How to Share the Bible at Your Kitchen Table

Posted on June 4, 2023 by Wayne Davies

Each month I’ve been devoting one blog post to resources on sharing the Bible with others, because a true Christian is one beggar telling another beggar where to find food.

 

 

This month’s spotlight shines on the Navigators. Jesus has been making disciples and building his church through this ministry for decades.

Some of their free resources include . . .

Praying Through Your Neighborhood
https://www.navigators.org/mk222303-praying-through-your-neighborhood
Before we talk to people about God, we must talk to God about people. This eBook provides simple and intentional ways to pray for your neighbors.

Be A Spiritual Mentor at Your Kitchen Table
https://www.navigators.org/blog/come-to-the-table
Are you longing to deepen your relationships with others and invite them to follow Jesus with you? Kitchen tables are not only a great place for spiritual conversations, but also for reading the Bible with friends. Invite Friends to Read the Bible unpacks six things you want to keep in mind as you share the Bible with others.

How to Save the World: Disciplemaking Made Simple
https://www.navigators.org/mk222302-save-the-world-course
This three-part video course will impact how you think about disciplemaking and transform the way you intentionally invest in others.

Front Yard: Intentional Conversations
https://www.navigators.org/blog/front-yard-intentional-conversations
Would you like to have spiritual conversations with your neighbors? Are you looking for ideas on how to begin? Read this article to learn more.

For more resources on how to share the Bible visit:
https://godwrotethebook.com/resources-how-to-share-the-bible

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Tribute to A Faithful Servant

Posted on May 22, 2023 by Wayne Davies

“Well done, good and faithful servant.” (Matthew 25:23)

Tim Keller, long-time pastor and prolific author, died on Friday, May 19, 2023.

Here’s one of his most memorable quotes:

“We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope.”

I’d like to pay tribute to him in this email. Please avail yourself of these resources to reflect on how God has used this man to communicate the His truth to millions.

The Official Tim Keller Website
https://timothykeller.com/
Here you’ll find a memoriam, along with links to his books and sermons. (See THIS WEEK’S FREEBIES below for more links to Tim Keller resources.)

The Gospel Coalition (Dr. Keller was co-founder)
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/tgc-co-founder-tim-keller-dies/

A List of Tributes to Tim Keller
https://www.gospelrelevance.com/2023/05/19/a-collected-list-of-tributes-to-tim-keller/
Links to tributes from several evangelical leaders. Also includes links to:
Tim Keller on How To Glorify God at Work
Tim Keller on Why Premarital Sex is So Destructive
Tim Keller on The 3 Biggest Idols In Western Churches Today

Tim Keller’s book The Reason for God is a masterpiece of Christian teaching. You can read my comments on what I learned about hell from this book in this blog post: How Many People Are In Hell?
(NOTE: this is the most visited page on my website.)

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The Freeing Reality that You Are Not Enough

Posted on May 20, 2023 by Wayne Davies

I have many favorite Bible teachers. Some of them happen to be women (and moms), such as Jen Wilkin.

Do yourself a big favor and listen to (or read) this podcast entitled, “The Freeing Reality that You Are Not Enough.” It’s available here:
https://www.crossway.org/articles/podcast-the-freeing-reality-that-you-are-not-enough-jen-wilkin/

This presentation is packed with biblical truth. And you need not be female to benefit.

Here’s an overview:

What Christian Women Often Lack
The Lens of Self-Worth and Identity
A Challenge Facing Christian Women
How Fear and Love Can Coexist
Two Extreme Views of God
The Effect of Earthly Fathers
To the Fatherless Woman
God’s Infinite Nature
Sin’s Effect on Our Limits
Knowing Our Limits
Our Desire for Control
God’s Sovereignty
Explaining God’s Sovereignty to Someone Struggling

Let me say this again: you need not be female to benefit from Jen’s teaching.

