We have a big God, so your prayers must be big. Not long... big. BibleStudyTools.com BOOK IV Psalms 90–106 PSALM 90 A Prayer of Moses, the man of God. 1 Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations. 2 Before the mountains were born Or You gave birth to the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God. 3 You turn man back into dust And say, “Return, O children of men.” 4 For a thousand years in Your sight Are like yesterday when it passes by, Or as a watch in the night. 5 You have swept them away like a flood, they fall asleep; In the morning they are like grass which sprouts anew. 6 In the morning it flourishes and sprouts anew; Toward evening it fades and withers away. 7 For we have been consumed by Your anger And by Your wrath we have been dismayed. 8 You have placed our iniquities before You, Our secret sins in the light of Your presence. 9 For all our days have declined in Your fury; We have finished our years like a sigh. 10 As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years, Or if due to strength, eighty years, Yet their pride is but labor and sorrow; For soon it is gone and we fly away. 11 Who understands the power of Your anger And Your fury, according to the fear that is due You? 12 So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom. 13 Do return, O LORD; how long will it be? And be sorry for Your servants. 14 O satisfy us in the morning with Your lovingkindness, That we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. 15 Make us glad according to the days You have afflicted us, And the years we have seen evil. 16 Let Your work appear to Your servants And Your majesty to their children. 17 Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us; And confirm for us the work of our hands; Yes, confirm the work of our hands. Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 26 Q. What do you believe when you say, “I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth”? A. That the eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who out of nothing created heaven and earth and everything in them, who still upholds and rules them by his eternal counsel and providence, is my God and Father because of Christ his Son. I trust him so much that I do not doubt he will provide whatever I need for body and soul, and he will turn to my good whatever adversity he sends me in this sad world. He is able to do this because he is almighty God; he desires to do this because he is a faithful Father. Summary The fourth book within the Psalms begins not with a song written by David, nor by Asaph or the Sons of Korah, but with a prayer written by Moses, who in the superscription (the Psalm's title) is given the greatest compliment that anyone could receive: Moses, the man of God. What will you do today that you might be worthy of such a description for yourself? Moses begins his relatively short prayer - as most Biblical prayers are - the way so many Biblical prayers do, and exactly as Jesus taught us: by acknowledging who God is. He's our dwelling place in all generations - both Moses' generation and our own! And the Lord has been God even before creation; even before the moutains and the earth and world were born. In fact, the Lord exists beyond the bounds of time itself - from everlasting to everlasting, He is God! We call this aspect of God's being - the fact that He sovereignly and omnipotently exists over all things - His transcendence. In his prayer, Moses compares God's transcendence with our limitedness. Whereas God turns man back into dust, having been consumed by His anger, our years finished with a sigh after seventy, or if due strength eighty years of labor and sorrow, since even our secret sins have been placed in the light of His presence, the LORD God reigns over time in such a way that a thousand years in His sight are like yesterday when it passes by. Like Moses, you need to remind yourself of God's transcendence often. The problems of our world are manifest and easy to see. But as you see the world in the light of God's sovereign control, you can see the purposes and work He has for you. So your prayer each morning, like Moses', ought to be that the Lord God would confirm for us the work of our hands; Yes! confirm the work of our hands, that we too might be considered men and women of God! Dig Deeper Having reminded himself of the Lord's transcendence as he acknowledged God not just at the beginning, but all through his prayer, Moses presents God with a list of petitions. Notice that Moses doesn't just ask for a bunch of ordinary stuff, the way we too often do. Rather, Moses' primary request in the final section of his prayer is that our lives be aligned with God's will: Teach us to number our days. Such an attitude that realizes the brevity of life results in a heart of wisdom. Moses longs for the LORD's return. When's the last time one of your prayers requested God to come back sooner than later? Moses prays that he'd be satisfied with God's lovingkindness - that is, God's covenant faithfulness - so that we may sing for joy and be glad all of our days. Moses asks that the days God has afflicted us would make us glad! Not all of our problems are a gift from God meant to correct us and strengthen our dependence on Him, but many are. Pray that they do the trick! Moses then prays that God's will would be made clear and obvious to us, that His work and majesty would appear to God's servants and our children. Finally, Moses prays that the favor of the Lord our God be upon us and that He'd confirm the work of our hands. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father in heaven, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Choose one or two of Moses' requests for alignment and make it your own; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:

One cannot be saved without believing in the Trinity firmly and faithfully. Gospels: Week 3 - Jesus' authority to call, heal, forgive, and welcome sinners John 5:1–16 (NASB95) 1 After these things there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem by the sheep gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew Bethesda, having five porticoes. 3 In these lay a multitude of those who were sick, blind, lame, and withered... 5 A man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had already been a long time in that condition, He said to him, “Do you wish to get well?” 7 The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I am coming, another steps down before me.” 8 Jesus said to him, “Get up, pick up your pallet and walk.” 9 Immediately the man became well, and picked up his pallet and began to walk. Now it was the Sabbath on that day. 10 So the Jews were saying to the man who was cured, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not permissible for you to carry your pallet.” 