From Gary... Suspicion, jealousy and the consequences for sin

Wondering can turn into curiosity and then suspicion.  If this pattern happens between a man and woman, the next step may be jealousy.  After jealousy, all sorts of things can happen- most of them are NOT GOOD!!!  Consider the following passages of Scripture...

Numbers, Chapter 5

 11  Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,  12 “Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them: ‘If any man’s wife goes astray, and is unfaithful to him,  13 and a man lies with her carnally, and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband, and is kept close, and she is defiled, and there is no witness against her, and she isn’t taken in the act;  14 and the spirit of jealousy comes on him, and he is jealous of his wife, and she is defiled: or if the spirit of jealousy comes on him, and he is jealous of his wife, and she isn’t defiled:  15 then the man shall bring his wife to the priest, and shall bring her offering for her: the tenth part of an ephah of barley meal. He shall pour no oil on it, nor put frankincense on it, for it is a meal offering of jealousy, a meal offering of memorial, bringing iniquity to memory.  16 The priest shall bring her near, and set her before Yahweh;  17 and the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel; and of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall take, and put it into the water.  18 The priest shall set the woman before Yahweh, and let the hair of the woman’s head go loose, and put the meal offering of memorial in her hands, which is the meal offering of jealousy. The priest shall have in his hand the water of bitterness that brings a curse.  19 The priest shall cause her to swear, and shall tell the woman, “If no man has lain with you, and if you haven’t gone aside to uncleanness, being under your husband, be free from this water of bitterness that brings a curse.  20 But if you have gone astray, being under your husband, and if you are defiled, and some man has lain with you besides your husband:”  21 then the priest shall cause the woman to swear with the oath of cursing, and the priest shall tell the woman, “Yahweh make you a curse and an oath among your people, when Yahweh allows your thigh to fall away, and your body to swell;  22 and this water that brings a curse will go into your bowels, and make your body swell, and your thigh fall away.” The woman shall say, “Amen, Amen.” 

Exodus, Chapter 20

 1 God spoke all these words, saying,  2 “I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 

  3  “You shall have no other gods before me. 

  4  “You shall not make for yourselves an idol, nor any image of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:  5 you shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them, for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me,  6 and showing loving kindness to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. 

Hebrews, Chapter 3

  1 Therefore, holy brothers, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Jesus; 2 who was faithful to him who appointed him, as also was Moses in all his house.  3 For he has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, because he who built the house has more honor than the house.  4 For every house is built by someone; but he who built all things is God.  5 Moses indeed was faithful in all his house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were afterward to be spoken,  6 but Christ is faithful as a Son over his house; whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the glorying of our hope firm to the end.  7 Therefore, even as the Holy Spirit says, 
“Today if you will hear his voice,
  8 don’t harden your hearts, as in the rebellion,
like as in the day of the trial in the wilderness,
  9 where your fathers tested me by proving me,
and saw my works for forty years.
  10 Therefore I was displeased with that generation,
and said, ‘They always err in their heart,
but they didn’t know my ways;’
  11 as I swore in my wrath,
‘They will not enter into my rest.’”

  12  Beware, brothers, lest perhaps there be in any one of you an evil heart of unbelief, in falling away from the living God; 

The first time I read about the "water of bitterness (or jealously)" it struck me as being harsh.  After all, there is no such parallel for men.  But, since I know that the psyches of men and women are different- I put it in God's hands.  Then, I wondered how God (being a jealous God) feels about those who fall away from following the truth.  The answer is punishment.  What degree for what level of disregarding God?  Trying to figure that one out could drive one crazy.  This much seems sure to me: if you remain faithful, you have nothing to worry about.  Now, put THAT in braille!!!  And I really don't care how many dots you use, either!!!!

From Jim McGuiggan... Paul, Moses and letters of recommendation

Paul, Moses and letters of recommendation

I'd like to propose that Numbers 16-17 is important background to 2 Corinthians 1-2 in particular and to 2 Corinthians in general. 

Paul pictures himself led about in the God's triumphant procession. It's clear enough that Paul isn't the triumphant one, but given the image of a Roman general's triumph Paul could see himself as one the serving troops or one of the captives. Since he includes himself as part of those being "led about" it's likely that he sees himself as one of the prizes won by God in the Lord Jesus Christ in his battle with the powers. Paul naturally sees his place in that procession as a matter of thanksgiving. 

