The Acts of the Apostles 62

Subtitle: Faith Working through Love

Acts 16:1-10.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on November 5, 2023.

Paul and Silas have started on Paul’s Second Missionary Journey, due to a disagreement between Paul and Barnabas about John Mark.

Today, we are going to look at this question.  What is the motivation behind what you do?  Two people (or more) can do the same action, but for very different reasons.  We could boil them all down to good motivations versus bad ones.  Of course, when we come to faith in Christ, we find out that Jesus isn’t content with only changing our outward actions.

Yes, he wants us to stop sinning (“Go and sin no more.”) because our sin causes pain and suffering to us and to the people in our lives.  God loves us and them too much to be content with us continuing to sin with impunity. 

Yet, if you only change the activity without changing the heart behind it, it will not be good enough.  It won’t work for very long.  Eventually, such people grow weary of “doing” good, and fall away from actions of righteousness.  So, Christ is not content to affect our activity.  He wants to change us from the inside out.

Let’s look at our passage.

Paul’s second missionary journey reaches Asia Minor again (v. 1-10)

Luke’s narrative jumps to the area of Derbe and Lystra in the middle of Asia Minor (Turkey today).  In short, they are going to travel between 750 to 800 miles in these 10 verses.

It is at Lystra that Paul recognizes a young man named Timothy, and he desires Timothy to join them.  Of course, Timothy is not just “joining” a missionary group.  He  really is entering into a lifetime of ministering for Jesus.  He becomes a son in the faith to Paul a father figure.  The dynamics here are significant.  Silas is a peer of Paul’s.  He is like a brother in the Lord, similar to Barnabas.  However, young Timothy is more like a son.  He will be mentored by Paul and Silas (really by the Holy Spirit through them).  In fact, there are two books of the New Testament written by Paul as a fatherly figure to Timothy (1 and 2 Timothy).  In fact, 2 Timothy has the feel of a father telling his son to stay strong as he is about to exit this life.

From these two letters (1 and 2 Timothy), we know that Timothy’s mother and grandmother have been strong believers (2 Timothy 1:5).    His mother, Eunice, had married a Greek man who clearly was not a convert to Judaism as we will soon see.  His grandmother Lois and her daughter Eunice most likely believed in Jesus during Paul’s first missionary journey through Lystra.

By the way, we should guard against the idea that Judaism and Christianity were two separate religions.  Jesus did not come to start a new religion.  He was the Messiah, the fulfillment of all that the Law of Moses was pointing to.  The people of Israel had waited for Messiah to come for centuries.  Thus, we would not say that Lois and Eunice were saved, but that their saving faith in Yahweh to send Messiah, had now made the proper transition to faith in Yeshua, whom the Father had sent.  The early Jewish believers were simply obeying the Holy Spirit by getting up and following Jesus.

This brings up an issue.  We can be guilty of giving lip service to God’s promise of sending Jesus back again.  This was on display in Israel in the first century.  Many of them would give lip service to the idea that Messiah would come and set all things right some day.  However, most had given up faith that he would actually show up.  They had the correct doctrine, but their faith was gone in their hearts.

Yet, one day Jesus did come.  He caught most of them by surprise, or better, he caught them spiritually sleeping, spiritually intoxicated, and spiritually dead. 

They were so used to being the ones who  had the truth, that they had lost their ability to repent and follow God.  How do you exercise your ability to repent and follow the Holy Spirit, rather than resisting and rebelling against Him?

In short, you spend time seeking God in the word and in prayer.  You give him your whole heart in truth.  You seek what He is saying to you through the Holy Spirit and what He saying to you, where He is leading you.  Such a relationship will teach you to exercise faith as the Holy Spirit puts His finger on areas of your life that need to change.  If you will give yourself to this, you will find all sorts of ways that you need to repent, and every day.  You will find just how much we need His help, and, praise God, that He is giving it to us all the time, if we will receive it.

It is probably at this time that the elders of the church and Paul gather around Timothy and pray for him as is mentioned twice in Paul’s letters.  We are told that gifts of the Holy Spirit were given to him on that day, and that at least one prophecy was given regarding him.

Now, this is an important point.  They do not take for granted that they are doing God’s work and that He will just show up.  They take this moment seriously and pray over Timothy.  We should never take God’s promised help for granted.  We need to seek it, and pray for it.  What a powerful moment as they pray over this young man.  “Lord, fill him with your Spirit, and enable him to minister with Paul and Silas.  Give him courage and faith.  Give him perseverance, Lord!”  Whether Timothy was already filled with the Spirit at that time, or the Spirit came upon him for the first time, Timothy was readied to go with Paul and Silas.

On the flip side, just because God has enabled you, placed gifts within your life, and filled you with His presence, doesn’t mean that we should take His continued empowerment for granted.  In 1 Tim. 4:14, Paul tells Timothy not to “neglect” the gift that was within him, and in 2 Tim. 1:6 , he tells him to “stir up” the gift that was within him.  The gifts of God are not automatic.  I am not saying that God will withhold from us, but that we can grow stagnant in our spiritual walk.  If we are negligent and lose our passion, then stagnation creeps into our hearts and quenches the gifts of God in our life.  In fact, the greatest gift within any of us, is the gift of the Holy Spirit.  We can grieve the Holy Spirit and squelch His work in our life if we are not purposeful and intentional in prayer. 

How do we stir them up?  We do so through prayer, and prayerful study of the Word.  Also, we do so by seeking the Holy Spirit, and as He leads, exercising our faith through obedience.

We may be taken by surprise that Paul would have Timothy circumcised at this point.  He is carrying a letter from the Apostles in Jerusalem laying out the fact that circumcision is not necessary for salvation.  This may come across to some as a contradiction, but it really is not, if you look closely.

Notice that the issue in Acts 15 was about what was necessary for Gentile salvation.  The council made a clear pronouncement on this issue, but there was still some lack of specificity regarding Jews themselves. Of course, Peter made it clear that none of the Jews were saved by their law keeping, only by faith in Jesus.  Jews and Gentiles were being saved in the same way.

There is some dispute about whether Timothy is considered a Jew or not.  When a person’s parents were both Jewish, there was no question.  They were a Jews.  But, when one of the parents were not Jewish, a question could arise.  Today, Jews teach that Jewishness, or obligation to the Law, follows the mother.  If your mother is Jewish, then so are you.  However, if only your father is Jewish, you are not considered Jewish.  It is not clear evidence that the first century followed a “matrilineal” descent as opposed to a patrilineal descent (from the father).  I don’t think that it makes a difference either way.

I only bring up this issue because it begs the question.  Did the early Church expect, or teach that Jews should circumcise their children and follow the law of Moses?  Did they teach Jewish believers in Yeshua to continue to circumcise new babies?  There would most likely be some ethnic momentum in how Jewish Christians lived.  I doubt that they all started eating pork after Peter’s vision in Joppa.  It just wasn’t part of their culture.  Therefore, we are unable to determine exactly how Timothy was viewed by early Jewish Christians, but we would know how he was viewed by non-Christian Jews.

So we come back to the issue of whether or not Paul is contradicting himself.    Why would he say one thing about Gentiles and another about Timothy?  What is going on here?  As I said at the beginning, motivation is the key.  What is Paul’s motivation?  What is his concern?