11 But he answered them, “He who made me well was the one who said to me, ‘Pick up your pallet and walk.’ ” 12 They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Pick up your pallet and walk’?” 13 But the man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away while there was a crowd in that place. 14 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “Behold, you have become well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you.” 15 The man went away, and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. 16 For this reason the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because He was doing these things on the Sabbath. 17 But He answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.” 18 For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God. Athanasian Creed ...Now this is the catholic faith: That we worship one God in trinity and the trinity in unity, neither blending their persons nor dividing their essence. --- Anyone then who desires to be saved should think thus about the trinity. Summary It didn't take long for the Jewish establishment to identify the 'problem' with Jesus. John spells it out plainly: it was for this reason: He not only was breaking the Sabbath - this was a problem, but one that their penal code was well equipped to remedy - but also He was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God. The Jews held the entire Old Testament in esteem, but there's one particular verse that they cling to more than any other. It's the verse that they memorize and recite daily called the Shema: Deut. 6:4 “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. So it's somewhat understandable at this point why it is that they're so upset with Jesus. It's certainly not because He's healing the sick, or in the case of today's passage, enabling the lame and withered to not just walk again, but to pick up his pallet. Other translations render that final word as mat, which isn't all bad, but the pallet was likely a bit more substantial than just a rolled up cushion, which is why it flagged the attention of the Sabbath police. The whole thing might have just been a forgettable incident - one of numerous Sabbath infractions that likely got cracked down upon that day - but Jesus purposefully escalated it with His reply implicating the LORD God - the ONE and ONLY God - as being His Father, and that both of them were continually working. Jesus here doesn't mention what it was that He and His Father were working on, but we now know that they're working all things together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). Dig Deeper It's not that these Jews were wrong - the LORD our God most certainly is ONE! It's just that Jesus knew what this meant in a way that nobody had ever considered - that God is ONE in essence and THREE in person. It's true that the word 'Trinity' isn't found anywhere in the Bible. We can't even turn to one specific passage that neatly unpacks it all. But once you understand it conceptually, the idea shows up on nearly every page of Scripture, in both the Old and New Testaments. This was the prevailing issue that the early church wrestled with. And it wasn't just a generation or two for whom this was a pet issue or hobby horse; this discussion and debate went on for centuries. Men devoted their entire lives to studying the Scriptures and choosing just the right words - even spending years debating one single letter in a word! - so that the Church might properly know and worship our Triune (three / one) God. All so that you could know the full extent of what Jesus meant when He said so long ago that My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working... to sovereignly secure your eternal salvation. All three of what we now call the Ecumenical Creeds center on the subject of the Trinity. We know the Apostles' Creed the best, and are somewhat familiar with the second - the Nicene Creed. But the third and final is called the Athanasian Creed, which was finished over four centuries after Jesus ascended, describes the Trinity in the most detail. It ends with these words: This is the catholic (universal) faith: one cannot be saved without believing it firmly and faithfully. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Triune God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you would believe what the Bible teaches firmly and faithfully; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:

You are a follower of Jesus Christ. So what does that mean? Gospels: Week 3 - Jesus' authority to call, heal, forgive, and welcome sinners Faithlife.com Matthew 9:9–13 (NASB95) 9 As Jesus went on from there [the healing of the paralytic that we read about yesterday], He saw a man called Matthew, sitting in the tax collector’s booth; and He said to him, “Follow Me!” And he got up and followed Him. 10 Then it happened that as Jesus was reclining at the table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were dining with Jesus and His disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, “Why is your Teacher eating with the tax collectors and sinners?” 12 But when Jesus heard this, He said, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. 13 “But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire compassion, and not sacrifice,’ for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Canons of Dordt Point III/IV, Article 11: The Holy Spirit’s Work in Conversion When God carries out this good pleasure in his chosen ones, or works true conversion in them, he not only sees to it that the gospel is proclaimed to them outwardly, and enlightens their minds powerfully by the Holy Spirit so that they may rightly understand and discern the things of the Spirit of God, but, by the effective operation of the same regenerating Spirit, he also penetrates into the inmost being of man, opens the closed heart, softens the hard heart, and circumcises the heart that is uncircumcised. He infuses new qualities into the will, making the dead will alive, the evil one good, the unwilling one willing, and the stubborn one compliant; he activates and strengthens the will so that, like a good tree, it may be enabled to produce the fruits of good deeds. Summary The first thing we read about Matthew is his occupation, and he couldn't have a worse one for the Jewish society he lived in. Tax collectors are never popular people, but ultimately we all sooner or later grudgingly concede that taxes are necessary part of national citizenship and therefore somebody must collect them. But imagine if you were forced to pay taxes to an enemy occupier of your nation, and then to make it even worse, if those collecting the taxes extorted an exorbitant fee on top of the taxes in a mafia like way. This is the reality that first century Jews faced and why they would have hated men like Matthew so much. But, with a