Ramsey Creek Baptist Church

The priests in Israel had fallen into an evil pattern of thinking & behavior. Malachi explained how they were not taking to heart the honor of God's name, and goes on to show the effects of such an evil pattern in family life. When the desires of the flesh outweigh our fear of the Lord, the result is always sin. Similarly, our issues with God inevitably become issues with each other. The marriage union should have been held in honor because God adds Himself into it, but the men an priests in Israel were abandoning, forsaking, and divorcing their wives to marry women who would lead them away from worshipping the One True God (which was explicitly against God's Law - see Ex.34, Deut. 7). - Be faithful in marriage. - Raise children as an expression of God’s faithful love. - Guard your hearts in relation to your spouse, because abandoning the truth regarding marriage & the home has dire & damaging results.

The priests had become deaf to the commands of God and their hearts had grown cold in recognizing His love for them. Their efforts in the priesthood had grown selfish and they were content to offer God the leftovers. An evil pattern of thinking & behavior has consequences. Malachi explains how they were not taking to heart the honor of His name, using Levi & the Levitical covenant as an example.

The people of Israel had lost the sense of what real worship was and were content to not only go through the motions, but to give God less than what He deserved. They were offering Him careless & leftover worship, and Malachi was sent to call them out on it. We should take this to heart today because what we offer to God reveals what we think about Him. A day is coming when all people everywhere will recognize and respond with proper reverence to His great Name and worth.

God's Word is a burden in the sense that if what He's saying is true, then everything changes. The burden of Malachi is communicating the unfailing love of God to His people. Make no mistake - it all starts with God (Detu. 7:6-8). God’s faithful love was declared ("I have loved you"), His love was doubted ("How have you loved us?"), and now His love is demonstrated through the nation of Israel and particularly through Edom ("Is not Jacob Esau's brother?") Malachi shows us a God whose goodness will make us tremble with reverent fear (1:6 & 14, 2:5, 3:5).

An introduction to the book of Malachi, revealing Israel's apathy toward the things of God and their religious formality. Malachi’s overall warning is this: stop going through the motions in the Christian life.

Peter uses his teaching about false teachers and the second coming as a springboard for further instructions on how to live properly. So his goal remains consistent – tell Christians how to live properly for the glory of Jesus Christ. "Take care" - Christians need to be intentionally watchful about what and who they listen to, because it can have serious effects in their lives. We’ve been told to be diligent to be found at peace, but peace and stability can never come from twisting the Scriptures. If you aren’t growing in the grace & knowledge of Jesus Christ, you’ll be unstable. to persevere as a Christian, we must guard ourselves from spiritual error and grow in the grace and knowledge of Him. As often as you consider His patience and grace toward you, give Him glory.

“Since you are looking forward to this” - Peter expects that Christians eagerly anticipate Christ’s immanent return. We won't worry or be disappointed on that day, because God's good and sovereign will will be done. Whether He judges or whether He has mercy, God remains good and sovereign because it is His nature. "Be diligent" doesn't mean "Work really hard for God to love you". Any diligence in the Christian life is motivated and fueled by Christ’s righteousness. Similarly, the only way to truly be found “at peace” on the day of the Lord is to trust and rest now in the already finished atoning work of Christ. Romans 2:3-5 shows that Peter and Paul agree – the kindness and patience of God are meant to lead people to repentance. Christian - as you recognize the kindness and patience of the Lord more and more in your life, you will be more and more motivated to live lives of active holiness while you wait.

In His divine patience, God’s mercy and love are on full display, and the offer of the Gospel goes out to all, and all who respond by faith will be saved (whosoever believes). The day of the Lord is coming quickly, so it matters how you live now. ESV Study Bible note – “The second coming should be motivation to live a holy life.” Because it will happen when you least expect it, spend your time living properly in eager expectation of Christ’s coming.

