Bible Study

1 Peter 3:8

[8] Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.

Colossians 3:12-13

[12] Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, [13] bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

Matthew 6:14

[14] For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you,

2 Corinthians 2:7

[7] so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.

Shadows and Streams

May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in his works, who looks on the earth and it trembles, who touches the mountains and they smoke! I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being. May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the Lord. (Psalm 104:31–34)

God rejoices in the works of creation because they point us beyond themselves to God himself.

God means for us to be stunned and awed by his work of creation. But not for its own sake. He means for us to look at his creation and say: If the mere work of his fingers (just his fingers! Psalm 8:3) is so full of wisdom and power and grandeur and majesty and beauty, what must this God be like in himself!

These are but the backside of his glory, as it were, darkly seen through a glass. What will it be to see the glory of the Creator himself! Not just his works! A billion galaxies will not satisfy the human soul. God and God alone is the soul’s end.

Jonathan Edwards expressed it like this:

The enjoyment of God is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied. To go to heaven, fully to enjoy God, is infinitely better than the most pleasant accommodations here. . . . [These] are but shadows; but God is the substance. These are but scattered beams; but God is the sun. These are but streams; but God is the ocean.

This is why Psalm 104 comes to a close in verses 31–34 with a focus on God himself. “I will sing praise to my God while I have being. . . . For I rejoice in the Lord.” In the end it will not be the seas or the mountains or the canyons or the water spiders or the clouds or the great galaxies that fill our hearts to breaking with wonder and fill our mouths with eternal praise. It will be God himself.

John Piper 

The Prison of Unforgiveness

“And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.”

EPHESIANS 4:32

 

PONDER THIS

An unforgiving spirit keeps you in prison. When someone hurts you, you say, “I’m not going to let him off the hook.” Our sense of justice cries out and says, “I will not let him get by with this! I’ll keep him on the hook.” The problem with that is the one who hurt you is not the only one kept on the hook. Carrying an unforgiving spirit means you are also on the hook.

Why should you be kind to someone who is unkind by forgiving that person? You should be kind and forgive for Jesus’s sake. That is, after all, the exact reason why God forgives you. God, for Christ’s sake, forgave you. Should you not also forgive others for the sake of Christ?

Forgiveness is not giving people what they deserve. Forgiveness is giving people what they need. However, we don’t only forgive for Christ’s sake and for the other’s sake—forgive others for your sake too. Did you hear that? For your sake! Bitterness will keep you in a prison of your own making. You say, “I’ll continue to hate. I won’t take revenge. I’ll just continue to hate.” When you continue to hate, it’s like taking an acid into your system. And bitterness is an acid that destroys its container. There are few forms of dissipation that will do more to you than resentment and bitterness.

When was a time you chose bitterness instead of forgiveness?

What is the hardest part of forgiveness for you? How can God help you forgive?

PRACTICE THIS

Consider having a conversation with someone you have had a hard time forgiving.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

August 25

Luke 20:20-26

[20] So they watched him and sent spies, who pretended to be sincere, that they might catch him in something he said, so as to deliver him up to the authority and jurisdiction of the governor. [21] So they asked him, “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach rightly, and show no partiality, but truly teach the way of God. [22] Is it lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar, or not?” [23] But he perceived their craftiness, and said to them, [24] “Show me a denarius. Whose likeness and inscription does it have?” They said, “Caesar’s.” [25] He said to them, “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” [26] And they were not able in the presence of the people to catch him in what he said, but marveling at his answer they became silent.

Philemon 1:12-25

[12] I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart. [13] I would have been glad to keep him with me, in order that he might serve me on your behalf during my imprisonment for the gospel, [14] but I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be by compulsion but of your own accord. [15] For this perhaps is why he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, [16] no longer as a bondservant but more than a bondservant, as a beloved brother—especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.

[17] So if you consider me your partner, receive him as you would receive me. [18] If he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. [19] I, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it—to say nothing of your owing me even your own self. [20] Yes, brother, I want some benefit from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ.

[21] Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say. [22] At the same time, prepare a guest room for me, for I am hoping that through your prayers I will be graciously given to you.

[23] Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends greetings to you, [24] and so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers.

[25] The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

Proverbs 17:15-28

    [15] 

    He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous

        are both alike an abomination to the LORD. 