simple two word command from Jesus, Matthew's life completely changed. Jesus tersely said follow me, and he got up and followed Him, leaving his substantial income generating tax collector's booth behind forever. But their first stop wasn't far away; it was Matthew's own house, and soon Jesus was reclining at the table. Such a visit on Jesus' part violated reams of rules and customs developed by the Pharisees, a political/religious party set against the growing theological liberalism of their rival Sadducees who comprised the majority of the Sanhedrin (a governing group with limited authority in Israel). And to make matters worse, Jesus wasn't just reclining at the table with His new disciple, but with many tax collectors and sinners (sinners here are people on the fringes of society who'd given up keeping the Pharisees' made up rules - or any other rules for that matter). But upon hearing the Pharisees' grumblings, Jesus quotes a well known proverb about how it's not the healthy, but those who are sick - people like tax collectors and sinners - who need a physician. Jesus then quotes the prophet Hosea to them reminding that God desires compassion and not sacrifice and adds that He didn't come to call the righteous - because nobody is truly righteous! - but sinners like the people reclining at the table with Him. Dig Deeper Jesus' command to Matthew may have only been two words - follow me! - but this seemingly simple order had all sorts of major implications, for Matthew so long ago, but also for you here and now. One of the most basic understandings of what it means to be a Christian is that you are a follower of Jesus Christ. So what does that mean? We don't have the space here for a full and complete definition, but we can note a few things here that it meant for Matthew that also apply to you. First of all, it means that you must leave behind the pursuits of the world - especially if they're sinful like what Matthew's tax collection enterprise was, but even beyond that, you must leave behind anything that inhibits or distracts you from following Jesus with all your heart, soul, mind and strength (as God had commanded His people so long before). Secondly, to truly follow Jesus - the great physician - you must first realize that you're not spiritually healthy on your own, but quite sick. In fact, as Paul will go on to describe it, you're actually dead in your sins and trespasses and desperately need to be healed. But just as pride can keep us from the doctor for our physical health because we think we can handle various illnesses and conditions ourselves, it's even more powerful in keeping you from clinging to Christ as you try over and over to fix yourself. But again, we see here the wonderful good news of the gospel: Jesus hasn't called the righteous to be His followers. Indeed, as we've already seen, who then would be His followers? So far as we've been reading the gospels now for just over two weeks, we've seen two primary commands from Jesus: first of all, repent - that is, think differently than the world by confessing and turning away from sin. And now as we've read today, follow Jesus, who came to call sinners like us to salvation. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, whose sent His Son to bring sinners back into a good relationship with Him; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you will follow Jesus with all of your heart, mind, soul and strength; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:

Are your expectations of God high enough? Gospels: Week 3 - Jesus' authority to call, heal, forgive, and welcome sinners Mark 2:1–12 (NASB95) 1 When He had come back to Capernaum several days afterward, it was heard that He was at home. 2 And many were gathered together, so that there was no longer room, not even near the door; and He was speaking the word to them. 3 And they came, bringing to Him a paralytic, carried by four men. 4 Being unable to get to Him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above Him; and when they had dug an opening, they let down the pallet on which the paralytic was lying. 5 And Jesus seeing their faith said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” 6 But some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, 7 “Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming; who can forgive sins but God alone?” 8 Immediately Jesus, aware in His spirit that they were reasoning that way within themselves, said to them, “Why are you reasoning about these things in your hearts? 9 “Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven’; or to say, ‘Get up, and pick up your pallet and walk’? 10 “But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the paralytic, 11 “I say to you, get up, pick up your pallet and go home.” 12 And he got up and immediately picked up the pallet and went out in the sight of everyone, so that they were all amazed and were glorifying God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this.” Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 125 Q. What does the fourth request of the Lord's Prayer mean? A. “Give us today our daily bread” means, Do take care of all our physical needs so that we come to know that you are the only source of everything good, and that neither our work and worry nor your gifts can do us any good without your blessing. And so help us to give up our trust in creatures and to put trust in you alone. Q&A 126 Q. What does the fifth request mean? A. “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” means, Because of Christ’s blood, do not hold against us, poor sinners that we are, any of the sins we do or the evil that constantly clings to us. Forgive us just as we are fully determined, as evidence of your grace in us, to forgive our neighbors. Summary What kind of expectations do you have for our Triune God? The four men carrying a paralytic to Jesus came with higher expectations than most, along with a faith that stands out. Lots of people were coming to Jesus in theses early days of His ministry, flocking around wherever He went. So when they hear that He was at home, the crowd showed up there so that there was no longer room, not even near the door. All sorts of people came, even a key element of their society's elite establishment class: the scribes. Mark doesn't say in today's passage what the crowd's expectations were, but the previous passage makes clear that they'd heard about Jesus' miracle working power, and they wanted to see - and maybe even experience - more. Jesus, for His part, doesn't miss the opportunity to speak the word to them. We'll see this tension grow as we read through the gospels: the crowd wants one thing - miracles - but Jesus simply wants to teach and prepare them for the kingdom of God, which He's been announcing has come near. Suddenly the ceiling opened up, and