On Holding a Torch to a Glacier

Highlighted Verse: Isaiah 26:8
Full Reading: Isaiah 26; 1 John 4

Ultimate | There are many important things in this life, but there’s only one ultimate thing – the name of the Lord. His glory is the reason for which we were created [1], Israel was redeemed [2], and we will be glorified at the end of the age [3]. Our only appropriate response, therefore, is: “Yes, Lord, walking in the way of your laws, we wait for you; your name and renown are the desire of our hearts” [4].

Same | There’s no conflict between God’s passion for His glory and our passion for our happiness. As John Piper says, “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.” In other words, since He’s the ultimate treasure of the universe, the only place where we can find true happiness is in Him. If we find it in anything else, we won’t be satisfied.

Glacier | Piper has said, “I’m here to torch a glacier. I have in mind a picture … In Matthew 24:12, looking at the end of the age, Jesus says: ‘Lawlessness will be multiplied and the love of many will grow cold’ … I hate the thought that my love for God or my love for people would one day dry up or freeze up. Yet Jesus says, ‘It’s coming!’ It’s coming like a glacier across the world” [5]. Yet Jesus continues, “But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations” [6].

Fire | Piper explains, “It’s not cold people who are going to get it to the unreached peoples of the world … It’s white-hot worshippers of King Jesus who will get that done. Therefore, what I see … is that, as the end of the age draws near, there are going to be people who are getting ice cold and there are going to be people who are white-hot enough to lay down their lives for Jesus among all the peoples of the world … If there are enough people with torches lit white-hot for God, torching the glacier, a big hole can be opened up over … your city. And that’s why I’m here. I want to lift my torch.”

Prayer | Lord, Your name and renown are the desire of our hearts. Let our love for you not grow cold. Make us white-hot worshippers of your name, lifting up our torches to melt frozen hearts. Amen.

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Isaiah 26 ESV

You Keep Him in Perfect Peace. 1 In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: “We have a strong city; he sets up salvation as walls and bulwarks. 2 Open the gates, that the righteous nation that keeps faith may enter in. 3 You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. 4 Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock. 5 For he has humbled the inhabitants of the height, the lofty city. He lays it low, lays it low to the ground, casts it to the dust. 6 The foot tramples it, the feet of the poor, the steps of the needy.” 7 The path of the righteous is level; you make level the way of the righteous. 8 In the path of your judgments, O Lord, we wait for you; your name and remembrance are the desire of our soul. 9 My soul yearns for you in the night; my spirit within me earnestly seeks you. For when your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.10 If favor is shown to the wicked, he does not learn righteousness; in the land of uprightness he deals corruptly and does not see the majesty of the Lord. 11 O Lord, your hand is lifted up, but they do not see it. Let them see your zeal for your people, and be ashamed. Let the fire for your adversaries consume them. 12 O Lord, you will ordain peace for us, for you have indeed done for us all our works. 13 O Lord our God, other lords besides you have ruled over us, but your name alone we bring to remembrance. 14 They are dead, they will not live; they are shades, they will not arise; to that end you have visited them with destruction and wiped out all remembrance of them. 15 But you have increased the nation, O Lord, you have increased the nation; you are glorified; you have enlarged all the borders of the land. 16 O Lord, in distress they sought you; they poured out a whispered prayer when your discipline was upon them. 17 Like a pregnant woman who writhes and cries out in her pangs when she is near to giving birth, so were we because of you, O Lord; 18 we were pregnant, we writhed, but we have given birth to wind. We have accomplished no deliverance in the earth, and the inhabitants of the world have not fallen. 19 Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise. You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For your dew is a dew of light, and the earth will give birth to the dead. 20 Come, my people, enter your chambers, and shut your doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until the fury has passed by. 21 For behold, the Lord is coming out from his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity, and the earth will disclose the blood shed on it, and will no more cover its slain.

1 John 4 ESV

Test the Spirits. 1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. 4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

God Is Love. 7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8  Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 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. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12  No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.13  By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 19 We love because he first loved us. 20  If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.

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Footnotes

[1] Isaiah 43:6  |  [2] Psalm 106:7  |  [3] 2 Thessalonians 1:9  |  [4] Isaiah 26:8  NIV  |  [5] John Piper. “Passion for the Supremacy of God, Part 1.” Passion 1997. 2 January 1997.  |  [6] Matthew 24:12-14 ESV

On God’s Love for Cities

Highlighted Verse: Isaiah 25:6-8
Full Reading: Isaiah 25; 1 John 3

Urbanization | The nations are coming to the cities. According to the UN, about half of the world’s population lives in cities and, by 2050, that number will rise to 70 percent [1]. Kofi Annan has said, “We have entered the urban millennium. At their best, cities are engines of growth and incubators of civilization. They are crossroads of ideas, places of great intellectual ferment and innovation” [2]. Yet he also warns, “The very same cities can also be places of exploitation, disease, violent crime, unemployment, underemployment and extreme poverty.”

Judgment | Isaiah began his prophecy by bringing charges against cities, warning them of the Lord’s pending punishment. For example, he said, “Behold, Damascus will cease to be a city and will become a heap of ruins” [3]. Concerning Tyre, he prophesied, “They will be in anguish over the report about Tyre … Is this your exultant city … ?” [4]. What did they do that was so wrong? They didn’t trust God; instead, they trusted other kings, other gods, themselves and ungodly leaders [5]. Ultimately, Isaiah said, “The earth shall be utterly empty and utterly plundered” [6].

Mercy | Yet God loves cities because, as Tim Keller has said, “in cities, you have more Image of God per square inch than anywhere else in the world” [7]. Therefore, the Lord longs to pour out His great mercy and love on cities [8]. As Isaiah continued, “The Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine … and he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all nations. He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth” [9].

Prayer | Lord, We don’t love your infinite grace because it gives us license to sin. No! We love your grace because, when we fear your reproach, we are not afraid to come to you for salvation. For you have “blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places … to the praise of your glorious grace, with which you have blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us” [10]. Amen.