Verse three tells us why Paul does this, “because of the Jews who were in that region, for they knew that his father was a Greek.”  Paul clearly wanted to minister to Jews in the region, but also knew that they would know that Timothy was not circumcised.  Most likely, Paul believes that Timothy’s status would become a distraction and get in the way of preaching the Gospel.  The Jews would be so upset by Paul having an uncircumcised Jewish person with him, that they would never get to sharing the Gospel.  Timothy would be a distraction.

I think that Galatians 5 is the best passage for settling this.  There, Paul makes clear the principle that he was following in telling some people not to be circumcised, and yet in this case, circumcising Timothy.

Galatians 5:1-6 has Paul speaking to Gentiles in Galatia (basically the area they are in here in Acts 16).  They were being persuaded by some to circumcise themselves.  In verse 2, Paul tells them that “Christ will profit you nothing [if you circumcise yourself].”  In verse 3, he tells them that if they obey this one point of the Law of Moses then they are “a debtor to keep the whole law.”  In verse 4, Paul says that they are severing themselves from Christ and falling from grace, if they do this.  These are strong words that imply that they could not be saved, if they were circumcising themselves as a necessary act.  Your faith is either in Jesus or in the works of your flesh.  You cannot have both.

You might think of Jesus as Noah’s ark.  You are either in the boat (in Jesus) trusting him for your salvation, or you are outside the boat trusting in your own ability.  However, you can’t be in the boat and not in the boat at the same time.  Faith in Jesus is the ark of the New Testament.

Yet, in verse 6, Paul gives his underlying principle, which allows him to say to one group that they cannot be saved if they circumcise themselves, and yet have Timothy be circumcised.  His principle is not, if you are Jewish, you should be circumcised.  Rather, circumcision or the lack thereof has no power to accomplish anything.  It is quite clear that he is speaking about spiritual matters here.  If you want salvation and spiritual power with God, then your circumcised status is powerless to help you.  Don’t look to that to help you.  Now, you can see why he speaks so strongly to the Galatians.  They were circumcising themselves out of the belief that it would help them with God, but it can’t.

What does have power with God?  Faith [in Jesus] expressing itself through actions of love.  This is exactly what Paul is asking Timothy to do.  Paul is not telling Timothy that he is almost saved, but only lacks being circumcised (an argument that was being made to the Gentiles by the Judaizers).  Rather, he is asking him to be circumcised out of love for the Jews that they will preach to.  It will remove an obstacle that would be hard for them to overlook.  Now, it will not be an issue, and they can focus on the Gospel.  Timothy’s motivation would be love for the Jews that they will preach to.  The Galatians improper motivation was to fulfill an act that they thought was necessary for salvation.

I should say that this is quite a big “ask” of Paul to Timothy.  Yet, love will make great sacrifices for those it loves.  May God help us to remove obstacles in our lives without sinning in order to help others hear the Gospel.  May God help us to make sacrifices of things that are not necessary for salvation, but might be necessary in order for others to be saved.

We are then told that they go through the cities delivering the decrees of the Jerusalem Council, strengthening the churches, and sharing the Gospel.  Note that it says they “increased in number daily.”

They are called to Macedonia (v. 6-10)

As they move from Lystra eastward, they pass through the provinces of Galatia and Phrygia.  At this point (unless they go south), they are at the end of the churches that Paul and Barnabas had started earlier, and towns that they had preached in.  As they reach these borders, it appears that they intend to go southwest into the province of Asia.  This is the area of Ephesus and the 7 churches of Revelation. 

We are simply told that the Holy Spirit forbid them to preach the Gospel in Asia.  The Holy Spirit can lead us by forbidding or blocking things.  We are not told exactly how they knew the Holy Spirit was forbidding them.  Such a strong term would indicate that there was some kind of prophecy, word of wisdom, or dream, etc.  Some powerful way that the Holy Spirit made His direction clear to them.

This may cause us to wonder at the idea that the Holy Spirit would forbid any one to preach the Gospel to another.  Yet, we can know by what the Bible says that it has nothing to do with God not wanting them to hear it.  We are not told the reasons, so I want to be careful here.  It is possible that God knows this area will be reached by churches later, or that Paul and company can only do so much.  Limited resources require strategy and timing.  It will be come clear that Paul and Silas were intent on traveling throughout all of Asia Minor, but God wanted them to jump the Gospel over to Greece.  Others would “backfill” ministry into the areas that Paul skipped over.

In such a case, we should recognize that it is not our place to question God.  He has His reasons and they are always righteous and for the good.  In fact, if we refuse to go where God is calling us to go, and persist in going where He has not told us to go, we will be much like Jonah.  Things will go better for you and the people you speak to when you are obeying the Spirit of God.

Paul is obedient and turns to go north into Bithynia and Pontus, but again, the Holy Spirit forbids them to go north.  Thus, they end up on the coast of Asia Minor in the city of Troas.  No doubt, they minister there, but also the question is pondered.  Where do we go now?

Let me insert at this point, that God is not stuck on any one way of leading and directing us.  He spoke to Moses like one speaks face to face with another man.  That is extremely rare.  Sometimes, He speaks to people through angels.  He can speak to us through visions and dreams, through a word of knowledge, or simply by a quiet voice in our heart.  It doesn’t matter how God leads us.  What matters is that He is the One leading.  Don’t  be fixated on needing to have God use any of these.  Simply respond to how He leads in your life.  In fact, notice that Timothy is being led by the Holy Spirit through the man Paul.

It is at this point that Paul has a vision.  In the vision, he sees a Macedonian man pleading, “Come over here and help us!”  Of course, there probably was not an actual man in Macedonia who was doing this.  But, God hears the hearts of a people.  The Holy Spirit was giving Paul a sense of what God saw in this region, a people crying out for help.

Of course, our hearts can cry out for help, but often we don’t even know what that help should look like, especially in spiritual matters.  Macedonia is northern Greece, where Alexander the Great came from.  Just as God used a vision to instruct Peter to share the Gospel with Cornelius in Caesarea, so God uses a vision to stir Paul’s heart for Greece.  This is not because God loves them more.  No, He wants all people to hear the Gospel and come to faith in Jesus.  However, Paul is mortal and cannot evangelize everyone.  The Holy Spirit is strategically leading him to spread the Gospel in a way that is more effective.

I wonder how many people and places are pleading for someone to come and help them, but no one share the Gospel with them.  You will never see it because it is a spiritual things.  And, they won’t even know that you are the answer of the cry of their heart when you first start speaking to them.  However, God sees them, and hears them.  We really need to learn to listen to God and be led by him as we share the Gospel with people.

Notice that Paul didn’t need a vision for everyone he ever shared the Gospel with.  In general, he knew that the Gospel needed to go everywhere.  He was doing God’s will in general until God needed him to do something specific.  This is where we need to trust the Lord.  If He needs to direct us, He knows how to do it.  I should not be paralyzed while waiting for a vision, when I could be doing what I know the Lord wants me to do in general.

I do think that we should develop the practice of talking with God in prayer about our evangelism plans, who we want to talk to, and when.  We should pray for the Spirit to go before us and prepare their hearts, and we should fast and pray for their response to the Gospel.  In short, it should be our faith in Jesus (and his purpose for us) working itself out through actions of love for the lost (sharing the Gospel).

