. 
    • We are urged to avoid false teaching and to keep our focus on God’s promise of a glorious future with Him. Keep your eye on the ball. Stay focused. 
    • Know that Jesus has commissioned us to be His witnesses, telling the world what God has done for us.

    THREE POINTS FOR US TO CONSIDER:

    FIRST, God’s Word is eternal and universal.

    SECOND, God’s Word is relevant to modern life.

    THIRD, We, as His regenerated followers, are reborn and called to witness to the Truth.

    1. FIRST – God’s Word is eternal and is universal in its application.

    PETER WANTED TO ENCOURAGE believers to remain in their faith, to hold onto their confidence that God was with them, that He had not abandoned them, and that His promise of a glorious eternal vision for those who persevered remained rock solid.

    This is critical to understand because, as we learned earlier, Peter was writing to a people who were being slaughtered and tortured for their faith, yet most of them had never seen the Lord Jesus in the flesh nor heard His voice.

    Peter is saying that although you haven’t seen Him, you still believe in Him, even though you are facing torment because of your faith.

    The careful student of the Bible can read God’s words, written through the prophets (OT) and apostles (NT) anywhere from 2,000 years ago to 3,500 years ago and read writing as fresh and valid as if they were written today in a sermon, lecture, podcast, email, or text message.

    Read a psalm, for example, and then reflect on the fact that it probably was written 3,000 years ago, yet it expresses the very thought, or concern, or feeling that you and I had just yesterday … or this morning.

    God’s Word is eternal and is universal in its application. It applies to everyone, whether they believe in Him or not, whether they’ve heard of Him or not. Scripture supports that claim.

    When Peter is trying to shore up the faithful, he also addresses how they should conduct themselves as followers of Jesus Christ … and he highlights one characteristic above all – that of love.

    They are to love one another, especially fellow believers. That love will radiate out to touch other lives and be a witness to the love God has for His creation. People should see that love in us! Think about that a moment. People should see that love in us.

    2. SECOND – Churches today often try to be relevant to the culture rather than focusing on the eternal and universal application of God’s Word.

    WHEREAS PETER TOLD his audience they would face – and were facing – trials and tribulations, even persecution and death, many of our pulpits are preaching that with Jesus on your side, you can live “your best life” and find earthly success. Such a far different situation from that of Peter’s day.

    Modern pulpits often water down the Gospel message by soft-pedaling God’s condemnation of sin, and by so doing, falsely tell the congregation that in the end, everyone will be saved.

    Why? They say because a good and righteous God could not possibly send anyone to hell for their unforgiven sins, even though God says that’s the destination for those who do not believe. He said the one unforgivable sin is failure to believe.

    • “For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living water, and they have dug their own cisterns—broken cisterns that cannot hold water.” Jeremiah 2:13 BSB

    COMMENTARY: As the fountain of living water, or a flowing spring, God is the source of everlasting life (Jeremiah 17:13; Isaiah 55:1; Zechariah 13:1; John 4:10-14; 7:37-39).

    In defiance of God as the source of life, Judah had dug her own wells (metaphorically speaking) in the earth and plastered their sides to hold in stale rainwater, only to see the plaster crack, the cisterns fail, and the water escape.

    CONCLUSION: Such is the futility of false religion. Failure to believe the Truth is to believe a falsehood. So, if your pulpit is preaching a different Gospel, as Paul noted in his letter to the Galatians, then it is preaching a false gospel, not the true word of God.

    1. QUESTION: ARE YOU PLACING YOUR faith and trust in God’s living water, or are you, like the ancient Jews in Judah, digging your own wells to trap stale rainwater and losing the water, to boot, because your cistern walls are cracked? That is, are you trying to find living water on your own, or are you relying on God’s living water?
    2. QUESTION: ARE YOU WONDERING IF YOU can believe the Bible’s instruction as being relevant for your lives today? If you have doubts, let me share a few verses that proclaim God’s faithfulness:
    • “No prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Peter 1:20-21 NKJV)
    • “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man (or woman) of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17 NKJV).

    NEED MORE PROOF?

     “The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever.” – Psalm 119:160 ESV

    “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.” – Isaiah 40:8 NIV

    NOT CONVINCED YET?

    “God is not a man, that he might lie, or a son of man, that he might change his mind. Does he speak and not act, or promise and not fulfill?” – Numbers 23:19 CSB

    “The heart of your law is truth, and all your righteous judgments are eternal.” – Psalm 119:16 GNT

    Fine, you say, you’re quoting apostles, prophets, and a king, but what about Jesus? What did He say about God’s Word?

    Well, here’s the Master’s voice:

    “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.” – Matthew 24:35 BSB

    “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” – John 14:6 NKJV

    “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.” – John 17:17 NIV

    “You say that I am a king,” Jesus answered. “For this reason, I was born and have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to My voice.” – John 18:37 BSB

    The Bible makes a truth claim for itself … that it is the True Word of God …. and then it backs up that truth claim through (1) fulfilled prophecy, (2) archeological findings, (3) the historical record, and 4) changed lives.

    Has your life been changed? Have you been changed by believing in God’s Word?

    3. THIRD. Through rebirth and regeneration, we are called to witness to the Truth.

    THAT MEANS THAT, through God’s grace, we are called to avoid the temptation of following the world’s pattern at the expense of the Word of God. We become new beings, and we hunger for, follow, obey, and witness to the Truth, not a falsehood designed to make us popular or accepted by the world. The world’s truth, to the extent that it varies from, or conflicts with, God’s Truth, is a falsehood. 

    Besides assuring persecuted believers that God’s Word is eternal and universal (our First Point), and that God’s Word is relevant and must not be reshaped or watered down to make it palatable to today’s culture (our Second Point), Peter (in our Third Point) assured his listeners that through their conversion, their belief in Jesus Christ, they were reborn with incorruptible seed and so should live out their lives in faithful service to the truth of God’s Word. 

    God’s Word is truth, eternal and universal; thus, it is relevant for our time just as it is, without alteration, and we are called to live out that Word as our personal testimony. Since we are reborn (reconstituted) through God’s Word as incorruptible seed, we’ll live forever and can do so, if we believe and persist in belief, with God.

    From our passage ~ listen to these words, Church ~ Peter says that having been born again, you were reborn not of corruptible seed (the first birth) but incorruptible [seed] (the second birth), “through the word of God, which lives and abides forever.”

    ABIDING TRUTHS:

    > The Truth – both eternal and universal – is intrinsically relevant because, as the Bible tells us: “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” – Hebrews 4:12 ESV

    > That means that which is truthful, correct, and faithful, is, in its very nature, in its very essence, by definition, *relevant* ~ for yesterday when it was written, as well as it is for today, for tomorrow, and forever throughout eternity. Our passage tells us, “Jesus’ words will never die.”

    So, we see three themes recurring in our passage today: God’s word is eternal, universal, and truthful; as such, it is relevant to our times and for time to come; and, finally, through our rebirth, we also are eternal — we are reborn with incorruptible seed — and we are called by His grace to live as faithful servants of the Truth.

    Those three points, taken individually and then combined into one biblical passage, is a “major hallelujah” moment for me! That’s how I want to live my life: believing the Truth every day!

    Recognizing this message that God wrote through Peter’s pen should give every one of us the peace and assurance of salvation that God promises to those who love Him. Regardless of what we’re going through, what persecution or suffering we face, what difficulties mar our day, this passage gives us hope and sustains us.

