Quiet Time Thoughts on Peter's Confession

Dear Saints,

During quiet time tonight, I had some thoughts on Peter's confession. Peter confessed that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Jesus then told Peter that the gates of hell shall not prevail upon this confesson - the confession upon which He would build His church. My thoughts were then directed to the verse found in I John 2:23: [i]"He that acknowledeges the Son hath the Father also...",[/i] the veracity of which was substantiated by Jesus' own statement to Peter that it was God who unveiled Christ's Sonship and not flesh and blood.

In I John 2:24 we read, [i]"Let [b]that[/b] therefore abide in you..."[/i] What is the "that" John is referring to? [i]That[/i] is the acknowledgement of Christ (v. 23) which we are now being exhorted to allow to abide within us. If we allow that acknowledgement to abide and remain, we are told that we [i]"also shall continue in the Son and in the Father"[/i] (v. 24b). The gates of hell shall not prevail upon our position in Christ, upon this living confession...with the end of the promise being "eternal life" to all those who believe (v. 25).

This all ties into "looking to Jesus" (Heb. 12:2), looking to the confession of Christ, the Living Son of God, in Whom we find all our ongoing and ever-present strength, righteousness, justification. The sure foundation of rock upon which we build our towers of life in Christ. Notice also, that this is the confession of hope that purifies us (I John 3:3), which is also tied to Hebrews 10:22 - the blood which sprinkles our hearts from an evil conscience. It's all interrelated in scripture. Those who abide in Christ abide in the light, an action wrought purely by faith. And [i]"whosoever abideth in Him sinneth not"[/i] (I John 3:6).

As we look to Christ, and let "that" acknowledgement of Peter's confession abide within, [i]"the anointing which we have received" [/i](I John 2:27) shall be the eternal hope which purifies our souls continually and transports us from glory to glory into His image. The cleansing blood will be a never-drying fountain of crimson spanning from heaven to earth, sprinkling our hearts and proferring upon us boldness to enter into the holiest (Hebrews 10:19).

I ministered on this a bit last Wednesday night at my church (the message is uploaded to my blog), though in my message I focused more on Hebrews 12:2, the gazing unto Jesus, whereby we are transformed. The emphasis was on the visible versus the invisible, and how being tangible and transient mortals of dust we are often diverted to behold the physical and place our faith in temporal objects (human nature relishes in "seeing is believing"); whereas, the transforming power of the eternal blessed lies in the invisible.

The Lord bless you all.

Brother Paul

Brother Paul, thank you for the timely word.

Brother Paul, thank you for the timely word.

With evangelism it is especially important to recognize this fact. I work at a funeral home, and every now and then, the Texas Funeral Service Commission will send an agent by to do an unannounced audit at our facility. This is because we (and all funeral homes) are heavily regulated. We have to hand out a GPL (generalized price list) to each person who comes in, asking about funeral prices. Sometimes the Commission will send an agent, disquised as a normal guy wanting prices on cremation or burial. They'll test you surreptitiously. You won't know he's an agent. As you can see, it's always a "timely" thing to offer a price list...because you never know. I think it's the same when sharing the word of God, and especially when offering invitations to the Wedding.

By allowing the Holy Spirit to use us as a conduit, as a nexus for His burden and word, we are "instant in season, out of season", even if we don't feel like conduits emotionally. Often all He wants us to do is share a few words, a verse, a hymn. It's not much. And sometimes we'll go "out of season" where He keeps us on auxillary mode, powered down and quiet. For a season we wont have much liberty to share or evangelize or have high-energy devotions - but regardless of any season we may find ourselves, He's proven to be resourceful and spot-on accurate each time.

Removed - Forgot to pray before I posted.

It is interesting that you mention the idea of that which is visible and that which is invisible. In the thread I started about the Holy Spirit, I noticed this same idea from John 16. Jesus was talking about how after his ascension, "the Helper" would come down and convict the hearts of men. I know I am oversimplifying the concept of the passage, but it is interesting how the Jews, who were waiting for the Messiah, had Him standing before them and yet they still rejected Jesus as the Christ!

Our hearts and eyes can be deceiving, but the Spirit of God will never deceive us! Praise God!

Thank you brother for sharing.

It is interesting that you mention the idea of that which is visible and that which is invisible. In the thread I started about the Holy Spirit, I noticed this same idea from John 16.

Amen. I spoke on this very thing last Wednesday night - the visible versus the invisible. Linking it, of course, to Hebrews 12:2, my text. Greg is in the process of getting the message up on SermonIndex, but for now you can listen to it[url=http://audio.xanga.com/PFWest/d49193029124/audio.html] here.[/url]

I've gotten very good feedback from it, from those who were in attendance. The subject is the truth of "Looking to Jesus", which is both childly simple and profoundly deep. I explain that the real fight we encounter daily is the resistance to divert our gaze from the Son of God. Everything in this world is designed to divert our stare from the invisible/eternal to the visible/temporal. The believer who matures the most in the school of God is the one who has trained his/her eyes to gaze longest upon Christ.

