2 John 1:6 “This is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, that as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it.”
Scripture teaches, the most important of all graces is love. Jesus said it was the first of the commandments, the proof of our relationship with Him, and our most effective witnessing tool. Paul defined love in first Corinthians 13, and declared that love will outlast time. In our world, love is a very common subject, admittedly difficult to define. I think it is important we keep in mind, while the chief thing is love, the chief love, is love for God. John helps us to understand what love for God actually looks like.
“This is love, that we walk according to His commandments.”
Simply put, if we love God we will do what He says. This is not something John made up because it sounded good in a letter, but was a lesson he had learned from Jesus.
John 14:15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments.”
John 15:10 “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.”
The truest evidence of love is obedience. Sadly, we all know those who claim to have a passionate love for Christ, yet have no desire to do the things that please Him. That is the height of inconsistency. Love will always evidence itself by seeking to please the one loved. When my children were little, I would take them out to shop for birthday presents for their mother. They always ended up in the toy section and wanted to purchase her some sort of action hero. Because of their immaturity, they could only think of what would make them happy. As they have grown, I no longer make them buy gifts for mom, they choose to go out on their own, and purchase things that they know she will enjoy. In fact, it has become hard to outdo them, because they love their mom so much and want to give what will please her most.
What pleases God, is not great sacrifice, as much as simple obedience. When we read the Bible and do what it says, we are expressing a love much greater than ONLY singing praises, or declaring empty words.
1 Samuel 15:22 “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice…”
Pastor Jim
Questions for 2 John 1 1. John notes to the fact that this woman’s children have grown up in the things of the Lord and that her kids continue to walk. What a beautiful thing to see children grow up and continue their walk with God. What is the most important thing, in John’s opinion, that helps to have kids continue their walk?
2. John then warns of people teaching false doctrines. The false doctrine that runs ramped in our society today is the idea of “Coexist.” This is the idea that all roads lead to heaven. We need to make sure that we stand fast in the truth that Jesus is the only way to heaven. How can we best stay away from these false teachings?
1 John 5:16 “If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death. There is sin leading to death. I do not say that he should pray about that.”
Prayer is a critical part of our relationship with God. It is the means by which we are involved in the work of God on earth. Scripture reveals the things God desires to do when we join in prayer; as a result we get to see God work. There are many texts in Scripture making it clear that when we fail to pray, we fail to experience the works of God. Perhaps the most well-known is when James declares, “You have not because you ask not.” (James 4:2c) Because of the importance of prayer, as it relates to the work of God, John instructs us on how to pray. Verse 14 tells us what to pray for,
1 John 5:14 “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.”
The purpose of prayer is to get the will of God accomplished. When we look into the Word of God we will see the things that are important to God. When we ask Him to accomplish those things, we will begin to see our prayers answered. We know the salvation of our loved ones is on the top of God’s list, so we should put them on the top of list, and be praying for them regularly.
In verse 16, John addresses things that we should not pray for. He refers to them as the sins that lead to death. Sometimes, I wish there were a few more verses in Scripture. I wish John would have added a sentence or two explaining exactly what he meant. Since he did not, we are left to do a little digging on our own. What does the Bible say we should not pray about? I think the clear answer is, we should not pray about the things God has told us not to do. When my children were little, they would often ask for something, and not receive the answer for which they were hoping. Instead of accepting the answer they received, they would continue to ask, and at times even plead, beg, or ask with fervency. Their continued asking, after they had been told NO, did not change our minds, it only got them into trouble. In the same way, there are things God, because of His love for us, forbids us to have, or be involved in, and it is wrong for the Christian to ask for those things.
While all that is true, it is clearly not what John is talking about here. He is talking about those times when a friend gets involved in sin, and how we should respond to him. He tells us, if his sin is a deadly one, don’t pray about it. That is, if his sin is so dangerous, and able to destroy them, or their relationship with the Lord, don’t pray. Since I am not sure exactly what John means, I think the best application for the text is, instead of standing back waiting to decide what God wants me to do, I should take the advice of Paul who said, “. . .when a brother is overtaken in sin you who are spiritual restore him in a spirit of meekness. . .” (Galatians 6:1) Rather than letting our loved ones continue down a road that is taking them away from the Lord, we should step in, and do all we can to get them back on track. We already know God loves them, and He wants to restore them, the only question is, how we can help?
