1 & 2 Peter Bible Studies Dr. James Stone

HOW TO LOVE LIFE AND SEE GOOD DAYS
"Heirs Together of the Grace of Life"

Introduction

If a bird flies in the air and a fish swims in the water, what does a human being do and where? Also, how does the person do this "what" and "where." Contained in these three simple questions, the what, the where, and the how, lie the mystery of loving life and seeing good days for every individual. To be is the challenge of the human existence.

Every person, at some point in life, raises the ageless questions. "What is life really all about?" "Where can the essence of true living be found?" "How does one experience the good life?" It seems embedded within the framework of what it means to be a human being is the quest for the meaning of life.

The letters of Peter profoundly address those same inquiries. He summarized, "For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it. For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil" (1 Peter 3:10-12). Within these statements, the mystery of the meaning of life can be found.

The essence of the letters of Peter has as its foundation the ancient covenant between God and man. The descendants of Abraham, father of the faithful, were to live out their lives in the knowledge of God’s covenant with them: "I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great, and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed." (Gen. 12:2,3). To understand the intricacies of this covenant is to understand the simplicity of life. Although it seems to be clothed in mystery because so few enjoy the blessing, the covenant is, nevertheless, forthright in its proclamation of the essence of loving life and seeing good days.

Unfortunately, most people, including much of modern Christianity, struggle with the basic truth of life. They never seem to get past the simple, yet profound, challenge of grace and its revelation. The grace of God appears to be bestowed consistently in vain. Most people frustrate the grace of God that produces the complete, affirming, strong, and settled life by their own attempt to produce that life themselves. They are their own worst enemy.

Moreover, the basic formation of one’s existence is inevitably in the context of relationships. The individual person attempting to live in his perceived independence will resist the process by which life is always experienced. For any man to experience the life he desires, he must be drawn out from behind the barriers he has created for his self preservation. Fearing rejection, he has hidden the real essence of himself. He has entered into relationships, but usually only for his perceived needs. He seldom, if ever, experiences the perfecting supernatural relationship of love. He does not understand being "heirs together of the grace of life."

Finally, the simple truth of all creatures seems to be hidden to most people. Creation tells the same story over and over again: spring comes out of winter, sunrise comes out of midnight, and the bloom of the rose comes out of the planting of the seed. Since life requires death in the created world, the mind of man, and only the mind of man, can and will resist the seed-times of his life. The glory of the harvest, however, will come only for man when his mind lives its existence in innocence. Refusing to attempt to control the times and the seasons of life, the "just" live in their faith of the covenant of God.

Loving life and seeing good days are always the product of the workings of the Holy Spirit as man experiences the what, the where, and the how of life. The letters of Peter consistently proclaim these three noble truths of what it means to be a human being--what it means to be a Christian. Loving life and seeing good days are always in, by, and through the grace of God. Loving life and seeing good days are always in, by, and through the interaction of relationships. Loving life and seeing good days are always in, by, and through the innocence of mind. Peter declared that each of us are "heirs together of the grace of life."

Table of Contents
(Click on Each Session for an Introduction.)

The Letters of Peter were probably written around 62-64 A.D. to believers that were scattered throughout what we now know as Asia Minor. The believers were not only strangers in a foreign land, but they were also suffering for being a Christian. The theme of the letters is hope. The suffering, scattered strangers could have hope that the Lord would come and bring deliverance. They could love life and see good days in the midst of their suffering.
	Session 1:	Process of Election	Session 2:	Begotten Again
	Session 3:	Salvation of Your Soul	Session 4:	Loving Life
	Session 5:	Nature of the Beast	Session 6:	Priesthood of All Believers
	Session 7:	Heirs Together	Session 8:	Path of Life
	Session 9:	Living in Illusions	Session 10:	Fiery Trials
	Session 11:	Casting Your Cares	Session 12:	The Grace of God
	Session 13:	Making Your Election Sure	Session 14:	Destruction of the Error
Session 15: The Promise of His Coming

Order Letters of Peter Now

Session 1: Process of Election
(1 Peter 1:1-2)

The most dominant individual of the earliest followers of Jesus was Simon Peter, son of Jonah. Down through the centuries of church history, he has been recognized as one of the closest companions of Jesus. In the writings of the gospels, he stands out as the leader of the twelve apostles. His name heads every list of the twelve apostles recorded in the gospels.

Being a part of the inner circle, he witnessed Jesus raising a young girl from the dead. He saw the transfiguration of Jesus where Moses and Elias appeared. He also was present during the agonizing prayers of Jesus in Gethsemane. During the final passion week, he was sent with John to make preparation for the last meal of Jesus with his disciples.

His prominent position is seen not only by being the spokesman for the twelve but also by how much he monopolized the interaction between Jesus and the twelve. Often he, along with James and John, is singled out for intimate instructions and teachings directly from Jesus. His exploits are the central theme of the early history of the Christian church.

Living and working on the north shore of Galilee, he became the first apostle to be called into Christian service. He was the first apostle to recognize Jesus as the Messiah. He was the first apostle to witness the resurrection. He was the first to proclaim salvation to the Gentiles. He simply was the foremost personality of the early followers of Jesus.

There can be no better introduction to the letters of Peter than the account of the changing of his name. The account begins with Jesus raising a question to his disciples: "Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?" After the disciples gave various rumors of what they had heard, Jesus asked them a more specific question: "But whom say ye that I am?" Simon Peter spoke out, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." This confession that Jesus was the Messiah, according to Matthew, caused Jesus to rename Simon, Cephas (in Aramaic) or Peter (in Greek).

From Simon to Peter, the changing of the name is the essence of the truth that is revealed in the letters of Peter. The name Simon is of Hebrew origin meaning, "hearing" with its root meaning, "to hear intelligently." The name Peter means, "a rock." Peter would become a rock, "complete, confirmed, strong, and solid" (1 Peter 5:10), because he would hearken attentively to the things of heaven (1 Peter 1:2).

When Peter told Jesus that He was the Christ, Jesus responded to Peter with "Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Farther which is in heaven." Simon had heard from heaven, it would be the means by which his life would be changed. Although his life at this time does not altogether appear to be rock-like (he would yet deny Jesus), he knew there was no other place he could find "the words of eternal life" (John 6:68). He would continue to listen and he would become a rock of dependability. He would be blessed.

Moreover, it is this principle (hearing from heaven) by which the entire church would be built by God. After Jesus told Peter, "Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Farther which is in heaven," He added, "And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." It is upon this process, represented by that which was going on in the life of Peter that changed his name, the church is built. The church is not built upon Peter but upon that which made Peter the rock.