    [16] 

    Why should a fool have money in his hand to buy wisdom

        when he has no sense? 

    [17] 

    A friend loves at all times,

        and a brother is born for adversity. 

    [18] 

    One who lacks sense gives a pledge

        and puts up security in the presence of his neighbor. 

    [19] 

    Whoever loves transgression loves strife;

        he who makes his door high seeks destruction. 

    [20] 

    A man of crooked heart does not discover good,

        and one with a dishonest tongue falls into calamity. 

    [21] 

    He who sires a fool gets himself sorrow,

        and the father of a fool has no joy. 

    [22] 

    A joyful heart is good medicine,

        but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. 

    [23] 

    The wicked accepts a bribe in secret

        to pervert the ways of justice. 

    [24] 

    The discerning sets his face toward wisdom,

        but the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth. 

    [25] 

    A foolish son is a grief to his father

        and bitterness to her who bore him. 

    [26] 

    To impose a fine on a righteous man is not good,

        nor to strike the noble for their uprightness. 

    [27] 

    Whoever restrains his words has knowledge,

        and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding. 

    [28] 

    Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise;

        when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.

Esther 9

[1] Now in the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, on the thirteenth day of the same, when the king’s command and edict were about to be carried out, on the very day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to gain the mastery over them, the reverse occurred: the Jews gained mastery over those who hated them. [2] The Jews gathered in their cities throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus to lay hands on those who sought their harm. And no one could stand against them, for the fear of them had fallen on all peoples. [3] All the officials of the provinces and the satraps and the governors and the royal agents also helped the Jews, for the fear of Mordecai had fallen on them. [4] For Mordecai was great in the king’s house, and his fame spread throughout all the provinces, for the man Mordecai grew more and more powerful. [5] The Jews struck all their enemies with the sword, killing and destroying them, and did as they pleased to those who hated them. [6] In Susa the citadel itself the Jews killed and destroyed 500 men, [7] and also killed Parshandatha and Dalphon and Aspatha [8] and Poratha and Adalia and Aridatha [9] and Parmashta and Arisai and Aridai and Vaizatha, [10] the ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews, but they laid no hand on the plunder.

[11] That very day the number of those killed in Susa the citadel was reported to the king. [12] And the king said to Queen Esther, “In Susa the citadel the Jews have killed and destroyed 500 men and also the ten sons of Haman. What then have they done in the rest of the king’s provinces! Now what is your wish? It shall be granted you. And what further is your request? It shall be fulfilled.” [13] And Esther said, “If it please the king, let the Jews who are in Susa be allowed tomorrow also to do according to this day’s edict. And let the ten sons of Haman be hanged on the gallows.” [14] So the king commanded this to be done. A decree was issued in Susa, and the ten sons of Haman were hanged. [15] The Jews who were in Susa gathered also on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar and they killed 300 men in Susa, but they laid no hands on the plunder.

[16] Now the rest of the Jews who were in the king’s provinces also gathered to defend their lives, and got relief from their enemies and killed 75,000 of those who hated them, but they laid no hands on the plunder. [17] This was on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, and on the fourteenth day they rested and made that a day of feasting and gladness. [18] But the Jews who were in Susa gathered on the thirteenth day and on the fourteenth, and rested on the fifteenth day, making that a day of feasting and gladness. [19] Therefore the Jews of the villages, who live in the rural towns, hold the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a day for gladness and feasting, as a holiday, and as a day on which they send gifts of food to one another.

[20] And Mordecai recorded these things and sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far, [21] obliging them to keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar and also the fifteenth day of the same, year by year, [22] as the days on which the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month that had been turned for them from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, days for sending gifts of food to one another and gifts to the poor.

[23] So the Jews accepted what they had started to do, and what Mordecai had written to them. [24] For Haman the Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them, and had cast Pur (that is, cast lots), to crush and to destroy them. [25] But when it came before the king, he gave orders in writing that his evil plan that he had devised against the Jews should return on his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows. [26] Therefore they called these days Purim, after the term Pur. Therefore, because of all that was written in this letter, and of what they had faced in this matter, and of what had happened to them, [27] the Jews firmly obligated themselves and their offspring and all who joined them, that without fail they would keep these two days according to what was written and at the time appointed every year, [28] that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, in every clan, province, and city, and that these days of Purim should never fall into disuse among the Jews, nor should the commemoration of these days cease among their descendants.