Pastor Jim
Questions for 1 John 5 1. How are we born of God? Do you believe that? (v. 1)
2. Sometimes the world seems to have its way with us. How do we overcome the world?
4. John ends this book and chapter with the exhortation to keep away from idols. His mention of idols is very subtle, but idols come into people lives very subtly. Is there anything in your life that has taken first priority over your relationship with Jesus? How should you deal with that?
1 John 4:10-11 “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”
Love seems to be the most common subject of music, art, poetry and film. We have all heard songs with lyrics heralding the importance of love, or movies showing couples falling in love. Love has been romanticized, even idolized, yet rarely realized. It is here that the Apostle John, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, gives us a description of true love.
“In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”
True love is both illustrated and defined by the action of God sending His Son. Paul reminds us, it was while we were still sinners, God sent His Son to the cross to pay the penalty for our sins (Romans 5:8). John uses the word propitiation, which speaks of a blood sacrifice; the innocent for the guilty. Love is measured at the cross where Jesus willingly laid down His life for you and me. But the love of God does not stop there. It is the desire of God that His love continue to be demonstrated to the world through the actions of His children.
“Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”
Since we are the beloved, we are to act like it, by seeking to express this love to each other.
1 John 4:20 “If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?”
One of the best ways to express love for God, is to love others. This should be done in the home, by going out of our way, today, to show our spouse, children, parents, and siblings that we love them. Perhaps, even looking for extravagant ways to show off our love. After all, God expressed His love by going all out for us. Then this love should be expressed beyond the home. We should be looking for ways to love those around us. Jesus explained that His followers were to be different from the world in that the world loves those who are loving them. The Christian is to love all.
Matthew 5:46 “For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?”
Make an effort today to share the love of Christ with those with whom you come in contact. The greatest expression of love is to tell someone the way to heaven.
Pastor Jim
Questions for 1 John 4 1. In verse 3 John speaks of the Spirit of The Antichrist. This is not speaking of THE Antichrist that Revelation speaks of. The spirit of the Antichrist is anything that denies Jesus Christ as the only way to heaven. In our society today we see that very often. How do we stay firm in a world so opposed to the message of Jesus?
2. John reminds us how important it is for the follower of Christ to be loving, because God is love. God showed that love by allowing His only son to die for us. In the light of the cross, how is your love towards others as a child of God?
3. Another way that we can know that we are a child of God, the first being the love of God in us, is by the Holy Spirit. How you asked God to baptize you in His spirit? The Bible tells us that He will give us the spirit when we ask. Do you take advantage of that gift?
1 John 3:23 “And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment.”
Jesus simplified all of the commandments into two: love God and love others. John, in like manner, states the requirements of God are both simple and straight forward. He writes, God is commanding us to believe on Christ and love each other.
Belief is commanded because it is the requirement for entrance into heaven. When individuals look at the cross, they realize they are sinners, Christ is the Savior, they put their trust in Him, and are saved. The sins that once kept us from God are washed away in the blood of God, and our names are written on Heaven’s scroll. All the religious activities, social work, or random acts of kindness, are incapable of doing what simple faith in Christ accomplishes. If you are yet to put your trust in Christ, do so now, and watch as He transforms your life.
Love for one another is the chief evidence that we have truly believed in Christ. It is not the only evidence, but it is the greatest. After years of walking with the Lord, encountering others who have put their faith in Him, and lived lives transformed by Him, John concludes that more than anything else, a person who has met Christ should love others. That is not too difficult to comprehend when we examine the life of Christ, and see it was marked by a continual, even growing, love for others. We read that having loved His own, He loved them to the end. (John 13:1)
One of the greatest ways to testify to the reality of Christ, is to go out of your way to express love to others. As you go about your day, keep your eyes open as to how you might express the love of Christ to others in a needy world.
Pastor Jim
Questions for 1 John 3 1. What was the love that the Father bestows that allows us to be children of God?
2. Sometimes people question whether or not we will be recognizable once we pass from death to life. John doesn’t tell us exactly what we will be, but he does tell us something about us in verse 2. What will we be like?
3. From verse 4-9 John talks about how the child of God does not sin. Although he says we will be without sin, we know that we still fall into sin. This sin he is talking about is the habitual sin that we get stuck in. The child of God should be free from this habitual sin. Is there any habitual sin in your life that you need to have God remove? Take it to the Lord.
4. What is the difference between the child of God and the child of the Devil?
5. John tells us we can have a guarantee that we are a child of God. He says that guarantee is the outworking of love in our life. The Christian is supposed to be loving. Are you being loving? Even to the people that seem impossible to love? How can you work on it?
“My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.”
