12/5/13

From Ben Fronczek... Precious Faith

Precious Faith

Precious Faith    By Ben Fronczek

2 Peter 1:1-2

“Simon Peter, a servant  and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who through the righteousness  of our God and Savior Jesus Christ  have received a faith as precious as ours:  2 Grace and peace be yours in abundance  through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.”

Introduction to 2 Peter:

Most scholar believe that this letter was sent to the same audience as his former letter; to those Christians, gentile or Jew spread throughout the evangelized Roman empire. In this letter Peter will refer to his imminent departure from this life in 1:13-15. This letter was composed just prior to his death just before he was martyred which would have been the year AD 67 or 68, Just a couple of years before Rome lay siege to Jerusalem and eventually destroyed the temple. Many believe that this letter bears some marks of a Last Will and Testament And the purpose of this letter is seen by many to call Christians to grow spiritually so that they can combat the coming apostasy as we look forward to the Lord’s return.

The Text:

To begin with Peter himself identifies himself as the author of this letter in the first verse. We also see who he was writing it to, and that was  

“to those who have received a faith as precious as ours.”

As I read and considered that first verse it stopped me in my own tracks. In this first verse I read that: Faith in Jesus is something very precious.

And as I thought about this I thought, “Precious to some and sadly not to others.”
For me, as a Christian I can understand why faith in Jesus is something precious to Peter and other Christians, then and now.

For me:
I know that Jesus is that part of God who came to earth and lived among us as a man. Like everyone of us He was born of a woman and got to experience what it feels like to be flesh and blood. But He would go on to teach us more about God than was ever taught before. He would go on to performed miracles, He lived a holy righteous life, He showed us how to love and serve others, and then died on that cross. These are not only Biblical facts, they are historical facts as well.

Can you imagine that God the Creator, God the Word, God the life giver, God the Sustainer, the eternal all powerful, all knowing one sitting by your side cracking a joke? Peter had that opportunity to hang out with Him for over three years. He walked with Him, talked with Him, ate with Him, camped out with Him, learned from Him, and so much more.

One day Peter along with James and John  even got to see a glimpse of Jesus’ true nature, Hi s glory on the Mt of Transfiguration, (Matt. 17:1-5) There we read that Jesus’ face became a bright as the sun (Have you ever tried to look directly at the sun for very long? You know that you can’t; it’s so bright that it will destroy your eyes.)  Yet here that how bright Jesus’ face was. And his clothes also became as bright as light. After this happened Peter James and John also heard the voice of God Almighty say,  

“This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”

Peter also witnessed His arrest and I’m sure His beating and crucifixion with horror. He himself probably felt the stabbing pain of shame and guilt because like a coward he disowned his friend and Lord not once but three times and ran and hid like frightened mouse. He with others then mourned His death.

He was also there to witness one of the greatest and most important event ever to take place – Jesus’ resurrection after He rose from the grave. He saw Jesus, he touched Jesus, he ate with Jesus. Jesus had proved Himself to be both lord of all, including lord over life and death and He also proved He was the Savior for all those who would accept and believe in Him.

Before ascending into Heaven itself to return to His rightful place, Peter heard with his own ears the Great Commission which Jesus gave before He left. And that was to 

go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20

How Precious these memories, these facts must have been to Peter as he wrote this letter. His faith was based on those precious events and memories.  And how precious are those facts for those of us who have learned them and believe; facts that were not only provided by Peter but by other Biblical writers as well.

Our faith, which is based on these facts help us to know for certain that there is a God and that we have a God who really loves and cares for us. John. 3:16 Says  

“For God so loved   the world that he gave   his one and only Son,   that whoever believes   in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

This faith is also precious because we know that based on all these facts which we read about here in our Bible, and believe, we know that we have something to live for; – that this life is just a stepping stone to a glorious heavenly existence where we can be with, and live with our Lord and our God, with all His angels and with all the saved for a long, long time in that place of peace and glory. (That is if we accept the Father’s wonderful gift of salvation from our sins)

This faith is precious to us because we know that in Christ, we are no longer alone. We are part of a collective larger than ourselves – the church – a vast now eternal body of fellow believers you have something in common with and who can be a comfort and a support to you when you need it. And likewise it is a place you can find ways to develop and use your talent and abilities to help others as we all do our best to serve God and one another together.

We also  believe and know believe that God also shares another part of Himself with us, and is in us. His Spirit helps us, He teaches us, He convicts us, He comforts us, and even relays our deepest prayers to the Father in ways most of us do not understand.  We are never really alone.
Because of that Precious faith we also believe that there are those waiting for us who have gone on ahead of us; mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, grandparents, friends, all the saints who have obeyed Him all the way back to Adam. They’ll be there to welcome us into glory. What a reunion that will be.

