The First Letter of Peter- 2

Subtitle: The Joy of Our Salvation- part 1

1 Peter 1:5-7.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, November 23, 2025.

Last week, we walked through Peter’s introduction of the letter and, beginning in verse three, several verses that began to praise God for the salvation that He has made available to us.

Today, we will continue looking at this praising of God.

Let’s look at our passage.

Praise to God for His salvation

Verse four celebrated the inheritance “reserved in heaven for you.”  It is this “you” that verse five describes further.  You are those who are being protected by the power of God.

The preposition “by” can also be translated as “in.”  In this case, I think both are instructive.  We are not only protected by the power of God, but we are also protected in the power of God.  It is connected to Paul’s penchant to describe believers as being “in Christ.”  In Christ, we are surrounded by the power of God protecting us, like strong walls that none can break.

This is an important point because we can be discouraged by an inheritance reserved in the heavens, but no help to get there on earth. In our flesh, we can come to feel that way.  Peter is not pointing to “pie in the sky when you die.”  The same power of God that reserves it for us is also working in and around us to bring us to the day of inheriting.  God is always working in the heavens and on the earth.

This power is both external and internal because our threats are internal and external.  Thus, we can think about the way that the Holy Spirit takes up residence within us.  We can think about how the Holy Spirit fills us and empowers us to stand against the thoughts and desires of our flesh that are contrary to God’s will for us.  He protects us from those things that seek to invade our lives and separate us from Christ.  He protects us from those things that seek to disqualify us from our inheritance.

Yet, this protection is not in such a way where nothing touches us and tests us.  It is not a protection where we are unable to fall back into unbelief.  It is a protection guaranteeing that we will not be tested beyond our ability to belief God and persevere.  Our flesh may not like this kind of protection, but it is the problem not the solution.  The power of God is more than able to bring us through this world and all the tests and trials that we will face.  If we trust Him, we can know that no power on earth or in the heavens can keep us from this inheritance that He has for us and the completion of our salvation!

Peter then emphasizes that all of this is “through faith.”  We must persevere by trusting His good intentions for us.  We must also persevere by staying true to His commands and instructions to us, the Word.  Our enemy’s only successful line of attack is to weaken our faith in Christ and the Word of God.

Our flesh is quick to complain.  “God, you can’t expect me to go through this and trust You!”  However, one of the signatures of God is that He puts things in front of us that seem to be too big for us.  Yet, if we trust Him, He brings us through and makes us stronger.  A young man starting a family or a job may feel that it is too hard for him, but this is generally immaturity.  If he hangs in there and learns, he will find that he expands in ways that he didn’t know possible to do it.  The same is true of a young woman facing childbirth for the first time.  It is intimidating and fearful.  Yet, God made you for this.  Trust Him.

We often go through things that don’t feel like God is protecting us.  However, He is there working to protect your mind and heart.  He does this through the Word and by giving us insight when we pray.  He does this through the help of mature believers around us.  God is faithful even to ensure that the external attacks are not more than we can handle with Him.

He then speaks of a “salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”  The word for “time” here is not a word that focuses on chronology, numbers of days.  It is a word that can be translated as “seasons.”  Though there is chronology to seasons, the emphasis is on what happens in that time period, rather than on the time itself.  Of course, we are talking about spiritual seasons in this case.  What spiritual season are we in right now?  We are in a season of grace.  God is sending out emissaries to all the world, inviting them to join the Messiah and participate in His great salvation.

It is true that a person can speak of being saved in the present, and this is rightly done.  Our salvation can be contemplated in several ways.  First, we can speak of a person who has become a citizen of the Kingdom of God’s Son.  They are part of those who are saved in the sense that they are on the side of Messiah.  They have salvation and nothing or no one can take it away from them, as long as they continue with faith in Jesus.  Sometimes this is called legal salvation, or positional salvation.  You are in a saved state though you haven’t received it all.

Yet, we can also talk about salvation in a second sense.  Throughout this life, the Holy Spirit works within us in order to practically save us from the inroads of sin in our life.  By faith, we fight with the Holy Spirit against those things in our life that are contrary to Christ.  We also battle to replace those things with the character and righteousness of Christ.  Over time, we become more and more like Him.  This does not mean we become any more saved in a legal or positional sense.  No, we are always just as much today His child as we were when we first believed.  Yet, our life is more like Jesus.

