EMMAUS SCHOOL OF BIBLICAL STUDIES

            This week has been extra challenging for me because I was hit with an issue that I have never given a whole lot of attention to, and that is helping the poor.  Not that I have never been an advocate of helping the poor or had a heart to do so myself, but I guess I never really saw the importance of doing so like I saw this week.  In the book of James, there are six main topics/themes that are circulated through the five chapters: wisdom, trials, doers, humility, the rich and the tongue.  James rotates these themes throughout the book so as to place much emphasis on them individually and as a whole, to improve one’s walk.  The theme of “doers” was the topic that really caught my attention because it opened my eyes to the “doing” work for the poor.

In James the Hebrew word “zaddik” is used for “the righteous,” in the context of faith and works, and the meaning of this word is “those that intentionally disadvantage themselves for the sake and benefit of others.”  This same word is found in Proverbs and in that context it means people give their lives away for the sake and benefit of those in need.  If we apply this to the church it means that if the church were more willing to disadvantage themselves to benefit others the church would be more generous and maybe we wouldn’t even have a need to have social programs. So the heart of what James is saying is that we as individuals and part of the body of Christ should love those who are helpless and in need and those with nothing to give in return because that is the gospel and that is who we are to God.  If Jesus were on earth, we would not find him in our big Christian conferences but he would be among the poor and we should be in the same place. Not saying that conferences are bad to go to by any means but that God is calling us out of our bubbles or comfort zones to really reach out to the shunned of society, the ones who get the least attention and respect.  I think it would be refreshing for anyone to put themselves in the shoes of people of need so they can see just how good they have it and just how good God really is.

            The letter of James is such a sweet reminder of the Lord’s love and compassion for the poor and oppressed. If this is God’s heart, as Christians, we are to share the same affinities he does. However, James is not giving another to-do list, something to check off. He recognizes that we are imperfect people and that we cannot muster up lasting compassion and love. Therefore, throughout the whole book he weaves through this idea of how what is in our hearts will manifest itself in our words and actions towards others. In order to love and serve others as much as we love and serve ourselves, we must draw near to the Lord, submit ourselves to him, and humble ourselves before him. And he promises to respond.

            Just as a peach tree produces peaches, so will our hearts organically love what God loves when we are rooted in him – which in turn relieves us of the pressure to perform. Our role is to press into him, and he will change our hearts. James says that “pure religion” is to love the orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world (1:27). Thus, we are called to love those who can give us nothing in return, and to pursue godliness. Where would we find Jesus today if he were walking around my community? Sadly, probably not the places I frequent. What would our society look like if the Church lived out and demonstrated God’s heart for the oppressed and the poor? How radically different would we spend our money and our time? What would our energy go towards?

            God desires us to reach out and love the people who have no hope, who are broken, and who have nothing to offer in return. What a beautiful picture of his love for us! He entered into our mess of a world, into our broken, hurting lives, and rescued us. We couldn’t offer him anything, yet he chose to love us anyways. The least we can do is extend the same undeserving, overwhelming love we received from him to those he died to save.

James had so many good topics in it that it was hard for me to pick just one to write about. The main things that stood out to me in this letter were the issues of wealth/riches and faith/works. However, since wealth and riches is such a big part of our American culture today, I thought I would write some things that particularly stuck out to me through this letter of James.

In this letter, James emphasizes clearly that wealth and riches are temporary and fading; therefore, it is worthless to put your hope and trust in them, b/c they will never endure. He describes how they are like flowers that fade away (1.9-11).

Considering that many people still chase after wealth and riches, it is something that we could all apply to our own lives, today. I realize that I sometimes get overly concerned about money and where it will come from, how much I am making in a certain job, etc. However, in James I saw that God is the source of ALL riches and wealth, therefore my provider is Him alone; not some job, or salary.

Therefore, I can totally trust in God, that whatever type of job I work or wherever in the world I am, He is my Provider; he is the Controller of all wealth and will give me everything I need.

This should bring such peace and trust, that we no longer need to worry about our life, and what our job salary is, b/c we can relax and rest assured that God will take care of every need we have.