At this point in his life Peter was not rock-like, but kept hearing Jesus. He heard Him through his failure in the garden of Gethsemane. He continued to listen after he drew his sword and attempted to prohibit Jesus from being attested. His listening became more intense through the ordeal of denying that he knew Jesus. His hearing would became much more discerning after he "followed afar off" when Jesus was being led to His trial and crucifixion. It was in and through the trials of his life that he learned to hearken attentively to Jesus.

This is the message of the letters of Peter to believers in Christ who found themselves suffering, scattered, and strangers in a land they could not call home. He admonished them to "gird up the loins of [their] mind[s], be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." He wrote, "I have written briefly, exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God wherein ye stand."

CD 1 Is An Exposition of Verses 1:1-2

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Session 2: Begotten Again
(1 Peter 1:3-5)

With every morning, there is a new day. With every planting, there is a green tomato. With every spring, there is a fresh rosebud. With every forgiveness, there is anticipated love. God has begotten us again unto a living hope.

Being born again, again, and again (whenever the times and the seasons are right) throughout the journey of life is the blessed hope of every believer. As Peter will eventually say, "But the God of all grace who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered awhile, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle . . . ." (1 Peter 5:10). Living in the flow of the times and the seasons of life is the key of loving life and seeing good days (1 Peter 3:10).

Each of us has been called unto this eternal glory. The mystery of His eternal glory is found in God’s statement after the great flood of Noah’s day: "While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease" (Gen. 8:22). His eternal glory is that which flows through the seedtime and harvest, the cold and heat, the summer and winter, and the day and night.

It is not the actual seedtime or the actual harvest. For both the planting of the seed and the harvest of the fruit will perish. As Peter will say, "For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away" (1 Peter 1:24). The manifestation of the bloom of the rose, the fruit of the tomato, the love of a human being is definitely glorious. Each is produced by God, but they will eventually fall away. For His eternal glory is not the rose or the rose bush, nor the tomato or the tomato plant, nor the love or the human being. It is that which produces them, the Spirit of life — Jesus Christ.

For example, plant a tomato seed in the ground. The outer casing or husk of the seed must rot or decay before the essence of life within the seed can come forth with tender sprouts of life. One pushes up through the ground seeking the light of the sun. Another one pushing into the soil seeking water and nutrients. Without this struggle for light and water, it does not survive. This struggle is what it means to be a created entity. It is the fact of any created existence.

Eventually, the essence of the seed comes forth from the earth into the heaven producing a full grown tomato plant. Hanging on the branches of the plant are fully developed tomatoes. They are the glory of the tomato plant. The mature tomatoes are the fullest possible manifestation of life the tomato plant can experience.

Within each tomato are many seeds. Within each seed is the same life that was in the seed that was planted in the ground to start the cycle of life. Although individual tomato plants with their tomatoes live and die, the essence of life within the seed is eternal. This is the eternal glory to which we have been called.

God will not suffer His holy One to see corruption. Every time the seed (the outward manifestation of anything that has the essence of life within) falls to the ground and dies, it will bring forth abundant life. As Jesus stated, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit" (John 12:24). It brings forth fruit because the life within is eternal. It never dies.

There will be many plantings of the external manifestation or fruit of life in our journey through this world. Each planting or the process by which the outward man perishes always brings forth the harvest or the renewing of the inner essence of life. Knowing this, especially knowing that Jesus Christ was raised from his seedtime, we can be begotten again unto a living hope. In the midst of the distress of things dying, we can greatly rejoice for we know the harvest is coming. We will be kept by the power of God through faith unto the salvation of our souls.

CD 2 Is An Exposition of Verses 1:3-5

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Session 3: Salvation of Your Soul
(1 Peter 1:6-12)

When God formed man out of the dust of the earth and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, the created being became a living soul. The passion of God brought into being an entity with personal identity. He who was not a person became a person.

The created being now experiences a body. He is a flesh and blood body with a sensing network consisting of seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, and touching. He encounters his existence in the earthly world of material experiences. The created being lives in the created world.

He lives because he experiences the breath of life. He has been in-breathed with the Spirit of God. The physical body is animated by the quickening spirit of life from heaven. The created being has his existence by the essence of life itself, the Spirit of the Living God.

The breathing creature has been equipped to experience the life of God in the full spectrum of his senses. The flesh and blood of the physical world come together with the quickening Spirit of God from heaven in the soul of man. His soul (his psyche, his breath) is the wonder of created existence.

The soul is all that the mind of man is experiencing in the current moment of life. It is where the memories of the past and the anticipations of the future come together in the present moment of our thought processes. It can be overwhelmed by the earthly sensations (becomes fleshly) or the heavenly Spirit (becomes spiritual). The soul of the created being is where all of life comes together to be experienced.

Since the created being experiences life in a physical world through his senses, he is constantly exposed to the deception that life can be controlled by controlling the experiences of the senses. The problem with this misguided thinking is that the ultimate experiences of life cannot be controlled. The individual fleshly choices of man can somewhat control the surface particulars of the physical world (where one might live, what profession one might try to achieve, or how one might attempt to experience life). The actual encounter of those particulars cannot produce the ultimate life that man desires. The loving of life and the seeing of good days (1 Peter 3:10) can be experienced in them, but it cannot be produced by them.

Moreover, the good life encountered in the moment of the experience of the physical is destined to fall. Although the moment produces the rose, the tomato, and the love, the moment must pass away. The glory of man experiencing life in the physical world is always subject to emptiness. For the eternal glory of God is not the rose, the tomato, or the love, but it is that which produces them.

The tomato seed is planted and germinates. Eventually, the new tomato plant will produce new tomatoes. The mature tomato hanging on the tomato plant is the glory of the tomato plant. It is this glory of the tomato plant that will eventually fall to the ground. For if it does not, there could never be another tomato. The seed within the new tomato must again be set free to experience the continual glory of the life within the seed.

It is this passing away of those moments of glory that produces the susceptibility of the hells of our lives. The dying of those moments cannot be avoided. As long as the earth remains, there will always be the seedtime, the cold, the winter, and the night. It is not the removal of them, but rather deliverance from the effect of them that rescues our souls. The memories of the past and the anticipation of the future coming together in the current moment of our lives can be controlled by Jesus Christ. He can bring salvation to our souls. For there will also always be the harvest, the heat, the summer, and the day.

CD 3 Is An Exposition of Verses 1:6-12

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Session 4: Loving Life
(1 Peter 1:13-25)

The Morning Glory, a simple flower, gives to man the beauty of experiencing and loving life. As the dawning rays of the sun penetrates its surrounding, the petals of the flower open ever expanding to its glow. The increasing warmth and brightness of the sun causes the flower to raise its head, spread its petals, and reach up to its source of life. Eventually, the flower will stand as erect and as exposed as it can to take in the full effect of the sun. Through the power of the sun, the glory of the flower is perfected.