[29] Then Queen Esther, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew gave full written authority, confirming this second letter about Purim. [30] Letters were sent to all the Jews, to the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, in words of peace and truth, [31] that these days of Purim should be observed at their appointed seasons, as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther obligated them, and as they had obligated themselves and their offspring, with regard to their fasts and their lamenting. [32] The command of Esther confirmed these practices of Purim, and it was recorded in writing.

Esther 10

[1] King Ahasuerus imposed tax on the land and on the coastlands of the sea. [2] And all the acts of his power and might, and the full account of the high honor of Mordecai, to which the king advanced him, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia? [3] For Mordecai the Jew was second in rank to King Ahasuerus, and he was great among the Jews and popular with the multitude of his brothers, for he sought the welfare of his people and spoke peace to all his people.

When God’s Love Is Sweetest

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word. (Ephesians 5:25–26)

If you only hope for unconditional love from God, your hope is great, but too small.

Unconditional love from God is not the sweetest experience of his love. The sweetest experience is when his love says, “I have made you so much like my Son that I delight to see you and be with you. You are a pleasure to me, because you are so radiant with my glory.”

This sweetest experience is conditional on our transformation into the kind of people whose emotions and choices and actions please God.

Unconditional love is the source and foundation of the human transformation that makes the sweetness of conditional love possible. If God did not love us unconditionally, he would not penetrate our unattractive lives, bring us to faith, unite us to Christ, give us his Spirit, and make us progressively like Jesus.

But when he unconditionally chooses us, and sends Christ to die for us, and regenerates us, he puts in motion an unstoppable process of transformation that makes us glorious. He gives us a splendor to match his favorite kind: his own.

We see this in Ephesians 5:25–27. “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her [unconditional love], that he might sanctify her . . . and present the church to himself in splendor” — the condition in which he delights.

It is unspeakably wonderful that God would unconditionally set his favor on us while we are still unbelieving sinners. The ultimate reason this is wonderful is that this unconditional love brings us into the everlasting enjoyment of his glorious presence.

But the apex of that enjoyment is that we not only see his glory, but also reflect it. “The name of our Lord Jesus [will] be glorified in you, and you in him” (2 Thessalonians 1:12).

John Piper 

Grace Received Becomes Grace Given

“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace”

EPHESIANS 1:7

 

PONDER THIS

One of God’s greatest gifts to you and to me is forgiveness, because the Bible calls our sins “debt.” Our sins have put us in debt to God, our Creator. We’ve been created to serve Him and to love Him, and we’ve not done it. In Heaven’s court, where the holiness of God is on display, we stand under the weight of damages we cannot pay. In that debt, we’re cast into a debtor’s prison, and the only way to escape it is to be forgiven.

We must also then forgive others. Sin is a debt. Forgiveness is the canceling of the debt. The word “forgiveness” in Ephesians 1:7 means "to bear the burden.” Imagine you owed someone a thousand dollars but could not pay it, and that person said, “Don’t worry about it anymore. I forgive the debt you owe.” That person removes the burden from you and bears the weight of it himself. In other words, salvation is free to you, but it costs the other person.

God will never simply overlook any sin. Jesus paid sin’s debt on the cross out of the riches of His grace, offering you His forgiveness.

What are some of the greatest sins Jesus took on for you? Have you received His forgiveness for those things?

Who have you struggled to forgive or reconcile with? How does Christ change how you should approach your debtors?

PRACTICE THIS

Ask God to reveal any resentment or unforgiveness in your heart.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

August 24

Luke 20:9-19

[9] And he began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard and let it out to tenants and went into another country for a long while. [10] When the time came, he sent a servant to the tenants, so that they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. [11] And he sent another servant. But they also beat and treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. [12] And he sent yet a third. This one also they wounded and cast out. [13] Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.’ [14] But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Let us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours.’ [15] And they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? [16] He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” When they heard this, they said, “Surely not!” [17] But he looked directly at them and said, “What then is this that is written: 

    “‘The stone that the builders rejected

        has become the cornerstone’?

    [18] Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”

[19] The scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him at that very hour, for they perceived that he had told this parable against them, but they feared the people.