has now become famous, the paralytic was lowered down. It seems pretty clear what the unspoken expectation for Jesus to do was, but instead Jesus stuns everyone by ignoring the presenting problem - paralysis - and treating the man's much more pressing problem by announcing to the man that his sins are forgiven. Even the high expectations of these men for Jesus to heal their friend were too low. Dig Deeper So again, what kind of expectations do you have for our Triune God? A good way to quantify them is to analyze what you've been praying for. No prayers whatsoever indicates you have no or very low expectations. Maybe you've simply been asking Him to give you each day your daily bread the way He commanded us to. But your actual expectations are likely a bit higher, in that you probably assume that God is obligated to provide you that daily bread with a generous topping of butter and in a nicely appointed and air conditioned dining room. And maybe your expectations - and even your faith - soar even higher than the men in today's episode as you boldly present your requests to God as Philippians 4:6 commands us (requests could even be translated as demands!). And it's not wrong, having aligned your life with God's will, to ask Him for whatever you need - and even want! He both invites us and commands us to do so! But if your requests are limited to things under the Sun (as our Teacher in Ecclesiastes taught us a few weeks ago), your expectations for God are too low. Even if you present your requests as boldly and as faithfully as these men did in Jesus' home that day so long ago. Jesus wanted those gathered together in His home, and He wants you, to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. And this is the greatest thing you can expect and ask from Him! Forgiveness is what you need to repair the broken covenant relationship you have with God so that you can live with Him in the communion He designed you for. So keep asking God for what you need under the sun. These things are important, and as Jesus teaches elsewhere, your Father knows that you need them (Matthew 6:32). But don't aim too low. Jesus wants you to know that you can have the highest expectations for Him. So always make your request for your debts to be forgiven primary - in Jesus' words, seek first His kingdom and righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well (Matthew 6:33). AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, whose Son has authority on earth to forgive sins; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that the Spirit would help raise your expectations of our Triune God; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:

What have you left to follow Jesus? Gospels: Week 3 - Jesus' authority to call, heal, forgive, and welcome sinners Luke 5:1–11 (NASB95) 1 Now it happened that while the crowd was pressing around Him and listening to the word of God, He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret; 2 and He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake; but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. 3 And He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little way from the land. And He sat down and began teaching the people from the boat. 4 When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” 5 Simon answered and said, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say and let down the nets.” 6 When they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to break; 7 so they signaled to their partners in the other boat for them to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats, so that they began to sink. 8 But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!” 9 For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken; 10 and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men.” 11 When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him. Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 21 Q. What is true faith? A. True faith is not only a knowledge and conviction that everything God reveals in his Word is true; it is also a deep-rooted assurance, created in me by the Holy Spirit through the gospel, that, out of sheer grace earned for us by Christ, not only others, but I too, have had my sins forgiven, have been made forever right with God, and have been granted salvation. Summary As Jesus begins His public ministry, the crowd pressing around Him keep getting bigger. Certainly many of the people have come simply to see or even experience one of the miraculous healings from Jesus that everybody had been talking about, but at the beginning of today's passage, Jesus has the crowd right where He wants them (and us!): listening to the word of God. Soon the crowd had become so large that Jesus needed to expand His auditorium, so to speak, so He got into Simon's boat and began teaching the people from the boat. But Luke doesn't report any of the specifics of Jesus' lesson; rather, he directs our attention to what happened after it. Our first clue came when Jesus saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake; but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. As Simon (whom we know better as Peter) tells Jesus, they'd worked hard all night and caught nothing. The end of their long shift was near, and although their work left them emptyhanded, at least they could get some rest. But Jesus had other plans for them, ordering Simon to put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch. The resulting catch was so overwhelming that it began to break the nets and nearly sank Simon's boat before they to called out for reinforcements. Dig Deeper It's always easy to pick on Peter - the impetuous disciple who so often speaks and impulsively acts out before thinking, and who'd famously go on to deny Jesus on that dark Friday morning. But Peter, more so than any of the other disciples demonstrates a massive amount of faith time after time - faith that's clear to see in today's episode. You can feel the chagrin in Peter's voice as Jesus gives him the seemingly ridiculous order to head back out - an order that would add multiple hours to the fishermen's already long day. Peter tells Jesus of the previous night's failure (a supremely hard thing for any fisherman to admit!), but then immediately adds but I will do as you say and let down the nets. That's true faith! Remind yourself of all of the seeming ridiculous things God has asked people to do in the Old Testament passages we've read this year, and how God rewarded the faithfulness of people who let go of 'common sense' in order to fully cling to our omnipotent Father. Then there's Peter's gut wrenching reaction to the massive catch of fish, for amazement had seized him and all his companions. They suddenly realized that Jesus was no ordinary man, and it becomes painfully plain to Peter that as a sinful man he had no place in Jesus' presence. It's because Peter was so aware of the magnitude of his sin that he'd go on to appreciate so much what it was that Christ accomplished for him (read the first chapter of his first letter for a reminder!). As today's passage ends, these newly minted disciples brought their boats to land - the equivalent of tens of thousands of dollars in equipment (if not more) that they depended on for their families' livelihoods. Fishing wasn't just a hobby for these guys - they had a massive commercial operation going on here. But Luke tells is that they left everything and followed Jesus. What will you give up to follow Him? AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who often proves our faith by ordering things that seem so ridiculous and impossible to us; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that your faith would be as strong and robust as Peter's; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:

God's righteousness and your peace have come together. Bible.com PSALM 85 (NASB) For the choir director. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. 1 O LORD, You showed favor to Your land; You restored the captivity of Jacob. 2 You forgave the iniquity of Your people; You covered all their sin. Selah. 3 You withdrew all Your fury; You turned away from Your burning anger. 4 Restore us, O God of our salvation, And cause Your indignation toward us to cease. 5 Will You be angry with us forever? Will You prolong Your anger to all generations? 6 Will You not Yourself revive us again, That Your people may rejoice in You? 7 Show us Your lovingkindness, O Lord, And grant us Your salvation. 8 I will hear what God the Lord will say; For He will speak peace to His people, to His godly ones; But let them not turn back to folly. 9 Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him, That glory may dwell in our land. 10 Lovingkindness and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed each other. 11 Truth springs from the earth, And righteousness looks down from heaven. 12 Indeed, the LORD will give what is good, And our land will yield its produce. 13 Righteousness will go before Him And will make His footsteps into a way. Canons of Dordt Point 2, Article 1 - The Punishment Which God’s Justice Requires God is not only supremely merciful, but also supremely just. This justice requires (as God has revealed in the Word) that the sins we have committed against his infinite majesty be punished with both temporal and eternal punishments, of soul as well as body. We cannot escape these punishments unless satisfaction is given to God’s justice. Summary Psalm 85 poetically presents the process of repentance. Notice where repentance so often begins - conventional wisdom places its first steps in realizing the wrongness of your actions. Although such a realization is an important step, the psalmist in v1-3 places the first step of repentance in being reminded of God's simultaneously righteous and gracious nature. The LORD showed favor, He restored the fortunes and forgave iniquity and covered sins. He set aside wrath (other translations: hot/burning/raging anger) and turned from His fierce anger. It makes sense that repentance must begin with this theological understanding of who God is. Why else would one repent if there was no fear of punishment? Why would one repent if there was no possibility of the resulting hot/burning/raging anger and wrath being set aside? The superscriptions that precede many Psalms are different than the headings that appear before other passages in the Bible. Those headings have been added by the publisher as a handy convenience to help us locate and summarize passages. But the superscriptions in the psalms are an ancient indication of not only who wrote the psalm, but what the psalm was written for. There are 55 psalms (roughly 1/3) designated for the director of music. Among other things, it meant the psalm was a key part of ancient Hebrew liturgy - it was meant to be sung by all the people. Notice here that God wanted His people singing of His wrath! But not just singing about its hot/burning/raging nature, but about how God sets it aside in order to show favor, restore and forgive the sins which He has covered. Dig Deeper After completing this critical first step of coming to understand God's righteous / gracious nature, Psalm 85 walks us through the remaining aspects of repentance: Asking God our Savior to restore (v4) and revive (v6) us; Promising to listen to what God the LORD says; Being certain that His salvation is near those who fear Him, and that somehow God doesn't compromise His holy nature as He forgives our sin. God's covenant requirements (ḥěʹ·sěḏ) are met by His faithfulness, and His righteousness [holy justice] and peace kiss each other. To the psalmist, this must have seemed impossible. Of course we know that God accomplished this through Christ! An assurance that upon our repentance, that the LORD will indeed give what is good. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, God our Savior in whom loving kindness and truth are met together; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that as you prepare for Lord's Day worship that your church's music and liturgy will remind you that God has set aside His wrath and calls you to repent before Him; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:

Everybody's religious, but not every religion is true. Summary of Christian Doctrine: Your 'religion' expresses how you relate to God. Since everybody relates to God in one way or another, everybody is religious. Read all of Chapter 1 CONTEXT: The Apostle Paul is waiting to meet up with Timothy and Silas in Athens. Acts 17:16–31 (NIV) 16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. 17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with both Jews and God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there. 18 A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to debate with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others remarked, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. 19 Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? 20 You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we would like to know what they mean.” 21 (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.) 22 Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKOWN GOD. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you. 24 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. 26 From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. 27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. 28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ 29 “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill. 30 In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. 