At the Second Coming of Jesus, we will step into the fullness of this salvation as we receive our resurrected body, a heavenly, imperishable body.  All that went wrong with humanity in Genesis three will be overturned completely in the lives of those who are resurrected in Christ.  This past, present, and future sense of salvation is always true whether it is being referenced in the moment.

Peter is clearly looking ahead to that aspect of our salvation that is going to be revealed at the end of this season of grace.  He is looking ahead to the completion of our salvation of which we only have a foretaste now.  This fullness of salvation awaits us, is even now ready to be revealed.  The readiness is referring to the fact that nothing more in relation to salvation needs to happen.  It is ready for the moment that the Father sends the Son to take up the kingdoms of this world, which will occur at the closing of the Age of Grace.

Though Peter doesn’t specifically mention the Second Coming of Jesus in this verse, he foreshadows it with the mention of this salvation being revealed.  Verse seven, however, makes it explicit that this is what he is pointing us to look at.

This salvation from God should cause us to rejoice greatly as Peter mentions in verse six.  Of course, most people rejoice in their salvation on day one, but what about day 1,000? If we are not still rejoicing, then it is because we have our eyes on something other than Jesus and the salvation that he is giving to us and shall finish in us.

When a person realizes that their true inheritance is kept by God for them, it brings great joy even in the midst of hardship.  Our inheritance is not at the mercy of the things that we experience on this earth, at least not if we keep our trust in Jesus.  Peter knows that they were experiencing difficulties, just as we do.  The trials of this life are trifles in comparison to the reward ahead.  Whether circumstances, events, or people, we can trust that God is bringing us to Himself for the reward that He has reserved for us.

This is why Peter ties their rejoicing to the reality that they are facing trials and tests.  He uses the term “for a little while.”  The word doesn’t actually have time in it.  It simply is “for a little.”  The context is to supply what the little is here.  I think little time works because our reward is not only in the future, but it is an eternal reward.  This life is short in comparison.  However, it also could be a reference to the fact that the trials themselves are little in comparison to the joys ahead.

This earth can seem long when we are undergoing trials and difficulties.  Martyrdom in such cases may come as sweet release.  Still, these are hard things to face.  Often trials and difficulties are short-lived in comparison to our whole life.  How many things that were so big in your life twenty years ago no longer bother you or weigh down your mind?  Of course, this is not to minimize how these things feel.  Yes, they feel big and heavy.  Faith teaches us to see them in light of God’s eternal purpose for us, and it is good.

It is amazing how God takes our tests and trials and uses them to make something good in our life when we put our faith in Him.  Like Paul in prison writing a letter of rejoicing to the Philippians, we can become a strong bulwark of faith helping others because we have been tried and tested.

Peter uses the phrase “if necessary.”  This recognizes that not all people suffer trials at the same intensity and duration.  God even determines to relieve us of some trials that we may face if we will ask Him in prayer.  It is this unknown aspect of our trials that can be particularly testing.

Have you ever thought about how comfort itself tests us?  It cannot be referred to as suffering.  However, it begs the question of whether or not you will keep your eyes and faith upon Jesus and his salvation.

There are things that God has determined we must go through them.  Whether He actively causes them or simply allows them to be (permits them) because of the choices of others, we can know that He has a good purpose in so doing.  On top of this good purpose, His Spirit within you is working to give you all that you need to be preserved through the test and to pass it with flying colors.

I have been referring to these things as trials and tests.  It is actually one word in the passage.  This word can be translated several ways depending on the context.  What makes the difference is the intention of the one doing it.  When the devil tests us, he is attempting to disqualify us, to make us fail.  Thus, it would more appropriately be called a temptation.  Yet, God does not tempt anyone.  He does not allow these things to disqualify us.  Rather, He ensures that we who are already qualified will be strengthened and made stronger, refined and made purer through them.  Thus, we would not use the word temptation but rather test or trial.  Do you not know that the devil cannot take you out of the hands of Jesus?  Do you not know that the devil’s pounding upon you is being used by the Lord to make you more like Him?  Even now, the Lord Jesus is interceding on your behalf.  Will not the Father answer His prayer?  May the Lord strengthen our faith as we go through times in which we are tested.

