The Bible is not the only ancient book you're called to learn from! Matthew 9:9–13 (NIV) 9 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. 10 While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12 On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Listen to passage & devotional: Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 6: The Difference Between Canonical and Apocryphal Books We distinguish between these holy books and the apocryphal ones, which are the third and fourth books of Esdras; the books of Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Jesus Sirach, Baruch; what was added to the Story of Esther; the Song of the Three Children in the Furnace; the Story of Susannah; the Story of Bell and the Dragon; the Prayer of Manasseh; and the two books of Maccabees. The church may certainly read these books and learn from them as far as they agree with the canonical books. But they do not have such power and virtue that one could confirm from their testimony any point of faith or of the Christian religion. Much less can they detract from the authority of the other holy books. Summary Unsurprisingly, the Internal Revenue Service is the least liked agency within the Federal Government (and I'm sure Revenue Canada enjoys the same distinction up north!). Nobody ever has or ever will like paying taxes. Still, most of us would gladly welcome an employee from one of these agencies into our congregation and rejoice to hear them profess their faith in Christ. So we get why the first century Jews had disdain for guys like Matthew, who were collecting taxes on behalf of an occupying government, but it's hard for us to appreciate just how deep this hatred ran. This is where Apocryphal Literature helps out: it sheds light on the historical, cultural and religious aspects of these ancient times. It helps us appreciate the gospel accounts through first century Jewish eyes. Look at the background that 1 Maccabees paints for us on why the Jews hated their occupiers so much. It tells the story of what happened in Israel approximately 170 years before Jesus. 1 Maccabees 1:41–50 41 Then the [Greek] king wrote to his whole kingdom that all should be one people, 42 and that all should give up their particular customs. 43 All the Gentiles accepted the command of the king. Many even from Israel gladly adopted his religion; they sacrificed to idols and profaned the sabbath. 44 And the king sent letters by messengers to Jerusalem and the towns of Judah; he directed them to follow customs strange to the land, 45 to forbid burnt offerings and sacrifices and drink offerings in the sanctuary, to profane sabbaths and festivals, 46 to defile the sanctuary and the priests, 47 to build altars and sacred precincts and shrines for idols, to sacrifice swine and other unclean animals, 48 and to leave their sons uncircumcised. They were to make themselves abominable by everything unclean and profane, 49 so that they would forget the law and change all the ordinances. 50 He added, “And whoever does not obey the command of the king shall die.” -- 59 On the twenty-fifth day of the month they offered sacrifice on the altar that was on top of the altar of burnt offering. 60 According to the decree, they put to death the women who had their children circumcised, 61 and their families and those who circumcised them; and they hung the infants from their mothers’ necks. 62 But many in Israel stood firm and were resolved in their hearts not to eat unclean food. 63 They chose to die rather than to be defiled by food or to profane the holy covenant; and they did die. 64 Very great wrath came upon Israel. It quickly becomes clear that the Jewish people didn't hate their occupiers because of some cheap nationalism, but because they openly and wantonly desecrated the Lord and His temple, and horrifically killed anyone who stood in their way. Dig Deeper Our confession encourages us to "learn from" these books, but also makes it clear that these apocryphal books do not carry the authority of inspired scripture. Yet we really can't appreciate how stunning it is that Jesus chose to associate with guys like Matthew and Zacchaeus - men who sided with the God hating and infant murdering occupiers - without reading accounts like this in 1 Maccabees (and there's lots more there!). Jesus famously says in v12 that "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick." As we see Him call Matthew to "follow," we see God Himself reach down into the sickest of cultures - people who heartlessly hung infants simply because they bore the sign of the covenant - in order to bring them Spiritual healing, forgiveness and eternal life. In a day and age in which it seems our Western culture is rapidly disintegrating, renew your hope and confidence that God's grace can overcome cultures and ideas to which the word 'sick' seems woefully inadequate. Realize this is the same grace which has triumphed in your life, and never make the mistake that the Pharisees made upon seeing Matthew's conversion, by assuming a person is too sick even for the greatest of Physicians. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, whose grace brings new life to the people who hate Him the most; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray for the faith to stand as resolute as those ancient Jews who resisted the evil king, and for the grace to share Christ's forgiveness with the very same people; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Acts 15