And because of that precious faith we also know that even now, God is still in control, 

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him,whohave been called according to his purpose.”  Romans 8:28

Peter said that our faith is precious, but how sad is the fact that for many, for most, these facts, what we believe is nothing more than religious mumbo-jumbo, or just a diluted fantasy made up by people a long time ago. How sad for whatever reasons that most refuse to believe these facts after hearing them.  I know that these are the ones that Jesus  calls us to preach the Good News to, but He also said,  

 “For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Matthew 7:13-14

Here’s a question for you; How precious are these facts, this faith to you?

Not too long ago sweet members of our church let my wife and I pick some sweet corn on their farm. Being organic and haven’t taken the as much time to cultivate the field as they probably would have liked to, there were certain parts we had to battle with weeds as thick and almost as tall as the corn itself. I am sure that some of those corn plants were stressed and had to fight to survive. I’m sure some did not fare too well where the weeds were thicker.

I could not help but think of the parable of the soils, where seed was spread on different soils. Some seed produced well, while others did not.  I was reminded of the seed that fell into the soil, started out real well, but then was later choked out by the weeds around it. Jesus told the disciples that the weeds choking those plants are like the worries of this life, and the deceitfulness of wealth which makes a person unfruitful.

Here in our text Peter goes on to say in the next verse,  

“Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.”

I believe what he is saying here is, because of what we know and believe about God and Jesus we should be enjoying an ABUNDANTANCE of GRACE     and    PEACE      as we live our Christian life?

Isn’t that what he says here?  But I have to admit I have not met too many truly happy, overly tranquil, or people at peace as of late. And I have to admit I am not without guilt in this matter.
God saved the Israelites from cruel Egyptian slavery. He fed them and took care of them and promised to bring them into a land of milk and honey; and what did they do? It wasn’t too long before they were all complaining and bellyaching to Moses.  Where was their faith?
Where is our faith?

Is it being choke out by our contemporary society? Are you letting the stress of this world and pressure and lust of materialism get to you. Is there something that is choking this precious faith out of you; maybe the people you hang out with, or your job, your business, your farm? Are your hobbies or how your entertain yourself weakening your faith, preventing you from enjoying what you know? Are they robbing you of the peace that Peter said we should have?  Don’t let anything rob you of something so precious.

I would imagine for Peter the saddest and darkest time in his life is when he turned his back on that faith and denied even knowing Jesus. But you know, like us Jesus gave him a second chance, and now we read here that Peter expected to die for that that faith. Tradition states that when he was about to be crucified, not feeling worthy of being crucified like his Lord, Peter asked to be crucified up-side-down. That faith was precious to him even worth giving his life for.

What about you? If it’s worth dying for then it’s worth living for. And when we learn really to appreciate this faith and who and what we have faith in, Ibelieve that GRACE and PEACE will be ours.

Challenge: 

Weed the thing out of your life that is choking this precious faith out of you.  Nurture that faith and draw closer to Jesus.

What helps me is to practice His presence and talk to Him through the day. His Spirit is in you, why can’t we talk to Him. And if He is in us, why can’t He talk to us and communicate with us through our conscious? I challenge you to try this. You just may be surprised how much peace it gives you and the blessings that come with drawing closer to Jesus provides.

For more lessons click on the following link: http://granvillenychurchofchrist.org/?page_id=566

From Jim McGuiggan... Did GOD send the famine and troops?

Did GOD send the famine and troops?

It isn’t hard to find prophetic passages that expressly say God is the one responsible for the foreign military invasion that would engulf the land. We sit in our churches nodding approval at this when it’s read and taught but as soon as someone claims he does the same thing today we get all exercised.

Finding scores of passages that say God is responsible for the famine or the drought or pestilence is as easy as opening any prophetic book. We sit in our churches and nod approval but should someone say he does that today we start twisting and turning.

Why is that? When God said he was doing it, the prophets hated it (almost always—there are one or two exceptions), and they wanted to debate the why and wherefore of it but they never denied that God was doing it!

Why do we jump up irritated at such talk and tell the world God wouldn’t do such a thing? Is the God of Amos, Micah, Habakkuk, Nahum the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ? Why do we think he wouldn’t do such things? He did them in the days of the prophets and Moses.