Philemon 1:1-11

[1] Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, 

To Philemon our beloved fellow worker  [2] and Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier, and the church in your house:

[3] Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

[4] I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, [5] because I hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints, [6] and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ. [7] For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you.

[8] Accordingly, though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do what is required, [9] yet for love’s sake I prefer to appeal to you—I, Paul, an old man and now a prisoner also for Christ Jesus—[10] I appeal to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I became in my imprisonment. [11] (Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.)

Proverbs 17:1-14

    [1] Better is a dry morsel with quiet

        than a house full of feasting with strife. 

    [2] 

    A servant who deals wisely will rule over a son who acts shamefully

        and will share the inheritance as one of the brothers. 

    [3] 

    The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold,

        and the LORD tests hearts. 

    [4] 

    An evildoer listens to wicked lips,

        and a liar gives ear to a mischievous tongue. 

    [5] 

    Whoever mocks the poor insults his Maker;

        he who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished. 

    [6] 

    Grandchildren are the crown of the aged,

        and the glory of children is their fathers. 

    [7] 

    Fine speech is not becoming to a fool;

        still less is false speech to a prince. 

    [8] 

    A bribe is like a magic stone in the eyes of the one who gives it;

        wherever he turns he prospers. 

    [9] 

    Whoever covers an offense seeks love,

        but he who repeats a matter separates close friends. 

    [10] 

    A rebuke goes deeper into a man of understanding

        than a hundred blows into a fool. 

    [11] 

    An evil man seeks only rebellion,

        and a cruel messenger will be sent against him. 

    [12] 

    Let a man meet a she-bear robbed of her cubs

        rather than a fool in his folly. 

    [13] 

    If anyone returns evil for good,

        evil will not depart from his house. 

    [14] 

    The beginning of strife is like letting out water,

        so quit before the quarrel breaks out.

Esther 7

[1] So the king and Haman went in to feast with Queen Esther. [2] And on the second day, as they were drinking wine after the feast, the king again said to Esther, “What is your wish, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.” [3] Then Queen Esther answered, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be granted me for my wish, and my people for my request. [4] For we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. If we had been sold merely as slaves, men and women, I would have been silent, for our affliction is not to be compared with the loss to the king.” [5] Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, who has dared to do this?” [6] And Esther said, “A foe and enemy! This wicked Haman!” Then Haman was terrified before the king and the queen.

[7] And the king arose in his wrath from the wine-drinking and went into the palace garden, but Haman stayed to beg for his life from Queen Esther, for he saw that harm was determined against him by the king. [8] And the king returned from the palace garden to the place where they were drinking wine, as Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was. And the king said, “Will he even assault the queen in my presence, in my own house?” As the word left the mouth of the king, they covered Haman’s face. [9] Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs in attendance on the king, said, “Moreover, the gallows that Haman has prepared for Mordecai, whose word saved the king, is standing at Haman’s house, fifty cubits high.” And the king said, “Hang him on that.” [10] So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the wrath of the king abated.

Esther 8

[1] On that day King Ahasuerus gave to Queen Esther the house of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had told what he was to her. [2] And the king took off his signet ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.

[3] Then Esther spoke again to the king. She fell at his feet and wept and pleaded with him to avert the evil plan of Haman the Agagite and the plot that he had devised against the Jews. [4] When the king held out the golden scepter to Esther, Esther rose and stood before the king. [5] And she said, “If it please the king, and if I have found favor in his sight, and if the thing seems right before the king, and I am pleasing in his eyes, let an order be written to revoke the letters devised by Haman the Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, which he wrote to destroy the Jews who are in all the provinces of the king. [6] For how can I bear to see the calamity that is coming to my people? Or how can I bear to see the destruction of my kindred?” [7] Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “Behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and they have hanged him on the gallows, because he intended to lay hands on the Jews. [8] But you may write as you please with regard to the Jews, in the name of the king, and seal it with the king’s ring, for an edict written in the name of the king and sealed with the king’s ring cannot be revoked.”

