Precious Lord, we draw near to the throne of grace by the finished work of our great High Priest – the Lord Jesus Christ. We praise you that we are your regenerate and adopted sons and daughters through faith in the finished work of Christ. As we come to your throne for grace and mercy, we rejoice that in Christ all your promises are yes and amen.  We are sinful; you are holy. We were born in sin and have continued to sin. We are rebellious sheep who have turned away from the shepherd of our souls. We deserve curses, judgment, and punishment for the guilt of our selfish attitudes, fleshly desires, worldly...

John 20:30-31 is the purpose statement of John’s Gospel: “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” The Epistle of John is the companion to the Gospel of John. 1 John 5:13 says, “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.” The Gospel of John and the Epistle of 1 John are...

Casing all your anxieties of him, because he cares for you. - 1 Peter 5:7 E. Stanley Jones was the “Billy Graham of India.” In 1938, Time called Jones “the world’s greatest Christian missionary.” But his work was almost aborted by anxiety. Upon arriving in India from the United States, worry about the work ahead caused him to collapse several times. He returned home. But he collapsed again on this ship. His doctor ordered him to rest for a year. Upon returning to India, his anxieties resumed. His coworkers feared it would kill him. In prayer, a voice asked, “Are you ready for...

Beloved, do not be surprised at thee fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's suffering that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed,...

Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time int he flew no longer for human passions but for the will of God. For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, fries, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. With respect to this thy are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you; but...

A wealthy man took a journey carrying a great treasure. A thief joined him to steal the treasure. But the rich man was wise enough to be careful of newfound friends. At night, they stopped at an inn. The rich man let the thief bathe first. Then he hid the treasure under the thief’s pillow. As the rich man bathed, the thief searched for the treasure in vain. He finally gave up. As he departed, the rich man said, “The treasure was closer than you thought.”  This is a sad parable of how many Christians seek to obtain a blessing. In too...

Matthew 13 records seven parables Jesus told about the mystery of the kingdom of God. The first is the Parable of the Sower. The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares is the second kingdom parable. Both parables draw agricultural pictures of sowing and reaping. But there are critical differences between the two parables.  The Parable of the Sower is about good seed in good and bad soil. The Parable of the Weeds is about good and bad seed in good soil.  A landowner sowed seed in his field. In the darkness of the night, his enemy planted weeds in the field. As...

The New Testament church practices two ordinances: Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.  Baptism is a rite-of-initiation that celebrates Christian conversion. The Lord’s Supper is an ongoing practice that celebrates Christian fellowship.  We call baptism and the Lord’s Supper ordinances, not sacraments. They are rituals Christ has commanded the church to observe. They do not provide, renew, or secure salvation. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are symbols of salvation. But...

The first thing that jumps out is that Peter says six times more to wives than husbands. It is a matter of inspiration, not inequality. In Ephesians 5:22-33, Paul devotes three verses to wives, nine verses to husbands. Regardless, the gravity of a text is to be measured by its content and context, not verse count numbers. Paul and Peter had different agendas. Paul wrote to Christian couples, instructing husbands and wives to mirror the relationship between Christ and the church. Peter exhorted Christians to live with hope in a hostile society. Hostile opposition may come from civil authorities, workplace leaders, or family members....

A culture war broke out in the Roman Empire. Christians were “on the wrong side of history.” An “cancel culture” maligned Christians who refused to fit in. Many Christians would be martyred during the persecution that was soon to come. Peter wrote this letter to encourage the church the stand firm in this spiritual warfare. His counsel was offensive, not defensive. 1 Peter is not a survival guide. It is a battle plan. The apostle was more concerned about their witness than their welfare.  1 Peter 2:12 says, “Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as...

Our text is a part of Peter’s call to Christian submission.  Verses 13-17 instructs Christians to be subject to civil authorities. Verses 18-25 instructs servants to be subject to their masters.  This exhortation to Christian servants was personal. Many of Peter’s readers would never deal with Roman government officials. But most of them were servants who lived under the authority of their masters. This exhortation was also difficult. They were not just to submit to masters who were good and gentle. The character of the master was not an excuse for rebellion. They were also to submit to masters who were unjust....

We, who are African Americans, naturally bristle at texts like this. The suffering of our forebearers during America’s history of chattel slavery makes us uncomfortable with the subject of servants and masters. The matter is worsened by “slave theology,” in which slaveholders used passages like this to keep slaves in bondage. But we must not allow the difficulty of the subject or the misuse of the text to cause us to ignore, minimize, or reject what the Spirit says to the church. 2 Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction,...