Read for This Week’s Study: 2 Pet. 2:1-22, John 8:34-36, Matt. 12:43-45, Jude 4-19, Gen. 18:16-33. Memory Text: “They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption; for people are slaves to whatever masters them” (2 Peter 2:19, NRSV). In his first epistle, Peter, with great pastoral concern, sought to encourage readers in … Continue reading –>
“It is the first and highest duty of every rational being to learn from the Scriptures what is truth, and then to walk in the light and encourage others to follow his example. We should day by day study the Bible diligently, weighing every thought and comparing scripture with scripture. With divine help we are … Continue reading –>
Last Sunday, at a graduation party, I visited with one of my former students from the Adventist school where I teach and give Bible studies. She is now attending a public high school in a different city, and she told me how sad she is that at least half of her school population is self-proclaimed atheist. … Continue reading –>
As mentioned in the last post, Adventism’s understanding of the covenants is not well known either to us, our inquirers or our critics. Some critics even go as far as to suggest that Adventism’s covenant progression is an unheard-of new heresy. Part of the difficulty in responding to these charges is that, while Adventists have historically written … Continue reading –>
You can view an in-depth discussion of “Prophecy and Scripture” in the Hope Sabbath School class led by Pastor Derek Morris. (Adobe Flash Player version.) A Youtube version of this week’s lesson at Hope Sabbath School is below. You can download the video, the MP3 audio, and the lesson outline from the HopeTV Sabbath School … Continue reading –>
As we have seen, Peter placed great emphasis on the Holy Scriptures. Second Peter 1:19-21 is a powerful affirmation of the importance of the Bible to our Christian experience and to the divine inspiration of the Scriptures. His point is clear in 2 Peter 1:21. The Bible is not the product of human will, human … Continue reading –>
Read 2 Peter 1:19-21. To what prophecies is Peter referring? What does he mean when he says that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation? In stressing that Christianity is not based on cunningly devised fables (2 Pet. 1:16), Peter offers up two lines of evidence: first, eyewitnesses (2 Pet. 1:16-18); second, the … Continue reading –>
Confidence personified. Is there anything at all about Peter speaking as a wholehearted disciple of Jesus that reminds us of Peter the indecisive one? If you said “No!” in a resounding way, how can you and I adopt his certainty in these troubled times? How can the “cunningly devised fables” that appeal to vast numbers of worldlings … Continue reading –>
Sabbath afternoon’s introduction to our studies for the week made a strong and wise statement followed by a question: “So if Jesus and Peter took the Bible seriously, how dare we do otherwise ourselves?” Peter was sure of what he believed in and he would have had pleasure in singing: Hymn 511, “I Know Whom … Continue reading –>
“And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts” (2 Pet. 1:19, NKJV). Read this text carefully. What is Peter saying that is so important to us, even today? … Continue reading –>
Read 2 Peter 1:16-18. What other evidence does Peter say he has for his faith in Jesus? Besides the prophetic word, Peter was an eyewitness to many of the things that he preached about. Christianity, he said, is not founded on “cunningly devised fables” (2 Pet. 1:16, NKJV), but on real events that happened in … Continue reading –>
All through his epistles, Peter writes with a sense of certainty. He knows what he is talking about because he knows whom he is talking about. And one reason is that he knows that Jesus was the One to whom the Old Testament prophets pointed. It was Peter’s trust in the Written Word that helped … Continue reading –>