God's Word is flawlessly pure. You don't need to add a thing to it. Proverbs 30:5–6 (NIV) 5 “Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. 6 Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar. Listen to passage & devotional: Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 5: The Authority of Scripture We receive all these books [of the Bible] and these only as holy and canonical, for the regulating, founding, and establishing of our faith. And we believe without a doubt all things contained in them— not so much because the church receives and approves them as such but above all because the Holy Spirit testifies in our hearts that they are from God, and also because they prove themselves to be from God. For even the blind themselves are able to see that the things predicted in them do happen. Summary You've probably been to a place where seemingly expensive gold jewelry was being sold at amazingly low prices. But after only a few days of wearing your beautiful new bargain, the luster began to wear off, and maybe even your skin gained a greenish hue where the cheap bracelet, ring or necklace rubbed against it. The deal that was too good to be true wasn't true; instead you got a lousy knockoff with a microscopically thin outer layer of gold covering a low quality filler metal. The Proverbs here use a word to describe the Bible here borrowed from the world of metallurgy: God's Word is flawless / pure. It's not cheap metal made to look precious, rather it's 100% genuine through and through. Flawless metal has value beyond jewelry. Going into battle, a soldier's shield was his primary defense. His life depended on the purity of its metal. So it is with God's Word. It can be completely trusted as "a shield to those who take refuge in Him." Dig Deeper One of the primary tenets of Christianity is that the Bible is completely truthful. We use two words to describe the Bible as such. We say that it's infallible, in that it does not fail to communicate God's truth, especially the salvation that He offers through Jesus Christ. More importantly, we say that the Bible is inerrant, basing our claim on several passages like today's passage from Proverbs which refer to God's Word as "flawless" or "pure." You can completely trust each word you read as absolute truth. It's easy to see how taking away from God's Word is wrong. Just ignoring what's been written doesn't change the truthfulness of what God has said. But we're far more prone to "add to His words," which is why the Proverb so sternly warns us against it. Eve added to the command God had given Adam when she answered the serpent in Genesis 3:3. The Israelites added to God's Word by casting a golden calf and worshipping it as God. The Galatians added to the gospel by saying that ceremonial laws needed to be kept in addition to faith in Jesus. The noetic effect of sin tempts us to add to God's Word far more often than it tempts us to take away from it. You're bombarded by good intentioned efforts to add to God's Word: to magnify God's love over and against His wrath for sin, or to say that activities the inspired biblical writers said happened were just a myth, or things they defined as sin really aren't, because we're so much smarter about things now than they were then. Don't fall into this trap! Know that you can stand firm on the flawless, pure foundation of God's inerrant, infallible Word. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, whose Word, is flawless and pure; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray for the faith to stand firmly upon this truth, without taking away from it or adding to it; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Acts 14

Prophets reveal God's salvation. But be on guard for the ones who lead to death! Deuteronomy 18:13–22 (ESV) CONTEXT: Moses is in the midst of a long speech, proclaim God's law to the Israelites. 13 You shall be blameless before the Lord your God, 14 for these nations, which you are about to dispossess, listen to fortune-tellers and to diviners. But as for you, the Lord your God has not allowed you to do this. 15 “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen— 16 just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ 17 And the Lord said to me, ‘They are right in what they have spoken. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. 19 And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him. 20 But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.’ 21 And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word that the Lord has not spoken?’— 22 when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him. Listen to passage & devotional: Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 5: The Authority of Scripture We receive all these books [of the Bible] and these only as holy and canonical, for the regulating, founding, and establishing of our faith. And we believe without a doubt all things contained in them— not so much because the church receives and approves them as such but above all because the Holy Spirit testifies in our hearts that they are from God, and also because they prove themselves to be from God. For even the blind themselves are able to see that the things predicted in them do happen. Summary One of the key traits God desires from His followers is that they live differently than the people around them. We've seen a couple of times this year that the noetic effect of sin impairs our ability to reason correctly, redirecting our instinct to worship from God to all sorts of other things. This distortion is particularly evident in the lives of ungodly people, which is why God emphasizes the importance of His people leading lives that visibly differ from the world around them. So God came directly to His people, and audibly spoke His commands from the mountain, which terrified those who heard it. The people, afraid they would die from the sound of God's voice, asked Moses to go up the mountain and represent them before God, to listen to His voice himself and then come back and tell the people what God had said, thereby representing the voice of God. This is exactly what a prophet does: he represents God to the people. Moses was the first prophet, but he certainly wasn't the last. In fact, God here promises to "raise up a prophet like you [Moses] from among the Israelites." You know the names of many of these prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Elijah, just to name a few. But none of those great men would be like Moses; none of them would lead God's people to the Promised Land. The Prophet that God was