In verse seven, Peter uses a phrase of our faith, “the proof of your faith.”  Some versions say proving or simply interpret it as genuine.  What he is talking about is the testing process by which something is determined to be genuine.  The process is a proving or testing of our faith.  Yet, when the process is done, the process itself becomes the proof of our faith.  Regardless of how it is translated, Peter is looking ahead to the day in which we are no longer being tested.  Our faith will have been proven, and our life on this earth will be the evidence of our faith.  Is my faith genuine or a ruse?  Is my faith only good in fair weather or is it durable through trial?

Peter is referring to a process of refining and even mentions being tried by fire.  This brings up the comparison to gold.  Your faith is more precious to God than gold.  In fact, the gold of this world is typically thought of as enduring a long time.  Yet, compared to God’s plan of an eternal inheritance for you, it is perishable.  This heaven and this earth will melt away as God creates a new heaven and a new earth. God wants your faith more than all the works that you can do for Him, and yet, He has works in mind for you to do by faith in Him.

Our faith should also be more precious to us than gold.  No amount of gold, money, etc., can purchase salvation for us.  Also, it is our faith which keeps us in Christ where the power of God is promised to preserve us.  These tests may seem to destroy and ruin, but in the end, they are only refining us for Christ.

When our faith is proven by this life and its tests to be genuine, then it will result in praise, glory, and honor.  Yes, it will result in us praising Jesus, giving him glory, and honoring him.  However, Peter is speaking of the praise, glory, and honor that we will receive in participation with him.  In this life, we give all the glory to Jesus, but the amazing thing is that, when he returns, we will have been made to be like him.  We will come with him as a host of immortals in his wake, like a bride coming with her husband.

This world will not praise your faith and give you glory.  This world often dishonors those who have faith in Christ.  Yet, God will overturn all the ridicule, shame, and dishonor heaped upon those who put their faith in His Messiah.  This is part of our inheritance.

In case there is any question, Peter adds that this will be at the revelation of Jesus Christ.  This event is mentioned again in verse thirteen.  It is also called the apocalypse of Jesus.  It simply means to unveil something that had previously been hidden.

On one hand, Jesus has already been revealed, unveiled, on this earth, and we have believed in him!  Yet, we did not see the powerful works that Jesus did, nor did we see his post-resurrection appearances.  Yet, we have put our faith in him.  Thus, Jesus himself said, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:29).  The world even now operates in disbelief of this.  Even parts of the world that give lip service to the Lordship of Jesus do not truly follow his commands as if he truly was lord.  Jesus is not ruling on this planet.  He is hidden in the heavens awaiting the day of judgment.

At the Second Coming, Jesus will be revealed in all his glory, shining like the sun, coming on the clouds of heaven, pouring out judgment on the rebellious powers of this world and of the heavens.  There will be no doubt to believer and unbeliever alike that Jesus is the glorified Lord, the Son of God’s love, the Son of Man to whom all the kingdoms of the earth belong.  And, amazingly enough, we will be at his side!

Well, we will stop here and pick this up again next week as we continue marveling at the joyous salvation that our God has reserved for us in the heavens!

Joy of Salvation audio

The Acts of the Apostles 12

Subtitle: Peter Preaches Again part 2

Acts 3:17-26.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on August 7, 2022.

We pick up Peter’s second recorded sermon this morning, which we started last week.  Let’s get into the passage.

God had sent Messiah and they killed him

Peter has outlined how they have been fighting against God in their actions.  God had sent Messiah, but they had crucified him.  They were more than simply resisting God’s directions.  They were hostile to them.

Yet, in verse 17, Peter points out that they and their rulers had done it in ignorance.  Jesus on the cross had prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”  They didn’t realize that they were actually killing Messiah, but that doesn’t make what they did good.  It is simply a mitigating factor.  At many points, the rulers and people had mistreated Jesus, refused to accept the truth, and then put to death an innocent man.

Ignorance speaks to the knowledge and understanding that one has.  There are many things we simply do not know.  In fact, we are born 100% ignorant of life.  We begin to accumulate knowledge and understanding little by little.  Can we not see that the things of which we are ignorant are practically infinite?  What we do know only scratches the surface of all that can be known.  Thus, the most knowledgeable among us may not be ignorant compared to the average person, but compared to God they haven’t even reached 1% of what can be known, much less the stuff that we cannot know because God has not designed us with the capacity to discover them.  A wise person recognizes that the more they learn, the more they become aware of just how great their ignorance really is.