But what provokes the image at this point? In the context, Paul is not only defending his change of plans, he's defending his change of plans because it's being used against him. The claim is he doesn't love them. If something more pleasing confronts him, he forgets the Corinthians and the promises he made to them. (No doubt that's why he took no money from the Corinthians. Take money from people and you owe them something and Paul didn't want to be under obligation to the Corinthians. So it could be understood.) 

He assures them he didn't stick with his plans not because he didn't love them, but because he did (2:1-4). The reason he wouldn't come as promised, the reason he wrote the scathing letter were from the same motivation-he loved them. He takes that point up again in 2:12, explaining that he went to Troas to get assurance from Titus. He left Troas for the very same reason-he couldn't wait to hear how things were at Corinth. When he left Troas he headed for Macedonia. Again, for the very same reason! (In mentioning "Macedonia" he remembers that it was there the roof fell in on him-7:5.) 

This dithering, this changing of purposes, these aborted and unplanned moves look more like (wilderness) "wanderings" but love for them was a motivating factor. The hardships and the anxiety involved in them all makes it all look so haphazard, but Paul insists that in and through it all God was making known his own purposes and gaining his own glory. 

The mention of aroma and fragrances and incense would naturally connect with the image of a Roman triumphal procession, but it would also connect with Israel's experience in the wilderness under Moses. Psalm 68, with all its difficulties, does speak of God's leading Israel from Egypt to Sinai through the wilderness in triumph and on to Zion where God is enthroned. While it's true that Moses was the one God chose to lead Israel from captivity through the wilderness to home, it was really God who did the leading (Numbers 9:17, 23). Isaiah 63:11-14 makes this very clear. This text also makes it clear that the procession through the wilderness is a manifestation of God's glorious power (63:12) by which God got himself glory 

(63:14). 

Psalm 68:7-18 is even more martial in tone. These texts should perhaps make us think of the use of thriambeuo by Paul in 2 Corinthians 2:14. The words of 68:24 are vivid. "Your procession has come into view, O God, the procession of my God and King into the sanctuary." From slavery in Egypt through the wilderness wandering into the Zion itself-in all of this God was leading Israel in triumph. See too Psalm 105:37,43. No Roman general demonstrated his power and glory in such a splendid fashion and in such redemptive ways. (Paul's use of the Greek Psalms and Isaiah is extensive in 2 Corinthians.) 

Throughout that whole period Moses (who had been captured by God) was the commissioned leader whose authority was forever being misunderstood and undermined. Exodus in various ways defends the commission of Moses by showing us in the early chapters, for example, that he had to be "bullied" into the job by God when he resisted the call. In the concluding chapters it "tediously" repeats that the Tabernacle was built in accordance with the commands God had given Moses (nine times in chapter 39 alone). 

The narrative of Numbers reflects the same situation even more clearly. Miriam and Aaron accuse Moses of hogging authority (chapter 12). The Korah incident (chapter 16) is so like the Corinthian situation. He and his group accuse Moses of lording it over the people (16:3,13-compare 2 Corinthians 1:24) and of making promises he didn't keep (16:14) as well as taking it on himself to bring them out of Egypt (16:13,28-at times it seems clear they thought Moses himself had come up with the scheme to depart from Egypt and establish community rules). 

The incident as described has numerous terminological connections with 2 Corinthians. For example, there is "separation" and "don't touch", there's being "sent", there's "death" and "life", there's "incense" that burns among the living and the dead and "perishing" and "glory". Beyond the terms there is the whole drift of the section that parallels 2 Corinthians. God's sent men (compare Numbers 16:28 and 2 Corinthians 2:17) are opposed by people who incite the people of God against the true "apostles" and there's the notion that those who oppose the true apostles are opposing God himself. Numbers 16-17 is an especially important section that points out the danger of arrogating authority to oneself and the danger involved in undermining the work of God in a duly commissioned servant. (Number 16:15 might give us some insight into Paul's refusal to take money from the Corinthians.) 

It's in this context (if the above has any merit) that Paul goes into speaking about letters that establish authority (2 Corinthians 3). It appears his opponents, in one way or another, have raised the question. Paul had experienced tensions with Jerusalem and Antioch (even with his friend Barnabas) and had no home church to approve of his missionary work. Paul will insist that his letters of recommendation are written on his own heart (following the better attested reading in 3:2) and on the heart of those who were led to Christ by him. These weren't "external" letters. 