Perhaps, this week, we can spend some time asking God what we can sacrifice, so that others may hear the Gospel.  May the Lord enable us by His Holy Spirit!

Faith through Love audio

The Acts of the Apostles 59

Subtitle: The Jerusalem Council II

Acts 15:13-21.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on October 15, 2023.

We continue to look at the gathering in which the First-Century Church settled the question on what Gentiles had to do in order to be saved.

Let’s make it clear that the Church and its leaders do not have the authority to promote anything but what God is saying and doing.  The Church is not a business that Jesus started and current leaders can choose to do something different.  Salvation is not a product that we can tweak in order to be more profitable, or any other human aspiration.

In reality, the leaders in this gathering were seeking to discern and come to agreement upon what the Lord Jesus wanted them to do and to teach.

This is an important distinction because, when you look at the history of the Church, you will find that over time leaders began to look more to human reasoning to lead them than to the Word of God and the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Like ambassadors of a great king, we are to rightly represent Him to the world.  This is important in general, but it is especially important to those who are responding to the Gospel of Jesus.  We do not want to be guilty of misleading those whom God plans to save.

Last week, we looked at Peter’s testimony, and then we looked at the testimony of Barnabas and Paul.  Now we are going to look at the testimony of James, the brother of the Lord.

Let’s look at our passage.

They gather to make a decision: James’s testimony (v. 13 -21)

Luke only gives the name of James without any other description.  This is not the apostle James, the brother of John, sons of Zebedee.  James was put to death by Herod Agrippa I in Acts 12:2.  He was the first of the apostles to die, and his brother was apparently the last (separated by around 45 years or so).

This could make us question God.  Why?

There is a certain amount of testing that we all need, and yet there are also a variety of the kinds of witness and testimony that we can be.  Sometimes God simply lets certain things happen and play out as people intend, and yet other times He has something more specific that He wants to happen, so He intervenes.

We must be careful of thinking God will always part the Red Sea if a person really knows Him, or if He is really involved in a matter.  Of course, God can do a dramatic miracle any time He pleases.  Yet, we can take a clue from the New Testament story of the resurrection of Lazarus.  Four days after he died and was buried, Jesus showed up and miraculously raised him from the dead.  Yet, even Lazarus came to death’s door a second time and Jesus didn’t come down from heaven to raise him up.  There were probably a few people keeping watch for at least 4 days, just in case. 

Yet, Jesus didn’t show up.  Why not?  Our inheritance is not living in a mortal body forever.  Lazarus had lived a full life and it was time for him to rest from his Gospel labor, and enter into the joys of the Lord.

My main point is that we can over promote the miraculous, or the providence  of how long we live.  Israel’s problem was never that they didn’t have enough miracles.  Their problem was walking in faith with God after the miracle.  In fact, that is not just Israel’s problem, but a human problem.  In fact, we often have trouble trusting God even as He is doing the miraculous in our lives. 

God does miracles from time to time, but the longer period is walking in trusting faith in between.  The tension of having an impossible mission is punctuated by God showing up from time to time in amazing ways.  Yet, we need to walk in faith regardless.

Tradition has always held that this is the half-brother of Jesus, though there are some groups that try to make out that Mary did not have any other kids after Jesus.  The record shows that Joseph was not a biological father to Jesus (the Holy Spirit created a child within Mary).  Yet, he and Mary did have children later:  James, Jude, Joses, and others.  None of the brothers of Jesus believed in him until after the resurrection.  Once they believed, they quickly became pillars in the Jerusalem church.

The only place in the Bible where it mentions that James was a brother of Jesus is in Galatians 1:19.  James, who wrote the book of James, never calls himself the brother of the Lord.  He calls himself, “James, a bondservant [slave] of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ…”

For some people that was big doings.  But, Paul makes the point in Galatians 1 through 2 that such is not important before God.  James is not taking the place of Jesus, as if he were in a line of succession.  No man will ever succeed the Lord Jesus who reigns forever and ever.

James starts out by referencing the testimony of Peter.  It is clear that James agrees with Peter’s conclusions and that his purpose is to give supporting evidence and then offer a solution.  He mentions in verse 14 that Peter had described how God had visited the Gentiles in order to take out of them a people for His name.  This helps us to see what James is focusing on, Gentiles belonging to Yahweh like Israel did.

It is interesting that Peter’s testimony focuses upon the power and work of the Holy Spirit in teaching him, and powerfully working among the Gentiles through him.  He gives testimony to the supernatural move of God, and is very practical, focused on activity of the Spirit of God.

The testimony of James is more theological, and looks to Scripture.  Most likely, James did not have any visions himself.  We are not told whether Jesus appeared to him during the 40 days following the resurrection.  Regardless, James knows the Scriptures, and he sees a connection between Scripture and what Peter is saying.

First James points out that the words of the prophets (plural) agree with this idea of the Gentiles becoming a people belonging to God.  James is going to quote one of those prophets, but the verse he is going to quote is merely representative of a large number of other places he could have gone to and quoted.  He could have mentioned God’s promise to Abram that through him the nations would be blessed.  He could have quoted Moses telling Israel that God would make them jealous through a foolish nation.  He could have quoted Isaiah saying that the death of God’s servant would be to precious to only redeem Israel, but that he would also become a light to the Gentiles.

However, James thinks of Amos 9:11-12.  This passage clearly pictures the Gentiles being called by the name of the LORD.

By the way, in general, quotes of the Old Testament that are given in the New Testament are clearly from a Greek translation called the Septuagint that was made in the 200’s BC. (also designated as LXX for the 70 scholars who worked on the project),  Long story short, there are sometimes where the LXX differs from the Old Testament texts in Hebrew that the Pharisees maintained from the first century down to now.  The reality is that not everyone read and wrote in Hebrew.  The Bibles of the early Church were the LXX and Greek copies of the Gospels and Letters of the Apostles.  These were later translated into Syriac and Latin, among other languages.  Even though there may be some differences in word choice between the LXX and the oldest Hebrew manuscript that we have, those differences do not change anything that is essential.

I bring this up because Amos 9:11-12 has a few differences from the LXX.  We will deal with them as we come to them.

Amos first talks about the fallen tabernacle of David.  God will raise it back up and repair its damage.  What is this tabernacle of David?  Moses had built a tabernacle, a tent, to house the ark of the covenant.  This was used by Israel in the desert and brought into the promised land.  The tabernacle was set up in a few different places, but Shiloh becomes the main place from the time of Joshua to Samuel.  Eli’s sons try to use the ark of the covenant as a talisman against the Philistines, and it is captured in a defeat.  At the same time, Eli falls and dies.   This appears to taint the place of Shiloh, so the tabernacle is moved to Gibeon, but the ark never returns to it. 

David wanted to build a temple, but God would not let him.  His son would do it.  Thus, David put up a temporary tent in Jerusalem in order to house the ark until the temple was finished.  This would be the closest thing to a literal tabernacle of David.  However, the temple replaced this tent.  It is quite clear that this is not about raising up a literal tent that had belonged to David.