The section on “The Lens of Self-Worth and Identity” applies to all of us. Here’s what she says:

“What we all want to believe is that we’re enough. But what the Gospel tells us is that apart from Christ we’re not enough. And in fact, even once we become believers our enough-ness is only rooted in the finished work of Christ. But when we have that sense of, Maybe everyone is going to figure out that I’m a fraud or, Maybe everyone is going to find out that I’m not everything that I put myself out there to be, we’re right. We’re not enough. We can’t do everything that we should do to please the Lord. By the power of the Spirit we can grow in our ability to do so as believers, but the culture wants to tell us, No, you’re enough. You’re good. You do you. Live your truth. But the Bible is saying something radically different. It’s saying, There is a God. He is seated in the heavens enthroned between the cherubim. Because he is your origin, you are obligated to him. You’re obligated to obey him. You’re obligated to worship him. For the believer it moves from obligation to joy because we recognize the truth of it. But to the unbeliever it’s like, Why would I worship something outside of myself?”

“Self-worship and self-loathing, ironically, are always holding hands with one another. Both of them involve self-focus. Women spend a lot of time self-loathing. You can tell from the way that goods and services are marketed to us. Messages that they are enough are very appealing to them. It’s important as believers for us to come to the Scriptures and say, Wait a minute. If I am an image-bearer of the God who sits enthroned between the cherubim, then that’s a different way of understanding my enough-ness, so to speak, than what the world is trying to tell me.”

Wow. Meditate on that for a while.

The Bible’s teaching on self-image, self-worth, and identity is indeed “radically different” than the secular worldview.

This is a profound and life-changing message that we all need to hear. I sure do.

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Thoughts on the Thessalonians (Part 1)

Posted on May 13, 2023 by Wayne Davies

There are many good ways to study the Bible. I’m a big fan of the inductive Bible study method. Kay Arthur has been teaching this approach for decades. I’ve read her book How to Study Your Bible several times. We would all do well to master the principles presented here.

 

A more recent advocate for the inductive method is Heather Erdmann. In 2022 she released A Week in the Word, and I immediately wanted to utilize the steps presented in this book. So I did a study of the seven “I AM” statements of Jesus (from John’s gospel) using her format, and benefitted greatly as my knowledge of and love for Jesus increased significantly.

NOTE: I’ve been working on a book version of this “I AM” study, co-authored with Heather, hopefully to be released soon. Stay tuned!

Another method that I use is Erik Raymond’s CRAM approach, in which four specific questions are asked of the text.

Regardless of which method we use the study the Word, what should be the result? 2 Timothy 3:16-17 tells us:

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

God wants to do at least five things for us whenever we study his Word: teach us, rebuke us, correct us, train us in righteousness, and equip us for good works. What good Father would not do that for his children?

God is in the business of sanctifying us through his Word, changing us to become more like Jesus every day. If that is not happening, then we are missing the point of Bible study.

Now I’d like to show you how I use the CRAM method.

I’ve been reading through the New Testament each year, usually a chapter a day, five days a week. But I rarely just read it. I typically have a notebook and pen in hand, and while reading I interact with the text by asking questions of the passage, such as the questions from the CRAM method. Here are the four questions, along with some of my responses from my journal on November 14, 2022, when I meditated on 1 Thessalonians 1.

See how my Father, through this opening section of Paul’s letter to a young yet thriving church, teaches me, rebukes me, corrects me, trains me, and equips me to do his will.

1.“C” is for the Character of God:
What does this passage teach about who God is?

v.1. God is “the Father.” He is “our God and Father” (v.3), which means he is my Father.
v.1. Jesus is “the Lord Jesus Christ.” He is Lord, the sovereign ruler of the universe. And he is the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One, anointed by God to come to earth and accomplish our salvation and bring us to God.
v.10. One day the Son of God will come from heaven to rescue God’s people from “the coming wrath” – the wrath of Jesus and his Father. Only Jesus can do that.

2. “R” is for Responsibility:
What does God require of his people in this text?

This is the focus of the passage. Paul tells the Thessalonian church that he prays for them and continually thanks God for them because of their work of faith, their labor of love, and their steadfastness of hope in Christ. Then he continues to commend them for their many demonstrations of genuine faith.

