1Peter 2:1-3 comments: the church destroyers

1 ¶  Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, 2  As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: 3  If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.

Peter tells these Christians to put aside all malice, guile, hypocrisies, envies, and all evil speaking. The context is the spoken word.  Malice is the maliciousness, holding hostile feelings in your heart and words for other Christians, meaning them no good. Paul told the Gentile Christians over which he ministered;

1Corinthians 5:8  Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

1Corinthians 14:20  Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men.

Ephesians 4:31  Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:

Colossians 3:8  But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.

Titus 3:3  For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.

Malice is the context of the evil spoken of following in 1Thessalonians 5 as the passage is on how we are to act as a church toward each other from our bishop or presiding elder who we call a pastor today, through teachers who are pastors in the Bible, and toward each other.

1Thessalonians 5:11 ¶  Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do. 12  And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you; 13  And to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. And be at peace among yourselves. 14  Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men. 15  See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men.

    16 ¶  Rejoice evermore. 17  Pray without ceasing. 18  In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. 19  Quench not the Spirit. 20  Despise not prophesyings. [don’t hold preaching in contempt] 21  Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.[check what you hear by the Bible, chew the meat, and spit out the bones] 22  Abstain from all appearance of evil.

Malice doesn’t have to be a desire to hit someone, get them fired from their job, ruin their marriage, damage their reputation, key their car, or let the air out of their tires. Malice can be expressed in seemingly harmless ways. This can be anything from mean-spirited gossip behind a person’s back to snide comments made just so the person can hear. For instance, someone has made a cake for an event with the church and you say just so they can hear, “I don’t see how anyone could eat that,” and then you smile so sweetly as you walk away. Come on, you’re being a jerk and you know it. You need to get right with God. There is the, “your sermons are getting better!” as if that was a compliment when what you are saying is that you thought the sermons before this one were trash. You’re being a jerk. Another one might be telling a child from unfortunate circumstances that you need to buy him some clothes, thereby cutting his parents to the quick because they can’t afford new clothes for him or themselves.  Maybe you tell a child whose parents have told them to say, “Yes, sir,” and, “No, Ma’am,” that the child doesn’t have to say that to you, thereby downgrading the authority of his or her parents. That can also be done by ‘taking someone under your wing,’ so to speak, and trying to replace a parent’s authority and affections, which you hold in contempt, with your own.  Malice can take many forms. You know what you’re doing or you’re being thoughtless, which is worse.

You want to drive someone from the congregation, act like their authority over their own children is garbage in your eyes, act like their responsibilities and family ties are trivial, call their job an idol, their fashion sense worldly, and make it clear that their precious time and energy should be there for you to spend in any way you see fit. Do it all in the name of the Lord, and smile sweetly and say plenty of, “praise God.” You’re malicious. Put it aside.

Then, there is the bitterness you feel because someone else was made a deacon and you weren’t or the pastor visited someone but not you, or during a church meeting that you didn’t attend because your favorite football team was playing something was discussed that you had an opinion about and the whole church function wasn’t placed on hold so they could consult you and you are angry and you’re going to teach someone a lesson. You know who you are. Get right with God now.

Guile is deceitful speaking, not saying what you mean, not telling the truth, but trying to maneuver someone to a position where you want them. It can be emotional manipulation to get someone to do something or even just misrepresenting yourself in some way. Telling someone you will pray for them when you have no intention of doing so to express concern is one piece of guile and deceit. You’re sly, you’re cunning, and you use psychology to get what you want. Preachers use guile when they hold an ‘altar call’ so long that someone breaks down from the emotional pressure and ‘gets saved all over again,’ a person certain old-time twentieth century preachers called a retread. Another example might be using someone’s guilt to get them to do something like, “I know since the church helped you when…that you’ll want to come out this Friday and help so and so,” instead of just offering them the opportunity and trusting that if they can make it they will.