    That, my friends, is the liberating power of the Truth.

    Jesus said it this way:

    “So Jesus said to the Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are truly My disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” – John 8:31-32 ESV

    FINAL WORDS

    HANG IN THERE, CHURCH! The trials and tribulations that beset all of us are part of our earthly journey. The pot of gold that awaits us – those of us who believe and persevere – is a heavenly existence in the presence of God. You can count on that!

    Don’t you want to just focus on that point? Eternal, everlasting, incorruptible, life without end. 

    No disease. No accidents. No sadness. No rejection. No pain. No heartache. 

    Repeat these words with me and just feel them as we say them:

    Life. Truth. Joy.

    Peace. Health. Fellowship.

    Worship. Love. Assurance.

    Can you feel it? That’s Heaven, the future, but He also gives us a foretaste of that now in the peace that passes all understanding. That’s what’s awaiting you and me. That’s the vision Peter showed us in his letter. “Don’t give up,” he says. “God is faithful.”

    “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed,” Jesus said. “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” – John 8:32 NKJV

    God paints a picture for us that is so compelling, it drives us to fall on our knees before Him (even if we do only in our minds) and worship Him.

    We don’t have to say anything more than this: “Wow! Thank You, Lord Jesus!”

    PRAYER

    ADONAI, HOLY FATHER, GOD ALMIGHTY, ABBA, DADDY – In the blessed name of Jesus Christ, we thank You and we bless You for Your faithfulness to our needs. You know, O Lord, our failings, our weaknesses, our tendency to roam, and yet You bring us back to You. You hold onto us and call us Your own. We are unworthy, but we are grateful; we are sinful, but we are repentant; we are lost, but through Your grace, we are found. LORD, love us forever, and give us strength, we pray, to remain faithful. In Jesus’ name. AMEN.

  • WHERE IS YOUR FOCUS – How Do You Handle Regret?

    God assures us through the Apostle Peter that He wants only good things for His children, but the primary goal of His calling on our lives is not to grant us our every wish for this life, although He often does, but to prepare us for glory, for an eternity with Him.

    A CHRISTIAN MESSAGE

    By WARD PIMLEY

    Pastor, Journalist, Author

    PREAMBLE

    • Do you ever get discouraged when you focus on your life and wonder just what God has in store for you?
    • Do you ever get mad at God when you think you’ve been left behind and there’s more to life than what you have?
    • Do you ever believe, if even for a moment, that someone else is living the life that should be yours?

    If you answer “yes” to any of those questions, or even if you’re not sure what your answer is, then today’s message is for you.

    Fasten your pew belts, church. We’re about to take a ride into one of God’s most enduring and encouraging promises.

    MESSAGE

    In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials … yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith – the salvation of your souls. – 1 Peter 1:6,8b-9 NKJV

    1. LIFE’S DISAPPOINTMENTS

    LIFE DOESN’T ALWAYS work out the way we want it to, does it? 

    We pray for something, dream about, prepare for it … and, often, our dream doesn’t materialize; or when it does… whether it’s our graduation, or marriage, or a great job, or a bigger house, or a new car … we find the novelty, the excitement, the thrill dies quickly.

    Or, we find we miss a cue. We fail to take advantage of the opportunities life brings us, or we make the wrong choices, or we labor in our own delusion for years, thinking we’re on the right track, only to wake up one day and regret the path taken. 

    You know these expressions:

    • If I only knew then what I know now.
    • I I had it to do over again, I’d __.
    • The grass is always greener somewhere else.
    • Ve Gedt Too Soon Oldt Und Too Late Schmardt [Too soon old; Too late smart. (Pennsylvania Dutch)]
    • The hurrier I go, the behinder I get.
    • Youth is wasted on the young. (Attributed variously to George Bernard Shaw or Oscar Wilde)

    2. WHAT IT MEANS

    WHAT IT ALL means is this: We humans are apt to live much of our lives mired in regret. For those of us who are more discerning, we draw comfort and inspiration from the Bible, where the Apostle Paul, addressing this issue, declared:

    “My Christian friends, I do not think that I have reached that place yet. But this is what I do: I do not think about past things that have already happened. Instead, I try hard to reach the things that are in front of me.” – Philippians 3:13 EASY

    LIFE LESSONS: (Spoiler Alert: Only the 3rd one works)

    1. Get Back Up and Try Harder
    2. Take Stock of the Situation and Adjust
    3. Care for Our Soul – Find Our Peace and Guidance in God.

    1. GET BACK UP

    IN MY OWN LIFE, I have experienced many of life’s challenges; and when I’ve failed, I try to rescue myself and push on.

    That helps to some extent, doesn’t it? It certainly gets us moving again, and that’s a good thing; but it’s limited in its utility. Why? Because our self-help strategies at best are a temporary solution to what could be a long-term or permanent situation. 

    Personal Example – Marriage #1 

    • Lack of wisdom (could not identify our difficulties)
    • Lack of spiritual bond (no common core)
    • Lack of family support (our families opposed the marriage).

    There’s a maxim, credited to Albert Einstein, that “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.” 

    > Getting back up and trying harder doesn’t change the situation; it only makes us more determined to try the same solution, expecting a better outcome. Image of trying to break open a stuck door.<

    2. TAKE STOCK

    TAKING STOCK MEANS looking for a better solution. Engaging our minds. This actually is an improvement over Trying Harder because at least we are engaging our mind, not just our will. 

    Getting back up and trying harder can be repeated ad nauseam before we realize that doing the same thing leads to the same end. So, eventually, we look for a better solution. When there’s growth, it comes when— or if — we look *inward* for a solution, instead of *outward.*

    Personal Example – Marriage #2

    • Lack of shared experience (different life histories)
    • Lack of shared expectations (which one of us was to make us happy)
    • Lack of purpose (no children, no shared house, no clear vision, no spiritual core).

    Admittedly, these are “big ticket” items. Marriage decisions impact our lives for years as well as the lives of our children and, therefore, of our grandchildren. Get it wrong, and you can mess up a bunch of lives for a long time, even generations.

    If we focus solely on ourselves (our needs, our wants, our desires), we continue to overlook the bigger picture. What is going on here and why? If we focus on God, then we have a source we can go to for understanding and for comfort.

    At this point in my life that I am describing, I focused solely on myself and my wants. God had not entered the picture. [Well, actually, He had, but I wasn’t aware of it yet.]

    When I faced my second divorce, and afterwards a series of aborted relationships, some of which (I thought at the time) could have led to marriage, it slowly dawned on me that there was a common element harming each of those relationships … ME! 

    I was the common element. In short, I was the problem. I wasn’t the only problem, but I was the only problem I could fix. As the comic strip character Pogo said, “We have met the enemy, and he is us!”

    No matter how much I wanted to blame someone else, this was my problem. I was a contributing factor, and it was my responsibility to fix it. My character, who I was inside, was broken and needed healing. Until I recognized that and began to deal with it, I would never heal.

    >Taking stock of our lives is an improvement, for sure, over trying harder because it requires us to begin thinking about why our lives aren’t turning out the way we want them to. Taking stock becomes more valuable as a fix-it tool if we are willing to look at ourselves — to look inward — as the possible problem.

    >However, it still doesn’t resolve our difficulties unless we’re willing to get help from an outside source. We can’t do this all by ourselves.<

    So, when trying harder doesn’t work, and taking stock of the situation doesn’t include all of the relevant elements (like our own involvement), then we need a whole attitude adjustment. 