Realize that He is our Provider and Father, and will care for us in every way. We often get caught up in the world’s perspective that we must chase wealth, material things, and riches, but these things are never stable. They will eventually fade away. Thus, I believe that this book applies to us today, just as much as it did to the Christians in the 1^st century; we can totally trust God as our ultimate Provider, just as he has been for believers everywhere, throughout the entire lifetime of the world.

            We are called to remember what Christ has done for us and his “precious and very great promises” (2 Peter 1:4). By doing this, we grow in the knowledge of God and guard ourselves from lies the world preaches, as Peter and Jude command us to do in their letters. How often do we dwell on what Christ has done for us, remembering the “cleansing of past sins” (2 Peter 1:9)? Do we let the weight of his sacrifice dwell in our hearts, humbling us before our Maker? As we remember the sacrifice, our hearts become tender, causing us to want to honor him in how we live and love others.

            Thus, the result of dwelling on the greatness of God is humility. When I think back, the moments I have been most humbled by the Lord are those in which I can say I have done nothing to deserve his patience and faithfulness towards me and when I am confronted by my sin, either by the Lord or by others, and I am able to clearly see how undeserving I am of his love. However, if we are called to humility as Paul tells us in Philippians, how can I humble my heart if humility is not an action or a demeanor? Peter, in his letter, tells us that we must remember what has been sacrificed for us and who God is, implying an active role on the part of the Christian. We must daily mediate on his Word and who it says he is. The promise that we have everything we need for life and godliness in Christ does not make us proud, but rather, humble that he would extend his undeserved grace towards us.

            It is absolutely essential for us as Christians to humble ourselves before the Lord in light of the truth of his majesty. As Peter warns, when we don’t, we are susceptible to the lies the world preaches. The world will tell us that we must prove ourselves to have worth, that we must conform to a certain standard of beauty, and that we must have a certain amount stuff to be successful. However, in contrast, God tenderly speaks to us and tells us that we are perfectly loved. Period. We must “keep ourselves in the love of God” (Jude 21).

This week we studied the books of 2 Peter and Jude. Even though these books are very small, there of course is a lot of good “meat” in them.   In 2 Peter and in Jude the theme is standing firm against false teachers, but for 2 Peter it is doing so and growing in grace, while Jude is growing in love.  The authors of both these books wrote very similarly in that they used many Old Testament quotations and figures of speech.  From these two books the key application point I got the most from came out of 2 Peter 1:5-7.  In class we did some meditating on these words and I really got so much out of it, especially the part about mutual affection.  I think for me I want to help others and I have a desire in my heart to aid in other’s lives but I feel like I fall short in this area  so much and  I go back worrying about myself. What I realized was that I cannot expect to be able to help others until I get my own life in line spiritually.  As much as I want to help others, I will be of no good to them until I am strong enough on my own!  The way to do this is to grow in my knowledge of and relationship with Christ, and that is what I am here for this year! I know the Lord has already blessed my time here and will continue to bless me as I am blessed by the learning of his Word!

The letters of 2 Peter and Jude came at a perfect time for me. Most of the work we have been doing feels like it has been going by at such a rapid pace, that I cannot remember and apply it all and have become frustrated that I will forget it. However, in these books I saw that they key to spiritual growth is not solely through Bible knowledge, but through a daily relationship with Jesus Christ. It is in this way that we will be able to avoid the deceits of the world.

In the letter of 2 Peter, Peter the author, emphasizes growing in your faith, to avoid getting deceived by false teachings. Peter predicted that the churches he was writing to, would eventually see false teachers in their midst, and some would be deceived; therefore, he warned them that to avoid this deception, they all must grow in the grace and knowledge of God. He said that focusing on the precious promises of God would help them escape the corruption that is in the world (1:4). Peter says that when you forget these promises, you forget that you have been saved, and begin focusing on yourself, instead of the grace given to you. Therefore, the more you focus on sin, the bigger an issue it becomes.