Since the beginning of time, however, the night has always followed the day. The sun will rise, but the sun will set. As the light of the day begins to diminish, the petals of the Morning Glory begin to draw in unto itself. With the passing of dusk and the approach of midnight, the flower bends its head, gathers its petals, and prepares for the night. Eventually, the flower will bow in perfect submission to its creator. This humble submission in the midnight is also the glory of the flower.

The Morning Glory, without the capability to observe and to make judgment on what is occurring in its life, lives the days and the nights of its existence in simplistic harmony and in perfect glory to God. Peter also shared this same truth throughout his letters. He quoted the Psalmist to illustrate the simplistic, yet profoundly challenging, guide to loving life and experiencing the glory of God:

What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good? Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile. Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it. The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry. The face of the LORD is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles. The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all. He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken. Evil shall slay the wicked: and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate. The LORD redeemeth the soul of his servants: and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate. (Ps 34:12-22).

Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but none of the righteous that trust in the Lord shall be desolate, shall perish, shall lose the love of life. There will always be afflictions in life for bad things (the seedtime, the cold, the winter, and the night) happen to everyone. It is only when the tongue becomes evil (based in bad thoughts) and the lips speak guile (words that deceive or are fraudulent) do the love of life and good days cease to exist. Yet, when the righteous (those whose tongue is not evil and their lips do not speak guile) cry, the Lord hears and delivers them (brings salvation) out of all their troubles.

The Lord is always near to them that are of a broken heart. The Lord is always close to them whose heart is bursting from the experiencing of bad things in their lives. Conversely, the Lord is not near (He is always near, but the effect of Him is not near.) when one is in denial. Accepting the consequences of our mortality will always produce a broken heart. But, the broken heart allows the Lord to be near to bring deliverance. He always saves those of a contrite (not deceiving or fraudulent) spirit.

The Morning Glory, again, shows us the simplistic, yet profoundly challenging, answer to the deliverance, the salvation of our souls. When the diminishing rays of sunlight are causing the petals of the flower to withdraw back into itself and its head begins to droop downward, the Morning Gory does not resist the abatement--the diminishing glory of the sunlight. It cannot because it does not have the capability to observe and to pass judgment on what is happing to it.

Herein lies the difference between man and the rest of creation. Because we can think about what is happing to us, our love for life and the experiencing of good days are often destroyed. As the circumstances of life (the afflictions) come our way, we observe what is happening, pass judgment on it, and declare that we do not deserve what we are experiencing. Evil words of deception proceed out of our mouth that run the gamut from depressing resignation to belligerent defiance.

These words and thoughts, which war against our souls, produce the hells of our lives. We are lost in the evil imaginations of our minds. What should be the glory of man has become our shame. We now need salvation--deliverance from a mind out of control.

CD 4 Is An Exposition of Verses 1:13-25

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Session 5: Nature of the Beast
(1 Peter 2:1-10)

When Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon in the first century before Christ, fell from the glory, honor, and brightness of the kingdom God had given to him, his thinking was changed from the heart of a man to the heart of a beast. The thinking processes of his mind changed. The base of his understanding, his soul, shifted completely. He lost the capacity to observe, to comprehend, and to enjoy the glory, honor, and brightness of his existence. He became driven by the simple motivations and drives of an animal. Although he was still the king of Babylon, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, he experienced life as a lowly beast of the field.

The story of the fall of Nebuchadnezzar is the story of every man. It seems that every man in the course of experiencing life loses sight of the simple truth that God gives and rules the domain of which he lives. God directs the course of events that transpires in every man’s life. When any man perceives, as Nebuchadnezzar, that the world of his existence has been built by the might of his personal power for his glory and honor, he, too, will fall from the glory, the honor, and the brightness of the kingdom given by God. When man toils and works at experiencing life (attempting to control the times and the seasons of life), it has been predetermined by God that man will struggle in life. He that seeks to save his life will lose it. He will fall from the wonder of human existence to act as a beast of the field.

When man becomes beastly, he attempts to live life in the nature of the beast. He becomes animalistic in his motivations to experience life. All the complexities of intellect, emotion, and will that enable man to observe, comprehend, and enjoy the kingdom given of God are reduced to three simple drives that dominate his thinking. The nature of the beast puts man into the bondage of survival, procreation, and territorial rights.

Becoming as a beast of the field, man’s primary purpose in life becomes simply to survive. Everything that transpires in life is designed by the man who attempts to control his life--to perpetuate his personal existence. He is driven continually to hunt for food and for shelter--for things that will meet his basic need to survive. This hunt for things dominates his life.

Becoming as a beast of the field, man’s motivation for survival is fueled by his procreative drives. He becomes consumed not only to perpetuate his existence by fathering and mothering children but by the greater urge to create life. The beastly ability and motivation to perpetuate its kind becomes in fallen man the hunger to create the happenings of life itself. Man becomes consumed with the notion and the attempt that he can make life happen.

Becoming as a beast of the field, the drive for survival will force man to protect the things and the happenings that he perceives is his life. He will become territorial. He will mark the domain of his survival--the place where he experiences his life. He marks them because he must protect them. They are his rights. He becomes controlled by the self-preservation of his existence.

When man falls from the glory and wonder of the kingdom given of God (by grace, through relationships, and in innocence), there is nothing else he can experience but the world of the nature of the beast. Working to make life happen by the exercise of his own thinking, he becomes beastly in all of his relationships. When the world he has created by his own effort is threatened, he will attack with malice, guile, deceit, jealousy, and defamation. He will strike out to destroy all that appears to challenge his survival. Having his heart changed from the heart of a man to the heart of a beast, there is nothing else he can do but attempt to protect the domain which he has created to give himself purpose and meaning to life. He has fallen from the kingdom given of God to a domain that is now controlled by the nature of the beast.

CD 5 Is An Exposition of Verses 2:1-10

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Session Six: Priesthood of All Believers
1 Peter 2:11-25

Most, if not all, of the animal kingdom will give their life to protect their young, to protect the survival of their kind, to protect the product of their creation of life. It is not a conscious choice they make within their own power. It has been embedded within their makeup by the God who created them. They merely respond to a stimulus that threatens their existence. In a real sense, they will die attempting to protect the life they have created. It is the way of the nature of the beast.

On the other hand, God was willing, by choice, to give up His life of glory, of honor, and of power not in an attempt to protect His domain but purely for the sake of the domain of others. God, the Son, refused to hold on to the life that was His by the nature of whom He was. He took on the likeness and fashion of man to suffer the death of man for others. Although the nature of the beast is to die to protect his domain from others, the nature of God will expose his domain for others. He came not defending himself, and he was rejected, but others were saved.