    This is what I came to see. When we can accept that we might be culpable for our own mistakes, our own faulty judgment, then we can begin to make necessary changes that could lead to a different, and better, outcome. 

    It can be discouraging to realize your own culpability, but I believe it’s the first step we can take to improve our situations. We can’t change other people, and we might have limited ability to change our environment, but we have a whole host of possibilities at our command if we focus on changing ourselves.

    That brings us to our third point:

    3. CARE FOR YOUR SOUL

    I BELIEVE GOD gives us that grace so we can take the steps necessary to make change. One of those steps we take could lead us directly to God’s throne – which most likely is His intent. 

    What does it mean to “fix” something? How do you know what’s broken and needs fixing? Where do you go for the answers? Who can you trust? 

    We easily can get stuck. Some people get stuck at the *try harder* phase, while I – and others like me – can park for years on the *take stock* phase, blaming everyone and everything but ourselves, rolling different ideas over and over, while failing to find the right key — the one that unlocks the door.

    All of those who are unwilling to open their lives to the Lord’s hand will find diversions to deaden their pain: overwork, entertainment, exercise, gambling, substance abuse, adultery — each of which carries its own penalty. Each one of them causes harm to the person physically or emotionally or financially, yet we hold onto our “fix.”

    When, finally, we are willing to look inward, to look at ourselves, at what we bring to the equation, we can — in humility — begin to find workable answers. 

    But since we’re on our third point — caring for our soul — we need to emphasize that *soul care* requires a personal relationship with the Lord. We cannot do that on our own. 

    Finding answers does not necessarily mean fixing or changing our situation; at least not right away. It might be limited to just fixing the way we react to a situation. Do we live in bitterness? Or do we live in God’s grace?

    The Bible tells us not to blame God for our circumstances. He is not the cause of our problems, but He offers to be the solution. 

    He never promised us we would never suffer; He promised only that (1) He would suffer alongside us and (2) In the end, if we believe, our future will be in Heaven with Him.

    God is more interested in our eternal state than He is in our temporal state, even though we, in our human frailty, mostly focus on the temporal.

    • “In all this, Job did not sin or charge God with wrongdoing.” Job 1:22 BSB
    • “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 ESV
    • “We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28 NKJV

    Just like a picture puzzle, there’s only one piece in the box that will satisfy the demands of that empty space you’re looking at. 

    Only one.

    3. RECOGNIZING SOLUTIONS

    GOD CAN BE so good to us. In my case, His goodness led to yet a third marriage, but this time to a born-again Christian. This was – and is – a grace note to my life. 

    Personal Example – Marriage #3

    God did not have to restore my home life to include a wife. A good wife was not part of God’s promise to me for some accomplishment on my part, although she certainly is a bonus prize.

    Also, God did not present this woman to me, much as eons earlier He had presented Eve to Adam, until after I had made two important life changes:

    • (1) I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior, and
    • (2) I humbly told the Lord I would accept His plan for my life, even if His plan did not include remarriage.

    Within hours after I made that prayer, God brought that woman to my attention.

    I never really fixed anything for more than a brief time until I examined my soul.

    I FOUND THE ANSWERS TO MY QUESTIONS IN THE ONLY PLACE WHERE I COULD FIND ANSWERS: JESUS CHRIST.

    Don’t say “That’s just Christian Speak.” They always go there. No, folks, this is real. This is the real deal. Jesus Christ is the Answer to life’s baffling questions.

    >Coming to faith in Jesus Christ was not an easy process for me, nor is it, really, for anyone because we’re called to submit our wills and our lives to Someone else. That can be very uncomfortable.<

    That goes against our grain of self-determination. 

    • We cling to that Free Will God gave us. 
    • We don’t want to let go, even when letting go and letting God will lead us to a much better place than we can make on our own. 
    • Even when we know it will, we’re often reluctant to trust God and take that fist step.

    The Bible gives us encouragement and a warning:

    • ENCOURAGEMENT: “I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me.” – John 15:5 CSB
    • WARNING: “The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and pay the penalty. – Proverbs 27:12 NIV 

    The actual steps are simple … yet, unfortunately, so difficult to accept.

    • Admit you’re a sinner, 
    • Accept that Jesus is THE GOD MAN and that He lived a perfect life and died a painful death to atone for your sins, and 
    • Then receive Him into your heart to be both your Savior and Lord.

    Now, once we’ve come to accept the Lord Jesus as the master and ruler of our lives, then the real joy of living begins … because:

    • We are called as His disciples and followers to be on mission.
    • We are called to tell others what God has done for us.

    4. GOD’S MARVELOUS PROMISE

    HOW DO WE do that? How do we live on mission for others?

    These are three things you can do, and I’m preaching to myself here, too:

    1. We can pray for others – is there anyone you are called to pray for?
    2. We can smile and be pleasant — are you a pleasant person to be around?
    3. We can befriend them – do you routinely consider the needs of others?

    Our church says we ought to live out our lives in such a manner that we earn the right to tell others about Jesus. Our lives are our first message to the world.

    Let’s be clear: Jesus already gave us the right to tell others about Him when we were saved and He commissioned us. With that behind us, we must live out the Gospel message so that our words will be in synch with our actions.

    While humbling ourselves to accept Jesus can be difficult — we don’t like giving up control — we’ll never regret coming to faith, but we will regret not having come to faith sooner. The Bible clearly states the terrible fate that awaits those who never come to faith. Pride leads to destruction.

    Pride is …

    • The original sin
    • The great crippler.

    LET’S RECAP THIS:

    1. Trying harder doesn’t work because it yields the same result.
    2. Taking stock is a step toward improvement because we’re starting to think about our situation, but its utility depends on our analyzing all the important variables – including those pointing back to ourselves. In the end, it still depends on self-improvement, which is limited in its utility.
    3. Surrendering our lives to the Author of life is the saving grace because now we’re “teachable” and under the tutelage of the Master. It’s the only solution that works. 

    CONCLUDING SCRIPTURE:

    “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials … yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith – the salvation of your souls.” – 1 Peter 1:6, 8b-9 NKJV

    SALVATION IS THE GREAT HOPE. 

    THAT HOPE IS WHAT GIVES US JOY, COMFORT, AND PEACE IN THIS WORLD.

    FINAL WORD

    Jesus’ grace is sufficient even when our faith is weak.

    1. There is no need to despair. 
    2. There is no need to fear, nor be tormented by regrets, or constant wishful thinking. 
    3. Believe in Him. He always tells us that He is the answer to life’s questions.

    This is a lesson for me to learn, too. Like many of you, I struggle with regret. 

    1. But whenever I focus on God – not on myself but on God – then my regrets float away, like a mist of smoke. 
    2. Whenever I focus on myself, those regrets come storming back. 
    • IF YOU HAVEN’T turned your life over to God, or you’re not sure if you have, let’s take care of that now. 
    • IF YOU’VE DRIFTED AWAY from the Lord, but want to reconnect, let’s take care of that now, too.
    • IF YOU HAVE turned your life over to God, let’s celebrate that and praise God for His goodness. 

    God keeps His promises. You will not lose your salvation. 

    • Why? Because you did not earn it. 
    • God gave it to you as a gift. 
    • This gift results from His grace.
    • He wants to spend Eternity with you.

    Together, we can pray prayers of 

    • contrition, 
      • reconciliation, and 
      • praise.