This is where we must recognize that God used a word play in 2 Samuel 7 when he told David that he could not build the temple.  Instead of David building a house (temple) for the Lord, God would build a house (dynasty) for David.  In fact, one of the offspring of David would be a son to God and God would be a father to him.  This son would inherit a forever kingdom and restore Israel.  The prophets all picked up on this theme of a Messianic Son of David who would raise up Israel and subdue the Gentiles.  However, God continued to add more to these prophecies.  The main point is that the “tabernacle of David” had fallen a long time ago.  The last Davidic king was taken out by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BC.  No Son of David sat on a throne over Israel for the last 600 years.  This is what is meant by a broken down and ruined tabernacle.  Who could raise up such a thing?  Only Messiah.

James clearly sees the raising up of Jesus as a fulfillment of this raising up of the tent of David.  Though Jesus was not ruling in Jerusalem, he is at the right hand of the Father awaiting the day in which it is time to make his enemies his footstool (Psalm 110).  The line of David had been restored, and the glorified Jesus can never die again.  He is both the restarting, and the true end of the Line of David.

This leads to the second part of the prophecy in Amos.  The broken tent is raised up in order to “possess the remnant…all the Gentiles who are called by My [the LORD’s] name.”  There is a question on whether it is the remnant of Edom or the remnant of Adam (i.e., humanity).  Hebrew originally had no vowels and they have the same consonants.  However, because there is a parallelism here, the next phrase that is not in question settles it, “the Gentiles” are intended.  Since we end up in the same place (the Gentiles), I am not too worried about whether Amos 9:12 should read “the remnant of Edom,” or “the remnant of mankind.”  Both ultimately say the same thing.

The next issue is to notice that in Amos the tabernacle of David is raised up to possess the remnant, and the quote from James says that the tabernacle is raised up “so that the rest of mankind may seek the LORD.”  This may seem to be contradictory at first, but give me a second and I will show you that they are two sides of the same coin.

Notice that the Messiah coming forth would both raise up the line of David, but also have an impact on the Gentiles.  Let’s start with the verb possess.  The Messiah would possess, or take possession of, the remnant of the Gentiles.  A remnant is always a small faithful group in the midst of a larger group that is not.  It can also mean a small group that survive a judgment of God, and thus are the blessed of the LORD.  We should also notice that the second part of Amos 9:12 is that the remnant are “called by My name.”  Who is the ruling Messiah of Israel?  It is Jesus who even now is possessing the remnant of the Gentiles and will possess the remnant of those who miraculously survive the Great Tribulation.

The point is that “possess” does not essentially mean to stomp on, destroy, dominate, or tyrannize.    It essentially means to inherit.  It is not a negative thing for the Gentiles here, it is a positive thing.  How does the Bible describe Gentiles (and Jews) as a possession of God?  We are called a “Treasured Possession,” also “Jewels.”  The flip side to Jesus inheriting the remnant of the Gentiles concerns what it takes to be part of the remnant.  Those who are seeking salvation and believe on Jesus become his possession.  Thus, to possess and to seek are merely two sides of the same revelation.  There is both seeking and possessing going on. 

Basically James is saying that the Bible prophesies what Peter is describing.

Then, James says, “Known to God from eternity are all His works.”  In a sense, this is not a new thing to God.  It may seem shocking and surprising to them, but God had been planning and leading up to this moment long before He even laid the foundations of the earth.

Again, James cannot be clearer that he agrees with Peter that they are seeing the prophesied move of God to take a people for Himself from among the Gentiles.  It is also good to see the Church working together paying attention to what the Spirit of God is doing now, and also what the Scriptures say, i.e., the sure and proven work of the Holy Spirit in the past.  We can become off-base when we emphasize one over the other.  We need both working together because the same Holy Spirit is behind both.

At this point, James puts forward a solution, or resolution in verse 19.  He says, “I judge…”  Some people read far more than they should into this.  James is not giving a decision for the whole group.  This could just as easily be interpreted as “I opine (it is my opinion)…”  James has made up his mind and is completely convinced by the evidence.  There are two main aspects to the resolution that James puts forth.

He determines that Jewish believers should not trouble the Gentile believers who are turning to God.  Essentially, he is referring to requiring them to obey the Law of Moses.  Troubling those who are turning to God, or have already turned to God, is something that we would associate with the wicked, and not God’s righteous people.  Though the terminology of James is not as dire as Peter’s (“why do you test God putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples…”), he still uses a disparaging term, “trouble.”

Troubling people who are coming to faith in Jesus can be a problem for the Church today.  We can try to stipulate things that God never commanded.  However, some groups seem to believe it is troubling people to put the commands of the Lord Jesus Christ and His apostles before them.  We should say no more and no less than what the New Testament puts before us.

The wicked do not realize the danger they are in when they trouble God’s people.  In truth, they bring trouble upon themselves and will perish in the way if they do not repent.

The second part of James’ resolution is to write to the Gentiles that they abstain from three things.  It lists four, but two of them are two aspects of the same issue.  He believes that Gentiles should only be told to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from eating things strangled, and from ingesting blood.

Why these three things and where is James getting this?  Some see a connection to Leviticus 17 and 18.  In this section, God recognizes that there will be people who are not Israelites living among them.  He does not require them to follow all the Law of Moses if they are going to live among His people, but He does place some prohibitions upon them.  Leviticus 17 brings up the issue of idolatry.  If they want to do a sacrifice, it can only be at the tabernacle, and it can only be a sacrifice to Yahweh.    All of Leviticus 18 deals with the sexual immorality that was rampant among the Canaanites.  No foreigner who lived in Israel was to be involved in any sexual immorality.  Lastly, Leviticus 17 talks about blood issues.  The pagans often drank blood and used blood in their rituals as a way of gaining power and life.  For Israel, the blood of the animals was closely associated to the offerings before Yahweh.  He commanded them not to eat meat with the blood still in it, which would also prohibit straight out drinking blood.  Strangulation does not allow an animal to bleed out, which causes the blood to coagulate in the vessels and tissue of the animal.  No foreigner was to eat meat that had not been properly drained of its blood.

Coming back to James, he ties these prohibitions in verse 21 to the fact that Moses has been preached in many cities throughout many generations.  Though some differ as to how this is a “because” to the prohibitions, I believe that it has to do with Gentiles coming to the Lord being around Jewish people.  The Church is going to grow and expand into cities where there are Jews who need Jesus too.  Perhaps, James sees this as wisely removing some barriers to Jews and Gentiles coming into the Church together.  The Gentiles would not be trying to keep the Law, and the Jews could see God’s word instructing the minimum that they need to do.

Regardless of whether this is all how James thought about it, there is more than one way to support abstaining from anything associated with idols, sexual immorality and eating/drinking blood.  Simply following the “Law of Love” will teach you that sexual immorality is a selfish way of life that brings great sorrow into relationships, families, and societies.  The moral issues of the Old Testament were all reiterated by God’s apostles in the New Testament and are binding upon the believer today.  I don’t have to go to the Law of Moses to know and believe that God does not want me to murder, and if I do, I will not be right before Him.