predicting through the voice of Moses would be none other than His Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. Dig Deeper Lots of men have claimed to be a prophet, and to thereby have the authority to proclaim the word of the Lord. False prophets have swayed countless people away from the Truth, and done so with an eloquence and charisma that seemed nothing short of divine. Moses, this original prophet inspired by the Holy Spirit, anticipates this problem, rhetorically asking, "How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the Lord?" The proof, Moses goes on to say, is in the pudding (so to speak). "If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken (v21-22)." Test the word of the Biblical prophets yourself! Have they not all been proven correct? Most of the Bible was written by prophets, and although they represented the voice of God in all sorts of different ways, they all pointed to one thing: salvation through Jesus Christ (even the eschatological (end times) prophecies that have yet to be fully fulfilled point back to Christ). Paul writes, "For all of the promises of God find their Yes in Christ." So God's Word is complete! He's told us everything we need to know about Himself and our salvation through His prophets, perfectly recorded in scripture! We don't have anymore need for additional prophets since Christ fulfills all that the prophets promised. This means that anyone else who claims to be a prophet or to speak on behalf of God is doing the opposite of what a true prophet would do; they're pointing people away from Christ. But you already knew to steer clear of cult like self appointed prophets. What's more critical to understand is that the corollary must be true then as well: anyone who points people away from Christ in any way is a false prophet. Be careful, because it's this latter group that's far more subtle, pervasive and dangerous! The world is full of false prophets. Use your redeemed minds to test everything you hear against scripture, and flee from everything that points away from Christ! AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, whose Word, delivered by the prophets of old, points us to salvation through Christ; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray for the discernment to test everything you hear against scripture, and for the courage to live differently than the world around you; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Acts 13

You are being built up in Christ upon the foundation of scripture. Ephesians 2:19–22 (NIV) 19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. Listen to passage & devotional: Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 5: The Authority of Scripture We receive all these books [of the Bible] and these only as holy and canonical, for the regulating, founding, and establishing of our faith. And we believe without a doubt all things contained in them— not so much because the church receives and approves them as such but above all because the Holy Spirit testifies in our hearts that they are from God, and also because they prove themselves to be from God. For even the blind themselves are able to see that the things predicted in them do happen. Summary The first word of our passage today summarizes one of the key doctrines of the gospel: consequently. The temple in Jerusalem was designed in such a way that only Jewish people were allowed to come near it; foreigners and strangers were required to stay back. Only God's covenant people could be close to His presence, and even they could only come so close. Only once a year could a priest, representing the covenant people, come into the Holy of Holies with a sacrifice of atonement. But the gospel drastically changes the situation. Jesus atoned for your sin, gave you His perfect righteousness so that you have peace with God, so consequently your very identity and status has changed. You are no longer a foreigner or stranger. You are a citizen of the Kingdom of God, and you're welcomed into the King's presence anytime. But the consequences run even deeper! You're not just allowed into the temple; you are the temple, as you along with all of the other saints are being "built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit." And this "holy temple" is "built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the chief cornerstone." In other words, it's all being built upon the Word. Dig Deeper One of the fundamental differences between the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) and the Protestant churches are in how each recognizes the authority of scripture. The RCC believes that the New Testament did not exist until the Church recognized which particular gospel accounts and epistles (letters) were canonical (that is, a part of scripture.) In other words, scripture has authority because the RCC Tradition (called the Magisterium) recognizes it. The RCC catechism is helpful in explaining this more. Protestant churches, on the other hand, understand scripture to be self attesting, meaning that scripture has authority in and of itself, whether the Church recognizes it or not. As our Confession puts it, "we believe without a doubt all things contained in [scripture] — not so much because the church receives and approves them as such but above all because the Holy Spirit testifies in our hearts that they are from God..." This may all seem like a bunch of theological minutiae that really doesn't have much relevance for your daily life, but it has a massive impact upon you! The Church and its Tradition doesn't stand alongside Scripture, so that both have the final authority (which isn't possible), rather even the Church herself bows under, and must be held accountable to, the full authority of Scripture. As important as the Church is, understand that you are being built upon the foundation of scripture - the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself being the chief cornerstone. And you have a responsibility to keep the Church accountable. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father God, who not only welcomes us into His presence, but is building us into His temple; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Thank God for the foundation of scripture that's been laid by the apostles and prophets, and pray that you will continue to make it the ultimate authority in your life; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Acts 12