    PRAYER

    Lord, I am a sinner. I need Your forgiveness and Your grace.

    I believe Jesus is the Messiah, that He is Your Son, that He lived a perfect life and died on Calvary’s Cross for me, and that by believing in Him, I will be clothed in His righteousness, and You will forgive my transgressions and save even me. 

    Abba, Daddy, come into my heart today, and be both My Lord and My Savior.

    For those of us who have given our lives to God, we thank You, O Lord, for Your grace, for the boundless gift of life that You have promised Your own. 

    Now draw us closer to You, O Lord, that we might walk as Jesus walked and talk as Jesus talked, all in Your name and for Your glory.

    Lord, we honor You, we praise You, and we worship You. We lift this prayer in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. 

    BENEDICTION

    The word of the Lord as we end our worship and go into our mission field …

    “For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.” – 1 Peter 1:23 BSB

    The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

    AMEN

    – Revelation 22:21 (NKJV)

  • BELIEVING WITHOUT SEEING: Our Test of Faith

    Our test of faith as Christ followers is to believe that Jesus Christ is who He said He is, even though we have not seen Him. 

    Who did He say He is? The Son of Man. The Son of God. The Messiah. Our Redeemer. Our Savior.

    “Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and rejoice with an inexpressible and glorious joy, now that you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” – 1 Peter 1:8-9 BSB

    CHRISTIAN MESSAGE

    By WARD PIMLEY

    PASTOR, JOURNALIST, AUTHOR

    PREAMBLE

    TRY TO PICTURE this scene: You are living 2,000 years ago in Israel, eagerly waiting for the Messiah to appear. 

    The scriptures foretold His arrival right down to describing his mother (a virgin), His birthplace (Bethlehem), and the time of His arrival (see Isaiah 7:14, Micah 5:2, Hosea 11:1). The scriptures also foretold the miracles He would do (Isaiah 35:5-6) and what His mission would be (Isaiah 61:1-2). 

    Right in front of you is a Man doing exactly what the Scriptures, what we now call the Old Testament, foretold, and yet your spiritual leaders – the Pharisees and the Sadducees – express their doubt and disapproval.

    What are you to believe? 

    The Bible tells us that Jesus, the Messiah, would be “a man of sorrows,” and this Man certainly bore many sorrows, from rejection by His own people to the heartache of watching His believed creation make a mess of their lives.

    Those people, like us today, must decide for themselves just who this Man was and is.

    THE MESSIAH

    SOMETIMES JESUS TOLD PEOPLE straight up who He was. Usually, He did not. He acted the role of the Coming One. The blind saw, the deaf heard, the lame leaped and danced, the mute spoke, and the dead returned to life. He forgave sins. 

    What He did not do was liberate Israel from Roman rule. That was not His mission nor His intent, and so the people, expecting an earthly Messiah, missed it. They missed what was right in front of them. They missed what they saw and what they heard.

    He said, “I and My Father are One.” (John 10:30) He said men and women were to believe in Him for salvation (John 6:29) and that unless they ate of His flesh and drank of His blood, they would have no part of Him. (John 6:53-58)

    WHAT HE DID

    So, what actually did He do?

    He calmed the storms, He walked on water, He turned water into wine, and He multiplied fish and loaves.

    He rebuked the Pharisees, He stumped the Sadducees, He challenged His Jewish listeners with a tale of a Good Samaritan (not just a good man, but a good Samaritan man). That would have riled His Jewish listeners.

    He curred a woman who had bled for 12 years and brought a 12-year-old girl back to life.

    He touched lepers, curing the incurable. He touched dead bodies and restored them to life.

    He honored women, He challenged men, He blessed children.

    He fulfilled the Law and the Prophets and then He changed everything with a New Covenant at the Passover table in which He was both the officiating elder and the sacrificial Lamb.

    He foretold His own death, and He choreographed His arrest. He was fully in charge during His multiple sham trials, His brutal whipping and beating, and even His being nailed to the Cross.

    At the end, He forgave those who innocently persecuted Him; not those who should have known who He was but those who hadn’t been told.

    He forgave a woman who cheated on her husband, revealed Himself to a woman who had been married five times and was now living with a sixth man, healed a young boy smitten by a demon, gave strength to the weak faith of the boy’s father, and restored to complete health a raving lunatic who had terrorized a whole town from his abode among the tombs. 

    He said He preceded Abraham; He would give no sign except the sign of Jonah; He sought baptism from John the Baptizer to fulfill the Scripture, and He endured 40 days and 40 nights of hunger and thirst in the wilderness while withstanding temptation from Satan.

    He appeared to Abraham, encouraged Noah to build an Ark, challenged Joshua, patiently courted Gideon, forgave David, gave wisdom to Solomon, walked with Daniel in the Lion’s Den, and forced a giant fish to spit a repentant Jonah onto dry land.

    He sent demon-filled pigs off a cliff; He rode into town on a donkey that had never known a rider; He allowed the multitude to worship Him, and He declared that even the very stones would cry out that He was the Messiah, the Son of the Most High God, at His command, if He let them.

    The demons knew who He was, and they shuddered. They feared Him.

    Mere man did not know who He was, and they condemned Him.

    From the Cross, He promised salvation to the thief on His right and delivered the care of His mother into the hands of His most trusted disciple, John.

    This. Is. Jesus.

    YOUR TURN

    WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE to this message of hope?

    How do you react to the message that the Messiah, God incarnate, has entered His creation as God-Man, born of a woman, lived a perfect life, became a sacrifice for our sins, and died, then was resurrected to sit down next to the Father’s throne for all of eternity?

    Have you seen Him?

    Have you heard Him speak?

    Have you seen His miracles?

    Do you know Him?

    Church, if you’re paying even the least bit of attention to the world around you, you have seen Him every day. 

    You have seen Him in the glory and majesty of His creation, from the distant stars that shine at night to reports you have heard or read of the nano world visible only through the most powerful microscopes.

    You know – as we have learned – He positioned the Earth in the right spot in the universe, tilting it at just the right angle, at the right distance from the right star, and the right distance from two neighboring planets that keep it in its proper orbit.

    He made the universe expand at just the right rate to keep it from imploding. He protects us from harm with two mega-sized planets properly positioned for that task.

    You have seen Him in the incredible instrument of our bodies that he fashioned, from eyelids, eyelashes, and tear ducts to bodily organs that take in nutrients and expel waste, from hands that can paint, draw, write, hammer, saw, bake, plant, and mold, to feet that can walk, skip, trot, climb, and run.

    You have seen Him in brains that can imagine instruments and machinery that make our lives easier, from the wheel and shoelaces to buggy whips and calendars, from elevators and airplanes to computers and smart phones, from robots and rockets to sonnets and calculus; from Mozart to Beethoven and Plato to Aristotle; from Shakespeare and Bacon to Updike and Bellow, from Washington and Lafayette to Jefferson and Lincoln; from our mothers and fathers, to you and me.

    SHARE THE WORD

    HE CAME FIRST, as a Jew, to the Jews, then turned to the Greeks (Gentiles).

    He said He would build His church on the solid rock, that even the gates of Hell could not – and would not – prevail against it.

    He chose us – you and me – to tell this story to a fallen world.

    Church, do you share that story with anyone? 

    Do you?