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Isaiah 25 ESV

God Will Swallow Up Death Forever. 1 O Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you; I will praise your name, for you have done wonderful things, plans formed of old, faithful and sure. 2 For you have made the city a heap, the fortified city a ruin; the foreigners’ palace is a city no more; it will never be rebuilt. 3 Therefore strong peoples will glorify you; cities of ruthless nations will fear you. 4 For you have been a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold to the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat; for the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall, 5 like heat in a dry place. You subdue the noise of the foreigners; as heat by the shade of a cloud, so the song of the ruthless is put down. 6 On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined. 7 And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. 8 He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken. 9 It will be said on that day, “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.” 10 For the hand of the Lord will rest on this mountain, and Moab shall be trampled down in his place, as straw is trampled down in a dunghill. 11 And he will spread out his hands in the midst of it as a swimmer spreads his hands out to swim, but the Lord will lay low his pompous pride together with the skill of his hands. 12 And the high fortifications of his walls he will bring down, lay low, and cast to the ground, to the dust.

1 John 3 ESV

1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.4 Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. 5 You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. 8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. 9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. 10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.

Love One Another. 11 For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. 12 We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous. 13 Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. 14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. 15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.16 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 17 But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.19 By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; 20 for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. 21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; 22 and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. 23 And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. 24 Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.

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Footnotes

[1] See United Nations. “World Urbanization Prospects: The 2011 Revision.” Economic & Social Affairs. Highlights. March 2012; Martin Roemers. “Living in the New Metropolis.” The New York Times. 4 May 2012. (Also note: The UN predicts that, by 2025, there will be 37 megacities – that is, cities with populations that exceed 10 million.)  |  [2] United Nations. Press Release for Kofi Annan’s inaugural address to Urban 21: “Secretary-General Calls for Practical, Achievable Programme to Make Globalization a Positive Force for All World’s People.” SG/SM/7479. 5 July 2000. Berlin.  |  [3] Isaiah 17:1 ESV  |  [4] Isaiah 23:5, 7 ESV  |  [5] See Dever, Mark (2006-04-10). The Message of The Old Testament (p. 571-574). Good News Publishers/Crossway Books. Kindle Edition.  |  [6] Isaiah 24:3 ESV  |  [7] See Redeemer City to City (rotating image).  |  [8] Exodus 34:6-7 ESV  |  [9] Isaiah 25:6-8 ESV  |  [10] Ephesians 1:3, 6-8 ESV (changed “he” to “you” to accommodate the prayer).

On the Opportunity of Love in an Age of Isolation

Highlighted Verse: 1 John 2:10-11
Full Text: Isaiah 24; 1 John 2

Lonely | This month, in The Atlantic, Stephen Marche asks, “Is Facebook making us lonely?” He writes, “Facebook arrived in the middle of a dramatic increase in the quantity and intensity of human loneliness … Americans are more solitary than ever before. In 1950, less than 10 percent of American households contained only one person. By 2010, nearly 27 percent of households had just one person … Loneliness and being alone are not the same thing, but both are on the rise. We meet fewer people. We gather less. And when we gather, our bonds are less meaningful and less easy. The decrease in confidants – that is, in quality social connections – has been dramatic over the past 25 years” [1].

Love | As we have seen this week, our Lord Jesus will return and, until that day, we are called to fight for holiness and godliness. Perhaps the greatest virtue for which we should fight is love. According to Jesus, love for God is the greatest commandment and love for others is the second greatest. Together they sum up the entire law [2]. John writes, “Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes” [3].

Serve | In an age of social disintegration, isolation and loneliness, we – as Christians – have an incredible opportunity to love others. It is our greatest apologetic. At the Last Supper, after Jesus Christ knelt down to serve his disciples by washing their feet, he said, “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet” [4]. Then he said, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” [5]. That is what the love of God looks like – serving others or, as Paul put it, considering others’ interests above our own [6].

Prayer | Lord, We are selfish people, but we long for your selfless love in our hearts. Open our eyes to the needs of others and help us, in Christ, to meet those needs. Help us seek out lonely and isolated people and love them.  Help us to think of ourselves less and others more so that your name would be made holy in our lives. Amen.

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Isaiah 24 ESV

Judgment on the Whole Earth. 1 Behold, the Lord will empty the earth and make it desolate, and he will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants. 2 And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the slave, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the creditor, so with the debtor. 3 The earth shall be utterly empty and utterly plundered; for the Lord has spoken this word. 4 The earth mourns and withers; the world languishes and withers; the highest people of the earth languish. 5 The earth lies defiled under its inhabitants; for they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, broken the everlasting covenant. 6 Therefore a curse devours the earth, and its inhabitants suffer for their guilt; therefore the inhabitants of the earth are scorched, and few men are left. 7 The wine mourns, the vine languishes, all the merry-hearted sigh. 8 The mirth of the tambourines is stilled, the noise of the jubilant has ceased, the mirth of the lyre is stilled. 9 No more do they drink wine with singing; strong drink is bitter to those who drink it. 10 The wasted city is broken down; every house is shut up so that none can enter. 11 There is an outcry in the streets for lack of wine; all joy has grown dark; the gladness of the earth is banished. 12 Desolation is left in the city; the gates are battered into ruins. 13 For thus it shall be in the midst of the earth among the nations, as when an olive tree is beaten, as at the gleaning when the grape harvest is done. 14 They lift up their voices, they sing for joy; over the majesty of the Lord they shout from the west. 15 Therefore in the east give glory to the Lord; in the coastlands of the sea, give glory to the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. 16 From the ends of the earth we hear songs of praise, of glory to the Righteous One. But I say, “I waste away, I waste away. Woe is me! For the traitors have betrayed, with betrayal the traitors have betrayed.”17 Terror and the pit and the snare are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth! 18 He who flees at the sound of the terror shall fall into the pit, and he who climbs out of the pit shall be caught in the snare. For the windows of heaven are opened, and the foundations of the earth tremble. 19 The earth is utterly broken, the earth is split apart, the earth is violently shaken. 20 The earth staggers like a drunken man; it sways like a hut; its transgression lies heavy upon it, and it falls, and will not rise again. 21 On that day the Lord will punish the host of heaven, in heaven, and the kings of the earth, on the earth. 22 They will be gathered together as prisoners in a pit; they will be shut up in a prison, and after many days they will be punished. 23 Then the moon will be confounded and the sun ashamed, for the Lord of hosts reigns on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and his glory will be before his elders.

1 John 2 ESV

Christ Our Advocate. 1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. 3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: 6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

The New Commandment. 7 Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard. 8 At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. 9 Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. 10 Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. 11 But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes. 12 I am writing to you, little children,
 because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake.13 I am writing to you, fathers,
 because you know him who is from the beginning.
I am writing to you, young men,
 because you have overcome the evil one.
I write to you, children,
 because you know the Father. 14 I write to you, fathers,
 because you know him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men,
 because you are strong,
 and the word of God abides in you,
 and you have overcome the evil one.