We will finish this next week, but let me end with this.  We have the same Word of God, and the same Holy  Spirit today.  Yes, many denominations and leaders in the Church have made ungodly decisions throughout history.  However, we must not let that sidetrack us from looking to God and seeking His leading.  We can throw up our hands saying that “it doesn’t work anymore!”  Or, “God doesn’t care.”  Yet, we would be wrong.  God cares deeply and is always ready at every moment to lead us by His Spirit.  It is we who become hurt, apathetic, and uncaring about seeking Him.  May God help us to be a people of the Word who are also seeking the leading of the Holy Spirit.  If we will do this, then He will lead us forward and help us to reach others.

Council II audio

Pursue What Is Good

1 Thessalonians 5:12-15.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Mother's Day Sunday, May 7, 2023.

Believers are instructed in a multitude of ways to do what is right and good, but as the Lord defines, not as we define it.  Therein is the rub.  Many people think that they are doing what is right, but they are not using the mind of Christ.  Instead, they have a different way of thinking, a different "wisdom."

Today, we have become so messed up on what is good that some in our government think that it is good to subvert the duty of parents to raise their kids, and seek to scam them into things like transgender surgeries.

It has never been easy to be a girl who is facing the reality of becoming a woman, or a boy who is facing the reality of becoming a man.  However, this is far more perilous in a society that is losing its moorings on the shores of truth.  Such young people need to be encouraged to have faith and trust God in this transition because God has good things for them that happen precisely because it is tough.  In fact, we should recognize that it is a kind of signature of God to create things in such a way that we will need to give ourselves to a it with a faith in Him.  It is not a blind leap of faith, but it is faith nonetheless.  I walk forward bravely trusting that God will use the hard situations in order to lead me to good things.

We can be frozen by fear.  Of course, no one stands still in life physically.  You will become a woman, but you can be stuck at the emotional level of a child in an adult body.  This tragedy is all too common, but it is not what God has planned for us.

Let's look at our passage.

Honor Mothers (v. 12-13)

Paul is writing to the Thessalonians, and he is not so much writing about mothers as he is writing about those who perform functions within the greater body of the Church of Jesus.

I want to remind us of the 5th Commandment in Exodus 20.  "Honor your father and your mother that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you."

I will note two things about this command.  First, the command is addressed to the individual "you."  God is speaking directly to us as individuals and not just to society.  It is not "society's job" to honor mothers.  It is mine.  Yes, if we have a whole society of individuals who are honoring mothers, then we will see that society reflecting that honor.  This doesn't change my primary point.

The second thing is that the Hebrew word for "honor" has the sense of weight and even value. Now, value for things in this life is transitory.  However, it is often the blurred lines between price and value that cause the trouble.  Price is what I am willing to pay for something.  Value is the thing that is obtained.  No price is too high to pay for something that has great value (proverbs 31).  Thus, we need to recognize that moms (parents) have a heavy, valuable, place in our life.  Being a mom, and doing the things that moms do, is an important, heavy thing in our society, more important that any job you can do for our corporations today. 

Our society has done a great disservice to this Republic by treating moms as if they are nothing.  If we really understood just how incredibly heavy, important, and valuable being a mom was no one would want to do it.  This is similar to the way Jesus talks about how important fidelity in marriage is in Matthew 19:8-10.  The disciples respond that “If such is the case of the man with his wife, it is better not to marry.”  We tend to treat the heavy things of God lightly.  We do so at our own harm, and to the detriment of others.

There is so much dysfunction in our homes these days that it requires us to deal with the question.  What does it mean to honor a mom who doesn't deserve it?  Many have been hurt by parents, and only respond to God's call to honor parents with more hurt.  I do believe that we are meant to wrestle with this.  Just as a parent of an undisciplined adult-child wrestles with what it means to love in the current situation, so too an adult child has to wrestle with what it means to honor in the case of a parent who has been absent, or hurtful.  The honest wrestling before God helps us to become something better than we would have.  In fact, it helps us to become more like God.  The key is not to cast off the value or importance of what they were and are in your life.  You can't pretend they don't exist (i.e., act as if they are nothing) because they do exist.  Your heart and mind know that God wanted something better from them in their dealings with you.  Instead of walling them off with pretense, wrestle with doing what is right as God defines it.  Care for them in their declining years even if they failed to care for you in even minimal ways during your childhood.  By doing so, you witness to them of God's righteousness, and His offer of forgiveness and salvation for those who repent.  Ask God to help you to love them even though they are not lovely.  Ask God to help you to care for them even when they do not care.

In Thessalonians 5, Paul most likely is thinking of Church leaders, but he keeps the wording purposefully general.  Moms fit this category of "those who labor" among us.  The labor of being a mom is particularly close to the heart of God.  Mom's represent that one who labors through sorrow to bring a child into the world and then nurtures their life physically, emotionally, and mentally.  She represents a part of God's heart towards us.  God always intends the labor of our life to be a labor of love.  Yet, love is a very trying virtue, just as labor is a trying virtue.  Labor tries and tests us; it refines us, if we will lean into the purpose that God intends in it.

Think about all of the hard work that goes into being a mom.  It is no wonder that countless young women are fearful and intimidated at becoming a mom.  However, all labor has a way of bringing more out of us than we believed possible because we are capable not only doing more than we think, but also of becoming more than we are.  You can grow in ways that your flesh doesn't want to grow, but God designed for you to do, if you trust Him.

I am connecting the word honor with the word "recognize" in verse 12.  It involves not only seeing the labor that moms do, but also perceiving the value and heavy importance they have in our lives.  We need to see moms as God sees them.  None of them are perfect, but they are all incredibly important!  We only harm ourselves when we act as if it is something light and meaningless.

Moms not only have labor to do, but they also have authority from the Lord.  They are "over" their children "in the Lord" in order to "admonish" them.  Parents are directly authorized by God Himself.  He is the source of all proper authority.  This begins in the inherent ability of a man and a woman to conceive and to birth a child.  This natural ability demonstrates a God-given right that women have to birth a child.  When we act upon our right to have a child, it then activates a duty that we have to that child.  All rights have corresponding duties that go along with them.  If we exercise rights without doing the duties, then we create a mess.  The same God who gives us rights will also hold us accountable to the duties that we have in them.

It is tragic to see the many ways that the State is elevating itself and transgressing this primary authority of parents.  However, we cannot place all of the blame upon the State.  There is a reasons that we are here.  The rise of dysfunction within society overflows the home and comes out into our schools, our streets, and public in general.  If a child is being abused by a parent or parents, then the people in that community should step in to help the child.

However, here is the problem.  What is your definition of abuse?  In short, if you insert yourself in a situation in which another person has authority from God, then you had better be correct, i.e., using God's definition of abuse.  It is a holy ground between that parent and God, and God will hold them accountable.  If you step in, you had better take your shoes off (holy ground), be prayed up, and actually be led by God to intervene. 

When the State intervenes, its definition is not the same as God's.  Yes, there are some situations in which we can say that the State really did stop a horrible situation (their definition somewhat coincided with God's).  Yet, in other ways, the State is only creating another abusive environment in which parents are increasingly unable to protect their children.

It does not good to complain.  Instead, we must focus on doing our duty to the children in our lives, and helping moms to rise up to their labor in the Lord.

Paul then says in verse 13 to "esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake."  Esteem deals with how we think about people.  We are to think highly of them, and to do so "in love."  Love tests us all, as I wrote earlier.  Parents are to lead their kids in what it means to love.