    • Do you say a word to anyone about what you’ve seen, what you’ve heard, what you’ve tasted, and what you’ve felt? 
    • Do you share with others what you’ve sensed within, that voice of God speaking into your heart?
    • Do you share the Good News of the Savior’s love, of His sacrifice on the Cross, of the pain He endured from the Father’s wrath?
    • Do you tell your friends and family who He is? How about neighbors, fellow residents, co-workers?
    • Do strangers see His light in your eyes,
    • Hear His voice in your speech,
    • Feel His presence when you are with them?

    Remember Jesus confronting Thomas, dubbed “doubting Thomas,” “Then Jesus said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here and look at My hands. Reach out your hand and put it into My side. Stop doubting and believe.’” 

    In effect, Jesus was saying: “Thomas, Thomas, Thomas! You’ve been with me for three years! Do you not yet understand? Stop doubting and believe!”

    When Thomas saw the holes and felt the piercing, he finally did believe.

    “Thomas replied, ‘My Lord and my God!’ [Then] Jesus said to him, ‘Because you have seen Me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’” – John 20:27-29 BSB 

    JESUS IS CALLING

    JESUS CALLS US to have faith in Him, to believe in Him, in His message, in His teaching, in His healing, and most of all, in His being, who He is, the Son of God and the Son of Man. 

    The Messiah. The Holy One. The Sacrificial Lamb. The Expected One. The World’s Redeemer. The Christ of God.

    JESUS IS THE GOD-MAN.

    WE ARE TO BELIVE THAT AND SHARE THAT.

    WITHOUT HAVING SEEN HIM.

    Let me ask you this question: Who else has had such a claim on your life, whether seen or unseen? 

    Your mother? Your father? (Our parents were as flawed as you and I are).

    Any military leaders or government officals come to mind?

    How about church leaders?

    Any athletes or entertainers or scientists or poets or writers or historians or doctors or chemists or astronauts or carpenters or laborers or gardeners … or anyone?

    ANYONE?

    If not, why is that? Once you know the answer – or even suspect you do – what will you do with that answer? Of course, you know what the answer should be – there is no one else who compares with Him.

    The Bible says, “‘To whom then will you compare Me that I would be his equal?’ says the Holy One.” (Isaiah 40:25 NASB)

    How will that knowledge change your life? Will it change your life? Will such awareness matter, or will you – as so many do – slough it off as just foolishness or as something that most assuredly can wait for another time?

    They say: “I’m okay for now, Lord. You just go along and do your God thing. I’ll let you know if I need you.”

    Church, you have been given all the information you’ll ever need to make the right decision about accepting or rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior – that means, having a reconstituted, reborn, personal relationship with Jesus.

    How will you decide? Your eternity rests on the decision you make today. A praise song says it this way: 

    “Are you hurting and broken within? Overwhelmed by the weight of your sin? Jesus is calling. / Have you come to the end of yourself? Do you thirst for a drink from the well? Jesus is calling. / O, come to the altar. The Father’s arms are opened wide. Forgiveness was bought with the precious blood of Jesus Christ.” [“O Come to the Altar,” Elevation Worship]

    Church, Jesus is calling. He’s calling you, and He’s calling me. 

    Unlike Thomas, as faithful as that apostle proved to be, we do not have to see the nail holes in Jesus’ hands to believe they are there, nor do we need to place our fingers in His side where the Roman sword pierced Him to believe He was stabbed.

    Here’s what the Bible says:

    • “Now faith is the assurance of what we hope for and the certainty of what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1 BSB
    • “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” 2 Corinthians 5:7 BSB

    We can believe without seeing. 

    ANY WAY you look at it, Jesus was talking about us – about you and me. He is calling us to believe, even though we have not seen Him in bodily form. 

    Let’s answer His call – today – with a resounding

    ‘Yes, Lord, I believe!’ 

    PRAYER

    LORD, I confess my sins to You.

    I am unworthy in my own flesh to be called Your son or daughter, but I believe that through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, You will hear my prayer, forgive my sins, and heal my heart.

    Lord, even though I have not seen You in the flesh, I still believe.

    Thank You for Your gift of life that You give freely to all who do believe.

    In the name of Jesus, I raise this petition. AMEN

  • 1 PETER 1: Overcoming Regret Through Faith in God

    INTRODUCTION

    • Do you ever get discouraged when you focus on your life and wonder just what God has in store for you?
    • Do you ever get mad at God when you think you’ve been left behind and there’s more to life than what you have?
    • Do you ever believe, if even for a moment, that someone else is living the life that should be yours?
    • If you answered “yes” to any of those questions, or even if you’re not sure what your answer is, then today’s message is for you.
    • Fasten your seat belts, church. We’re about to take a ride into one of God’s most enduring and encouraging promises.

    CHRISTIAN MESSAGE

    By WARD PIMLEY

    Pastor, Journalist, Author

    In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials … yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith – the salvation of your souls. – 1 Peter 1:6, 8b-9 NKJV

    SUMMARY SENTENCE: God assures us through the Apostle Peter that He wants only good things for His children, but the primary goal of His calling on our lives is not to grant us our every wish for this life, although He often does, but to prepare us for glory, for an eternity with Him.

    1. LIFE’S DISAPPOINTMENTS

    LIFE DOESN’T ALWAYS work out the way we want it to, does it?

    We pray for something, dream about, prepare for it … and, often, our dream doesn’t materialize; or when it does… whether it’s our graduation, or marriage, or a great job, or a bigger house, or a new car … we find the novelty, the excitement, the thrill dies quickly.

    Or, we miss a cue. We fail to take advantage of the opportunities life brings us, or we make the wrong choices, or we labor in our own delusion for years, thinking we’re on the right track, only to wake up one day and regret the path taken. 

    You know these expressions:

    • If I only knew then what I know now.
    • I I had it to do over again, I’d __.
    • The grass is always greener somewhere else.
    • Ve Gedt Too Soon Oldt Und Too Late Schmardt [Pennsylvania Dutch for ‘Too soon old; Too late smart.]
    • The hurrier I go, the behinder I get.
    • Youth is wasted on the young. [Attributed either to George Bernard Shaw or Oscar Wilde.]

    Let’s take a look at what verses 6-9 of 1 Peter 1 have for us.

    2. WHAT IT MEANS

    WHAT IT ALL means is this: We humans are apt to live much of our lives mired in regret.

    For those of us who are more discerning, we draw comfort and inspiration from the Bible, where the Apostle Paul, addressing this issue, declared:

    “My Christian friends, I do not think that I have reached that place yet. But this is what I do: I do not think about past things that have already happened. Instead, I try hard to reach the things that are in front of me.” – Philippians 3:13 EASY

    LIFE LESSONS: (Spoiler Alert: Only the 3rd one works)

    1. Get Back Up and Try Harder
    2. Take Stock of the Situation and Adjust
    3. Care for Our Soul – Find Our Peace and Guidance in God.

    1. GET BACK UP

    IN MY OWN life, I have experienced many of life’s challenges; and when I’ve failed, I try to rescue myself and push on.

    That helps to some extent, doesn’t it? It certainly gets us moving again, and that’s a good thing; but it’s limited in its utility. Why? Because our self-help strategies at best are a temporary solution to what could be a long-term or permanent situation.

    Personal Example – Marriage #1

    • Lack of wisdom (could not identify our difficulties)
    • Lack of spiritual bond (no common core)
    • Lack of family support (our families opposed the marriage).

    There’s a maxim, credited to Albert Eienstein, that “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.” 