What if God told us that he was doing it as he told, say, Habakkuk? Would we believe it? We might hate it (Habakkuk wasn’t too keen on it—3:16) but would we deny it is God doing it?  But what if we fully believed it and some poor hurting Judean woman came sobbing, complaining about the famine and angry at God, what would we say to her? Would we tell her God is only "allowing" it? Would we tell her it was "bad luck"? Would we tell her it was the Devil doing it? Judging by what we hear today we’d tell her anything but what God said! But why won’t we tell her what God expressly said? Part of the answer is that we don’t want her to think badly of God. But she already thinks badly of God for "allowing" it. [You must have noticed that even when we say we think God didn't do it we still turn in God in prayer and protest that it happened as if he should have seen to it that it didn't happen. Our practice is truer that what we profess.] And should we even try to make her think better of God by denying what he himself insists on? Part of our trouble is that we don’t think it’s right of God to do such a thing. But if he does it and says he does it then while it’s perfectly understandable that we might sob protests there’s no point in denying it.

What if—just what if—we told her that God indeed had purposely brought about these awful conditions but that out of holy love he was doing it for a redeeming purpose, would that be faithful to the prophetic word?

What do you tell yourself when you read such texts (and there are literally scores of  them—extended sections)?

©2004 Jim McGuiggan. All materials are free to be copied and used as long as money is not being made.

Many thanks to brother Ed Healy, for allowing me to post from his website, the abiding word.com.

From Mark Copeland... Our Duty To Those In Need (1 Thessalonians 5:14-15)

               "THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS"

                  Our Duty To Those In Need (5:14-15)

INTRODUCTION

1. We have noted earlier in our study of 1st Thessalonians that Paul
   describes Christians as:
   a. "the children of light"
   b. "the children of the day" - 1Th 5:5

2. As such, we have various responsibilities and duties...
   a. To watch and be sober - 1Th 5:6
   b. To put on the breastplate of faith and love, with hope as a helmet
      - 1Th 5:8
   c. To comfort and edify one another - 1Th 5:11

3. In our previous study we noted "Our Duty To Those Who Serve"...
   a. To recognize them - 1Th 5:12
   b. To esteem them highly in love - 1Th 5:13

[Our responsibilities as "children of light" and "children of the day"
continue as we now notice "Our Duty To Those In Need" (1Th 5:14-15).
Both in the church and out, there are those in need of help from
Christians.  Some may not even be aware of their need, yet our duty
remains.  For example, we have the duty to...]

I. WARN THE UNRULY (14)

   A. IDENTIFYING THE UNRULY...
      1. The Greek word (ataktos) means "disorderly, out of ranks"
         a. Used often of soldiers who fall out of line
         b. Deviating from the prescribed order of rule
      2. The unruly Christian is one who does not abide by the teachings
         of the apostles
         a. From the beginning, faithful Christians "continued
            steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine" - Ac 2:42
         b. Paul encouraged the Thessalonians to do the same - 1 Th 4:1,2; 2Th 2:15

   B. WARNING THE UNRULY...
      1. Warning brethren is a crucial component of preaching Christ
         - cf. Col 1:28
         a. Paul warned the brethren at Ephesus - Ac 20:31
         b. He encouraged Timothy to do the same - 2Ti 4:1-2
      2. Unruly brethren who do not heed the warning are to be marked
         and fellowship withdrawn - e.g., 2Th 3:6-15
         a. In an effort to save the unruly
         b. Also an effort to keep the church pure - cf. 1Co 5:1-13

[For those who are unruly, their need is to be warned.  We should never
fault those brethren who fulfill their duty to "warn the unruly", but be
thankful they have the concern and the courage to do so!  Next we learn
of the duty to...]

II. COMFORT THE FAINTHEARTED (14)

   A. IDENTIFYING THE FAINTHEARTED...
      1. The Greek word (oligopsuchos) literally means "small-souled,
         little-souled"
         a. Translated "feebleminded" (KJV), "timid" (NIV)
         b. It describes those who lose heart, prone to dropping out, be
            quitters
      2. Various conditions might lead some to lose heart; for example:
         a. Persecutions, tribulation - Ep 3:13
         b. Lack of immediate results - Ga 6:9

   B. COMFORTING THE FAINTHEARTED...
      1. Such brethren are to be encouraged, consoled
         a. Paul had done this while at Thessalonica - 1Th 2:11-12
         b. He did it earlier in this epistle - 1Th 4:13-18
      2. Thus we see need to make a distinction
         a. Some brethren (the unruly) need to be warned, admonished
         b. While others (the fainthearted) may need a more tender
            touch, to be encouraged

[Another duty similar to comforting the fainthearted is to...]