To the Lord, a thousand years is but a day because He experiences time very differently than we do. Peter points out the differences in our experience of time compared to God’s & says, "Remember God’s promise-keeping abilities." God’s promises are not like man’s promises because God is not bound by time the way that human beings are. Therefore, God’s promises cannot be viewed through the lens of human time. Why has God has waited so long for the second coming? Peter’s answer – to showcase God’s patience and mercy. It may seem like we’re having to wait for a really long time, but from God’s perspective, it’s just a nanosecond in eternity. But don’t mistake His patience for indifference – the end will come with fire [v.7], and the destruction of the ungodly is sure. God’s patience and mercy continue to extend to everything & everyone in creation until those whom He is calling respond in faith, at which point Chri

Peter has been warning Christians of false teachers, assuring Christians of two big things: 1. The Scriptures are not the ideas and feelings of men, but the words of God. 2. People will try to twist those Scriptures to serve themselves & drag others with them. Peter’s saying that he wants to remind Christians of this truth: Jesus is coming back. False teachers and scoffers claim that nothing has changed, so Peter offers three examples of God intervening in world history: 1. God’s authorship in creation. 2. God’s judgment in the worldwide flood. 3. God’s coming judgment on the ungodly. The scoffers ask, “Where is the promise?” It’s found in Jesus. It IS Jesus. If Jesus is who He said He is, and if He’s done what He’s said He’s done, then you can know for certain that He'll do what He said He’ll do.

The prosperity gospel is based on the lie that you can get everything you want in this world by following God and having enough faith. Can you imagine a martyr’s response to this teaching?! A False teacher's allure isn’t actual truth, but what might be gained by exploiting the truth. They advertise freedom, but deliver further bondage. True freedom isn’t found in the stuff Jesus can give us, but in Jesus Himself. Freedom in Christ is really at the heart of the Gospel message, but it’s not a call to give free reign to the “passions of the flesh”. [v.18] In the end of [v.20-22] Peter says that to know the truth and to be changed by the truth is to endure. If you have heard the truth of the Gospel, the expectation is true belief, true repentance, and enduring till the end. A Christian’s nature has been fundamentally changed by Jesus, and He will finish what He’s started.

The Bible teaches that there is objective truth to believe in & hold on to (John 17:17, Psalm 119:160). Scripture is the truth for everyone and it all points to Jesus. False doctrine leads people into all sorts of wrong beliefs. Lifestyle flows from the truth you believe. "Wages" are what you earn from your actions. Applied to what Peter is saying, no one will be able to stand before God when they die and claim unfairness. Because of Christ, when the Father looks at a redeemed sinner (a Christian) He sees His Son, without spot or blemish. Peter uses the example of Balaam and his talking donnkey to illustrate that it’s madness to live as if God and truth don’t exist. What you believe about God directs your life. God’s Word is sufficient to direct every area of your life.

Guest speaker John David preaches through 2 Timothy 4:1-8, explaining how to spot false teachers and real truth in the process.

The words of Scripture are not the mere words of men, they are the words of God. And they matter, truth matters - doctrine matters. Christians are called to love people, but not by compromising truth. Christians are also called to unity in the body, but not by compromising truth. Without the truth of Scripture, love and unity are hollow goals that do not accomplish what God intends. Sound doctrine actually unites the church under the authority of God. The church needs under-shepherds who will not lull the people of God toward laziness (like the leaders in Jeremiah's day - Jer. 23), but who stir the, up toward godliness and action. Peter uses three OT examples of what happens when lies are believed instead of truth, and reminds us of the Rescuer who has come to seek and to save the lost.

Peter says the truth he and other biblilcal authors have given weren’t cleverly designed fables, legends, or untrue stories – it was truth. When Moses saw the glory of God from the cleft of the rock in Exodus 33 & 34, it was reflected in his appearance for a while. The glory revealed through his face was a reflection of the majesty and glory of God. But when Peter saw Jesus transfigured, the glory shining from Jesus wasn’t being reflected – it was glory bursting from within. What Peter & James & John heard and saw on that mountain confirmed what the prophets had been saying all along. If we say we love God and believe His Word, then we can’t believe and live as though that Word means whatever we want. We don’t need to twist Scripture to be happy. Real joy, real peace, real freedom comes from hearing and believing what God says plainly in His Word and letting it shape our lives.