Brother Paul,
Thank you for bringing this to all of us and causing an awakening in me. Many months ago I was in the middle of a study on Matt.16:13-20, but had put it aside for a time.
It would not be right to say that I need to add anything to what you said, as I need to admit you have confirmed to me what the Lord was showing me at the time.

Quote:

In I John 2:24 we read, "Let that therefore abide in you..." What is the "that" John is referring to? That is the acknowledgement of Christ (v. 23)

I was drawn to this scripture that you have presented and I ask that you will allow me to explain why.
When Jesus asked in Matt.16:13, "Who do men say that I am"? I believe this first question to His disciples was basically,"Are you basing your revelation of Me upon what others say about Me"? "Are you living your life through another"?
Then Jesus asked the question in(v.15), "But who do "you" say that I am"?

I believe that Jesus was truly excited when Peter said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God". (v.16)
(v.17)Jesus answered and said to him,"Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father in Heaven".
(v.18)And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church.

When I looked at this scripture it spoke to me that the "Rock", was "Revelation" and that "Faith" stands on that rock.

When you brought up the scripture in 1John2:24 and pointed out what "that" meant it also speaks to me as "that" is revelation from God of who Jesus is and that "ackowledgement of Crist" is truly by Faith recieved through a Revelation by the Father. Without that revelation we will not know Him and there is no abiding.

On this rock,"Foundation" of recieving and declaring revelation from God, is where the church will be built. It will be built on the on-going, ever-increasing, riches of Christ and will be the foundation for everything.

Thank you and blessings,
LarryD

As we look to Christ, and let "that" acknowledgement of Peter's confession abide within, "the anointing which we have received" (I John 2:27) shall be the eternal hope which purifies our souls continually and transports us from glory to glory into His image. The cleansing blood will be a never-drying fountain of crimson spanning from heaven to earth, sprinkling our hearts and proferring upon us boldness to enter into the holiest (Hebrews 10:19).

The looking at Christ is perhaps one of the most vital things, in all circumstances. This short excerpt from Ryle comes to mind, it is simple but i think there is a deep connection with what you are saying brother Paul.

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Would you have a strong foundation for your faith and hope? Then [i]keep in constant view[/i] your Savior's divinity. He in whose blood you are taught to trust is the Almighty God. All power is His in heaven and earth. None can pluck you out of His hand. If you are a true believer in Jesus, let not your heart be troubled or afraid.

Would you have sweet comfort in suffering and trial? Then [i]keep in constant view[/i] your Savior's humanity. He is the man Christ Jesus, who lay on the bosom of the Virgin Mary, as a little infant, and knows the heart of a man. He can be touched with the feeling of your infirmities. He has Himself experienced Satan's temptations. He has endured hunger. He has shed tears. He has felt pain. Trust Him at all times with all your sorrows. He will not despise you. Pour out all your heart before Him in prayer, and keep nothing back. He can sympathize with His people.

Let these thoughts sink down into our minds. Let us bless God for the encouraging truths which the first chapter of the New Testament contains. It tells us of One who "saves His people from their sins." But this is not all. It tells us that this Savior is "Emmanuel," God Himself, and yet God with us, God manifest in human flesh like our own. This is glad tidings. This is indeed good news. Let us feed on these truths in our hearts by faith with thanksgiving.

J.C Ryle

When you brought up the scripture in 1John2:24 and pointed out what "that" meant it also speaks to me as "that" is revelation from God of who Jesus is and that "ackowledgement of Crist" is truly by Faith recieved through a Revelation by the Father. Without that revelation we will not know Him and there is no abiding.

When the Israelites were being bitten by venomous snakes in the wilderness (see Numbers 21), God's sole antedote for survival was to simply "look" on the fiery serpent Moses fastened to the pole. There was no room for self-help, for flesh improvement, or to first "draw" out the venom; God's anti-venom was instead to look upon the symbol of the venom itself. Instead of man drawing out the poison, God drew all men [i]to[/i] the symbol of the poison, and men were healed there. Think of it!

Like I preached in my message, in the Old Testament, snake venom ran through the physical veins of the beholders who gazed up at the serpent; in the New Testament, sin runs through the spiritual veins of those who gaze at Jesus. And in both cases, the toxins are instantly eradicated, and without any self-effort of the infected.

Oh, Lord, teach us to simply "look and live". Teach us Lord the secret of abiding.