    > Getting back up and trying harder does not change the situation; it only makes us more determined to try the same solution, expecting a better outcome. Imagine trying to break open a stuck door. Each time you thrust yourself at the stubborn door, you strike it harder, until, with a sore shoulder, you stop the effort. <

    2. TAKE STOCK 

    TAKING STOCK MEANS looking for a better solution. Engaging our minds. This actually is an improvement over Trying Harder because at least we are engaging our mind, not just our will.

    Getting back up and trying harder can be repeated ad nauseam before we realize that doing the same thing leads to the same end. So, eventually, we look for a better solution. When there’s growth, it comes when — or if — we look *inward* for a solution, instead of *outward.*

    Personal Example – Marriage #2

    • Lack of shared experience (different life histories)
    • Lack of shared expectations (which one was to make us happy)
    • Lack of purpose (no children, no shared house, no clear vision, no spiritual core).

    Admittedly, these are “big ticket” items. Marriage decisions impact our lives for years as well as the lives of our children and, therefore, of our grandchildren. Get it wrong, and you can mess up a bunch of lives for a long time, even generations.

    If we focus solely on ourselves (our needs, our wants, our desires), we continue to overlook the bigger picture. What is going on here and why? If we focus on God, then we have a source we can go to for understanding and for comfort.

    At this point in my life that I am describing, I focused solely on myself and my wants. God had not entered the picture. [Well, actually, He had, but I wasn’t aware of it yet.]

    When I faced my second divorce, and afterwards a series of aborted relationships, some of which (I thought at the time) could have led to marriage, it slowly dawned on me that there was a common element harming each of those relationships … ME! 

    I was the common element. In short, I was the problem. I wasn’t the only problem, but I was the only problem I could fix. As the comic strip character Pogo said, “We have met the enemy, and he is us!”

    No matter how much I wanted to blame someone else, this was my problem. I was a contributing factor, and it was my responsibility to fix it. My character, who I was inside, was broken and needed healing. Until I recognized that and began to deal with it, I would never heal.

    >Taking stock of our lives is an improvement, for sure, over trying harder because it requires us to begin thinking about why our lives aren’t turning out the way we want them to. Taking stock becomes more valuable as a fix-it tool if we are willing to look at ourselves — to look inward — as the possible problem.

    >However, it still doesn’t resolve our difficulties unless we’re willing to get help from an outside source. We can’t do this all by ourselves.<

    So, when trying harder doesn’t work, and taking stock of the situation doesn’t include all of the relevant elements (like our own involvement), then we need a whole attitude adjustment.

    This is what I came to see. When we can accept that we might be culpable for our own mistakes, our own faulty judgment, then we can begin to make necessary changes that could lead to a different, and better, outcome. 

    It can be discouraging to realize your own culpability, but I believe it’s the first step we can take to improve our situations. We can’t change other people, and we might have limited ability to change our environment, but we have a whole host of possibilities at our command if we focus on changing ourselves.

    That brings us to our third point:

    3. CARE FOR YOUR SOUL

    I BELIEVE GOD gives us that grace so we can take the steps necessary to make change. One of those steps we take could lead us directly to God’s throne, which most likely is His intent. 

    What does it mean to “fix” something? How do you know what’s broken and needs fixing? Where do you go for the answers? Who can you trust? 

    We easily can get stuck. Some people get stuck at the *try harder* phase, while I – and others like me – can park for years on the *take stock* phase, blaming everyone and everything but ourselves, rolling different ideas over and over, while failing to find the right key — the one that unlocks the door.

    All of those who are unwilling to open their lives to the Lord’s hand will find diversions to deaden their pain: overwork, entertainment, exercise, gambling, substance abuse, adultery — each of which carries its own penalty. Each one of them causes harm to the person physically or emotionally or financially, yet we hold onto our “fix.”

    When, finally, we are willing to look inward, to look at ourselves, at what we bring to the equation, we can — in humility — begin to find workable answers. But since we’re on our third point — caring for our soul — we need to emphasize that *soul care* requires a personal relationship with the Lord. We cannot do that on our own. 

    Finding answers does not necessarily mean fixing or changing our situation; at least not right away. It might be limited to just fixing the way we react to a situation. Do we live in bitterness? Or do we live in God’s grace?

    The Bible tells us not to blame God for our circumstances. He is not the cause of our problems, but He offers to be the solution. 

    He never promised us we would never suffer; He promised only that (1) He would suffer alongside us and (2) In the end, if we believe, our future will be in Heaven with Him.

    God is more interested in our eternal state than He is in our temporal state, even though we, in our human frailty, mostly focus on the temporal.

    • “In all this, Job did not sin or charge God with wrongdoing.” – Job 1:22 BSB
    • “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” – John 16:33 ESV
    • “We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” – Romans 8:28 NKJV

    Just like a picture puzzle, there’s only one piece in the box that will satisfy the demands of that empty space you’re looking at. 

    ONLY ONE.

    3. RECOGNIZING SOLUTIONS

    GOD CAN BE so good to us. In my case, His goodness led to yet a third marriage, but this time to a born-again Christian. This was – and is – a grace note to my life.

    Personal Example – Marriage #3

    God did not have to restore my home life to include a wife. A good wife was not part of God’s promise to me for some accomplishment on my part, although she certainly is a bonus prize.

    Also, God did not present this woman to me, much as eons earlier He had presented Eve to Adam, until after I had made two important life changes:

    • (1) I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior, and
    • (2) I humbly told Him I would accept His plan for my life, even if His plan did not include remarriage.

    Within hours after I made that prayer, God brought that woman to my attention.

    I never really fixed anything for more than a brief time until I examined my soul. 

    I FOUND THE ANSWERS TO MY QUESTIONS IN THE ONLY PLACE WHERE I COULD FIND ANSWERS: JESUS CHRIST.

    Don’t say, “That’s just Christian Speak.” They always go there. No, folks, this is real. This is the real deal. Jesus Christ is the Answer to life’s baffling questions.

    >Coming to faith in Jesus Christ was not an easy process for me, nor is it, really, for anyone because we’re called to submit our wills and our lives to Someone else. That can be very uncomfortable.<

    That goes against our grain of self-determination. 

    • We cling to that Free Will God gave us. 
    • We don’t want to let go, even when letting go and letting God will lead us to a much better place than we can make on our own. 
    • Even when we know it will, we’re often reluctant to trust God and take that fist step.

    The Bible gives us encouragement and a warning:

    • ENCOURAGEMENT: “I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me.” – John 15:5 CSB
    • WARNING: “The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and pay the penalty.” – Proverbs 27:12 NIV 

    The actual steps are simple … yet, unfortunately, so difficult to accept.

    • Admit you’re a sinner, 
    • Accept that Jesus is THE GOD MAN and that He lived a perfect life and died a painful death to atone for your sins, and 
    • Then receive Him into your heart to be both your Savior and Lord.

    Now, once we’ve come to accept the Lord Jesus as the master and ruler of our lives, then the real joy of living begins … because:

    • We are called as His disciples and followers to be on mission.
    • We are called to tell others what God has done for us.

    4. GOD’S MARVELOUS PROMISE

    HOW DO WE do that? How do we live on mission for others?

    These are three things you can do, and I’m preaching to myself here, too:

    1. We can pray for others – is there anyone you are called to pray for?
    2. We can smile and be pleasant — are you a pleasant person to be around?
    3. We can befriend them – do you routinely consider the needs of others?