One of the greatest benefits of reading the Bible is that the Word of God will keep us from sin. The famous evangelist, D.L. Moody said, “Sin will keep you from this book and this book will keep you from sin.” The Psalmist wrote, “Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You” (Psalm 119:11). The Apostle explains one of the purposes of this letter is that we might not sin. In addition to the Word of God building us up spiritually, as we read through 1 John, we will discover valuable insights that will help us to sin less.
“And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”
The problem remains, as long as we are in these bodies, we will still struggle with sin. We wake up determined to love God and be a godly witness, yet before too long, we have become upset at the children, distracted from the Lord or we have stumbled back into a sin of the past. Instead of being riddled with guilt, or overcome with fear that we will never outgrow our sin, we need to realize Jesus is our advocate; He sits at the right hand of God and intercedes on our behalf. John explains that His intercession is accepted because,
“He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.”
The word ‘propitiation’ refers to the fact that Jesus gave Himself as a substitutionary sacrifice. Being without sin, He took our place on the cross; receiving the punishment for our sin. His blood works as a cleansing agent, removing the penalty and the guilt of sin. There ever remains a flow of mercy for our failures and sin. It is time we learn to accept the forgiveness offered to us and get back to pressing forward in our walk with the Lord. Solomon wrote,
Proverbs 24:16 “For a righteous man may fall seven times, And rise again”
For my cleansing this I see— Nothing but the blood of Jesus! For my pardon this my plea— Nothing but the blood of Jesus! Nothing can my sin erase Nothing but the blood of Jesus! Oh! precious is the flow That makes me white as snow; No other fount I know, Nothing but the blood of Jesus. (Robert Lowry)
Pastor Jim
Questions for 1 John 2 1. John tells us his reason for writing: that we may not sin. But John knows that we are all sinners. What is his encouraging reminder that he gives us in verse 1 and 2?
2. How is the love of God perfected in us? verse 5
3. From verses 12-14 he lists three different types of “classifications” of believers. What state would you think you were in? How do you think you can “take it to the next level” in your relationship with the Lord?
4. John gives a pretty radical picture of ALL that is in the world. When he puts it so clearly it is hard to see why we get sucked into the world. Yet we still get sucked in. Why do you think that is?
1 John 1:5 “This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.”
Light is used to illustrate holiness. John is declaring that God is perfectly holy and without sin. This creates a problem, since we are all sinners. In this text, John explains how sinful people can have a relationship with a holy God. In the opening verses of the chapter, he refers to Christ becoming a man and making fellowship with God possible. That was accomplished through the cross, where Jesus died as a substitute for us. The sinless, in place of the sinner, so we might be saved. John is now writing to the one who recognizes his sin, and begins to follow Christ.
1 John 1:6 “If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.”
Coming to Christ involves more than raising your hand in response to a message, or walking forward at a church service. John declares, the one who has received Christ will have a life change. If we continue to live unchanged by the experience, then we have not truly experienced Christ. The Bible speaks of a young man who had an encounter with Christ, but was unwilling to truly commit to following Him. He walked away from the experience, unchanged and unsaved. We call him the rich young ruler (Luke 18:18-23).
1 John 1:7 “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin”
On the other hand, the one who has truly met Jesus, will begin to change the way he is living. Instead of choosing to invest in the things that lead away from Christ, he will take steps toward growing in Christ. Notice he writes “walking in the light as He is in the light.” This refers to living the way Christ lived.
The Bible is more than a religious book, it is the owner’s manual. It explains how to live a life well pleasing to the Lord. John does not suggest that we will be without sin, but that as we walk with Christ, there is a continual flow of forgiveness when we stumble.
1 John 1:8 “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”
I have yet to meet a person who truly believes they have never done anything wrong. We know that we sin. The problem is, we attempt to move things out of the sin category, and into the acceptable-to-God category. This is all too common for couples who are not married, and yet, get involved physically. They attempt to excuse their sin with words like, “we are in love” or “we are married in God’s eyes.” The truth is, sin is sin, and it interrupts fellowship with God. If we are to walk with the Lord, we must get sin out of our lives.
1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
The word confess has two meetings. First, it means to be in agreement. Instead of arguing with God about what He says is sin, we simply agree with Him. Second, the word means to admit. When we sin, we must admit it to God. We confess our sin and ask for His pardon. John promises the result will be both forgiveness and cleansing. If there is anything you need to confess, do it now. Don’t take another step down the wrong road; instead, begin to make steps toward a restored relationship with Christ.