We have here two great examples of what it means to live a life pleasing to God.

Example #1: Paul’s prayers for the Thessalonians. Note these characteristics of godly prayer:
— thanksgiving to God for the people of God (v.2)
— praise to God for the faith, love, and hope of God’s people (v.3)
— this thanksgiving and praise was an ongoing practice; he did this “continually” (v.2)

The example of Paul’s prayer life is also the responsibility of all believers. This is how all Christians should pray for one another.

Example #2: characteristics of the Thessalonians. Here is a description of what it means for a church to be filled with genuine believers. They were characterized by:
— faith, love, and hope (v.3)
— Christ-likeness; they were imitators of Paul and Jesus (v.6)
— joyful reception of the Word (v. 6)
— perseverance: they were persecuted for their new faith, yet did not jump ship in the midst of severe suffering (v. 6)
— true conversion experience: they turned to God from idols; they had a radical change of life, doing a 180, leaving their lives of paganism and embracing Jesus as Savior and Lord (v.9)
— patience: they were waiting for Jesus to come back from heaven to rescue them from God’s wrath (v.10)

The example of the Thessalonians is also the responsibility of all believers. This is how all Christians should live.

3. “A” is for Attitudes and Actions:
What does this passage reveal about my attitude and actions?

Example #1. How is my prayer life for other believers? Lately, I have been praying less for other Christians than I used to. Not good! There are many believers that I pray for regularly – my wife; people in our Bible studies; leaders at our local church (staff, elders, worship leaders, etc); missionaries. Recently, my wife is the only one that I have been praying for consistently. This is a sin of omission for which I need to repent.

Example #2. How am I doing in each of the areas listed above, the characteristics of which the Thessalonians were model believers? Taking a spiritual inventory is hard. There is always room for improvement in every area. My biggest weakness tends to be my love for people. Lately, that seems to be improving. My hope in Christ is also strong. Having faith in God’s sovereignty is a challenge right now. I am distraught over the lost condition of many family members. I keep praying for them, yet there is no change. Rather, they all appear to be moving even further away from God.

4. “M” is for Meditation:
How does this passage teach me to trust and treasure Christ more?

The Thessalonians were imitators of Christ (v. 6). That is my prayer today: “Jesus, make me more like you. Give me love for the believers in my life; renew my desire to pray for them. And please give me your love for the people in my family who don’t know you. You are not on their radar screen at all, which is how I lived for many years. Give me patience and kindness toward them, no matter how they treat you. Please grant me your compassion for them, for you are the perfect example of how I should love them.”

 

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Jesus: The Ultimate Realist

Posted on April 26, 2023 by Wayne Davies

Jesus was the ultimate realist.

He told His followers exactly what to do with His Word: share it. Give it away without cost, because “You received without paying; give without pay” (Matthew 10:8).

And He also told the disciples exactly what types of responses to expect from people. Some would receive the Word with repentance and faith because Jesus promised that “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18).

But many will also reject the Word and those who share it because the gospel, as Paul wrote, “is folly to those who are perishing” (1 Corinthians 1:18).

Jesus repeatedly told the disciples to expect ridicule, hatred, persecution, and even martyrdom. I believe it is wise for us to reflect on this often, so we will not be surprised when it happens.

The extent of this opposition varies greatly, from the not-so-subtle rolling of the eyes when a co-worker discovers that you are a Christian, to the physical violence that believers experience every day throughout the world, especially in Muslim countries, from both government and family.

Consider these words spoken by Jesus:

“You will be hated by all for my name’s sake.” (Matthew 10:22)

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.  For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household.” (Matthew 10:34-36)

My personal experience with persecution has been limited. When I became a Christian, my family did not ostracize or disown me. In fact, they supported me. The only time I can remember being verbally abused by a non-Christian was during my 35-year career as a tax accountant. When one of my clients found out I was a Christian, he loved to make fun of me and call me an idiot for believing the Bible. We had many conversations about Christianity, and he did most of the talking. We would meet to do his tax return and end up spending most of the time discussing his objections to the faith. Nothing I said made a dent in his worldview.