    Our church says we ought to live out our lives in such a manner that we earn the right to tell others about Jesus. Our lives are our first message to the world.

    While humbling ourselves to accept Jesus can be difficult — we don’t like giving up control — we’ll never regret coming to faith, but we will regret not having come to faith sooner.

    The Bible clearly states the terrible fate that awaits those who never come to faith. Pride leads to destruction.

    Pride is …

    • The original sin
    • The great crippler.

    LET’S RECAP THIS:

    1. Trying harder doesn’t work because it yields the same result.
    2. Taking stock is a step toward improvement because we’re starting to think about our situation, but its utility depends on our analyzing all the important variables – including those pointing back to ourselves. In the end, it still depends on self-improvement, which is limited in its utility.
    3. Surrendering our lives to the Author of life is the saving grace because now we’re “teachable” and under the tutelage of the Master. It’s the only solution that works. 

    CONCLUDING SCRIPTURE: “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials … yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith – the salvation of your souls.” – 1 Peter 1:6, 8b-9 NKJV

    SALVATION IS THE GREAT HOPE. 

    THAT HOPE IS WHAT GIVES US JOY, COMFORT, AND PEACE IN THIS WORLD.

    FINAL WORD

    JESUS’ GRACE is sufficient even when our faith is weak.

    1. There is no need to despair. 
    2. There is no need to fear, nor be tormented by regrets, or constant wishful thinking. 
    3. Believe in Him. He always tells us that He is the answer to life’s questions.

    This is a lesson for me to learn, too. Like many of you, I struggle with regret. 

    1. But whenever I focus on God – not on myself but on God – then my regrets float away, like a mist of smoke. 
    2. Whenever I focus on myself, those regrets come storming back. 
    • IF YOU HAVEN’T turned your life over to God, or you’re not sure if you have, let’s take care of that now. 
    • IF YOU’VE DRIFTED AWAY from the Lord, but want to reconnect, let’s take care of that now, too.
    • IF YOU HAVE turned your life over to God, let’s celebrate that and praise God for His goodness. 

    God keeps His promises. You will not lose your salvation. 

    • Why? Because you did not earn it. 
    • God gave it to you as a gift. 
    • This gift results from His grace.
    • He wants to spend Eternity with you.

    Together, we can pray prayers of contrition, reconciliation, and praise.

    PRAYER

    LORD, I AM A SINNER. I need Your forgiveness and Your grace. I believe Jesus is the Messiah, that He is Your Son, that He lived a perfect life and died on Calvary’s Cross for me, and that by believing in Him, I will be clothed in His righteousness, and You will forgive my transgressions and save even me. 

    ABBA, Daddy, come into my heart today, and be both My Lord and My Savior.

    For those of us who have given our lives to God, we thank You, O Lord, for Your grace, for the boundless gift of life that You have promised Your own. 

    Now draw us closer to You, O Lord, that we might walk as Jesus walked and talk as Jesus talked, all in Your name and for Your glory.

    Lord, we honor You, we praise You, and we worship You. We lift this prayer in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. 

    BENEDICTION

    HEAR THE WORD OF THE LORD AS WE END OUR WORSHIP AND GO FORTH …

    “For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.” – 1 Peter 1:23 BSB

    AMEN and AMEN

  • 1 PETER 4 – ALL FOR GOD’S GLORY

    Serving God is both an honor and opportunity. Although He does not need us, He wants us. As forgiven and loved people, we must enter our mission fields, sharing Christ, testifying boldly, and using our gifts for His glory.

    In our series on 1 Peter, we’re on 1 Peter 4. We’ve highlighted four messages within this chapter.

    CHRISTIAN MESSAGE

    By WARD PIMLEY

    Pastor, Journalist, Author

    • “You won’t spend the rest of your lives chasing your own desires, but you will be anxious [eager] to do the will of God.” – 1 Peter 4:2 NLT
    • “As good stewards of the manifold grace of God, each of you should use whatever gift he has received to serve one another.” – 1 Peter 4:10 BSB

                                            

    1. CHANGED LIFESTYLE

    “FOR YOU HAVE SPENT ENOUGH TIME IN THE PAST CARRYING OUT THE SAME DESIRES AS THE GENTILES: LIVING IN DEBAUCHERY, LUST, DRUNKENNESS, ORGIES, CAROUSING, AND DETESTABLE IDOLATRY. BECAUSE OF THIS, THEY CONSIDER IT STRANGE OF YOU NOT TO PLUNGE WITH THEM INTO THE SAME FLOOD OF RECKLESS INDISCRETION, AND THEY HEAP ABUSE ON YOU. BUT THEY WILL HAVE TO GIVE AN ACCOUNT TO HIM WHO IS READY TO JUDGE THE LIVING AND THE DEAD.” — 1 PETER 4:3-5 BSB

    [DON’T GET HUNG-UP over the term “Gentiles” in this passage. Although that refers to those of us who are not Jewish, in this context it means “unbelievers,” those who have not accepted Jesus Christ as the Messiah, the Savior of the world, the Son of God.]

    I LOVE THIS VERSE. God, through His agent, the apostle Peter, is giving us a statement about our changed lives in Christ, how we used to engage in ribald behavior – the world calls it “fun” – but now we don’t. 

    We’re chaste. We’re sober. We’re not profligate with our money. We don’t take unnecessary risks. We don’t cuss. We don’t condemn *other* people for their *otherness*. We don’t judge them.

    Our women don’t flirt with other’s women’s husbands; our men don’t lust after other men’s wives.

    We show compassion. We’re patient. We’re encouraging. We’re eager to help. We praise, rather than condemn. We joke, but it’s kind, not harsh or belittling. We don’t shame someone. 

    We look out for the defenseless and the helpless and the hopeless. We cherish “the least of these.”

    And, yeah, our friends notice.

    Oh, how they notice! Some may be displeased; others might be jealous. 

    It’s with sadness that I share that I lost a good “drinking buddy” after I came to the Lord. We drank together during graduate school – so many, many years ago – and met many times in the years following graduation, until it became apparent that only one of us was going to drink alcohol, and one was not, and that killed the connection.

    I had the opportunity to share my faith with my friend, and he asked me various pointed questions, until I said, “You’re placing a great deal of trust in my answers to your questions, when you should be searching for those answers yourself. They’re available to you. Just ask God.”

    2. LOVING ONE ANOTHER

    “ABOVE ALL, KEEP LOVING ONE ANOTHER EARNESTLY, SINCE LOVE COVERS A MULTITUDE OF SINS. SHOW HOSPITALITY TO ONE ANOTHER WITHOUT GRUMBLING.” – 1 PETER 4:8-9 ESV

    IF GOD WERE to give me an opportunity to delete some words from His sacred text, I would be tempted to start with these. “Love one another earnestly” and “show hospitality … without grumbling” are “no goes” for me.

    I stand convicted, being very guarded of both my heart and my home. I even hate to loan someone a pen. I watch it carefully; fearful I’ll need to chase the miscreant to retrieve it. What is it with pens, anyway?

    In theory – in the abstract, devoid of real-life experience – I agree with those two commandments. I just find it difficult to do them.

    Aren’t there commandments you find difficult to keep? I’m sure there are. We’re all alike, weak-willed and sin filled. That’s why we need Jesus!

    So, let’s just pass over the difficult-to-obey commandments and go on to the Bible’s next passage. Maybe the next one will be easier for us.

    Right? Wrong!