Pastor Jim
Questions for 1 John 1 1. John starts this chapter with talking about the message that we have heard from the beginning. He ultimately answers what that message was in verse 4. What is the message that we have heard from the beginning?
2. It is easy to claim fellowship with God. How do we know if we are truly having fellowship with God?
3. What is the way in which we can have fellowship with God? verse 7
4. The topic of sin is always one that is uncomfortable, especially when we are saying that someone is a sinner. John tells us that we are sinners, and if we say we don’t we make God a liar. It is very important to know that we are sinners. But because of Jesus blood, as John stated, we are forgiven of sin. Take time to thank God for His forgiveness.
“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”
Peter writes, as the day of the Lord approaches there will be an increase in those he calls “scoffers.” A scoffer is one who shows his contempt for an idea or concept, by not only rejecting it, but mocking it, and those who believe. Peter goes on to explain, one of the signs that Christ’s return is drawing near, is an increase in those who mock Christ and Christianity.
2 Peter 3:5-6 “For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water.”
Their mockery does not stem from a lack of evidence, but rather as the result of removing God from their thinking. Peter states, they have willingly forgotten the God who created and sustains all things.
2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”
Instead of writing of the intense anger of God toward those who mock Him and mistreat His children, Peter supports the reason for God’s patience. Knowing the longer He waits, the more He will be mocked, and the worse things will get, God remains patient, because it is His desire for all to be saved. We know God takes it very personally when His children are mistreated; He calls us the “apple of His eye.”
We also know, He considers blaspheme to be a violation of His Holy Law. Yet, He still waits patiently for more to come to saving faith in Christ. Keep in mind, more than anything, God’s desire is for you to be in heaven. He has paved the way through the death of His Son on the cross. He has given us His Word, and sent His servants around the world with a simple message, “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved (Acts 16:31).”
Have you trusted your life into His hands? If not, do it now. Simply pray, “Jesus, thank you for dying for my sin, I invite you into my life and give my life to You.”
Pastor Jim
Questions for 2 Peter 3
Verse 1-7 is a picture of what we see today with people that do not believe or do not want to believe. How does verse 5 explain this?
God’s timeline is not like ours. How does verse 8 describe God’s view of time?
Verse 9 brings comfort and shows God’s love toward all. What words stand out to you in this verse?
How will the day of the Lord come in verse 10?
How are we to be according to verse 11? Are you?
Again in verse 14, we are given instruction. How will God find you?
Verse 18 is telling us again to grow. How is your life of grace with others? How is your knowledge? All in Jesus? Read Micah 2:8
2 Peter 2:22 “But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: ‘A dog returns to his own vomit,’ and, ‘a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.’”
A few years ago, I was in northern Ghana with a group of people from our church. Our purpose was to bring the Gospel to remote villages that had yet to be reached for Christ. Just as Paul developed a custom of going first to the synagogue, then to the market squares, we too, had developed our own custom. Because of the practices of their culture, it is customary, when a traveler arrives at their home, to gather the family, offer the traveler a drink and ask “What brings you here and do you have a message for us?” As you can imagine, this provides a wide open door to share Christ.
On one particular day, as we were walking through a village, going from hut to hut with the gospel, I turned a corner and startled a large pig. He immediately arose from his mud hole and walked off. When he stirred up the mud, the stink was so strong it almost knocked me over. I continued down the path, then turned back, thinking of this verse in 2 Peter 2, wondering what would happen next. Sure enough, as soon as he thought it was safe, the pig walked back to the mire and plopped down.
Peter explains, while it is expected for a pig to return to its mire, you are not a pig. Once you have come to Christ, it is unnatural for you to turn back to the sins from which He saved you. He writes that returning to our past lives, results in being in a worse condition than we were prior to being saved. That worse condition is caused by the hardening of our hearts.
Each time we take a step away from the Lord, the Holy Spirit convicts us, reminding us of the promises of the Word, and the danger of that course of action. When we ignore His warnings and continue to move toward sin and away from God, our hearts become just a little harder. Soon we are able to sin without feelings of guilt or remorse. That is in no way a sign of freedom, but of extreme bondage. When sin no longer shames us, we are shackled by its deadly grip.
A good application from this text would be to take inventory. Are you allowing things back into your life that might lead you away from the Lord and back into your old life style? Turn those things back over to the Lord, before you find yourself neck-deep in the mire.
Pastor Jim
Questions for 2 Peter 2 1. False prophets, there are many out there. What warning does Peter give us in verses 1-3?