Since created man has both the nature of the beast and the nature of God within his make up, the challenge of life becomes very simple. Either, we will live life willing to die to protect our domain from others, or we will live life not resisting God in his exposure of our domain for others. To live for ourselves (protecting our survival and our rights) is beastly, but to live for others (not defending ourselves and open for rejection) is divine.

Living for others is not a conscious choice we make. It has been embedded in our make up by the God who created us. It is in the nature of God that dwells within us. The priesthood of all believers occurs simply because each of us was created to experience the nature of God. The nature of God that is willing to die not to protect his domain from others but willing to die to expose his domain for the sake of others.

Since all are priests by the simple fact of being created by God to experience His life in relationships, this felt need for others (be it pure or corrupt) is experienced by every human being. When the nature of the beast (the protection of what we have created in an attempt to live life) rises to power, we will attempt to serve our priesthood by safeguarding our own survival. It means we will use others in an attempt to experience the life we have created in our minds.

For example, are we "prophets," "ministers," "teachers," or "intercessors" because it gives us purpose and meaning for life? Are we priest, "official ministers or worship leaders in our world who represent a people before God and conduct various rituals to atone for their sins," because it is a means of our survival and an existence we will die to protect? If so, it is a priesthood (serving the felt need to connect to others) but it is not a holy priesthood. It is corrupted because we are using the object of our priesthood, other people, for the survival of our created way of life.

The true priesthood of God takes on the nature of God. The nature of God within man that propels him to not resist what God is doing in his life, transforms him into the image of His Son Jesus Christ. That transformation process occurs in the mystery and secret of life, the willingness to be taken down by God to be raised to newness of life for others.

The willingness to experience that process is not a conscious choice. It is the given fact of everything created. The free will of man is not that he has freedom to choose for this priesthood to happen. Being taken down for the needs of others is and always will be that which is happening because it is an established fact of creation. The world in which we live will continually be challenged by the needs of others. Our world will be put down continually because it is the nature of everything created—except the seed falls to the ground and dies new life cannot come.

The free will of man enables him to resist that process in his mind. Man cannot resist the sovereign power of God. However, in the realm of imagination, which is not real and has no validity, man creates his own world in which he attempts to control his life. In that realm, the fantasy world of make believe, man can resist God and prohibit the process of being taken down. Thus, when he faces trouble on every side, perplexities, persecutions, and being put down, he will resist. In his mind (which will be expressed in words), he will fight for the survival of his way of life and protect his rights with malice, guile, deceit, jealousy, and defamation. He is still being put down, but he satisfies himself that he has kept himself standing. He has defended his actions and change (new life) does not occur.

The priest of God does not resist what God is doing and actually submits to the other by suffering the affliction that is being put on him. Forasmuch as Christ suffered for us in the flesh that we might be saved, we arm ourselves with the same mind that those which are causing us to suffer might be saved. It is the nature of God who dwells within us.

CD 6 Is An Exposition of Verses 2:11-25

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Session Seven: Heirs Together
1 Peter 3:1-7

It is within the realm of a seed falling to the ground to die in order that it may be raised to newness of life that the challenge of life exists. When man is taken to the end of his current existence, he is at the germinating point of life. The circumstances which he is now facing bring his soul into the balance of heaven or hell. What occurs in this moment of judgment for man determines what he experiences in his life.

Since man has the Spirit of God dwelling within him, he has the opportunity to experience the essence of the life of God. Although a flesh and blood earthly being, his existence can still be dominated by the glory, the honor, and the power of the heavenly realm. His earthliness of corruption, dishonor, weakness, and naturalness can be controlled by the heavenliness of incorruption, of glory, of power, and of spiritualness. It can be heaven on earth because he experiences the heavenly kingdom of God.

Since man is a fleshly earthly being, he also has the opportunity to experience an existence of his mind being separated from the controlling influence of the Holy Spirit. It is the true tale of the fall of man from experiencing the glory of the heavenly realm to live in the hells of a mere earthly existence. The satanic power of man’s mind out of control drives him to an inferno of life alienated from the glory of God. Man, once the brightness of a morning star now cut down to the ground, spends the days of his life in the abyss of paradise lost.

This point of germination, one’s current realm of perceived existence being brought to an end by the intrusion of another person, is the moment of judgment that all men must face. Every man will find himself continually at the crossroads of defending his current existence from the encumbrance of others or willingly experience the death of that existence through the control of his mind by the Spirit of God. The dying of this old existence by the turbulence of another will always bring newness of life between the two participants. Refusing or resisting that intrusion always brings greater agitation of separation between the two. Every man stands before the judgment seat of Christ in these challenging moments of life and of death.

The successful navigation of these confrontational moments are so critical that Jesus said, ". . . fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." It is never that which we experience physically that destroys our souls. It is always how we are responding to those physical incitements that devour our peace. It is the reaction to this stimulus that governs whether or not the satanic power of an uncontrolled mind drives us into the consuming fires of hell.

Peter recognized this great truth by not only stating that the scattered strangers should "gird up the loins of their mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace, that is to be brought unto [them] at the revelation of Jesus Christ," but he also admonished them six times to recognize the dangers of going through the germination process, the death and resurrection of the soul. It is in the heat of a confrontation that the temptation to frustrate grace occurs. The beastly nature of man rises up to protect the survival of the life now being experienced.

Peter told those who trust in Christ, "And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your so-journing here in fear." He wrote, "Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king." The domestic servants were to be subject to [their] masters with all fear." He also admonished the wives to let their husbands see their "chaste conversation coupled with fear" and that they, "as long as [they did] well, and [were] not afraid with any amazement," were descendants of holy women who also trusted God. Finally, Peter told the foreigners in a strange land to "be not afraid of their terror (those who would confront), neither be troubled; but . . . be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh [them] a reason of the hope that is in [them] with meekness and fear."

Jesus said, "Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." The multi-grain wheat stalk cannot come forth without the planting of the seed. The new morning comes only after the midnight. The freshness of new life in a relationship comes forth only after the perishing of the old existing lifestyles.

Those who trust in the Lord for the resurrection of new life know the temptation to resist the planting of the seed, the temptation to not give up any ground in the heat of the confrontation. In the midst of these challenging moments of heaven or hell, the true believer in Christ passes the time of this journey through death and resurrection in apprehension. Although he approaches the throne of grace with boldness, he nevertheless understands the weakness of his flesh and in fear of that weakness cries out for the Spirit of God to be his strength. He knows he has an "inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven . . ." only if he is "kept by the power of God through faith" unto the death and resurrection of his soul. It is the greatest challenge of life, but it produces the greatest reward of man’s existence — "heirs together of the grace of life."