This brings up the subject of willful ignorance.  The truth can be staring us in the face, but we refuse to recognize it because of certain ramifications we are unwilling to accept.  Where is the line between inherently not knowing, like a child, and being stubborn and willful in refusing to accept the truth?  Only God can perfectly judge those kinds of issues of the heart.

Peter brings up the fact that God had foretold all of these things through the prophets.  They were told in advance that the Messiah would suffer in many different ways through many different prophets.  This doesn’t mean they should have had perfect understanding of what Jesus was doing and who he was, but they could have had enough understanding to be more careful.  Even John the Baptist, who demonstrated great understanding of the identity and work of Jesus, wrestled with the way things were going.

The people and their rulers could have had a better understanding than what they had.  They had become curiously incurious about certain passages and teachings of the prophets that would have at least helped them be more careful.  Yes, we can’t help a certain part of our ignorance, but some of it we can.

In fact, the most important part of this whole issue is not even our knowledge level.  It really comes down to being sensitive to the Holy Spirit.  Peter, John, James, and all the others, didn’t reject Jesus and call for his crucifixion.  They were able to get to that place by responding in repentance and faith at critical points in that 3 ½ years that Jesus ministered in Israel.

We are not so very different today.  The Church can be very proud about the great amount of knowledge that we have received through Jesus and the apostles.  However, that cannot take the place of sensitivity to what the Spirit of God is doing now.  Many very learned people have so systematized the biblical information that they are willfully ignorant to things that contradict their theological traditions.  Sound familiar?  We can become so enamored with the things of this world that we don’t seek God for the truth.  We can be happy with a surface knowledge of many things, or a rationale that we have adopted, but those things need to bow before the authority and power of the Lord Jesus.

Have I become a student of the Lord Jesus?  Think of it.  In the Bible we have a written document of the things that the Creator of all the universe wants us to understand, wants you to understand.  Many people who are ignorant in the eyes of the people around them will be found holding on to the Lord in the days ahead, having wisdom in the one thing that truly matters.  And, many who have the most biblical knowledge will be found fighting against what God is doing, lacking wisdom in the one thing that truly matters.  Jesus is working to give us a love of the Truth (2 Thess 2:10-12), so that it is love for him that will bring us through in the end, just like Peter all those years ago on the shores of Galilee in John 21.

Here is the good news.  God is still gracious.  Peter tells the crowd that they can still repent and turn to God.  In English, the word “repent” focuses on turning back to sorrow for one’s actions (for sin), as opposed to continuing forward in them.  This covers several important aspects of what the Bible says must happen in our hearts.  However, the word it is used to translate also has a meaning of a change of mind.  Of course, one must have a change of mind in order to turn back and have sorrow for sin, so I am not quibbling with the translation.  Rather, I am homing in an unseen aspect in this text.

We must have a change of mind about our life, and not just an alternate rationale created by us.  We really must adopt the mind of Christ.  We really must allow him to be the lord of our life.  This change of mind will turn us back from resisting and fighting what God is doing.  It will lead us to put our faith in Jesus, his commands, and the teachings of his apostles.  It will keep us from sacrificing Jesus for the sake of our willful way.

In this life, we will have a continual need for learning.  Thus, repentance will always be a part of the believer’s life.  It must never become a thing of the past.  Instead, it must become the daily path on which we walk.  Many are the exits that will take us off the road of repentance.  May the Spirit of God keep us on that Highway of Holiness, that good path, that we can only know through relationship with Jesus and the Word of God.

This brings us to verse 19.

Repentance will bring blessings

If we repent, then there are some good things from God that we will enjoy.  But, if we do not repent, then we stiff-arm the blessings that God wants to give to us.

Peter tells them that they need to change their mind and turn back into their sins being blotted out.  The direct result of changing their mind about Jesus and putting their faith in him will be the blotting out, or wiping out, of their sins.  It is the cancelling of the official record of our sins.  Sure, the fact that there are blots speaks of sins, but the fact of them being blotted out means they cannot be held against us before God.  Oh, this world will continually try to pin you to your past sins.  However, God offers freedom from those sins, and will not use them against you in the future.  Hallelujah!