2. God will bring judgment, because of His grace and mercy; He allows people the opportunity to repent. Dwell on verse 9, what does this say about our Savior?
3. Verses 10-11 describe people that do not believe, maybe even describe people you know? Do you know Christians that act this way? Do you?
4. Deception and unbelief are the fruit a false prophet in verses 12-17. This is the opposite of how Christians should be. Pray for the people you know that have this kind of heart, Jesus wants to save! 5. Verse 19 is a horrid deception. What does this verse mean to you?
6. Verse 20-22, Peter is telling us about false prophets who had known the way of righteousness. Have you been to a church, heard the good news of Jesus, yet heard so much guilt and condemnation (bondage as Peter says)? It can be very confusing if you don’t understand Gods word. Read John 10:10.
2 Peter 1:5-7 “But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.”
Building a healthy relationship with the Lord is made up of a number of elements, the first of which is faith. In Hebrews 11, we are told that without faith it is impossible to please God. We might say, faith is the currency of the Kingdom of Heaven. It is the means by which we receive from God. The gift of eternal life, the promises of the Word, and the work of the Spirit are all received by faith. For anyone to begin a relationship with God, it must start by entrusting your life to Christ, and becoming His follower.
Just like Matthew rose from his tax office and began to follow after Jesus, we must leave our old life behind and trust our lives into the care of Jesus. When that is done, a relationship with God begins. But notice, Peter makes it clear that receiving Christ is not the finish line, but the starting gate. He exhorts us to add to our faith. His list is not exhaustive, there are certainly other things that can be added to our relationship with Christ, that will ensure our spiritual growth, but these seven things are a great place to start.
These 7 Things:
To faith add virtue – Virtue was defined in ancient times by Socrates as “doing something as well as it can be done”. Paul wrote, we should “do all things heartily as unto the Lord” (Colossians 3:23). The Christian should seek to do all things well as a testimony to the world, and as an offering of worship to the Lord.
To virtue add knowledge – Knowledge is both information and experience. As Christians, we should be good students of the Bible, seeking to get to know the Word of God. This does not mean, we are searching for hidden meanings in the Bible, but we are learning to take the Bible at face value, and apply the truths to our lives. This word ‘knowledge’ also carries the idea of experience. It is not just information about the Lord that is important, but that we are getting to know Him better, by walking with Him day-to-day.
To knowledge add self-control – To exercise self-control, the Christian must learn to deny or say no to himself. Not everything we desire is healthy for us, or helpful in walking with the Lord. There are times when the flesh is tempted toward things that will lead us away from Christ. We must resist the devil and draw near to God.
To self-control add perseverance – This means simply to press on. Wherever you are currently in your relationship with Christ, it is not the end. Paul reminds us, there is a day when we will complete the race and be in the presence of God, but until that day we must keep pressing forward.
To perseverance add godliness – There are many aspects to godliness, one of which is the idea of reverence. This is a word which has sadly lost its place, not only in our vocabularies, but in our culture. It is rare to see people acting with proper reverence. The word carries the idea of having a healthy fear. When people enter the ocean without proper fear, they are often swept away by large surf or caught in rip tides. When we do not have a healthy fear of God, we will toy with sins that should have been cast aside long ago.
To godliness add brotherly kindness – It always amuses me when the New Testament writers have to encourage Christians to be nice to each other. You would think we would realize we are all saved by grace, all are adopted into the family of Christ, and we should be kind to each other. But just as a parent has to break up the bickering between siblings, we must be reminded to be kind to one another. Don’t forget the world is watching how we treat each other.
Finally, to brotherly kindness add love – As faith is the starting point of a relationship with the Lord, love is the chief evidence. Paul stated, upon receiving Christ, the love of God would be shed abroad in our hearts. As Christians, our lives should be marked by love, and that love should be categorized properly. First, love is toward God. We are to love Him with our heart, soul, mind and strength. Second, love is to be toward others, Finally, we are to fall in love with the things that God loves.
Pastor Jim
Questions for 2 Peter 1 1. Verse 1 we read that this letter is “to those who have obtained like precious faith”. This letter is to Christians. Obtained-to get, gain, or procure. How are you doing with your faith? Did you ask Jesus into your heart to be Lord and Savior then bump along your way in life not really knowing God, serving Him or having a relationship with Him? Read Matthew 6:33.
2. What has been given to us in verse 3? How is it done?
3. Peter shares with us in verse 5 how we can add to our faith, with all diligence. Pray and ask God to give you a hunger for His word so that you may add to your faith. What character traits are listed here in verses6-7?