What are we to do when faced with such a negative response to the gospel?

Again I turn to what Jesus said:

“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul (a synonym for Satan), how much more will they malign those of his household.” (Matthew 10:24-25)

During His earthy ministry, some people responded to Jesus with love and devotion. But most people rejected Jesus. And so they will reject us, too. Expect it. Do not be alarmed by it. And persevere in spite of it.

Jesus was the most loving person who ever lived. He loved like no one ever loved. Those who accepted Him and His message were welcomed with open arms into His kingdom and His family. And those first disciples, along with throngs of others who have submitted to His reign over the centuries, will live in His glorious presence forever.

Yet because Jesus spoke the truth of God, He was ridiculed, laughed at, mocked, and killed.

Why should we expect to be treated any differently? “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12).

For my favorite resources on sharing the Bible, please visit . . .
https://GodWroteTheBook.com/resources-how-to-share-the-bible/

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Resources on How to Share the Bible

Posted on April 23, 2023 by Wayne Davies

Here are some of my favorite resources on how to share the Bible:

How to Take A Stand for the Bible
https://godwrotethebook.com/how-to-take-a-stand-for-the-bible/

Christianity Explored: What’s the Best News You’ve Ever Heard?
https://godwrotethebook.com/christianity-explored/

How to Share the Bible with Others
https://godwrotethebook.com/how-to-share-the-bible-with-others/

How to Share the Bible at Your Kitchen Table
https://godwrotethebook.com/how-to-share-the-bible-at-your-kitchen-table/

You would do well to come back to this webpage from time to time because I will continue to add more resources in the days to come.

 

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How to Handle Difficult Bible Verses

Posted on April 21, 2023 by Wayne Davies

Overall, do you find the Bible hard or easy to understand?

Or both perhaps?

Do you ever read a verse or a passage or even a whole book and think, “What does that mean?”

If so, this post is for you.

 

 

Here are some thoughts on the topic of “difficult Bible verses.”

1. You are not alone.
When it comes to dealing with “hard to understand” passages, here’s one that should help us all.

15 Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. 16 He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.
2 Peter 3:15-16

The Apostle Peter wrote that Paul’s letters contain “hard to understand” passages.

Did I mention that an Apostle wrote that?

I find much comfort in knowing that Peter found “some things” in Paul’s writings that were not easy to comprehend. Don’t you?

So, whenever you read a verse and its meaning escapes you, relax. It’s OK. It’s to be expected. Peter didn’t always understand what Paul wrote, and neither will you and me.

2. Ultimately, God wrote the Bible; therefore, even mature Christians with much Bible knowledge will wrestle with passages from time to time.

In his excellent book, How to Succeed in the Christian Life, Reuben Torrey writes that “Sooner or later every young Christian comes across passages in the Bible which are hard to understand and difficult to believe.”

I would add that if you removed the word “young” from the sentence above, you would be correct.

And I believe Dr. Torrey would agree. He goes on to explain why this is so.

“What is the Bible? It is a revelation of the mind and will and character and being of the infinitely great, perfectly wise, and absolutely holy God. But to whom is this revelation made? To men and women like you and me, to finite beings. To men who are imperfect in intellectual development and consequently in knowledge, and in character and consequently in spiritual discernment.

“There must, from the very necessities of the case, be difficulties in such a revelation made to such persons. When the finite tries to understand the infinite there is bound to be difficulty . . . When sinful beings listen to the demands of an absolutely holy God, they are bound to be staggered at some of His demands; and when they consider His dealings, they are bound to be staggered at some of His dealings.

“There must be, in any complete revelation of God’s mind and will and character and being, things hard for a beginner to understand, and the wisest and best of us are but beginners.”

More thoughts from Dr. Torrey (see below for a link to get a free copy of his book) . . .

3. “Difficulties in the Bible . . . rapidly disappear upon careful and prayerful study.”