CD 7 Is An Exposition of Verses 3:1-7

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Session Eight: Path of Life
1 Peter 3:8-22

The original formation of man contains the essence of all things. The way of life revealed in that event is the reason Jesus said, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit" (John 12:14). The experience of that first creation is the basis of why David said, "you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay. You have made known to me the path of life" (Ps 16: 10-11). This occurrence of the original beginning of mankind is the heart of Paul’s statement, "the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air" (1 Thess 4:16-17). The fundamental essence of that preeminent happening for man is the reason Peter said, "Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake" (1 Peter 2:13). The secret and mystery of life lies in the original constitution of man. It is what it means to be a human being.

In the beginning, "the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul" (Gen 2:7). God also created an enchanting garden and placed the first man in it to work and to watch over it. It was a place of plentiful supply for the man: gold, precious jewels, food, water, purpose, and fellowship with God. It was paradise on earth.

Yet, something was missing. Although living in a perfect environment with all of his physical needs being provided, man must have felt an inner longing for something more, a sense of fulfillment that he was lacking. For God passed judgment on this flawless work of creation and said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him" (Gen. 2:18). And the Lord God, ". . . made he a woman, and brought her unto the man" (Gen. 2:22).

With the word alone meaning, "separation or solitary," the man seemed to be incomplete (in part, not whole) without a second person to perfect him. It is significant to understand that God does not say to the individual man that he was created in the image and likeness of God. It is only after the second person is created and presented to the first person that God blesses his creation and calls it good. The first person, the second person, and the relationship between them are now said to be created in the image and the likeness of God.

The essence of all things for every person is that which involves the person, another person, and the interaction between them. Everything else in life (all the complexities that make up the total spectrum of one’s life) comes out of this basic encounter of life. Manage this fundamental experience and life becomes not only under control but is enjoyed and blessed.

The essentials of how to manage this moment of life, which are the foundational blocks on which all of life exists, are given in the original formation of man. The first man existed. He had been created, but he was incomplete, unfulfilled. The second person had to be created. However, the second person created like the first person, an autonomous, free-standing person would mean nothing towards the fulfillment of the image and likeness of God. It would simply be two people, alone, occupying approximately the same space trying to experience something that is impossible to experience without the path of life.

Before the second person could be created, the first person had to be taken down, put to sleep, and die as an autonomous, free-standing person. Once asleep, God took out of the first person that which would eventually become the second person. In other words, the ground of being for the second person was that which God took out of the first person. Once the second person was created by God, she was then brought back to the first person and presented to him as the aid, the helper, or the ground of being for the completion or fulfillment of the first person. Through the creative power of God, the second person is made all that she can be through the first person which, in turn, when presented back to the first person, makes him all that he can be.

The workings of the original formation of mankind are the building blocks of everything that exists in what it means to be a human being. This process controls everything in the human experience. Living in harmony with this divinely created working process will produce a love for life and the experiencing of good days.

CD 8 Is An Exposition of Verses 3:8-22

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Session Nine: Living in Illusions
1 Peter 4:1-11

Every created entity came into being when the Spirit of life quickened (enlivened) it into existence. Living life, however, is not a one time fix. God does not bestow life upon man and then walk away to see what man will do with his new found existence.

Since only God is life, creation has to experience God continually to continue to experience life. Remove the Spirit of life from the body that is experiencing life and the body soon decays into the nothingness of its original dust. Since the Son of God is "the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world" (John 1:9), every man experiences life because he is lighted continually or experiences God continually.

The problem is not that man does not experience God, for to live is to experience God. The problem is man does not know, or worse, refuses to honor God for his life. The ignorant and foolish man states that God is not the measure and the life of all things, he, himself, is.

Although all men continually experience and live their life according to the outworking of the will of God, man often finds himself in opposition to that will in the world of his imagination. The will of God is still being done, for no man can change the sovereignty of God (Rom. 9:19,20), but in the mind of man, the make believe world of his fantasies, he believes he controls his own life. God still produces the life from heaven, but because man is in his mind he experiences the hells of his own created world--his imaginations.

Man begins his journey to this chamber of death and hell with the illusion that he can (by the power of his choice) decide what is good and what is evil. He believes he can control the times and the seasons of life. The first illusion of man is always the belief that he can make life happen himself.

The consequences of this illusion produce the reality that although he is in control of his life there is something missing. No matter what he chooses to do, for some reason the sense of fulfillment or completeness does not occur. He begins to live by playing roles, hiding the real self of what he has become, and readily blaming others for his misery.

The consequences of this first illusion should be sufficient to cause him to cry out to God for his salvation. The pain and the agony of no meaningful, lasting relationships should bring him back to God. But, it does not. For there is something within man that refuses to give up the control he perceives he has.

He knows something is wrong, but to fix the fault of the first illusion, he creates a second illusion. He begins to believe that he can take the things of God (although he gives no credit to God for them) and by his choices and efforts make the good life occur. He believes that he can mix the grace of God (which produces all things in the world) and the laws of man (the attempt to do as he thinks he should) and produce or force the issues that should exist between people.

He now lives in the illusion that he can force relationships to occur. He craves meaningful relationships, as he understands them, and he attempts to make them happen. He will either create a false world of illusions about himself to make himself something he is not. Or, selfishly scheme interactions to get what he thinks he needs from the other person. The end result is the same — corrupted, dysfunctional relationships.

The consequences of this second illusion should be sufficient to cause him to cry out to God for his salvation. The hells of his life should bring him back to God. But, it does not. For there is something within man that refuses to give up the control that he perceives he has.

He knows something is wrong, but to the fix the fault of the second illusion he creates a third illusion. Unable to experience the ultimate life of meaningful relationships, and finding himself in the misery of everyday life, he turns to the world of make believe. The imaginations, the dreams, and the fantasies he creates in his own mind become the means by which he attempts to experience life. So much so that he now finds himself controlled by a world that his own mind has created. Trying desperately to experience life in those dreams, he becomes in bondage to these same dreams.

Living in this world of being controlled by the endless, hopeless fulfilling of his own fantasies will eventually bring him to such corruption and violence that God has to step in to destroy that world. God will eventually, after much longsuffering, bring everyone to the end of themselves. Once the individual is out of control of the world he thought he could control, his cry finally rises to God in agony, "Lord, save me, I am perishing."

CD 9 Is An Exposition of Verses 4:1-11

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Session Ten: Fiery Trials
1 Peter 4:12-19

There is a reoccurring theme that runs through the Word of God from Genesis to Revelation, from the beginning of our lives to the coming disclosure of Jesus in our lives. It has its roots in the story of Adam and Abraham, the fathers of all humanity and all believers. It has its fruition in the visions of John, how Jesus is made known to all people. It is the essence of all things spiritual, the hope of all things physical. It is the real story of the Bible, not just historical events and future anticipations but the present essence of your life. Everything that is contained within its pages from Genesis to Revelation is the story of your life.