Do Not Love the World. 15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world— the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

Warning Concerning Antichrists. 18 Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. 20 But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. 21 I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. 22 Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. 23  No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. 24 Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. 25 And this is the promise that he made to us—eternal life. 26 I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. 27 But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him.

Children of God. 28 And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. 29 If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.

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Footnotes

[1] Stephen Marche. “Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?” The Atlantic Magazine. May 2012  |  [2] See Matthew 22:40.  |  [3] 1 John 2:10-11 ESV  |  [4] John 13:14 ESV  |  [5] John 13:35 ESV  |  [6] See Philippians 2:3-4.

On Confession and the Cross

Highlighted Verse: 1 John 1:9
Full Readings: Isaiah 23; 1 John 1

Lives | As we saw yesterday [1], although the Lord is patiently giving us time to turn to His glorious mercies, He will come again to end this age and that day “will come like a thief” in the night [2]. Knowing this, how are we supposed to live? Peter says that we should pursue “lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God” [3].

Distinction | The distinctive mark of holiness and godliness, however, is not sinlessness. No one is sinless. As John writes, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” [4]. The unique mark of righteousness is the will to fight. Saving faith fights for joy in Christ and against things that threaten to take away that joy.

Confession | Confession is a key part of this. John continues, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” [5]. Our sin was nailed to the cross when Christ’s body was crucified. That’s substitutionary atonement [6] – Jesus had no sin but became sin for us so that, in him, we might be righteous [7]. As a result, the evil powers of this world can attack Christians [8], but they can never wield “the weapon of unforgiven sin” at those who are in Christ [9]. Jesus finished that work on the cross [10]. Thus, our guilt may accuse, but it cannot condemn because only unforgiven sin can condemn and that was nailed to the cross.

Attack | Therefore, when guilt attacks us, we say the words of Micah: “Rejoice not over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me” [11]. This is what victory over sin through confession looks like. This is how we fight for joy and evidence a saving faith that will carry us until the day of Christ’s return [12].

Prayer | Lord, We long for the return of Jesus – for now we see as in a mirror dimly, but then we shall see the glory of our risen King face to face [13]. Until that day comes, keep us fighting for holiness and godliness, as we confess our sins. Let us give no foothold to the lies of the evil one and, instead, cling to the Lord as our light and salvation. Amen.

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Isaiah 23 ESV

An Oracle Concerning Tyre and Sidon. 1 The oracle concerning Tyre. Wail, O ships of Tarshish, for Tyre is laid waste, without house or harbor! From the land of Cyprus it is revealed to them. 2 Be still, O inhabitants of the coast; the merchants of Sidon, who cross the sea, have filled you. 3 And on many waters your revenue was the grain of Shihor, the harvest of the Nile; you were the merchant of the nations. 4 Be ashamed, O Sidon, for the sea has spoken, the stronghold of the sea, saying: “I have neither labored nor given birth, I have neither reared young men nor brought up young women.” 5 When the report comes to Egypt, they will be in anguish over the report about Tyre. 6 Cross over to Tarshish; wail, O inhabitants of the coast! 7 Is this your exultant city whose origin is from days of old, whose feet carried her to settle far away? 8 Who has purposed this against Tyre, the bestower of crowns, whose merchants were princes, whose traders were the honored of the earth? 9 The Lord of hosts has purposed it, to defile the pompous pride of all glory, to dishonor all the honored of the earth. 10 Cross over your land like the Nile, O daughter of Tarshish; there is no restraint anymore. 11 He has stretched out his hand over the sea; he has shaken the kingdoms; the Lord has given command concerning Canaan to destroy its strongholds. 12 And he said: “You will no more exult, O oppressed virgin daughter of Sidon; arise, cross over to Cyprus, even there you will have no rest.” 13 Behold the land of the Chaldeans! This is the people that was not; Assyria destined it for wild beasts. They erected their siege towers, they stripped her palaces bare, they made her a ruin. 14 Wail, O ships of Tarshish, for your stronghold is laid waste. 15 In that day Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, like the days of one king. At the end of seventy years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the prostitute: 16 “Take a harp; go about the city, O forgotten prostitute! Make sweet melody; sing many songs, that you may be remembered.” 17 At the end of seventy years, the Lord will visit Tyre, and she will return to her wages and will prostitute herself with all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth. 18 Her merchandise and her wages will be holy to the Lord. It will not be stored or hoarded, but her merchandise will supply abundant food and fine clothing for those who dwell before the Lord.

1 John 1 ESV

The Word of Life. 1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— 2 the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— 3 that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4 And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

Walking in the Light. 5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

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Footnotes

[1] 843 Acres. “On Whether God Keeps His Promises.” 21 May 2012.  |  [2] 2 Peter 3:10 ESV. See also 1 Thessalonians 5:2.  |  [3] 2 Peter 3:11-12 ESV  |  [4] 1 John 1:8 ESV  |  [5] 1 John 1:9 ESV  |  [6] Romans 8:3. See also Romans 4:4-6; 5:19; 5:1; 8:1; 10:4; Philippians 3:8-9; 2 Corinthians 5:21)  |  [7] See 2 Corinthians 5:21  |  [8] See Ephesians 6  |  [9] See Piper sermon below. See also Colossians 2:14-15; 1 Peter 5:8.  |  [10] Justification (Psalm 49:7-8; Romans 3:10).  |  [11] Micah 7:8 ESV.  |  [12] For an extended meditation on dealing with guilt from sin, see John Piper. “How to Deal with the Guilt of Sexual Failure for the Glory of Christ and His Global Cause.” 4 January 2007.  |  [13] See 1 Corinthians 13:12 ESV

On Whether God Keeps His Promises

Highlighted Verse: 2 Peter 3:8-9
Full Reading: Isaiah 22; 2 Peter 3

Myth | As it turns out, the Mayans never thought that the world was going to end this year [1]. Archeologist William Saturno recently debunked the apocalypse myth when he discovered the oldest known Mayan calendar in existence. Although 10 percent of the world’s population apparently subscribed to the myth, Saturno found hieroglyphs that show the Mayan calendar reaches far beyond 2012.

Delay | Unlike the Mayans, we – as Christians – don’t guess the date or hour when the world will end [2], but sometimes our belief in the second coming seems no less mythical than the Mayan calendar. After all, it’s been over two thousand years since Jesus left his disciples, saying, “I am with you always, to the end of the age” [3]. Peter knew, however, that some would ask, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation” [4].