What does this mean specifically to us? It means that we too, can learn to reflect daily on the knowledge and grace of God, so that we can avoid being deceived and can escape the corruption in our world. If we take the time to meditate daily on the grace and knowledge of God, it helps us take our eyes off ourselves, and realize all the promises we have through Christ. Then, we will be able to grow to be more like Him.

Paul is writing, just kidding Peter is writing to a persecuted church.  Man, it seems like Christians are always being persecuted.  Anyways, this book is pretty straight to the point.  If you flip it open, you will drastically see how it is mainly about hope in suffering.  It is neat how I judge a book by not knowing what I was going to get out of it, and thinking to myself “How could this possibly teach me another aspect of suffering?”  Well, to my surprise, well actually not my surprise, because I think like that before every book, God taught me yet another trait of his character.

One idea that Peter touches on suffeirng for the good vs. bad.  He mentions slaves in this chapter, and how they are to accept authority from their masters.  He says what credit is it if they are suffering for doing wrong?  But, the amount of blessing and credit one gets when a follower of Christ suffers unjustly, awhile holding onto the grace of God, being aware that he is still God, not doubting where he is in admist of suffering.  That concept is so beautiful to me.  Yet, really difficult to take in.  In our culture, that does nooootttttt flow! You have your American rights, and my personal rights, and my space, and my wants, and my desires.  Well, good luck at trying to conform that into the Bible comfortably for you life.  The truth that I am trying to put across is how we are supposed to share in Jesus’ sufferings, and he was suffering for something good.  In admist our suffering as Christians, even it is so unjust, suffering and enduring, awhile holding onto Christ is a good thing to have.  It’s almost a blessing in itself.  It brings us to a broken state, longing, dying for Christ to be all of our fulfillment.

This has hugely touched in my life on a huge scale.  I think about the things I am suffering for right now, and how if I compare them with things I was suffering for a couple years ago, there was no hope in that suffering.  It wasn’t even good that I was suffering for, which made it even more hopeless.  But, now, God has be in suffering positions for a reason, that I am longing and edging to find out.  But, even if there is no outcome, will I still hold onto the cross that exemplified the hugest amount of suffering in history?  I hope.

             It’s pretty incredible that we still have letters written by Peter, over almost 2,000 years ago, who was one of Jesus’ best friends. What a privilege it is to be able to read it! Coming from a Jewish background, Peter’s style of writing is much more circular in nature – majorly differing from Paul’s Greek style of writing, which is very logical. Therefore, Peter has themes of having an eternal perspective, suffering, and living holy weaved throughout the entire letter. Writing to Gentiles undergoing severe persecution under the evil Emperor Nero around AD 64 (who used to dip Christians in wax and light them on fire for candles at his dinner parties), they must have been struggling with how they were to interact with those who were persecuting them and asking all sorts of “why” questions. He encourages them to maintain the eternal perspective that everything is temporary and that one day all brokenness will be restored. In light of their hope of eternity, they must endure persecution, all the while honor those persecuting them and continue to live holy.

            With this theme of suffering continually coming up in the New Testament, it challenges me to really examine the issue. Just like the original readers of this letter, my initial question sometimes when I see suffering or experience it myself is to ask God “why?”. Although Romans makes it pretty clear that we may not get an answer to that question, we can learn our role and responsibility when it does come. 1 Peter shows us that because God values us becoming like him, that sometimes he allows suffering to happen so that we may become more Christ-like, knowing it is ultimately for our best. He is very explicit that our attitude towards suffering should be rejoicing. Really? Rejoicing? However, that begins to make sense when I remember my eternal destination and that everything else will fade. In reality, my relationship with God is of the utmost importance, and if I really believe that, then I will be thankful for the opportunities, whatever they may be, that strengthen my relationship with him.

            In light of this, as Christians, we should never be overwhelmed or discouraged because everything that discourages will fade away and is ephemeral. One day, our Creator will himself fully restore us. Therefore, we can respond towards others, even those causing the suffering, with humility, trusting that God will one day be the judge and make all things right. We can then rest, knowing that’s not our place, and believe that whatever happens in life, good or bad, holds the opportunity for us to know our Maker a little more.