Hypocrisies? Like when you say, “I don’t like to gossip but…,” just before you talk about someone. When you complain about another Christian being worldly and carnal because he takes a weekend off to go hunting with family members but you aren’t when you go on vacation to visit your family. Hypocrisies? Like when you criticize a brother because maybe he seemed to appreciate feminine beauty a bit too long with his eyes for your taste while you have that website on your computer you like to click on that has those beautiful air-brushed girls. You know the one that came up when you hit the search function and were trying to show your wife or brother Billy Bob another website and you just exclaimed innocently, “I don’t understand why that showed up.”

Envy is a bitter curse among Christians.

Proverbs 27:4  Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy?

For you women you see a girl in the congregation and she’s very pretty. You make snide comments to others about how worldly she is and how you don’t even know if she’s saved. It is clear you don’t like her. But, in reality you are jealous and envious of her youth and beauty and the attention she gets because of it. Or you men, there is someone in the congregation who started a business with his savings of less than a thousand dollars and built it to a nice little business for himself and his family. But, well, you comment about how he doesn’t know what it’s like to worry about paying his bills when the truth is he worries about paying his bills and his employees paying theirs. You have envy, and you are jealous. Christ was killed because of envy.

Mark 15:9  But Pilate answered them, saying, Will ye that I release unto you the King of the Jews? 10  For he knew that the chief priests had delivered him for envy.

All evil or malicious speaking will destroy a fellowship, split up a church, and drive people from the congregation.

Peter implores that these Christians, like infants, desire the sincere milk of the word and to grow by it, having tasted it and experiencing firsthand the graciousness of Christ. It is more important that they grow in grace through God’s feeding of them by the word than in numbers with just more butts in the pew who are cultural Christians just there because it makes them feel justified. Perhaps they are Super Bowl Christians just there for an emotional high or political Christians just there because the preacher justifies their political bigotry.  What Peter is hoping for is that real Christians will feed on God’s word, not their own evil desires, poisoning the fellowship with their own evil speaking.

As Paul said in Ephesians;

Ephesians 4:29  Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. 30  And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. 31  Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: 32  And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.

Revelation 2:1-7 comments for Tuesday night Bible study

1 ¶  Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks; 2  I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: 3  And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. 4  Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. 5  Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. 6  But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

John is told to write a letter to Ephesus and immediately their works, labor, and patience are commended. Also, though, it is acknowledged that they hate counterfeit apostles. Is there evidence of complaining about counterfeit apostles in the Bible?

2Peter 2:1 ¶  But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.

2Corinthians 2:17  For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.

Philippians 3:18  (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: 19  Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)

Romans 16:17 ¶  Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. 18  For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches [sermons, maybe?] deceive the hearts of the simple.

Remember what Jesus said about these kinds.

Matthew 7:21 ¶  Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?23  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

The Ephesians are commendable but they have left their first love. It is important to read Ephesians to understand the dangers and pitfalls spiritually that the rich church of Ephesus faced, the things that Paul was clearly concerned about. Rather than post the entire letter here we need to read it as a letter to get the feel of what he was concerned about and clearly what happened. Also read about Paul’s experiences in Ephesus in Acts. Please stop and do this now.

This warning to Ephesus, and to us by extension is about getting back to first things, the foundation and fundamentals of our faith as charged by Christ through Paul.

Christ speaks of His hatred of Nicolaitanism, in Greek victory over the laity. In the Roman church it is the priest as the actual representation of Christ on earth rather than the individual Christian. The priest is a separate class of individual closer to God than the laity. In the Independent Baptist church it is the preacher as the, ‘man o’ God,” who cannot be questioned and is often followed even if he is guilty of crimes to which he confesses. I listened to news interviews with the congregation of an Independent Fundamental Baptist (IFB) preacher in Virginia who had confessed to criminal behavior and they said they would follow him no matter what because he was the, “man o’ God.” In more modernistic churches it could be the educated clergy who has been to seminary and, well, he’s not going to argue with the likes of  you because he has a degree, don’t ya know.

Sometimes this evil manifests itself in a celebrity preacher’s opinions becoming dogma that must be true simply because he said it. There are a small number of such preachers in the IFB church in America who literally can say whatever pops into their head and it is as if God Himself spoke it. This is the essence of Nicolaitanism, which Christ hates. A preacher is held to the same standard or tougher than everyone else. He is not God walking in the flesh and if what he says does not line up with Scripture in context you should discard it. In every sermon, remember to chew up the meat and spit out the bones. You can learn from almost anyone and almost anyone will have some error in what they say. God does not dictate letters to preachers as if they were His secretaries. He gives them wisdom and understanding to preach His word.