“How many things there are in the Bible that once puzzled us and staggered us that have been perfectly cleared up, and no longer present any difficulty at all! Is it not reasonable to suppose that the difficulties that still remain will also disappear upon further study?”

That has been my experience. And I still have many passages that I do not understand. But the more I study the Bible, the more I have seen the truth of the previous paragraph. How about you?

4. How do you go about studying those difficult passages? Dr. Torrey recommends the following seven attitudes and practices:

With honesty. “Whenever you find a difficulty in the Bible, frankly acknowledge it. If you cannot give a good, honest explanation, do not attempt as yet to give any at all.”

With humility. “Recognize the limitations of your own mind and knowledge, and do not imagine there is no solution just because you have found none.”

With determination. “Make up your mind that you will find the solution if you can by any amount of study and hard thinking.”

With fearlessness. “Do not be frightened when you find a difficulty, no matter how unanswerable it appears upon first glance. Thousands have found such before you. They were seen hundreds of years ago and still the Old Book stands.”

With patience. “Do not be discouraged because you do not solve every problem in a day.”

With Scripture. “If you find a difficulty in one part of the Bible, look for other Scriptures to throw light upon it and dissolve it. Nothing explains Scripture like Scripture.”

With prayer.  “It is wonderful how difficulties dissolve when one looks at them on his knees.”

Great advice from a wise man. To get a free copy of How to Succeed in the Christian Life in Kindle format, click here.

For more on this topic, check out these resources:

Encountering Difficult Passages
https://tabletalkmagazine.com/article/2018/11/encountering-difficult-passages/

6 Wrong Ways to Approach Difficult Bible Passages
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/approach-difficult-bible-passages/

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4 Great Reasons to Celebrate the Resurrection

Posted on April 14, 2023 by Wayne Davies

As we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, I am thankful for four great reasons to be excited about what happened one Sunday morning 2,000 years ago.

Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we receive compassion, power, glory, and hope from the God of all comfort.


1. The Resurrection of Jesus Displays the Compassion of God
Our lives are filled with pain, sorrow, and suffering. We are “born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward” (Job 5:8). And we don’t have to go far to see the evidence of that – look how vulnerable we are to sickness and death; microscopic organisms wreak havoc on us daily. No matter how strong we think we are, we are truly frail human beings. Our lives hang by the thread of God’s sovereign grace. “What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes” (James 4:14).

Paul laments the plight of living in a mortal body while proclaiming the promise of a resurrected body: 22  “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved.” (Romans 8:22-24)

God is the Redeemer of both soul and body from the corruption caused by sin. This is the good news of the Gospel! This is the love, mercy, and grace of God on display.

2. The Resurrection of Jesus Unleashes the Life-Giving Power of Jesus
Just as Jesus raised Lazarus from the grave, so will He raise us from the dead. “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die” (John 11:25-26).

Jesus foretold the bodily resurrection of all people, some to eternal life and some to eternal condemnation:

24 “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. 25 Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.

28 “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29 and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned.” (John 5:24-29)

3. The Resurrection of Jesus Anticipates the Future Glory of God’s People
What will it be like to “hear the voice of the Son of God . . . and live”? (John 5:25). It means that we will become like Jesus, with a resurrected body like His.

“For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.” (Romans 8:29-30)

We will receive “a spiritual body” that replaces our decaying “natural body” (1 Corinthians 15:44).  We will be like Jesus and never sin again, nor will we suffer the physical or spiritual effects of sin. “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Revelation 21:4)

4. The Resurrection of Jesus Guarantees the Eternal Hope of God’s People
My friend, this is what eternity has in store for us. For the believer, the best is yet to come. Therefore, we have hope, and this hope motivates us and sustains us to persevere to the end.

51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory . . . 58 Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:51-54, 58)

I trust you find these truths a source of much encouragement and joy today. If so, let me know by leaving a comment below.