Peter wrote the letter of 1 Peter to several Galatian churches in the regions of Galatia and Asia, to encourage them in their suffering, and to tell them to keep an eternal perspective in this present life, so as to give them endurance and encouragement in the midst of their pain. Peter knows that they are experiencing intense physical persecution; b/c in those days, to be a Christian meant that you could be tortured and possibly killed. He didn’t want the churches to give up, just because life on earth is hard; therefore, he repeatedly reminds them throughout the letter to focus their goal on heaven, and to realize that their real home is in heaven and not on earth.

This helped them realize that it was not a present life of comfort and ease that they should be striving for. Instead they should focus on being with Jesus, and the fact that he had suffered for them and saved them from eternal suffering. Thus, they shouldn’t set their hope on this life, because the life of eternity with Jesus will be more glorious than they could even imagine!

This is encouraging for us too, because in this life we too have suffering and physical hardships as well. When we look from an earthly perspective, it is easy to get discouraged and wonder why we even have to endure these sufferings? However, as soon as we realize that God always has a purpose in suffering, and that our home is not on earth, but in heaven, then we will realize that the things we suffer on earth are light and momentary.

Thus, how does this change our day to day life? Well, instead of getting discouraged when we experience hard times, we can rejoice that one day we will be in heaven, and eternally surrounded by God’s glory. Therefore, it is not for temporary comforts on earth that we live – it is for ETERNAL life and glory with Christ. This should truly make us joyful in any circumstance, and give us the grace to endure it.

 This week we started our first letter of Peter.  His writing style is similar to Paul’s letters to Timothy in that there is not as much structure but more emphasis on the thematic elements of suffering, living holy and having an eternal perspective.  Similar to Paul’s letters also, Peter writes and addresses specific audiences such as wives, husbands, slaves, and shows them how they can embrace these themes in their own lives and why that is important.  In chapter 3 of 1 Peter, the idea of suffering and always being ready to defend the faith is mentioned, which I interpreted a different way-maybe Christ wants us to endure suffering as a defense mechanism for the faith.  Of course it doesn’t make any sense that to defend the faith we give into our opposition, but much of what Christ teaches seems counter intuitive, because we use our human thinking to figure things of heaven out.  

For me personally I really feel like the Lord has been calling me and preparing me for things in the future that are going to bring me out of my comfort zone, a suffering of some kind.  So what makes this timeless truth so special to me is that it prepares me mentally and spiritually for the suffering to come, in whatever form that suffering presents itself, because I know that my enduring suffering will defend the faith.  Our purpose here on earth is to serve God and to bring others to Christ so that they can have a hope in eternity, but how can I truly exemplify Christ unless I make myself like him in everyway, including being broken down, so other can be brought into his glorious family?

            The theme of 2 Timothy spoke to me more so than anything specifically mentioned in the book.  Paul wrote this last letter to Timothy as one last chance to give him counsel.  He encourages Timothy to be bold in the face of persecution and endure suffering the way Paul himself did. 

This book is written during the Neronian persecution (64-68 AD) when Emperor Nero used the most brutal and unheard of tactics for Christian genocide including covering them in wax and lighting them on fire in public.  Because of this, Paul knew that it would be hard, even for a close companion and fervant follower like Timothy, to stand strong so he wrote his second letter to Timothy to remind him that he endured much for the faith and Timothy was capable of the same.  Paul was encouraging Timothy to embrace God’s calling on his life, which was to endure suffering as a Christian and to spread the gospel. 

For me, this book helped me to really focus on God’s calling in my life and to begin to seek him and figure out what my next move should be.  The book also helped me understand that my next move may not be easy and I may have to suffer, but that God uses that suffering to grow his kingdom, and that is all that matters.  While not everyone will have some elaborate, seemingly spiritual call on their life like doing missions on some obscure island in the pacific, God does call each and every one of us to properly represent him wherever we are and whatever we are doing so that the eternal kingdom will grow!

2 Timothy is here.  It’s fresh and its new.  I enjoyed this book so very much.  It is a little 4 chapter book, but it has a lot to speak into people’s lives of following in their call that God has granted us with.