If Moses was doubted it's no big surprise that Paul would be. Moses was now fully accepted as God's sent one but it wasn't always so even when Moses had his letters of recommendation. Moses' letters were written on stone and were external to the people. When Moses appeared with those letters the people had something else written on their hearts-rebellion instead of acceptance. The result was death. The reason death was the result was precisely because the covenant word brought by Moses remained external to the people who exchanged their Glory for a grass-eating bull (Psalm 106:20). It was also the case that their apostasy involved the rejecting of God's messenger (Exodus 32:1,23). There are plain implications here for those who reject Paul as God's sent man. 

The trouble with letters of recommendation is that they're only worth as much as the people who wrote them, the people who carry them and those who can appreciate them when they're shown to them. If the carrier doesn't have in him what the letter has on the paper, the letter is his judge, and speaks death to him. Letters didn't make the minister worthy-he showed the letters to be true. But that also works for those who receive them. If they don't have the heart to appreciate the letters they receive, it's death to them too. If they think them true and reject the messenger they lose. If they think them untrue they lose. 

Moses came down the mountain with his own "letters of recommendation" but those letters (which Paul's opponents may have laid special claim to), on tables of stone, were not on the hearts of the people to whom he brought them. And the result? When Moses' external letters met evil hearts the result was death (see Exodus 32). When Paul came in the Spirit of the Lord the result was life because the Spirit of Christ wrote in no other place but on human hearts. The Corinthians should be glad all this is true. Paul's letter of recommendation is the gospel he brought and the Corinthians had rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and received that gospel Paul carried on his heart. This spoke well of the Corinthians as well as Paul. 

It's always true that "the letter" works death. When Paul proclaims and lives out the gospel, in that very process, life and death are ministered (2:16). The good news is not simply an invitation for people to "let Jesus into your heart". It is a proclamation that Jesus is Lord. Compare the Priene inscription concerning Augustus. 

The "letter" is the will of God when it's external to the heart of the person carrying or receiving it. It's something you can talk about as being "out there". It's something you can "possess" without it possessing you. It may true, of course, but if truth isn't internalised it stands in judgement rather than in approval; it brings (points out) death rather than life. If Paul's "letter" which was written on his own heart had remained external to the Corinthians it would have meant death to them. Since by the Spirit of God it had been internalised it stood as Paul's letter of recommendation and proof of their own incorporation into Christ with consequent life.

©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... The Garden Of Gethsemane ( Mk 14:32-42)

                          "THE GOSPEL OF MARK"

                  The Garden Of Gethsemane (14:32-42)

INTRODUCTION

1. Following the last supper, Jesus and His disciples went to
   Gethsemane... - Mk 14:32
   a. A garden outside the city, across the Kidron brook and on the
      Mount of Olives
   b. It’s name meaning "olive press", and was possibly a remote walled
      garden
   c. A place where Jesus often went with His disciples - Jn 18:1-2

2. Note the contrast between the Garden of Eden and the Garden of
   Gethsemane...
   a. In Eden, the first man (Adam) fell by yielding to temptation and
      disobeyed God
   b. In Gethsemane, the second man (cf. 1Co 15:47) conquered by
      yielding to the will of God

[Yes, "The Garden Of Gethsemane" was a place of victory for Jesus (and
consequently for us as well).  But the victory did not come easy, as we
consider first that...]

I. THE GARDEN WAS A PLACE OF SUFFERING

   A. WHERE JESUS EXPERIENCED GREAT DISTRESS...
      1. He went to pray, accompanied only by Peter, James, and John
         - Mk 14:32-33
      2. Before He began praying, He was "troubled and deeply
         distressed" - Mk 14:33
      3. Later, Luke records that He was "in agony", and His sweat
         became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground
         - Lk 22:44
      5. He was likely troubled for He knew that His hour had come - cf.
         Jn 12:27
      6. He knew what was imminent, for He had told His disciples
         earlier - Mk 10:32-34

   B. WHERE JESUS ENDURED INTENSE SORROW...
      1. He described Himself as "exceedingly sorrowful, even to death"
         - Mk 14:34
      2. The writer of Hebrews refers to His "vehement cries and tears"
         - He 5:7
      3. His grief and sorrow was partly due to the fact that He was
         taking upon Himself our own grief and sorrow! - cf. Isa 53:4-5