The events of the Bible are not just history. They are real events that occurred to real people in the past, but they are also the same events that occur in your life. You are in a garden of Eden with the serpent that whispers its deception. You are in the wandering of an Abraham in a place that can not be called home. You are in a deliverance out of the bondage of Egypt through the struggles of the wilderness existence to the promised land. You are in the sufferings of Christ and the glory that follows. The reality of all that has been recorded in the Bible is the story of your life even in this present moment.

Abraham was given the promise that of him a great nation would be made. Through his seed all families of the earth would be blessed. He was also told to pass through a land that God would give to his descendants. Abraham was 75 years old when God entered into this covenant with him.

For 100 years, Abraham journeyed through the land with no place to call home. He died at the age of 175. He did not see his descendants inherit the land that God promised to him. He did not experience the joy of seeing all the nations of the earth being blessed because of him. As for the specifics of the covenant being fulfilled in his lifetime, they were not. If he lived his life in anticipation for the physical realities of the covenant, his life would have to be judged a miserable failure.

Yet, his life was not a failure. He lived the days of his life and "died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years." He was blessed of God in his lifetime, enjoying life because he did not get trapped into the expectations of future glories. He was not working to make something happen. He was living in the glory of the moment (the good and the bad) of his life, knowing that God was bringing about what He said He would do. Abraham is called the father of the faithful because he lived the days of his life resting in the faithful Creator.

God spoke to Moses and said, "Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering . . . And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them . . . According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle." After giving Moses further instructions concerning the things of the sacred place, God said, "And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was shown thee in the mount."

The physical temple that Moses built was constructed from the pattern which was the true temple "which the Lord pitched, and not man" as the writer of Hebrews stated. Christ, the greater High Priest, did "not [enter] into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us."

Peter added, "Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ." Because we wander through this physical land not with our eyes set upon future glories, but, like Abraham, experiencing God in the moment, our hope is not in the building or rebuilding of a physical temple. Our hope is in the true temple not built with hands, " as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ."

In this very moment, in every moment of your life, you are "to present [to stand beside, i.e. to exhibit] your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." (Rom. 12:1). In the true temple, in the heavenly sanctuary, sacrifices are continually being offered, each moment of our lives, by Jesus Christ, in Jesus Christ. When the suffering of life comes, be it the pain of the death of our physical bodies or the pain of the death of our dependency upon physical relationships, the spiritual sacrifices of the true temple of God are being offered. The interactions that continually transpire between people, all people, are the sacred things of this sacred temple.

Each moment of our lives, we are continually offered as spiritual sacrifices. Our physical bodies, even as we experience life, are continually dying. In our relationships, even though we are experiencing life in them, we are dying to our autonomous, self-serving interactions if we are to experience the glory of the relationships. Jesus Christ is the high priest of this true sanctuary because He is always there to perform the sacrifices as the faithful Creator brings about the events of life that enable us to experience the joy of His life: "Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator."

CD 10 Is An Exposition of Verses 4:12-19

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Session Eleven: Casting All Your Care
1 Peter 5:1-8

"The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever."

In the moments of your life, do you find yourselves lying down in green pastures and enjoying the still waters? Is your soul continually restored walking in the ways of righteousness? Does the valley of the shadow of death overwhelm you with fear? Can you sit down and eat in the presence of those who are out to destroy you? Are you "jumping for joy" in your walk of life? Do you feel that goodness and mercy are following you around?

A god, who cannot walk with you through the valley of the shadow of death, who cannot comfort you in the midst of the calamities of life, is a god who is useless in life. A god, who cannot speak peace to your soul when it seems all of hell is burning within, is a god who has no power to quell the turbulent ranting of the mind. A god, who cannot provide a path through the terrors of the night, is a god whose arm is too short and his salvation too impotent. The question of questions should be raised, "Who or what really controls your life?"

Where is the Lord God of the covenant? Who will not hide His face from us but hide us in His face, His countenance. As Peter quoted David, "I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved: Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance." Where is the Lord God that is our strength, that enables us not to be shaken, that makes our heart rejoice, that makes our tongue glad, that enables our flesh to rest in hope? How does God put us and keep us in the right frame of mind?

Jesus said of Peter that he would become like a rock by the continual hearing of the revelation of God. The prophet said, through the Spirit of Christ, that the Lord God of the covenant "will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on him." The mind that is sustained by God walks through the valley of the shadow of death and fears no evil. "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." He "shall not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day: Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation." Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever."

Dwelling in the house of the Lord, it is only our eyes that see the plight of the wicked. When the Lord is always before the believer’s face, his mind will be sustained by the Lord himself. He will not waver, will not be rocked or toppled. He will "be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper." In the "presence of the Lord is fulness of joy [and] at His right hand there are pleasures for evermore."

You know that the exact same afflictions, sufferings, that you are experiencing are experienced by everyone that is in the world, "But the God of all grace, who hath called [you] unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you." It is to Jesus that all glory and dominion is given for only Jesus can take you through the suffering to be completed, affirmed, strengthened, and solid as the Rock of which He is. Your name can also be changed, like Peter, from the one who is hearing to the one who has become a rock.

CD 11 Is An Exposition of Verses 5:1-8

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Session 12: The True Grace of God
1 Peter 5:7-14

The earth and the sky set the limits whether man lives or dies. Loving life is found only in simple sighs. It is the struggle of every age, the search of every sage. It is as close to you as when the baby cries.

It was there in the garden of Eden amid the great trees. It was there when the first brothers decided to disagree. The flood came because of it and Noah was saved through it. Abraham wandered through the land in its control both in his seasons of greatness and his moments of weakness. Moses identified it with his blessings and his cursings to those of the promised land. David composed great psalms but also wept bitter tears when overcome by it. Jesus fought with it in the wilderness temptations. Paul was continually pricked by its thorns. Peter rose and fell as he encountered it. Every man comes to his moment of destiny through the essence of it.

The simple flower of the Morning Glory proclaims how this challenge of life can be conquered. As the dawning rays of the sun penetrates its surrounding, the petals of the flower open to the glow of the sunlight. The increasing warmth and brightness of the sun causes the flower to raise it head, spread its petals, and reach up to its source of life. Through the power of the sun, the glory of the flower is perfected.

As the sun comes forth to bring the full glory of the flower, the setting of the sun causes the flower to respond in diminishing shades of glory. As the light of the day begins to fade, the petals of the Morning Glory begin to draw in unto itself. With the passing of dusk and the approach of midnight, the flower bends its head, gathers its petals, and prepares for the night. Eventually, the flower will bow in perfect submission.