Circling back to the parent who has done hurtful things, we should note that we are more likely to label something as hurtful when we are younger.  We can get angry that our parents ground us, or discipline us in any form.  Generally, people grow up and look back to recognize that their parents were simply trying to love them by teaching them something more important than immediate gratification.  Of course, they are not perfect in their attempts to do what is best for us, but neither are we perfect.

This understanding that we should esteem and honor people for the sake of the work that they do is important.  Like an arm-chair quarterback, we can look back and still be too harsh in our judgment.  In this sense, most people just need to have kids for themselves so that they will understand that it is a tough job helping a young person transition into adulthood.  We should respect and esteem that they had a difficult job, and that we ourselves had an impact on how difficult it was.  This should never excuse abuse, but it puts the labor of parenting in perspective.

The last phrase of verse 13 says, "be at peace among yourselves," in the NKJV.  That first part is actually a verb that is active.  It is not focused on merely resisting the urge to make waves, or be frantic.  Rather, it is calling us to actively be working for peace, a peacemaker, with others.  This is a big part of a mom's job, especially if there are multiple kids in the home.

Some people are not interested in peace, or they just don't know how to come to terms with peace.  In such cases, the best that a person can do is to put the offer on the table, and then to be open for change down the road.  You may have to give them some space.  However, always be praying for change, and ready to forgive when true repentance comes around.

I think peace is a minimum that God desires between us.  Even more, we should walk in love with one another.  Yet, we could say that peace is simply one facet of the virtue of love.  It is the best basis for peace with someone.  Absence of turbulence is nice, but we are called to active peacemaking.

Pursue what is good (v. 14-15)

Families really do need to hold on to what Paul says in verse 14.  Pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all.  Our flesh will always bend things towards ourselves, even if just a little bit.  As I said earlier, we can also bend the definition of what is "good" too much towards ourselves.  We really need a relationship with Jesus through the Holy Spirit in order to hear the Word of God, and sense the conviction of the Holy Spirit in regards to what the "good" is that needs to happen in each situation.   This should be our prayer.  "Lord, please show me what will make for the good both for myself and for everyone involved."

Part of pursuing what God says is good will involve warning the "unruly."  This word pictures a soldier who is out of ranks and may even be AWOL.  This is similar to the biblical concept of submission.  It has the idea of taking your proper place within the ranks and performing the proper duty.  Thus, the unruly person  is refusing to embrace their proper place and duty.    This can be a child who refuses to listen to their parents, or a government who oversteps its bounds of authority. 

Those who castigate the whole biblical idea that God created young girls to grow up and become adult human females who are able to conceive, give birth, and raise a next generation to worship God and bless others, should slow down and think through what they are doing.  They are destroying the very foundation and fabric of what it means to be a woman- and a man for that matter.  They may rejoice in that because they want to replace it.  However, when you fight against the nature that God hard-wired into humans, you never come out on top.  Any society we try to create to replace one built upon a biblical world-view will end up being sub-par.  They will find themselves working directly against God, and they will have to give answer for that to Him.

Thus, a warning from a parent to a child involves cautioning against certain behaviors.  We do this socially when we warn people at a wedding that what God is putting together no one should take apart, those in the marriage included.  God will hold you accountable for working at odds to His purpose.

Yet, admonition, or warning, also involves teaching the good that a person should embrace.  We need to understand and promote God's good purpose in becoming a mom, for her, for the children, for the husband, and for society.  

All of us come into the world in a weak position.  If someone doesn't help us, we will die.  God's design makes it clear that the most likely people to take care of that child are the people who came together in love and produced that child.  Yes, the child will affect society and can be an asset or liability to it.  However, that does not put society in the best position to control the raising of that child.  The best scenario for any child is a male and female committed to a life-time, loving relationship, preparing them for life.

Next, Paul tells us to comfort the faint-hearted.  It pictures those who have lost heart and are discouraged.  The word "comfort" here is often used in the context of someone who has had a loved one die.  Mary and Martha were comforted by their neighbors when their brother Lazarus died.  The most common way that we comfort the bereaved is through stories about the deceased.  A young mother metaphorically is wrestling with the "death" of a past youthful life with little responsibility.  She needs us to comfort her, rather than to berate her.  Young moms need to hear the stories of older moms' and their own transitions.  It isn't easy, but it isn't as impossible as your heart and mind are telling you at the moment.  There is joy on the other side of the hard work of today, all along the way.

Paul then tells us to support the weak.  This deals with people who are in a weak position, whether through broken relationships, financial troubles, past trauma, etc.  This is similar to the faint-hearted.  We are told to support them.  Instead of looking down on young mothers, we should come along side of them and help, be a support.  What is it they need?  Experienced moms are in the best position to know how to come alongside of a young mom and support her.  In fact, mothering itself could be defined by helping the weak out of compassion and love.

We are also to be patient with all.  Patience here is the long-fuse term.  Yes, we need to hang in there and not quit easily, but we also need to restrain ourselves from "blowing up" to easily.  All relationships are made worse when we have a short fuse with one another.

Patience does not mean being silent and never dealing with issues.  Often, when a person blows up, it is because they have not talked about things that they should have.  Thus, patience ties in with peacemaking.  Whether communication isn't happening, or a person just doesn't change, we easily become weary with other people.  Understanding that moms who are actively raising kids are under a lot of stress all of the time should be in the back of our minds at all times.  No, they are not the only ones who deal with stress, but that does not undercut the point.  It only makes it more important for us all to work for peace and be patient with one another.

Of course, trauma and past hurts can make any relationship difficult and requires great patience on the part of the other party.  Sometimes both people have past hurts and difficulties.  Let us love one another through patience.

Lastly, Paul calls for pursuing what is good for yourselves and for all.  Another way to say this is to reject a "pay back wrong for wrong" attitude.  It is almost a knee-jerk response for us to give back to others what they are dishing out.  However, this never brings about lasting and good change.

As the culture wars heat up, it is easy to see people as the enemy, and to justify all manner of actions against others.  There are definitely some who have given themselves over to doing evil to others, but Christians are not to respond in kind.

There is a difficult and heavy thing here that we need to carry.  We don't want to do so, but the Lord calls us to it.  It is called a burden.  We need relationship with God as the foundation to a relationship with others, especially when they are being an enemy to us.

When we resist people who are doing unrighteous things, we must do so with an eye to helping them to see the truth.  We don't do them any favors by hiding in our closets or retreating from the public debate.  However, we need the wisdom of God as to how and when to interject the truth.

Our attitude can sour with a sense of hopelessness.  "It doesn't work...It won't do any good!"  Listen, you cannot change society, but you can make a difference in the experience of people in your sphere of influence.  Take time to support the moms in your life regardless of how well they have done in the past because their labor is incredibly important to our families and to our Republic.  If enough moms are encouraged to do a godly job in raising the next generation who knows what is possible in this land.

Pursue Good audio

Such Love IV

Subtitle: Let's Be A People of the Word

2 Peter 1:12-21.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, April 23, 2023.

We continue looking at the love of God, particularly as it pertains to salvation.  We have talked about the Incarnation, that God loved us enough to take on the nature of a human.  We then talked about Redemption and the fact that Jesus died on the cross to pay the price of redemption for humanity.  Last week, we looked at God's love in pouring out His Holy Spirit and dwelling within believers.