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What the Bible Says about Jesus’ Last Week

Posted on April 1, 2023 by Wayne Davies


As we prepare our hearts to remember and celebrate the last week of Christ’s life on earth, I am compelled to share something that has always amazed me.

The first four books of the New Testament, “the Gospels,” contain 89 chapters.

Matthew – 28 chapters
Mark – 16 chapters
Luke – 24 chapters
John – 21 chapters

And of those 89 chapters, 30 chapters cover the events of the last week of Jesus’ life.

In other words, about 33% of the Gospels are all about the last few days of Christ’s life, culminating with his crucifixion on Good Friday and his resurrection on Easter Sunday. (Also included in these 30 chapters are his post-resurrection appearances.)

I find that most significant. Think about it. We emphasize what is most important. We repeat ourselves when we want to make sure that people understand what we’re saying, that they “get it.”

In the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, God has done exactly that. By devoting such a large portion of these inspired narratives to the details of Christ’s death and resurrection, and the events immediately preceding and following, he is making a point: the most critical events in the life of Jesus, and therefore the most important events in the history of the world, are found in the final 30 chapters of the four Gospels.

With that in mind, I wanted to share with you a simple way to better understand and internalize the significance of Christ’s final week: during the next 6 or 7 days, why not read these accounts for yourself?

Here are the chapters:

Matthew 21-28
Mark 11-16
Luke 19-24
John 12-21

For example, pick one of the Gospels and read 1 or 2 chapters each day from April 3-9. You can do this on your own, or if you have a family, start a new family tradition and do it together.

Here’s how this would play out for each of the Gospels. The chapter number(s) are listed next to each day of the week.

Matthew
Monday – 21,22
Tuesday – 23
Wed – 24
Thur – 25
Fri – 26
Sat – 27
Sun – 28

Mark
Tuesday – 11
Wed – 12
Thur – 13
Fri – 14
Sat – 15
Sun – 16

Luke
Tuesday – 19
Wed – 20
Thur – 21
Fri – 22
Sat – 23
Sun – 24

John
Monday – 12, 13
Tuesday – 14, 15
Wed – 16, 17
Thur – 18
Fri – 19
Sat – 20
Sun – 21

Next year, pick a different Gospel, and continue to alternate Gospels so that every four years you cover the final chapters in all the Gospels.

Doing this every year will give you a much greater appreciation for what Jesus did for you by dying, rising from the grave, and spending time with his followers after the resurrection.

Here’s one more idea to increase your understanding of both the significance and the meaning of Christ’s death. Get a free copy of John Piper’s Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die. Each chapter is a short yet meaty 2-page explanation of selected verses that teach a specific reason for the God-glorifying, salvation-providing death of Jesus. Read a chapter a day and you’ll fill your mind with wonderful truths found throughout the New Testament.

I wish you a week of much joy and gratitude as you read and meditate on the soul-satisfying message of Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

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50 Reasons Why Jesus Died

Posted on March 27, 2023 by Wayne Davies

If you have a passion to learn about God so you can love Him and serve Him all the days of your life, there is an abundance of resources available online, all at no cost.

This is one of the benefits of being alive in this age of technology. God has not only given us His Word, but He has also provided gifted teachers who have written books that explain the meaning of His Word.

One such book is John Piper’s Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die. Click here to get your free copy in Epub, Mobi (Kindle) or PDF format.

I love this book and read it repeatedly, usually at this time of year, as Good Friday and Easter Sunday draw near.

Jesus came to die. He made that clear: “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).

And why did Jesus come to die? For at least 50 reasons. And Reason #1 is explained succinctly, thoroughly, and biblically in Chapter 1 of Piper’s book:
“To Absorb the Wrath of God.”

The fury and anger of God is not a popular topic these days. Never has been. Never will be. Yet when you read the whole Bible, you find it repeatedly. And not just in the Old Testament. John the Baptizer was a judgment preacher. So were the Apostles. And so was Jesus.

Jesus spoke much about God’s grace, mercy, and kindness. “For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45). And He also said much about His wrath and judgment. “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28).