   C. WHERE JESUS ENCOUNTERED SOLEMN LONELINESS...
      1. He wanted His closest disciples to watch with Him - Mk 14:33
         a. Those who had been with Him from the beginning - Mk 1:16-20
         b. Those who were privy to one of His greatest miracles - Mk 5:37-43
         c. Those who saw Him transfigured on the mountain - Mt 9:1-2
         d. Including the disciple "whom He loved" - Jn 13:23; 19:26;
            20:2; 21:7,20,24
      2. Yet after each episode of praying, He found them sleeping - 

         Mk 14:37,40,41

         a. When He desired fellowship for comfort, there was none to be
            found
         b. The Psalmist foretold this would happen - cf. Ps 69:20

[Alone in His distress and sorrow, our Lord found "The Garden Of
Gethsemane" to be a place of great suffering for Him.  Then something
happened.  Before He left to face the mob led by Judas to arrest Him,
Jesus found that...]

II. THE GARDEN WAS A PLACE OF STRENGTH

   A. WHEN JESUS EXPRESSED AGONIZING PRAYER...
      1. The agony in His prayer is:
         a. Seen by His posture:  "He...fell on the ground" - Mk 14:35
         b. Heard in His words:  "Abba, Father, take this cup away from
            Me" - Mk 14:36
      2. It was "godly fear" Jesus expressed, and for such His prayer
         was heard - He 5:7
         a. Not that the cup (of suffering) was removed
         b. But that He would be able to drink it

   B. WHEN JESUS EXTENDED ENTIRE RESIGNATION...
      1. As evidenced by His words:
         a. "Not what I will, but what You will." - Mk 14:36
         b. "if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it,
            Your will be done." - Mt 26:42
      2. When man first said "My will, not Thine be done..."
         a. It opened the flood gate of sin
         b. It turned man out of the Paradise of God
      3. But when Jesus said "Not as I will, but as You will..."
         a. Victory over sin and access to the Tree of Life became
            possible
         b. For it prepared Jesus to go to the cross to make it possible

   C. WHEN JESUS ENJOYED SPECIAL COMFORT...
      1. Jesus received an answer to His prayer - cf. Lk 22:43
         a. Not the answer He requested (let this cup pass from Me)
         b. But strength from an angel!
      2. Like the apostle Paul would pray later - cf. 2Co 12:7-10
         a. Asking the Lord to remove his thorn in the flesh
         b. Receiving an answer different than requested, but sufficient
            to meet the need!

   D. WHEN JESUS EVINCED RENEWED RESOLVE...
      1. Strengthened, Jesus was ready to face the hour at hand - Mk 14:41
      2. He was ready to meet His betrayer and those with him - Mk 14:42

CONCLUSION

1. So "The Garden Of Gethsemane" was a place of both suffering and
   strength...
   a. Jesus entered the garden suffering
   b. He left the garden strengthened

2. Notice what turned the place of suffering into a place of strength...
   a. Prayer that was fervent and persistent
   b. Prayer that submitted to the will of God
   c. Prayer in which one was strengthened
   d. Prayer that enabled one to face the cup of life given Him

There will be times when we must enter our "Garden Of Gethsemane":
times of distress, sorrow, loneliness.  But such times can also be a
time of comfort and strength, provided we spend them in prayer, willing
to accept the Father’s will in our lives... - cf. Php 4:6-7

Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2011

 

From Gary... When a fence is not a fence

I took this picture yesterday afternoon.  Actually, it was a continuation of my experimentation with stitching several pictures together.  This picture is a little deceiving, as the fences intersect at a 90 degree angle and not the apparent 45 degree above.  Also, if the ground on the right of the picture looks odd, it is because there is a mound running parallel to the fence.  Things are not always what they seem, as the following parable indicates...

Luke, Chapter 8

 4 When a great multitude came together, and people from every city were coming to him, he spoke by a parable.  5  “The farmer went out to sow his seed. As he sowed, some fell along the road, and it was trampled under foot, and the birds of the sky devoured it.   6  Other seed fell on the rock, and as soon as it grew, it withered away, because it had no moisture.   7  Other fell amid the thorns, and the thorns grew with it, and choked it.   8  Other fell into the good ground, and grew, and produced one hundred times as much fruit.” As he said these things, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” 

  9  Then his disciples asked him, “What does this parable mean?” 

  10  He said, “To you it is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of God, but to the rest in parables; that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’  11  Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.   12  Those along the road are those who hear, then the devil comes, and takes away the word from their heart, that they may not believe and be saved.   13  Those on the rock are they who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; but these have no root, who believe for a while, then fall away in time of temptation.   14  That which fell among the thorns, these are those who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity.   15  That in the good ground, these are such as in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, hold it tightly, and produces fruit with patience. 