You may not be smarter than everyone else, but you are gifted! 1 Corinthians 12:1–6 (NIV) 1 Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. 2 You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. 3 Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit. 4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. Listen to passage & devotional: Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 5: The Authority of Scripture We receive all these books [of the Bible] and these only as holy and canonical, for the regulating, founding, and establishing of our faith. And we believe without a doubt all things contained in them— not so much because the church receives and approves them as such but above all because the Holy Spirit testifies in our hearts that they are from God, and also because they prove themselves to be from God. For even the blind themselves are able to see that the things predicted in them do happen. Summary We live in a sea of ideas, with new opinions, thoughts and theories crashing down upon us like giant waves. Certainly the internet has massively contributed to our information overload, but it's not fully to blame. Two thousand years ago the Corinthians were just as inundated with ideas as you are, although rather than TikTok or Instagram, they were surrounded by influencers shilling for one pagan temple or another. We've mentioned before the noetic effect that sin has upon us, meaning that we can't think straight anymore. John Calvin put it well; he said that our minds are 'idol factories' that never cease production. We no longer can discern truth on our own anymore, so consequently people's opinions get blown around in whatever direction the wind comes from. But not you. Like the Corinthians Paul wrote to, you're no longer "influenced and led astray" by ungodly concepts. It's not that you don't come to the wrong conclusions anymore - even sinfully wrong conclusions - but rather that you've been given a renewed heart/mind and so you can therefore more and more recognize the truth. This renewal process looks different in every person; some are quite obviously gifted while others have more subtle abilities. You've been enabled to serve in ways different than your friends and family; they have their own Spirit given abilities. But in all of these Spiritual gifts, it's God who is at work Dig Deeper How do you know the the Bible is the truth? Many of us have probably never really thought this out, because for our entire lives the understanding that the Bible is true has been just as concrete as the fact that the sun will rise in the east tomorrow morning. The Bible is true because almost everyone you know and trust has told you it's true: grandparents, parents, Sunday school teachers, ministers and even your friends and neighbors. But our confession wants more from you. We don't believe the Bible is true simply because so many people we trust say it is, and certainly not because we're smarter or wiser than those who reject the Bible. We don't even believe it's true simply because the Church says it's true! The reason you believe the Bible is true is "because the Holy Spirit testifies in your heart that [the books of the Bible] are from God (Article 5)." Just as Paul wrote so long ago, nobody can "'Jesus is Lord,' except by the Holy Spirit (v3)." The primary message of the Bible is that Jesus is Lord, so if you recognize that truth, know that you have the Holy Spirit in you! Keep doing the hard work of discovering and learning to use the other gifts He's given to you. Remember, "God is at work" in you! AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father God, who omnipotently works through the gifts His Spirit has bestowed upon us, His people; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Thank God for giving you the ability to see and understand the truth in His Word, and pray you'll utilize the other gifts He's given you as well; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Acts 11

The Bible is different than anything else ever written, and it's at work in you! 1 Thessalonians 2:13 (ESV) 13 And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers. Listen to passage & devotional: Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 5: The Authority of Scripture We receive all these books [of the Bible] and these only as holy and canonical, for the regulating, founding, and establishing of our faith. And we believe without a doubt all things contained in them— not so much because the church receives and approves them as such but above all because the Holy Spirit testifies in our hearts that they are from God, and also because they prove themselves to be from God. For even the blind themselves are able to see that the things predicted in them do happen. Summary Think of all the messages you receive on a daily basis; not just the notifications you get on your phone, but the interactions with people you have at work or in passing, and the conversations you have with friends and loved ones. Imagine that as you walked into a store, a stranger encouraged you to vote for a certain candidate or support a local initiative. You'd likely politely listen, but it's not likely you'd change your thinking about the subject based on that one interaction. Afterall, what the person said is just that person's opinion. But if you were talking with a person you greatly respected about a particular political issue, you would probably be much more swayed by what was said because of the credibility the person had earned. This is what Paul is rejoicing about in the case of these Thessalonians. They had heard the Gospel proclaimed, but