In Isaiah 44:22, God promises Israel that, “I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud and your sins like mist; return to me, for I have redeemed you.” (ESV)  Praise God that our sins can be blotted out when we repent, take on the mind of Christ, and exercise faith in the Son of God and the Word of God.

A second blessing is mentioned in verse 19, “that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.”  The word “may” here does not question that they will come, but rather repentance removes a hindrance that keeps the Lord from sending them.  When it is removed, then he will send them as he determines.

In this life, we cannot get very far without being refreshed.  However, don’t settle for mere refreshing of your body and mind, your flesh.  I guess we could call those “refleshments.”  We not only need our bodies and minds refreshed, but more importantly, we need our spirits refreshed by the Spirit of God.  This is what Peter is talking about.  We need God’s periodic spiritual refreshment in order to successfully navigate this life, and He knows when we need it.  Yet, the problem is that our flesh and the enemy seek to consume us with refreshing the flesh to the exclusion of our spirit.  Another problem is that His refreshment doesn’t always look like such to us.  They had destroyed the refreshment of Messiah in their midst, but here was God offering them a second chance to drink from the wells of salvation and receive the Messiah back into their lives.

This is intended for them as individuals, but also as a nation.  Salvation gives us a relationship with the Lord of Life who cares for our soul and is the good shepherd.  Yet, it is clear that Peter ties in their repentance as a nation to the next blessing- a Second Coming of the Messiah.  It is interesting that the book of Zechariah pictures a great work of repentance in Israel where they will “look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.” (Zech. 12:10 NKJV).  Then, in chapter 14 of that same book, God promises to save Israel from complete destruction at the hands of the nations of the world by coming down out of the heavens Himself.  This is the Second Coming of Christ that pictures his feet touching down on the Mount of Olives and splitting it in half.  What a refreshing time that will be for the nation of Israel!

Thus, the next blessing Peter mentions is that God may send Jesus back and begin the Restoration of All Things (verses 20-21).  Jesus must stay in the heavens until the time of The Restoration of All Things.  The earlier refreshments by God’s Spirit would keep them sustained until they came to that Great Refreshing that God has promised in His Word.  All the prophets pointed to a time when all that has gone wrong in this world and in the heavens will be restored to their proper state.  The Bible can be seen as a story of how everything went wrong (think Genesis), and yet how God is bringing everything back to a restored state that is even better than the original (think Revelation with its New Heavens and the New Earth).  That day is set by God.  We have a destiny in the future that cannot be avoided.  Yet, there is a sense where repentance could perhaps speed it up.

Peter specifically reminds them of the prophecy of Moses found in Deuteronomy 18 (esp. vs 18).  Moses leads up to this prophecy by warning Israel against listening to spiritists and those who practice divination.  God had not given Israel over to these lesser Elohim.  They had a greater destiny than the nations who were following the wrong Elohim.  Their destiny was to first receive the word of the One True God through Moses in building up the nation of Israel, and then later, God would send them another Prophet like Moses. 

Hebrews 3:1-6 emphasizes this connection by pointing out that Moses was faithful as a servant of God to build the house of Israel.  However, Jesus Messiah was faithful “as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.” (Heb. 3:6 NKJV).  This speaks of the “house” of the Church.  We don’t have time for it today.  However, this language of a house being built by the son for himself so that the Church can live with him is the wedding analogy that Jesus used so often.

In Jesus, Messiah had come to make an offer of betrothal to Israel.  As a nation, they rejected it, but Christ takes a remnant and sends them to the nations in order to raise up a bride that will be married to him at the end of this age.  All the prophets warned of this critical period, and Moses stated that those who rejected this Prophet, Messiah, would be destroyed from among God’s people.  They were in danger of losing their place, their lot, their inheritance.

In verse 25, Peter reminds them of their heritage.  They are the sons of the prophets, and the offspring of Abraham.  This means that they had inherited the writings of the prophets, and the promise of Abraham that the families of the whole earth would be blessed through them, i.e., Israel.  All that we know of God is passed to the Gentile nations through the people of Israel.  Israel is far more important than any other nation in the sense of God’s work in the world.  However, His work is for the sake of all the nations of the world.  In fact, God did not just choose Israel from among the nations back in the days of Abraham.  Rather, God rejected all of the nations, and instead, created a new nation by His own hand as Adam was created directly by God.