Throughout the day and the night, the summer and the winter, the cold and the heat, and the seedtime and the harvest, this simple flower lives the duration of its life in perfect glory to God. The Morning Glory, without the capability to observe and to make judgment on what is occurring in its life, lives its entire existence in simplistic harmony with its Creator. In the innocence of its being, it stands in the beauty of which it was created.

Man, with his capacity to observe and pass judgment, often finds himself not in the simplicity beauty of his creation but in the intricacies of a fallen nature. This challenge for man is always the ". . . bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in [his] body. For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh" (2 Cor. 4:10-11). As God uses the circumstances of life to bring to an end any physical dependency, he brings all men to the moment of judgment--the germination of new life.

Every man finds himself at this judgment seat of Christ in which his soul is bought into the balance of heaven or hell. By not resisting the dying of the old existence, the judgment of Christ will always bring newness of life. As Peter stated, "But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you" (1 Pet. 5:10). In a world of trouble, perplexities, persecutions, and being put down, the believer can be solid as a rock (completed, confirmed, strong, and have a firm foundation) because he has experienced the heavenly. He has been raised to newness of life.

Refusing or resisting what God is doing by the circumstances of life, the judgment of Christ will always bring damnation to life. As Peter stated, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour" (1 Pet. 5:8). Once the mind begins to escalate its worrisome thoughts over current circumstances, the soul becomes intoxicated with anxiety. The mind runs out of control and "sleep won’t come the whole night through." Instead of living in the peace and rest of a sound mind controlled by the Holy Spirit, the soul is being devoured by the imaginations of the mind. It is overwhelmed by its own created world of destruction.

The circumstances that bring the good and the circumstances that bring the bad are the same circumstances. The living of life will always produce in everyone the ". . . bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus . . ." and everyone will always be "delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake." "But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you." By the true grace of God, the believer can come through this moment of destiny, the germination of new life, with the cry, "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death has been conquered by the grace of God in the innocence mind.

CD 12 Is An Exposition of Verses 5:7-14

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Session 13: Making Your Election Sure
2 Peter 1:1-11

Just about a thousand years ago there was a flourishing empire in Central America. The native Indians had reached a level of civilization few have achieved even today. A strong core of religious creed and ritual served them well as a bond of unity and of strength for several hundred years. As the era progressed, the fervency of their beliefs and practices gradually subsided. Today, all that is left of a once prosperous people is a massive, open-air temple--the empty, lifeless remains of once their focal point of civil life and spiritual worship.

Like the Coliseum in Rome, the modern college football stadium, and the colossal cathedral of today, the physical temple of this vanished people speaks volumes to all who desire to hear. The oval shaped grounds surrounded by huge blocks of chiseled stone was divided lengthwise by a great wall. It served as an imposing barrier to set apart the meeting place of the common people from the dwelling place of the holy ones--their god and his servants.

With a continual rhythmic beat of music, the typical service consisted of two main events: the appearance of the presence of their god and the ultimate act of dedication and commitment of man. As the music played the emotions of the people, the grand entrance of their god was being prepared. For throughout the towering wall of separation were cleverly designed tunnels that permitted the presence of their god to materialize seemingly from nowhere. When the worship of the people had reached a sufficient level of reverence or frenzy, there would be a loud noise, a puff of smoke, and suddenly a man would appear near the top of the wall dressed in all the grandeur of godly garments. The presence of god had come into their meeting and immediately the people fell prostrate to the ground.

Now, the service of man could begin. Over the period of years, a unique form of the ultimate act of commitment had evolved. The true believer had to win the right to give his life to his god. The prize would go only to the one who had demonstrated among his peers superior talent and zeal.

Superficial rights of passage, ritualistic observances, which have often being used by man to differentiate the good from the bad, had given way to a more simplistic form of dedication. During the course of the actual religious meeting, the final two participants, who had already eliminated all other aspirants, would engage in an athletic contest of skill and endurance. Only the most perfect specimen of their culture could make it to this moment of glory.

In the atmosphere of religious fervency, fanatical adulation, and emotional ecstasy, the thrill of that victory would be indescribable to lesser mortals. The ego of the winner would be pushed to its ultimate glory. With his god looking down upon him and the people chanting his name, the victory march must have been a triumphant hour of ultimate exaltation.

It is not known how long the frenzy would last. Eventually, the victor would be led to his destiny. Probably, at the signal of his god, he would be placed on a gently sloping table with his head resting in its cradle. With the rhythmic beat of the music and the chanting of the people, the final moment of dedication and commitment had come. The strong, swift slice of the sword separated his head from his body. The life blood of his being gushed downward by the still beating heart into a cup--a chalice prepared especially for this moment.

The priest, taking the chalice, turns and raises it to his god as the ultimate act of worship--the ultimate sacrifice of man to appease his god. They prayed that it would be sufficient so their god would bring the rain and make the crops grow. They hoped that it would be sufficient so their god would protect them from their enemies. They had given their all to invoke his blessing.

The blood of a life willingly sacrificed to his god is the best that man can offer. What more can he do but give his life for his god. It is the supreme act of any religion.

Has there ever been a group of people more dedicated to their god? Has there ever been a more appropriate and worthwhile sacrifice to god?

What is it that separates one religion from another? Is the level of dedication and commitment a religion demands the distinguishing mark? Is it the object or the god that is worshiped that separates the various religions?

Since all men are in some way religious (religion being defined as what man does to and for god, be it humanistic or deistic, knowingly or unknowingly), it is impossible for man, without the revelation of Christ, to grasp anything but a religious view of life. The mind of man has to be transformed completely before the Christian’s view of man’s relationship with God can even begin to be understood. The focal point of Christianity is uniquely different from all religion systems in the world.

The realm of God can be experienced by man but man has absolutely nothing to do with the production of it. There is not any responsibility or part to play in the production of the good life. Like the tomato plant, the rose bush, and the apple tree, man simply experiences what it means to be a human being by the outworking of the grace of God.

Unlike the tomato plant, the rose bush, and the apple tree, man can think about what is occurring to him. Because man can think about it, he can fall from the abundant life given to all. In his mind, and only in his mind, man can frustrate the grace of God prohibiting him from experiencing the good life. He can do nothing to produce it, but he can fall from the glory of experiencing it.

Peter’s second letter explains this profound mystery of God. It will challenge ever religious practice set forth by man. It is how man experiences the kingdom of God.