they had likely heard all sorts of religious ideas proclaimed in the pluralistic society they lived in. They likely had developed a very strong skepticism about any religious claims because they heard so many conflicting ideas being preached, spouted by less than credible people. But they recognized that the Gospel was different. They could sense that the words they heard and read were not the ordinary words of men. So they received and accepted the gospel as the very "word of God!" Although there are all sorts of reasons to believe that the words of Scripture are true (we'll be looking at some of these reasons throughout the week), the primary reason that the Bible has the authority that it does is because every syllable of it was breathed out by God Almighty Himself. Dig Deeper Paul goes on to remind the Thessalonians and us that not only is the Bible different than anything else ever written because it is the Word of God, but it is also "at work in you who believe." There's a ton of awesome theology going on in this short verse: You certainly play a strong role in your ongoing conversion, in that you must receive and accept God's Word (of course, you do so because you've first been empowered by the Holy Spirit!). But notice here what is being done to you. God's Word is "at work in you who believe." It immediately begins tearing out the filth and sin that clogs up your life, and after this sometimes painful demolition project is complete, God's Word immediately gets to work building you up into a new creation that more fully reflects the image of God that you were created to be. Paul writes that this work happens when you hear the Word proclaimed. Certainly reading God's Word is an important daily discipline you need to continue, but God has designed His Word to not just be read, but to be heard. When you sit and listen to it preached, just as the Thessalonians did, know that those words you hear are at work in you! AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father God, whose authoritative Word is at work in us; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray for the continuing strength to do the hard work of receiving and accepting God's Word as you read it daily and hear it preached each Lord's Day; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Acts 10

Recognizing genre helps you benefit from even the most difficult chapters in the Bible. Revelation 12 (NIV) CONTEXT: This fantastic (in every sense of the word) chapter begins the second half of the book of Revelation. We're reading it today to see how it combines an aspect of every part of Biblical genre: historical-narrative, poetry, & apocalyptic. A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2 She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. 3 Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads. 4 Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born. 5 She gave birth to a son, a male child, who “will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.”  And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. 6 The woman fled into the wilderness to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days. 7 Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8 But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. 9 The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him. 10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. 11 They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. 12 Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.” 13 When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14 The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the wilderness, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent’s reach. 15 Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. 16 But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. 17 Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring—those who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus. Listen to passage & devotional: Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 4: The Canonical Books This week we'll be focusing on some of the different literary genres included in the Bible: Narrative, poetry/wisdom, the epistles, and apocalyptic. Today we'll notice that in many passages, these genres have significant overlap. We include in the Holy Scripture the two volumes of the Old and New Testaments. They are canonical books with which there can be no quarrel at all. In the church of God the list is as follows: In the Old Testament, the five books of Moses— Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy; the books of Joshua, Judges, and Ruth; the two books of Samuel, and two of Kings; the two books of Chronicles, called Paralipomenon; the first book of Ezra; Nehemiah, Esther, Job; the Psalms of David; the three books of Solomon— Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song; the four major prophets— Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel; and then the other twelve minor prophets— Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi. In the New Testament, the four gospels— Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John; the Acts of the Apostles; the fourteen letters of Paul— to the Romans; the two letters to the Corinthians; to the Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians; the two letters to the Thessalonians; the two letters to Timothy; to Titus, Philemon, and to the Hebrews; the seven letters of the other apostles— one of James; two of Peter; three of John; one of Jude; and the Revelation of the apostle John. Summary As the second half of Revelation begins here in chapter 12, the language & symbolism gets more and more fantastic and hard to even imagine. As the complications and details add up, it is critically important for you to keep the overall theme of Revelation in mind: The Victory of the Christ & His Church over the Dragon & his Helpers. This amazing account centers around three primary characters: The radiant woman who represents the Church; The child representing