This is why God sent His Servant Jesus to Israel first.  They had been and still were the instrument through which God had spoken to the nations.  They were God’s witness to the world.  However, the word first, implies others.  The Gospel of Jesus would go to the nations through his faithful believers, and thus, all the earth would receive a second witness through the Church of Jesus.  Here we are today hearing these same words that Israel heard 1,990 some odd years ago.

O, how America needs a time of refreshing in which we are turned away from our sin into full faith and obedience to the Lord Jesus the Messiah.  It will only happen as Spirit-filled believers, who are keeping in step with Jesus, interact with a people who are steeped in all manner of ignorance.  May God refresh his people today so that we can renew our battle against the works of Satan upon those around us!

Peter Preaches Again 2 audio

Discerning The Times

Today we will be looking at Luke 12:54-59.

In the 1960's Bob Dylan came out with his single "The Times They Are A Changin'."  In it he warns people, politicians, and parents that things are changing and if you stand in the road you will get ran over.  It is interesting that at the end of the song he warns that those who are leading the change today will be the ones standing in the way in the future.  In fact he refers to this constant changing as a curse.  Whether he is tying back to the biblical account of the Fall of Man or he simply describes it as it is, the curse is that things do not stay the same and you either get on board or get left behind. 

Up to this point in Luke 12, Jesus has been mainly addressing his disciples.  But, here He addresses the multitudes.  The disciples needed to be ready for the work he gives them, the persecution they would endure and the return of Jesus.  However, the multitudes needed to make a choice whether to become disciples or not.  In a word Jesus challenges them to get off the fence because the times they were a changin'.

Good At Recognizing The Weather

In verses 54-56 Jesus points out their ability to recognize what the weather will be based upon the signs they see in the sky.  Of course, he doesn't care about their forecasting ability.  Rather he is pointing out how studious and quick to recognize things that had to do with weather.  This will be in contrast to their laziness at recognizing the times.

Israel's weather was impacted by a large body of water, the Mediterranean Sea, to the West and a desert to the South.  Thus when they saw clouds over the water it was a sign that rain was on the way.  Similarly when the prevailing winds came from the South, there would be hot weather.  These were a "rule of thumb" in regard to weather.  Now it would be good for us to stop and ask ourselves this question.  What things do I pay particular attention to and recognize, and what do I not?  What subtle changes in the world around me do I pay steadfast attention to and quickly move in activity because of them?  Is it the weather, financial matters, politics, economics, popular culture, the latest movies?  We need to recognize that the amount of time we spend paying attention to these things will be "exhibit A" when we stand before God and give account regarding this issue of understanding what God is doing.  If you have the attitude that it is too hard to discern what God is doing, or you could care less, then know that you will be left without excuse when you stand before Him.

Bad At Recognizing The Times

Jesus is talking about something greater than what Bob Dylan sang about.  You see Dylan's song has a spiritual side to it, but the wave of change he is talking about are those that are man generated and purposed.  Although we would recognize the Devil has a part to play in them, they are the hopes and dreams of the people at the time and manipulated by the inter-dimensional spirit being we call Satan.  But Jesus is referring to the times of God's dealing with the nation of Israel, in this case.  Over the top of all the turbulent sea of man's projects and changes is the more powerful and unstoppable purposes and seasons of God's purpose.  It is this that the multitudes were missing.

The term "times" comes from a word that has the sense of "seasons."  Thus it is not about sequence as much as it is about the designed time for an activity, whether it be the season of planting and harvesting, or the season of war and peace.  Again, man pursues his seasons, but God's dealings with men have "seasons" as well.  He appoints a certain amount of time to accomplish certain things.  Thus the "seasons" of men and the "Seasons" of God are often at odds with one another.  In these situations it does not matter if all the world are united to do what they want, God's purpose will overrule theirs.  Of course men are free to operate as they will.  However, it is always within the parameters of what God is doing.  The prophets of the Old Testament had warned the people of Israel that a Season of Change was coming.  The Anointed One of God would come and judge the nations and restore righteousness to Israel and the Earth.  Even John the Baptist warned people, "repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand."  People needed to prepare their lives and ready themselves for the One who would put down the wicked and exalt the righteous.