This leads us to our subject today, God's love displayed in creating the Bible, or the Scriptures.  This is not a gift that is intended to be received and then put on a shelf in order to gather dust.  We are intended to become a people of the Word.  That is, just like we should want to be a people of the Spirit of God, so too, we should want to be a people of the Word of God.

In fact, I would say that it is impossible to be a person of the Spirit, and at the same time, not be a person of the Word. I say this because a growing number of people emphasize that they are spiritual, but not religious.  I would suspect that the Bible is tossed into the "religious" side of their equation. However, the Spirit will point us to the Word, and the Word will point us to Jesus and the Spirit that he has made available to us.

Let's look at our passage.

The experience of the disciples

At the beginning of this section, the Apostle Peter recognizes that his decease, or departure, is nearing (v. 14-15).  It is clear that he is speaking of death from the added language of "putting of [his] tent."  These were clear metaphors that no one seriously rejects.  This has put in his heart a determination to make sure that they will "always have a reminder of these things" (v. 15) after he is gone.  Yes, he is alive now reminding them of what he had taught them, but he will not be alive in the future.

Interestingly enough, Peter uses a word for his upcoming departure that we know as the word exodus.  It is most known because of the second book of the Law of Moses, Exodus.  The word has the idea of a way or road out, and is often translated as departure.  The book of Exodus is about Israel's departure from Egypt, and here Peter sees his coming departure from Earth.  This word is used only three times in the New Testament.  It is used here and in Luke 9:31 where Elijah and Moses appear in glory and speak to Jesus about his "decease which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem."  The word for decease there is "exodus" in Greek.  The third place is in Hebrews chapter eleven where Joseph on his death bed reminds the families of Jacob that God has promised them an upcoming exodus from Egypt.

This is important because Peter uses several words that clearly connect to the Transfiguration in Luke 9, which he clearly speaks about in verses 16-18.  We will look at this in more depth in a moment.

So, how did Peter ensure that they would always have a reminder after his personal exodus?  First, he taught and preached the Gospel to churches, pastors, and bishops.  Though he would depart, other faithful people would be left behind to continue the work.  They do not so much take his place as carry the work forward.

Second, Peter is making sure a written record of his teaching is left behind.  Thus, we have the two letters of Peter.  His first letter is addressed to Christians who have been dispersed into the area of Asia Minor (Modern Turkey) due to persecution.  This second letter is basically written to anyone who is a Christian.  These are not just highly personalized letters from one individual to another.  They represent the basic teaching of the Apostle Peter, along with his sermons recorded by Luke in the book of The Acts of the Apostles.  On top of this, tradition teaches that Mark's Gospel has the Apostle Peter as its main source.  In 1 Peter 5:13, Mark spent enough time with Peter to be referred to as "my son," by him.

I believe that this is why Peter brings up the next section.  In a sense, you could ask this question.  Who wants to read a book from a first-century Israelite fisherman?  In verses 16-18, Peter establishes his credentials for caring about his teaching making it to the next generation and beyond.  An amazing outflow of God's grace has been given to him, and he feels the duty to ensure that it continues after his death.

Peter could have made a long list, but he focuses on one event, what is called the Transfiguration.  This is the word that Luke uses to describe this event.  Mark uses different words, but it is clear that they are describing the same event.  Peter, James and John see the face of Jesus transfigure, or rather transform, into a glowing, shining face of heavenly glory.  Even his clothing is described as becoming white as snow and glowing.  I always picture a mantle on a gas lantern when it is lit.

Now, there is a powerful parallel between the Transfiguration/Transformation event and what happened at Mt. Sinai in the book of Exodus.  The literary ties are too many to overlook.  There is a cloud of God that comes down on the mountain, God's voice is heard audibly from heaven, it is in the context of a new covenant being made between God and His people on earth, there is a mediator of that covenant, and witnesses to the powerful glory of God present, there is a mention of a tabernacle, and we could list more.

When Peter tells people about the power and future coming of Jesus in glory, he is not just following a cunningly designed story that he heard or made up.  He is an eyewitness, along with James and John, of a singularly amazing event.  Hebrews tells us that Moses was faithful as a servant of God to build the House of Israel for God.  Yet, Jesus is faithful as a son building his own house (the Church).  Jesus is not just another Moses.  He is the Greater Moses, just as he told the people "a greater [one] than Solomon is here."  Just as Moses took Joshua partway up on the mountain with him, so the Three disciples become witnesses to a greater glory of God.  Moses is enabled to see the back of God's glory, but the Three are enabled to see God's glory in the face of Jesus.  Of course, Jesus in human form is a mitigated form of the absolute glory of God.  Yet, the event signals that in some way we have been enabled to see the face of God, when mortals really cannot do so and live.  I could go on, but you get the drift.  Moses saw God's glory, but Jesus is the glory of God, the exact image of His person.  In Jesus, we have been given a glimpse of the glory of God.

The Three would go back and tell the other nine disciples what they saw.  Of course, the nine had seen some amazing things as well.  They saw Jesus walking on the water.  They also saw Jesus stand up in a boat and say, "Peace, be still!"  When the wind and waves immediately stopped, they were shocked.  "Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”  They didn't see the Transfiguration, but it was in keeping with what they had seen.  They would have quickly believed.

The Twelve would go forth and speak these things to the people of Israel.  Yes, there were some that wouldn't admit any miracles of Jesus, but many knew there was something different about Jesus.  They had watched him heal people blind from birth, lame from birth, lepers, demon-possessed people set free, thousands fed with just a little food in the wilderness.  They may not have seen Jesus do all the things that the apostles did, but it would fit with what they knew about Jesus.  This is why the resurrection of Jesus was eventually believed by thousands of early Judeans.  Over 500 people had seen Jesus after the Resurrection.  With such evidence stacking up, it is hard to really claim conspiracy, lying, and trickery.  Just as something amazing happened to Israel in the desert and they came out a nation with laws and religious service to which they all agreed, so the early Christianity cannot be explained by natural means.  Something amazing happened in first century Jerusalem, and it has changed the destiny of humanity!

The Transfiguration to the Crucifixion to the Ascension is a Mt. Sinai moment in which the glory of heaven comes down, meeting with His people, and makes a new covenant with them, really with whosoever will believe upon Jesus as the Christ.  Jesus doesn't just talk with God; he is revealed as the very glory of God itself.  Peter thus speaks of him receiving honor and glory from the Father when He spoke at the Transfiguration.

There are few times that it is clear in the text that God audibly speaks.  Typically it is in a dream, a vision, or through an angel.  Peter hears the voice of God say, "This is My Beloved Son.  Hear him!"  This is essentially the same message as at the water baptism of Jesus, except it adds that last part.  Any Judean of the day would have recognized the term My Son.  They would not have connected it necessarily to being divine, but as being the Messianic offspring of David promised by God in 2 Samuel 7:14.  God promises David that One from his line would be a son to God and God would give him a forever kingdom.  This is also seen in Psalm 2 where the nations of the earth are chafing under God and His King Messiah.  They are warned to kiss the Son before his wrath rises just a little. 