Reminder | Yet Peter answered, “But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” [5]. What evidence do we have that the Lord will make good on His promise to return? Jesus Christ. One thousand years before Jesus was murdered on a cross, David prophesied, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Yet that was not the final word for David or Jesus. David’s psalm ends, “All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, even the one who could not keep himself alive. Posterity shall serve him; it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation; they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn, that he has done it” [6].

Prayer | Lord, We praise you because you are a promise-keeper, which we know because all of your promises find their Yes in Jesus [7]. We confess, however, that we grow impatient with you. Forgive us, Lord, and remind us that you’re not slow in keeping your promises, as we understand slowness. Instead, your seeming delay in returning is rooted in a deep love for us – that we might repent and turn to your great mercy. Amen.

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Isaiah 22 ESV

An Oracle Concerning Jerusalem. 1 The oracle concerning the valley of vision. What do you mean that you have gone up, all of you, to the housetops, 2 you who are full of shoutings, tumultuous city, exultant town? Your slain are not slain with the sword or dead in battle. 3 All your leaders have fled together; without the bow they were captured. All of you who were found were captured, though they had fled far away. 4 Therefore I said: “Look away from me; let me weep bitter tears; do not labor to comfort me concerning the destruction of the daughter of my people.” 5 For the Lord God of hosts has a day of tumult and trampling and confusion in the valley of vision, a battering down of walls and a shouting to the mountains. 6 And Elam bore the quiver with chariots and horsemen, and Kir uncovered the shield. 7 Your choicest valleys were full of chariots, and the horsemen took their stand at the gates. 8 He has taken away the covering of Judah. In that day you looked to the weapons of the House of the Forest, 9 and you saw that the breaches of the city of David were many. You collected the waters of the lower pool, 10 and you counted the houses of Jerusalem, and you broke down the houses to fortify the wall. 11  You made a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool. But you did not look to him who did it, or see him who planned it long ago. 12 In that day the Lord God of hosts called for weeping and mourning, for baldness and wearing sackcloth; 13 and behold, joy and gladness, killing oxen and slaughtering sheep, eating flesh and drinking wine. “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” 14 The Lord of hosts has revealed himself in my ears: “Surely this iniquity will not be atoned for you until you die,” says the Lord God of hosts. 15 Thus says the Lord God of hosts, “Come, go to this steward, to Shebna, who is over the household, and say to him: 16 What have you to do here, and whom have you here, that you have cut out here a tomb for yourself, you who cut out a tomb on the height and carve a dwelling for yourself in the rock? 17 Behold, the Lord will hurl you away violently, O you strong man. He will seize firm hold on you 18 and whirl you around and around, and throw you like a ball into a wide land. There you shall die, and there shall be your glorious chariots, you shame of your master’s house. 19  I will thrust you from your office, and you will be pulled down from your station. 20 In that day I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, 21 and I will clothe him with your robe, and will bind your sash on him, and will commit your authority to his hand. And he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. 22 And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David. He shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. 23 And I will fasten him like a peg in a secure place, and he will become a throne of honor to his father’s house. 24 And they will hang on him the whole honor of his father’s house, the offspring and issue, every small vessel, from the cups to all the flagons. 25 In that day, declares the Lord of hosts, the peg that was fastened in a secure place will give way, and it will be cut down and fall, and the load that was on it will be cut off, for the Lord has spoken.”

2 Peter 3 ESV

The Day of the Lord Will Come. 1 This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, 2  that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, 3 knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. 4  They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” 5 For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, 6 and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. 7 But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9  The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12  waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! 13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

Final Words. 14 Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. 15 And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, 16 as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. 17 You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

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Footnotes

[1] See John Noble Wilford. “Painted Maya Walls Reveal Calendar Writing.” The New York Times. 10 May 2012. New Mayan Discovery: The World Isn’t Ending! 10 May 2012. The Daily Beast.; Andrew Couts. Apocalypse never: Newly discovered Mayan calendar further disproves doomsday myth. 10 May 2012. Digital Trends.; John Noble Wilford. Painted Maya Walls Reveal Calendar Writing. The New York Times. 10 May 2012.  |  [2] See Matthew 24:36; Mark 13:32.  |  [3] Matthew 28:20 ESV  |  [4] 2 Peter 3:4 ESV  |  [5] 2 Peter 3:8-9 ESV  |  [6] Psalm 22:29-31 ESV  |  [7] 2 Corinthians 1:20

On Loving God and Others in Our Communications

Highlighted Text: 1 Peter 5:6-7, 10
Full Text: Isaiah 17-18; 1 Peter 5

Love | How should we think about loving God and others in our communications with each other? After a year hiatus, I recently rejoined Facebook for work. As you probably know, Facebook stores all your information so that, if you want to reactivate your account, you haven’t lost anything. Three weeks ago, when I logged back on and saw my past activity, I was disappointed with myself. Almost all my activity was about three people – me, myself and I. So I decided to start anew. I deleted my entire wall and resolved to make the purpose of my online communications the same as my in-person communications – namely, to love God and others.

Church | When the apostles wrote letters to churches, they didn’t merely broadcast information about themselves. They never spoke of their persecution to brag about their gospel commitment or to gain their readers’ sympathy. Instead, they always aimed to magnify Christ and encourage their readers to endure in their love for God. Peter, for example, exhorted his discouraged readers, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you … And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you” [1].

Others | In Philippians, Paul wrote, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others” [2]. When it comes to our communications – whether in-person or online – with one another, how can we love God and others? No, not every conversation or status update has to be about God and Christianity. But how can we re-imagine what loving God and others looks like in all of our communications with each other?

Prayer | Lord, We confess that we are oftentimes self-seeking and self-focused people. As it was in the beginning, so it is now – we love to look to our own interests above the interests of others. How desperately we need new hearts! Give us great joy in imaging forth the beauty of Christ’s sacrifice as we put others’ interests first in all of our communications with one another. Amen.