This letter is the last of Pauls, which has been sad to think about, because I feel like through all these letters I have studied, I’ve come to know Paul.  Paul is writing to Timothy again.  this is a very emotional letter.  Paul refers to Timothy as his child, and the usage words exemplifies the deep, father-son relationship they have encountered over the years.  This is important to know this, because this letter is at the end of Paul’s life, and is writing to Timothy to guard the faith and gospel that God has called for his life.  He is wanting him to rekindle, and stop being shy, and live up to the calling, even if it means he will have to suffer.  Which we completely see.  Paul shows so much in these chapters about suffering for the faith, because the motivation is for unbelievers to come and know Jesus.  This book also really shows that the call of God does not promise a life of bliss and perfectness.  It might be a hard life when one is completely surrendering their will.

This book has made me see that I have definitely made plans according to comfort in my life.  What I mean is that it can be easy to make decisions in our lives that have the God label on it, but really it is just us wanting it to be what we want.  I have come to see that this school is God’s true calling on my life right now.  it is hard, draining, and sometimes I am at my wit’s end with enduring through it, but then again we are called to suffer when we are in God’s call.  Paul shows Timothy exactly what he means, and gives numerous instances from his own life how the motivation for his suffering was knowing that he is supposed to suffer to some degree walking in God’s call.  It does not necessarily mean that God’s call always comes with harsh suffering, but to some extent when we are choosing to walk in God’s calling, there will be the battle of wanting to follow the world for your life as opposed to following God’s call.  That right there will be hard sometimes.  It is not necessarily also a simple life to walk to God’s calling.  You are essentially choosing a life ready to face whatever God wants you to face, and surrending to your rights, and your stubborness for what you want.  And Paul shows Timothy this as well.  Even though Paul saw a lot of good happen during his ministry, and it was easy sometimes, there came along with that hardship and suffering.  But, he kept enduring, because he was more confident to lead a life worthy of God’s calling where he knew he was in God’ will, as opposed to leading a life of his own.

The second letter of Paul to Timothy deals with several different themes, one of which is suffering. This theme is hard to grasp, because in our modern society we usually don’t seem to experience much suffering. However, Paul says that suffering is a normal part of a Christian’s life, and should actually be expected. (3:12)

What then, is the purpose of suffering? Well, a big reason is that it advances the kingdom of God. In Timothy’s day, Nero was persecuting the church in the Roman Empire, by committing all kinds of heinous acts of torture upon the Christians, and subjecting them to persecution of the worse kind. Nero’s whole design and purpose in this persecution, was that Christianity could be wiped off of the face of the earth.

However, the exact opposite came true – Christianity began to be noticed more and more, because of all the exposure and attention it was receiving. Thus, people were drawn to it, if only at first out of curiosity, eventually from a true recognition that Jesus was the only way to salvation. Thus, it is interesting to note that at the very time Paul is writing this letter to Timothy to endure persecution, one of the very worst persecutions in the history of the world was taking place. And the result of this persecution was the spread and advancement of the gospel. Therefore, because they endured their persecution, the gospel was spread, and we now hear of it today!

So then, in our life, what kind of persecutions might we endure? The persecutions we endure as Christians in America are certainly not as harsh as the persecutions of the 1^st century church. We might not feel like we are even undergoing persecution. However, whenever we experience opposition to the call of God in our lives, we are experiencing persecution. This means that we could be persecuted in the form of family, friends, even the church today; anyone who opposes God’s call on our lives and subjects us to their disapproval, is in a way, persecuting us.

Therefore, we too can learn from Paul’s call to Timothy to endure our small persecutions, so that the gospel will be spread in our culture too. We cannot give up the call that God has on our life, simply because others oppose us. Instead, we must carry on, as Paul did, to complete the call of God in our lives, so that at the end we too can say, “we have kept the faith” (4:7) no matter who has stood in our way.