The imperative to listen to Jesus may not have been as quickly recognized, but it is clearly tying back to Deuteronomy 18, where Moses tells Israel that a prophet like him will come later.  He tells them that God will require it of anyone who doesn't listen to this prophet.  Thus, God the Father goes on record before three mortal humans that Jesus is the Messiah and the awaited Prophet who would set up the New Covenant, like Moses had done before.

This is a kind of layered witness.  The whole nation saw amazing things from Jesus, Caiaphas included. A smaller group (the 500) saw even more amazing things than they.  The Twelve saw even more amazing things than the 500, and the Three saw the most amazing things of all.

The prophetic Word of God 

This powerful first-century witness of God's work in Israel leads Peter to then speak of the prophetic Word of God.   Such experiences as Israel had in the first century were the foundation to the Scriptures that Israel received from Moses. This was not a bunch of guys sitting around unable to explain the weird world around them, and coming up with a story to keep the masses under control.  This is modern man's explanation of religion, but it is not God's explanation of where religion comes from.  The Old Testament and the New Testament were proven to be the very Words of God by the spectacular, more spectacular, and most spectacular events that happened with Israel and an amazing mediator at the time.  This is then further added to by prophecy that points forward to things that couldn't be known in advance, and yet come to pass.

In verse 19, there is a question about what exactly Peter is saying.  He is either saying that the events of Jesus, especially the Transfiguration, have made the Scriptures even more sure, or, he is saying that the Scriptures are even more sure than his experience on the mountain.  I don't buy the argument that Peter sees the Old Testament as greater than his experience.  Like I said before, Moses wrote the Torah, The Law, in response to a great, spectacular event with God at Sinai.  It was revelation from God in the same vein as Peter, James and John experienced.  It wasn't a science of man that discovered either the Law or the Gospel.  It was a revelation of God.

This brings up the issue of science.  True science can powerfully discover how things work, and how to build technology to do things.  However, science can never tell you if you should do something.  What do you put in a petri dish to determine right and wrong, yes and no?  You are left with men making their best guess, which is a recipe for disaster.  When it comes to the heart of man and his spiritual condition, we need more than science to help us.  We need the revelation of God, which is exactly what Peter received.

Peter was an eyewitness, even an earwitness, of God's revelation.  The Old Testament was completely reliable before, but with the revelation of Jesus it is even more proven than it was before.  This would apply to the writings of the Apostles as well.  What they would write would be the blazing light of truth, powerfully confirmed in the first century as being from God.

If you don't think Peter thought of the writings of the apostles as Scripture, then note chapter 3:5 in this same letter.  There he points out that scoffers are twisting Paul's words in his letters just as they did the "rest of the Scriptures."  They knew that they were righting down the Words of God, just as Moses knew that he was doing so.

In verse 19, Peter tells believers that they would do well to pay close attention to the Scriptures.  The verb here is an intensive looking into something that is important to you.  It is important for believers to spend time in the Word of God.  If you want to know God, then you will want to read His Word because it was written for our benefit.

Peter says that they should do this "until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts."  The "until" is a terminus to what he has talked about before.  Revelation 22:16 tells us that Jesus is the morning star.  So, does Peter mean that we should pay close attention to the Bible until we come to faith in Jesus, and then we won't need it any more?  I don't believe so.  The key is in noting the need for a light in a dark place.  It is true that we need the light of Jesus internally, and the believer receives such at salvation.  However, there is always a sense of "now, but not yet" with things pertaining to believers and the Church.  We are transported into the Kingdom of the Son of God's love, yet that kingdom is not fully realized on the earth.  We become the children of God, but our sonship will not be fully realized until the Resurrection. 

On top of this, we are still surrounded by a dark world in which we are shining the light.  Thus, the rising of Christ in our hearts and the Day dawning finds its complete fulfillment in the Second Coming of Jesus.

Lastly, I would say that darkness is not always associated with moral wickedness.  It is also associated with the lack of understanding in regards to the things prophesied in Scripture.  As long as believers do not have the full light of fulfilled Scripture, i.e., there are still prophecies to be fulfilled, then we need to pay close attention to God's Word, Old Testament and New Testament. 

Some people do  not buy this argument.  They have developed a sense that we have the Spirit of God, so we can just dispense with the Bible.  They see it as passé.  Does Peter make it more clear t hat we should not toss our Bibles and simply follow the Holy Spirit?

I believe this passage and others nip this idea in the bud.  In verse 20, Peter states that no prophecy came about from a person's own interpretation.  This is speaking of an idea that originates from within themselves.  Instead, the Scriptures (Old and New) came from the will of God, the Holy Spirit moving holy men to write.  Do you want to know what did come from the will of men?  False teaching and false prophecy came from the will of men.  Ultimately, even the false prophet is being led and played by the teachings of demons. 

On top of this, Paul in 2 Timothy 3:16 refers to the Scriptures as being inspired.  The word is literally "God-breathed."  Of course, the breath of God is a metaphor for the Holy Spirit.  This is exactly what Peter is saying.  The written Word of God, i.e., the Scriptures, are a product of the Holy Spirit's work over 1500 years.  Why would the Holy Spirit not want to use the holy and spiritual book that was purposefully made for the faith of believers?  Will the Holy Spirit simply start over from scratch with each new believer and try to compress all of that work into your life span?

The Apostles who were filled with the Holy Spirit focused themselves on the ministry of the Word.  They encouraged believers to pay close attention to the Word, and commended those who made sure that preaching lined up with the Word.

It has been said that the Old Testament is the New Testament concealed and that the New Testament is the Old Testament Revealed.  This is true, but we can miss the understanding that the New Testament is shining light precisely upon the Old Testament.  Without spending the time to know what the Old Testament, you will miss much of what the New Testament says.  In truth, God's Word will put in your heart and mind the concepts and ideas that will give the Holy Spirit leverage within your soul.  Through it, we work with Him in taking possession of our soul, and obtaining the wisdom of God in salvation for us and our community.

It is the Holy Spirit that illuminates our understanding in regards to Scripture.  This work will never end while we are in these mortal bodies.  Thus, let us be a people of the Word of God and a people of the Spirit of God.  Some have acted as if these are in contention, but I believe that I have shown that they cannot be so.

Some have put down being led by the Spirit and emphasize the Word of God only.  Yet, on the other extreme, there are those who over-emphasize being led by the Spirit, even referring to the Bible as being an old, stale word from the Lord.  Yes, we want to hear from the Lord in our hearts and minds, but this process will be fraught with pitfalls and errors if we are not a people steeped in God's Word.  Thus, this is a false dichotomy.

Without the Holy Spirit, the Scriptures will fall on deaf ears when it is spoken and preached.  This is where we should remind ourselves that Jesus is the Word of God long before there was anything to write on.  The Scriptures are a mediated picture of the Lord Jesus himself.  They point to him and help us to keep from getting off track as we are led by the Holy Spirit.  This is God's love, plan, and purpose for us.

The Pharisees are forever proof that quoting a whole book of the Bible and having a graduate degree in theology cannot save you.  Paul stated that the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life (2 Corinthians 3:6).  If you focus on the words without the Spirit of God, then you will end up being a Scripture twister like all of the other false teachers.  Humble yourself by the Spirit, and ask the Lord to help you hunger for His Word, and gain understanding by it.  Let's be a people of the Word!

People of the Word audio