[9] The king’s scribes were summoned at that time, in the third month, which is the month of Sivan, on the twenty-third day. And an edict was written, according to all that Mordecai commanded concerning the Jews, to the satraps and the governors and the officials of the provinces from India to Ethiopia, 127 provinces, to each province in its own script and to each people in its own language, and also to the Jews in their script and their language. [10] And he wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed it with the king’s signet ring. Then he sent the letters by mounted couriers riding on swift horses that were used in the king’s service, bred from the royal stud, [11] saying that the king allowed the Jews who were in every city to gather and defend their lives, to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate any armed force of any people or province that might attack them, children and women included, and to plunder their goods, [12] on one day throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar. [13] A copy of what was written was to be issued as a decree in every province, being publicly displayed to all peoples, and the Jews were to be ready on that day to take vengeance on their enemies. [14] So the couriers, mounted on their swift horses that were used in the king’s service, rode out hurriedly, urged by the king’s command. And the decree was issued in Susa the citadel.

[15] Then Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal robes of blue and white, with a great golden crown and a robe of fine linen and purple, and the city of Susa shouted and rejoiced. [16] The Jews had light and gladness and joy and honor. [17] And in every province and in every city, wherever the king’s command and his edict reached, there was gladness and joy among the Jews, a feast and a holiday. And many from the peoples of the country declared themselves Jews, for fear of the Jews had fallen on them.

The Message of Creation

Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. (Romans 1:22–23)

It would be a great folly and a great tragedy if a man loved his wedding ring more than he loved his bride. But that is what this passage says has happened.

Human beings have fallen in love with the echo of God’s excellence in creation, and lost the ability to hear the incomparable, original shout of love and power and glory.

The message of creation is this:

There is a great God of glory and power and generosity behind all this awesome universe; you belong to him because he made you. He is patient with you in sustaining your rebellious life. Turn and bank your hope on him and delight yourself in him, not merely his handiwork.

According to Psalm 19:1–2, day pours forth the “speech” of that message to all who will listen in the day, speaking with blindingly bright sun and blue sky and clouds and untold shapes and colors and beautiful designs of all things visible. Night pours forth the “knowledge” of the same message to all who will listen at night, speaking with great dark voids and summer moons and countless stars and strange sounds and cool breezes and northern lights.

Day and night are saying one thing: God is glorious! God is glorious! God is glorious! Turn away from the creation as your supreme satisfaction, and delight yourself in the Lord of glory.

John Piper 

The Key to Knowing the Will of God

“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.” JOHN 15:7

 

PONDER THIS

Have you ever wanted to know the will of God while, at the very same time, were not wanting to do the will of God? God is sovereign. If you want to know what God’s will is, you have to spend time with Him. God does not reveal His will to rebels.

The first step in knowing the will of God is to surrender. In John 15:7, Jesus says, “Abide in Me.” That's surrender. Have you ever totally, honestly, sincerely, with all of your heart, with every inch, with every ounce, with every nerve, every fiber, as much as is in you, said “Thy will be done”? Do you want to know God’s will? Abide in Him, surrendering your will to His.

The next step in knowing the will of God is to receive His Word. Jesus follows “Abide in Me” with, “My words abide in you.” That's Scripture. You take the Word of God as God's revelation to you—it is God's Word to you. Do you want to know God's will? Spend time in His Word! It is hypocritical to say we want to know the will of God, and yet do not study the Word of God to know what the will of God is. If you want God’s guidance in your life, spend time with Him.

What is your time with God like? What are some ways you can grow in spending time with Him?

In what situations do you want to know God’s will right now? How have you taken steps toward knowing God’s will so far?

PRACTICE THIS

Talk to someone mature in faith and ask that person what his or her time with God is like.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

August 23

Luke 20:1-8

[1] One day, as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came up [2] and said to him, “Tell us by what authority you do these things, or who it is that gave you this authority.” [3] He answered them, “I also will ask you a question. Now tell me, [4] was the baptism of John from heaven or from man?” [5] And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ [6] But if we say, ‘From man,’ all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John was a prophet.” [7] So they answered that they did not know where it came from. [8] And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

Titus 3:9-15

[9] But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. [10] As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, [11] knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.

[12] When I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there. [13] Do your best to speed Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way; see that they lack nothing. [14] And let our people learn to devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not be unfruitful.

[15] All who are with me send greetings to you. Greet those who love us in the faith. 

Grace be with you all. 

Proverbs 16:17-33

    [17] 

    The highway of the upright turns aside from evil;

        whoever guards his way preserves his life. 

    [18] 

    Pride goes before destruction,

        and a haughty spirit before a fall. 