Christ; And the dragon symbolizing Satan. Things appear hopeless for the woman just as she is giving birth, as the dragon stands ready to devour her child, the Savior of the world, immediately after His birth. But before he can, the child is miraculously caught up to God (v5). In a way that fulfills God's promise to Eve in Genesis 3, God rescues the child, the seed of the woman. Satan is cast out of heaven, and since God's elect are fully righteous in the blood of Christ, Satan can no longer accuse you before God (the name satan = the accuser), so all he can do is persecute the woman (Church). Keep this in mind the next time things look utterly hopeless for you. It may seem like the devil is crouching at your doorstep ready to crush you, but know that your Father in heaven is constantly watching over you so that not even a hair can fall from your head without His will. Dig Deeper One of the toughest questions to answer about the Bible is determining whether a passage is literally or figuratively true. In other words, was there actually a seven headed dragon that swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to earth, or was this just a vision that John had? Normally, questions like this are determined by first determining the passage's genre, or literary style. It seems amazing that the sky was filled with an angel army as the shepherds watched that first Christmas morning, but the historical narrative style Luke uses helps us know it actually happened. When David asks God to "smash the teeth" of the wicked in Psalm 58, we give it some latitude because of its poetic setting. Our chapter today contains some straight up narrative - "Then war broke out in heaven... (v7)." That's historical fact; it happened. But it also uses some poetic license - "woe to the sea, because the devil has gone down to you (v12)." This doesn't mean it's not safe to venture out on the ocean! It also contains apocalyptic language in which spiritual realities are portrayed using symbolic word pictures (a dragon sweeping massive stars to the relatively tiny earth). But knowing for sure which is which can be very hard to nail down, and good Christians will come to different literary conclusions, and therefore different interpretations of difficult chapters like this, so hold on to your opinions loosely. Praise God that most of His Word is so plain that even our youngest children can easily see the unfading truth that we so firmly stand on! AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father God, who will win the war and crush Satan under our feet (Romans 16:20); ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Thank God His Word is mostly plain and straightforward, but pray for the strength and desire to dig into the difficult chapters as well; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Acts 8

Find abundant grace & peace in the Bible's letters, which were written to you! 1 Peter 1:1–2 (NIV) Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To God’s elect, exiles scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, 2 who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance. Listen to passage & devotional: Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 4: The Canonical Books This week we'll be focusing on some of the different literary genres included in the Bible: Narrative, poetry/wisdom, the epistles, and apocalyptic. Today we're looking at one of the primary components of the New Testament: the epistle. We include in the Holy Scripture the two volumes of the Old and New Testaments. They are canonical books with which there can be no quarrel at all. In the church of God the list is as follows: In the Old Testament, the five books of Moses— Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy; the books of Joshua, Judges, and Ruth; the two books of Samuel, and two of Kings; the two books of Chronicles, called Paralipomenon; the first book of Ezra; Nehemiah, Esther, Job; the Psalms of David; the three books of Solomon— Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song; the four major prophets— Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel; and then the other twelve minor prophets— Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi. In the New Testament, the four gospels— Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John; the Acts of the Apostles; the fourteen letters of Paul— to the Romans; the two letters to the Corinthians; to the Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians; the two letters to the Thessalonians; the two letters to Timothy; to Titus, Philemon, and to the Hebrews; the seven letters of the other apostles— one of James; two of Peter; three of John; one of Jude; and the Revelation of the apostle John. Summary The word 'epistle' isn't used much in everyday language anymore, except every now and then to refer to one of the New Testament books of the Bible. But the word itself isn't just a biblical word, rather it simply means 'letter.' Twenty one out of the twenty seven books of the New Testament fall into the epistle genre. The first big clue that a particular book is an epistle often comes right at the beginning, where the name of the author is given followed by the recipient(s) the letter is addressed to. Sometimes the letters were originally written to one particular church (like Ephesians) or a particular person (like Titus). The letters were always considered as 'open' letters which were shared amongst congregations, but some letters like 1st & 2nd Peter are called catholic epistles because they had a 'universal' audience rather than just one person or local congregation. Many of Paul's letters were written in response to particular situations or questions a local congregation had. All books of the Bible must be interpreted in terms of how its original audience would have understood it, but that's especially the case with epistles. The more we know about the background of the author and audience, the better we can interpret its truth. Be careful, though! Interpretation does NOT mean we