Through Peter's letters, God has been showing us what it looks like to live by the power of the Spirit as partakers of the divine nature. There are real, demonstratable ways to know if you are in Christ or not, and Peter has explaining them to us all along. Romans 8:29 says that God predestined all the elect to be conformed to the image of Christ. The reassuring evidence of your calling & election is increasing in Christlikeness. If these qualities are in you and increasing, Peter says: - you will not be fruitless (v. 8) - you will not fall away (v. 10) - you will enter the eternal kingdom of Christ (v. 11) Peter's "dying wish" (so to speak) is that he wants Christians to remember the qualities of a person changed by the grace of God. But remember that your pursuit of them doesn’t earn your salvation, it proves it. The Word of God warns us against being lazy in our faith and drifting away from Jesus Christ as our only hope. Strive against the current that tells you to be lazy. Resist the temptat

Grace and peace and everything needed to please God in this life and the life to come are the Christian's through His divine power granted by the knowledge of God in Jesus Christ. God calls sinners to Himself and He alone gives the gift of faith, and here's the incredible thing - what God calls Chtistians to do He supplies them the power to accomplish. God’s power and promises graciously grant Christians the ability to escape the corruption of sinful desire. The virtues Peter lists are things that should be apparent in the life of each Christian; they identify those who have been called by the glory and excellence of God; they distinguish those who are partakers of the divine nature. When Peter says to “add” to faith, he’s not implying that it’s lacking in some way. The idea here is growth in the Christian life. The grace of God is ever-increasing, always advancing, always pushing Christians to Christlikeness. Have you forgotten who you are in Christ and become blind to w

*Due to technical issues, the audio from today's message was pulled from the livestream video. Even in just the first two verses, Peter practices what he preaches by practicing humility. He leads with the fact that he is a servant/slave of Christ Jesus. He also explains that new life in Christ doesn’t come through privilege, work, or even a human decision, but by a divine gift of God ("by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ"). God and God alone gives the gift that none of us deserve but that all of us need. Believer– is there anything you own that is more precious than the faith that connects you to Christ and blesses you with His entire inheritance? The better you know God through Jesus (who Heb. 1 says is exact imprint of God), the more joy & peace and pleasure & rest you have. • There’s a direct relationship between our knowledge of God and how joyful we are. • There’s a direct relationship between our knowledge of God and how settled we are

*Due to technical difficulties, the audio from today's message was pulled from the livestream video. Peter uses the term "sober-minded" three times in this letter, so it's important. And each he uses it, he includes his reasoning behind it: - 1:13…be sober-minded…by setting your hope fully on the grace of Jesus Christ - 4:7…be sober-minded…because the end of all things is at hand & for the sake of your prayers - 5:8…be sober-minded…because the devil is working to destroy you Satan is real, he has a semblance of power, and is constantly wanting to use that power devour people. But how do we know the difference between Satan’s accusations and the conviction of the Holy Spirit, because both point to the same sin? - Satan shows you your sin in order to cripple you, to ruin you, and to ultimately destroy the image of God in you. - The Spirit shows you your sin to cleanse you, redeem you, & restore the image of God in you. Satan’s accusations and power ar

*Due to technical issues, the audio from today's message was pulled from the livestream video. The office of elder is not defined by the age of a man, but rather by his character. It's also important to note that the office of pastor/elder/undershepherd is unlike any other. Hebrews 13:17 says that they will give an account for how they've kept watch over the souls of those in the church. This sets it apart from a CEO, sports coach, or miltary commander. The word "sheperd" is both a noun and a verb. Shepherds are supposed to shepherd. An elder watches over the flock in love in order to nourish them. How an elder leads matters because they are serving under the command of the Chief Shepherd who is coming again. When it comes to how we relate to one another in the church, humility is the common thread.