    [19] 

    It is better to be of a lowly spirit with the poor

        than to divide the spoil with the proud. 

    [20] 

    Whoever gives thought to the word will discover good,

        and blessed is he who trusts in the LORD. 

    [21] 

    The wise of heart is called discerning,

        and sweetness of speech increases persuasiveness. 

    [22] 

    Good sense is a fountain of life to him who has it,

        but the instruction of fools is folly. 

    [23] 

    The heart of the wise makes his speech judicious

        and adds persuasiveness to his lips. 

    [24] 

    Gracious words are like a honeycomb,

        sweetness to the soul and health to the body. 

    [25] 

    There is a way that seems right to a man,

        but its end is the way to death. 

    [26] 

    A worker’s appetite works for him;

        his mouth urges him on. 

    [27] 

    A worthless man plots evil,

        and his speech is like a scorching fire. 

    [28] 

    A dishonest man spreads strife,

        and a whisperer separates close friends. 

    [29] 

    A man of violence entices his neighbor

        and leads him in a way that is not good. 

    [30] 

    Whoever winks his eyes plans dishonest things;

        he who purses his lips brings evil to pass. 

    [31] 

    Gray hair is a crown of glory;

        it is gained in a righteous life. 

    [32] 

    Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty,

        and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city. 

    [33] 

    The lot is cast into the lap,

        but its every decision is from the LORD.

Esther 5

[1] On the third day Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king’s palace, in front of the king’s quarters, while the king was sitting on his royal throne inside the throne room opposite the entrance to the palace. [2] And when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, she won favor in his sight, and he held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther approached and touched the tip of the scepter. [3] And the king said to her, “What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given you, even to the half of my kingdom.” [4] And Esther said, “If it please the king, let the king and Haman come today to a feast that I have prepared for the king.” [5] Then the king said, “Bring Haman quickly, so that we may do as Esther has asked.” So the king and Haman came to the feast that Esther had prepared. [6] And as they were drinking wine after the feast, the king said to Esther, “What is your wish? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.” [7] Then Esther answered, “My wish and my request is: [8] If I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it please the king to grant my wish and fulfill my request, let the king and Haman come to the feast that I will prepare for them, and tomorrow I will do as the king has said.”

[9] And Haman went out that day joyful and glad of heart. But when Haman saw Mordecai in the king’s gate, that he neither rose nor trembled before him, he was filled with wrath against Mordecai. [10] Nevertheless, Haman restrained himself and went home, and he sent and brought his friends and his wife Zeresh. [11] And Haman recounted to them the splendor of his riches, the number of his sons, all the promotions with which the king had honored him, and how he had advanced him above the officials and the servants of the king. [12] Then Haman said, “Even Queen Esther let no one but me come with the king to the feast she prepared. And tomorrow also I am invited by her together with the king. [13] Yet all this is worth nothing to me, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.” [14] Then his wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, “Let a gallows fifty cubits high be made, and in the morning tell the king to have Mordecai hanged upon it. Then go joyfully with the king to the feast.” This idea pleased Haman, and he had the gallows made.

Esther 6

[1] On that night the king could not sleep. And he gave orders to bring the book of memorable deeds, the chronicles, and they were read before the king. [2] And it was found written how Mordecai had told about Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs, who guarded the threshold, and who had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus. [3] And the king said, “What honor or distinction has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?” The king’s young men who attended him said, “Nothing has been done for him.” [4] And the king said, “Who is in the court?” Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the king’s palace to speak to the king about having Mordecai hanged on the gallows that he had prepared for him. [5] And the king’s young men told him, “Haman is there, standing in the court.” And the king said, “Let him come in.” [6] So Haman came in, and the king said to him, “What should be done to the man whom the king delights to honor?” And Haman said to himself, “Whom would the king delight to honor more than me?” [7] And Haman said to the king, “For the man whom the king delights to honor, [8] let royal robes be brought, which the king has worn, and the horse that the king has ridden, and on whose head a royal crown is set. [9] And let the robes and the horse be handed over to one of the king’s most noble officials. Let them dress the man whom the king delights to honor, and let them lead him on the horse through the square of the city, proclaiming before him: ‘Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor.’” [10] Then the king said to Haman, “Hurry; take the robes and the horse, as you have said, and do so to Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the king’s gate. Leave out nothing that you have mentioned.” [11] So Haman took the robes and the horse, and he dressed Mordecai and led him through the square of the city, proclaiming before him, “Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor.”