Yet, the multitudes of Israel had become hypocrites in general.  The word means to be a stage player or actor (i.e. a pretender).  What were they pretending and why?  First they were pretending to want God's Messiah to come.  They were pretending to want the righteousness of God to be established on the Earth.  How can I say that? I'm not saying it.  Rather, this is the judgment of Jesus over them.  They drew near God with their lips and gave "lip service" to His prophecies and teachings.  However, in their hearts they did not repent of their own wickedness.  They never thought through the reality of what a righteous king would mean in a wicked land.  Their hearts were far from God.

This failure was not for lack of instruction.  They had plenty of instruction and plenty of warning.  Yet, they had spent more energy on understanding the things of temporary impact than on the things of eternal impact.  Even today, here in America, we are swimming in a sea of instruction concerning the times and seasons of God.  We have been warned over and over again that the Righteous Jesus is coming back.  Am I giving lip service to such things without giving proper attention to such a serious matter?  Am I spending all my time on understanding the technology, politics, and culture of my day so that I can succeed, but ignoring God's seasons?  What will it profit a man to succeed in this temporary Age and yet fail in keeping his soul for eternity?

Do you recognize the times that we live in?  This is the Age or Season of God's grace.  Instead of judging the nations, God called a remnant out of Israel (the Church) and commissioned them to make known His terms of peace with the nations of the world.  This season of opportunity has been going for the last two millennia.  Our judgment is sealed but the offer of peace is still on the table.  This season has been compared to a crop.  There is a time of planting, a time of letting it grow, and eventually there is a harvest.  The Church Age is coming to a close.  I do not offer dates only warnings.  The Harvest of the earth is nearly complete and then the judgment will come.  Are you ready?  If you do not take time to understand these thing then you will not be ready and will perish in the judgment that is coming.

Bad At Recognizing Our Personal "Times"

In verses 57-59, Jesus focuses not so much on the greater "seasons" of God's dealing with Israel, but on God's dealing with each individual.  His dealing with you as an individual has seasons as well.  "Why even of yourselves do you not judge what is right?"  God is faithful to make sure that his Truth is being revealed to us.  He works to bring us to a knowledge of the truth, to bring us to faith, and then to transform us.  Those who continue to resist this work until it is too late will be judged.  Thus the multitudes were interested in hearing Jesus, but they needed to pay better attention to the spiritual implications of their life.

The people of Israel were about to face judgment as a nation.  This means that all the individuals of that nation were facing judgment as well.  The handwriting was on the wall and the Romans had only increased their stranglehold upon the nation of Israel.  The political and religious leaders had only grown more and more ungodly.  Many rebel groups kept forming, being stomped out, and forming again.  Such dangerous times teach a person to make sure that they have right standing with God.  When the world around you is going to hell in a hand basket, you had better know that you belong to God.

This instruction, about being taken before the magistrate and seeking terms before the judgment, seems to be a metaphor for the coming judgment by God.  They were about to be judged nationally and personally. Yet, notice that Jesus is advising them to do everything they can to settle out of court.  The practicality of settling out of court is seen in different ways.  Some settle out of court because it will be cheaper in the long run.  Others settle out of court because the offended party has the choice to have mercy on us.  But the magistrates must carry out the law and give us the penalty due.  

It is here that we see the offer of salvation in Jesus being compared to "settling out of court."  Come unto me all you who are weary and heavy laden.  In this sense we are not just burdened with the sins of others.  We are also burdened with the overhanging judgment of our own sins.  But the words, "Repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved!"  A simple changing of your minds and putting of your trust upon Jesus can change everything.

When Israel was in the desert, they lived as nomads in tents.  They had no permanent home.  When the cloud of the presence of God lifted off of the Tabernacle, it was time to pack up camp and leave.  When it stopped it was time to unpack and set up residence.  This is a picture of what the Christian life is supposed to be like.  This is not our home.  Our home is when we dwell with Jesus.  Until then, we follow Him throughout this wilderness.  When he packs up to move we do to.  In some ways the "church" has become too enamored with building permanent institutions in a time in which we are to be quick to move with God.  Those very things we build become an entanglement to our heart when God asks us to leave them be and come follow Him.  We have to be careful that we are not hanging on to things that God is leaving behind, nor chasing things that have nothing to do with where He is headed.  Such things cloud our judgment and steal our time away from the more pressing eternal matters of God's purposes.

Discerning the Times audio