GOD’S WORD FOR JANUARY 2

Our  book this month  is a continuation of “Chiseled by the Master’s Hand ~ Lessons From the Life of Peter,” by Erwin  Lutzer.  Dr. Lutzer is  Canadian-born and served as Senior Pastor of the Moody Church in Chicago for 36 years, until his retirement in 2016.   He now serves as Pastor Emeritus of Moody Church.  He’s written many books and has radio and internet teaching programs.

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STRENGTHENED BY THE MASTER’S GRIP

(Read Acts 2:14-36; 3:11-26; and 4:18-22)

FROM CONFUSION TO UNDERSTANDING

A boy who was trying to put a puzzle together was driven to despair because the pieces simply did not see, to form a symmetrical picture.  Only when he discovered that some pieces from another puzzle had been carelessly thrown onto the pile did he realize why he could not make sense of the picture he was trying to create.

In the Gospels Peter had some important pieces of the puzzle but the big picture didn’t fit.  He had disagreed with Christ, telling his Master that He should not let Himself be nailed to a cross.  As I pointed out, Peter meant well but if Christ had taken his suggestion, Peter himself would not have been redeemed.  Although he had the insight to recognize Christ as the Son of God, he simply did not understand the cross or the purpose of God in redemption.

Now Peter gives an eloquent sermon, explaining with penetrating insight the purpose of the cross and how it fits into God’s eternal plan in Acts 2:14-36.  This message which comprises twenty-two verses contains no less than twelve quotations from the Old Testament.  Peter weaves together prophecy and divine providence.  He ends his discourse with these words:

“Men of Israel, listen to these words:  Jesus the Nazarene, a Man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know – this Man, delivered up by the predetermine plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.” (Verses 22-23).

At last Peter put the cross in the center of God’s program for Planet Earth.  He now understood that the suffering of Christ was preordained as God’s means of salvation.  He proclaimed publicly, no longer fearing the hostility of men though he knew they hated what he was saying.  Let the whole world be against him;  Christ was standing at his side.  Why this change in Peter’s understanding?  The Holy Spirit, Christ promised, would lead the disciples into truth because He was the Spirit of wisdom, and revelation.  The Holy Spirit enlightens the mind;  He helps us grasp the deeper meaning of Scripture and make sense out of God’s relationship with the world.  “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from Go, that we might know the things freely given to us by God…but the natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.”  (1 Corinthians 2:12 and 14).

New Agers today also claim enlightenment, a form of revelation that initiates them into “hidden wisdom.”  Some have a mystical experience that propels them into another world.  This, of course is a satanic delusion.   For one thing, such revelations are contrary to the Scriptures; for another, these experiences eventually lead to confusion, the exaltation of man, and satanic bondage.  Let us take care to distinguish between the two opposing spirits in the world.

When God gives wisdom and revelation, it is always through a better understanding of the Scriptures and never independent of the divine Word.  Satan is also a spirit of confusion who gives thoughts that lead to frustration and uncertainty;

Thanks to the Holy Spirit, Peter’s mind was enlightened and the misunderstandings dissipated as he began to see more clearly God’s purposes.  Today the Holy Spirit, through the Word, does the same for us.

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1 Corinthians 2:2

For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

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Galatians 2:20

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

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Psalm 18:28

For You will light my lamp; The Lord my God will enlighten my darkness.

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Ehesians 1:18

the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,

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John 8:32

And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

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John 4:24

God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.

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Psalm 19:8

The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;

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