4. What is the promise for us if we “abound in these things”?
5. In verse 9, Peter tells us why we are lacking in these areas, because” we have forgotten that we were cleansed from our old ways”. Have you forgotten? Do you remember the day you gave your heart to Jesus? What in your life has stolen the joy of the Lord? Confess it and lay it at the feet of Jesus. Start today building your faith!
6. Verse 16 warns us not to follow cunningly devised fables. The Book of 2 Peter as an overview is encouraging us to read and study the Bible. Do you know what you believe? Why you believe it? Read Proverbs 3:5-6, Hebrews 4:2, 2 Timothy 2:15-16.
7. Verses 21-22, read carefully. Chapter 2 tells us of false teachers and doctrines. This is why we need to know what the Bible says. As Peter said in verse 2, “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” Be encouraged! God loves you and wants to have a relationship with you! Question 5, if you don’t remember giving your heart to Jesus, it probably didn’t happen. Why don’t you do it right now? Jesus, I am a sinner, I confess my sins to you. I give you my life and open my heart to you. Be my Lord and Savior. Amen!
1 Peter 5:7 “. . .casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.”
Cares, concerns, worries, and anxiety are all relatively synonymous terms. They speak of the things in life that fill us with fear, rob us of peace, overwhelm us, and stress us out. There are numerous things that create this kind of anxiety; some of them are real and others irrational, but all of them seem to have the same effect upon us. Peter tells us the solution to dealing with the cares of life.
“. . .casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.”
The word ‘casting’ is a translation of a compound word in Greek meaning, ‘to throw upon’. It was used in the book of Acts when Paul was traveling by ship to Rome. In the midst of the sea, they experienced a great storm similar to a hurricane. In addition to being tossed around by the large waves and driven off course by the high winds, they had lost all sense of where they were, because for many days they were unable to see the stars to navigate. As the ship was being beat up by the storm and taking on water, the crew began to realize, they may not survive. Suddenly, the precious cargo they were transporting meant little to them, and they began to toss it overboard to lighten the ship, and increase their chances of survival. When the storm continued, they reached the point where they even began throwing the ship’s tackle overboard.
This is an apt illustration of what it means to cast our cares upon Christ. Sometimes, the storms of life cause us to realize that much of what we are living for, or hold dear, matters little in light of eternity. In the storm, we, like those sailors of old, evaluate what is truly precious and we cast all the rest at the feet of Jesus. Maybe now would be a good time to cast some of those cares at His feet. Perhaps there are things you have allowed back into your life that should be left behind, as you press toward the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
As the storm continued they cast the ship’s tackle overboard. Tackle, unlike cargo is necessary to the sailors. They could not hoist the sails without it. When the storm began, they relied upon their own strength and experience to get them through. As the storm raged on, they reached a point where they realized it was too much for them. All they were accustomed to trusting in proved faulty, and as a last resort they threw the tackle overboard and listened to the instructions, not of the captain, but of the Apostle. Sometimes, life’s storms are allowed so we will stop trusting in our own strength, instead turning to the Lord for direction. It may be that the care that you need to cast at His feet is the idea that you can get through this without Heaven’s help.
Whatever you are facing, cast those cares at His feet. Peter promises that Jesus cares for us.
Pastor Jim
Questions for 1 Peter 5
1. What amazing instruction Peter gives to elders-bishop/shepherd/pastors. Are you being called to be a pastor? List the guidelines given here. Read Matthew 20:25-26.
2. Verse 5 that word “submissive” is used to instruct all of us. Are you submissive one to another?
3. Did you know God resists the proud? That He gives grace to the humble? Humility, casting all your cares on Him. I think it is time to pray, yes now! 4. Be sober (calm & collective), be vigilant (watchful, attentive to discover and avoid danger). Could you be described this way? What does verse 8 say the devil is trying to do?
5. Verse 9, resist him in steadfast faith! How many times have we attempted to resist him on our own? Steadfast-constant, firm, not fickle or wavering. I pray that we may all be this way in our faith. Read Ephesians 2:8, Hebrews 4:16, James 1:17 6. Verses 10-11. The God of all grace is calling you (all) to Jesus! After you have suffered awhile (pray on this one, read 1 Peter again). He is calling you to: a. be perfect-Philippians 1:6 b. be established-James 5:8 c. be strengthened-Isaiah 40:29 d. settled-Matthew 7:27 All for what?
Jim Gallagher 