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Isaiah 17-18 ESV

An Oracle Concerning Damascus. 1 An oracle concerning Damascus. Behold, Damascus will cease to be a city and will become a heap of ruins. 2 The cities of Aroer are deserted; they will be for flocks, which will lie down, and none will make them afraid.3 The fortress will disappear from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus; and the remnant of Syria will be like the glory of the children of Israel, declares the Lord of hosts. 4 And in that day the glory of Jacob will be brought low, and the fat of his flesh will grow lean. 5 And it shall be as when the reaper gathers standing grain and his arm harvests the ears, and as when one gleans the ears of grain in the Valley of Rephaim. 6 Gleanings will be left in it, as when an olive tree is beaten—two or three berries in the top of the highest bough, four or five on the branches of a fruit tree, declares the Lord God of Israel. 7 In that day man will look to his Maker, and his eyes will look on the Holy One of Israel. 8  He will not look to the altars, the work of his hands, and he will not look on what his own fingers have made, either the Asherim or the altars of incense. 9 In that day their strong cities will be like the deserted places of the wooded heights and the hilltops, which they deserted because of the children of Israel, and there will be desolation. 10 For you have forgotten the God of your salvation and have not remembered the Rock of your refuge; therefore, though you plant pleasant plants and sow the vine-branch of a stranger, 11 though you make them grow on the day that you plant them, and make them blossom in the morning that you sow, yet the harvest will flee away in a day of grief and incurable pain. 12 Ah, the thunder of many peoples; they thunder like the thundering of the sea! Ah, the roar of nations; they roar like the roaring of mighty waters! 13 The nations roar like the roaring of many waters, but he will rebuke them, and they will flee far away,chased like chaff on the mountains before the wind and whirling dust before the storm. 14 At evening time, behold, terror! Before morning, they are no more! This is the portion of those who loot us, and the lot of those who plunder us.

An Oracle Concerning Cush. 1 Ah, land of whirring wings that is beyond the rivers of Cush, 2 which sends ambassadors by the sea, in vessels of papyrus on the waters! Go, you swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth, to a people feared near and far, a nation mighty and conquering, whose land the rivers divide. 3 All you inhabitants of the world, you who dwell on the earth, when a signal is raised on the mountains, look! When a trumpet is blown, hear! 4 For thus the Lord said to me: “I will quietly look from my dwelling like clear heat in sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.” 5 For before the harvest, when the blossom is over, and the flower becomes a ripening grape, he cuts off the shoots with pruning hooks, and the spreading branches he lops off and clears away. 6 They shall all of them be left to the birds of prey of the mountains and to the beasts of the earth. And the birds of prey will summer on them, and all the beasts of the earth will winter on them. 7  At that time tribute will be brought to the Lord of hosts from a people tall and smooth, from a people feared near and far, a nation mighty and conquering, whose land the rivers divide, to Mount Zion, the place of the name of the Lord of hosts.

1 Peter 5 ESV

Shepherd the Flock of God. 1 So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: 2 shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; 3 not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. 5 Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. 10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 11 To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Final Greetings.12 By Silvanus, a faithful brother as I regard him, I have written briefly to you, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it. 13 She who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings, and so does Mark, my son. 14 Greet one another with the kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ.

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Footnotes

[1] 1 Peter 5:6-7, 10 ESV  |  [2] Philippians 2:3-4 ESV

On Courage, Duty and Integrity

Highlighted Text: 1 Peter 4:19
Full Text: Isaiah 16; 1 Peter 4

Integrity | The Navy SEALs are special operations forces that carry out critical and dangerous combat and intelligence missions. In 2005, they adopted a creed that codified their commitment to courage and duty. It reads (in relevant part): “The ability to control my emotions and my actions, regardless of circumstances, sets me apart from other men. Uncompromising integrity is my standard. My character and honor are steadfast … I lead by example in all situations. I will never quit. I persevere and thrive on adversity … If knocked down, I will get back up, every time. I will draw on every remaining ounce of strength to protect my teammates and to accomplish our mission … Brave men have fought and died building the proud tradition and feared reputation that I am bound to uphold. In the worst of conditions, the legacy of my teammates steadies my resolve and silently guides my every deed. I will not fail” [1].

Mission | As Christians, we are called to even higher standards of courage and duty in the face of adversity for (at least) three reasons: (1) the stakes of our mission are eternal, not national, (2) our legacy is thousands, not hundreds, of years [2], and (3) our strength is Christ, not ourselves. Peter wrote to believers who were discouraged by the persecution they were experiencing because of their faith. He said, “Those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good” [3].

Commitment | We are to commit to these things – trust God, live obediently no matter the circumstances, and fix our hope on God’s ultimate victory [4]. Last year, when SEAL Team Six captured Osama bin Laden, many of us wanted to join the SEALs. Integrity and endurance in the face of adversity on a mission are attractive, especially in our fickle culture. As Christians, our lives should be attractive so that others see Jesus as the treasure of the universe. We are to live so that “in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ” [5].

Prayer | Lord, We confess that we are often weak and vulnerable in the face of adversity. Yet we long to commit ourselves to you and continue to do good. Therefore, when we are tempted to give in to sin, help us fight for obedience. Make our lives attractive so that people see your glory. Amen.

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Isaiah 16 ESV

1 Send the lamb to the ruler of the land,
from Sela, by way of the desert,
 to the mount of the daughter of Zion. 2  Like fleeing birds,
 like a scattered nest,
so are the daughters of Moab
 at the fords of the Arnon. 3 “Give counsel;
 grant justice;
make your shade like night
 at the height of noon;
shelter the outcasts;
 do not reveal the fugitive; 4 let the outcasts of Moab
 sojourn among you;
be a shelter to them from the destroyer.
When the oppressor is no more,
 and destruction has ceased,
and he who tramples underfoot has vanished from the land, 5 then a throne will be established in steadfast love,
 and on it will sit in faithfulness
 in the tent of David
one who judges and seeks justice
 and is swift to do righteousness.” 6 We have heard of the pride of Moab—
 how proud he is!—
of his arrogance, his pride, and his insolence;
 in his idle boasting he is not right. 7 Therefore let Moab wail for Moab,
 let everyone wail.
Mourn, utterly stricken,
 for the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth. 8 For the fields of Heshbon languish,
 and the vine of Sibmah;
the lords of the nations
 have struck down its branches,
which reached to Jazer
  and strayed to the desert;
its shoots spread abroad
 and passed over the sea. 9 Therefore I weep with the weeping of Jazer
 for the vine of Sibmah;
I drench you with my tears,
 O Heshbon and Elealeh;
for over your summer fruit and your harvest
 the shout has ceased. 10 And joy and gladness are taken away from the fruitful field,
and in the vineyards no songs are sung,
 no cheers are raised; no treader treads out wine in the presses;
 I have put an end to the shouting. 11 Therefore my inner parts moan like a lyre for Moab,
 and my inmost self for Kir-hareseth. 12 And when Moab presents himself, when he wearies himself on the high place, when he comes to his sanctuary to pray, he will not prevail. 13 This is the word that the Lord spoke concerning Moab in the past. 14 But now the Lord has spoken, saying, “In three years, like the years of a hired worker, the glory of Moab will be brought into contempt, in spite of all his great multitude, and those who remain will be very few and feeble.”

1 Peter 4 ESV

Stewards of God’s Grace. 1 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, 2  so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God. 3 For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. 4 With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you; 5 but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 6 For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does. 7 The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. 8 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. 9  Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10  As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: 11 whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Suffering as a Christian. 12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. 14  If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. 15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. 16 Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. 17 For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 And “If the righteous is scarcely saved,
 what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”19 Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.

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Footnotes

[1] Brett & Kate McKay. “Manvotional: The Navy Seal Creed.” The Art of Manliness. 9 August 2009.  |  [2] See Hebrews 11 (“The Roll Call of the Faithful.”)  |  [3] 1 Peter 4:19 NIV  |  [4] Peter says that we should live “no longer for human passions but for the will of God” (1 Peter 4:2 ESV) [4], that we should avoid “living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry” (1 Peter 4:3 ESV), that we should “keep loving one another earnestly” (1 Peter 4:8 ESV), that we should “show hospitality without complaining” (1 Peter 4:9 ESV), that we should “serve one another as good stewards of God’s grace” (1 Peter 4:10 ESV), and that we should “rejoice insofar as we share in Christ’s sufferings that we may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed” (1 Peter 4:13 ESV, but changed “you” to “we”).  |  [5] 1 Peter 4:11 ESV

On Being Attractive to Men

Highlighted Text: 1 Peter 3:3-4
Full Text: Isaiah 15; 1 Peter 3

Advice | Ladies, how can we be irresistible to men? Cosmopolitan suggests, “Men find heels sexy. But that stiletto is even sexier when it’s dangling off your toes … For maximum man magnetism, show off your shoulders with a strapless dress or sleeveless shirt. Bare shoulders plant one thought in a dude’s brain” [1]. Although the advice is ungodly, the assessment is true [2]. Men are wired to notice beauty in women.

Adornment | There’s nothing inherently wrong with seeking to be attractively feminine. Solomon celebrated his beloved: “How beautiful and pleasant you are” [3]. God made women to be beautiful to men. As a result of the Fall, however, we sinfully crave the power of beauty [4]. Peter wrote, “Do not let your adorning be external – the braiding of your hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing that you wear – but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious” [5].

Love | Have we, as Christian women, asked the Christian men in our lives how we can care for them in the ways that we dress? [6] Is our goal in choosing outfits to entice and attract or to love and serve? Are we trying to cultivate their love for God or their lust for us? Even in dressing for church, do we ask whether our outfits might be distracting?

Precious | Solomon wrote, “Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised” [7]. As we saw yesterday [8], to fear the Lord is to know that we are always in the presence of God. What does He find attractive? “The hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit.” Yes, let us be attractively feminine, but let us never use our beauty to entice or manipulate.

Prayer | Lord, We confess that we have used our beauty for selfish purposes. In this way, we haven’t participated in the redemption of our culture and its desire for beauty. Forgive us, Lord, and give us wisdom to obey you in how we adorn ourselves. Let us not judge men for their struggles in this area [9] and, instead, let us be co-laborers with them, as we seek to live as precious in your sight. Amen.

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Isaiah 15 ESV

An Oracle Concerning Moab. 1 An oracle concerning Moab. Because Ar of Moab is laid waste in a night, Moab is undone; because Kir of Moab is laid waste in a night, Moab is undone. 2 He has gone up to the temple, and to Dibon, to the high places to weep; over Nebo and over Medeba Moab wails. On every head is baldness; every beard is shorn; 3 in the streets they wear sackcloth; on the housetops and in the squares everyone wails and melts in tears. 4  Heshbon and Elealeh cry out; their voice is heard as far as Jahaz; therefore the armed men of Moab cry aloud; his soul trembles. 5 My heart cries out for Moab; her fugitives flee to Zoar, to Eglath-shelishiyah. For at the ascent of Luhith they go up weeping; on the road to Horonaim they raise a cry of destruction; 6 the waters of Nimrim are a desolation; the grass is withered, the vegetation fails, the greenery is no more. 7 Therefore the abundance they have gained and what they have laid up they carry away over the Brook of the Willows. 8 For a cry has gone around the land of Moab; her wailing reaches to Eglaim; her wailing reaches to Beer-elim. 9 For the waters of Dibon are full of blood; for I will bring upon Dibon even more, a lion for those of Moab who escape, for the remnant of the land.

1 Peter 3 ESV

Wives and Husbands. 1 Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, 2 when they see your respectful and pure conduct. 3  Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— 4 but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious. 5 For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands, 6 as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening. 7 Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.

Suffering for Righteousness’ Sake. 8 Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. 9  Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. 10 For “Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; 11 let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. 12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” 13 Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? 14  But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, 15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, 16 having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. 17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil. 18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, 19 in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, 20 because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. 21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.

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Footnotes

[1] Cosmopolitan. “How to Get Hit On All the Time.”  |  [2] As journalist Christopher Morley once wrote, “In every man’s heart there is a secret nerve that answers to the vibrations of beauty.”  |  [3] Song of Songs 7:6 ESV  |  [4] The Lord told Eve, “Your desire will be for your husband.” A few years ago, I did a lot of thinking about this. Interestingly, I compared the Western and Eastern ideas of how this “curse” has played out in our world. In the East (primarily Muslim nations), they recognize that a woman’s body can be alluring and, as a result, they cover women head to toe so that men will not stumble. In the West, we have done the opposite. We have thrown off any modesty and declared women’s rights. Yet both cultures are responding to the same curse. It’s almost like two sides of the same coin.  |  [5] 1 Peter 3:3-4 ESV. For an extended reflection on these verses, see John Piper, “Holy Women Who Hoped in God.” 11 May 1986.  |  [6] Over the years, I’ve had several conversations with godly men who have told me that certain types of clothing are generally more alluring and challenging than others. For example, some have told me that yoga pants or low cut shirts are challenging. When I tell women this, they’re shocked (especially the yoga pants one!). So don’t take my word for it! Ask the godly men in your life what particular outfits they find to be more difficult. Ask them how you can dress to point them more to God. Respect their assessments of what is hard for them.  |  [7] Proverbs 31:30 ESV  |  [8] 843 Acres. “On That-Which-Is-God and That-Which-Is-Not-God.” 15 May 2012.  |  [9] I have found that women have a hard time understanding men’s struggle in this area. Sometimes that leads them to think that we don’t need to pay attention to what we wear because, as they say, “This is their problem, not mine.” There are two problems with this response: (1) Sure. But as Paul says, “’All things are lawful,’ but not all things are helpful. ‘All things are lawful,’ but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor’ (1 Corinthians 10:23-24 ESV). We, as Christians, are called to love and serve one another. As Paul puts it elsewhere, “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others” (Philippians 2:4 ESV). We should be considering how men think about these things and, in response, respect and serve them in these areas. (2) Someone once told me that men think about sex as often as women think about calories. Wow. That put it in perspective for me. How can we help them in our clothing choices? Just as I appreciate men who don’t make comments that make my struggle with calories harder, men would benefit by being around women who aren’t making their struggle harder, too.

On That-Which-Is-God and That-Which-Is-Not-God

Highlighted Text: Isaiah 14:13-14
Full Text: Isaiah 14; 1 Peter 2

Pride | As we saw last week [1], God called Isaiah to speak to a stubborn and prideful people, indicting them, “You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God. I will set my throne on high … I will make myself like the Most High’” [2]. Today, our pride may say different things, but it’s no less real. Most of the time, our pride says nothing about God at all. We ignore Him and act like He doesn’t exist. We function apart from prayer and His Word. We get frustrated with Him when He doesn’t do what we want or when He doesn’t tell us what we want to know. Oftentimes there is little or “no fear of God before our eyes” [3].

Incomprehensible | One way to attack pride is to meditate on God’s uniqueness [4]. A.W. Tozer wrote about God’s incomprehensibility: “When the Scripture states that man was made in the image of God, we dare not … make it mean ‘in the exact image.’ To do so is … to break down the wall, infinitely high, that separates that-which-is-God from that-which-is-not-God. To think of creature and Creator as alike in essential being is to rob God of most of His attributes … If we insist upon trying to imagine Him, we end with an idol, made not with hands but with thoughts; and an idol of the mind is as offensive to God as an idol of the hand” [5].

Transcendent | Concerning our response to His divine transcendence, Tozer wrote, “In olden days men of faith were said to ‘walk in the fear of God’ … However intimate their communion with God, however bold their prayers, at the base of their religious life was the conception of God as awesome and dreadful. This idea of God transcendent rims through the whole Bible … This fear of God was … an acute feeling of personal insufficiency in the presence of God the Almighty” [6].

Prayer | Lord, There is none like you in heaven above or on earth below. Yours is the greatness, the dignity and the majesty. All that is in heaven and on earth is yours; yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever [7]. You are exalted as head over all. Let us never create idols with our thoughts and let us become increasingly dependent on you. Amen.

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Full Text (Relevant Text in Bold)

Isaiah 14 ESV

The Restoration of Jacob. 1 For the Lord will have compassion on Jacob and will again choose Israel, and will set them in their own land, and sojourners will join them and will attach themselves to the house of Jacob. 2 And the peoples will take them and bring them to their place, and the house of Israel will possess them in the Lord’s land as male and female slaves. They will take captive those who were their captors, and rule over those who oppressed them.

Israel’s Remnant Taunts Babylon. 3 When the Lord has given you rest from your pain and turmoil and the hard service with which you were made to serve, 4 you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon: “How the oppressor has ceased, the insolent fury ceased! 5 The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of rulers, 6  that struck the peoples in wrath with unceasing blows, that ruled the nations in anger with unrelenting persecution. 7 The whole earth is at rest and quiet; they break forth into singing. 8 The cypresses rejoice at you, the cedars of Lebanon, saying, ‘Since you were laid low, no woodcutter comes up against us.’ 9 Sheol beneath is stirred up to meet you when you come; it rouses the shades to greet you, all who were leaders of the earth; it raises from their thrones all who were kings of the nations. 10  All of them will answer and say to you: ‘You too have become as weak as we! You have become like us!’ 11 Your pomp is brought down to Sheol, the sound of your harps; maggots are laid as a bed beneath you, and worms are your covers. 12 “How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground,  you who laid the nations low! 13 You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north; 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’15  But you are brought down to Sheol, to the far reaches of the pit. 16 Those who see you will stare at you and ponder over you: ‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms, 17 who made the world like a desert and overthrew its cities, who did not let his prisoners go home?’ 18 All the kings of the nations lie in glory, each in his own tomb; 19 but you are cast out, away from your grave, like a loathed branch, clothed with the slain, those pierced by the sword, who go down to the stones of the pit, like a dead body trampled underfoot. 20 You will not be joined with them in burial, because you have destroyed your land, you have slain your people. “May the offspring of evildoers nevermore be named! 21 Prepare slaughter for his sons because of the guilt of their fathers, lest they rise and possess the earth, and fill the face of the world with cities.” 22 “I will rise up against them,” declares the Lord of hosts, “and will cut off from Babylon name and remnant, descendants and posterity,” declares the Lord. 23 “And I will make it a possession of the hedgehog, and pools of water, and I will sweep it with the broom of destruction,” declares the Lord of hosts.

An Oracle Concerning Assyria. 24 The Lord of hosts has sworn: “As I have planned, so shall it be,and as I have purposed, so shall it stand, 25 that I will break the Assyrian in my land, and on my mountains trample him underfoot; and his yoke shall depart from them, and his burden from their shoulder.” 26 This is the purpose that is purposed concerning the whole earth, and this is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations. 27  For the Lord of hosts has purposed, and who will annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back?

An Oracle Concerning Philistia. 28 In the year that King Ahaz died came this oracle: 29 Rejoice not, O Philistia, all of you, that the rod that struck you is broken, for from the serpent’s root will come forth an adder, and its fruit will be a flying fiery serpent. 30 And the firstborn of the poor will graze, and the needy lie down in safety; but I will kill your root with famine, and your remnant it will slay. 31  Wail, O gate; cry out, O city; melt in fear, O Philistia, all of you! For smoke comes out of the north, and there is no straggler in his ranks. 32 What will one answer the messengers of the nation? “The Lord has founded Zion, and in her the afflicted of his people find refuge.”

1 Peter 2 ESV

A Living Stone and a Holy People. 1 So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. 2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. 4 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5  you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For it stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” 7 So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” 8 and “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. 9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. 12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

Submission to Authority. 13 Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, 14 or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. 15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. 16  Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. 17 Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor. 18  Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust. 19 For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. 20 For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. 21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. 22  He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 23  When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. 24  He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. 25 For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

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Footnotes

[1] 843 Acres. “On Coming into the Presence of the Lord.” 8 May 2012.  |  [2] Isaiah 14:13-14 ESV  |  [3] Psalm 36:1. See also The Knowledge of the Holy by Tozer: “When the psalmist saw the transgression of the wicked his heart told him how it could be. ‘There is no fear of God before his eyes,’ he explained, and in so saying revealed to us the psychology of sin. When men no longer fear God, they transgress His laws without hesitation. The fear of consequences is not deterrent when the fear of God is gone.” Tozer, A.W. (2010-10-20). The Knowledge of The Holy (Kindle Location 1188). Kindle Edition.  |  [4] The Knowledge of the Holy by A.W. Tozer is one long meditation on the holiness and the otherness and the uniqueness of the Lord. I highly recommend it for anyone or any group who wants to spend time thinking about the difference between that-which-is-God and that-which-is-not-God and what that means in our lives and hearts. My community group is reading chapters of it together right now. You can find the entire essay on PDF: here. Or you can order it: here ($6.75).  |  [5] Tozer, A.W. (2010-10-20). The Knowledge of The Holy (Kindle Locations 161-178). Kindle Edition.  |  [6] Tozer, A.W. (2010-10-20). The Knowledge of The Holy (Kindle Locations 1189-1193). Kindle Edition.  |  [7] Prayer based on introduction to Chapter 7. Tozer, A.W. (2010-10-20). The Knowledge of The Holy (Kindle Location 1146). Kindle Edition.

On the Declaration of Independence

Highlighted Text: 1 Peter 1:14-16
Full Text: Isaiah 13; 1 Peter 1

Revolution | On March 23, 1775, Patrick Henry declared, “Give me liberty or give me death!” [1] The seeds of the American Revolution, which would shed the blood of almost 50,000 people, were already planted [2]. Nine months later, on November 29, 1775, Thomas Jefferson wrote to a British attorney, “There is not in the British empire a man who more cordially loves a union with Great Britain than I do. But, by the God that made me, I will cease to exist before I yield to a connection on such terms as the British Parliament propose” [3]. By July 1776, the Declaration of Independence was adopted.

Expats | It’s strange to be an American in England on the Fourth of July. I’ve done it twice and both times I brought American flag band-aids and enjoyed traditional American barbeques with fellow expats. As Christians, however, we are expats every day. We live in a world from which we have declared independence. Jesus died to make us free citizens of heaven. As Peter wrote, “[Know] that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers … with the precious blood of Christ” [4].

Allegiance | How should we live out our allegiance to God in this world? With band-aids and barbeques? Peter writes, “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy’” [5]. He continues, “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness and into his marvelous light … Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war on your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God” [6].

Prayer | Lord, Like the founding fathers of America, we see no point in living unless we are free in Christ. We would rather die than live apart from your grace and mercy [7]. Therefore, make us living testimonies of the gospel in our culture. Let our lives be holy as you are holy so that people will see how we live and want independence from this world. Amen.

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Full Text (Relevant Text in Bold)

Isaiah 13 ESV

The Judgment of Babylon. 1 The oracle concerning Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw. 2 On a bare hill raise a signal; cry aloud to them; wave the hand for them to enter the gates of the nobles. 3 I myself have commanded my consecrated ones, and have summoned my mighty men to execute my anger, my proudly exulting ones. 4 The sound of a tumult is on the mountains as of a great multitude! The sound of an uproar of kingdoms, of nations gathering together! The Lord of hosts is mustering a host for battle. 5  They come from a distant land, from the end of the heavens, the Lord and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land. 6  Wail, for the day of the Lord is near; as destruction from the Almighty it will come! 7 Therefore all hands will be feeble, and every human heart will melt. 8 They will be dismayed: pangs and agony will seize them; they will be in anguish like a woman in labor. They will look aghast at one another; their faces will be aflame. 9 Behold, the day of the Lord comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger, to make the land a desolation and to destroy its sinners from it. 10  For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be dark at its rising, and the moon will not shed its light. 11 I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will put an end to the pomp of the arrogant, and lay low the pompous pride of the ruthless. 12 I will make people more rare than fine gold, and mankind than the gold of Ophir. 13 Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken out of its place, at the wrath of the Lord of hosts in the day of his fierce anger. 14 And like a hunted gazelle, or like sheep with none to gather them, each will turn to his own people, and each will flee to his own land. 15 Whoever is found will be thrust through, and whoever is caught will fall by the sword. 16 Their infants will be dashed in pieces before their eyes; their houses will be plundered and their wives ravished. 17 Behold, I am stirring up the Medes against them, who have no regard for silver and do not delight in gold. 18  Their bows will slaughter the young men; they will have no mercy on the fruit of the womb; their eyes will not pity children. 19 And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the splendor and pomp of the Chaldeans, will be like Sodom and Gomorrah when God overthrew them. 20  It will never be inhabited or lived in for all generations; no Arab will pitch his tent there; no shepherds will make their flocks lie down there. 21 But wild animals will lie down there, and their houses will be full of howling creatures; there ostriches will dwell, and there wild goats will dance. 22 Hyenas will cry in its towers, and jackals in the pleasant palaces; its time is close at hand and its days will not be prolonged.

1 Peter 1 ESV

Greeting. 1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.

Born Again to a Living Hope. 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8  Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, 11 inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. 12  It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.

Called to Be Holy. 13 Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” 17 And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, 18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. 20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you 21  who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. 22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, 23  since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; 24 for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, 25  but the word of the Lord remains forever.” And this word is the good news that was preached to you.

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Footnotes

[1] Wikipedia, Give me Liberty, or give me Death!  |  [2] Wikipedia, American Revolutionary War (this number includes Americans and foreigners).  |  [3] Wikipedia, Declaration of Independence.  |  [4] 1 Peter 1:17-19 ESV.  |  [5] 1 Peter 1:14-16 ESV.  |  [6] 1 Peter 2:9, 11-12 ESV.  |  [7] See Philippians 1:21