Verse 14 is very important in this passage, as the beginning of attaining knowledge is often preceded by asking a question.  The disciples were to become fishers of men and therefore needed to know how their future listeners would respond to the word of God.  We need to know this too as we are expected to share God's word today as well.  For me, I look at the picture of the fence and see the individual days of my life (the fence posts) anchored by a fitting nails (the words of God), connected by a union of twisted wire (God's thoughts and my own), set in a pattern ordained by the Almighty for his use.  You might just see a fence, which is fine.  I will be looking for God's presence in everything around me.  You decide which is better!!!  Both are correct!!!

From Jim McGuiggan... Paul, Jerusalem And Antioch

Paul, Jerusalem And Antioch

The confidence crisis at Corinth would have been made worse by those who demanded Paul's credentials. Who vouched for him? What proof was there that he was an apostle? (See 2 Corinthians 3:1-3 and 13:3.) It would appear Paul was always in trouble and with no one to vouch for him he and his message would come under critical scruitiny. As the proverb says, there's no smoke without fire.

1. The church at Antioch was started by Cypriot Jews who preached not only to Jews but to Gentiles who were not proselytes. (Acts 11:19-21)

2. Jersualem heard of it and sends Barnabas to check it out. (Acts 11:22)

3. He went to Tarsus looking for Paul and they spend a year teaching at this Gentile/Jewish church. (Acts 11:23-26)

4. Antioch sent money by Paul and Barnabas for famine relief to Jerusalem. They delivered it and returned to Antioch with Barnabas' cousin Mark. (Acts 11:27-30; 12:25)

5. Teachers from Jerusalem came to Antioch saying that circumcision was essential to salvation and wanted to bind it on Gentiles. (Acts 15:1)

6. The Antioch church sent Paul and Barnabas (and Titus) to the 'Conference' at Jerusalem where the apostles agreed to send a letter to Gentile believers saying only that some Noachic laws be kept (but not requiring circumcision). Antioch believers are overjoyed. (Acts 15:1-35 and Gal 2:1-10)

7. Peter visited Antioch, was eating with Gentiles until Judean conservatives arrived and he withdrew from the uncircumcised Gentiles. Even Barnabas who had seen God at work among the Gentiles sided with Peter in the confrontation. (Galatians 2:11-21)

8. Later Paul and Barnabas split over Mark though there may have been more in it than Luke records. Barnabas went to Cyprus with Mark and Paul went elsewhere with Silas. (Acts 15:36-41)

9. After a prolonged missionary trip (which included establishing the church at Corinth), Paul returned to Antioch and from there he went through the areas of Galatia and Phyrgia (Acts 18:1-22).

10. It may well be that Paul's relationship with the Antioch church had become strained and that Antioch (with the great number of Gentile Christians) became a testing ground where Jewish national righteousness was jealously guarded. This might mean that Paul became a freelance apostle without, so to speak, a 'home base'. He had differed with Peter and even Barnabas his long time missionary partner and had trouble with Jewish believers and unbelievers. Could he be at peace with anyone?

11. It's clear that "they of the circumcision" are Jewish conservatives (see Galatians 2:12, compare Acts 11:2; 15:5) who would create trouble for anyone whose preaching seemed to threaten the peculiar calling of the Jews. It's clear that Paul's opponents at Corinth included Jews (see 2 Corinthians 11:22).

12. This tension between Paul/Jerusalem/Antioch might make many Corinthian Christians (Jews and Gentiles) think less of Paul because it makes them appear less grand as a church. They are "stuck with" a lesser preacher whose credentials are suspect in the eyes of important people and the Corinthians did have a struggle with pride, false glorying about spiritual attainment and status. This is a central issue in the first letter. And see 2 Corinthians 11:7;12:13 with 5:12. Besides, he refused to be salaried by Corinth and that could mean he was a maverick who wanted to maintain his full independence so that he could move on after making trouble.

©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 Jim McGuiggan... Paul And Corinth: Possible Chain Of Events

Paul And Corinth: Possible Chain Of Events

1. The First Visit: Establishes the church (Acts 18).

2. Writes Letter 'A' We don't have that letter. See 1 Corinthians 5:9

3. Writes Letter 'B' (Our 1 Corinthians) in response to reports and questions)

4. The second visit: 2 Corinthians 2:1 and 13:2 (not recorded in Acts). 

While there on the 2nd visit, he was attacked and humiliated by some brother which provokes the next letter ( Letter "C") This second visit was a "flying" visit and was not what he had promised in 1 Corinthians 16:5-7. That was to be an extended stay. 