Job 32:8  But there is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding.

2Peter 1:21  For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

2Peter 3:15  And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;

Beware of Nicolaitanism. It can destroy a congregation and render it spiritually powerless.

What does it mean to overcome or to endure to the end?

1John 5:4  For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. 5  Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

We now know where the tree of life is. It is in paradise which is in heaven.

See Luke 23:43; 2Corinthians 12:4; and 1Peter 3:19.

1Peter 1:24, 25 comments: do you have it?

24 ¶  For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: 25  But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.

Our bodies are so temporary it is stunning to think about. We are young and fit for such a short time. Youthful beauty and strength are fleeting and temporary. Health and vitality last for a few short decades, if that. Our body is a building, a vehicle that houses our soul. This one is temporary but one is being prepared for us which is eternal, a building of God.

2Corinthians 5: 1 ¶  For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2  For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: 3  If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. 4  For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.

Here, the Holy Spirit, using Peter, who is writing from his own thinking and in his own style, but guided by the Spirit of God, links the Old Testament passage quoted in the opening of Matthew and Mark to herald John the Baptist’s presentation of Christ.

Isaiah 40: 3 ¶  The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 4  Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: 5  And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it. 6  The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: 7  The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass. 8  The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.

The words of God endure forever and these are the words spoken to us by the gospel which we have read and which have been preached to us. The word is eternal. There is no question of what they are, what manuscripts are genuine, who wrote them, or what Bible version is authentic.

Psalm 119:89  LAMED. For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.

God’s word was preserved for us by the Holy Spirit.

Psalm 12:6  The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. 7  Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.

It is not important that we are not sure what the original autographs said because of the Holy Spirit working through faithful Christians; copyists and translators, to produce what God wanted us to have in our language.

Jeremiah 36:27  Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, after that the king had burned the roll, and the words which Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah, saying, 28  Take thee again another roll, and write in it all the former words that were in the first roll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah hath burned.  29  And thou shalt say to Jehoiakim king of Judah, Thus saith the LORD; Thou hast burned this roll, saying, Why hast thou written therein, saying, The king of Babylon shall certainly come and destroy this land, and shall cause to cease from thence man and beast? 30  Therefore thus saith the LORD of Jehoiakim king of Judah; He shall have none to sit upon the throne of David: and his dead body shall be cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night to the frost. 31  And I will punish him and his seed and his servants for their iniquity; and I will bring upon them, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and upon the men of Judah, all the evil that I have pronounced against them; but they hearkened not. 32  Then took Jeremiah another roll, and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah; who wrote therein from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire: and there were added besides unto them many like words.

If you remove the Holy Spirit from the preservation of God’s word you have no Bible, just an old book of questionable origin and authenticity. It is impossible to understand the history of Bible translation without faith in what God has said.

2Timothy 3:16  All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17  That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

Job 32:8  But there is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding.

In the late 16^th and 17^th centuries a new way of thinking came about for Western civilization. Historians call it The Enlightenment. Through it the intelligentsia began to think in terms of God, not as the cause of all things, but as only the First Cause, if there was a God at all and all things just didn’t happen by random chance or the self-organizing properties of the material world. Man began to see smaller and smaller entities in existence and then he got down to the point where he could not see anything but the effects of invisible things, not the things themselves. So, he postulated and imagined and fantasized about what the things he couldn’t see were composed of. He created abstract, mathematical models to explain his theories and his own arguments began to be about the model and not about the reality. Once he continued in this direction he stopped questioning his basic assumptions,  that all things came about by random, natural processes without any God in the picture. Man’s reasoning ability became his god and there was nothing greater.