31 For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.” 32 When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered... Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 6 Q. Did God create people so wicked and perverse? A. No. God created them good and in his own image, that is, in true righteousness and holiness, so that they might truly know God their creator, love him with all their heart, and live with him in eternal happiness for his praise and glory. Summary It must have been easy to spot Paul as he took in the sights in Athens - he was the one with the greatly distressed look on his face since the whole city was full of idols. It didn't take long for the locals, a group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers, to take notice of him and to engage him in their favorite pastime: debating and doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas. So they invited him down to the Areopagus, which was their hang out, to hear more of his strange ideas. Once there, Paul began by pointing out the Athenians' most obvious attribute: that they were in every way very religious. He went on to mention their objects of worship that he'd looked carefully at. He would have seen shrines to not just the Olympian gods you may have learned about in high school, but dozens, if not hundreds, of other deities and cults would have had something set up as well. To make sure that they'd covered all of their divine bases, they'd even erected an altar inscribed TO AN UNKOWN GOD. It doesn't take long for Paul to get to the heart of the matter: that these learned philosophers were ignorant of the very thing they worshipped. Imagine the look on these guys' faces when Paul told them that! Finally, Paul proclaims to them the one, true God whom they'd missed: The God who made the world and everything in it, who is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. This living God gives everyone life and breath and everything else - in fact, it's in Him that we live and move and have our being! Dig Deeper Man has been described as 'incurably religious.' Aside from the fact that this make religion sound like a disease, it's an apt description of how people from every tribe, tongue and time period all have one thing in common: a divine belief that controls the way they think, feel and act. Even these erudite Athenian philosophers. Paul points out the problem that's plagued most of humanity: people think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill. And in doing so, he sets himself up to share the gospel. He tells them that in the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. Paul goes on to tell them that God has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the Man he has appointed, and that He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead. That's where Paul lost his audience: when they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered. It's good that you're religious. But realize everybody is - it's part of your very essence as an image bearer of God. What matters is that your religion is true - that it's based on what the Lord of heaven and earth, and the Man he has appointed, have revealed. It's this truth that we'll endeavor to learn together in 2027. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, the God who made the world and everything in it; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you would seek God, and reach out for Him and find Him as we read His Word in 2027; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:

You already knew that you're religious... the surprise is that everyone else is too! The Truth We Confess: A Summary of Christian Doctrine is a yearlong study designed to help people more clearly understand, confess, and live from the biblical foundation upon which we stand. Books written by Louis Berkhof, one of the Christian Reformed Church's most famous theologians, have guided scholars, pastors, and everyday people in understanding what the Bible teaches and how it applies to life. We'll spend this year working through a book he wrote to teach high school students Christian Doctrine nearly a century ago. You'll see that it's every bit as accessible and relevant still today. These doctrines comprise our "religion", a word we use often but that's hard to define. It's with this primary concept that Professor Berkhof begins with. A Summary of Christian Doctrine, by Louis Berkhof Chapter 1: Religion (Lightly edited and formatted for clarity) What Is Religion? The Bible informs us that man was created in the image of God. When he fell in sin, he did not entirely cease to be the image-bearer of the Most High. The seed of religion is still present in all men, though their sinful nature constantly reacts against it. Missionaries testify to the presence of religion in some form or other among all the nations and tribes of the earth. It is one of the greatest blessings of mankind, though many denounce it as a curse. Not only does it touch the deepest springs of man’s life, but it also controls his thoughts and feelings and desires. But just what is religion? It is only by the study of the Word of God that we can learn to know the nature of true religion. The word ‘religion’ is derived from the Latin and not from any word that is found in the original Hebrew or Greek of the Bible. It is found only four times in our translation of the Bible (Gal. 1:13, 14; Jas. 1:26, 27). The Old Testament defines religion as the fear of the Lord. This fear is not a feeling of dread, but of reverent regard for God akin to awe, but coupled with love and confidence. It is the response of the Old Testament believers to the revelation of the law. In the New Testament religion is a response to the gospel rather than to the law, and assumes the form of faith and godliness. In the light of Scripture we learn to understand that religion is a relation in which man stands to God, a relation in which man is conscious of the absolute majesty and infinite power of God and of his own utter insignificance and absolute helplessness. It may be defined as a conscious and voluntary relationship to God, which expresses itself in grateful worship and loving service. The manner of this religious worship and service is not left to the arbitrary will of man, but is determined by God. How Do You Experience Religion? There are several wrong views respecting the seat of religion in man: Some think of religion primarily as a sort of knowledge, and locate it in the intellect. Others regard it as a kind of immediate feeling of God, and find its seat in the emotions. And still others hold that it consists most of all in moral activity, and refer it to the will. However, all these views are one-sided and contrary to Scripture, which teaches us that religion is a matter of the heart. In Scripture psychology the heart is the central organ of the