Bible Study

9 And they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, 

10 and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth."  - Revelation 5:9-10

18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold,

19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you

21 who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. - 1 Peter 1:18-21

1 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.

2 And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed.

3 And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; - 2 Peter 2:1-4

13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.

14 And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.

15 So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds. - 2 Corinthians 11:13-15

Are You on the Brink?

BIBLE MEDITATION

“For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good Word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.”

Hebrews 6:4-6

 

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT

Have you ever been to the supermarket and over near the deli, they’re giving away little samples of cheese? It tastes so good! You love it and say, “Give me 3 pounds of that.” You carry it to the register, and the checker says, “That’ll be $30, please. It’s imported from lower Mongolia…very rare.” You say, “Well, just put it back. I know what it is and how it tastes, but I’m not going to pay that high a price.”

Our passage from Hebrews chapter 6 is very interesting. It talks about something that’s impossible. It’s totally 100% impossible for some people to be renewed to repentance and get right with God.

Who is this talking about? Those who at one time were enlightened, their eyes were opened. They’ve tasted the power of the Word of God.

These aren’t saved people who’ve lost their salvation, but people who come up to the brink of salvation. After they know the truth and have nibbled at it, with eyes wide open they say “No” to God, refuse Christ, trampled beneath their feet His precious blood, and as it were, crucify Jesus again. In so doing, they commit a greater sin than those who nailed Jesus to the cross at Calvary.

ACTION POINT

Here’s the good news: If you want to be saved, that means the Holy Spirit is working in you. Anyone who wants to be saved can be. Confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus. Believe in your heart God has raised Him from the dead. You will be saved (Romans 10:9). Who may come? “Whoever” (Revelation 22:17). You can come and take the water of life freely. Come to Jesus.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

The Power of a Superior Promise

I shall walk in freedom, for I have sought your precepts. (Psalm 119:45, my translation)

An essential element of joy is freedom. None of us would be happy if we were not free from what we hate and free for what we love.

And where do we find true freedom? Psalm 119:45 says, “I shall walk in freedom, for I have sought your precepts.”

The picture is one of open spaces. The word frees us from smallness of mind. “God gave Solomon . . . breadth of mind like the sand on the seashore” (1 Kings 4:29). The word frees us from threatening confinements. “He brought me out into a broad place” (Psalm 18:19).

Jesus says, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). The freedom he has in mind is freedom from the slavery of sin (John 8:34). Or, to put it positively, it is freedom for holiness.

The promises of God’s grace provide the power that makes the demands of God’s holiness an experience of freedom rather than fear and confinement. Peter described the freeing power of God’s promises like this: “Through [his precious and very great promises] you become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire” (2 Peter 1:4).

In other words, when we trust the promises of God, we sever the root of corruption and sinful desire by the power of a superior promise.

How crucial is the word that breaks the power of counterfeit pleasures! And how vigilant we should be to light our paths and load our hearts with the word of God!

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105). “I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you” (Psalm 119:11).

John Piper 

Bible Study

18 But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled.

19 Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out,

20 that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus,

21 whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago. - Acts 3:18-21

12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.

13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,

14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him. - Colossians 2:12-15

4 Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God.

5 For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death.

6 But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code. - Romans 7:4-6

24 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.

25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian,

26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.

27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

29 And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise. - Galatians 3:24-29

Family Worship Can Be Easy

BIBLE MEDITATION

“Therefore, you shall lay up these words of Mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.” Deuteronomy 11:18-19

 

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT

When your children are little, it’s always good to have family worship, to start the day with the Word of God. But how do you do it successfully?

Joyce and I tried all kinds of things with our kids for family worship. I want to give you one of the simplest, easiest forms of family worship. I don’t know why I didn’t discover it a long time ago. It’s such a blessing. You can still do this with your grandchildren, and with your grown children at breakfast when they’re with you.

We just let one of the little children old enough to read take the Bible and choose a proverb. They can choose it at random. If it’s the seventh day of the month, choose from the seventh chapter of Proverbs, and read a proverb, just one. Or, since Proverbs has 31 chapters—basically the same as the number of days in the month—they can choose a proverb from the corresponding day. And let that child explain what he thinks that proverb means. Then everyone else just talks about it for a few moments.

It is so simple. But when your children are learning those proverbs and having to think about what they mean, you’re giving them distilled wisdom, a nugget of truth they can carry with them to school and to work.

ACTION POINT

Give your children and grandchildren wise instruction, but let that instruction be joined with training. “Train up a child.”

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Live Confident in God’s Sovereign Power

The immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe . . . (Ephesians 1:19)

The omnipotence of God means eternal, unshakable refuge in the everlasting glory of God no matter what happens on this earth. And that confidence is the source and power of radical obedience to the call of God.

Is there anything more freeing, more thrilling, or more strengthening than the truth that God Almighty is your refuge — all day, every day, in all the ordinary and extraordinary experiences of life?

If we believed this, if we really let this truth of God’s omnipotence get hold of us, what a difference it would make in our personal lives and in our ministries! How humble and powerful we would become for the saving purposes of God!

The omnipotence of God means refuge for the people of God. And when you really believe that your refuge is the omnipotence of God Almighty, there is a joy and a freedom and a power that spills over in a life of radical obedience to Jesus Christ.

The omnipotence of God means reverence, recompense, and refuge for his covenant people.

I invite you to accept the terms of his covenant of grace: Turn from sin and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ; and the omnipotence of God Almighty will be the reverence of your soul, the recompense of your enemies, and the refuge of your life — forever.

John Piper 

Bible Study

But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death." - Revelation 21:8

42 "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.

43 And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire.

45 And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell.

47 And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell,

48 'where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.'

49 For everyone will be salted with fire.

50 Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another." - Mark 9:42-50

40 For the one who is not against us is for us.

41 For truly, I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ will by no means lose his reward. - Mark 9:40-41

And he said to them, "This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer." - Mark 9:29