Christians, too, began to absorb this view. It didn’t matter what manuscripts or Bibles Christians had used for over a thousand years. What mattered was breaking it down into component pieces, manuscripts, the effects of a process we could not see. They took the Holy Spirit out of the process. The Bible was created then by men. They imagined these men as affected only by their own intellect, their own faith, their own reasoning, and they graded these manuscripts on reliability and authenticity as required by their own minds. God was honored as a First Cause only, in the creation of the original autographs. The same God who could answer their prayers could not preserve His words. They were lost for 1300 years and found again by men named Westcott and Hort and given to a world that did not have God’s word until they arrived on the scene. Man’s reasoning ability became his god and there was nothing greater.

The Bible I am quoting was the last Bible, the last major Bible version, translated before this era, by committees of dozens of the finest minds of their time, the most devout, the most accomplished, praying for light, not to be deceived or to deceive others, in their humility. God’s word is settled. All antagonisms or arguments against it are mere opinion. Authoritative Catholic Bibles like the Challoner Douay-Rheims and the Jewish Bibles in America until 1917  were profoundly influenced by it, adopting its phrasing in places. Words and phrases commonly used in English came from it like making a difference from Jude, verse 22, and the skin of my teeth from Job 19:20. It shed light on Western civilization ushering in the greatest missionary effort, the greatest scientific advancements, the greatest voyages of exploration and discovery, and became the Common Version for the first colony of a great power to throw off the yoke of its master and begin a new country founded on freedom of conscience. Its importance was so profound that even scholar, historian, and modern version translator, Philip Schaff, admitted that most of the Protestant world considered it to be inspired by God.

And now, we have chaos, confusion, and you will be hard pressed to meet even one modern Christian who believes in the modern versions who has read the Bible through even once when non-Christian philosophers in the 1600’s complained that even boys and girls believed the Bible literally and thought God spoke to them through it, and Bible reading until now was a common thread throughout Christian history. Paul said to Timothy and the Lord might say to us;

1Timothy 4:13  Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.

God’s word endures forever. Do you have it?

1Peter 1:13-23 comments: born again

13 ¶  Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 14  As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: 15  But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; 16  Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. 17  And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear: 18  Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 19  But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: 20  Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, 21  Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God. 22  Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: 23  Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

Gird up the loins is an idiom that means to get a grip, be a man or a woman, toughen up, put your ‘big boy’ or ‘big girl’ pants on, and other similar phrases but as a literal phrase it refers to binding up the loose flowing robes both men and women wore to make a journey, to get going, to get to work with a leather belt of some sort and using this to preparing your mind.

Here is the literal application;

2Kings 4:29  Then he said to Gehazi, Gird up thy loins, and take my staff in thine hand, and go thy way: if thou meet any man, salute him not; and if any salute thee, answer him not again: and lay my staff upon the face of the child.

Here is the idiomatic application as God demands of Job;

Job 38:3  Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me.

Job 40:7  Gird up thy loins now like a man: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.

So, buck up, keep a stiff upper lip, and be sober minded, trusting in Christ to the very end. Don’t let your faith waiver. This is the meaning of overcoming in Revelation as defined by 1John.

Revelation 2:11  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

Defined by;

1John 5:4  For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. 5  Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

When Jesus Christ is to be revealed at His second coming you have stayed faithful as obedient children not like previously when you were dominated by lusts in your ignorance.

As the Holy Spirit noted through Paul;

1Corinthians 6:9 ¶  Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 10  Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 11  And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

And again;

Ephesians 2:1 ¶  And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; 2  Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 3  Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

Christians are called to be Holy, as Christ is Holy, and conversation refers to behavior, as well as speech, which you can see by a simple word search.

Philippians 1:27  Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;

As Jesus said to His Jewish disciples in the popularly called Sermon on the Mount, and you should read that part of the sermon that preceded this next verse to see what behavior and attitudes Christ was referring to, which most fundamentalist Christians and Christian preachers reject to their hurt and spiritual weakness.

Matthew 5:48  Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

Perfect means complete, lacking nothing.

2Chronicles 8:16  Now all the work of Solomon was prepared unto the day of the foundation of the house of the LORD, and until it was finished. So the house of the LORD was perfected.

Col 4:12  Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.

James 1:4  But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

We can also see that to be Holy is to be just and good.

Romans 7:12  Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.