get to manipulate the meaning until we get something we like! This is one more reason our churches are confessional, meaning documents like the Belgic Confession have helped set interpretive guard rails that have been agreed on for centuries. Dig Deeper We're often too quick as we read the opening addresses in epistle because they seem so formulistic. The letter is from so and so, written to certain people, followed by a greeting of grace, mercy and peace. We want to get to the good stuff, so we often jump in at verse 3 or 4 of the first chapter. But look at the massively comforting truth Peter's opening address contains: It's addressed to God's elect; that's not just the chosen people from thousands of years ago, that's a direct reference to you! Certainly the first 'exiles' who got this letter lived in far flung Roman provinces, but you're an exile as well in that no matter how (un)comfortable your life is now, you're separated from your true home in the Kingdom of Heaven. In this introduction you learn that you've "been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God, and are being sanctified (made holy) by the work of the Spirit, so that you can "be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with His blood." So if you want to experience God's "grace and peace in abundance," don't skip over the introductions in the epistles. They tell you exactly who you are! AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father God, who chose us according to His foreknowledge to belong to Him; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Thank God for His abundant grace and peace communicated in the epistles, and pray that through them you will be obedient to Jesus Christ; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Acts 8

God communicates Truth in such beautiful (and often funny) ways! Jonah 2:2–9 (NIV) CONTEXT: Jonah has been cast into the sea, but God provided a "huge fish to swallow Jonah." Chapter 2 is Jonah's prayer from inside the belly of the fish. Today we're especially focusing on the poetic style of this prayer, which is written in a chiastic style. 2 Jonah said: “In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me. From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help, and you listened to my cry. 3 You hurled me into the depths, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled about me; all your waves and breakers swept over me. 4 I said, ‘I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.’ 5 The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head. 6 To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. But you, Lord my God, brought my life up from the pit. 7 “When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple. 8 “Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God’s love for them. 9 But I, with shouts of grateful praise, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the Lord.’ ” Listen to passage & devotional: Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 4: The Canonical Books This week we'll be focusing on some of the different literary genres included in the Bible: Narrative, poetry/wisdom, the epistles, and apocalyptic. Today we'll appreciate the poetic beauty seen in so many parts of Scripture. We include in the Holy Scripture the two volumes of the Old and New Testaments. They are canonical books with which there can be no quarrel at all. In the church of God the list is as follows: In the Old Testament, the five books of Moses— Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy; the books of Joshua, Judges, and Ruth; the two books of Samuel, and two of Kings; the two books of Chronicles, called Paralipomenon; the first book of Ezra; Nehemiah, Esther, Job; the Psalms of David; the three books of Solomon— Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song; the four major prophets— Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel; and then the other twelve minor prophets— Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi. In the New Testament, the four gospels— Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John; the Acts of the Apostles; the fourteen letters of Paul— to the Romans; the two letters to the Corinthians; to the Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians; the two letters to the Thessalonians; the two letters to Timothy; to Titus, Philemon, and to the Hebrews; the seven letters of the other apostles— one of James; two of Peter; three of John; one of Jude; and the Revelation of the apostle John. Summary Jonah's prayer is one of the most beautiful passages of scripture on multiple levels. In it, we see our Father's gracious compassion for His rebellious prophet. Jonah did everything he could to escape God's call in his life, including jumping into the raging sea, but even there, God provided (a key word in the book of Jonah) a "huge fish," and Jonah finally repented. The entire book of Jonah is written in a poetic format, even though it has aspects of historical narrative within it (we'll see on Friday that scripture doesn't always neatly divide itself into specific genres). The book is full of word play (which is far more apparent in the original Hebrew) and poetic irony. The story is meant to have a comedic bent to it. It's ok to sit back and laugh a bit about the predicament that Jonah finds himself in as he prays! Jonah 2 is a great example of Hebrew poetry, which is often referred to as chiastic, which is called so because it resembles the Greek letter χ (pronounced chi). Notice the telltale wedge shape to the outline: A. Jonah cries out for salvation; B. Jonah has been cast out into the deep; C. Jonah finds hope by looking towards God's temple; D. Things seem hopeless as seaweed wraps around Jonah's head and he sinks down; D'. But the LORD brought Jonah's life up from the pit; C'. Jonah's prayer rises towards God's temple; B'. Those who cling to idols turn away from God's love; A. Salvation is found in the LORD. Each line in the top half corresponds to the same letter in the bottom half. This