    That’s not the right attitude. If I’m convicted by God’s Word, then I need to ask Him to fill my heart with the right spirit, that I will honor Him and His call on my life.

    Let me read the passage again: “Keep loving one another earnestly. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.“

    This passage calls on me to think about someone else’s comfort, someone else’s needs, someone else’s perspective, someone else’s feelings. 

    As Christians, we are called to refrain from asking: “What can you do for me?”; asking instead, “What can I do for you?”

    Yes, those commandments are difficult for me. Yet, I serve a Savior who laid down His life for me. Surely, I should be able to ask Him to grant me a heart to think, feel, and consider the needs, wishes, and wants of someone else.

    Even if it means I lose a pen. Ouch!

    3. SPIRITUAL GIFTS

    “EACH ONE, AS A GOOD MANAGER OF GOD’S DIFFERENT GIFTS, MUST USE FOR THE GOOD OF OTHERS THE SPECIAL GIFT HE HAS RECEIVED FROM GOD.” – 1 PETER 4:10 GNT

    DO YOU EVER play that church game where we striate the various tasks we see on campus? We place this task above that one, and honor this gift over another one, and simply ignore what some folks have labored over, and then labor over stuff that no one else notices.

    Hey, wind me up, and I’ll tell you how I often feel slighted because my ministry – the senior center ministry – takes place *off campus* and so no one sees what we do, and few – apparently few — are motivated to step alongside us for what must seem like a difficult ministry. 

    Many choose not to preach or sing or pray in a roomful of people whose best days are spent looking through the rearview mirror, whose minds drift off to a private world where loved ones were gathered, and everyone was active and joyful and full of life. 

    One of our pastors rightly called this ministry a “special ministry.” [Actually, all ministries are “special.”]

    He said it takes a special heart to serve the underserved, but what he neglected to add – perhaps because he was not aware of it – is that the blessings received from doing this ministry are enormous, way out of scale to the effort put into the service. 

    Frankly and honestly, I’ve been surprised, myself, at the level of asymmetry between effort out and reward in.

    We find most people are drawn to working with those who come after us because we feel we have something to share, to help them grow in their walk with the Lord; but how many feel called to minister to those who go ahead of us, to that place that beckons to us, “Come to me; you’re next.” A place where sickness and death await.

    We have the privilege of ministering to a population that deeply appreciates us and what we do for them. 

    There is a gifting that God provides us as His followers. While we take evaluation tests to determine our giftedness, God can surprise us. He has His own metric to use, and it’s faultless. 

    When God plugs you into something, you can feel confident He has placed you in the right spot – just where He wants you and just where you are needed.

    This verse also calls us to consider each of God’s giftings as valuable in His eyes. There is no striation in His plan. Preaching over painting? No. Teaching over Training? No. Evangelism over Encouraging? No. Singing over security? No. Cleaning over carpentry? No.

    All spots – both volunteer and paid — are valuable in God’s sight, and all are blessed in serving the Lord and the Lord’s anointed.

    If we are using our gifting to benefit the church body and the community outside our doors, then we are serving God according to His plan for us. There is no room for boasting. No room for comparisons. No room for envy. No room for friction. No room for complaining.

    We are to be good managers and use our gifting to benefit others. 

    4. SUFFERING FOR CHRIST

    “IF YOU ARE INSULTED FOR THE NAME OF CHRIST, YOU ARE BLESSED, BECAUSE THE SPIRIT OF GLORY AND OF GOD RESTS ON YOU.” – 1 PETER 4:17 LSB

    “FOR IT IS TIME FOR JUDGMENT TO BEGIN WITH THE HOUSE OF GOD; AND IF IT BEGINS WITH US FIRST, WHAT WILL BE THE OUTCOME FOR THOSE WHO DO NOT OBEY THE GOSPEL OF GOD?” – 1 PETER 4:17 LSB

    IF YOU’RE LIKE ME, and you are – because we’re alike – then you shiver whener you read in God’s Word that we’re called to suffer with Christ to join Him in glory, and we think – “Lord, maybe we just focus on the glory part there and soft-pedal the suffering part.”

    But whether we are called, as Christ was called, to suffer bodily harm, torture, and death for the Gospel, or we just suffer the stares and whispering and cold shoulders of those who want to push us and our Gospel-peddling aside, we will suffer at some point.

    We often express fear of antagonizing a neighbor or a co-worker – or even family members gathered around the Thanksgiving Day table – with our God talk, but today – even today – our brothers and sisters in many other countries are worshipping in secret or fearing a militia raid that will lead to the rape of the women, the crucifixion of the men, and the burning of the huts. 

    After the raping and looting comes the slaughter as men, women, and children are butchered, their bodies torn apart, the pieces left rotting in the hot sun. 

    For what crime? For worshipping the Lord as Christians.

    And you’re worried about the cold shoulder and some whispering?

    Really?

    It saddens me even to talk of this, to present to you this unpleasant truth – too many self-proclaimed Christians live lives indistinguishable from the rest of the world and never breathe a word of their faith to anyone.

    [Have you led anyone to Christ? More importantly, because you cannot control someone else’s response, have you tried? Have you? Is that commandment even important to you?]

    God does not hold us responsible for someone else’s response to the Gospel message, but He does hold us responsible for trying – or failing to try.

    When I meet Jesus in Heaven, I do not want to field a question like, “I died on the cross for you, son. What did you do for Me?”

    Let’s refocus on today’s text source. “As good stewards of the manifold grace of God, each of you should use whatever gift he has received to serve one another.”

    Can you just let those words simmer in you for a moment and blossom? You are God’s chosen child.

    We are to share the gifts we were given with others. We are to do so in thanksgiving and with praise. All we have, and all we are, is part of the mosaic, the fellowship, the church. 

    We are the body; Christ is the Head. 

    Let us be faithful stewards.

    FINAL WORDS

    SERVING OUR LORD in whatever capacity He calls us should be seen as a great opportunity for us, just as it should be viewed as a great honor.

    God wants us. God calls us. God chooses us. God looks for us. God forgives us. God loves us. 

    God does not need us, but He wants us.

    He does not need us, but He wants us. (I know I repeated those words, but they bear repeating.)

    CHURCH: As we leave fellowship this morning (afternoon), let us respond to God’s gifting in our lives with our love, our praise, and our worship.

    Let us resolve to enter our personal mission field, ready, able, and willing to share the Gospel entrusted to us, to testify to the change that Jesus Christ has made in our lives, and to use our special gifting in service to King Jesus. 

    PRAYER

    O LORD, OUR GOD, When we in awesome wonder, consider all the worlds Your hands have made. We see the stars; we hear the rolling thunder, throughout the universe displayed. 

    And when we think of God, his Son not sparing, sent Him to die, we scarce can take it in. That on that cross, our burdens gladly bearing, He bled and died to take away our sin. 

    Lord, Your goodness, grace, and mercy are more than we can imagine. Your vision for us is so much better than what we’ve managed to hold onto. 

    We are so grateful, so thankful, for how You have rescued us from the mess we’ve gotten ourselves into, brushed off our dirt and grit, bathed us clean and fresh, and restored our souls in Your sight to righteousness.

    In response, we can only fall to our knees (even if we do so only in our minds), and humbly sing Your praises and say, “Thank You, Lord Jesus! Thank You.”

    We lift this prayer in the mighty name of our Savior, Jesus, the Christ of God.

    AMEN and AMEN