It is unblameable and unreproveable  in God’s sight.

Colossians 1:22  In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:

[Always remember that synonyms are joined by and as well as in certain cases so are antonyms, such as Ezekiel 44:23’s holy and profane or abased and abound in Philippians 4:12.]

Peter refers to Leviticus.

Leviticus 11:44  For I am the LORD your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I am holy: neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

Leviticus 19:2  Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the LORD your God am holy.

Leviticus 20:7  Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the LORD your God.

To be Holy is to be sanctified, set apart for God’s purpose. When you call on God the Father for mercy or blessing, who judges none of us with favoritism but judges all the same, be fearful because you didn’t purchase your salvation by adherence to vain traditions you received from those who went on before you, but with Christ’s blood, perfect and without spot and ordained by God from before the world began but only revealed in those times for us. It was not your following of ritual or rules and regulations made by men and women so they could control you, but by Christ’s shed blood.

Acts 20:28  Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

I know some of you are trying to make a deal with God. You think if you follow certain instructions you are given by men and women and do certain things, making yourself as uncomfortable and as difficult to get along with to other people as you can outside of the camp, so to speak, that you are bargaining for eternal life and an easier or more justified existence. But, the Bible teaches us that we didn’t purchase our salvation, we can’t pay for it on a monthly basis, and it was not ours to take, only God’s to give. We either accept that or spend our lives miserably running in circles.

We believe in God by Jesus Christ, that God raised Him from the dead and glorified Him so that we can believe and have hope in God. That is the beginning and the end of it.

Peter says that our souls are purified by obeying through the Spirit inside of us in loving our brothers and sisters in Christ which is a command throughout the New Testament. As Jesus said;

John 13:34  A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

This is evidence of our being born again which Jesus said a person must be in order to see the kingdom of God in John, chapter 3, with word here, lowercase s, for the written word, being translated from Logos just like in the opening of the Gospel of John for Christ Himself.

John 3:1 ¶  There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: 2  The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. 3  Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 4  Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? 5  Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6  That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7  Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

John 1:1 ¶  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2  The same was in the beginning with God. 3  All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4  In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

See the usage of Logos again, that was used for Christ, for the Bible by Paul in Hebrews;

Hebrews 4:12  For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

It is a living Book and the written version of Christ, which we can handle and hold and see.

Revelation 2:1-7 comments for Tuesday night Bible study discussion

1 ¶  Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks; 2  I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: 3  And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. 4  Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. 5  Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. 6  But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

John is told to write a letter to Ephesus and immediately their works, labor, and patience are commended. Also, though, it is acknowledged that they hate counterfeit apostles. Is there evidence of complaining about counterfeit apostles in the Bible?

2Peter 2:1 ¶  But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.

2Corinthians 2:17  For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.

Philippians 3:18  (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: 19  Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)

Romans 16:17 ¶  Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. 18  For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches [sermons, maybe?] deceive the hearts of the simple.

Remember what Jesus said about these kinds.

Matthew 7:21 ¶  Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?23  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

The Ephesians are commendable but they have left their first love. It is important to read Ephesians to understand the dangers and pitfalls spiritually that the rich church of Ephesus faced, the things that Paul was clearly concerned about. Rather than post the entire letter here we need to read it as a letter to get the feel of what he was concerned about and clearly what happened. Also read about Paul’s experiences in Ephesus in Acts.

This warning to Ephesus, and to us by extension is about getting back to first things, the foundation and fundamentals of our faith as charged by Christ through Paul.

Christ speaks of His hatred of Nicolaitanism, in Greek victory over the laity. In the Roman church it is the priest as the actual representation of Christ on earth rather than the individual Christian. The priest is a separate class of individual closer to God than the laity. In the Independent Baptist church it is the preacher as the, ‘man o’ God,” who cannot be questioned and is often followed even if he is guilty of crimes to which he confesses. I listened to news interviews with the congregation of an Independent Fundamental Baptist (IFB) preacher in Virginia who had confessed to criminal behavior and they said they would follow him no matter what because he was the, “man o’ God.” In more modernistic churches it could be the educated clergy who has been to seminary and, well, he’s not going to argue with you because he has a degree, don’t ya know.