See 2 Corinthians 1:15.

5. Writes Letter 'C' Described by Paul in 2 Corinthians 2:4 and 7:8 as a "tearful and grief-bringing letter". (We don't have that letter.)

6. Waits anxiously for a response to Letter C and finally learns from Titus that there had been a good response (2 Corinthians 7:6-16). Well, a better response than he might have expected. At least the whole church hadn't turned from him.

7. Along with that news or maybe even subsequent to it he heard that Jewish critics were among his opponents ("super/false apostles") and were generating tension and fragmentation. This leads him to write Letter 'D' (our 2 Corinthians).

©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... Jesus Predicts Peter's Denial (14:27-31)

                          "THE GOSPEL OF MARK"

                Jesus Predicts Peter's Denial (14:27-31)

INTRODUCTION

1. How well do we know ourselves...?
   a. Confident that our faith is strong?
   b. Certain that we would never deny our Lord?

2. In our text (Mk 14:27-31) we find examples of over-confidence...
   a. Not just in Peter who denied the Lord
   b. But in all the apostles who stumbled and fled

[Let’s begin with a reading of our text, with the Lord and His disciples
having just completed the Last Supper and on their way to the Mount of
Olives...]

I. NARRATIVE

   A. DESERTION AND REUNION FORETOLD...
      1. Jesus speaks of desertion by His disciples - Mk 14:27
      2. As foretold by Zechariah - cf. Zec 13:7
      3. But also of His resurrection and reunion in Galilee - Mk 14:28;
         cf. Mk 16:7

   B. PETER’S DENIAL FORETOLD...
      1. Peter asserts that even if all others stumble, not him! - Mk 14:29
      2. Jesus tells Peter that he will deny Him three times that night
         - Mk 14:30
      3. Peter angrily disagrees, even if it means death - Mk 14:31
      4. The rest of the disciples all say the same thing - Mk 14:31

[Jesus’ prediction soon came true (Mk 14:50,66-72).  What would we have
done if we were one of Jesus’ disciples at that time?  Before answering
too quickly, consider a few lessons from the text...]

II. APPLICATION

   A. THE LIMITS OF SELF-KNOWLEDGE...
      1. How well do we really know ourselves?
         a. The disciples seem so certain in their faithfulness
         b. Yet they all stumbled and Peter denied the Lord, just as He
            said
         c. Like Hazael, they really did not know their true selves
            - cf. 2Ki 8:12-13
         d. Indeed, can any of us know our true selves? - cf. Jer 17:9
      2. Then what can we do?
         a. Acknowledge that only God truly knows us - cf. 

            Jer 17:10; Ps 139:1-16; He 4:13
         b. Look to the Word of God to see ourselves as we really are
            - He 4:12
         c. Look to God in prayer for help - Ps 19:12; 139:23-24; e.g.,
            2Th 3:5

   B. BEWARE OF COMFORT MISSED BY SELFISHNESS...
      1. Notice how the disciples ignored Jesus’ words of comfort
         a. He spoke plainly of His resurrection - Mk 14:28
         b. Yet they focused on defending themselves - Mk 14:29-31
      2. Might we be guilty of the same?
         a. We have been given many comforting words - e.g., Ro 8:31-39
         b. We can enjoy comfort from both God and one another - cf. 2Co 1:3-4
         c. But we can overlook such comfort when focused on selfish
            concerns!

   C. BE CAREFUL OF PROUD ASSERTIONS...
      1. Notice the self-confidence of the disciples
         a. Peter angrily stating that he would die before denying the
            Lord - Mk 14:29-31
         b. The rest of the disciples said likewise - Mk 14:31
      2. Might we be guilty of the same?
         a. Quick to boast of our faithfulness to the Lord or His
            church?
         b. Remember the wisdom of Solomon about pride and a haughty
            spirit - Pr 16:18

CONCLUSION

1. As disciples of Jesus Christ, let us learn...
   a. From His first disciples
   b. From those who were even His apostles

2. What can we learn...?
   a. The limits of self-knowledge
   b. The danger of missing comfort due to selfishness
   c. The need to be careful of proud assertions

We can also learn of our Lord’s grace and mercy, for He was quick to
forgive those who denied Him and fled away.  So He will do for us when
we stumble, if we are willing to repent and return to Him...!

Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2011