III. UPHOLD THE WEAK (14)

   A. IDENTIFYING THE WEAK...
      1. The weak could be those in need - cf. Ac 20:35
      2. But more likely it refers to those whose faith is weak
         a. Who are likely to violate their weak consciences - e.g.,
            1Co 8:7-13
         b. Who are tempted to sin

   B. UPHOLDING THE WEAK...
      1. We uphold the weak by receiving them - cf. Ro 14:1-3
         a. Not to argue over things in which they have doubts
         b. Nor to despise them because of their weak faith
      2. We uphold the weak by bearing with their scruples - cf. Ro 15:
         1-2
         a. Making an effort not to put stumbling blocks in their way
            - Ro 14:13
         b. Determining not to destroy our brother through the use of
            our liberties - Ro 14:14-23; Ga 5:13

[Brethren who are weak in faith need time to grow, for their consciences
to become strong.  Our duty is for "each of us to please his neighbor
for his good, leading to edification" (Ro 15:2).  Finally, we notice
several sundry duties...]

IV. TOWARD ALL MEN (14-15)

   A. BE PATIENT WITH ALL...
      1. Certainly we are to be patient with the fainthearted and the
         weak
      2. We are also to be patient with those we teach
         a. Even when it is time to rebuke (warn the unruly) - cf. 2 Ti 4:2 
         b. Even when we are dealing with those who oppose us - cf. 2 Ti 2:24-26

   B. RENDER NOT EVIL FOR EVIL TO ANYONE...
      1. A principle taught by our Lord - Mt 5:44-45
      2. Expounded upon by Paul in his epistle to the Romans - Ro 12:
         17-21
      3. Repeated by Peter in his epistle - 1Pe 3:9

   C. PURSUE WHAT IS GOOD...
      1. For yourselves (i.e., Christians)
         a. Such as things that make for peace and edify one another
            - Ro 14:19
         b. Such as righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience,
            gentleness - 1Ti 6:11
         c. Such as holiness - He 12:14
      2. For all (including non-Christians)
         a. Such as things honorable, and honor itself - Ro 12:17; 1 Pe 2:17
         b. Such as things that are good - Ga 6:10
         c. Such as civil obedience, kind words, gentleness and meekness
            - Tit 3:1-2
         d. Such as prayers in their behalf, and a knowledge of the
            truth leading to their salvation - 1Ti 2:1-4

CONCLUSION

1. Such is "Our Duty To Those In Need"...
   a. To warn the unruly
   b. To comfort the fainthearted
   c. To uphold the weak
   d. To be patient with all
   e. To render no evil for evil with anyone
   f. To pursue what is good for us and for all

2. In a world filled with much evil and moral depravity, those who do
   such things are truly...
   a. "children of light"
   b. "children of the day"

Is this true of us?  If not, then we need to heed another exhortation
from Paul:

   For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.
   Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in
   all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is
   acceptable to the Lord.

   And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness,
   but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of
   those things which are done by them in secret. But all things
   that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever
   makes manifest is light.

   Therefore He says: "Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead,
   And Christ will give you light."
                                                     - Ep 5:8-14

Brethren, are we sleeping?

Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2011


From Gary... The value of "Retro"




























Old-school is the term that seems best applicable to this picture. Old ways of doing things give way to newer ideas, many of them very good!!!  I remember typing letters on a manual typewriter (no electricity) and having to do mathematics with a pencil and paper (sometimes even WITHOUT THE PAPER). Rotary telephones, party lines, mimeograph machines and wringer washers have all gone the way of the dodo bird.  Today, life is all about productivity.  We expect everything to make us succeed; even our spouse.  Something doesn't do this- goodbye.  But some things simply do not change.  We grow up, have children, grow old and eventually die.  What then?  Well, then comes the judgment.  If we have listened and obeyed, fine; if not, along comes the consequences for our attitude towards God and HIS WORD!!!  Jeremiah puts it this way...

Jeremiah, Chapter 6
  16  Thus says Yahweh, “Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, ‘Where is the good way?’ and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’  17 I set watchmen over you, saying, ‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’ But they said, ‘We will not listen!’ 18 Therefore hear, you nations, and know, congregation, what is among them.  19 Hear, earth! Behold, I will bring evil on this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not listened to my words; and as for my law, they have rejected it.  20 To what purpose comes there to me frankincense from Sheba, and the sweet cane from a far country? your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices pleasing to me.”

But, I like new things, new ways of doing things, you might say.  That is fine for this world because it is changing.  However, God does NOT CHANGE!!!  Don't like the idea of being told what to do?  That happens to us all, each and every day. Your spouse, the police officer, your boss, your teacher, your girlfriend (boyfriend) and many others give instructions you had better listen to.  So, why not listen to God????  In ten thousand years times ten thousand, HE will still be there and WE will still have to answer for what we do!!!  Why not make it easy on ourselves and just listen?  Old ways of doing things (including how we live our lives) will get us you to heaven; why would anyone want to do something different??????