Sometimes this evil manifests itself in a celebrity preacher’s opinions becoming dogma that must be true simply because he said it. There are a small number of such preachers in the IFB church in America who literally can say whatever pops into their head and it is as if God Himself spoke it. This is the essence of Nicolaitanism, which Christ hates. A preacher is held to the same standard or tougher than everyone else. He is not God walking in the flesh and if what he says does not line up with Scripture in context you should discard it. In every sermon, remember to chew up the meat and spit out the bones. You can learn from almost anyone and almost anyone will have some error in what they say. God does not dictate letters to preachers as if they were His secretaries. He gives them wisdom and understanding to preach His word.

Job 32:8  But there is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding.

2Peter 1:21  For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

2Peter 3:15  And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;

Beware of Nicolaitanism. It can destroy a congregation and render it spiritually powerless.

What does it mean to overcome or to endure to the end?

1John 5:4  For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. 5  Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

We now know where the tree of life is. It is in paradise which is in heaven.

See Luke 23:43; 2Corinthians 12:4; and 1Peter 3:19.

1Peter 1:10-12 comments: the angels desire to look into

10 ¶  Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: 11  Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. 12  Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.

Peter now states that salvation was prophesied of in the Old Testament by the Prophets and that the sufferings of Christ were prophesied as well as the glory of His resurrection. It is important that Peter, talking specifically to Jews saved by the grace of God and faith in Christ, should present a connection between what they have learned and the prophecies of the Hebrew Bible.

It is clear that the Jews’ minds had been so distorted by the manmade traditions of the Pharisees that they could not and did not see that these prophecies were being fulfilled in front of their eyes so saying that the Jews were looking forward to the Cross is a real stretch. Peter didn’t get it himself when he walked with Christ.

Matthew 16:21 ¶  From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. 22  Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. 23  But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.

John 20:6  Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie, 7  And the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself. 8  Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed. 9  For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead.

But the Old Testament does point to Christ as is evident in many places, some easier and more obvious than others to see. For instance, look at Isaiah, at the end of chapter 52 and in chapter 53.

Isaiah 52:13 ¶  Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high. 14  As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men: 15  So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider.

    53:1 ¶  Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? 2  For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. 3  He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

    4 ¶  Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5  But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. 6  All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7  He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. 8  He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. 9  And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.

    10 ¶  Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. 11  He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. 12  Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

In the eleventh century, possibly in response to the brutality of the Roman Catholic Crusades, the Jewish rabbi known as Rashi began to teach that these verses in Isaiah referred to the Jewish people rather than to the Messiah. (6)

So, from these and other passages in the Old Testament we can see that Christ, the Messiah, was preached in the Old Testament but was made invisible by the manmade traditions of the Pharisees much as, for instance, a Christian fundamentalist or liberal Christian today, does not see the doctrines of the Bible or the commands placed on them by Christ because of preaching and teaching that is agenda driven, creating a system of rules and expectations of the Christian that are not Biblical and would have been impossible for the first century Jewish or Gentile Christian to follow. Nor are they possible for us to follow now.

Early Christians, as evident here, were clearly taught the Old Testament as it pertained to Christ’s first and second advents. Such preaching today, like the Pharisaical of old, is mostly absent and instead focuses on rules and regulations invented by the faith tradition; whether it be Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, or one of the many Charismatic movements.

Peter’s statement is that the prophets preached for our benefit, not their own, as Isaiah, for instance, may not have even understood his own prophecy. The immediate context of Isaiah’s statements following may not have been understood by Him but were by these early Christians and should be by us.

Isaiah 7:14  Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Isaiah 9:6  For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 7  Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

And yet, we believe these verses foretold Christ’s arrival, both first and second in Isaiah 9. See how chapter 7 is alluded to in Matthew.

Matthew 1:23  Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

Do you look at the Old Testament like these ancient Christians, seeing Christ in every chapter almost? So, Peter is saying that the Old Testament prophets preached not for themselves and their understanding but for the Christian and his or her understanding and now preachers preach these things by the power of the Holy Ghost knowing what they meant, to God’s glory.