soul. Out of it are all the issues of life, thoughts, feelings, and desires (Prov. 4:23). Religion involves the whole man, his intellectual, his emotional, and his moral life. This is the only view that does justice to the nature of religion. Where Did Religion Come From? Repeated attempts have been made to give a natural explanation of religion, but without success. Some spoke of it as an invention of cunning and deceptive priests, who regarded it as an easy source of revenue; but this explanation is entirely discredited now. Others held that it began with the worship of lifeless objects, or with the worship of spirits, possibly the spirits of forefathers. But this is no explanation, since the question remains, How did people ever hit upon the idea of worshiping lifeless or living objects? Still others were of the opinion that religion originated in nature-worship, that is, the worship of the marvels and powers of nature, or in the widespread practice of magic. But these theories do not explain any more than the others how non-religious man ever became religious. They all start out with a man who is already religious. The Bible gives the only reliable account of the origin of religion. It informs us of the existence of God, the only object worthy of religious worship. Moreover, it comes to us with the assurance that God, whom man could never discover with his natural powers, revealed Himself in nature and, more especially, in His divine Word, demands the worship and service of man, and also determines the worship and service that is well-pleasing to Him. And, finally, it teaches us that God created man in His own image, and thus endowed him with a capacity to understand, and to respond to, this revelation, and engendered in him a natural urge to seek communion with God and to glorify Him. Being religious isn't what makes you a Christian - everybody's religious in that everybody relates to God in one way or another. What matters is that your religion is true - that is, that it's based on what God has revealed in His Word alone. Join us each weekday at UnfadingTruth.com as we explore what Scripture and our Reformed Confessions teach us about true religion.

Authoritative, Biblical preaching is truly amazing. Gospels: Week 2 - Jesus' Preparation & Beginning of Ministry We're visiting a different book each day as we work through all four gospels chronologically over the coming months. Image: Bible App SINCE WE LAST LEFT OFF... Jesus has returned from the devil testing Him in the wilderness and begun His public ministry with the announcement that the kingdom of God has come near so people must repent and believe the good news. He's just called the first four of His twelve disciples to follow Him. Mark 1:21–28 (NASB95) 21 They went into Capernaum; and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and began to teach. 22 They were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. 23 Just then there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, 24 saying, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!” 25 And Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet, and come out of him!” 26 Throwing him into convulsions, the unclean spirit cried out with a loud voice and came out of him. 27 They were all amazed, so that they debated among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.” 28 Immediately the news about Him spread everywhere into all the surrounding district of Galilee. Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 31 Q. Why is Jesus called “Christ,” meaning “anointed”? A. Because he has been ordained by God the Father and has been anointed with the Holy Spirit to be our chief prophet and teacher who perfectly reveals to us the secret counsel and will of God for our deliverance... Q&A 32 Q. But why are you called a Christian? A. Because by faith I am a member of Christ and so I share in his anointing. I am anointed to confess his name, to present myself to him as a living sacrifice of thanks, to strive with a good conscience against sin and the devil in this life, and afterward to reign with Christ over all creation for all eternity. Summary We're going to see an interesting tension develop between what Jesus wants to do in His ministry, compared to what the people want to see Him do. Mark makes Jesus' purpose clear as he begins to tell the story, reporting that Jesus entered the synagogue and began to teach. Remember, Jesus' primary directive - the first thing He publicly announced - was for people to repent. Certainly He was calling people to be genuinely sorry for and to turn from their sins, but the word repent means more - it literally means to think different. It means, as Paul would later put it, to stop being conformed to the world's pattern of thinking, and instead be transformed by the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:2). So it makes sense, as Jesus here demonstrates, that being taught - that is, having your renewed mind filled with true and good knowledge - ought to be a Christian's top priority. It doesn't take long for those who'd came to synagogue that morning to realize they'd never heard anything like Jesus' teaching before, for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as the scribes, who'd apparently just been going through the motions, blandly reading the words on the scroll. While it would have been wonderful to hear Jesus teaching in person as these people did, you can be confident that the preaching and teaching you experience, when it's based on God's living Word and infused with the Holy Spirit's blessing, also carries divine authority. Are you consistently amazed by it? If not, what barriers are keeping you from that blessing each Lord's Day? Dig Deeper Even though they were amazed at Jesus' teaching, it's what happened next that stunned the people in the synagogue (the literal translation of the second instance of amazed in this passage). Just then, Mark notes using his customary fast paced style, a man with an unclean spirit cried out, having recognized Jesus for who He truly is: the holy one of God. Most of us have probably never seen a demon possessed person. But yet in the gospels, it seems so common place. It's not that demons no longer posses people (although Christians need not fear this happening to them), but rather that Satan was throwing all of his efforts into a concentrated area containing thousands of people during Jesus' life, while the world is now filled with billions of people with the same finite amount of demons. Yet the demons there in that synagogue on this particular sabbath bowed (albeit violently, throwing the man into convulsions and crying out with a loud voice as it came out) before the One who has ultimate authority over all things. Notice how calmly Jesus handled the situation - He simply spoke and the demon obeyed. Yet for as amazing as this first exorcism was, it was still Jesus' new teaching with authority that captured the first place in their minds as they reflected upon what they'd witnessed. Mark notes that immediately the news about Him spread everywhere. But you don't need to read much farther in Mark's gospel (or the others, for that matter) to see that the people's ongoing interest in being taught by Jesus would soon give way to just wanting to receive miracles from Him. Jesus can and does do many miraculous works in your life, some of which you're aware of, and most you've never even noticed. Be thankful for this, but be sure to not let your desire for Jesus do simply do good things for you eclipse your desire to be taught by Him. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, whose Son has been given authority over all things; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray for a deep and longing desire to be taught by Jesus through His Word; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:

Jesus passed the test that we failed. Gospels: Week 2 - Jesus' Preparation & Beginning of Ministry We're visiting a different book each day as we work through all four gospels chronologically over the coming months. BiblePortal.com Luke 4:1–13 (NASB95) 1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led around by the Spirit in the wilderness 2 for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, He became hungry. 3 And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” 4 And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’ ” 5 And he led Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6 And the devil said to Him, “I will give You all this domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. 7 Therefore if You worship before me, it shall all be Yours.” 8 Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’ ” 9 And he led Him to Jerusalem and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here; 10 for it is written, ‘He will command His angels concerning You to guard You,’ 11 and, ‘On their hands they will bear You up, So that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’ ” 12 And Jesus answered and said to him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” 13 When the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him until an opportune time. Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 60 Q. How are you right with God? A. Only by true faith in Jesus Christ. Even though my conscience accuses me of having grievously sinned against all God’s commandments and of never having kept any of them, and even though I am still inclined toward all evil, nevertheless, without my deserving it at all, out of sheer grace, God grants and credits to me the perfect satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ, as if I had never sinned nor been a sinner, as if I had been as perfectly obedient as Christ was obedient for me. All I need to do is to accept this gift of God with a believing heart. Summary Today's episode comes immediately after Jesus' baptism, in which the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in the form of a dove, so as the passage begins, Luke emphasizes that Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit. But the Spirit leads Jesus here differently than He ever has or ever will lead us; He led Jesus into the wilderness for forty days to be tempted by the devil. Although Spiritually strong, Jesus became physically weakened, since He ate nothing during those days. Although it's certainly not the main point of this passage, there is wisdom in understanding that your spiritual and physical aspects are very much connected. You're much more susceptible to temptation when you're physically exhausted, and since most of us don't get the amount of rest we need (not just sleep), we're all much more vulnerable to the devil even though we eat very well. Knowing that Jesus is weakened, the devil pounces, and presents Jesus with the same temptations he'd put before Adam and Eve, albeit packaged differently. He begins by telling Jesus He can have more if He'd just take matters into His own hands. If You are the Son of God, the devil begins, tell this stone to become bread. Next, the devil offers Jesus the same shortcut he'd offered Adam and Eve, ironically offering to Jesus, the divine Son of God, the glory that belongs to God alone. All Jesus had to do was worship before him, and it would all be His. Finally, the devil puts God Himself on trial, just as he'd done so long before in the Garden when he asked did God really say...? After all, God had promised in His Word that He'd commanded His angels to guard Jesus and bear Him up in their hands. So it only makes sense, the devil tempts Jesus, that if You are the Son of God You can safely jump from the temple's pinnacle. But although there's never anything new with the devil's temptations, there is something very different about how Jesus resists them. Unlike Adam, our first covenant representative, Jesus - the new Adam - remained perfectly obedient to God's covenant requirements, so that God could grant and credit to you the perfect satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ (QA 60). Dig Deeper There's a whole lot of scripture quoting going on as the devil tempts Jesus. Notice that Jesus doesn't use any miraculous or divine powers to resist sin. Rather, He uses a resource that's readily available to us: God's Word. Jesus rebuffs the devil's three temptations with three quotations from Scripture. This is one more reason for you to have lots of it memorized, like Jesus did (and remember, Jesus wasn't born having the Bible memorized; He learned it the hard way, just like you must). But the devil throws Scripture right back at Jesus as he tempts Him the third time, quoting Psalm 91:11-12. So it's not enough to just know the words of the Bible! You see this all the time - people quoting God's Word verbatim in a way that promotes or condones sin! You need to both know well what God says in His Word, but you also need a well developed theological lens through which you can interpret and apply it correctly. This is where our Confessions (The Heidelberg Catechism, the Belgic Confession and the Canons of Dordt) are helpful. They summarize the whole of Scripture enabling you to then correctly understand each particular part of it. The primary point of today's passage is that Jesus passed the test that Adam and his offspring failed. It's for this reason, Hebrews 9 tells us, that Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who sent His Son to do what we could not to grant to us the rightousness we require; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you will fully trust in Christ's perfect obedience even as you rely on God's Word to resist sin; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: