Bible Study: God's Provisionsc12.19.10

King James Bible Study Devotional
Message Title: God's Provisions
For: Sunday December 19, 2010
Chapters: The Book of II Peter
Click Here to Read Them or Go to: http://www.imfollowingjesus.com/bible-december-19

Details of Today's Chapters: God has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness, therefore, if a Christian wants to receive God's promises he must walk in the Spirit of God and not the flesh. Walking in the flesh only leads to destruction and suffering, but God gives all the opportunity to repent.

Hello My Friend/Guest,
The Book of II Peter is the twenty-second book of the New Testament, the sixty-first book of the Bible, and contains three chapters. The author of this epistle (letter) is Peter and it was written to the Christian exiles. The purpose of the letter was to warn them of the dangers from within the church, their apostasy and false teaching. What we are to learn from the book too is that the greatest dangers from within the church are apostasy and false teaching. “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.” - II Peter 2:1

The word apostasy or heresy is defined as total rejection of Christianity by a person who, having at one time professed the Christian faith. There is only one thing that causes apostasy and that is living in the flesh. The Bible says, “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” - Galatians 5:19-21.

As Christian's we are prone to think that all Christian's have the same beliefs, sadly we do not. Now, I am not talking about different culture, I am talking about their view on Jesus Christ and who He truly is. Good people are being deceived all over the world by men and their false teaching, claiming that they got their instructions from God. In this letter, the Apostle Peter addresses this situation and the people who have been deceiving them. First, Peter encourages those who have escaped the lies and now know the truth, “According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” - II Peter 1:3-8.

God has made full provision for every Christian to live a victorious Christian life. The Holy Spirit enables us to endure temptation, suffering, failure, sin, and even success or pride as we stay in the Bible and learn more through obedience to His Word. “He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it.” - Isaiah 25:8.

However, when people take advantage of God's good graces and want to twist His rules and Word to suit their flesh that is when He gets angry. Peter has a warning to the ones who have been teaching false doctrine in His name. “For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly; And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;..The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:” - II Peter 2:4-6,9. If God will not spare the angles that have sinned and will cast them into hell He certainly will not hesitate to cast false prophets and teachers down there with them. “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.” - Revelation 20:10.

These false prophets and teachers within the church somehow had the people questioning whether or not Christ was even coming. However, Peter assures them that there are many more to be saved yet before He returns. “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up...Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.” - II Peter 3:8-10,13.

God is a patient God, so patient that He is willing to wait years for a person to come around and repent. The word longsuffering means long and patient endurance of injury, trouble, or provocation, that is why He sees a thousand years as one, it is our injury, trouble, or provoking that He waits patiently for. He does not want to cast anyone into hell, but He will if they continue to reject Him and deceive others. Therefore, we are to walk in the spirit, not the flesh, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.” - Galatians 5:22-26.

Be blessed, enjoy the rest of your day/night and Merry Christmas, Praise God, Jesus is the reason for the season.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina

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