As the angels desire to know about these things it is clear that spiritual beings have no more special knowledge of this than they are given. Notice how the prophecies in Revelation of the end are sealed in the hand of God and only Christ can open them.

Revelation 5:1 ¶  And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals. 2  And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof? 3  And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon. 4  And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon. 5  And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.

Note the nature of prophecy as Christ told His disciples;

John 16:4  But these things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them. And these things I said not unto you at the beginning, because I was with you.

As the prophets warned Israel about things to come if they did not repent so we are told about things to come, not so that we can boast of knowledge, but so that when they happen we remember that we were told and our faith is confirmed.

 (6) Joel E. Rembaum, “The Development of a Jewish Exegetical Tradition regarding Isaiah 53,” The Harvard Theological Review,Vol. 75, No. 3 (Jul., 1982), 294. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1509755.

1Peter 1:6-9 comments: the trial of your faith

6 ¶  Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: 7  That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: 8  Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: 9  Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.

Even though believers have a great many difficulties and, in many parts of the world today, much persecution they should rejoice. From what Peter wrote before we have much to rejoice over. Rejoice in your salvation constantly for as David said or sang;

Psalm 30:5  For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.

The trial of your faith is a fire that purges and purifies. Here to the church of the Laodiceans, John writes in figurative language what Christ commanded of them;

Revelation 3:17  Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

18  I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

Paul said to the Roman church;

Romans 5:1 ¶  Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2  By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3  And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; 4  And patience, experience; and experience, hope: 5  And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

…that we may be found praising, honoring, and glorying in Jesus Christ when He appears.

In Job’s trials of faith we have;

Job 23:8 ¶  Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him:

9  On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him: 10  But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.

James wrote;

James 1:2 ¶  My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; 3  Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. 4  But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

What are these temptations, these tribulations, these trials of faith? They are when you are tempted to deny God because of great troubles in your flesh, persecution from without, doubts and uncertainties, all things that cry against your faith such as sorrow and grief.

Galatians 4:14  And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.

Matthew13:21  Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.

2Corinthians 8:1 ¶  Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia;2  How that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality.

We love and believe in Christ, whom we have not seen, and if our faith, which we pray for, is strong, we can see the end of our faith, even our salvation. One characteristic of the Christian is his or her love for Christ, who is God in the flesh.

Deuteronomy 6:5  And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

Matthew 22:34 ¶  But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. 35  Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, 36  Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37  Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38  This is the first and great commandment. 39  And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40  On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Romans 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Do you love God or are you just terrified of Him or perhaps want to do business with Him, you know, make a deal, for a relatively painless existence?

A word of warning is warranted here in these passages. When you believe in false doctrines and hold onto things you have been taught that are not Biblical, your faith is in great danger, as is the faith of your children. For instance, Christians will quote the following verse and express confusion and dismay when some horrible thing happens to them;

Jeremiah 29:11  For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

However, the context of this verse is God promising that the exiles in Babylon will be able to return to Israel. See the verse before;

Jeremiah 29:10  For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.

By taking this verse and applying it to yourself doctrinally you then must deny the warnings to people in the book of Job and elsewhere about suffering.

Job 2:10  But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips. [see Matthew 6:34 for evil as trouble]

Jonathan Edwards, the famous Congregationalist preacher of colonial America wrote in his A History of the Work of Redemption, “…the spirit of true Christians is, viz. a spirit of suffering.”(5)

So, how would that verse in Jeremiah apply to you spiritually since it does not apply to you doctrinally and every verse in the Bible has at least three applications; historical, spiritual, and doctrinal?

Well, its shows that God has an abiding love for His people and in the end, if you take eternity into consideration and stop thinking in the immediate desires of the flesh, whatever He does or permits to be done will be to our betterment. See Paul writing to the Romans, which is written directly to Christians, not unsaved Jews or pagan Gentiles.

Romans 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

But, it doesn’t mean you can’t have a car accident or lose someone you love to physical death.

(5) Jonathan Edwards, A History of the Work of Redemption (1774, repr., Seattle, WA: Amazon Digital Services, 2013), Kindle ed.