I recently read the book of Hebrews. What a great letter! We don’t know who wrote Hebrews. Whoever did had a balanced view of God. There is so much truth in this book about God – who He is, what He has done through Jesus, and what He will do for His people who persevere in the faith and resist the temptation to jump ship.

I’ve also been listening to John Piper’s sermons on Hebrews (there are 52 of them, all available for free at desiringGod.org). I especially like the sermon on Hebrews 10:26-31 entitled, “Woe to Those Who Trample the Son of God.”

Here’s the text:

26 For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a certain terrifying expectation of judgment, and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” 31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

And here are some of Piper’s comments on this text:

“Whatever your view of God, the Creator of the universe and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, if it does not include this (God’s judgment), it is a distorted, unrealistic view. God is a God of vengeance, and to fall into his hands is a terrifying thing.

“It is honest and loving and wise to tell people the truth about the wrath of God.

“Now this is a portrait of God . . . that our strange age does not want to hear, and does not believe is helpful or true. For most people today, God, if he is there at all, is there to thank after a close call and to question after a tragedy.

“So we need to hear this text and do a reality check on our view of God. Terrifying expectation of judgment . . . fury of fire . . . consume the adversaries . . . rendering punishment worse than death . . . repaying vengeance . . . with terrifying hands. That too is the truth about God.”

My favorite comment above is this: “It is honest and loving and wise to tell people the truth about the wrath of God.” Oh, that more pastors and evangelists would understand that sentence.

And if it is honest and loving and wise to tell people about God’s wrath, it must also be true that it is honest and loving and wise for us to study God’s wrath.

Here’s one surefire way to increase your gratitude for and enjoyment of God’s love: please join me in spending more time studying His wrath. As we will soon see, the Bible teaches that there is an inseparable relationship between the two. The better we understand His wrath, the more we will understand His love.

Do you want to live a life of greater praise and worship of God for His priceless gift of salvation? Then spend much time learning what God has saved us from – and at the top of that list is His wrath.

Here’s a wonderful verse to get you started:
“In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10).

Jesus died to be “the propitiation for our sins.” What does the word “propitiation” mean? “It refers to the removal of God’s wrath by providing a substitute. The substitute is provided by God himself. The substitute, Jesus Christ, does not just cancel the wrath; he absorbs it and diverts it from us to himself. God’s wrath is just, and it was spent, not withdrawn.” (Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die, page 21).

Wow! That is amazing. That is incredible. The wrath of God hangs over our heads like a storm ready to be unleashed. Because of our sin, we deserve that wrath, because “God’s wrath is just.” When Jesus died, God’s wrath was “spent, not withdrawn.” It was removed from us. But it didn’t just disappear into the sunset. It was diverted from us and poured out on Jesus.

God must punish all sin. His holiness, justice, and righteousness demand that. (And all sin will be punished, either in the lake of fire or on the cross.) God cannot just look the other way. When Jesus died, He absorbed the full force of God’s wrath “in his body on the tree” (1 Peter 2:24).

That’s the meaning of “propitiation.” And that is how God both loved us and satisfied His justice.

“Let us not trifle with God or trivialize his love. We will never stand in awe of being loved by God until we reckon with the seriousness of our sin and the justice of his wrath against us. But when, by grace, we waken to our unworthiness, then we may look at the suffering and death of Christ and say, “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the [wrath-absorbing] propitiation for our sins.” (Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die, page 21).

I trust you’ll find these comments helpful as you prepare your heart to celebrate the goodness of God on Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

Why not spend the next two weeks preparing for Good Friday and Easter Sunday by reading John Piper’s book? Each chapter is a short yet meaty 2-page explanation of selected verses that teach a specific reason for the God-glorifying, salvation-providing death of Jesus.

Also, to listen to (and/or read) John Piper’s sermon quoted above, visit:
https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/woe-to-those-who-trample-the-son-of-god

To listen to (and/or read) the rest of Piper’s 52 sermons on Hebrews, visit:
https://www.desiringgod.org/series/hebrews/messages

 

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