[12] Then Mordecai returned to the king’s gate. But Haman hurried to his house, mourning and with his head covered. [13] And Haman told his wife Zeresh and all his friends everything that had happened to him. Then his wise men and his wife Zeresh said to him, “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of the Jewish people, you will not overcome him but will surely fall before him.”

[14] While they were yet talking with him, the king’s eunuchs arrived and hurried to bring Haman to the feast that Esther had prepared.

God Is Not an Idolater

When he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed. (2 Thessalonians 1:10)

Paul says that Christ is coming precisely to be glorified and to be marveled at. That is why he is coming.

People stumble over the teaching that God exalts his own glory and seeks to be praised by his people because the Bible teaches us not to be like that. For example, the Bible says that love “does not seek its own” (1 Corinthians 13:5, NASB).

How can God be loving and yet be utterly devoted to “seeking his own” glory and praise and joy? How can God be for us if he is so utterly for himself?

The answer I propose is this: Because God is unique as an all-glorious, totally self-sufficient Being, he must be for himself if he is to be for us. The rules of humility that belong to a creature cannot apply in the same way to its Creator.

If God should turn away from himself as the Source of infinite joy, he would cease to be God. He would deny the infinite worth of his own glory. He would imply that there is something more valuable outside himself. He would commit idolatry.

This would be no gain for us. For where can we go when our God has become unrighteous? Where will we find a Rock of integrity in the universe when the heart of God has ceased to value supremely the supremely valuable? Where shall we turn with our adoration when God himself has forsaken the claims of infinite worth and beauty?

No, we do not turn God’s self-exaltation into love by demanding that God cease to be God.

Instead, we must come to see that God is love precisely because he relentlessly pursues the praises of his name in the hearts of his people. Our praise for his greatness is the capstone of our joy and his greatness.

John Piper 

A Gift from the King

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

EPHESIANS 2:8-9

 

PONDER THIS

Years ago, I heard a story of a woman who lived in a foreign country. This woman was poor, and she had a sick daughter who had said to her mother, “If I just had some fresh fruit to eat, I would feel better.” That mother had that in her mind as she went down the cobblestone streets, and as she was passing a very impressive mansion. She looked inside and saw a garden trellis with a gorgeous vine of grapes. Turning around, she saw the gardener. He admonished her, saying, “You must get out of here in a hurry. You have no business in this place!” She explained, “I just wanted to know if perhaps I could buy a bunch of grapes for my daughter who is sick.” But the gardener turned her away.

On her way out, however, the king, who had been watching, called out to her and asked about the situation. He then stepped in, instructing the gardener to hand him the shears. He said to the mother, “Hold out your apron.” She was overwhelmed, knowing the grapes were more than she could afford. But the king said, “You cannot buy these grapes. The only way that you can have them is to receive them as a gift from your king.”

The king’s actions in that story are very much like the grace of God. Grace is not bought by works of righteousness we have done, but according to His mercy. Grace is a gift of God—not of works lest any man should boast. The King's grace and the King's goodness are not for sale.

What are some ways we try to earn God’s grace? What happens when we do that?

What is special about God’s free gift of grace? Who do you need to tell about this gift?

PRACTICE THIS

Share with someone what you have appreciated about God’s gift of grace.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

August 22

Luke 19:39-48

[39] And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” [40] He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”

[41] And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, [42] saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. [43] For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side [44] and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”

[45] And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold, [46] saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a den of robbers.”

[47] And he was teaching daily in the temple. The chief priests and the scribes and the principal men of the people were seeking to destroy him, [48] but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were hanging on his words.

Titus 3:1-8

[1] Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, [2] to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. [3] For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. [4] But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, [5] he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, [6] whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, [7] so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. [8] The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people.

Proverbs 16:1-16

    [1] The plans of the heart belong to man,

        but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD. 

    [2] 

    All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes,

        but the LORD weighs the spirit. 

    [3] 

    Commit your work to the LORD,

        and your plans will be established. 

    [4] 

    The LORD has made everything for its purpose,

        even the wicked for the day of trouble. 

    [5] 

    Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the LORD;

        be assured, he will not go unpunished. 