structure is present all over the Bible - even in the New Testament. In fact, the entire book of Jonah has a chiastic structure to it. The reason this is important is because in a chiasm, the primary meaning of the passage often comes in the middle, not the end as we're accustomed to in Western poetry. While it's certainly the case that "salvation comes from the LORD" (the final line of the poem), the primary meaning of this poem came in the middle (v6): "You, LORD my God, brought my life up from the pit." Dig Deeper The book of Jonah is about much more than an individual wayward prophet. The Hebrew word play that the poem uses helps us understand that Jonah represents all of God's children. We've all turned away from God's love and cast ourselves into a bottomless pit of chaos, but God lifts us up from the pit. The more you learn about the poetic structure that comprises so much of God's Word, the more you will come to appreciate that salvation comes from the LORD! AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father God, who has redeemed our lives from the pit; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Thank God for the beautiful poetry found in His Word, and along with Jonah, tell everyone that "salvation comes from the LORD!" ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Acts 7

The Bible has two distinct parts, and you need to know them both! Listen to passage & devotional: Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 4: The Canonical Books This week we'll be focusing on some of the different literary genres included in the Bible: Narrative, poetry/wisdom, the epistles, and apocalyptic. Today we're going to look at the primary distinction in the Bible: the difference between law & gospel. We include in the Holy Scripture the two volumes of the Old and New Testaments. They are canonical books with which there can be no quarrel at all. In the church of God the list is as follows: In the Old Testament, the five books of Moses— Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy; the books of Joshua, Judges, and Ruth; the two books of Samuel, and two of Kings; the two books of Chronicles, called Paralipomenon; the first book of Ezra; Nehemiah, Esther, Job; the Psalms of David; the three books of Solomon— Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song; the four major prophets— Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel; and then the other twelve minor prophets— Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi. In the New Testament, the four gospels— Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John; the Acts of the Apostles; the fourteen letters of Paul— to the Romans; the two letters to the Corinthians; to the Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians; the two letters to the Thessalonians; the two letters to Timothy; to Titus, Philemon, and to the Hebrews; the seven letters of the other apostles— one of James; two of Peter; three of John; one of Jude; and the Revelation of the apostle John. Summary Today's passage begins with a harsh reality: "all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse (v10)." In other words, if your plan to get right with God involves you just doin' a bit better or tryin' a bit harder to follow God's laws and commands, you're "cursed." The problem is that if you're going to put your hope in the law, then you must "continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law" (v10b, which is a direct quote from Deuteronomy 27:26). 'Almost' doesn't count, and you don't get extra credit for having good intentions. Your law keeping must be perfect to please our perfect Lawgiver. Often times the word 'gospel' is understood to mean one of the four accounts of Jesus' life found at the beginning of the New Testament. But in a much bigger sense, the word 'gospel' refers to primary message of the Bible, which is summarized in v13: "Christ redeemed us from the law by becoming a curse for us." This means that your eternal destiny is no longer determined by how well (or poorly) you do following God's law. In sacrificing His own life, Christ purchased you so that you would "receive the promise of the Spirit (v14)" rather than the curse you deserve. Dig Deeper If you were to ask most people what the two principle parts of the Bible are, they'd likely indicate the Old and New Testaments. While this is true in an organizational sense, there's an even bigger division that can be made. In theology, we call this the law / gospel distinction. Either a passage is making clear what God's expectations for you are, and thereby pronouncing a curse on you since you haven't perfectly met those expectations, or it's proclaiming the wonderful good news that you've been redeemed from the curse of the law through faith in Jesus. It's tempting to just focus on the good news. Why bother being reminded of failure and curses when you could just focus on the gift of salvation that Christ provides? Since it seems like the Old Testament is nothing but a catalog of failure, why not just focus on the good news proclaimed in the New Testament? For one thing, the Old Testament is full of the gospel! Notice how every line of today's very gospel-intense passage is either an allusion to or a direct quote from the Old Testament. Plus, just as there's lots of gospel in the Old Testament, there's a good share of law in the New Testament. As a recipient of the gospel, make sure you keep a tight grip on God's Law. You need it. By reminding you of God's unchanging, perfectly righteous requirement, the law keeps you clinging to Christ. And striving to keep God's law is the primary way that you can show your gratitude for the redemption you have in Christ Jesus as you live by faith. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father God, whose Law is perfect; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Thank God for His Law, and pray that you will keep it as you live by faith in Christ, who met its requirements for you; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Acts 6