CD 13 Is An Exposition of Verses 2 Peter 1:1-11

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Session Fourteen: Destruction of the Error
2 Peter 1:12-2:22

Six million Jews went meekly to their death in Nazi prison camps. Thousands of Christians were burned at the stake or mauled by wild beast in the Coliseum submissive to a demented Caesar. Jesus Christ Himself was led as a lamb to his death. There seems to be something uniquely embedded in the Judeao-Christian belief that enables this uncommon resolve to be exhibited.

It goes back to the original formation of man. Adam, enjoying the beauty and pleasure of Paradise and yet somehow limited in experiencing the fulfillment of that glory, was put to sleep by God. The world of his experiences was temporarily taken from him. Out of that death came the opportunity for the greater glory.

Although created a physical creature and placed in a natural world, his soul could now ascend beyond the material to the spiritual. He now could rise above himself and experience the ultimate glory for man. The benevolence of Adam, through the knowledge of God, created the opportunity for the fulfillment of his life--charity.

It was there in the original covenant that God extended to his people. By the outworking of God’s grace, the people of God would become a great nation. Abraham, the father of all believers, was told that his descendants would not only be greatly blessed but that they also would be an immeasurable blessing to others. They would have the opportunity to spend the days of their lives in the domain of this blessedness.

Moreover, God informed Abraham that this supreme realm of living would be maintained by the continual working of His grace. The inner operations of the blessed life would not rest upon the ingenuity and strength of Abraham but solely upon the power of God. He would "bless them that bless thee and curse him that curseth thee." The covenant relationship brings the believer into an understanding that he lives his entire life in the providential care of his God.

The mystery that enables the Judeao-Christian belief to respond to life in such an extraordinary way is manifested also in the revelation of the name of God. When Moses told the Pharaoh of Egypt, "Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go . . . ," Pharaoh said, "Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD . . ." (Exod. 5:1-2). Although Pharaoh did not know the Lord God of Israel nor His name, Moses and the people of God knew. They understood the significance of the name of God and what it meant so much so that they would never pronounce that name but say instead "my Lord."

This name of God comes from the verb "to be," it means simply but profoundly, "I am who I am," and "I will be who I will be." The "I am" expresses the fact that God is the substance of all things. The "I am who I am" designates that nothing can define who God is but God Himself. He is what He says and what He does.

Pharaoh would come to know the Lord God of Israel because he would come to experience His power and His action. He would be forced to recognize what the people of God already knew--this name of God was not a title but rather an action. It is the sovereignty of God at work in the world.

The people of God who understands the working of God in the creation of their world, the commitment of God to His covenant with them, and the providential power of God in His name for their life rest in the simple trust of their faithful Creator. Knowing the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He hath purposed in Himself before the foundation of the world, the people of God continually pray: "That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto [them] the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of [their] understanding being enlightened; that [they] may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to [them] who believe, according to the working of his mighty power . . . ." They are of the persuasion that Jesus Christ is life. Resting in Him, they meet the common challenges of life with an uncommon resolution. They are disciples of Christ..

CD 14 Is An Exposition of Verses 2 Peter 1:12-2:22

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Session Fifteen: The Promise of His Coming
2 Peter 3:1-18

During the long, cold winter, the cry can often be heard, "When is the summer coming, where is the spring time? In the midst of extreme, extended pressure, the exclamation will usually be voiced, "When will it all be over, when will it end?" When the early followers of Jesus were experiencing severe persecution, similar questions were also raised, "When will the end come, where is the promise of his coming?

It was those questions that caused Peter to write to the scattered, suffering saints of his day. Specifically, he closed his letters addressing those topics with one of the great discourses of the Christian faith. Unfortunately, as Peter would state, because many would be unlearned and unstable, they would miss this great truth of the Scriptures. They would fail to see the simple, yet profound truth of the promise of His coming.

After Peter gave a graphic description of how the Lord always delivers His people and brings judgment to the wicked, he raised a confronting question. Since this knowledge of how God works was now understood, he challenged, "How then should we live, what manner of holy conversation and godliness should we see in our lives?"

Peter answered his questions with "Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless." He closed his message by admonishing them, "seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness. But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ."

What does the promise of His coming have to do with "How then should we live?" What is the correlation between the promise of His coming and "seeing that ye look for such things," "seeing ye know these before," "led away with the error of the wicked," and "fall from your own stedfastness." What is the basis for Peter’s warning and admonition?

Herein lies the mystery and the challenge of experiencing life. Jesus said, "Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal." He, then, added, as He was "look[ing] for such things" and "seeing [He knew] these [things] before," "Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour." He knew the ultimate seedtime of His life had come.

As He was experiencing His life on this earth, according to the will of His heavenly Father, He was being brought to His death by the evil interactions of His relationships. Most of the people that He encountered in His earthly existence were out to destroy that life. Most of His closest friends, failing to understand what was occurring in His life, deserted Him. Few, if any, were there to support Him. Is it any wonder, "My soul is troubled," was His cry?"

Yet, like Noah, He did not resist the building of His ark that would eventually save Him. Like Lot, His soul was vexed but He did not attempt to eradicate the sin or the city of His existence but waited to be delivered. As a human being, He was troubled in His relationships, but He did not attempt to manipulate the interactions of His enemies or His friends as He longed for His rescue. He merely experienced what the Father was producing in His life at the time.

Seeing, He saw; knowing, He knew. He would not become unstable; He would remain steadfast. He would be found in this challenge of His existence "in peace, without spot, and blameless." Unlike Adam, He would resist the "error of the wicked" and not fall from His life of serenity. His composure, His tranquility, and His life remained in the innocence of His mind and the grace of His heavenly Father.

Jesus lived His life in the promise of His Father. For He stated to His disciples, "how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed . . . ." But, then, added, "be raised again the third day." He knew the Father had promised to deliver Him out of sin and death. The harvest would come from His seedtime. The single "corn of wheat" would produce much fruit--the abundant life of many souls.

Just as the Father had promised to come to His Son and fulfill His promise, the Son has also promised to come to His adopted brothers and sisters. The spring-time will come to the long, cold winter. Relief will come from the extreme, extended pressure. Deliverance will come to the persecutions of life. The morning will come after the midnight. The promise of His coming will be fulfilled.

Jesus will come into our lives to bring salvation to our souls in the midst of experiencing what it means to be a created entity. As we go through the seedtime and harvest of our lives, the struggle of relationships, and the manifestation of charity in those relationships, can we also rest in the promise of His coming? Or, will we fall to the error of the wicked and attempt to manipulate and control those relationships?

Jesus has provided a way to escape those challenging moments of our existence. You can remain steadfast in peace, without spot, and blameless. Or, you can lose your composure, become unstable, and destroy your own life. It’s the challenge of heaven or hell--the challenge of the life we live.

CD 15 Is An Exposition of Verses 2 Peter 3:1-18

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