Bible Study

Revelation 21:6-7

[6] And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. [7] The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.

Isaiah 41:4

    [4] Who has performed and done this,

        calling the generations from the beginning?

    I, the LORD, the first,

        and with the last; I am he.

Isaiah 43:10-11

    [10] “You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD,

        “and my servant whom I have chosen,

    that you may know and believe me

        and understand that I am he.

    Before me no god was formed,

        nor shall there be any after me. 

    [11] I, I am the LORD,

        and besides me there is no savior.

Revelation 22:12-13

[12] “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done. [13] I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

Make War with Unbelief

In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (Ephesians 6:16–17)

When I am anxious about getting old, I battle unbelief with the promise, “Even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save” (Isaiah 46:4).

When I am anxious about dying, I battle unbelief with the promise that “none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living” (Romans 14:7–9).

When I am anxious that I may make shipwreck of faith and fall away from God, I battle unbelief with the promises, “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6); and, “He is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25).

Join me in this battle! Let us make war, not with other people, but with our own unbelief. Unbelief in the promises of God is the root of anxiety, which, in turn, is the root of so many other sins. The sword of the Spirit is the word of God, Paul said in Ephesians 6:17. The shield by which we quench Satan’s fiery deceits is faith (verse 16) — faith in that very word of God. So take up the shield in your left hand and the sword in your right hand, and let us fight the good fight of faith.

Take up the Bible, ask the Holy Spirit for help, lay the promises up in your heart, and fight the good fight — to live by faith in future grace.

John Piper 

When Majesty Walks In

“I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, saying, ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,’ and, ‘What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.’” REVELATION 1:9-11

 

PONDER THIS

Sometimes we talk too casually about our Savior. Let’s suppose it’s Sunday morning. People are coming into the sanctuary. The ushers are at the door, greeting people and giving them a smile and a handshake. The call to worship is given and the pastor stands in the pulpit to intone the morning prayer. And suppose he prays something like this: “Lord Jesus, we’ve come today to give You glory, honor, and majesty. Lord Jesus, we pray that You’ll show up here today.” This type of prayer is not uncommon.

Suppose then, the back door opened, and down that aisle comes the same One John saw on Patmos. His hair is white and glistening, whiter than snow. His face shines with a shekinah glory, brighter than the sun. His feet glow as if in a furnace. His voice is deafening. He’s wearing regal robes, and He walks down the aisle.

What would you do? You’d fall on your face before Him, would you not? That’s what John did. John said: “When I saw Him, I fell on my face like a dead man.” May God forgive our irreverence! We do not take these matters seriously; we forget the majesty of God so quickly that we would be shocked if we truly beheld Him.

What are some things that remind you of God’s glory? What makes it easy to forget it?

What would change if you remembered God’s glory all the time?

PRACTICE THIS

Spend time pondering God’s glory and majesty. Praise Him for who He is.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Bible Study

Romans 4:14-16

[14] For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. [15] For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.

[16] That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all,

Galatians 3:22

[22] But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

Romans 3:23-26

[23] for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, [24] and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, [25] whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. [26] It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Acts 10:43

[43] To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

Our Good Is His Glory

“But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” (Matthew 6:6)

One common objection to Christian Hedonism is that it puts the interests of man above the glory of God — that it puts my happiness above God’s honor. But Christian Hedonism most emphatically does not do this.

To be sure, we Christian Hedonists endeavor to pursue our interest and our happiness with all our might. We endorse the resolution of the young Jonathan Edwards: “Resolved: To endeavor to obtain for myself as much happiness in the other world as I possibly can, with all the power, might, vigor, and vehemence, yea violence, I am capable of, or can bring myself to exert, in any way that can be thought of.”

But we have learned from the Bible (and from Edwards!) that God’s interest is to magnify the fullness of his glory by spilling over in mercy to us — to us sinners, who desperately need him.

Therefore, the pursuit of our interest and our happiness, even if it costs us our lives, is never above God’s interest and God’s happiness and God’s glory, but always in God’s. One of the most precious truths in the Bible is that God’s greatest interest is to glorify the wealth of his grace by making sinners happy in him — in him!

When we humble ourselves like little children and put on no airs of self-sufficiency, but run happily into the joy of our Father’s embrace, the glory of his grace is magnified and the longing of our soul is satisfied. Our interest and his glory become one.

When Jesus promises in Matthew 6:6, “Your Father who sees in secret will reward you,” this is a reward he wants us to seek. He does not lure us with joy we shouldn’t have! But this reward — this joy — is the overflow of turning away from human praise, and going into our closet to seek God.

Therefore, Christian Hedonists do not put their happiness above God’s glory. They put their happiness in God himself and discover the glorious truth that God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.

John Piper 

When the Fire Gets in You

“But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away, how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious?”  2 CORINTHIANS 3:7-8

 

PONDER THIS

When Moses spent much time with the Lord face to face, his face began to shine as a reflection of the Shekinah glory of God. In my fireplace, I have a poker. I can take that poker and poke around in the fire, then put it back, and it’ll hardly be hot. But if I take that poker when there’s a roaring fire, and I leave it in there long enough, do you know what’ll happen? It’ll begin to glow. Because not only will the poker be in the fire, the fire will be in the poker. When you spend enough time in the presence of God, the presence of God gets into you. Not only are you there in the presence of God, but the presence of God gets into you.

This is not just true in the Old Testament. Paul said if it was glorious when God gave Moses the Old Testament Ten Commandments, then how is the Spirit not even more glorious? When you spend time with God, it will not fall void, but you will start to look like Him! You will start to reflect Him more in your daily life.

Who is someone you know who spends a lot of time alone with God? How does that make a difference in that person?

What makes it hard to spend time alone with God? How can you talk to God about those challenges and ask Him to help you with them?

PRACTICE THIS

Talk to someone who spends a lot of time alone with God, asking for practical insight and advice on how to pursue God in that way.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Most Precious Words

Savior 

Living Sacrifice 

Blood of the New Covenant 

Forgive

Faith

Paradise 

Conquer 

Justified 

Sanctified 

Redeemed

Spoken to the Shepherds who were searching for the Christ

Luke 2:11

[11] For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

Spoken to the apostle and all souls who eagerly await the return of Christ for salvation 

Hebrews 10:3-10

[3] But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. [4] For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

[5] Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, 

“Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired,

        but a body have you prepared for me; 

    [6] in burnt offerings and sin offerings

        you have taken no pleasure. 

    [7] Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God,

        as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’”

 [8] When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), [9] then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second. [10] And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Told to one of the criminals on the cross next to Jesus

Luke 23:43

[43] And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Spoken to believers all over the world

Revelation 2:7

[7] He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’

Spoken to the woman who anointed the feet of Jesus and every believer 

Luke 7:50

[50] And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

Spoken to all believers 

Revelation 21:7

[7] The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.

Spoken to all believers 

Revelation 21:3-6

[3] And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. [4] He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

[5] And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” [6] And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.

Spoken to Sinners and Saints

1 Corinthians 6:11

[11] And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Spoken to all the saved souls

Job 33:28

[28] He has redeemed my soul from going down into the pit, and my life shall look upon the light.’