    [6] 

    By steadfast love and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for,

        and by the fear of the LORD one turns away from evil. 

    [7] 

    When a man’s ways please the LORD,

        he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. 

    [8] 

    Better is a little with righteousness

        than great revenues with injustice. 

    [9] 

    The heart of man plans his way,

        but the LORD establishes his steps. 

    [10] 

    An oracle is on the lips of a king;

        his mouth does not sin in judgment. 

    [11] 

    A just balance and scales are the LORD’s;

        all the weights in the bag are his work. 

    [12] 

    It is an abomination to kings to do evil,

        for the throne is established by righteousness. 

    [13] 

    Righteous lips are the delight of a king,

        and he loves him who speaks what is right. 

    [14] 

    A king’s wrath is a messenger of death,

        and a wise man will appease it. 

    [15] 

    In the light of a king’s face there is life,

        and his favor is like the clouds that bring the spring rain. 

    [16] 

    How much better to get wisdom than gold!

        To get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver.

Esther 3

[1] After these things King Ahasuerus promoted Haman the Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, and advanced him and set his throne above all the officials who were with him. [2] And all the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate bowed down and paid homage to Haman, for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai did not bow down or pay homage. [3] Then the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate said to Mordecai, “Why do you transgress the king’s command?” [4] And when they spoke to him day after day and he would not listen to them, they told Haman, in order to see whether Mordecai’s words would stand, for he had told them that he was a Jew. [5] And when Haman saw that Mordecai did not bow down or pay homage to him, Haman was filled with fury. [6] But he disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone. So, as they had made known to him the people of Mordecai, Haman sought to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus.

[7] In the first month, which is the month of Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, they cast Pur (that is, they cast lots) before Haman day after day; and they cast it month after month till the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar. [8] Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom. Their laws are different from those of every other people, and they do not keep the king’s laws, so that it is not to the king’s profit to tolerate them. [9] If it please the king, let it be decreed that they be destroyed, and I will pay 10,000 talents of silver into the hands of those who have charge of the king’s business, that they may put it into the king’s treasuries.” [10] So the king took his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman the Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews. [11] And the king said to Haman, “The money is given to you, the people also, to do with them as it seems good to you.”

[12] Then the king’s scribes were summoned on the thirteenth day of the first month, and an edict, according to all that Haman commanded, was written to the king’s satraps and to the governors over all the provinces and to the officials of all the peoples, to every province in its own script and every people in its own language. It was written in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed with the king’s signet ring. [13] Letters were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces with instruction to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all Jews, young and old, women and children, in one day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods. [14] A copy of the document was to be issued as a decree in every province by proclamation to all the peoples to be ready for that day. [15] The couriers went out hurriedly by order of the king, and the decree was issued in Susa the citadel. And the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was thrown into confusion.

Esther 4

[1] When Mordecai learned all that had been done, Mordecai tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and he cried out with a loud and bitter cry. [2] He went up to the entrance of the king’s gate, for no one was allowed to enter the king’s gate clothed in sackcloth. [3] And in every province, wherever the king’s command and his decree reached, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting and weeping and lamenting, and many of them lay in sackcloth and ashes.

[4] When Esther’s young women and her eunuchs came and told her, the queen was deeply distressed. She sent garments to clothe Mordecai, so that he might take off his sackcloth, but he would not accept them. [5] Then Esther called for Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs, who had been appointed to attend her, and ordered him to go to Mordecai to learn what this was and why it was. [6] Hathach went out to Mordecai in the open square of the city in front of the king’s gate, [7] and Mordecai told him all that had happened to him, and the exact sum of money that Haman had promised to pay into the king’s treasuries for the destruction of the Jews. [8] Mordecai also gave him a copy of the written decree issued in Susa for their destruction, that he might show it to Esther and explain it to her and command her to go to the king to beg his favor and plead with him on behalf of her people. [9] And Hathach went and told Esther what Mordecai had said. [10] Then Esther spoke to Hathach and commanded him to go to Mordecai and say, [11] “All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that if any man or woman goes to the king inside the inner court without being called, there is but one law—to be put to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter so that he may live. But as for me, I have not been called to come in to the king these thirty days.”

[12] And they told Mordecai what Esther had said. [13] Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not think to yourself that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. [14] For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” [15] Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, [16] “Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.” [17] Mordecai then went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him.