             I think to a degree, if I’m honest, I’ve believed that I’m pretty insignificant to God. That surely, because there are billions of people to look out for and fight on their behalf, that God doesn’t really care what I do with my life specifically, that he doesn’t have a specific calling on my life, but that as long as I am walking with him and pursuing knowing him, it doesn’t matter what I do. Well, the letter Paul wrote to Timothy as he knew he was dying, 2 Timothy, speaks to that lack of belief in God’s character. Throughout the whole letter, Paul is reminding Timothy to rekindle and embrace the calling to which he has been given. Timothy’s specific calling is to do the “work of an evangelist”, teaching others truth so that they may in turn teach others. Paul reminds Timothy that his own calling was one of a herald, an apostle, and a teacher.

            Whether or not God has a specific calling on each one of our lives like he did Paul’s and Timothy’s, I think the implications of this letter command that we take seriously the pursuit of finding out. God is not mysterious in that he tries to hide things from his children. No, he wants to make himself known to us; otherwise, he wouldn’t have gone through the trouble and sacrifice of letting his Son be murdered so that we could be reconciled to him and know him. God desires that we, myself included, press into him – sincerely asking, with an open mind, what he would want us to do with this one precious life. He does value us individually and wants to use us, not for the sake of ourselves, but for the sake of others – so that they may know his name and come to know him. I love how even God’s specific calling on our lives, an individual, intimate thing, is for the sake of other people.  This is so revealing of his character – that he is a selfless God, and has designed the system in such a way that everything, every gift and calling, is for others to see him clearer and to be blessed. He knows our selfish tendencies and invites us to embrace our own callings, to get out of ourselves and serve others. His heart screams out through every page of the Bible that he wants and desires for all to know him – and how sweet that is that he would use his children to accomplish his purpose.

1 timothy is what we studied next.  It was a quick transition into it when we just finished 2 Corinthians a day ago, and it was packed with tons of goodies.  well, jumping into 1 Timothy was a different feel.  It is a short book, and I guess I am still kind of processing what exactly God wants to show me in it deeper.  I guess that time will happen after SBS.  I can tell you snipets of what I got out of it though…

This is a different type of letter, because it is known as one of the pastoral letters Paul writes.  The other 2 are Titus, and 2 Timothy.  What that means is basically Paul writes to a young leader that is fixing or setting things up in a church, that most likely Paul has visited.  Well, this one is to Timothy in Ephesus.  Paul and Timothy spent a lot of time together awhile traveling from country to country proclaiming the gospel.  Well, now Paul is writing to Timothy in Ephesus, and there are a ton of wrong things going on in the Ephesian church.  So, it is a different kind of letter that Paul uses writes.  It is very jumbled, and in my mind I kind of think of it, as Paul is talking on the phone to Timothy, and he is like “Ohhh yeah, and widows blah blah blah…Elders, Deacons, Bishops, blah blah blah.”  The reason he writes to him like this is because there are false teachers in the church of the Ephesians, and they have let the church become completely out of hand.  Here’s where Timothy comes on the scene.  Paul gives him these instructions of everything to do, and they aren’t just small instructions.  It has a lot to do with confronting people, and basically aligning them back up with the true gospel.  But, all awhile having a pure heart, which is what Paul tells him to have in the first couple verses of the book.

So after all of that, I look up to Timothy.  I think of myself in that situation, and how overwhelming it would have been, BUT, have a pure heart.  That is difficult.  i admire Timothy in this book, because I can imagine all the years he had with Paul refuting false doctrine, now it is his glorious time to act accordingly to the gospel by having the opportunity to fix this catastrophe.  “Let no one despise your youth, but set the believers an example in speech and conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.” 4:12 Wow.  What a line to feed a young leader that is surrounded by countless contradictions to the gospel he has been so in tune with.  What a time to make an example to them, which Paul urges him to.  Age is not looked at.  Knowledge is not looked at.  Nor is experience looked at in this time.  But, being an example of Godliness is what is looked at.  That touched me.  I look at my life, and mirror it up against Timothy’s. I desire to be put in a place like that.  To be challenged to live a Godly example.  But it cannot happen by just talking about it, it has to happen by living by it.  This has made me truly see that everything about a person’s physical being is looked past, and true Godliness representation is what is going to be the pivotal point to get this church up and running again.